Deadpool 2021

2020 saw the demise of three out of ten from the list of notable people I thought might not see 2021. In a normal year that would be quite a respectable score. It feels somewhat surprising that it’s “only” three given the ravages of COVID-19. That must say something about statistics.

 

Onward to 2021 and the list for this year’s “mortality lottery” looks like this:

 

Deadpool 2021

• Neil Percival Young (Musician)
• Leslie Samuel Phillips (Actor & Author)
• Gina Lollobrigida (Actress, Photojournalist, & Sculptor)
• James Earl Carter Jr. (39th POTUS)
• Philip Mountbatten (HRH The Duke of Edinburgh)
• Michael Caine (Actor)
• Anthony Dominick Benedetto a.k.a Tony Bennett (Singer)
• Dame Angela Brigid Lansbury (Actress)
• Pope Benedict XVI, born Joseph Aloisius Ratzinger (retired prelate of the Catholic Church)
• Kenneth David Kaunda (former President of Zambia)

And the best of luck to them all.

Random November and December

Wednesday 4th November

Pre-lockdown mk2 escape to the coast. Went down to Felpham, parked up behind the beach huts and walked along the front to Bognor Regis and back.

The seafront at Felpham, W Sussex

Unseasonably sunny and very pleasant. Stayed until the sun set.

Sunset at Bognor Regis

 

Monday 9th November

Working in Southampton because in spite of lockdown I can still be sent miles away to visit a customer. Who didn’t turn up.

Still, managed to pick up essential Xmas supplies while I was down there.

Twiglets at Hampton Telephone Exchange

 

Thursday 12th November

A long walk in the woods staying local, protecting the NHS, saving lives.Or whatever the current glib government slogan is. 

On Wildmoor Heath

Very much Autumn.

Autumn wildlife

 

Friday 13th November

Stayed home. Not for any superstitious reasons. Baked a cake.

Mmmm cake

 

Saturday 21st November

Not allowed to do anything else because lockdown so walked down the river to Blackwater Station. Turned round and walked back.

Blackwater River, Berkshire / Hampshire border

Blackwater Station, Hampshire 

 

Monday 23rd November

Permitted exercise walk around the meadows. Across the pedestrian level crossing.

GWR train heading towards Blackwater

The empty gate lodge has been vandalised.

Snaprails gate lodge

 

Tuesday 1st December

Bored with local now. Went to Frensham Little Pond (it was permitted in the “rules". 

Frensham Little Pond

Absolutely glorious.

On top of the world

 

Saturday 5th December

Hooray, allowed to travel again! Tubed to Sloane Square and walked to Battersea 

Sloane Square

then up through the West End to Great Portland Street.

Chelsea Bridge

London in the dark never gets old.

One Marylebone

 

Tuesday 8th December

A little trip to Winchester to survey a mobile phone aerial site. Fifteen minutes on site then home again. Still, gets me out of the house.

Mobile phone aerial site

 

Saturday 12th December

Back to walking on the local heath again. Too many other people had the same idea. Didn’t stay out very long.

On Wildmoor Heath again

There are many more photos on Flickr

The next couple of months could be interesting.

As in the Chinese proverb.

Lydney

 Monday 7th September 2020

Lydney Harbour

Day three on holiday and I'm looking for local history. Nearby in Lydney the map shows an ancient monument, Lydney Harbour which as well as a harbour has a canal and disused railway. Out into the wet and windy morning I went.

Lydney Harbour tidal basin

The harbour at Lydney wasn't quite what I'd imagine a harbour to look like (if I hadn't already checked the map) being long and narrow and looking more like a lock.

It lies at the end of a 1 mile canal and gives access to the tidal River Severn. The gates of the tidal basin shown here appear to be stuck open so that it is filling up with silt from the river. They're spending a couple of million on the site to upgrade the tourist facilities (hence the digger and wire fencing) so hopefully that will include fixing the gates. Parking is currently free though after the refurbishment who knows.

Between the tidal basin and the canal is a lock and the canal serves as a marina for small craft.

A bit of history: The canal opened in 1813 and the outer harbour was completed in 1821. Coal and iron ore from the Forest of Dean was shipped out, brought down by a tramway which was in 1868 converted to a broad gauge railway although in 1872 that was converted to standard gauge. 

As can be seen from the early 20th century map below there were extensive sidings serving the harbour.

Reproduced with the permission of the National Library of Scotland

Lydney Harbour former railway

Parts of the track bed can be seen and walked along and there are markers pointing out wrecks on the river shore and "sighting stones" core drilled through pointing at distant landmarks.

Also a circle of standing stones, not ancient but dating from the refurbishment of the harbour around 2006 - apparently it works as a compass, something I failed to notice at the time.

I walked along the track bed on the west side of the

Lydney Harbour marina

inner harbour then crossed the swing bridge and back up the east side to the lock and harbour entrance.

There are a lot of boats moored here, I'm not sure if they can get out onto the Severn until the tide gate is repaired? The Environment Agency page doesn't mention it.

The last coal was shipped from the harbour in 1960 but imported wood was still being brought in by barge from Avonmouth. In 1977 the harbour closed and began to fall into disrepair, scheduled as an ancient monument in the 1980s with the swing bridge Grade II listed the harbour re-opened after a two-year project of restoration and enhancement in 2005.

Lydney Harbour lock

There are still a few old buildings around the lock and harbour and if you look closely on the west side the remains of the coal tip shown on the above map where coal was offloaded from the trains to the barges.

The old mortuary building was inaccessible due to the ongoing building works - I gather it's going to be made into public toilets which will be dead convenient. Sorry.

Crossing back over via the lock gates I went out to the rather windy harbour entrance where I could see up and down the Severn. 

Severn Bridges

On a clear day you'd get a really good view of the Severn road bridges downstream, this wasn't a clear day and with occasional showers as well but the bridges were just about visible anyway. The view of the Berkeley Nuclear Power Station on the far side of the river was much clearer.

A short but heavier shower sent me from my perch on a bollard on the harbour wall back to the car.

So Lydney Harbour was interesting with quite a bit to look out for, let's hope they don't spoil it.

Lydney Junction

I parked in the railway station car park so that I could walk into Lydney town centre, between the two

lies Lydney Junction station, the southern terminus of the Dean Forest Railway. Crossing over the tracks at the level crossing this very shiny Brush Type 2 diesel locomotive was hard to miss. Newly overhauled I think.

I'd have liked to take a ride on the DFR but when I tried to book for the Wednesday trip discovered that it was not possible to book only one ticket. No doubt trying to maximise their income under COVID-19 restrictions which I can sort of understand during the busy summer period but mid week after the schools had (finally) returned? I doubt that the train was going to be full. I note that this restriction remains in place even now in mid October. Alienating potential customers could be a policy that comes back to bite them in the arse.

Lydney Town

I can tell you that the walk from Lydney railway station to the town centre isn't very interesting, apart from trying to get across the A48 without being mown down by traffic at the roundabout. That the River Lyd near the boating lake smells quite unpleasant, although that might be the treatment works, and that on this particular post-lockdown Monday a lot of Lydney was still shut. At least it was some exercise.

Monmouth

 Sunday 6th September 2020

First full day of my Forest of Dean based holiday, weather forecast "uncertain" - well it is on the Welsh border - and  I needed to get provisions. I took the scenic route from Blakeney through the forest which reminded me just how hilly the area is and eventually as the border was now open ended up at Monmouth.

Parked up in the Cattle Market Car Park next to the River Monnow and after eventually finding a ticket machine that "spoke" English went for a walk around the historic county town of Monmouthshire.

Starting with the ancient and hard to miss Monnow Bridge. The medieval stone bridge with it's incorporated gatehouse is the only one left in Britain. Now only open to cyclists and pedestrians of which there were plenty on a Sunday lunchtime some of them even attempting to maintain social distancing.

Because the pavements are narrow in this old town a temporary road closure was in place in Monnow

Street to give more space to pedestrians in much the same way as has been done in parts of London. Theoretically there was a one way system to walk uphill on the left side and down. Like that was going to happen. There weren't that many shops open although there was quite a lot of people about and though I'd have quite liked a coffee all the (reduced) seating in the cafes was full.

In normal times Monmouth is a nice place to wander around in a touristy fashion and I have been here before and done so back in the 1990s in what feels like another life. From what I remember it hasn't changed a lot. 

I walked up to the castle, tucked away up a side street. there's a small ruined bit remaining in the

corner of the grounds of Great Castle House, HQ and museum of the Royal Monmouthshire Royal Engineers whose history is depicted in a series of panels on the wall in the street leading to the castle. 

King Henry V of England was born is the castle in 1386 though I'm not sure he'd recognise it now, it having been knocked about a bit in the English Civil War (or Wars of the Three Kingdoms or whatever we're supposed to call them now) and after partially collapsing in 1647 was built over by the house mentioned above. The military museum was on covid-reduced opening hours and this wasn't one of them so after taking some pictures I headed back down the hill (keeping left) and got

some lunch from Waitrose and then was lucky enough to secure a bench next to the River Monnow to sit and eat it.

It had turned warm if not actually sunny (Wales remember) and made a nice place to watch the world go by, or at least a small part of it, before joining an inexplicable traffic jam to cross back over the River Wye and back to England and the Forest of Dean.

Monmouth's nice still.

Escape to the Forest

 5th to 12th September 2020

It's been a month since I went on holiday, I should get around to writing about it.

Having spent most of my leave this year "staycationing" as the modern parlance has it, or more accurately sitting at home doing SFA because of you-know-what, I really wanted to get away for a week. Hotels seemed like too much faff so I decided to a holiday cottage, at least if everything went tits up and the lock-down returned I could do SFA with different scenery. Where to go in September? Hadn't been to the Forest of Dean in a long time. Ooh look, a converted water mill, that looks nice, clickety-click.

DAY ONE: Estimated journey time 2h 20m. Actual journey time 4h 30m. 

Just my luck to travel on the Saturday that the M4 was shut between J12 and J14. At least the cottage was

easy to find.

It was also comfortable and nicely equipped, far enough away from the main A48 through the village to not suffer from traffic noise but close enough to walk to the village shop (had I needed to), the pub (had I desired to), and the chippy (which I did).

Blakeney (the one in Gloucestershire not the one in Norfolk) is on the edge of the Forest of Dean and close to the Severn estuary. It has no railway station (not any more and when it did it was goods only) although the nearby town of Lydney does which is a short drive away. It's a good place from which to explore the border country which is why I came.

An evening walk towards the Severn along the lane and along footpaths that were in places not exactly made obvious across the fields.

Far reaching views across the Severn from Purton on the west bank to the other Purton on the east bank.

Down through the woods passing only a farmer walking in the fields (I assume - she looked like a farmer anyway), almost to the water's edge. 

Except not quite. For along the riverbank runs the Gloucester to Swansea railway line.

At least this driver sounded his horn with enough time for me to whip the phone out and get a photo as the train passed by next to the footpath. No, I don't write down the numbers.

From the waterside at Gatcombe up through the woods and along narrow lanes then a path cutting across the fields in the last of the daylight, startling a woman walking three dogs who didn't expect to see anyone else here, or so she said.

Then a choice, footpath around the water treatment works or along the unofficial but clearly well trodden disused railway back to the lane a mere hundred yards from the cottage.

A win for the former Forest of Dean Central Railway track bed. And to another bed.

to be continued...

Hammersmith & Fulham Self Guided Walk

Sunday 20th September 2020

London Open House this year was obviously affected by you-know-what and as part of that published a number of self-guided tours which you could (and at the time of writing still can) download and follow at your own pace and at your own time. So as it was reasonably easy to get to and looked interesting I picked the Hammersmith & Fulham route for a Sunday afternoon explore.

Hammersmith & Fulham Self Guided Walk Along the route of the self-guided walk by Open House London 2020. open-city.org.uk/selfguided-tours
	Stamford Brook Tube Station (District Line), W6 0SB The District Railway has operated through here since 1869, but this station was only built in 1912. The tracks were doubled in the 1930s to accommodate the extension of the Piccadilly Line. London’s first automatic ticket barrier was installed here in January 1964. Out of the Oyster gate, de-mask, and cross the road and turn right, then left into King Street and right into St. Peter's Church.
	St. Peter's Square. The first houses to be built in the square were on the northern side, with the whole square complete by 1830. The statue in the middle of the garden, erected in 1926, is The Greek Runner, by Sir William Blake Richmond who lived locally. He also designed the mosaics in St Paul’s Cathedral.
	Having walked south through the gardens at an appropriate social distance from the picnickers I emerged into the street and turned left towards the church.
	St Peter’s Church (Edward Lapidge) is in Ionic style with an impressive set of columns. I cut south through Verbena Gardens to the A4 Great west Road.
	Right next to the A4 is a cast concrete statue: “Draped Woman”, by Karel Vogel. Studio magazine said in 1962 that it “expresses his intention in a floating movement, repeating the curve of the road and taking up the slope of the opposite subway”. If you say so. I passed under the busy A4 via the subway into South Black Lion Lane.
	On the left is the Black Lion pub which was doing a good Sunday lunch trade. Further down the lane, at the Thames, are Bell Steps: Here, Frederick Bell ran a ferry across the Thames (which is tidal down to Richmond).
	To the right of Bell Steps is Hammersmith Terrace. One of the houses has a blue plaque commemorating Edward Johnston, CBE (11 February 1872 – 26 November 1944), the British craftsman and calligrapher most famous for designing the sans-serif Johnston typeface that was used throughout the London Underground system until it was redesigned in the 1980s. He also redesigned the famous roundel symbol used throughout the system.
	From Bell Steps I turned left to follow Upper Mall alongside the Thames. The Old Ship Inn on Upper Mall dates from about 1722 and was also making the most of the sunshine before our PM decided to scapegoat pubs for the increase in Covid19 infections.
	Following Upper Mall the footpath passes under the first floor of some 1960s houses which front onto Oil Mill Lane and back right onto the river.
	Further along Linden House which dates back to the 18th century and is the headquarters of the London Corinthian Sailing Club. It has a prominent flagpole (mast?) and apparently a problem with bicycle thieves.
	On the river side of the path is London Corinthian Sailing Club's race starting box, which won a Civic Trust award in 1964.
	At the junction of Upper Mall and Weltje Road is a blue plaque commemorating locally born artist, Eric Ravilious who lived at 48 Upper Mall in the 1930s.
	A number of the buildings along the next stretch of Upper Mall are used by Latymer School, including Rivercourt House. Also a man having a fight setting his motorcycle alarm, with the number of people walking, scooting, and cycling along here it was anything but peaceful.
	Amongst the older mostly brick-built houses No.28, the lower building on the left of the picture is one of the few modern buildings on Upper Mall.
	Where the road narrows to challenging social distancing width is the Dove pub at 19 Upper Mall. The pub, owned by Fullers since 1796, has one of the smallest bars in England. There is a terrace overlooking the Thames.
	Beyond the pub lies Dove Pier at the corner of Furnivall Gardens where there are houseboats moored at the pier and along the riverbank.
	Furnivall gardens were established after WW2 on the site of rundown industrial buildings and Hammersmith Creek, which was filled in in 1936. Stamford Brook reached the Thames here, and barges docked along the creek right up to King Street. There was too long a queue for the ice cream van unfortunately. The gardens are a popular place to watch boat races in years when that is allowed.
	From India to Fulham. With added pet carrier. For cat or dog (or maybe just pizza) I don't know.
	The first house after Furnivall Gardens is Westcott Lodge, set back slightly from Lower Mall. Previously the vicarage of St Paul’s Hammersmith, which is just the other side of the flyover and which the walk passes later on.
	The next stretch of Lower Mall was fairly busy. Here is Furnivall Sculling Club Dr Frederick Furnivall (who originated the Oxford English Dictionary) founded The Furnivall Sculling Club for girls in 1896. Men could join from 1901. On the corner of Mall Road are two pubs with a rowing club between them: The Rutland Arms (1870, lost its top floor in WW2), Auriol Kensington Rowing Club (formed by amalgamation in 1981), and The Blue Anchor (licensed from 1722, and one of the oldest pubs in London). In another time I'd have been tempted to stop for a pint.
	The previous photo was taken with my back to Hammersmith Bridge. Hammersmith Bridge is unwell. Designed by Sir Joseph Bazalgette and opened in 1887, replacing an earlier bridge built in 1827. It has frequently been repaired and is currently closed to all traffic including pedestrians, awaiting further extensive repairs. The towpath under the bridge is closed and river traffic is not allwed to pass under it due to the dangerous state of the structure. The coats of arms displayed at on the suspension stays at both ends of the bridge (and overpainted in green paint) are those of the City of London, Kent, Guildford, City of Westminster, Colchester, Middlesex and, in the centre, the United Kingdom
	The walking route was intended to pass under the bridge but with the path closed I had to make a short diversion up Hammersmith Bridge Road and back. This disused drinking fountain on the west side of the bridge abutment wall would have remained unseen had the path below the bridge been open.
	Beyond the bridge and rejoining the riverside the next point of interest is Riverside Studios The site was redeveloped and re-opened as an arts centre with 165 flats above and around it (Assael Architecture) in 2019. It had been a film and BBC television studio since 1933. Amongst the first programmes made there was Hancock's Half Hour, as the show demanded a studio audience which Riverside could accommodate. During the 1950s and 60s it was the recording location for some famous programmes, including the science-fiction classic Quatermass and the Pit, early episodes of Doctor Who, and children's favourite Play School. The new building however lacks either round or arched windows to look through.
	I turned away from the river (or rather I should have done but didn't and had to retrace my steps for a bit) up Queen Caroline Street, named after the unhappy wife of George IV who lived in and had her rival court in Hammersmith. Along Queen Caroline Street are apartment blocks from three different eras, including a Peabody Trust estate.
	At the top of Queen Caroline Street on the right and facing the flyover is the Hammersmith Apollo (now called Eventim Apollo). Designed by Robert Cromie in Art Deco style, it opened in 1932 as the Gaumont Palace, being renamed the Hammersmith Odeon in 1962, and became an important live music venue, featuring Buddy Holly, Miles Davis, Riverdance and SpongeBob SquarePants, among many others. The 1932 pipe organ was restored in 2007, and the building was refurbished by architects Foster Wilson in 2013.
	It's impossible to miss the Hammersmith Flyover. Although I've driven over it many times I'd never stood under it before today. The flyover was designed by G. Maunsell & Partners, and completed in 1961. It speeds up traffic from Earls Court to the Great West Road. It needed remedial work between 2010 and 2015, with weight restrictions on vehicles using it during that time.
	Right next to the flyover is St. Peter's Church. The church is designed in the Early English Gothic Style, with lancet windows, powerful buttresses, a high roof and an imposing tower.In July 1882 the Duke of Albany laid the foundation stone, and the nave of the new church was consecrated on 13 October 1883. The architects were J. P. Seddon and H. R. Gough. Like St Peter's Church in Hammersmith, St Paul's lost a significant portion of its land, including that with graves, when Hammersmith Flyover, which can just been seen at top left of the picture, was built.
	Across from the church is the end of the walk at Hammersmith tube station (District and Piccadilly lines). Parts of the old facade of the original station were re-used in the design of the interior of the station’s new north ticket hall, which was rebuilt in the 1990s by Minale Tattersfield. This though is the south entrance in the shadow of the flyover which handily leads through the small shopping centre where I puchased a late lunch and headed back down to the river to eat it before carrying on to Putney Bridge because it was only twenty to four and such a nice day for a riverside stroll.

Much of the information in this post was taken from the Open City downloadable PDF but I've added to it where some features weren't mentioned. 

More pictures are in the Flickr Album

And just for giggles I've plotted the route on this Google Map