My brother lives in the grim land north of the Watford gap and we are off to visit him this Saturday. We would normally drive up on a Friday but were glad we decided to leave it till Saturday morning as the weather on Friday was driving rain.
We were up a a reasonable 07:00 and left the house at about 08:40. The usual route was taken over to Milton Keynes then up the A5 for a few miles before joining the M1. The weather was really great the sun was low and bright in the sky so the views from the motorway were stunning. We saw quite a few buzzards, and two very large flock one of wood pigeon and the other lapwing. I have been doing photo of the day on facebook and decided a stop at Watford Gap services to grab a coffee and take a picture were the order of the day. The services have a sign out the front a bit like the one at lands end but with only two arms, ones points to the south and the other the north.
We made good time on the motorway and the driving was a breeze. I may have mentioned before the cruise control on the VW golf that I have, it allows you to set no only the speed you want but the distance you want to be from the car in front then the card maintains the speed as best it can, but always keeps you a certain distance from the car in front. It means that you hardly ever need to touch the accelerator and so all you need to do is keep your eyes. The road and steer the car in the right direction. We did the journey in roughly the time the sag nav had suggested at the beginning of the journey.
The weather took a turn for the worse after we had had some home made courgette soup for lunch. So we chilled out with my nephews for the rest the day. Kev made a foret noire gateau, and prepared a Chinese feast for us to eat in the evening. The feast included springs rolls, steamed buns, and steamed and deep fried dim sung. We also watched France trounce England in the six nations rugby match.
Watford Gap service station on the M1
Sunday we lounged around for a few hours in the morning drinking coffee and playing on the Wii, then we had some cake and headed off to the Yorkshire Sculpture park for some fresh air and exercise whilst taking in some culture. If you are ever in the area the YSP is well worth a visit, it is a large open park land with lots of works of art scattered here and there, as well as one off temporary exhibitions. We saw an unusual installation Roger Hiorns: Seizure, which was a metal crate which had had copper sulphate crystals grown within it some of them very big, it was very dark and very blue inside. We then went for a walk around the ground where we spotted quite a few birds including cracking views of a nuthatch despite no binoculars.
We went our separate ways Kev back home and us back down the M1 home but not before stopping on the other side of the Watford Gap services.
I subscribe to the http://ianvisists.co.uk RSS feed and the other day I noticed that a post about visits to the Crossrail building site near Bond Street. Usually these things get booked up pretty quickly but I was lucky enough to get a space, if I remember correctly I was bored waiting for a plane when I did the booking via the http://eventbrite.co.uk website.
I had quite a few things planned already for the weekend so time was not on my side. First I had to check a couple of things for work as the electricity was being turned off at my local site so we were using the generator to keep the power to the computers going, I just had to check that it was still working which I did at 07:30. Then I checked a couple of issues for the accountants as it was the first end of period of the year there is always a few things that need tweaking. Next stop was a long over due hair cut, I find the best strategy is to get to the barbers in Wendover just before they open at 08:30 as you can get a space to park outside the shop and your first in the queue. On this occasion I was running late but third in the queue was OK as they have three chairs running on a Saturday.
It was with a cold head that I returned home to have a quick coffee then drop Helen off up the road then head to Berkhamsted station to catch the 09:46 which luckily for me was running 5 minutes late and I managed to catch it. About half way to London we stopped due to no power in the overhead lines but we were only stationary for about 5 minutes, clearly the train needed some maintenance running late then having to stop. We arrived at Euston at 10:24.
Crossrail big hole Bond Street London
I had plenty of time so I decided to walk, despite having a railcard. I had a couple of hours so I could take my time. Just off Euston the is the welcome trust which is always with dropping into as there is always something unusual to look around. Today there was an interesting art and photography exhibition. Then I walked down Tottenham Court road and did a bit of browsing in the technology so windows. I called Specsavers in Aylesbury to see if they had my contact lenses in and it turned out they had not, they gave been messing me about and I was about to run out of lenses. I had passed a branch earlier so I hoped on the bus and retraced my steps back where a reluctant employee phoned my branch to get my prescription only to announce that they had none. I asked about alternatives then she went into a back room and same back with a sample pack of 5 which would hopefully tide me over until they get some in Aylesbury.
I noticed that there are a lot of Japanese style fast food outlets about these days, but when I need lunch there were none to be found. I settled for a cheese sandwich from Pret. I found the building where we would all meet up it is at 75 Davies St in the Crossrail offices on the 2nd floor. We were given a presentation by the Bond street project manager who was very passionate about the whole project and was proud to be a part of it. I must say that all of the people they had laid on to talk to us were all very proud of their contributions. After the presentation with a few videos thrown in we went to an observation room in the offices which overlooked one of the ticket hall sites where yet more employees told us a bit more about the issues they had to overcome building in such a built up area.
Crossrail building site Bond Street London
There were the local residents of Mayfair no less, then the problem of getting stuff in and out of the site in such a busy area of London, then they had to be careful off the surrounding structures. All the local buildings were constantly monitored for movement, as well as under ground sensors as they were within three metres if the Jubilee line.
Next we were herded round the block to gave a look at the building site it self. Disappointingly we did not get to go underground but had to settle for a look down into the deep hole that had constructed to get the tunneling machines down. When the tour was over I had been on my feet long enough so I hopped on the tube and was soon back at Euston to catch the 15:54 back to Berkhamsted.
The weather on Saturday was appalling so I busied myself preparing stuff for the 3d printer build, of which more will follow in later posts. I was roped in to dropping Helen and our elderly neighbour off at church, so I took the opportunity to grab a weather window and head to the hills for a walk. The forecast was for rain around lunch time.
After a drop off at church I drove over to the car park above Whiteleaf, it would mean I was starting high and intended to remain high up for the walk. The sun was bright and low and the rain over night had really cleared the atmosphere so I was hoping for a few good pictures. There was a brisk wind and the air temperature was low so I was wrapped up well with several layers.
I tried to keep to the woods to be out of the wind but also it is better for bird watching. I headed towards the viewing point but turned left passing The hangings, then on thorough Sergeants wood and eventually got to Solinger house, I then had a choice and headed up Knightons Hill woods, then picked up the path that heads to Hamden house, which is a strange place to house an insurance company. I had a look round the grave yard and took a couple of HDR pictures then headed directly towards Great Hampden, along a very slippery path across a field, as I got the village in my own little world, a jogger made me jump as he warned me of his arrival. He apologised as he ran by.
Little Hampden Church
I had to take a bit of road out of the Great Hampden then took the path through Keepers Hill wood to Redlands End where at the cross roads I took the path that leads to Grimms Ditch, which bought me back round almost to where I had passed earlier. Taking a left I headed towards Green Hailey farm.
Near the farm there is a garden shed build between three big metal posts about three metres tall one of which has a two metre satellite disk bolted to it. The shed has been there for years, and I have often wondered who uses it, my guess was that it was some sort of radio or tv enthusiast. I noticed that the door had been forced so I took the opportunity to take a look inside. I was right the shed was insulated, (you would want it to be if you were to be sitting in it during the winter), and contained coax wires, switches and a couple of electronic boxes. There was not much room to move inside to one side there was a single deep shelf that probably housed the tuning equipment and served as a desk. The other side was shelved floor to ceiling and probably contained the receiving equipment, which had now been removed apart from a couple of boxes. On the desk there were some written notes and print outs of tv stations. Shame it is not used anymore it would have been good to have a chat with the person who used it.
As I headed the last couple of hundred yards towards the farm it started to rain very heavily, so much so I sought refuge in the lee of one of the out buildings, until the rain stopped about 10 minutes later. It was then just a short walk back to the car.
The rain remained for the rest of the day so I was glad I had made the most of the weather.
The Eelsfoot pub at Eastbridge Suffolk near Southwold, is a gem of a pub we found quite a few years ago when we rented a cottage in the village. We have probably managed about two trips a year since. This year we were there for new year but have not managed to visit at all since. We both had a days holiday to take so just to keep up our records we booked two nights.
We left the house at what for us was a tardy time of 10:00 so we did not get to my aunt’s house until 11:30. After catching for an hour and suitable filled with coffee and cake we headed back onto the A12 destination Minsmere RSPB, and arrived at about 14:00.
We had a late lunch of cheese toasties and hot chocolate. On the way out I was tempted by a small pair of Swarovski binoculars, Helen owes me a birthday present but although the 8×25’s were lovely they were expensive at £400 and I would have liked to have tried a pair of 10×25’s so we left them for another day.
It was the middle of December so the light would be gone by 16:00 so we decided a walk out to island mere hide and back before some Christmas shopping in Southwold. It was raining so we did not spend much time on the way to the hide looking for birds. We joined for other hardy souls who were having to peer through windows covered in rain drops. We were so rewarded by a bittern fly by over the reeds across the water. There was not much else to report home about. The rain stopped so we took the opportunity to walk back to the visitors centre for some RSPB Christmas shopping.
Eelsfoot Eastbridge Suffolk from the back
Next stop would be Southwold just 25 minutes drive away. Parking is usually difficult but late on a rainy Friday afternoon in December there were plenty of spaces in the free car park near the top of the high street. We were quite successful on the Christmas shopping front, sometimes things just come together when you don’t try too hard. We just came across thing that made sense for the people we still had to buy for! I saw a male onesie in a shop window coloured grey and red stripes, luckily no one on my Christmas list deserved it. We got to the pub at about 17:30 so we chilled out in our well appointed room till about 19:30 as H&N would not be joining us until after 21:00.
The of first pint of Adnam’s is always the best way one and it did not disappoint. We had some great food I had cod and chips and Helen had cheesy chip and a side salad there was some ying and yang going on there somewhere the salad cancels out out the chips doesn’t it? N&H turned up at 22:00 they had not had the day off like we had. We caught up and discussed where we should walk on Saturday.
We woke up at a reasonable 07:30 and took our time getting ready for breakfast at 08:39. Very precise time you might think, N had suggested 8:30/9 and we thought he meant 08:39, but it was within N’s range. They have changed the breakfast routine at the pub you used to fill out a form the evening before but now they make to order. It does mean you can make up your mind at the last moment. It turns out that we prefer the pre-ordered breakfast. We sat down and had to wait quite some time before we were asked if we wanted coffee or tea, then once that had turned up we waited again before our breakfast order was taken. In all breakfast took over an hour!
The weatherman had offered us sun all day for Saturday and we were not disappointed blue sky horizon to horizon. We took the path from East bridge to the sluices down by the sea. The sluices are being renewed and there is lots of machinery and temporary piping. In the gorse we spotted a pipit but could not decide on water or rock, a stonechat was also perched as usual on top of a bush. from the east hide we saw some waders amongst the usual ducks, including godwit, redshank, and knot. The star duck was a single male pintail. Next stop was coffee at the coast guard cottages, and some of my mums Christmas cake from last year, which we had to freeze on large lumps and take on weekends away over the course of the year, it lasted well and was a much better alternative to an energy bar.
Minsmere RSPB Reed bed
We headed across Dunwich heath in the hope of seeing dartford warblers, it did not take us long to find a few, quite close in and given the low winter sun, the views were cracking. Towards the end of the Heath we took a path which would lead us back round to the visitors centre at Minsmere RSPB where the cafe provided a great late lunch, including parsnip soup, baked potato, spinach bake and cheese and onion toastie. Suitably replete we headed out to Island mere hide where we were hoping to see bitterns, but we failed to see any, but we did get great views of a hen harrier, a bird I have never see before. It was very distinctive with light grey wings tipped with back feathers at the extremities. We left the hide at about 15:30 hoping to see some barn owls over the fields near the pub but they were not out hunting. We got back to the pub at 16:30 and retired to our rooms and agree to meet up at 18:00 in the bar, it had been a long day and we anticipated an early night.
The sweet potato and chickpea curry went down well so did the Adnams, the Eelsfoot won the annual best cellar award, so you would expect it to be good. We were relatively restained and retired to bed at a reasonable 22:30. Next day the sun was shining when went to breakfast at a tardy 09:00, when service was a bit more friendly and swift. We packed paid the bill and headed to the visitors centre at Minsmere RSPB. We did a quick loop along the new sea wall to coastguard cottages then through the woods and back to the reserve where Helen and H did plenty of shopping. The weather had clouded over and it was threatening rain. We had some lunch in the cafe but had to sit outside because a coach party had taken over most of the cafe. We left at 13:30 and made good time to be home at 16:00 with rain all the way. A great weekend with a lucky weather window.
Sunday morning the weather is overcast but bright so there was a cube of sunny spells. I consulted http://maps.bing.com as it is in my view the best place to look at OS maps and plan walks. I have not been over Whiteleaf direction for some time so I took a screen shot and emailed it to my phone for reference during the walk.
I had a vague plan for the walk but like to play it by ear as I go along depending on how I feel and the weather. I did know where I would start from just past the Bernard Arms (now closed) heading towards Princes Risborough there is a small lay by or parking area enough for a few cars.
From the parking area I followed the signs to the left of the thatched cottage up the track, which is up hill but allows you to warm up as you grind out your steps. At the top of the hill the is a great view looking back over the vale of Aylesbury towards Waddesdon manor. In the area around the top there is a hill fort if you take the time to find it. Strangely there is also a load of Leylandi which clearly are not natural, makes you wonder how and why they are there.
View around Pulpit Hill , Whiteleaf Buckinghamshire
I walk down the other side in search of a bridle path that I had used sometimes when I did a lot of mountain biking. Once found I followed the path to near the car park for Whiteleaf cross, which is where you pick up a foot path that heads back down hill and into Lower Cadsden where there is a pub/restaurant which I may try one day. Today however I had to walk on by up the hill out of the other side of the valley. Eventually I came to an open area of scrub land where you can sometimes see birds such are twite and bull finch.
Out of the other side of the scrub area you pick up a track that runs parallel to the one that you started out on. You will pass a stable before you get to the bottom where you hit the road that leads to Princes Risborough. Cross the road and head down the drive to a house which you pass and then the path bends round back to the road opposite where I parked my car. A great walk.
I received a text from an old friend who was worried that I had fallen off the face of the earth, because he had not seen any updated on my blog. To remedy the situation I promise I will make extra effort to update more often. My excuse is that I am pretty busy at work in my new role at work, but I quite enjoy doing the updates so will make the time to keep people up to date so here the the first of many more.
On Saturday Helen and I had a long arranged agreement to go for a walk with A&C in the hope of a fungal foray, I thought it was a bit late to be looking for mushrooms, but I will take any excuse to go for a walk in the woods with good friends. A&C are also birds watchers so nature would be on the agenda either way. I thought I would try something new and document the walk for others to enjoy.
A&C picked us up just after 10am much to Helen’s annoyance as she had slept in and was a bit short on time, but we were soon on our way. The walk starts up in the hills near St Leonards. Drive up the hills via the forestry commission Wendover wood entrance, past the golf club then follow the road. Once past the caravan park you will come to a bend in the road at St Leonards church their is a turning on the right onto a road called Gilbert’s Hill. We parked up on the verge of the road at the bottom called Bottom Road.
Cholesbury Fort, Buckinghamshire
The walk is circular and this would be third week running that I have done it. I first chose it by looking on a map and trying to find a shortish walk which took in a good amount of woodland and was pretty local. It turned out to be a nice fairly flat walk, which I shared with Helen the week after, and when we were deciding where to walk with A&C it seemed like a good choice, as there were mushrooms and birds to spot.
Take the path that leads in to the woods north and follow the path just in the woods next to the open field, until you get to a cross roads take the path right past the bug hole. The bushes on the edge of the woods are a good place to look for birds we saw Redwing, Coal Tit, and Gold Crest. See label (1) on the map you know you are in the right place if you can see manhole covers for a pump station. Follow the footpath towards the house in the distance, the footpath passes through the barn yard of the farm buildings. A pony was making a lot of noise try to catch our attention.
Along the track from the farm there is another food path that joins it with a plaque on the gate remembering a “knowledgeable man”, label (3), there is some scrub-land here it is worth taking the time to scan the vegetation, as if you are lucky you will see the bright Yellow Hammers that seem to hang around this spot, the first time I did the walk I also got a male Bullfinch, which is always brings joy. In the distance we saw a Red Kite perched in a tree and we were surprised at how bright and light the bird was.
Buckland Woods, St Leonards, Cholesbury, Buckinghamshire
Follow the path to the row of terraces on Little Twye Road, cross the fields (3) good place for flocks of Yellowhammer, then keep going till you get to a modern house and take the footpath down the side of the fence, and just keep on going straight till you get to an open filed with a couple of houses in the corner near the road that leads to Cholesbury. At the road turn left and after about 50 yards there is a path that leads to Cholesbury church and it’s grand wooden gates. Take the path that leads around the Cholesbury camp hill fort (4), then when you come to the footpath junction take the left turn away from the fort and across a couple of horse paddocks, it can get muddy here.
At the entrance to the woods keep on the path that goes through the woods (5) look out for the fairy and pixies that someone has arranged in various places as you walk through. Keep on the path and keep your eyes out for Tit flocks and if you are lucky the odd Treecreeper (6). If you get a a road then you have missed the turning that almost takes you back on yourself. Head towards (7) and keep your eyes out for mushrooms in the leaf litter until you get back to the place where you parked up. It took us 2 hours but we were doing bird miles, it could easily be done in less that and hour and a half.
When we finished the walk it was about lunch time and after trying a pub that was shut nearby we settled for the Old Swan at Swan Bottom (Steve will know it well), the food was great and the staff very accommodating and friendly. I had Fish and Chips, Helen cheese sandwich and chips, and A&C both had Chicken Pie, as a starter we shared deep fried sweet potato and salsify with a water cress aioli.
A very enjoyable walk with great company, and thanks to Steve for inspiring me to keep up the blog posts.
Up at a reasonable time with plan for a walk and then some messing about in boats on Thorpeness meare. We walked out bast the house in the clouds and then at the disused railway headed out and around the RSPB reserve called North Warren. The reserve is basically a big marsh and reed bed surrounded by woodland. We were not really looking for birds but spotted green woodpeckers, buzzards and kestrel. Insect life included probably most of the dragon flies, and a big caterpillar, it could have been a fox moth one.
Swan at Thorpeness Meare Suffolk
At the far end of the marsh there is quite a lot of board walk, which keeps you off the boggy ground. Once the circuit had been done we ended up back at the Mess the over priced sandwich shop opposite the meare. Suitably full we wandered over to the boat hire place n the meare, we planned for some messing about in boats. The party split in two some got straight in a boat for and hour and a half session, some others including me went back to the hut to dump some technology and change into more suitable clothing.
I was disappointed that I cod not hire a sailing boat, the buggy running the place said he had a bad back so was unable to his out the sailing vessels. He did explain why but I did not really get what he was saying. The three of us rented a boat, and I started off the rowing. It did not take long to get back into the hang of things, we had a couple of races which the other side won then the hour was soon up and we headed back to port.
Next on the list was a beverage, J insisted we get some duck food, which the cafe sold. It meant that we were invaded by swans desperate to get some of the food action. Some of the party retreated to another table whilst I hand fed the swans.
We walked back to the hut via the beach. Later T and I were dispatched to the Golden Galleon in Aldeburgh to get fish and chips, which we thoroughly enjoyed but we will never know if the other place which was recommended (and closed on Wednesdays). Later while I typed the blog post the girls did their piss pots club which involved doing a water colour portrait of me, luckily they were able to do most of the painting from memory as I went to bed early.
A local walk was planned for the day, to save having to drive anywhere. We headed out down to the beach then turned left and headed towards Sizewell. Interestingly the coast is being eroded away, and they have built up the defences with wire cages full of rocks but they are on top of big sacks made of a felt material full of sand and rocks. After a bit of a slog on the beach keeping clear of the waves that washed in we joined a coastal path which for Suffolk was fairly elevated.
At Sizewell beach we found the cafe closed on Mondays and Tuesdays, and the public loos in a bit of a mess. We headed up the road To a pub called the Vulcan arms just opposite the entrance to the nuclear power station entrance. The pub sign included Dr Spock, the aircraft, and the Greek god of ironmongery and black smithing. We were a bit early so sat in he pub garden for 10 minutes until it opened. It was a bit early but we all had sandwiches as from the map it was clear that the was no obvious option for the lunch on the way back. I took the opportunity to do a time lapse sequence.
View of Southwold church in Suffolk
The route back would head in land via the RSPB land called Aldringham walks. Helen spooked a green wood pecker, and we came across a very large tit flock possibly 75 birds. We also spotted plenty of butterflies, including Monarch and Speckled wood. The route back took bought us out a the golf course, past the house in the clouds and eventually to The Dolphin pub, where we enjoyed a well earned pint.
J made his lovely Cajun stew for dinner and I made a sort of apple and blackberry strudel which was served with either ice cream or custard. Then we sat down to watch the great British bake off before going to bed.
We woke up to a glorious day, the sun was shining and there were white fluffy coulds against a deep blue sky, the only slight downside is that it was cooler and there was a strong wind to make it worse. I had toast and coffee for breakfast then we all left the house destination Southwold.
The drive from Thorpeness to Southwold takes about 30 minutes, and keeps you away from the A12. We parked up a the pier car park and even managed to find a free parking space. The pier is an interesting place in particular there is an arcade room but all the games are one offs and involve some sort of mechanical feature. The attraction is called The under the pier show and the link I have included probably explains it better than I ever could.
We then headed towards the shops but stopped off at a beach side age for some lunch I had a lovely fish finger sandwich, and an Americano. The weather made for great photography so when the women went shopping I disappeared off round town to make the most of the light. We al met up at 15:00 at the pier arcade and shoved a pound or two into the tuppence waterfalls and day at the races machines.
On the way home we picked up a mini barrel of Adnams bitter, and some parsley. The beer needs to stand for 24 hours but the parsley would be used in the pasta sauce I am making for the evening meal.
A leisurely start to the day, but we knew we had to make the most of the weather as rain and wind was promised at 14:00. So we left relatively early at 10:30 and headed along the coast to Adleburgh. The wind was against us as the storm which was centred to the west of us was bring winds along the coast. We spotted just above the beach the ideal house for Helen and I it looked quite modern with an asymmetric roof, the the clincher was the vast open plan, glazed ground floor and the bedrooms on a second floor.
Just as we got to the edge of Aldeburgh we popped onto the beach to have a look at the controversial sculpture of the scallop on the beach. Apparently it weighs five tonnes and is made of stainless steel. To me I think it looks like it belongs and is a nice addition to the beach. Further into town we checked out the statue of Snoops a dog near the boating pond. There were no flash boats on the pond just kids with the cheap local sailing boats.
We found a cafe with sats outside (we had the dog in tow) and ordered tea and coffee all round, then we had to put up with the choices of some hooray Henry’s talking about their big night out and how they lived in Chelsea and traveled often to New York.
Aldeburgh Beach tractor
We took a less direct route back which had us turn left on the main road out of town then take the footpath thought the church where Benjamin Britten was buried, then onto a disused railway track to the edge of the lake at Thorpeness. The path along the lake ales you pas the disused windmill and the house in the clouds which is a five bedroom follie which our can rent.
It started to rain as we approached Thorpeness but no enough for us to get really wet. Popped to the ullage shop for some lunch provisions, but be choice was limited as it was about to close and their stock control system really worked, Helen and I had boiled eggs.
We decided we would take a drive out to Minsmere then spend a couple of hours bird watching from the shelter of a bird hide. As luck would have it the rain stopped when we got to the RSPB reserve, and we headed out to the South hide. We spotted red and green shank and the usual
ducks. Then we headed out to island mere just in time for it to start raining again. Helen spotted Bittern which I missed because I was tinkering with my technology, but we both saw the three great white egrets and a marsh harrier.
We returned to the hut to find the others were in the Dolphin pub, so we joined them for a great meal, which we enjoyed enough to book another night. A couple in a table next to us turned out to be from near Wobburn, and had connections to Aston Clinton and Halton, it’s a small world.
