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Archives for December, 2009

Doleham

December 28th, 2009

I recently discovered I live quite close to one of the least-used railway stations in the country! How could I resit a visit to Doleham station?

With just 56 passengers in 2007/8 Doleham station is a pretty quiet place.

What is there to see and do once you arrive at Doleham? This helpful map shows you the local street (buildings are in dark orange):

Part of the problem with the lack of visitors seems to stem from the lack of trains. On weekends only two trains stop at Doleham towards Hastings: one around 7am and another at 11pm. Make extra sure not to miss your train!

Where can one go from Doleham?

What an exciting place: I definitely recommend a visit! Although don’t you all go visiting in droves as that will affect the passenger statistics and it’ll become a bit hum-drum.

Knorrespondence

December 19th, 2009

Do you remember the mystery artefact I found in a Knorr chicken stock cube? Well, I sent it back to their lab for analysis and they actually replied! :D Here is the letter they sent (with some sensitive informations redacted):

They also included a coupon for £5 off any Unilever product (apparently they own Knorr). I am extremely satisfied with this outcome – well done Knorr! I heartily recommended their stock cubes and related products.

Snow day!

December 19th, 2009

Last week doof.me.uk brought you coverage of fog. This week we bring you yet another weather phenomenon: snow!

What to take a picture of to demonstrate “snow”? How about the Maidenhead bridge? A favourite of this blog, here it is covered in snow yesterday morning:

Not wanting to be accused of bridge favouritism, here’s a picture of that other excellent Maidenhead landmark, the Brunel railway bridge:

The fast trains make a nice wooosh effect with the snow when they go past, but sadly I couldn’t hang around to photograph it as I had to hurry to the station to go to work. Here’s my train!

A problem: how to stop snow photos coming out blue? I play with the white balance setting and this seems to help a little.

Some stray notes upon Slough and Upton

December 13th, 2009

I stumbled upon this book today: Some stray notes upon Slough and Upton written in 1892 by Richard Bentley, a local historian. I haven’t read much of it yet, but from the first few pages we learn that Slough “is a very healthy place” and has an “inspiriting air”. The latter a quote from the former prime minister Benjamin Disraeli :eek:.

It’s certainly interesting for anyone interested in the history of the area, and linking to it here will hopefully bring it to the attention of a wider audience.

Burnham and Slough Trading Estate

December 12th, 2009

As mentioned in the previous post, I went for a walk from Maidenhead to Slough via Burnham today. I took a few photos for the benefit of those that don’t live in the area.

Here we are then at the Brunel railway bridge in Maidenhead. This is probably the most famous of Maidenhead’s two Thames crossings but gets less coverage on this blog for some reason.

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It has been part of the west coast mainline since 1838 and the arches are apparently some of the widest and flattest in the world. A plaque by the bridge claims they are the widest and flattest in the world, but Wikipedia thinks otherwise. Regardless, it’s still a very well engineered bridge and we should all thank Mr Brunel for constructing it or I would have awful trouble getting to work every morning.

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Later on I spotted this pretty scene involving Slough, a rainbow, and the M4. Can you spot them all? Seems a little tricky to get rainbows to come out in photos.

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This is the south side of Burnham just before we get into the greater urban area of Slough. The clouds have cleared up a bit and I really like how the colours have come out: good green!

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Not really sure what was going on with the sky today – looks a bit weird! Sainsburys on the edge of Slough.

And finally, Slough Trading Estate:

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Slough Trading Estate is the oldest and still the largest business park in the world. It even has its own eco-friendly power plant that burns recycled waste pellets. I did intend to take a picture of that too but it was getting dark an Slough is not a place to hang around in after dark.

A few more photos here.

Unfortunately, once I reached Slough I realised that my phone, which was with me when I left home, was no longer about my person. I think it has fallen out of my bag somewhere along the Thames path where I foolishly put it in the same compartment as my map. Bother. If you happen to find it, post in the comments and I will exchange it for a cookie.

Fog

December 12th, 2009

When I got up yesterday morning someone had turned on the fog! Here is a picture of the Maidenhead bridge featured several times previously on this blog now with added fog:

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No fog today so I’m going to Slough: updates to follow.

Burnham Beeches

December 6th, 2009

Went for a walk to Burnham Beeches today. It’s a nice wooded area to the north west of Slough. I started off in Maidenhead so here’s a picture of the bridge:

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Maidenhead has a pair of very nice bridges. The Brunel railway bridge is just downstream from here and worth a visit.

The walk to Burnham took longer than it should have due to some terrible map-reading incompetence resulting in a number of detours. As I close in on my destination the way is blocked by an obstruction!

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As you can see the paths are all a bit muddy after the wet weather we’ve been having. It’s all rather good fun: leaping between dry patches and diving under fallen trees. I pretend I’m an adventurer in the jungle! And really, there is very little practical difference between the Amazon and a path along the side of a Buckinghamshire golf course.

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Here we are at the aforementioned Burnham Beeches. This is a very nice place for a Sunday afternoon walk. The trees here are all very old, must show respect! The land is actually owned by the City of London who purchased it as a place for Londoners to visit to escape the smog, pollution, etc. Nowadays it seems to serve a similar purpose for the residents of Slough. I heartily approve.

Walking down to Slough through Farnham Royal I spied Slough Trading Estate power plant and thought it looked rather pretty with the current configuration of sun and clouds. Unfortunately I couldn’t find a very good position to take a picture so this will have to do:

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