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Archives for October, 2014

Embraché the Weather

October 31st, 2014

The Bootsy says it so it must be true: warmest Halloween ever! I went for a walk to Bexhill with my parents and it was positively summery.

Also, much to my horror, I turned 30 today. :-o

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And now for some happy news! You might remember almost exactly four years ago on this very blog I reported on the burning down of Hastings Pier. But now thanks to a huge fund raising campaign it’s being rebuilt and due to reopen next summer!

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If You Go Down to the Woods Today

October 28th, 2014

…you’d better watch out for the abandoned rusting circular saw and canister of unidentified hazardous liquid! This footpath has FAILED its health and safety inspection.

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So I was out adventuring near Henley this Saturday. I figured I knew the area well enough that I didn’t need to bother looking at the map. This turned out to be a little optimistic. However I think I’ve managed to reverse engineer my route:

Here’s a rather elegant tree that marked the northernmost limit of my explorations. Maybe in a few hundred years it can compete for Tree of the Year!

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On the way back to Henley the sun came out! Making the most of the last day of British Summer Time.

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I’m pretty sure I took a photo of these sheep earlier in the year when I was last in these parts and they were considerably smaller.

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Staines Revisted

October 18th, 2014

My previous visit to Staines generated quite some comment in the blogosphere. And now Staines has officially been renamed Staines-on-Thames surely it deserves a repeat visit?

It’s been wet and dreary here for weeks so rather than head off somewhere remote and exotic I decided last Sunday to walk from my house over to Staines-on-Thames. The only interesting thing I came across on the way was this monument to the Magna Carta at Runnymeade that I forgot to photograph last time.

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Trivia time! When King John went to sign the Magna Carta he travelled from Odiham Castle which I visted a few months ago.

Staines seemed largely the same as before. The museum was still closed. But I did notice a poem on the side of the lino sculpture! It’s called “Release Every Pattern” by Richard Price and Leona Medlin and reproduced here for your perusal.

Roll out the lino
from Staines to the world!
Release every pattern
from chessboard to twirl!
In every hopeful kitchen
let life unfurl,
bathrooms are artrooms
from soapsuds to swirl!
Roll out the lino
from Staines to the world!

Inspiring stuff!

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Conkers

October 17th, 2014

I forgot to post some photos from a few weeks back. Here’s the Kennet and Avon canal near Midgham in Berkshire.

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The canal stretches all the way from Reading to Bath. Might be fun to adventure along sometime. On this particular outing I walked north east to Pangbourne through a forest covered in conkers! ‘Tis the season.

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