Category: Nature

From Alperton to Paddington

How do you first see a city? Arriving at Venice’s Santa Lucia station and stepping out onto broad steps leading down to the Grand Canal is hard to beat. Yesterday I walked to London along the Paddington arm of the Grand Union Canal.

Sherborne Park

I am staying for a few days in a village close to Burford in west Oxfordshire to explore the locality. Yesterday afternoon we went for a circular walk in Sherborne Park.

Wrabness to Mistley

On Tuesday I took a slightly shorter walk than usual, only five miles. As usual, it was along a tidal stretch of river – not the Thames, the Stour that divides Essex from Suffolk and joins the North Sea at Harwich.

More Tales from the Riverbank

The application (see Wind in the Willows) by developer, St George, to fell the willow tree in front of their flats at Fulham Reach was withdrawn. There was much opposition including a well-reasoned submission by a reader here, who knows more about trees than I do.

Lyn y Fan Fach

If your Welsh is a bit rusty Lyn y Fan Fach means Lake of the Small Hill. A more apt name would be Small Lake of the Big Hill.

On the Riverbank

Yesterday morning was warm and sunny but as it was high water I didn’t expect to see much on my regular perambulation upstream to Richmond. Here is what I saw, in order of size.

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Categorised as Local, Nature

Dorset Days

Last Sunday I heard Rossini’s Petite Messe Solennelle in Puycelsi in the Tarn. Later today I will be back in church in Dorset for more music.

Stella

Stella no doubt reminds you of Jonathan Swift’s friend whose real name was Esther Johnson. Whether she was more than an old friend, he first met her when she was eight, or his mistress or wife is unclear. She was for sure born in Richmond in 1681 so it was appropriate that I went to… Continue reading Stella

Tractors, Tracksuits and a Turtle

The big four-wheel drives used to drop the children at school were known as Chelsea Tractors – I never imagined it was a compliment but it gave somebody an idea as there is a real Chelsea Truck Co.

Swans and a Sesquicentenary

There are few swans on the tidal stretch of the Thames between Hammersmith and Richmond. Recently I have seen three where the Grand Union Canal joins the river at Brentford and I assume they come from the canal for a change of scenery.