A lunch date at the triangle – first published 12 August 2014

After my working days changed in 2014, Tuesday became the new walking day. On 12 August, though there was no proper planned walk. The Ealing Tide Mill project that had been on the back burner for a while was shelved once again because I had a coffee date with Panda. Due to our respective working hours and days we haven’t had a chance to meet up for a while so, when she called to say she had Tuesday off and would I like to meet up, I jumped at the chance. Panda always cheers me up and right then I needed all the cheering I could get.

12 August 2014

Although my main mission today was to meet Panama for coffee there was still some walking involved. For a start I had to pick up a parcel from the parcel office on the Big Bridge. Panda and I were meeting at The Triangle so I decided to set off early and combine the two things, giving myself a two mile detour in the process. Thankfully the parcel office wasn’t busy because it had just opened so it didn’t take me long to get that part sorted out.

Usually I’m on the other side of the road when I cross the bridge, looking down at the skeleton ship and the rowing club. The parcel office is opposite the embankment though so I had a view over the boardwalk as I crossed. There were several little boats moored in the shallows. Two looked like they might be fishing boats and one looked as if it might have someone living on it. As I came through the industrial estate to the river path the four cygnets looked at me expectantly from the water. When I first saw them at the beginning of June they were tiny balls of fluff, now they’re beginning to look like real swans, although small ones.

I reached The Triangle with time to spare so I thought I’d go and take a closer look at the clock tower. The tower has been standing on its triangular island in the middle of the road since 1934 and, since I was a small child, I have walked past it regularly but I’ve never really got up close and personal with it before. This is, in part, because it’s hard to take a picture of it from the island but also because it’s the only thing on the island and the three roads running past it are busy. It does bear closer inspection though.

The forty three foot high monument was bequeathed to the city by Mrs Henrietta Bellenden Sayers, designed by Sydney Kelway Pope and built by the local firm Garret & Haysom. It was unveiled in 1889 and stood at the junction of New Road and Above Bar. When the Civic Centre was being built it became obvious that the tower was an obstruction to traffic so it was moved to Bitterne Park. It took over a triangular plot where the National Land Corporation’s local agent, Alfred Chafen, had an office in a wooden hut and has become a symbol for the area.

The main purpose of the the tower, apart from telling the time obviously, was to provide drinking water for people, cattle and dogs. It seems a little odd to think of cattle roaming the streets of Southampton in need of a drink but, back in 1889, when the fountain was first built, cattle were regularly driven through the streets to market.

The cattle troughs on either side have now been turned into seats and the drinking fountain was turned off in 1916 because it was thought to be unhygienic (there was a cholera outbreak in the city at the time) but the marble basin and copper lion head fountain are still there. Today the basin was filled with water from the recent downpours and it looked as if someone was cooling a beer in it. To the right of the basin a metal ring shows where the original brass cup used to hang on a chain. To the left someone has stencilled a Banksyesque spider.

While I waited I walked around and took a good look at all four sides. On the side to the right of the drinking fountain there is an inscription quoting Psalms, ‘every beast of the forest is mine and the cattle upon a thousand hills.’ Around the corner, on the side screened from the road by trees, I was surprised to find a wooden door I’d never realised was there. Presumably this is to get at the workings of the clock and the bells which chime every hour.

My photograph of the door shows another ‘feature’ of the clock tower. When it was moved it was rebuilt on soft soil and, over the years, it has developed quite a lean. In fact the lean has been measured as more than seven inches towards Riverside Park and it’s been dubbed the Leaning Tower of Bitterne Park. In the arch above the door the wrought iron flowers are slightly rusty these days.

The final side is inscribed with details of the original inauguration and there are old fashioned wrought iron lamps. These used to be gas lamps to illuminate the clock face but there are bulbs inside them now. As I finished my tour the clock chimed the hour and, right on cue, I saw Panda across the road.

Although I pass by pretty regularly I haven’t explored the shops at The Triangle for years so I was pleasantly surprised to see a lovely little ice cream shop called Dora’s Cups and Cones which sold, not just ice cream, but coffee. Panda had her youngest daughter with her and all three of us were enchanted by the rose motifs and the ice cream colours. While we waited for our coffee and a smoothie for Panda’s little girl, I looked around.

There were rose patterned tea cups, crystal chandeliers and, in the corner by the window, an old fashioned trike with a small freezer of the kind used by ice cream men in the old days. The staff were welcoming, the coffee was good and, I’m told, the smoothie was lovely. The array of ice creams was a bit of a temptation as were the cakes but, as Panda and I were both moaning about the weight we have gained, we resisted them. There is even a loo which is a real bonus point for me and I know I will come back. In fact I think I may make it a regular stop off on my riverside walks in future. If you live in Southampton it is well worth a visit, if you don’t believe me check out the Facebook page.

Panda and I had a lovely long chat which was just what the doctor ordered. Maybe there wasn’t quite as much raucous laughter as usual because Panda has just lost two relatives and, of course, she wanted to know all about Commando Senior but it was good to have a catch up. It wasn’t all doom and gloom and one comical moment came when a woman stopped her car close to the space where Panda had parked hers. It was obvious there wasn’t enough room for her to park and Panda said, “what on earth does that woman think she’s doing?” The woman in question looked out of the car window at us and began to wave at which point Panda said, “oh, it’s my mother,” much to my amusement.

Two coffees later and it was time for Panda to go. For a moment I thought about going straight back home especially as there were some dodgy looking clouds about. It seemed a shame not to go down to the river while I was there though and I had my mac in my bag along with some granary bread I’d popped in just in case I saw the orphaned cygnets. When I spotted an interesting looking shop on the Riverside side of the road my mind was made up.

When I was little Pappy and I used to walk the mile to The Triangle to the toy shop close to where the Dora’s Cups and Cones is now. This was mostly to buy Lego bricks. I do remember Pappy visiting the chemist and the shop I saw was the old chemist shop, now Southampton Vineyard Church. From what I can make out this is meeting place rather than a church, aimed at getting young people interested in the church. It may not be my kind of thing but I couldn’t resist stopping to look at the shop windows. They were much as I remember them, beautiful Art Deco stained glass with a chemist sign above the door. I’m so glad they left them there.

My final photo stop before I went down the slope into the park was the Bitterne Park Triangle sign. It isn’t the first photo I’ve taken of this sign and it won’t be the last because I love it and it sums up the area perfectly. Tomorrow I’ll tell you about my walk around the river…

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