So many buildings, so little time

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18 January 2015

When I left the church I had warming coffee on my mind and a hope that I’d find some somewhere in the village. Botley is a village of quaint old buildings that have been standing for centuries. Many are a little crooked and, although some of the businesses are modern, the place has an old world feel to it, like stepping back into another, gentler time. Next to the church was a terrace of red brick cottages, all the same except for their doors, which opened almost onto the street. For some reason nearly every door had a sign saying ‘please use back door,’ and I wondered why. Beyond them I could see an A frame sign on the street, maybe it was a coffee shop. Continue reading So many buildings, so little time

Botley, at last and a church to explore

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18 Jauary 2015

Botley began life as a Saxon village and the name means Botta’s leah, or a clearing in a forest belonging to a man named Botta. When the Romans built a road between Chichester and Clausentum, where my village now is, it passed Botley and a settlement grew up around the small Saxon one. Although I’ve visited it once or twice, mostly I’ve just driven through on the way to somewhere else and I’ve never really explored it properly. This turns out to be a terrible omission on my part because it has a lot to offer. Continue reading Botley, at last and a church to explore

Under a changing sky

Wednesday morning on Cobden Bridge
Wednesday morning on Cobden Bridge

14 – 17 January 2015

When I woke up on Wednesday morning the headache was still there, which was rather disappointing.  The problem is the pills that stop my stomach producing acid so the damaged lining can heal also stop my food being properly absorbed and digested. Amongst other things, this leads to a magnesium deficit, which, in turn, leads to headaches. Continue reading Under a changing sky

just a little further

Freemantle Common
Freemantle Common

13 January 2015

The weekend was sadly lacking in walking, much to my annoyance. Of course I don’t regret for one minute spending time with Panda on Sunday and, at the time, I thought I was sure to get a decent walk in over the next two days. On Monday though violent winds and  heavy rain ment I hardly went outside. Continue reading just a little further

Coffee tastes better with friends

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11 January 2015

It’s no secret that I hated working at Mad House right from the outset. In fact I only applied for the job because of a rather spooky coincidence that had me thinking the fates were trying to tell me something. My temporary job was coming to an end and my lovely boss, Mac, told me I should apply for a job at Mad House, “you’d be brilliant at it,” he said.
“A call centre! What gives you the idea I’d be brilliant in a call centre?”
“Well, you’re good at talking.”
“Yes, I learned at a very early age.”
“On the phone I mean, you have a lovely phone manner.”
“I worked in a call centre before. It was awful. I hated it.” Continue reading Coffee tastes better with friends

All things must pass

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7 – 10 January 2015

When I wrote about my Tuesday walk I mentioned that I’d paid a visit to the doctor and promised to tell you more later. Well, it’s like this. Since my stomach bug in late November, just before we went off to Paris, I’ve been suffering on and off with an intermittent stomach problem. It seems to ebb and flow like the tide with a few days of pain, burning and feeling nauseous followed by a few days of slowly feeling better before it all starts over again. Thinking it might be something I was eating I looked closely at my diet but, to be honest, half the time I didn’t really feel like eating anyway. Continue reading All things must pass

Calshot Spit and Calshot Castle

One last look back
One last look back

6 January 2015

With one last look back at the stricken car transporter I pushed on along the shingle spit towards Calshot Castle. The rain had stopped which was a bonus but, the further along the spit I went, the stronger it became. It was a real struggle to make headway against it. Coupled with the shingle I was walking on I figured I was getting my daily dose of exercise even if the actual miles wouldn’t add up to much.
Continue reading Calshot Spit and Calshot Castle

Run aground on Bramble Bank

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6 January 2015

Southampton doesn’t often hit the world headlines but this week you can hardly turn on the news without hearing about it. The cause of all this hooha is a sandbank in the Solent called Bramble Bank, or, more correctly, a huge car transporter ship called the Hoegh Osaka that ran around on it on Saturday night. All in all it sounds like a very costly cock up on someone’s part and I thought I’d use my Tuesday walk to have a look. Continue reading Run aground on Bramble Bank

plans afoot and a whole lot of photos

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5 January 2015

It’s hard to believe that four whole days have passed without me taking a single photo. This is, in part, because I’ve been obsessing over old photos. My Mac has somehow accumulated fifty three thousand of them covering the last few years and, for Christmas, Commando got me a mobile drive to transfer them to. Slowly I’ve been going through discarding the rubbish and saving the ones I can’t bear to part with. It’s a little like walking down memory lane without the actual walking. Continue reading plans afoot and a whole lot of photos