Accidents – I Walk Alone

Southampton General Hospital and the blue bin lorry

On Thursday, 9 June 2022, at a little after two-thirty, Commando got his cycling gear on and said he was going out for a couple of hours. I told him to enjoy his ride and take care, and then he left. When I saw him go past the front window on his bike, I settled down for an afternoon of research into my next project. Mostly this involved downloading Met Office weather reports for April 1942. I’d come to the last report, and was thinking about what to cook for dinner when the house phone rang. The only people who call on the house phone are salesmen and scammers, so we don’t usually answer it. It was now approaching five o’clock. I was expecting Commando back shortly. For some reason, I had a feeling I should pick up the phone. When I did, Commando’s voice said, ‘I don’t want you to worry but . . .’

Care for a Walk – Matley to Ashurst wet dogs, new trees and a fall

18 March 2017

Instead of crossing Beaulieu Road and walking through Denny Inclosure, we headed off across White Moor towards Lyndhurst. This is a walk I’ve done many times on my own so, for once, I knew exactly where I was and where I was heading. This was more than could be said for CJ, who had never walked this trail before. Continue reading Care for a Walk – Matley to Ashurst wet dogs, new trees and a fall

Homeward bound, stupidity tragedy and fate – first published 19 February 2014

Fate played a part in my choice of walk on 19 February 2014. As I was making my way back from Lakside a terrible accident was happening on a nearby route I’d thought about walking that morning. Of course, I didn’t know it at the time. Even so, on my walk home I witnessed a stupid act that could easily have become a tragic accident. It all left me thinking about the fragility of life and how easily we can be in the wrong place at the wrong time. Continue reading Homeward bound, stupidity tragedy and fate – first published 19 February 2014

All’s well that ends well at Blackfield Common

1 June 2016

June began with another RR10 in the New Forest, this time at Blackfield Common. Commando swore he knew how to get there. Stupidly, I believed him. By now I should know better. Of course, we ended up driving round in circles with no idea where to go and even Google Maps couldn’t help because I couldn’t get a phone signal. It began to look as if this would be the RR10 we didn’t make it to. Continue reading All’s well that ends well at Blackfield Common

Memories of the 1960’s – school days

Finally the day had come for me to go to school. There were special clothes, a grey skirt, white shirt and bottle green cardigan Mother had knitted, along with white ankle socks. Everything felt scratchy and new, not at all like the cotton dresses I’d been wearing. With the help of Tiny Dyer, a giant policeman wearing his tall black helmet to make him seem even bigger, we crossed the Main Road a little way down from our house along with a stream of other children I didn’t know. Amongst them was Libby, the girl with the curly blonde hair who lived on the corner at the top of The Crescent, tantalisingly close but too far away to play with. Everyone was wearing the same green jumpers and grey skirts or trousers. Continue reading Memories of the 1960’s – school days

Accidents and first aid

8 to 11 July 2015

The rain had stopped by Wednesday morning for the walk to work and there were swans gathered on the river beneath cloudy skies. As I walked along the boardwalk I looked hopefully for the cygnets I saw last week but they were nowhere to be seen. To tell the truth I felt a little nervous about the week ahead. JR and I were booked onto a three day first aid course. At the end we’d be qualified first aiders, if we passed the exam. Continue reading Accidents and first aid

A cygnet hunt and an accident

25 May 2015

Once we’d been food shopping and had some lunch I thought I’d go for a little Bank Holiday walk along the river. Apparently the first cygnets have been spotted at Lakside and, although I didn’t have time to go that far, I wondered if there were any at my end of the river. Commando was busy in the garden cleaning things so I left him to it, although I’d half hoped he’d come along and maybe we could stop off for a coffee in the White Swan. Continue reading A cygnet hunt and an accident

A short week and an eclipse

18 to 20 March 2015

In all honesty I wasn’t looking forward to going back to work on Wednesday, but who is after a week off? Outside the weather was a repeat of Tuesday morning. Looking over Cobden Bridge the distant houses were half hidden by a touch of mist and a seagull sat huddled on the end of one of the jetties waiting for the sun to take the chill from the air. A pair of swans swam listlessly between the little boats on the lookout for bread no doubt. Continue reading A short week and an eclipse

How do I get out of here?

4 November 2014

So there I was in Universal Boatyard surrounded by boats on dry land and lots of shipwrights looking askance at me. Uncomfortable didn’t even begin to describe it. According to my pre-walk reading I was supposed to go to the right of the boatyard but there didn’t seem to be a path to the right. I walked this way and that, trying not to look too lost or too suspicious but all I could see were dead ends and boats. Continue reading How do I get out of here?