The Southampton Tram Project

Southampton Common

When we strolled across an eerily beautiful and somewhat misty Common in early October 2021, I had no idea that Commando had another bit of time travel up his sleeve to surprise me. As far as I was concerned, it was just another ordinary Saturday morning watching parkrun and having a wander in the Old Cemetery. My head, as usual, was full of the book I was plotting, listening to the voices of my characters clamouring for attention. The fifth book in the series revolved around a tram driver and his conductor friend. The first draft was written, but despite extensive research about Southampton trams, I’d never actually been on one. The last Southampton tram ran on 31 December 1949, more than ten years before I was born.

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SS Shieldhall

14 September 2019

As a reward for all the long walks, or maybe out of guilt for having signed me up for a marathon without my knowledge, Commando arranged a little treat for this afternoon. This came in the form of a cruise, although not the kind most people would imagine when they think of the port of Southampton.

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The changing face of Ocean Village

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26 July 2016

Ocean Village is not somewhere I often walk. In fact it’s been many years since I was last there but today it was the first stop on our second Zany Zebra hunt. Sadly, we didn’t have the blue skies and sunshine we’d had for our first hunt but, climbing the steps to the Itchen Bridge, this didn’t seem too much of a hardship. The grey skies seemed preferable to the muggy sunshine even if it might mean less attractive photos. Continue reading The changing face of Ocean Village