On 11 August 2021 I’d walked across Riverside park to check out the repairs to Woodmill, then I’d carried on to the flower Roads to find the houses where my grandparents and Commando’s had once lived. Now I wanted to explore Daisy Dip, the ribbon of parkland in the valley between the houses. The park is split in two by Lobelia road and it was the west side I was interested in because I planned to feature it in the book I was writing.
Continue reading Exploring Daisy Dip
On 11 August 2021, I’d been to look at the repairs to Woodmill, but this was just the first part of a much longer walk. In fact, Woodmill and the repairs were almost incidental. The main aim of my walk was flowers, although maybe not the kind you’re expecting. Once I’d inspected the new brickwork at the mill I carried on along Woodmill Lane, over the little railway bridge, and crossed the road at the junction of Portswood Road and High Road. I was heading for Swaythling.
Continue reading The flower roads
12 October 2016
We’d walked four miles or so and now, right in front of us, was exactly what we’d been hoping. Or was it? With our hearts in our mouths we walked slowly forwards, hardly daring to hope. It all seemed a little bit too easy though. If this really was a boundary stone, right there in full view, why had no one found it before? Continue reading The mystery of Bassett Woods
12 October 2016
When my street view hunting turned up what looked very much like another boundary stone, albeit half hidden behind a wheelie bin, CJ and I were itching to go and see it for real.
“It might not actually be a stone,” I said as we set out along the river this morning. “We shouldn’t count our chickens before they’re hatched.”
Even so, there was a thrill of anticipation in both of us, if it was a stone, it was one that no one else had found. It felt like a very big thing and we couldn’t help getting excited. Continue reading Counting chickens
3 March 2016
Today I decided to attempt the ill fated boundary stone hunt again. It wasn’t actually raining, although the sky was overcast and very slightly threatening. For extra luck I dragged CJ along. He has keener eyes for boundary stones. To be honest it didn’t take much dragging but I didn’t actually tell him how long the walk was going to be or it might have been a different story. Continue reading Two stones for the price of one…maybe