Freemantle Common – I Walk Alone

The end is nigh, or is it?

When I set off for a walk on 14 May 2020, I was not in the best frame of mind. A vague feeling of doom hung over me. The news should have been reassuring. Boris Johnson was back on his feet after his brush with the virus, the number of people being hospitalised was falling, the NHS had not been overwhelmed and five Nightingale hospitals had been built. At the end of April Boris had said we were past the peak and on the downhill slope. He even had a conditional plan for slowly lifting the lockdown. Best of all Oxford university had announced a partnership with Astrazeneca to develop a vaccine and researchers from University Hospital Southampton were involved in vaccine trials.

Hamble or bust

27 October 2017

Last week, a little dawdling and some getting lost on our walk through Spear Pond Gully meant we missed the chance to drop in on Commando at work. Today was his last training shift so I thought I’d walk down to Hamble and meet him while I still had the chance. In theory it should have been a nice easy walk, all downhill after the climb to get to the village but timing would be key. Arrive too early and there’d be a lot of waiting around, too late and I’d have a long, uphill walk home. Continue reading Hamble or bust

Escaping the chores at Millers Pond

27 October 2016

Today was one of those busy days with no time for a proper walk. The sky was too blue not to take advantage and get some fresh air though so, when I was out running errands, I decided to take a little detour to Millers Pond. It’s been a while since I was last there and I thought there might be some nice autumnal reflections in the water and maybe a few ducks. Continue reading Escaping the chores at Millers Pond

Fallen trees and interview techniques – first published 13 february 2014

Some of my random and slightly desperate applying for jobs had resulted in a job interview back in February 2014. It was with a large financial institution in the city centre. Anyone who knows me will tell you finance and figures isn’t really my thing. I’m pretty sure I only applied to make up the numbers on my job search form but still, a job was a job. Continue reading Fallen trees and interview techniques – first published 13 february 2014

Trying to create some kind of routine – first published 7 January 2014

The beginning of 2014 seemed like a good time to try to get some semblance of order into my life again. Exercise was high on the agenda. With a broken DVD player in the gym Pump it Up had fallen by the wayside. Then I discovered some of the workouts were on YouTube. With a little fiddling and experimenting, I found out I could create a playlist on YouTube too. Who knew that? Ok, probably everyone knew that except me. Continue reading Trying to create some kind of routine – first published 7 January 2014

Windy City walking

12 April 2015

The Sunday walk was dictated by the fact that it was Philo’s birthday. What with the adventure at Eton and Windsor, the change of shift and then the Easter weekend it was the first chance I’d had to get his present. Of course I knew exactly what I was going to get, I just hadn’t had time to go and get it. So, the plan was to walk into town and back, killing two birds with one stone. It was a beautiful day for it, or so it seemed. Continue reading Windy City walking

Boundaries, stones, woods and lack of energy

17 March 2015

A little while ago I visited Cross House, the ancient shelter for people waiting for the Itchen Ferry boats. Cross House was built on base of the old Itchen Ferry boundary cross and, close to the building, I found a strange rectangular stone. This, I discovered later, was one of twelve modern boundary stones, carved in the council workshops in 1988 and placed at significant points along the city boundary. It was not the first one I’d stumbled upon but it was the first time I’d been able to find out what I was looking at. As Tuesday was my last chance for a walk before I went back to work, I decided I’d revisit the first boundary stone. Continue reading Boundaries, stones, woods and lack of energy

A thin, ephemeral blanket of white

3 February 2015

On Monday night I made a careful plan for a long walk. Maybe it’s time I learned my lesson and stopped making plans because it seems something always happens to scupper them. When I got up in the night I did a double take as I passed the hall window from bedroom to bathroom, either there was a really heavy frost or it had been snowing. It was too dark to see for sure so, sleepily, I trotted back to bed. The answer, when Tuesday morning came, was snow! Finally the Yak Trax would come out of hibernation. At least they would if I got a move on and got outside before it melted or rained. Continue reading A thin, ephemeral blanket of white

just a little further

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

common land and hidden gems

20 November 2014

After such a warm, wet autumn my little garden is in need of some tender loving care right now. Unfortunately, the need of the garden in Commando Senior’s crooked little house was greater. This meant a little morning walk across Freemantle Common with my folding secateurs in my rucksack. Thankfully it wasn’t raining and it certainly beats walking to work. Continue reading common land and hidden gems

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