Tag: Landmarks

More tales from the Old Cemetery

August had become September, and there was a hint of melancholy in the air. The flowers brightening the Old Cemetery had turned to fluffy seed heads, and the green leaves would soon turn brown. The first grave to catch my eye emphasised my sombre mood. It belonged to two little sisters, Alice Maude and Violet Foote. Alice taken at three years and four months and little Violet at seven days. Their deaths were more than a century old, but I couldn’t help thinking of the grief that must have weighed down their parents. 

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The end of an era

28 January 2014

Back in January 2014, I wrote a post about a famous Southampton landmark. It wasn’t the Bargate, the medieval walls, the Civic Centre, or any of the usual monuments; it was a giant boat in a humble garden in Midanbury. To be honest, it was more of an analogy than a history, a cautionary tale about things getting out of control and ignoring the elephant in the room — or the boat in the garden. Sadly, Peter Bromley, the man who built this unintentional folly, has now passed away, aged 93, and, this week, the boat was finally dismantled. Avon Road will never be the same.

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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 Soke and the oldest church in Winchester

5 August 2018

A quick look at the map made up my mind. The top part of Blue Ball Hill looked to be devoid of houses and I could see the square tower of a church a little way along St John’s Street. Old churches are almost impossible to resist and I could always walk back up and explore further afterwards. With this in mind I began to walk along St John’s Street. There were so many interesting looking houses, it was slow going and, as I walked, I realised I was gradually going downhill, slowly losing all the altitude I’d gained with so much effort earlier. Continue reading The Soke and the oldest church in Winchester

Memories of the early 1960’s – landmark days and the passage of time

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January 1965

While some of my earliest memories are vivid and detailed, most are very vaguely fixed in time. Once I started school, dates began to mean something to me. My days were ordered into week days, weekends, months and years interspersed with long school holidays. There were also a few landmark events, dates that will never be forgotten.  Continue reading Memories of the early 1960’s – landmark days and the passage of time

Love and landmarks

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10 February 2014

Commando and I don’t do Valentines Day. There are no hearts and flowers, heart shaped chocolates or fancy, expensive cards in our house. That is not to say we are not romantic, we just don’t need a special day to show how much we love each other. In the spirit of St Valentine though, I thought I’d revisit a landmark from our past for my Tuesday walk. As the germs going round the office seemed to have settled in my throat and chest the fact that it wasn’t too long a walk was a bonus. Continue reading Love and landmarks