Tag: Litter

Following Monks Brook through Fleming Park

Fleming Park

Monks Brook has been a feature of my walks for many years. Regular readers of this blog will have followed me more than once as I walked beside it from Woodmill to Swaythling or Eastleigh. I have mentioned it in passing when I’ve been at running events in Eastleigh or crossed it, heading from Lakeside to Stoneham Lane. Originally, it was called Swaethling Well, swaethling, being an old English word meaning misty stream, and the modern area of Swaythling took its name from the brook. In the fourteenth century, the water upstream of Swaythling was renamed Monks Brook after the monks of Hyde Abbey near Winchester. The stretch between Swaythling and Woodmill was still known as the Swaethling Well. This is the part of the brook I know best, but I have long wanted to explore more of this seven-mile stretch of water. On 28 September, when Commando said he was going for a run at Fleming Park, I grasped at the chance to follow the course of the brook further upstream. How far I’d be able to get remained to be seen.

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Checking on the mill

Riverside Park

With parkrun back and most restrictions lifted, it really felt as if things were getting back to normal, so, on 11 August, I decided to risk a walk along the river. I had two aims in mind, the first of which was to check on the repairs to Woodmill. Back in May, some silly joyriders had somehow managed to crash into the side of the mill demolishing part of the wall. It had looked pretty grim when I went to inspect the damage, but since then, repairs had been made and I was interested to see how they’d gone.

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Throw away society

Woodmill

As September 2020 crawled to a warm, lazy close I kept walking. It was too hot for epic walks and all the pretty places were still crowded with furloughed workers so I mostly stuck close to home and walked the streets. The leaves were slowly beginning to turn as autumn approached and the mornings were often misty.

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More Running School Adventures

17 July 2018

Today was my second session at the Running School. Part of me was slightly less nervous about the whole thing because I knew roughly what to expect. Another part of me was slightly more nervous for precisely the same reason. This time I only had to walk one way though, which was a bonus. As the session was slightly later Commando was going to pick me up afterwards. Another bonus was a relatively cloudy sky, something we haven’t had for weeks and weeks. The sun would not be beating down on me as I walked. Sadly, it was still more than a little humid so I was still going to get hot.  Continue reading More Running School Adventures

Pears, picking litter and pony traps

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11 August 2015

Saturday was the day of the annual Big Beach Clean Up on Weston Shore. Of course, I was working so, much as I’d have liked to, I couldn’t be there. The Friends of Weston Shore do a fantastic job organising these events and keeping the shore clean although I always think it’s a shame they have to. If everyone took their rubbish home there’d be no need and these dedicated folks could spend their time enjoying the beach. Unfortunately, people just discarding litter wherever they like, even right next to a bin, seems to be a sign of the times. Continue reading Pears, picking litter and pony traps