Tag: Southampton Parks

Easy as a walk in the park – first published 9 June 2014

June 2014, I’d seen the roadworks on the Itchen Bridge and along Platform Road, walked along the old walls and looked at the place the castle had once stood. Fortified by coffee I strolled along Portland Terrace in the sun with my latte in my hand feeling rather excited. The next part of my hastily cobbled plan was a walk through the parks. How I’d missed my lunchtime park walks and the chance to see the seasons change, especially in the Enchanted Park. Continue reading Easy as a walk in the park – first published 9 June 2014

The enchanted park – first published 21 April 2014

The primary reason I started doing long walks was to lose weight and I did lose a lot, more than four and a half stone. Unfortunately being at home for three months in 2014 along with Christmas meant I’d put on mumble, mumble, mumble despite masses of walking when I was unemployed. This just went to show walking alone is not the magic cure for weight loss. It is a great big tool in the weight loss bag of tricks though and I was on the case of getting those extra pounds back off again.  Continue reading The enchanted park – first published 21 April 2014

A walk in the park – first published 21 April 2014

Late April 2014, and, after a windy rainy day the weather brightened up leaving the pavements everywhere littered with fallen blossom. I laid the blame for the bad weather firmly at Commando’s door for getting the sun loungers out from under the decking. Now the sun was out but there was precious little time for lounging. First we had to go up the Big Hill to Sainsbury’s for supplies. Strangely we thought we saw Hetty from NCIS Los Angeles wandering round with a basket on her arm and I swear she was following us. Maybe an NCIS Southampton is on the cards at some point? Continue reading A walk in the park – first published 21 April 2014

Bad Service Good Service and a world bursting with life – first published 14 March 2014

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With just a week of leisure left to me before I start my new job I was desperately trying to get prepared and tick off all those little jobs that had been waiting in the wings. The first thing I had to do was make a doctor’s appointment for an epilepsy review. I’ve had epilepsy for twenty odd years now, thankfully fully controlled by medication and these yearly reviews are one of the few reminders that my brain is not quite like everyone else’s. You would think getting an appointment with the practice nurse would be fairly simple, especially as I had a whole week absolutely free and it takes all of five minutes. You’d think it would be easy to get through to the surgery in the first place. You’d be wrong on both counts. Continue reading Bad Service Good Service and a world bursting with life – first published 14 March 2014

Bees, butterflies and regeneration – first published 8 March 2014

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The real sign that winter is over isn’t the flowers or the flush of green on the tips of the branches. No, those are just the window dressing. The real sign that winter is over are the insects, the bees and the butterflies. In early March 2014 the insect seemed to suddenly reappear after their winter absence and I knew Spring wasn’t far off at all. Continue reading Bees, butterflies and regeneration – first published 8 March 2014

Southampton City Archives, more questions than answers

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11 October 2016

As we walked through Aldermore after our final boundary stone discovery I knew the time had come to visit the City Archives to see if I could find any more information about the eleventh and twelfth stones. Several fruitless searches on the Common and Golf Course Road had left me wondering if they even existed and, if there were any answers to my questions, I guessed this was where I’d find them.  Continue reading Southampton City Archives, more questions than answers

Fifteen minutes of fame and one final zebra

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28 September 2016

A couple of weeks ago I had an email from Chris Hitchings, a journalist working for Radio Solent. He’d seen my post about finding the boundary stone in Lord’s Wood and wanted to know more. We had an email conversation about the stones and how I’d been searching for them and he said he’d like to interview me. This sounded a little disconcerting as I’ve never been one to crave the spotlight and at first I was inclined to decline. When Chris said he thought someone out in radio land might know where the two missing stones were though, I decided a touch of public humiliation was worth it. Continue reading Fifteen minutes of fame and one final zebra

Wet, wet, wet and wondering…? – first published 18 February 2014

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Mid February 2014 and the weather was supposed to be taking a turn for the better so I was more than a little disappointed to wake to more rain. It might not have mattered quite as much if I didn’t have an appointment in town with some paperwork for a job interview and a terrible loathing of paying for buses to places I could easily walk. In the end the whole thing turned into a very frustrating and slightly worrying event that left me feeling as if I’d been scammed. Continue reading Wet, wet, wet and wondering…? – first published 18 February 2014

Fallen trees and interview techniques – first published 13 february 2014

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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

A disappointing walk in the parks

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17 August 2016

We’d purposely saved our zebra hunting in the parks for a sunny day and today had more than enough sun. In fact there wasn’t a cloud in the sky. There were six zebras to find, or there should have been. We already knew Skittles, near the bandstand in Palmerston Park, was likely to be absent. He was stolen on the same night as Ticket to Ride, ripped from his plinth. Unlike the poor First Bus zebra he was found, damaged and dumped in some bushes in Hoglands Park. Why anyone should want to damage these lovely beasts and spoil everyone’s fun is beyond me. Continue reading A disappointing walk in the parks