Supermarine – I Walk Alone

Peartree Green – fires, bombs and Mother Nature

April 22 was one of those changeable spring days, with heavy skies that could as easily have brought rain as sun. I’d had a mind to walk down to the shore, but I’d been dithering all morning, waiting to see if the rain would come or not. In the end, I decided on a compromise. I would walk to Peartree Green and have a wander around. Then, if the heavens opened, I wouldn’t have too far to go to get home and dry. At least it wasn’t cold. In fact, by the time I’d climbed the steep steps from Braeside Crescent to Gainsford Road, I was boiling in my ‘just in case’ mac. Normally, I walk the other way — along Braeside Road and up the hill, but the view from the top of those horrible steps drew me. A tantalising glimpse of the railway line and Chessel Bay through the trees and beyond the roofs of the houses makes the climb worthwhile.

Urban footpaths and a limbo summer

I have always been a sucker for a footpath. Something about seeing those signs gets me all excited. This odd obsession has led me on quite a few wild goose chases in my time. It has led me astray, miles from where I wanted to be. Sometimes, it has caused me many miles of backtracking, or unnecessary detours. But, still, I cannot resist the lure of the footpath. Maybe it’s because there are no cars, and, generally, no people? Or it could simply be the anticipation of stumbling upon something strange or beautiful at the other end. Whatever it is, I’m hooked and on 15 April, with blue sky overhead, I needed a fix. Unfortunately, time, a lack of available transport and the need to knuckle down and do some work on my next book, meant I was going to have to keep it local.

April, birds, books, stories and flowers

The first parkrun of April 2022 began with puddles, crows and a walk in the Old Cemetery. In a strange way, it felt like an echo of the December parkrun I told you about last time, except it was far warmer and the book hurtling towards publication was a different one. Land Fit For Heroes was with Hayley at Hangar47, just as Plagued had been in December. The only difference to my thoughts about the process was that it now felt as if I’d handed over my second born child. A walk in the cemetery in the early morning light was just the thing to take my mind off all the things that could go wrong. To be honest, I had no idea exactly what could go wrong, but that didn’t stop me worrying about it.

two bridges and an iconic plane – first published 8 June 2013

The two day weekends were playing havoc with my walking. At the beginning of June I’d planned a twelve or thirteen mile walk but time was not on my side. Four day weekends made it easy to take one whole day out for walking now it was not so simple. Commando suggested I try a short walk instead. Although I will admit to being a little peeved not to be having the walk I wanted I had to agree his plan made sense. The decision was made and I set about finding an interesting shorter walk using Walkjogrun. Continue reading two bridges and an iconic plane – first published 8 June 2013

Crossing the river to Crosshouse

15 February 2015

Given my cold and the need to keep fairly close to a box of tissues at all times, I didn’t think it would be wise to wander too far from home for my Sunday walk. After much umming and ahing and a little poring over maps I decided on Crosshouse. It fit in very well with last week’s walk and, if I got tired or ran out of tissues, I could wander up into town for a sit down. This meant I started off much the same as last week with a walk to the green and then across it. Still, even if you take the same walk every day there’s always something new to see and this was no exception. Continue reading Crossing the river to Crosshouse

Spitfires, a ferry, a lost village, and a pear tree

9 February 2015

In the end, instead of climbing back up the slippery bank I decided to carry on a little further. This may well have been another procrastination device to avoid the muddy ascent but it proved to be more interesting than I expected. Of course, I’ve walked this way many times but, even on a familiar walk, there can be surprise discoveries. Passing the Yacht Pub where people were enjoying a Sunday lunch time drink in the winter sun, I made towards the slipway and the little park where the Itchen ferry boats used to come and go. Continue reading Spitfires, a ferry, a lost village, and a pear tree

A mythical pear tree, a village green and an air raid shelter

Looking over Chessel Bay from the site of the old Ridgeway Golf Course

8 February 2015

On on the face of it Pear Tree, seems an odd name to give to a green, a church or an avenue but there was once an ancient pear tree, almost rent in two by lightning that, miraculously some might say, survived and still bore fruit. Back in 1618, when the little church was built the whole area, from Bitterne Village at the top of the hill down to Itchen Ferry Village was woods and heathland known as Ridegway Heath. So famous was the old pear tree that the green on Ridgeway Heath was named after it. When a post on the Southampton Heritage Facebook page mentioned an air raid shelter on the green and a World War II tented camp I thought I’d go and take a closer look.

Continue reading A mythical pear tree, a village green and an air raid shelter

M	T	W	T	F	S	S
		1	2	3	4	5
6	7	8	9	10	11	12
13	14	15	16	17	18	19
20	21	22	23	24	25	26
27	28	29	30	31