West Park – I Walk Alone

Research Rabbit Hole – Southampton Parks 1926

The town of Southampton was once surrounded by ancient fields where townspeople grew crops in summer and grazed animals in winter. By law, all crops had to be harvested by 1 August, Lammas Day, so the fields were called Lammas Lands. In 1844, the Marsh Improvement Act allowed the council to drain the Saltmarsh around the new Terminus Station. To compensate the townspeople for losing this common grazing land, the council agreed to turn the other Lammas Lands into parks. The Central Parks were laid out in the late 1850s, and old OS maps of the time show the layout has changed very little since. Southampton’s wonderful parks are still a prominent feature to this day, and they also feature in many of my books. Making sure I got things right required a good deal of research.

Postcards from Watts Park

7 March 2017

The day seemed to be getting warmer and warmer and, even though I’d taken my coat off and stuffed it in my bag near the start of our walk, I was overheating. After yomping into town, running an errand and wandering all over Andrews Park taking photographs, CJ and I were in need of a coffee. We both agreed to head for Artisan Coffee in Guildhall Square. Maybe we’d even have a cake.

Continue reading Postcards from Watts Park

Skyride Sunday

12 June 2016

John, the parkrun ED, volunteered to organise marshals for this year’s Southampton Skyride so, today, there were an unusually large number of runners lining the streets of Southampton. They were all dressed in eye popping pink t-shirts. Amongst them was Commando. He left rather early this morning while I was still drinking hot chocolate and rubbing the sleep from my eyes. At a more reasonable hour CJ and I walked over to town to see what all the fuss was about. Continue reading Skyride Sunday

The rhino hunt gets a little messy – first published 10 August 2013

In front of the Guildhall the rhino trail suddenly stopped being logical and I could no longer simply walk from one rhino to the next if I wanted to see them in order. Either I’d have to walk back and forth, passing some more than once and taking far longer than I’d have liked, or I’d have to look at them out of sequence. It seemed like a good time for a little break and maybe some coffee while I decided. Unfortunately, when I went back to the cafe, it was packed with other rhino hunters so a drink would have to wait. Continue reading The rhino hunt gets a little messy – first published 10 August 2013

Blue sky, blushing leaves and strange fruit

28 October 2015

There was blue sky this morning so I thought I’d have another attempt at finding some English Autumn colour. Maybe I’d have more luck in the parks in town and, if not, there was always Costa Coffee. Starting off in the bottom corner of Hoglands Park I had to admit that a bit of sunshine did make a difference. The grass was speckled with russet leaves and the trees along the path looked as if they’d been painted with gold. Continue reading Blue sky, blushing leaves and strange fruit