Tag: Winter

Frustrations, meetings and spreadsheets

Wonderful light on Cobden Bridge
Wonderful light on Cobden Bridge

4 – 7 February 2015

Wednesday morning started off well enough. Disappointingly, I didn’t walke to the banket of white I’d hoped for, just bitter cold and clouds that were pretty enough but held no snowy promise. The walk to work was brisk to say the least but the light was good enough to make me stop on Cobden Bridge for a couple of photos. The colours of the boats and houses seemed unnaturally bright and the old boatyard almost gleamed. A couple of swans were mulling about by the little boats and a large barge was slowly making its way towards the bridge while the sun gradually climbed above the trees and houses on the east of the river. Continue reading Frustrations, meetings and spreadsheets

sea, ruins and melting snow

Weston Shore
Weston Shore

3 Fenruary 2015

Pretty soon I was crunching through the snow around the corner, where the Seaweed pub used to stand, to the shore. Beside me snow was caught in the seed heads of the swaying grasses and I could see a ragged line of white where the shingle beach should be. Despite the dark clouds everything looked sparkling and bright. The brooding snow cloud on the horizon almost hid the towers and spires of Fawley on the other side of the water but the sun was doing battle with them, trying hard to burn through.  Across the road the little beach shelters looked lonely on the empty foreshore, it seemed as if I was the only person in the world, with the whole beach to myself. Continue reading sea, ruins and melting snow

A thin, ephemeral blanket of white

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3 February 2015

On Monday night I made a careful plan for a long walk. Maybe it’s time I learned my lesson and stopped making plans because it seems something always happens to scupper them. When I got up in the night I did a double take as I passed the hall window from bedroom to bathroom, either there was a really heavy frost or it had been snowing. It was too dark to see for sure so, sleepily, I trotted back to bed. The answer, when Tuesday morning came, was snow! Finally the Yak Trax would come out of hibernation. At least they would if I got a move on and got outside before it melted or rained. Continue reading A thin, ephemeral blanket of white

Hum Hole, Facebook and urban legends

image 1 February 2015 I’m not a great fan of Facebook. In fact, I resisted it for a very long time but, working in marketing for Dream Factory, the day came when I could resist no longer because I was put in charge of the company Facebook page. This meant I had to sign up for myself. These days I run a Facebook walking page, Walking Is Exercise Too and, recently, I discovered another very interesting page, Southampton Heritage Photos. Lately, there’s been a lot of talk on there about Hum Hole. Continue reading Hum Hole, Facebook and urban legends

Rain, ice, stress and a road works poem

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28 – 31 January 2015

It was a typical wet, windy Wednesday so I left extra early to catch the bus across the Big Bridge.  Normally catching the bus would give me more time, not less, but the road works on the bridge and consequent traffic jams mean going anywhere on the road at the moment is a long winded, frustrating business. Still, I have a free bus ticket and I did get to say hello to the swans on the bend by the boardwalk as I marched past. Despite the leaving early I barely made it to the office on time. A journey that takes me thirty minutes or so on foot took nearly an hour on the bus. Continue reading Rain, ice, stress and a road works poem

a different perspective down by the river

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27 January 2015

The weekend had been a little light on the walking front. There was some Sunday retail therapy, when Commando treated me to a slap up lunch in Burger King. Not the most salubrious of establishments I admit but it did give me a different view of the Bargate. Monday was mostly about cooking.  As I had a date with Commando on Tuesday afternoon to take running photos as publicity for his London Marathon fundraising, I thought I’d better get my finger out in the morning and get a few miles in. The original plan had been to take a train to Shawford and have a wander around Twyford before walking back, possibly on the Navigation, mud permitting. This would have been an all day walk though so I had to have a rethink. Continue reading a different perspective down by the river

Frost, ice crystals, sun and ships

What a difference a day makes
What a difference a day makes

21 – 23 January 2015

Wednesday morning couldn’t have been more different to the day before if it tried. The cold was still there but the beautiful skies I’d seen on my early morning walk were now grey and brooding and the sparkling frost was nowhere to be seen. Seven cygnets were foraging around in the mud by the slipway and, as I passed by, their parents came rushing over to see if there was bread to be had. There wasn’t.

Continue reading Frost, ice crystals, sun and ships

Cold weather eating urges – first published 7 november 2012

 

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As someone who has always struggled with my weight winter is a testing time. The cold weather brings on cravings for stodgy comfort food while, at the same time, there is less opportunity for exercise. Let’s face it, we’d all like to snuggle up in front of the fire with a big box of chocolates or a bowl of sticky hot pudding and custard. Doing that for three months of the year would really pile on the pounds though so it’s something most of us fight. This post from the archives is all about why it happens and how I try to beat the cravings. Continue reading Cold weather eating urges – first published 7 november 2012

What exactly is power walking? – first published 6 November 2012

A cold and frosty morning
A cold and frosty morning

Although no one has actually laughed at me in the street to the best of my knowledge, I’ve been told my walking style is a little odd. Personally being thought a little odd doesn’t particularly worry me. It does worry Commando slightly to be seen with me when I’m walking fast but I figure that’s his problem not mine. Fast walking, or power walking, is not as simple as it might seem, as the following post from my archives explains. Continue reading What exactly is power walking? – first published 6 November 2012

Botley, at last and a church to explore

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18 Jauary 2015

Botley began life as a Saxon village and the name means Botta’s leah, or a clearing in a forest belonging to a man named Botta. When the Romans built a road between Chichester and Clausentum, where my village now is, it passed Botley and a settlement grew up around the small Saxon one. Although I’ve visited it once or twice, mostly I’ve just driven through on the way to somewhere else and I’ve never really explored it properly. This turns out to be a terrible omission on my part because it has a lot to offer. Continue reading Botley, at last and a church to explore