A Weekend Diary

…words and images from England's green and pleasant land…

Archive for the tag “rambling”

A change in the seasons…осень наступает…

No mistaking the onset of autumn…and this past week in Hampshire the evidence has abounded…;)

Orchard Road in Southsea...

Orchard Road in Southsea…

ONS bus stop, Segensworth Road West, Titchfield

ONS bus stop, Segensworth Road West, Titchfield

The evenings are still just about light enough to undertake a shortish post-work ramble, so that’s what nine of us, along with three dogs, did on Wednesday evening, in and around Bishop’s Waltham…

St Peter's Church, Bishop's Waltham, Hampshire

St Peter’s Church, Bishop’s Waltham, Hampshire

The Bunch of Grapes pub, in St Peters Street

The Bunch of Grapes pub, in St Peters Street

And yesterday morning, a walk along the Southampton Road on my way to work, harvested these images…

Some autumn dew on roadside leaves...

Some autumn dew on roadside leaves…

Some autumn berries...

Some autumn berries…

A clustering of blackberries...

A clustering of blackberries…

A dormant fly on a thorny branch...

A dormant fly on a thorny branch…

A couple of red berries...

A couple of red berries…

A roadside fungus...

A roadside fungus…

And another...

And another…

And let’s end this early morning ramble with a rather beautiful flower…;)

A white flower in autumn morning sunlight...

A white flower in autumn morning sunlight…

A ramble around Kings Worthy

Another post-work ramble, sixteen of us this time, around the village of Kings Worthy, close by Winchester in Hampshire…

An idyllic vista of the River Itchen

An idyllic vista of the River Itchen

One of the many desirable residences we encountered on this circular walk...

One of the many desirable residences we encountered on this circular walk…

A swan contre-jour...

A swan contre-jour…

...and a swan, and a duck, bathed in evening light...

…and a swan, and a duck, bathed in evening light…

Some of my fellow-ramblers (in the distance)...

Some of my fellow-ramblers (in the distance)…

St Swithun's church

St Swithun’s church

Some curious bullocks  just as well they weren't heiffers with young... ;)

Some curious bullocks – just as well they weren’t heiffers with young… 😉

A friendly piebald horse...

A friendly piebald horse…

And finally, the pub we retired to after the walk. I settled for a pint of HSB, and an Artichoke and Sun-dried Tomato Pasta….

The King Charles pub, in Kings Worthy

The King Charles pub, in Kings Worthy

A New Forest summer evening’s ramble…

Lovely weather for the most part in England at present, and on Thursday evening about a dozen of us went for a post-work six mile ramble in the New Forest, a circular walk starting and ending at the Sir Walter Tyrrell pub, and here are some of the resulting pictures….

Forestry Commission sign at The Rufus Stone

Forestry Commission sign at The Rufus Stone

And here follows the not entirely credible story of the Rufus Stone...;)

And here follows the not entirely credible story of the Rufus Stone…;)

RufusStone2

RufusStone3

A Queen Elizabeth II post-box encountered on the way round...

A Queen Elizabeth II post-box encountered on the way round…

avenue

Pine trees and a foxglove...

Pine trees and a foxglove…

Some of my fellow-ramblers...

Some of my fellow-ramblers…

We encountered surprisingly little bird-song on the way round, but there were cattle...

We encountered surprisingly little bird-song on the way round, but there were cattle…

...including this wary youngster...

…including this wary youngster…

...and a pony or two...

…and a pony or two…

A reflective linger by a lake...

A reflective linger by a lake…

The beer garden of the Sir Walter Tyrrell pub, where we enjoyed a post-ramble meal and drink....

The beer garden of the Sir Walter Tyrrell pub, where we enjoyed a post-ramble meal and drink….

The front of the Sir Walter Tyrrell, shortly before we left for home around half-nine in the evening...

The front of the Sir Walter Tyrrell, shortly before we left for home around half-nine in the evening…

…and this photo was taken a few days earlier in Titchfield…

A bee collecting pollen...

A bee collecting pollen…

A Wickham ramble…and the Wainwrights on the South Bank…

It was a beautiful evening last Tuesday, and eight of us went a-rambling in and around Wickham Common, north of Fareham in Hampshire…a five mile walk, after which, four of us went for a meal and a drink in ‘The King’s Head’ pub in Wickham…

Some back-lit leaves en route..

Some back-lit leaves en route..

Long evening shadows, and a football match beyond...

Long evening shadows, and a football match beyond…

Rambling into the setting sun...

Rambling into the setting sun…

'The King's Head' pub in Wickham...

‘The King’s Head’ pub in Wickham…

"I’m sitting in the railway station, Got a ticket for my destination…"... at Fareham station around 9.15 pm on Tuesday

“I’m sitting in the railway station, Got a ticket for my destination…”… at Fareham station around 9.15 pm on Tuesday

And segueing from Simon and Garfunkel to Loudon Wainwright III, last night I found myself at a (half-empty!) Royal Festival Hall, being richly entertained by the wonderfully eccentric folk singing of Loudon Wainwright, supported by one of his daughters, Lucy Wainwright Roche (he is also dad to Rufus and Martha Wainwright)…and a memorable evening it was too :)…

The 'support' was Lucy who did half an hour on her own, and later joined her dad for some duetting...

The ‘support’ was Lucy, who did half an hour on her own, and later joined her dad for some duetting…

Loudon and Lucy...

Loudon and Lucy…

Loudon Wainwright III

Loudon Wainwright III

Duetting on 'Love Hurts', first covered by the Everly Brothers in 1060, and many times since, notably by Nazareth and Jim Capadi amongst others...

Duetting on ‘Love Hurts’, first covered by the Everly Brothers in 1960, and many times since, notably by Nazareth and Jim Capaldi amongst others…

Rambling on my mind…

BucksRamble

[Click on image to enlarge]

‘One fine autumn day last year, an old friend and I caught a train from Marylebone station up to Princes Risborough, to go for a ramble out to Chequers (the British Prime Minister’s retreat in the Buckinghamshire countryside).

This picture was taken from some high ground on the way back, with the sun slowly sinking in the west.

Camera used was a Panasonic Lumix LZ-1 digital compact.’

I’ve lifted the italicised text above directly from the equivalent photo in my flickr account, and that ‘fine autumn day’ was in fact the 7th October, 2006. I still do a fair bit of rambling, mostly with workmates in Hampshire now, but for the initial post in this occasional blog, it seemed appropriate to give some background to the ‘Background Image’ itself, so here it is ;).

Incidentally, the ‘old friend’ alluded to in the text, used to live in Finsbury Park in north London, and we’ve known each other for over twenty years. We’ve a shared history of not only country rambles, but also countless jazz gigs, mostly in Soho, and on the South Bank in London…but he moved up to North Yorkshire a couple of years ago to keep an eye on his elderly mum, so although we do keep in touch, our paths rarely cross nowadays.

Anyway, that’s quite enough rambling for this post methinks… ;).

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