2008 — 26 Feb: Tuesday, and hopefully drier
Another placeholder. It's 01:28, the dishes are, well, dished and I've also watched one and a bit episodes of the Aaron Sorkin "Studio 60" TV show1 which struck me as a lot better than I remembered it seeming to be when Christa and I tried it together earlier last year. Could have been in a different mood at the time, of course. Just possibly!
Boggling
According to the Bureau of Economic Analysis, in 2007 our cousins on the other side of the pond had collectively amassed ten trillion one hundred and eighty-four billion dollars in disposable income and spent very nearly all of it — ten trillion one hundred and thirty-two billion dollars. And to think Christa and I used to worry about a mortgage debt that never exceeded £35,000. You can read more here.
A man, a plan...
Last time I was in Wherwell, I took two passes at the steep hill out of it as part of a driving lesson on my fifth day as a "driver". I
shall be back there later today, this time on foot, as the BBC has decided the weather today is going to be decent. Listening to the rain drumming on the study skylight right
now, of course, makes that seem a dubious prediction, but that's what I pay my licence fee for.
[sleep intervenes]
Breakfast is nearly loaded (it's 08:53) and I've gathered the ingredients2 to pop into the crock pot for slow
cooking my meal this evening. Next task: pack a lunch snack. Then fling on some clothes. It's now 09:21 and, you see, Time is yet again on the wing...
Here's the plan:
I exchanged emails regarding the long-term remnants of human activity that remain visible in our local landscapes with my Kennet & Avon chum. He knows a lot more than me. He has perused our intended route and comments on some features that may (or may not) catch our eyes during this walk. So while you're swanning around the Science Museum, Geoff, I shall be looking for:
1) Wherwell Priory (actually a Nunnery — they seemed to go for them in this part of the world) — built before the Norman conquest, dissolved as one of the lesser houses
in the mid 1530s. Actually, despite the optimistic assertion on the map, no-one knows exactly where the priory buildings were. The two visible structures associated with it are the
church (rebuilt in the 19thC) and the building wrongly called the Priory, which may have been a standalone pharmacy.
2) A short stretch of the Andover Canal, built in the 1790s (the same canal that one sees somewhat more prominently on the northern outskirts of Romsey). This is one of the very
few other signs that the canal ever existed. It was at least finished, unlike its tributary, the Salisbury & Southampton, which turns off at Kimbridge and never got beyond Alderbury,
and of which — unless you know exactly where to look — there's almost no visible trace at all. As you may notice from the map, most of the Andover Canal itself disappeared under...
3) ... the Andover & Redbridge Railway (known locally in its day as the Sprat & Winkle) in the 1860s. It was one of Dr Beeching's casualties in the mid 1960s. Much of it is still
reasonably prominent, and can be walked along for quite a bit of its way.
He adds that I "also have quite an interesting geological walk today, but that's another story." I sometimes wonder how he ever found time to run a Laboratory! Delegation; that must be his secret.
Now then: Camera? Check. Packed lunch? Check. Boots? Of course! Nose clip? (See map for reason.)
Wanderer returns
It's now 16:52 and I've been back for nearly an hour, I guess. Many photos to examine. But first, to Brian: thanks for the link. It is priceless, as you say, and a great deal more tear-inducing than the onions currently sizzling in my crock pot, but my worry is it's all too likely. And to Tim: thanks for the link, too. It has been said that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery...
You may wish to tinker a little further with the contact link at the foot of your main page though. Was there a reason you didn't follow through on the menu highlighting across the top of each page, I wonder? I quite like knowing roughly where I am in a web site; even my own!
And so, how was the walk?
Brilliant, actually. What was I looking at here, I wonder? Click away for larger pictures...
Well I never...
... knew that McGear (of McGough and McGear "Scaffold" fame) was Paul McCartney's brother! Thank you, Desmond Carrington. But I do now know that it's entirely possible to overcook something in a crock pot. And the sprouts should definitely have gone in only for the final few minutes after cooking them on their own. Still, the onions helped, and the cooking wine was an inspiration. Trouble is, a meal for one is a bit on the light side for the capacity of the heated pot, and I rarely want to face the same meal two days running. Christa would, I know, be faintly horrified at some of the wastage as I get to grips with matters domestical. Still, she must have had to learn once, too.
Right, time (20:16) for a nice, hot splosh! Perhaps I should wear my muddy trousers to clean them at the same time? It worked for Steptoe, did it not?