Month: February 2023

Hellborne Begins


Welborne Garden Village. That is the name of the new 6000 home development just north of Fareham. The name sounds lovely doesn’t it? Unfortunately, the locals have a different name for it.

Hellborne

Welborne will be located to the north of Fareham and adjacent to the A32 and around the existing M27 Junction 10. And therein lies the issue. After suffering months of disruption on the M27 while the road was upgraded to a smart motorway motorists can now look forward to many more months of disruption as Junction 10 is “improved”

The first steps of this improvement include the construction of a new motorway underpass and three new slip roads. To facilitate these improvements there will be a series of overnight closures of the A32, north of the M27. Starting from 27th February, 2023 thru to 3rd March, 2023.

Later, in March, the M27 itself will be closed to enable execution of topographical, drainage and geotechnical surveys. In order to undertake the surveys the following closures are planned.

6th, 7th and 8th March, 2023 between 9pm – 6am, the M27 will be closed in a west-bound direction between Junctions 11 to 9. Then 9th and 10th March, 2023 the M27 will be closed in an east-bound direction between junctions 9 and 11.

So the works are beginning.

You only have to travel a couple of miles west to Junction 9, the Whitely/Segensworth junction, to see a prime example of a motorway junction overwhelmed by the traffic trying to access the residential, commercial and industrial developments on the north side of the M27. At peak traffic times the motorway becomes a car park, and a pretty scary one at that.

Do we trust that the planners have a solution to this for Junction 10 !!! I have my fingers crossed.

Welborne and the associated works are forecast to go on for some twenty years. It will not be a fun time.

Petersfield Heath Lake


Earlier this week I spent a joyous afternoon with my granddaughter, Bella. At six years of age, she really is a pleasure to spend time with. Although, I am surprised that my ears weren’t bleeding by the end of the day. She just talks and talks and talks.

Primarily, Bella just wants to go somewhere with a play park. Slides, swings and roundabouts. With all those things she is happy.

A favourite haunt is Petersfield Lake. There is a sizeable play park, a cafe and lovely walks around the lake. So, most items were checked on her must have list.

Arriving shortly after one o’clock I was surprised at how misty it was. I couldn’t see the bank at the far side of the lake. Although the sun was just starting to break through.

A Misty Petersfield Lake

When in the direct sunlight it was nice and warm but as soon as you moved into the shadows of the trees you could really feel the underlying chill.

Illuminated Boardwalk – Petersfield Lake
Petersfield Lake

After an hour, or so. And the obligatory ice-cream, and coffee for me, we set out to walk around the perimeter of the lake. By now the mist was gone, presenting us with a lovely sunny afternoon.

The lake plays host to many aquatic birds. Swans, geese, ducks, moorhens, coots and gulls. Lots and lots of gulls. Of course Grandad got his coots and moorhens mixed up. Thank god for smartphones and Google. I was able to sort things out. Don’t want to be misleading the kids.

Nesting Coot – Petersfield Lake

As we traversed the boardwalk we were able to see many of the birds making their homes around the lake.

Also we were able to view the results of the hard work being carried out to create submerged islands, planted with shrubby plants. Hopefully these will mature into safe habitats for the birds to nest in.

Brent Goose (Pale Bellied) – Petersfield Lake

I was surprised at how few of these there were. South of Petersfield, there are several playing fields, in and around Portsmouth, that are taken over every year by huge flocks of Brent Geese.

Egyptian Goose – Petersfield Lake

Not sure why an Egyptian Goose would be overwintering here in the UK. You’d think they would stay where it was warm.

Mallard Ducks – Petersfield Lake

Just a couple of snaps across the lake. What a fabulous view the owners of those houses have from their windows.

Petersfield Lake
Petersfield Lake

During our stroll we spotted many other birds, including robins and various tits and finches. They were making good use of the coconut shells, filled with suet and seeds, variously hung around the bushes and trees.

Another nice touch was this fairy garden, set in a tree stump. Bella really enjoyed investigating the various pieces here.

Fairy Garden – Petersfield Lake

And so the circumnavigation was completed. One more go on the slides, well several really, and it was time to head out for a bite to eat.

Basic error on my part was that I asked Bella what she would like to eat. In my mind I was certain we were headed for McDonalds. Surprise, surprise, Bella wasn’t interested in Macca’s, or KFC, or pizza. After perusing several menus outside of pubs and cafes we ended up in a Cafe Nero. Where Bella settled for a toasted cheese and ham roll, a Belgian chocolate chough pastry donut all washed down with a fruit smoothie.

A fitting end to a lovely day.

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