Taylor Wimpey are starting to prepare for their Phase 3 and 4 build outs. Next week, they will be felling a few trees that they are permitted to remove. Trees will be checked by an ecologist for recent evidence of bats, and appropriate steps taken if necessary, although all trees were checked not long ago.
Tomorrow, there will be a walk through of the Western Open Space, in preparation for any planting or other action required.
Grainger PLC announced at the West of waterlooville Forum that they are now a Registered Provider for social housing. The RP will be a subsidiary entity to Grainger plc. It will enable Grainger to retain greater control over the management of the affordable homes within its development pipeline over the coming years through the RP, providing greater community building capabilities
On Monday night my grandson and I were on a mission of mercy. A British ex-pat, with a sweet tooth, had asked for some specific “lolly’s” to be taken back to Oz. We had been searching for Revels, which I was very familiar with, and Maoams, which I had never heard of. All we knew was that they could be obtained from Tesco’s. However, once we were in the Tesco store all became clear. Maoams are a range of sweets made by Haribo. I had seen them on the shelves but they are not typically my sort of confectionary, hence my ignorance. A very helpful young lady soon directed us to the correct shelves and we very quickly emptied the boxes of Revels and Maoams and they will soon be heading through the air to Australia. Unless, that is, my grandson gets peckish. In which case he may consume them all on his way home.
The George Inn, Portsdown Hill Road, Portsmouth
After making our successful purchases we started to head back home but decided that we would drop in The George Inn on Portsdown Hill. We were only going to have a pint but that inevitably turned into two. The “George” is a pub which my wife and I used to frequent on a fairly regular basis but I had not been in for probably ten to fifteen years. The decor has changed, not unexpectedly, and it is a warm and inviting environment to drink in. I am a beer man so I noted that they were serving Old Speckled Hen, one of my favourites, and soon had a pint sitting in front of me. My grandson is a modern cider drinker who normally drinks Magners back home but had to settle for Thatcher’s. We later found out that he thought he was drinking Magners but had in fact misheard the barmaid. Never mind he liked it enough to go back for a second pint a short while later. Although I had enjoyed my “Hen” I had become intrigued by some of the other labels on sale, namely the pump directly in front of me which bore the tag for Havant Brewery’s “Herd”.
Havant Herd
Firstly I wasn’t aware that Havant had a brewery. Secondly, seeing other customers ordering it, I noticed the dark colour and the “rusty” head. I asked the barmaid about it but she was new and didn’t know anything about the beer type. So I asked one of the customers who seemed happy to get his gums round a pint. His description of each mouthful being different wasn’t very helpful and he didn’t really know if it was truly a “stout” or perhaps a “porter”. So the only solution to this confusing state of affairs was for me to have a pint for myself. Well I very soon understood my fellow drinkers confusion. There are many things going on in a pint of “Havant Herd”. Coffee and Chocolate flavours, sweet with a bitter edge, but an overall rich and smooth texture. Suffice for me to say that it is very moreish and gets my recommendation.
The “George” has another unusual brew on their shelves. It bears the label Jeremiah Weed with two varieties “Root Brew” and “Sour Mash Brew”. These will obviously have to be investigated on a future date perhaps while trying out the George’s food menu.
I’d like to say welcome, happy birthday or whatever one says on the introduction of a new website.
Congratulations to the Waterlooville Business Association on a clean, fresh looking site. You have laid the foundations of what I hope will be a long-lived, vibrant site.
Opportunist Cat
Opportunist cat decides to settle down on the mats from my wifes car. I guess the black rubber had absorbed some heat from the autumn sunshine that we are experiencing today.
Spent last evening at a firework display held on Stockheath Common, Leigh Park. This is the annual display that is put on by Havant Borough Council. As this was the first time that I had attended this event I really didn’t know what to expect.
Given the weather we have experienced over the last few days we were granted a dry but chilly evening. Temps down as low as 2degC. However the common was very squidgy and with the many hundreds of feet tramping around the fun fair the grassy ground was rapidly transformed in to mud.
Jungle Fever
However, despite the conditions underfoot the event was well attended and the council provided a good display. The following are a couple of shots, my first attempt at taking pictures of fireworks.
Leigh Park 2012
The images are not quite what I was expecting ………
Leigh Park 2012
but I am quite pleased with the overall results.
Leigh Park 2012
Taken using my Canon PowerShot A570 and all hand-held …. next time I’ll have a read of the manual and a practice before going at it for real.
Along with my wife, grandson and a longtime friend over from Australia we spent an enjoyable few hours reminiscing and catching up.
The “Inn” provides good food in nice surroundings with a beautiful views across the Solent to the Isle Wight and along the coast from Portsmouth to the West to Selsey in the East. This a great venue regardless of the season.
When we arrived the weather was cold and quite breezy. By the time we had finished eating the wind had dropped and the clouds had rolled away. The sun was dropping rapidly and illuminating the shoreline beautifully.
The following view is to the west and in the distance you can see the Portsmouth skyline including the Spinnaker Tower, the floodlights at Fratton Park and it is just possible to make out St Marys church.
Hayling Beach Huts in the Autumnal Sunshine
This view is to the east and when viewed full size you can just see the Selsey shoreline merging with the horizon.
Hayling Shore view towards Selsey
I believe that, when the conditions are right, the south coast and especially Hayling is as good as any mediterranean location.
The line was opened by the LBSCR for goods on January 19th 1865, and for passengers on July 16th 1897. Over the winter of 1962 it was decided to close the branch line, the reason being the old timber bridge that crossed Langstone Harbour needed expensive repairs. The company could not afford the repairs and thus the line took its final fare paying customers on November 3 1963.
Many years on and the route of the Hayling Billy Line has been opened as a combined footpath, bridleway and cycleway and passes down the west side of the island. It is part of route 2 of the National Cycle Network.
Over the years I must have driven on and off Hayling Island many hundreds of times and was aware of the Hayling Billy Trail but until now had never visited.
So there we were on a very chilly Tuesday afternoon, with the sunshine coming and going, but spending most of the time hidden behind the clouds. At least it wasn’t raining. We parked up in the car park at the northern end of the trail.
Looking north from the trail toward the road bridge.
As you follow the trail you can see many clues linking back to parts of the old railway . Some are a little more obvious than others. The most obvious are the remains of the old railway bridge.
Hayling Billy Railway BridgeRemains of Hayling Billy Signal
As you head south down the trail to your right are the remains of the oyster beds. These are now home to many sea birds and attract many “twitchers”.
The trail is very popular and we met many folks out walking their dogs, whole family’s cycle riding and even a couple of ladies on horseback. We spent an enjoyable couple of hours strolling along taking in the scenery while the fresh air blew away the cobwebs.
Late afternoon – Hayling Billy Trail
After we got back to the car we headed up to the top of Portsdown Hill for a cup of tea courtesy of Mick’s Burger Bar. There we were treated to a beautiful sunset.
Saturday and we had blue skies and sunshine following several days of mist and murk. We paid the price of course with a chill wind blowing strongly.
I have my grandson over from Australia for a few weeks and he has a new camera to play with for the trip so we took the opportunity to get out and visited Staunton Park situated between Leigh Park and Rowlands Castle, near Havant.
We were hoping that the trees would be showing their autumn colours but we were somewhat disappointed. I think we were too early. However, we did enjoy the walk and took some photo’s.
A selection of snaps follows for your delectation, the first of which is a view over Leigh Lake.
Leigh Lake viewed from the site of William Henry Stone’s house.
The following photo shows part of the countryside that will over the next few years, planning consents permitting, become a fairly large reservoir
Although Stones house has long since been demolished there are many signs remaining of the old buildings. Not the least of which are the arches below.
Underneath The Arches
Of course the main reason we were there was to partake of the natural beauty. One aspect of the natural world which offers so much variety is that of the fungi.
FungusGrey Fungus
These cattle make for a quite peaceful scene even though the wind was blowing quite hard.
Longhorn Cattle
The following photo is of part of land which will eventually end up under water as part of a proposed new reservoir.
Site Of Future Reservoir
In the woodlands there are a number of items which are I believe intended as both art and education for children. There is no description near this but I believe that it is intended to let children hear magnified sounds of the woodland. It can be rotated through 360 degrees. I, for want of an alternative christened it “The Mukkinese Battle Horn” after the famous short film featuring Peter Sellers and Spike Milligan. Nearby there was another item which is a concave / convex mirror. We had much fun with it which I am sure the children would too.
Mukkinese Battle Horn ?On Reflection
And to finish our walk, as we returned to the car park, this chap came to see us off. It was a shame that he was disappointed by the fact that we had no food to offer him. This is probably why he didn’t display his tail feathers.
Following the arson attack, which hammered home the final nail in the derelict buildings coffin, demolition teams have moved in to start work on The Curzon Rooms. One time cinema and function rooms this building has been an eyesore for well over a decade.
The fire has finally triggered some action. Various plans for the site have been proposed but none have made it from the drawing board into reality. The building has been classified as dangerous and is being demolished. The work is scheduled to take about a month and permission has been given for the site to be turned into a car park.
Presumably this will bring in some revenue for the owners but will not do much to inject some life into the town as a shopping centre. The expectation was that this site would be developed into both retail and residential premises to instill a bit of life into Waterlooville.
A car park is hardly the result that Waterlooville residents would have hoped for. Does this mean that plans for flats and shops will now go on hold indefinitely ?
WrAnTz 