Category: Local (To Me !!!)

Hayling Billy Trail


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 Bridge
Remains 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”.

Gull
Little Egret (Egretta garzetta)
Little Egret (Egretta garzetta)
Birds

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.

Sunset – Portsdown Hill

Staunton Park


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.

Fungus
Grey 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.

Peacock

The Wreckers Move In


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 ?

It’s the end for old cinema as wreckers start – Environment – Portsmouth News.

Copnor Road before the bridge was built – Remember When – Portsmouth News


Copnor Road before the bridge was built – Remember When – Portsmouth News.

The News carries on in its inimitable bumbling manner. The title of the article is in direct contradiction with the first sentence of the article.

Copnor railway bridge opened in 1908, three years before this picture of Copnor Road, Portsmouth, was taken.

I enjoy reading the many and various articles that they publish but I do wonder …. Does anyone at The News ever read what they publish ?

Why I Have No Sympathy For Evicted Ex-Soldier


This story has been run in “The News”, my local paper, four times to my knowledge. More space has been given to this story than any other “near homeless” family tale.

So I can only guess that either the family know someone at The News and are playing the sympathy vote for all its worth or this is a pretty pathetic attempt at attacking David Cameron and the government.

The issues here are pretty straightforward, as reported by The News ……

  1. Mark Hampson – Joined the army and gave 23 years service with tours in Iraq and Afghanistan.
    For this we, as a nation are truly grateful.
  2. Mark Hampson and his family have lived in the same army quarters for 18 years.
    This subsidised accomodation has enabled Hampson and his family to live a reasonably comfortable life with the MOD being responsible for the property maintenance and quite possibly, in those 23 years, providing a new upgraded kitchen and bathroom. I make the last comment based on my army-wife granddaughters experience after spending a short period of time in married quarters.
  3. Mark Hampson has survived a battle with cancer.
    For this he does have my sympathy. To be diagnosed with cancer is not easy and it can have adverse effects on friends and family too.
  4. Mark Hampson became a self-employed lorry driver. So he is fit enough to work.
  5. Mark Hampson – Left the army a year ago but only now does he realise he will lose his home.
    This is totally rubbish. He knew when he signed up for the married quarters that he would have to leave at some time. So he has had at least 18 years to prepare for leaving this house. You don’t just suddenly up and leave the army unless you are getting dishonorable discharge or you go AWOL . You have to give notice which starts a number of wheels into motion. If you are being medically discharged a lot more wheels are set in motion. The army does try to prepare soldiers for exit. Again, based on talking to my granddaughters husband who is currently going through the exit procedures for leaving the army. There is money available for re-training as preparation for life on civvy street.Oh and let’s not forget the following which I lifted straight off the Army website.

    After two years of Regular service you’ll have earned an Army pension that will be paid when you get to the age of 65. And if you serve for 12 years you’ll be entitled to a tax-free resettlement grant on retirement too. Anybody aged over 40 who has served for at least 18 years gets the right to claim an immediate pension and tax-free lump sum on leaving the Army, and a second lump sum when they turn 65.

    With 23 years in the army Hampson more than qualifies for pension and lump sum. Add to this any additional funds, if Mark Hampson is being medically discharged. In one of the four articles he is quoted as saying

    He applied to join the army’s security services but he said he was not deemed fit enough following his recovery from cancer.

In summary Mr Hampson has known for at least 18 years that MOD accommodation was not for life, that he would have to give up the house provided by the army.

He has known for sometime that he was leaving the army and did in fact leave a year ago. Since then it appears that he has done nothing to prepare for this moment. What has he done with the lump sum ? Has he used it as a deposit either for a mortgage or for rental accommodation ?

On the evidence presented by The News he is expecting the British Tax Payer to bail him out and apparently it is David Camerons responsibility

All this on the back of a pledge by the Prime Minister of the formation of a ‘heroes’ committee’ to give service personnel the support they need when leaving the forces.

The News reported this week how he has found it difficult to find accommodation through Chichester District Council’s housing scheme – despite assurances from Prime Minister David Cameron that former servicemen and women will be supported after leaving the armed forces.

The implication is that it is Camerons responsibility to hand him a council house or to allow him to remain in his current house.

He said: ‘It’s a bit of a shock that it’s happened so quickly. The stress of it is a bit worrying – we don’t know where to turn.

‘I’ve served my time and thought there might be a bit of advice and help to go forward.’

It hasn’t happened “quickly”, it isn’t a shock when you know it is going to happen. Even if you ignore the 18 year long awareness he has been ex-army for a year so knew he was on limited tenure in this house.

Mrs Hampson said they have been offered temporary accommodation but would have to re-home the family dogs – labradors Sasha and Mollie. She added: ‘We couldn’t get rid of the dogs, it would break us and Mark.

So they didn’t consider putting the dogs into kennels while they found permanent accomodation ?

And now that the eviction has happened and the family are living apart we are expected to be sympathetic. Well it’s not going to happen. This family have really made themselves homeless by lack of planning and an assumption that the government or the local council has a responsibility to look after them. Nothing reported by The News has shown this family to be anything other than a bunch of scroungers.

This is why I have no sympathy for this ex-soldier.

War veterans deserve so much more than this…- Defence – Portsmouth News.

War hero’s family writes to MP over eviction- Defence – Portsmouth News.

After 23 years of service veteran faces losing home- Defence – Portsmouth News.

Evicted ex-soldier apart from family – Defence – Portsmouth News.

My Condolences To The Bartons Farm Protesters


A few days ago protesters lost their fight to prevent the building of new homes on a site just outside of Winchester. The Government has approved the building of over 2,000 homes at Barton Farm on the edge of the city. Campaigners have been fighting for over 15 years to prevent this decision.

This decision echoes that which has allowed the West of Waterlooville development to go ahead despite local opposition.

I note that the Winchester protesters concerns very much mirror mirror my own with regard to the loss of countryside, lack of infrastructure to support the additional housing, traffic and load on utilities. Once again the developers and planners are citing the additional jobs that the development will generate.

For Bartons Farm the developers are claiming generation of 8000 jobs ???

One can only assume that they are talking about temporary jobs for the construction workers. Once the development is completed will these jobs still be available. I don’t think so.

Strangest comment comes from Mike Emett, director of Cala Homes.

On traffic Mr Emett said the 2,000 homes would reduce the congestion because fewer people would need to drive into Winchester from Eastleigh and Southampton.

Does he assume that existing Eastleigh and Southampton based work force will all up sticks and move to Bartons Farm or perhaps that they will give up their jobs, hand them over to local workers who are the new residents of this development.

It really is bizarre to suggest that an additional 2000 houses will reduce traffic congestion. Time will tell.

My condolences to the residents of Winchester and to the protesters.

View From The Conservatory


I hung this feeder a couple of weeks ago, loaded it up with bird feed. So far they, the birds, have ignored it. I’m guessing that they have plenty of other food sources which is why they haven’t touched this seed. With all the wet weather the seed has sprouted. I thought it would be worth a photo.

I guess the birds aren’t hungry. Hence the overgrown feeder.

Purbrook Place – 03/10/2012


Building work is forging ahead on Purbrook Place, one of the latest housing developments in the Waterlooville area.

Purbrook Place – 03/10/2012

Permission was granted for the construction of 76 homes, consisting of a mix of 2, 3, 4 bed houses and 2 bed flats with associated parking. The landscaping is scheduled to include open spaces and play areas. There will also be a pumping station ???

Purbrook Place – 03/10/2012

The, main, road access will be from Stakes Road but there will also be pedestrian access to Stakes Hill Road. and the nearby schools.

It is a shame that, at this time, Havant Borough Council and the Highways Agency haven’t taken the opportunity to revise the nearby roundabout which will bear the brunt of the additional vehicles that this development will bring.

The Purbrook Place development on its own will not increase the burden dramatically. However when you take into account the additional traffic that will come this way from  other developments in the Waterlooville area then it is imperative that some improvements are made. I have posted previously regarding the difficulty that can be experienced trying to negotiating this roundabout. These difficulties are primarily caused by virtue of the fact that drivers do not “have” to stop.