Preston, Lancashire, England

My Very First Woodpecker

2007-02-01T14:57:00.000Z

I have resumed my daily lunchtime walks, today's journey was through the much underused Moor Park which is a mere 5 minute walk from my house. Upon entering the park I didn't see a single person for the first five minutes. It was during this time that my eye was caught by two grey squirrels playing around a tree, whilst I was trying to capture them on film, i became aware of a tapping noise and looking down a hill, very close to the footpack, about three feet from the ground was this little beauty. (Not this actual one, I nicked this of the internet, no by the time I'd taken my gloves off and got the zoom working the bird was long gone).

I've heard woodpeckers on two previous occasions, once in some far off trees in Longridge and on another occasion in some light woods near the allotments at Moor Park, usually the tapping noise is so distant that you don't become aware of it for some time. This time the bird was only about thirty feet from me and had no leaves to conceal it.

About fifty yards from this spot is a small brook, that is now quite clean, but was once very polluted, it was here about thirty years that I caught my one and only sighting of a Kingfisher, I can only remember it as being a brilliant blue colour because if flew so fast into the banking of the stream, or was it away from the bank, I can't remember.

Anyway, here's the photo I actually took of the two squirells, there's only one in the photo and it's the grey thing to the right of the round thing. David Bailey watch out here I come!

The whole park was filled with the sounds of birds, more so than at anytime I remember during the summer.

Guess Who's Back?

2007-01-31T14:22:00.000Z

Hi Everyone,
I've started planning next years holiday to Cornwall, the nights are getting lighter and the temperature is rising, I think I may be getting my enthusiasm back!

On the left you will see the house we are renting for a week in August, it's the grey one in the middle, the stretch of water in front is the Truro River, just before it meets and joins the River Fal. We tend to book more traditional cottages, but the price was right and the location looks a dream, to the right of the house is a creek, so you can only walk past these houses, no more roads.

I've found a brilliant new (to me) website www.oliverscornwall.co.uk which has some great reviews on pubs, walks, villages, towns, etc., in Cornwall, a lot of the places Oliver describes I've been to at one point or another over the last twenty years, but some I've driven straight past. Have a look at his website, I've suggested he does a blog because it would suit him so well. I came across this recently http://www.prestonlancs.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=318 which is people discussing my blog, without commenting on the actual blog!!

DOWN THE CANAL, DOWN MEMORY LANE!

2006-05-17T14:20:00.000+01:00

As some of you are aware I have taken to having a long walk at lunchtime when work and weather permit. Although not glorious sunshine it was a nice day today and I made time for this walk down the Lancaster Canal. For those of you unfamiliar with canals they were the original motorways. Used for transporting goods and people in barges, towed by a horse - hence towpath, as seen in this first picture.

All the bridges have a cast iron plaque with a number on, this one is 17, I'm pretty certain the first number is 12, the canal was cut shut some year ago at the Preston end, then later on when the M6 motorway was built it was shortened at the Lancaster end and near Tewitfield there is an unusable section, which is unreachable because of the low motorway bridge. The signpost below is a property developers vain attempt to make his massive housing estate merge in with the local environment, you can just see the rooftops in the photo.

These area was about two miles away from the nearest house when I was a kid, so 2 miles every 30 years!

The dead fish appeared to be a Pike, about two foot long and 2-3lbs I would imagine, a friend of mine caught a 20lb Pike when we were teenagers, he was in the local paper holding in a blag bin liner, he let it go, so you can imagine how big it might be now. The nest was found on the floor, I assume it fell from the tree during a storm. How do birds make them without hands?

The road bridge is a recent road built to encircle Preston - called Tom Benson Way - after a local record breaking long distance walker. It's odd there was only grafitti on this one surface, all the others were grafitti free. I'm really against grafitti, but here I just thought - whats worse a concrete wall or a colourful wall! I think maybe it wasn't menacing like some grafitti is, maybe if it was a dark night, etc. etc.

These three boats were moored at the 18th Bridge, as kids we would set out for a days walk with a duffle bag with fruit and drink in, and we would aim for a Bridge no. The 18th was always a popular choice because there was the white house in the photo that sold soft drinks and chocolate. Other destinations further along the canal were the Hand and Dagger Pub and the Jolly Rodger Cafe.

On one occasion we had set out fishing and were between the 17th and 18th Bridge, the local waterboard had been dredging the canal, depositing the mud and silt on the virtually unused towpath. There was a group of about 6-8 of us, some had wellington boots on and some had black plimsols, as a group we decided to run like mad idiots through this mud! Needless to say the one with plimsols managed to make it through, those of us with wellingtons on got stuck good and proper. This is a true story, for years afterwards when the mud had set solid, we would walk down the towpath and be able to see the tops of our wellingtons sticking out! We had to walk all the way home in our socks!

Happy days!

BANK RAID!

2006-04-28T13:14:00.000+01:00

I was just driving past the end of this road on the way to my local branch of the TSB, which I had visited yesterday, but had been given the incorrect amount by £80, which the bank informed me they had found when they cashed up for the night, when I saw this commotion, I'd already seen the police helicopter hovering, like a scene from Goodfella's. The van in the picture is waiting to take away the last of four robbers, the suspect is being held down a small ally to the right of the man on the right.

An eyewitness told me he'd heard two shots, someone else told me they'd shot the back window out of a car. One witness told me there were four suspects. I did get a photo of the last suspect being led to the van, but it doesn't show the guys best features.

The stuff on the floor round the people is supposed to be something to do with guns, criminals or police I'm not sure.

For several weeks police have been watching the bank, on one occasion we saw three cars and a video surveillance van parked around the building.

I hope everyone in the bank is ok.

The Millennium Link

2006-03-24T09:52:00.000Z

The Millennium Link is the name given to a recently constructed canal link, joining the Lancaster Canal to the River Ribble. Prior to this any boats on the Lancaster Canal could only access the rest of the canal network by travelling in open sea for about 40 miles! Via Glasson Dock.

Now boats can exit the Lancaster Canal, via the Link, to the River Ribble and then to the Leeds and Liverpool canal.

This Link is quite a feat of engineering it has used for the main part an existing stream that has been widened and altered to accomodate boats. A series of locks have been added to take the boats down from the canal to the stream, three locks in total.

The first picture is of a carved wooden statue that stands watch facing the locks. When this was first built it was vandalised and I thought it was a waste of money, but having seen it today, I actually think it looks good now. People have got used to him being there and no longer vandalise the statue.

The second picture is of course the locks. This is the view the statue would see, if you notice the road on the right, at the bottom of the locks is a turning basin, the canal turns sharply to cross under this road, this is where the existing stream runs, and then just beyond the road, just in view is a railway, so the canal passes beneath this.

In the last picture you can see the statue at the top, he can be seen for quite a distance, and at the bottom is the aforementioned basin.

All in all, the campaigners who fought for this development have turned a derelict piece of land into a lasting, modern day marvel of engineering.

The link, having passed under the railway, continues for about three miles towards the river, where traffic lights have been installed at the junction, because boats can only enter from the river at certain states of the tide, this also means there is a lock at the end of the link to stop the water draining away.

This whole link has a footpath alongside and has become a popular walkway, a haven for wildlife and pleasant attraction for the local population.

HAS SPRING FINALLY SPRUNG?

2006-03-14T14:16:00.000Z

This is surely a sign that Spring is here, taken in the second of two public parks within an easy walk of my home. This one is, looking at my map icon, bottom left, a small bit of pink just visible. It's called Ashton Park and is actually larger than Haslam Park.

Ashton Park houses Ashton Health Centre, which is where our doctor is based. As part of my new healthier lifestyle I am going to have at least a half hour walk every lunchtime, and this will be one of my regular walks. It means I walk through first Haslam Park, a short stretch of quiet road to Ashton Park. In the second picture the road in the background if you were to follow it to the right leads to Preston's Riversway, which is the old dock complex which has been completely revamped into a leisure/retail park with a marina, very under utilised, so if anyone has a yacht they want berthing!

It's hard to believe that less than 200 yards to the right is McDonald's, Supermarkets, Homebase, etc.

If you were to follow the road to the left you would find only 50 yards away the local Chrysler dealer, who caught me snapping my dream car this lunchtime, in fact if a lottery win was to come my way I would purchase all four cars from this dealership, the Chrysler People Carrier, the Jeep, the Crossfire Sports Car and my current fave the 200C. (pictured).

VIEW OF THE BRIDGE

2006-03-10T13:43:00.000Z

Today's journey along the banks of the Lancaster Canal will give you an alternative view of the road bridge on the masthead of my blog, you can see from this angle the mill and chimney in the bankground. This obviously used to be a cotton mill, then a warehouse for a catalogue company and I believe at present it's a call centre. I think one day it will be converted into apartments, just like a similar building has been in Preston centre.

The bridge in the view is the one on the map where the orange road crosses the canal, and we are facing generally south.

If you imagine the position this photograph was taken from and then turn to your left 180 degrees you will see the next photographic view, this shows the old cottage, traditionally inhabited by someone who work for the water board, you can see the blue barge in the distance. Right at the left of the photograph where the canal passes out of view is a large stream that passes beneath the canal, one of my neighbour's gardens are at this junction, so in effect if you could see past the building in the top left corner you would see my house.

To the left hand of this photograph is the run off from the canal which goes behind the cottage and down to the aforementioned stream. The land inbetween these two pictures is a kind of motorway service station for the canal, it has a toilet/shower building, picnic tables, etc. It's reached by a little lane from the bridge in the first photo. I've never been down the lane, I'm not sure your allowed. But one day next week the rebel in me is going to find out.

MY STOMPING GROUND

2006-03-10T12:12:00.000Z

I hope you all like the new design, it's taken a while to get it just how I like it. The map shows the area that I've spent the last 43 years in.

My primary school was at the right hand end of the green road, my secondary school was the one in the centre at the top. I spent my childhood and teenage years in a terraced house backing on to the canal shown on the map in blue, where it passes under the orange/brown road, my house was just along there.

I still live in this area, with my wife and two children.

BRING BACK HANGING

2006-02-21T13:42:00.000Z

Today's unlikely topic is the death penalty. I have very strong views on this subject and I'm about to share them with you.

The photo is of a young 16 year old thug who killed the head-teacher Philip Lawrence, depriving a good, honest man the rest of his life, a wife her loving husband and the children their father.

Philip Lawrence's children no longer have a father to talk to, to guide them through life, to see them get married and have children, to babysit for them. Philip's wife can longer share her time with her husband, help bring the kids up, share meals, birthdays and christmas's with.

Now tell me this, 16 year old shouldn't wake up in the morning, because if I had my way, I'd hang him myself, I'd put the noose round his neck, I'd whisper in his ear, I'd pull the lever to send him on his way, and then I'd put my arms around his ankles and add my weight to his, just to make sure!

I said I had strong opinions on this.

This is the BBC Story that made me write this blog:

The killer of headmaster Philip Lawrence has been let out of jail for a day to prepare for his release. Learco Chindamo was 16 when he stabbed Mr Lawrence to death as he tried to protect a pupil outside his school in Maida Vale, north-west London, in 1995.
Chindamo, now 25, was given a life sentence in 1996 and told he would have to serve at least 12 years in prison. The Prison Service said he had been let out of prison on Saturday as part of a resettlement programme. Day releases are used to maintain and develop prisoners' contact with their families and friends, and prepare them for their eventual release.

So as you can see this piece of scum will soon be hitting the streets again, will it be your daughter who unwittingly starts dating him, without knowing his past, will it be your children who one night bump into him in the streets, will it be your husband who tries to stop him beating his next victim?

I hope to God not.

It would be far, far better for society, for all decent law abiding people, to remove this scum element from our streets.

If you kill someone, rape someone, molest a child, attack someone with such ferocity that they might die, then my friend you shouldn't walk the same streets I do.

We should bring back the death penalty as soon as possible.

I'll gladly do it, I'll do it for free. And do you know what: I'll sleep at night.

CHURCHTOWN WALK

2006-02-07T14:35:00.000Z

This is a short 3 mile circular walk starting at St. Helen's Church, right in the centre of the small, delightful village of Churchtown, nr. Garstang in Lancashire. It should take no more than two hours for the average person and is ideal for a summer’s evening picnic. The British Countryside at it's best!

The Start
Take the A586 off the A6, signposted for Churchtown, town left into Churchtown and pass the Horns Inn on your left, follow the road into the village and pass the village cross on your right, then the Punch Bowl Inn on your left, the car park for St. Helen’s Church is immediately on your right.

The Walk
Passing St. Helen’s on your left follow the path out of the churchyard to an old iron gate, through this is an embankment path leading to the visible suspension bridge, holding hands cross over this and then over the wooden stile directly in front of you and continue up the lane to the left, on the right is the unmistakeable white house which is Catterall Hall.

Continue up the lane, passing a small woodland on your left, with a good mixture of trees including some young chestnuts. Look out for the circling Lapwings in the fields around these woods. Eventually the road levels out and meets Catterall Lane, turn left and follow this long quiet lane until just before the Franklaw Water Treatment Plant is reached on your right, don’t take the signposted footpath on your left, but continue down the lane a bit further to a signposted path which is a gap in the hedge on your left.

On entering the field aim for the obvious gate almost directly in front of you, which is at the end of a long hedge to the right. Go through this well fastened farm gate, making sure you fasten it securely, as on our visit there was a small herd of young bullocks, or so Lovely Redhead thought! Enter the next field and head diagonally to the right where there is a small stile right in the corner of the field.

Over the stile is the footpath by the side of the A6. Turn left and follow this for only a short while before turning left down Old Lancaster Lane, passing the lovely coloured Mulberry Cottage on your left. Continue on the footpath through this small hamlet and then turn left down the track, after the red brick detached house, with a footpath sign. Through the farm gate, again fastening securely and heed the warning about the Bull (we didn’t see one) and Dogs!

You are now walking virtually alongside the river Wyre, here, on the bank is the romantic picnic spot, watch out for some wonderful wildlife, and the electric fence on the bank!. Across the river are some wonderful views of St. Helen’s Church. Note the massive house to the right and the play area and gazebo structure.

Follow this track, passing the house named Arnwood on your left, until you reach a couple of wooden stiles and then the path leads you back to the suspension bridge, cross over to the embankment path, if you’re having a picnic this is a great spot, or why not continue back into Churchtown, and have a short meander through this Lancashire gem, before slaking your thirst at either of the two local hostelries.

PORTH DINLLAEN in Wales

2006-01-27T15:07:00.000Z

Top photo is probably one of the loveliest hamlets in Wales, a couple of miles from Nefyn on the Lleyn Penninsular, can only reached by a two mile walk along the beach or a similar walk through the golf course. Porth Dinllaen was orginally in contention with Holyhead to be developed as the ferry terminal to Ireland, guess which won! There's a lovely pub right in the centre of the photo (the red building) called the Coch Inn, visit http://www.tycoch.co.uk/WallHome.htm for the webcam! The second picture is a small bay with a lifeboat station past the white building to the left on the webcam. There is a narrow cliffside walk to this bay. That's 12 Year Old at the end of the path.

RECYCLING

2006-01-27T14:10:00.000Z

Reading someone else's blog (Ruby from Bury St. Edmunds) prompted me to post this photo of our household's refuse collection and recycling bins. The large black one is for general rubbish and is collected bi-weekly, the large brown one is for green waste and is also collected on alternative weeks along with the five small boxes which are for paper, cardboard, plastic, metal and glass. It takes quite a while and is quite messy around the house collating these different recycling ingredients before loading them in to the boxes/bins, but we all have to do our bit.
BTW the bins and boxes aren't usually in my front garden, but we're having a bit of building work at the back of the house.

MARLON BRANDO

2006-01-26T10:28:00.000Z

I couldn't believe it last night on TV, The Godfather versus Apocolypse Now and Ryan's Daughter on at the same time along with Catherine Tate and Jongleurs. What the hell could i do? Well seeing that I've seen The Godfather, Apocolypse and Ryan's Daughter about ten times each, I simple flicked between Catherine Tate and Jongleurs and during the adds I caught a couple of great scenes from the films. I also made a promise to not watch any of the aforementioned films until I'm fifty (seven years time) by which time hopefully I'll have forgotten most of the storyline and characters and can then enjoy them - as if for the first time. My 18 Year Old bought me the Godfather Trilogy for Christmas 2004 on DVD, I watched 1 and 2 on a business trip, but I'm saving 3 up for a rainy day! He bought me this year the Sopranos (series 1) and I'm saving that one up too!

Going back to the Godfather and Apocolypse it made me realise just how great an actor Marlon Brando was and of course how well made they both were, along with the sheer brillaince of Ryan's Daughter.

I wonder if today's new films will stand the test of time, sadly I can't see Gaymen Mounting, sorry Brokeback Mounting being in the same league.

157MPH

2006-01-11T10:39:00.000Z

On the local news a guy has just been found guilty of speeding. He was caught doing 157mph on a motorway - speed limit 70mph. His punishment was £3,000 fine plus a 12 month ban. Not such a wicked crime you might suppose, if the road was quite, the weather conditions fine and he was an experienced driver. Well all those things might have been.
But he was on his mobile phone! Plonker.

SOMEONE'S IN TROUBLE

2006-01-05T14:46:00.000Z

We got an envelope addressed to The Occupier at our address today, inside was a leaflet (see photo) advertising the fact that she had cheated on the Poster I presume. I don't know the woman, but again I presume she lives in the vicinity and that all my neighbours also received a similar envelope. I'll be looking at all my neighbours and passersby in the street a lot more closely now!

MAKES YOU APPRECIATE WHAT YOU'VE GOT by HM2K

2005-12-22T14:41:00.000Z

Just found out that it's the funeral today of the local newsagent's wife, she's just died of a Brain Tumour I believe, after finding out only a few months ago. I don't know them that well, only because we've lived here 12 years and see them probably every couple of weeks to say hello. What a shame, she was only 55, they have a daughter early 20s perhaps, they'll probably not have a good Christmas for years to come. Alan, the newsagent and his wife Barbara, were a real friendly couple and it always seems to be nice people that have tragedy in their lives. Where's God now then?

Changing subject, but only because things like that make me determined to enjoy my family even more, me and the (newly renamed) Lovely Redhead have been out for lunch at a nice relatively local country pub, that appears to have new owners. It's called the Stag's Head in Goosnargh, Lancashire. Log fires, low beams, we even had a private room with just a table for four and 2 leather armchairs. Two great hot beef and onion filled baguettes, with chips and a salad, a drink each, a coffee each, for less than £20. Perfect!