This Is Not A
BLOG!
Date: 09/02/08
Out And About
It was far too nice to be sitting in the house, so I decided to go out for a walk with the camera (which hadn't had an outing since late September).
Two problems: the first was the question of where I could go, having photographed most of the manor to death in the last couple of years.
The second problem was that I had a hell of problem getting my walking boots on. As I've mentioned before, my legs and ankles have swollen up (the latest on that, by the way, is that the ultrasound scan showed no problems. I've now succeeded in baffling two GPs, and - as they say in the newspapers - investigations are continuing). I had to substantially de-lace my trusty old Doc Martens before I could even get them on.
Having almost had recourse to a crowbar, I eventually set out at about 1:20 along the footpath alongside the old steelworks site. This is in a shocking state. The section nearest home is rutted to buggery, and the last two hundred yards or so is little more than a swamp due to the water running off the adjacent fields.
I came out at the other end carrying half a ton of mud, water and horseshit on my boots, and took this photograph:
We've already got a Mountain View in the village! We told the developers this. We might as well have been talking to the masonry for what good it did.
I went along Llewellyn Road to the top of the Fron (photographs to follow in the Gallery soon) and down into Tanyfron.
At the bottom, along came a bus:
I went down to Southsea and went up towards Ochnall's Bridge. This was my real target, as I'd promised myself - and you, dear reader - that I'd get some close-up photographs of it, it being a rare example of a skew-arch bridge (which is the only reason why it has survived when every other disused railway bridge in the area has been pulled down). Again, pictures on the relevant page of the Gallery ere too long.
I walked up through the Lodge and then decided to make the climb up to Pentre Broughton over the old railway track. I got there eventually, but part of the path which used to go up a set of wooden steps has long since gone the way of all things which aren't nailed down - and most of things which are - hereabouts, so it was quite a scramble, especially when faced with these:
I then walked down Station Road and Queen's Road. Oh, looky here! It's another bus!
I seldom take a watch with me on these bijou trekettes, because if I see what time it is I start hurrying. Just after seeing the bus, though, I checked the clock on my camera and saw that it was 3:30. The sun was starting to go down, so I quickened my step as much as I could comfortably manage, and got home at about 4:10. A very pleasant experience on a nice, mild winter's day.
Oh, and I managed to get my boots off OK.
Addendum (10/02/08): The Gallery pages have now been updated.
