View from the mound

The mound I am talking about is a huge spoil heap from the excavation work on some of the buildings on the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory site. It has been made into a walk and nature reserve and many people go there for lunch The other day I took a final look from the mound before I retire from work. the one thing I wanted to photograph was a nearby estate built on the site of the old RAF Bomb Store
The place used to part of RAF Harwell but now little remains of what was here. If you look at the link to the Bomb store you can see what it looked like when I first took some photos from the mound

 So this is what the estate looks like now it is finished, I might add it looks a very nice one to live in as well though I can say I don't think the part in the foreground will be built on as there are rumours of a new experiment going there

Just over to the right is this structure which I really do not have a clue as to what it is

 Turning arund I spotted this new building going up or should I say nearly finished, again I could not tell you what it is for.

The last think I looked for ws this, theplaque beside the road on the Harwell Magnox site

which is on the otherside of a boundary fence you cannot go to but I took the photo through the fence

 The only people who ever see this are the guys who work on the site or who can see it from the Runerford side of the fence

It was placed there many years ago when it was a an active site. A little piece of hitory very few people get to see. 

Taking Part in Our World Tuesday

St Nicholas Beedon

St Nicholas is part of the East Downland Benefice 

and can be found off the A34 on the Oxford Raod which was the A34 origonaly before the built the new one cutting the village off making it a quite place to live. The church dates back to  1220 and has one of the best scratch sundials (mass dial) I have seen. Please visit my blog and look around the church

Thistle Sky

Walking through our local allotment gardens I spotted this huge Thistle begging for a photo

Happy Skywatch Everyone

Hidden Courtyard

Swan Upping

Now this is somthing I have always wanted to see and Fiday I made an effort knowing that the Swan Uppers had stopped off at Moulsford overnight. I knew they were starting off at 9am and would pass our village not long after so it was off to Ferry lane to see the flotilla

I was caughy on thr hop as I only noticed the first of them through the nearby trees and managed to get this shot

The gut ath the back is sat on the tool box

This boat was next

Then this one of the Dyers' Company.

That is their flag

They were backed up by qute a few boats like this one flying the Queens flag

The swan markers flag

The  Dyers' Company. flag

Here you have both   Dyers' Company. and Vintners' Company

This noat camer after towing

This skif with the  Swan Marker

 The flag of the marker of Swans

The marker of swans himself Mr David Barber MVO who has had the post since 1993

Next year I intend to be at one of the main places that ring the swans

Taking Part in Our World Tuesday

St Matthew Harwell

Each week I have been trying to feature a church from my Church Explorer Blog, This is not because of any Religious beliefs it is because I feel we in the UK are loosing too many of our churches that are closing because of the lack of a congregation to attend because there are too few clergy to go around an dtoo fee people in the area. I feel the churches need recording because they are part of out heritage and history and should be preserved.
This weeks church is St Matthew Harwell, please visit the blog if you can.

Firey Sunset

Last week I happened to look out the front of our house and saw a wonderful Fiery sunset

Lastone if off my Iphone which was googleised 

Happy Skywatch

Ring of Deckchairs

The Shipping Container

Sometime after I started working at Diamond Light Source we got an old shipping  container to use for storage while the place was being built. The container was inside and after the place was finished the container was moved outside. 14 years on in it was showing its age and leaking so a new one was purchased. The photos show the amount of effort that went in to moving it

Above the old container waiting to be moved


The building is round and the only way to move it is through the door you see on the right using forklifts

The container is the lifted by crane

Over the storage ring

then down the other side

and moved out side

Where it was left to get picked up.
The lorry came in and unloaded the new one and picked up the old one

The riggers were very quick so I missed the container being moved and caught up with it when it had landed on the lift zone

Cop the size of the lifting straps

The new container now in place and being wired up with lights

St Nicholas Sulham

This weeks Church Explorer blog comes from St Nicholas Sulham set in the Sulham Valley near Pangbourne 

Sunset from my house

Looking of of the front window of my house I though what a wonderful sunset