St Peter Woolhampton

 This weeks Churchy Explorer comes from St Perer in Woolhampton one church I had forgotten I visited and found in my photo archive 

Llyn Brianne

Cloudy sky over the Llyn Brianne reservoir

Coffee Time

The Llyn Brianne

Now I visited this reservoir a few years ago but with the recent drought I thought it might be good to revisit and see how it looked. I wrote a blog on the Llyn Brianne on my last visit and thought I would find the place unchanged other than the reservoir a bit low. I was shocked at what we come across..

Last time I came here the area was covered in trees, now they are logging them

This shows the extent of what they have done in this part. I missed getting a photos of the machine cutting them down

As were drove along the valley you could not help notice the reservoir had dropped and now it was just a river

Large swathes of bank were on show

A bridge that had been covered in water was back on show

Looking down from the viewpoint we stopped off at you could see the sides of the reservoir

The water had dropped way down

We stopped near were we had the picnic last time and looked at the low water

Even down at the dam you could see rocks and boulders that normally were not on show. It will be a while before the water in the reservoir recovers

All Saints East Lockinge

This weeks Church Explorer comes from All Saints Lockinge a small village famed for its Racing stables. The churhc sits in quiet surroundings

Almshouse Sky

To end my photos of the Goring Heath Almsehouses I thould these photos showing the sky in the background apt

The St Georges Cross flutters in the grounds 

Happy Skywatch

Take a Seat

St Bartholomew's Almshouses

In case you did not see my Church Explorer blog this is the history behind the place
"In 1724 Henry Alnutt, a lawyer of the Middle Temple in London, established a set of almshouses at Goring Heath. They form three sides of a courtyard, flanking a chapel of the same date. In the 1880s a school was built beside the almshouses in what was intended to be the same architectural style. A post office was added in 1900.
Alnutt also left a continuing income from his estate at Goring Heath to teach, clothe and apprentice boys from five parishes. One of the parishes was Cassington in West Oxfordshire, where Alnutt's charity established a small school for boys. In 1833 the Allnut school was absorbed into a new Cassington parish school, which in 1853 became Cassington's present St. Peter's Church of England primary school."

I never realised this place existed till I saw some photos on Flickr and it then became a place I needed to visit, a couple of weeks ago I did just that and you enter down this drive

at the end of which you see the chapel

There is a car park for residents an d guests by the bowling green and you get this view of the almshouses from it

This is the old school which was built in the 1880's, it became the village primary school for Goring Heath, it closed sometime in the 1980's

Despite the stile it was built after you can see it is Victorian

The residents made this little garden

The school was converted into part of the almshouses was was opened by Rev Doctor Anthony Russell on Whitsunday 1989

The almshouses themselves are quite wonderful to look at and are built around a courtyard

With the chapel in the centre and a clock over looking the yard with the bequest from Henry Alnutt under it. Nearby is the pump that was used to bring fresh water from borehole for the residents in the past, no doubt they just turn on a tap now

This view of the almshouses with the chapel in the centre is what makes the place so special, I've come across a few almshouses on my travels visiting churches but none has had a chapel like this.

You never realise what treasures are on your doorstep till you look.

Taking Park in Our World Tuesday

St Bartholomews Chapel

This weeks Church Explorer comes from St Bartholomew's chapel in Goring Heath. It sits in the centre of the Almshouses and was built in 1724 by Henry Alnutt who was a  Lawyer of Middle Temple in London. The Almshouses are still in use today.

Sky over the New Homes

I have been periodically visiting this site around once a month to record the progress of the work, 18 months ago the place was field on the edge of a housing estate, not it has become one itself

The blue sky above makes no distinction between either field or house

It just looks glorious 

With the clouds floating above

Small Tortoiseshell

Another Story

Remember the Story on my Desk  I wrote about the other week, well a couple of days later I retired from work and was given another trophy for my home. 

Now you may be wondering what it is , well it's a Vacuum Valve and it holds in the vacuum on the Diamond Storage Ring it costs around £300 and there are hundreds of them around the place.

This one was mounted and given to me as a leaving present , the plaque exclaims "Where has the Bl**dy Vacuum Gone"

 The story behind this happened a when we were populating the Storage Ring with Front Ends to join with the experimental hutches where the scientists work on experiments. The photo below shows  the valve in position. When the front end is fitted the copper part you see with the valve on comes off. But first you have to remove the blank you see on the end and replace it with another fitting. I knew the next one along needed doing so I thought I'd help out by taking off the blank. Problem was it was under vacuum and valve was open along with the big valve you see behind. Next thing I know is I hear the valve shut and all the other valves around the Storage Ring. I realised what had happened so phoned up my manager and told him what happened. With that he came down to check everything and we then connected the whole section up with Vacuum Pumps to get the pressure back to where it was again. After a few hours it was back to what it was and I hand learned another lesson to make sure the valves are shut before I do anything. Sorry if you do not understand what I am talking about but I did work in a Scientific environment

There you have it I get my very own vacuum valve to remember the occasion by

But don't worry they did not give me a new one, this one has a leak in it I tried to repair and found that the seating on it had gone also so it was scrap but the did clean it up to look like new.

Taking partin Our World Tuesday

Long Hanborough Methodist Church

This week's Church Explorer comes from Long Hanborough Methodist Church 

A church which is the heart of he village

Sky at East End

This used to be East End Farm, now all the buildings have gone cleared of everything and waits the developers to move in, The clouds blow over the remains of the farm