Skytrails

Wednesday my wife & I went for a walk along the Ridgeway and while I was taking a few photos I looked up and got these photo's of the sky with planes making skytrails 

Happy Skywatch

Window Display

A Quick Visit

Today I attended a briefing for an event I am helping at on Friday. It was on the site near where I worked a year or so ago. Things have changed a lot in that time with new building going up

I had to go to the visitor centre which was being built when I worked nearby. It opened just after I left in September 2018

In the huge conference room we were in was this satellite on the table

I was told it was 1:25th scale so would taken up the whole wall it was beside

On the way to visit a friend at Diamond Light Source I padded this building which was started in 2018 it's called the  Rosalind Franklin Institute or will be when it is finished

Diamond House, the main entrance to where I used to work, this is the last time I will most likely see the building like this because it is being extended in a couple of months

 After seeing my friend I walked back across the bridge and got this photo of I21 the last extension I saw built at Diamond, the cleared ground you see in fornt was a temproary lab I'm told they are going to build another extension here

Even the building you see here on the left had a small extension last year the place is called Research Complex at Harwell

I visited a couple of other old friends and took another photo of the Rosalind Franklin Institute 

Which does not look like it will be long before it is finished.

Taking part in Our World Tuesday

St Deny Stratford Dingley

This week the Church Explorer visits St Deny in Stratford Dingley a small village church with a nice surprise for me inside, Medieval wall art, not what I would expect in a small village like this

Monday Morning Walk

Monday and I had a blood pressure check at the local hospital and the day looked wonderful. As the carpark usually gets packed I decided I would walk in and get the bus home while I walked I took a few photos on the way.

 Looking out of the bedroom window a stunning sunrise

 I passed the new estate on East End Farm, just over a year ago there was a farm here

 I looked through the hedge along the road a bit and took this photo of the gravel pit being made in a field. Less than a year ago they grew crops here

 A bit further along I managed to get a shot of the elevators that had been erected, it will not be long before gravel is being extracted and moved over these

 At the end of the road another building is being built for the elderly, this was only a field a short time ago

Not far to go now and I passed by Winterbrook Nursing home, my uncle was in here his room was one of the windows you see on the first floor before he passed away. The place has been closed for a while & I do not know what is happening with it.

That was it a nice bracing walk in the frosty morning and I got there on time then went home on the bus. I get an update on some of the photos I took later this year and post them

Happy Skywatch

Frosty cobweb

Bucklebury

Last week on Skywatch Friday I showed Bucklebury Ford  it was only a short distance away from this part of the village

 I had bee to visit this church which will be in the Church Explorer in a couple of weeks 

One person who used to live in the village and no doubt went to this church and seen around the village with her future husband  was the Duchess of Cambridge

Takeing part in Our World Tuesday

St Marks Englefield

This week the Church Explorer is in Berkshire at St Marks Englefield, a church with a bit of  a Royal Connection.

Sky at the ford

The other day I was in Bucklebury visiting a church, when I finished I decided to visit the ford just up the road. Now me and Bucklebury Ford have a history because back in the mid 1970's I was a young petrol head running a modified Mini. I into motor sport and was taking part in  night rally called a twelve car rally. My navigator and I were doing well running second on the road when we arrived at this ford. It was running deep at the time when we got to it. The guy in front of us had gone around the long way and went past on the opposite side. My navigator said go so I did keeping the revs up but as we got into the ford a wave came over the bonnet (hood) and the back end of the car started to float sideways. I said to the navigator to open the door so that is what we did and the car sank into the ford and stopped. We got out and I had a mate stood over on the walkway you see who said "It's Deep Bill", My reply is nothing I can print on here but we managed to push it out and restart the car. After that we drove to the halfway stop and retired. Neither of us wanted to drive in a wet clothes and seats. I did do a few more night rallies and have cleared a ford in the mini but this was the first time I had seen this ford since my altercation with in the 1970's. It was also a good place to get some Skywatch photos

My first view of Bucklbury ford since the 1970's

It's reading 2ft 6ins deep which is 18" deeper than when I tried going through.

The road to the ford is just to the left of the sign and is flooded for about a hundred yards. A van came down just after I took the photo and turned around realising he would not get across

Quite sure this is the way I attempted to try and cross the ford

A last look before going back to my car

I looked into the field near the ford and took this photo from the gate, the river is to the left of the tree.

I'll try and pop back again when the ford is lower just to see if it is easy enough to drive through.

Happy Skywatch

Two little piggies

Kidmore End

Just before the new year I visited Kidmore End near Reading so I could get a few photos of the church for my blog. I parked near the church and the first thing I noticed was this village pump

No doubt you could still put a bucket on it and draw water

 There are a few of these type wells to be found in villages around. Once people would have come here to draw a bucket of water for use at home, I know what it is like because I used to have to get water from a well as a kid in Ireland when I visited my Gran

 Looking from the churchyard I noticed wheat looked like the village pond across the road

 Next door to the church is the village primary school which was built in 1856 but this part looks like it was built around the 1970's

 This part however was built in 1856, again quite typical of what you would see in the local villages

As I took the photo of the school from the opposite side of the road while I was there I turned around and took one across the village pond. Not sure where the ducks are though.

Taking Part in Our World Tuesday

St John Kidmore End

First church from the Church Explorer this is St John Kidmore End. The Village is outside Reading Berkshire though the village is in Oxfordshire.

Hobbycraft Sky

Last week I went to Reading to visit Hobbycraft to get some craft items. Getting out of the car I spotted the sky and got the phone out

 Looking towards the town centre and the Blade, (pointy building)

 The store I am visiting on the left cloudy overhead

Looking from the pavement over the carpark 

Phonebox Advent Calender