placenames

Apr 8th 2013, Donna, Amy and Connie

/ minor6th / Leave a comment

After a late start (we only woke at 6am today), we headed out towards Sainsbury’s to top up on essentials and luxuries.

First stop was one of our old favourites, the Belmont Mast. This is situated near to Donnington on Bain. Unlike many radio masts which are on hills and generally viewed from some distance, the Belmont Mast is in a field next to the road. And it is massive. It used to be the tallest mast in Europe until the top hundred feet or so were removed. The information board states that it is 750ft high, but it was added to and was over 1000ft before the haircut. I can’t remember the exact the stats. Si would be able to tell me, but he is asleep.

As casual geocachers, we decided to bag a couple en route to our lunch stop.

The first was in a field hedgerow, where we left a rather fussy trackable which was only supposed visit caches with the word travel in the title. Without full internet connectivity to research possible hides, we gave up and passed the burden onto the next unsuspecting cacher. It was a good cache spot, but not easy to park up at, so we moved on.

The next was in a favourite lay-by near Burgh-On-Bain. I had already researched this and let Si do the searching. We logged and moved on to our lunchtime date with Donna Nook.

Donna is a place by the way. A bleak windy spot on the east coast. We had planned a walk but it was bleaker and windier than our previous visit in February 2008 so, after a brief temperature tester, we gave up. Still, lunch was pleasant and the people watching amusing.

Then onto see Amy.

Amy is a small village boasting a wildfowl collection at a retired watermill. Two of our favourite pastimes. We were chased by a belligerent chicken and treated to a fine display by a peacock. We also discovered that not all otters are scared of Si. Which pleased him.

Amy was also cold. Bone chillingly cold, but we persevered around the sanctuary and took some pictures which I will probably add to this at a later date.

Our final stop was chez Connie. RAF Conningsby to give her official title.

Si is a military aircraft enthusiast, inherited from his father (how else?), who completed his national service in the RAF.

We descended upon the equivalent of fraggle rock and waited for action. We didn’t have to wait long. Plenty of ‘phoon action and even the Battle of Britain DC3 put in an appearance much to the excitement of all the spotters in the enclosure. Again I hope to be able to post photos soon.

Then back to base to reflect on a day of wings galore.

Cloud:Altocumulus
Placename: Mavis Enderby (ooh Rita, I don’t really know…..)

MinG

April 7th 2013. Majesty and Wonder

/ minor6th / 1 Comment

This morning started early. Which surprised both of us. By 8am we were heading towards Lincoln.

We both wanted to visit the cathedral. Whilst Sunday might not have been the most obvious day to visit, there are services daily and we hoped to be able to peruse peripheral architecture before completing our tour between communions.

Arrival in the city did not start well, as we observed “Events Management Companies” erecting crowd control barriers and bright banners announcing the Lincoln 10k Charity Run. Much beloved was starting to mumble and grumble about turning around.

Undeterred I persuaded him to continue to the castle, where we found a good parking spot for a price which was also good (if you happen to be the chief accountant for Lincoln City Council).

We donned our boots for a brisk walk and I led sulky child towards the Cathedral quarter. Historical information boards would not cheer him, so I decided to ask a man wearing “the high-vis jacket which symbolises wisdom and authority“ whether we were in danger of becoming trapped in the city by the “fun run” (he didn’t seem to appreciate this tag for the gruelling ordeal ahead of a major city event). He was however, very helpful and armed with a small amount of his wisdom knew our timetable and, more importantly, our exit strategy.

When we made our way through the nearby gate house an exit strategy was the last thing our minds. We were stopped in our tracks by the majestic west end of Lincoln Cathedral. We have seen the building on numerous occasions from several miles away and had commented on how it would have appeared to workers in the fields centuries ago. Si calls it “shock and awe”.

When we entered the Cathedral, it was not what I would call shock, but we were most definitely in awe. In fact we were dumbstruck, reduced to gasps of wonder at the sheer size of the knave and unnerved by what I can only call the sheer spirituality of the space. It is very difficult to put into words. It was a moment that I will never forget.

Regrettably our enforced timetable and the restrictions of Sunday worship would not allow a full appreciation of this landmark and a return visit is planned for early on Wednesday.

The rest of the day was enjoyable, but somehow insignificant by comparison.

The clouds were mainly Altocumulus Stratiformis. At least they tried to be, they never quite covered large areas of sky.

The placename award goes to

    Carlton Scroop

Si decided that Scroop would be a Dickensian character. I plumped for the occupation of Tax Collector.

MinG

20130421-195821.jpg

April 6th 2013, On our way, aren’t we?

/ minor6th / Leave a comment

Ah yes. A week away with the much beloved. Shortly after a significant birthday (him, not me).

The journey was delayed briefly by the car not starting. Poo we said (and worse). Never mind, the AA arrived within 30 mins and shortly afterwards we were on our way.

I had been elected as diver for stint one, with Si taking over at a spot of my choosing which was supposed to contain a geocache. It didn’t but Si cheered me up by attempting to leave via a dead end (I stopped him in time).

Upon swapping I could, between navigational instructions, partake of one of my favourite pastimes, finding interesting or amusing placenames near to where we happen to be..

Technology can be a wonderful thing but a sat-nav does not easily enable one to enjoy virtual diversions from the prescribed route.

And so, one of the themes for the week has presented itself. Placenames of interest or amusement, or better still both.

Not far from where we swapped over, we were gifted:
– Oughtibridge. We are not entirely sure why this brought about a fit of the giggles. It might have been something to do with oxygen starvation on the Woodhead Pass. It is more likely that it is only a letter away from sounding like nowty-bridge, if we have the correct pronunciation.
– Dungworth. No prizes for guessing why that made it onto the list.
– Wigtwizzle. My favourite of the three.

We elected to omit that well known town, which I am reliably informed by a former inhabitant is pronounced PEN-IS-TONE. Ahem.

Not long after such fun we were presented with more roundabouts than you could shake wigtwizzle stick at and the game was temporarily suspended. However we had to bend the rules slightly to allow a road name in:

BILLY BUTTON LANE

I kid you not. It is on the A638 not far from Retford. Excellent.

    Clouds


I am a great admirer of clouds. They fascinate me. I am hoping that the week away will present some absolute crackers in an area where there is plenty of all round sky watching available.

Saturday 6th April was a very pleasant day and we were blessed with countless cumulus humilis en route to the cottage we are renting. Even the man made plumes of Gainsborough power station didn’t spoil the view (if you had your back to them and could not see the station near Helmswell either!).

And so to rest a while in Lincolnshire. Home of the poacher who will visit our table later this evening.

MinG

Continue reading →