Bills Posts

Over the last few days I’ve had an idea of what I was going to write as much as a day ahead I enjoyed being in that position. Why can’t I be like that all the time?

Those last three or four posts were focussed on a particular topic, I was able to plot, to a limited degree what I was going to write. was that because I was focused on one topic?

The thing about this blog, is that I could potentially write about anything that takes my interest I very rarely know what I am going to write. Sometimes. Something I see or read will spark a post. It is a complete lack of planning.

Back in the covid days, I had and outline. One photography, another the waterfront, another a review of the weeks writings. And occasionally, I have looked at the list on occasion, but it is in the 2020 diary. I’ll copy it in to the journal, my hand writing book which I occasionally write in pen, because I feel like it.

Perhaps I need to spend a bit of time thinking ahead.

The thing about Thursday nights, is that I do the Thursday night net, on the Isle of Wight Radio Society repeater, GB3IW. Sometimes I manage to do the 365 Project and this blog entry before the net, which starts at 8PM.

Most of the time though for one reason or another, I end up doing the entries after the net. Now, the 365 Project is fairly easy, it’s just a few comments and a picture. It is this post that causes me problems.

Usually, I end up doing a really rubbish post, and I really do hate that.

These last few nights I have enjoyed writing about Gosport, because I knew what I was going to write for the most part even as far as the day before I wrote the post. I’m not say those posts were good, but they were easier.

Stokes Road would appear to be a bit of an oddity. There are some shops which cause me to wonder how they survive. But, they make for a fascinating hours window shopping.

There’s the shop which has a 28 inch television in a globe case, I’m not sure if that isn’t from the 1970’s along with a smaller portable TV and a video camera that I think may take vhs tapes.

On the other side of the road is the model shop. There used to be two model shops on Stokes Road, this one has a dingy dusty appearance to it, and the models have that look about them the if Toy Story were true, they would be saying “please rescue us” but the look is deceiving, for inside is a veritable cornucopia that would satisfy almost any modellers curiosity. Sadly the other model shop closed down a few years ago.

There’s an art gallery that used to be a shop, not big, but they often have some interesting exhibitions of, quite often local work. I always make a point of pausing to have a look to see what is on display.

The emporium is fascinating, a really diverse collection of “stuff” it is always worth a look you will never know what you might find. Then there is Richard Martins gallery, I have bought several books about Gosport from there.

I usually make a point of pausing to read the sign outside one particular hairdresser. They often have a funny quote that causes a chuckle.

Stokes Road is an unusual collection of stores. Well worth a browse when you have the chance. I have but no means mentioned all of the interesting shops here.

When I stand at the waterfront that are the Falklands Gardens, it is strange to think that if I had been stood there three hundred and seventy odd years before, I would have in the middle of the civil war.

With the Parliamentarians building a platform from which to bombard Royalist Portsmouth, and other nefarious deeds, it would have been a violent time.

move forward In time to the 1850’s and further threats of violence and invasion sees the building of Palmerstons Follies. A series of forts stretching from Gilkicker Point, around past Gosport up onto the hills to the north of Portsmouth ending with For Purbrook, designed to protect against the threat of a French invasion that never materialised

The late 19th century saw a more civilised battle between to areas of the peninsula was it to be Alverstoke & Gosport or Gosport & Alverstoke? So heated became the discussion. That it provoked a House of Lords inquiry, resulting in (actually by agreement, rather than imposition) it becoming Gosport, although the outer areas retain their local names.

We move forward to the 1940’s and the whole area becomes suffused with military personnel and hardware as it plays a critical role in the build up to D-Day. Some streets in Gosport were especially widened to accommodate the hardware. Jericho Avenue is one of the best examples of this.

All around Gosport there are signs of the infrastructure that were constructed in preparation for that day, from the ramp at Priddy’s. Hard to allow the embarkation of vehicles and men around to stokes bay, where the Caissons for the Mulberry Harbour were built and the remains of the concrete “chocolate blocks” that gave a firm surface for heavy vehicles to cross the beach to their landing craft.

I stand at the edge of the Falklands Gardens, dedicated to the memory of a more recent conflict and ponder at the immensity of the history that surrounds me.

The header picture is todays Gosporrt High Street, taken from just north of North Cross Street looking toward the ferry. There have been many times when I’ve walked down the street wondering what it would have been like in previous years.

Gosport was a new town in the 1600’s There wouldn’t have been much outside the defensive perimenter, and life inside the boundary was probably quite unpleasant.

As time goes by, society improves, in that, generally life becomes more pleasant, especially for the wealthy, and so Gosport expands to encompass the areas of Alverstoke and Rowner, although these weren’t necessarily smooth events.

And so Gosports streets become increasingly more akin to what we know today. Some things have been lost, and others gained. Buildings re-purposed from theatres to banks. Bars and pubs become nightclubs.

The reduction / removal of the Navy had a significant negative impact on the town only to be expected. People adapt though. Whilst not having the same vibrancy today as it did twenty and more years ago.

As I walked down the high street this morning, I was wondering what it would have been like to walk down the high street !00 or 150 years ago. Things are different today. As I walked toward the ferry terminal, I counted the closed shops – eight of them, I didn’t count how many were open.

No high street should have this level of closures. But what can be done about it? When I have a work problem, I always try to come up with a solution.

This time – I have no idea.

Today’s walk took me through the grounds of the Explosion Museum. That’s where I spotted this rather spectacularly decorated lamp post. The museum is an interesting visit, giving an informative history of naval air power. We have been around the museum, but not today.

Carrying on with the walk, took me through Clarence yard. Literally the breadbasket of the Royal Navy. The ovens where the daily bread was cooked are still there, as a backdrop to a nice restaurant. It is entirely appropriate that the bakery that fed the nave through the 1800s is still associated with food.

The buildings of Clarence Yard are quite impressive, Gosport o rough Council is in the process of redeveloping the area in a sensitive way that retains its historic character. There’s the restaurant I mentioned above, there are several commercial units along the frontage, they have been empty for quite a while. That in itself demonstrates one of the problems with Gosport. With the growing number of empty shops on the high street, what would draw people back to that area, let alone entice them to an area a good walking distance from the town centre?

Our attitude toward high street shopping has changed dramatically over time and with the predominance of internet shopping, the role of the high street is very much in question. That means that any commercial activity that would successfully entice people to an area like Clarence yard has to be something special, over and above the historic attractions.

What those activities are, is a question to which I do not, unfortunately, have the answer, because if I did, I think I’d be quite well off.

I am sat at the keyboard, stuck as to what to write. I did write a paragraph about wanting to do some videos, and possibly putting them on YouTube, but I ended up deleting it as it sounded very pretentious, I didn’t like it.

I’ve been harping on about doing videos for many months. Like other projects that I’ve talked about, I’ve done nothing. Why is that? do you know, I’m not sure I can answer that. It kind of isn’t laziness, but perhaps a feeling that I don’t have time, or possibly it’s all too difficult to set up; lighting, position, scripting or not as the case is much more likely to be.

Procrastination, now there’s a thing, I sometimes do a fair bit of that, is there such a thing as targeted procrastination? Why can’t I do this? It’s like tidying my office, which is a tip, and I hate it being like this, but I seem unable to do anything about it. Why is that?

I shall ponder these and other important questions.

I got my bus pass today. I thought it would be inteeresting to see where I could go practically in a day? When we were travelling to Oxfordshire last week, we passed Highclere Castle, the home (to me, and I suspect several million other people) of Downton Abbey. Can I get to Highclere on the bus?

The answer to the question is yes. There is a bus, the Number 7 from Andover goes past Highclere, but it looks as though there might be a bit of a walk to get to the castle itself. from Andover, it looks like I need to get to Whoitechurch, the number 86, Whitechurch to Winchester on the 76, from there I’ve kind of almost given up. Google Maps tells me that it takes over 11 hours to travel in one direction. Is that right?

Shorter journeys perhaps? But where to go?

The ponds are empty. It happened over the weekend. Right in the middle of the bigger pond there is a puddle, it’s quite large so obviously there must still be something in there, for the last two mornings the heron has been there.

I presume that it is the council that has been working on the side, where part of it was crumbling quite badly, so that is good. I hope that sometime soon they will start filling the ponds.

I am hoping that this will bring in some life, the jelly fish would be really welcome. It’s difficult to tell whether or not the pond weed which had been proliferating has been removed. It will be interesting to see what happens.

One of the people I follow on FaceBook, goes by the name of The Dorset Rambler. He posts every so often (not every day). He takes some lovely photos whilst out on his walk, and has the right kit to get some lovely pictures of local birds as well as sunsets.

Now, I do have the opportunity to get some lovely sunrises, and if I was inclined to go out in the evening, I could get sunsets as well, but what I don’t get many chances of are pictures of small birds. I’d go so far as to hazard that this is not entirely because I don’t have the right kit. Mostly I think it is opportunity.

In order to get those chances, I think you have to make them. I have been sat at the waterfront and in particular starlings are not massively afraid of people, nervous and wary yes, but not afraid. I’ve had a couple of nice pictures.

What frustrates me are birds like sparrows. I like sparrows. There are several places around town where there are bushes, and and you know this because you can hear them. It’s like either a massive family argument or like a 1950’s housing estate with everybody leaning on their fences talking at the same time.

You know there must be dozens of them hiding in the bush, but can you see them? Do you think there’s any chance of getting a picture of them? And of course as soon as you get near them they fall silent, only to resume their shouting when you are walking away from them!