Bills Posts

I caught these two on their way out, it was almost like a race between them. I wonder if they were both heading towards the same fishing grounds? Either way, I really hope they had a good days fishing.

I took the picture from the end of the Haslar Marina Pier Wall (HMPW). Sometimes there are people at the HMPW fishing even at that early hour of the morning. You can almost guarantee that there will be people fishing along the HMPW at lunchtime, and I wouldn’t be surprised if there are people there now.

On YouTube, if you look for a feed called “Local Marks Fishing” you will find a whole bunch of videos about a chap who fishes in the local area. He fishes at all times of the day and night and night and in all weathers. There’s a video of the chap, I thought the Mark in the title was his name but the local marks are places to fish, anyhow there’s a video of him out during a rather spectacular thunderstorm. He was OK, mostly sat in his car, and because he was safe, I can say that the video was quite entertaining.

One of my favourite places in Gosport is the sea wall near Haslar. I love sitting there watching the ships and exchanging pleasantries with people who walk past. I’ve spoken to people fishing who have driven down from Milton Keynes just for the day. Who’d have thought it.

I love sitting by the edge of the water, be it sea or river, but I couldn’t fish. I did try it once with a rod on the rivers edge, I didn’t catch anything and once with a crab line off the pier at Swanage. I caught a fish there. I reeled it in, and then didn’t know what to do with it. Another lad took over, I have this horrible mixed memory of him killing the fish, and then throwing it back in to the sea – but, it’s 50 odd years ago, so the memory is a bit dim. He might just have thrown it back – I hope he did.

Actually, the picture isn’t from the garden centre.

Gosport’s new Garden centre opened at the beginning of the month. Today, is the first time that I had visited it.

I must say that whilst access to the centre was by driving through a housing estate, it was fine. The facility itself is big, and very nicely laid out. We had lunch in the restaurant – that call it a cafe, it really is more than that. I had Chicken and Leak pie with potatoes and veg. It was very nice. I’ll definitely eat there again.

The rest of the centre was laid out as many garden centres I have visited. That is not in any way to run it down. It is a very good facility for the town, and very nice to see.

Although a garden centre, like others, it caters for other tastes including books. In the nicest possible way, that is one area they could improve. Even Titchfield Abbey has a better selection, and they are not the best in the area.

A couple of days ago, I got the itch – the urge to visit a bookshop. Seems likely I may pay visit to the Portsmouth Waterstones. I must admit, as a a University town, I am surprised that this is the only major bookstore in the city. This is one of the things I miss about Cambridge. That city has a number of excellent places, that I always enjoy visiting when I get the chance.

Once again, the picture bears no relation to todays post. It is another from the top of Butser Hill.

I went out for a walk today. I had planned to walk down to Gilkicker and around that area. Before I went out, I asked Alexa if it would rain in Gosport today. Her response was that there was a 51% chance that it would be raining at 11AM. I left the house at around 10:10.

As soon as I stepped outside I felt a spot of rain. I knew before I left that Gilkicker would be off the cards. Perhaps tomorrow, with it being a bank holiday. Instead followed my fallback route, which usually puts me no more than 15 minutes from home.

There was a group of people with flags on Walpole Park, of course I had to find out what they were about. I don’t wish to get involved in the politics, let’s just say that I understood what they were saying to me. I’m not entirely convinced that I agree with them – I think I will leave it at that.

There were lots, and I mean lots of jelly fish, all around the edge of the cockle pond. I wonder if they are out in the middle of the pond. The Model Yachters were out in force today, and but the way the models were performing, I think it was a good day for them. I do wonder if the jelly fish interfere with the models – it didn’t look as though it did.

There were only a few small boats and the Gosport Ferry moving around, not much activity. One of the rough sleepers was on the Esplanade doing something with his bike. Bikes are a bit like cars to me, tools to get me from A to B. From the way he was speaking he is quite knowledgeable about bikes. He even told me that he had a qualification related to bike maintenance. I don’t know really, but I am guessing that there are several factors that would prevent him from applying for a job. I do wonder though. I might ask next time I see him.

I got a little bit wet, but not too much. It was a quite nice walk.

Butser Hill stands to the north of Portsmouth to the western side of the A3, the road you can see in the picture. I remember the first time I was driving along the A3, and saw the hill, and that there were people walking up the hill. That was probably around 2011 – 2012. I was only working in the area at that time, and knew it would be unlikely that I would either walk up it, or even just reach the top.

After we moved to the area, and I became involved in RAYNET, and the Butser Hill Challenge was the first event I was involved in, I think 2017. That put me at the very top of the hill. It was an incredible experience. I have been involved in the BHC for several years now, usually working at the same point near the top. I always enjoy it.

Today, we decided that we would take a picnic to the top of the hill. I thought we would just walk around the top, I didn’t think that would do the climb, but Alex and I did. I was shocked but we did it. I am absolutely delighted.

It was an excellent day. here’s a picture of the Trig Point;

I’ve learned that I can walk through the High Street at lunchtime and resist my brain cajoling me to buy food that I don’t need. today for example, I resisted the pleadings for pasties and chocolate, even though I did go in to Morrisons, I bought only what I intended to, and resisted the shoutings of my brain.

I am getting to see regulars when I am out on my lunchtime walk through town. One of my favourites is the man who feeds birds. I see him nearly every lunchtime on his mobility scooter heading towards the Falkland Gardens. The birds know him, and are waiting for him as he turns up. Today he must have had twenty plus pigeons and a bunch of starlings around him.

Another episode with birds are the people who sit and have lunch along the Esplanade. The Gulls line up along the wall, waiting for discarded food.

I met a friend whom I haven’t seen for quite a while. Apparently he’d had a week in hospital, but I haven’t seen him for quite a while before that. He’s OK.

There are of course the usual shopkeepers, they are mostly going to be regulars of course.

It all makes for an interesting walk, that really is quite a contrast to the quietness of the morning walk.

I have a need to write about an experience that I had this morning that made me feel very awkward. It’s a bit sensitive, so please bear with me.

Unless something stops me, like rain, I always go for my morning walk, leaving the house at around 0550. I usually follow the same route. That takes me along Forton Road, down Clarence Road and on to the High Street down to the Ferry and on from there.

As I was approaching the ferry this morning, I was approached by a lady. Normally people approach me to ask me what I am doing. I love that and am more than happy to explain why I am carrying a tripod with a handheld anemometer and my phone mounted on it, talking what looks like myself – actually, it’s to my radio. I accept, I look and sound odd (“2E1PHW, this is 2E0WGK, good morning everybody” – say it out loud, it sounds odd).

Anyhow, this lady told me that I worried her, that she had been afraid of being assaulted but when she heard me talking, she felt better and knew that I wasn’t a threat. I don’t ever want anyone to think of me as threatening. It distresses me that someone may. Unless they know me, no one can know. In some peoples perceptions, this is the price of being a man, to be thought of as a potential threat. It is horrible.

I really didn’t know what to say to her. Why did she approach me like that? Does she view every man as a threat until she is satisfied that we are not?

I have to say, I thought it sad and strange.

This building was until recently part of Gosport’s Discovery Centre or library. It used to be the Grammar School. As part of the discovery centre, it held two primary sets of documents; the military, particularly naval history of the town and area, and a very big genealogy section.

It is a surprisingly big building and for a school in what is a slightly unusual location – but that is for today’s society. In the days of the height of the school, it would have been entirely appropriate.

In the last years, the resources in this part of the Discovery Centre (I’m going to call it the school for the sake of convenience and brevity) have been moved out in to the main library building – and very nicely laid out the new section is as well. I may get in there this Saturday for a little bit of research.

Anyhow, that is not what I wanted to write about, instead it is this;

This building site is at the heart of the new museum and gallery which is being built. This then, is one of those newsy things that I wrote about being interested in following and reporting on. So, I am going to keep track of this and give you occasional reports. As I will with the traffic situation in town as the bus stop site develops.

This is just a bit of wood floating in the cockle ponds. The colour of the piece and the water just really appeal to me.

Some aspects of this post will become a regular occurrence. I got on the scales yesterday morning. I weighed 125.5 kg. This is way too heavy. This time two years ago, with a combination of determination and weight watchers and exercise I was hovering around 100kg, and on my way down. I liked being that weight, and want to get there again.

My plan is to report on progress each week. I tend to weigh myself on a Monday. I’ll continue to do that. I also like indices & ratios, so I have developed the Good / Bad day table. Each day is 1/7th so I will have 3/4 Good/Bad days, which I intend to report each week.

You’ll probably get fed up with me, but I want to do this to try and stay on track, and it is only once a week.

On the concourse at Waterloo the 1856 to Portsmouth Harbour didn’t look busy. I join the platform and start walking down the train. It’s 1847, so I have plenty of time.

What I’m looking for is a double seat on its own. There are none in the first carriage, the second or the third. It’s a twelve carriage train, there were no seats of the configuration I was looking for.

I ended up in the twelfth coach, the front of the train. I was sat in a group of 6 seats on my own, but the train was filling.

A chap came on and sat opposite me. I must admit, he didn’t look well. Three other people sat in my block. The Tain was now moving, and it was standing room only, with no space available.

The chap opposite me had obviously been trying to control himself. But, he couldn’t stop himself from coughing, persistently. It was clearly disturbing everybody around him. I was having an eyes only conversation with the young lady that was sat next to him. She clearly wasn’t happy.

When he got off the train we said there was no way that he should have been on board. I would like to think that under similar circumstances there I wouldn’t even entertain the idea of getting on to public transport.

I guess I’ll just have to wait for a few days to see if anything happens. Both annoying and frustrating.

Looks a bit of a mess really doesn’t it? But it’s intriguingly deliberate, called squaring the block, at the corner of these two streets in the Holborn area of London.

Another brief blog entry I’m afraid, it’s late and I’m tired. That is what has driven the short entries these last couple of days and which had been a valuable lesson in the logistics of maintaining this blog, that I will have to think about and probably do a piece on my thoughts about it.

I’ve had the weekend to meet up with family that I haven’t seen for quite a few months, and friends whom it has been even longer between visits – too long. A lovely weekend end apart from the return train journey, which was unpleasant from an at risk perspective, which only the next few days will tell.