Ospreys At Rutland Water

Last weekend we had intended visiting Rutland Water. We had done some research on the internet and decided it would be the ideal place to visit, but it would need to be reasonably dry because most of the activities, or indeed, all of the activities to be found there were outside and it was no good if it was pouring with rain. Also, it seemed just the right place to go with Alfie and he was in need of an outdoor activity which included a good walk. As it turned out the weather was unsettled so we didn't go. But this weekend we needed to get out of the house because 'next-door' were continuing with their D.I.Y. activities which included hammering relentlessly. Enough to drive anyone to distraction and it didn't seem it would end any time soon, so we went for the idea of visiting Rutland Water.

We set up the SatNav and trusted that it would get us to Rutland Water without too much bother (we call it a 'she' as it has a female voice. We call her Dora, after 'Dora The Explorer.') We would have expected to drive up the A1 and then cross towards the A1 via the A14 but we were taken across towards Bedford and then on along the bypass to the Black Cat Roundabout on the A1 and then streight up to around Stamford and Oakham. It was a relatively easy journey. When we arrived at Rutland Water we went into one of the carparks (Sykes Lane) but realised soon that it wasn't where we wanted to be as we wanted to visit the bird-watching site. Then we drove to Egleton and eventually ended up at Manton where the birdwatching site and reserve is situated. As we wanted to have a chance of seeing the ospreys and other birds and have access to the hides along the shore we had to buy permits. I was reluctant to part with any cash at first, but I was brought round when I realised that the people who run the place had done a very good job of not only landscaping the area, and providing good paths and fencing, the cost of the entry is well worth it. The reserve is managed by the Leicestershire and Rutland Wildlife Trust in association with Anglian Water who built the reservoir in the late 1970's. i remember driving up to the area with my parents to see this mammoth building project being constructed and then returning to see it being filled with water, probably in 1975-76. It's a huge area of water but considering it's a man-made structure seems very natural and seems to fit into the spectacular landscape extremely well.

The weather wasn't too kind when we first arrived, with some slight rain, but, fortunately, it eased off and we had some pleasant weather, some sunshine but not too warm.

We walked along the south shore. Quite a pleasant walk. There was a choice of two paths, one nearer the water's edge and the other, a lot higher up, with a gravel surface. We could see someone in a wheelchair further along and it did seem a better path if you were in a wheelchair, pushing a child in a  buggy or other wheeled contraption, but the lower path which we were on, wasn't really suitable for wheeled vehicles of any sort. Unfortunately we soon discovered that there were a lot of gnats or other unpleasant insects hanging in the air in vast clouds which we had to swat away as we walked along. We came to one hide but, on sitting inside and peering out through the openings we could see no sign of any birds or other wildlife. Perhaps if we'd had our own field glasses or binoculars we'd probably have had a chance of seeing something. We didn't stay in the hide too long.

We re-joined the path. We had the choice of following two paths. One signpost said 'This way to tufted duck.' I forget what the other said. I was intrigued to see a tufted duck. Well, let's be honest, what would you expect one to look like? Then we came upon yet another hide. Was this the spot to view the ever-elusive species? The intriguingly-named tufted duck? On going inside we did look through the viewing holes but no sign of any sort of bird, let along a tufted duck. We gave up. Perhaps you have to be a good deal more patient if you're to become a very active bird-watcher. We walked on and found a far larger hide. On entering we were surprised to find a crowd of people, all very earnest, although very knowledgeable and friendly. There was a television monitor set up at one end which was showing pictures of birds on a nest, being streamed live from a web-cam. It turned out to be ospreys. We were also able to actually view these birds through telescopes and on looking through these devices saw these birds, a female on a nest and another a male perched on a tree in the water a good half-mile away. Apparently Rutland Water is an important site for birds and is the first place in the British Isles where ospreys have bred in something like 150 years. We were told that if we came back in a couple of months we might see some osprey chicks because the female was supposed to be incubating some eggs in the nest. I hope we might be able to see some of the birds 'in the flesh' and not on either a video screen or through a telescope lens, but even seeing them like that was something of a thrill. We have many pairs of red kites flying around in the Chilterns, particularly where we go at West Wycombe, as these beautiful birds have been re-introduced in that area.

We walked back towards the visitor centre. It seemed a good deal further back than it was when we began our walk out along the shore-line.

For some strange reason, the SatNav directed us back home a different way to the route we took from Milton Keynes. You would imagine that it would use the route we took to get to Rutland Water. It just seems so strange. I just don't see the logic of the thing. But, after all, it is still a computerised gadget and not human.

Outing To Cambridge

Our holiday continues. We are making the most of the warm weather again and this time, we had a trip out to Cambridge. We have been there on a few occasions, but not for a couple of years. We had to put petrol in the car at the Shell station in Grafton Street and then drove away from Milton Keynes, going towards Bedford past the Amazon distribution centre near the M1 junction at Ridgemont. The recently opened stretch of dual carriageway between the M1 and going towards Bedford and eventually the A1 at the Blackcat Roundabout means you no longer go into Bedford at all as it joins up with the Bedford bypass and it takes no more than 20-30 minutes to reach Bedford and then a further 20 minutes or so to reach the A1 and off near St Neots and on towards Cambridge. We soon reached the park-and-ride carpark at Madingley and boarded the bus which took us into the centre of Cambridge. Another relatively short journey and it's so much easier to use the park-and-ride rather than negotiating the centre of Cambridge, looking for a parking space, the frustration that causes, getting stuck in traffic (which, incidentally was quite heavy.) and in the end saving time and money (the cost of a return ticket was £6, not too expensive considering the speed of the journey and the time we spent in the centre of Cambridge.) We got off on Bridge Street, near the Round Church and the walked towards the Market Square and King's Parade. We found a Marks and Spencer's and bought crisps , drink and sandwiches and Carol wanted a coffee so we found a Cafe Nero and bought a take-out latte and then we went off to find somewhere to devour our food and in the end sat on a step in a side-street. I'm surprised there are no more benches that we could have sat on, but never mind. Adequately refreshed we walked to the Fitzwilliam Museum in Trumpington Street and browsed in one of the galleries and looked at some very familiar Pre-Raphaelite paintings which I have only ever seen in books. Also, another favourite painter of mine, Sir Stanley Spencer.
We stood looking at one painting and then a lady, who was viewing the same painting asked us about it. We had a long conversation and it turned out that she was also a teacher, like Carol. She was from Canada, and we then discovered she'd come to England to work with her husband and was working in a school in Milton Keynes and lived only a short distance from where we lived. It seemed quite a coincidence that we should go all the way to Cambridge and then bump into someone who lived only a short distance from us but who worked in another school and was also a teacher! Carol has also worked with several teachers over the past year who came originally from Canada (for example, Kendra, who stayed with us briefly before she moved into her own accommodation.) Just shows what a small world it is.)

We wandered through so more of the galleries before leaving the museum and walking back along Trumpington Street and the centre of Cambridge. Carol suggested we buy some ice cream, which we got from a street vendor and we sat and ate it on the low wall near one of the collages on King's Parade. The place was absolutely teeming with tourists. Cambridge is quite obviously one of the many and various stops that tourists come to when they visit this country.

The Chronophage at Corpus Christi

Carol had said she wanted to see the special clock which is at one of the colleges along King's Parade. We saw it a couple of years ago when we visited Cambridge when we'd been to the botanic garden. It had only recently been installed and we saw it on the local BBC television news programme 'Look East.'It is on the corner of Benet Street, on the outside of Corpus Christi college. It's a large golden clock which has a strange but quite hideous grasshopper-like insect balanced on the top which is made of metal and acts as the escape mechanism and seems to be clawing away time as it moves along. It had crowds of tourists in front of it, making it difficult to see clearly. Mostly Japanese tourists who seemed eager to photograph the thing with either their mobile phones or cameras. It took me some considerable time and effort to get a decent shot as a lot of children would insist on sitting on the sill of the window it was behind. But I eventually managed to get the photograph I wanted.

As much as we love Cambridge, and we've visited quite a few times over the past couple of years, there is one thing that annoys us above all other things. It's those people who throng the main tourist streets, particularly along King's Parade, touting punting trips. We were approached by several as we walked along, minding our own business. These 'trips' aren't cheap, around £20-£30 a time. I'm not sure how exactly they work, but presumably you are taken for a trip, in a punt, controlled (if that's the right word.) by a student or other person, along the Granta or Camb (I'm not sure which name the same river has in the centre of Cambridge. Presumably the Cam. I think it becomes the Granta outside the City.) But to say 'no' to one such tout and then be constantly assaulted (pardon the expression. But it does seem a bit like an assault.) by several more is just too much. Something should be done about it. I think if I, for one, wish to take a punting trip along the river I have a right to choose when I do this, and not be bombarded by these people. The local authority should do something about it, as it's extremely annoying.
We continued on and walked back to Bridge Street to await the arrival of the next bus which would take his back to the park-and-ride car park and our car. 

Sojourn To The North-East

Daniel, my step-son (Carol's eldest son) is currently at Newcastle University doing a degree course in computing. (I'm not exactly sure of the name of the course, but it's to do with gaming.) His current tenancy of his flat was about to expire and he had found another flat in Newcastle and needed to move his belongings this weekend, so we were asked if we could drive up to help him move his things in the car. Obviously we couldn't not help. We were originally going to go on the Friday and do the move with him and then drive back that evening, but as it's at least a 5-hour journey there it would have meant another 5-hour drive back and it didn't seem such a good idea to do it in one day, so we asked our neighbours, Michelle and Gary if they would mind keeping an eye on our dogs, Alfie and Poppy, coming in and feeding them and letting them out a couple of times a day. Just one of the disadvantages of having pets, I suppose. They agreed, so that put our minds at rest, and meant that we could spend a night in Daniel's flat once we'd done the shifting of the belongings.

We packed up our things to take with us, not much as it would be just the one night, and set off at 5.30 a.m. on Friday. We were expecting to drive up the M1 to the North East, but when we drove to the Milton Keynes entrance at Junction 14. Having driven all the way there we then found that it was closed off. We later discovered that there had been a major accident on the motorway and it was closed off up until the next Junction due to 'exploratory work.' So we didn't know exactly what to do as we didn't want to drive up to the Northampton Junction in an attempt to get on the M1 there only to find that the Motorway was closed further north there, so we came to the decision that we would have to travel north on the A1 and drive across to the Black Cat roundabout. This is the roundabout on the A1 between the A1 and A421 (formerly A428) just south of St Neots. We had to cut across Milton Keynes and head towards Bedford and the by-pass. We had to waste a good hour or so in the process, but at least it meant we were travelling north towards Newcastle-Upon-Tyne. We stopped after about a further hour's driving and had breakfast in one of the many service areas and then proceeded with our journey, arriving eventually in Newcastle at around noon.

The next problem was that we didn't have Daniel's address. Neither did we have a street map. Instead we rang his mobile and he directed us to his flat via him speaking through the speakerphone and we eventually found the flat after some convoluted directions. It was then that the real problems began, because as we were about to drive away from his flat to go to the agency for him to pay his deposit for the flat Carol said there was something wrong with the car. She wasn't sure what, but she was having difficulties shifting the gear leaver or something. We thought at first it might have been due to the extra weight of having Daniel sitting in the back of the car. We drove into the centre of Newcastle as at first Daniel needed to go to his bank to withdraw the cash for the deposit on the flat. We parked in the most peculiar carpark which was like a spiral and it made me for one feel really giddy as we kept driving up and up and round and round and eventually found a place to park. It was after we'd parked than Carol again said that there was definitely something wrong with the car.

We drove to the new flat, which is in an area of Newcastle with an odd name. Spiral Tongues. I stayed behind in the flat as Carol and Daniel were going to the old flat to get some of his things in the car and it meant that, without me, they would have more space to transport stuff.

It was at least three hours later that Carol and Daniel reappeared, along eh Lauren, Daniel's girlfriend who had caught up with them in the city centre.  They had come back, having got a cab as the car had broken down. I had imagined as I waited for them that perhaps they had gone to a garage as Daniel had mentioned that there was a Kwit-Fit auto centre not far away and we should take the car there. It turned out that the car had eventually broken down in the centre of Newcastle and they'd ended up at a garage some way out of the city centre where it was left to be repaired, as it was the clutch which had caused all the problems. It was going to cost in excess of £300 and it wouldn't be ready until the next morning, Saturday. We walked into the city centre, a good distance, through the university campus and saw a great many interesting sculptures and managed to arrive at a Wetherspoon's pub called the "Five Swans" where we had dinner. Having walked all that way we got a taxi cab back to the new flat, and Daniel went back to his old flat to sleep. We had to make do as best we could at the flat, without much kitchen equipment or food. Next morning we walked into the city centre and found a Tesco's open near the  St James' Park football stadium and bought some food which we ended up eating as we sat in the rather picturesque Leazes Park where we heard the most pleasant flute music which turned out to be played by a young man near the lake where there were a lot of geese and ducks. It looks as if this park is currently being restored which is good because it is in something of a poor state of repair. A great shame to let such delightful places become so dilapidated.

It wouldn't be until around midday before we eventually get a call via mobile phone to say that the car had been repaired and was ready for collection, so we ordered another taxi cab and went to the garage where we paid for the repair work and drove away, back to Daniel's old flat where we loaded some of his belongings into the car and drove to the new flat and unloaded it.

By now we had realised that the work of ferrying Daniel's belongings to the new flat was going to take longer than we had originally intended, due in most part because of not having the car for over 24 hours, so Carol and I decided that we would need to stay a day longer to get the work done and so would have to return home on Sunday and trusted that Gary, our neighbour, would have realised something had happened to delay our return and would continue to keep and eye on our two dogs. Daniel had to go to work at 6 o'clock at the near-by Holiday Inn and wouldn't be ready to continue with the move until around 8.30 on Sunday morning (his shift at the hotel finished at 2 a.m.)

On Saturday evening we went to get chicken and chips from a near-by chip shop to Daniel's new flat in Spital Tongues and we slept the night at the flat.

We had to phone and text Daniel after 8 o'clock to make sure he was awake and ready to continue with the moving of his stuff to the new flat and we eventually arrived outside at 8.45, taking some time to rouse Daniel who wasn't feeling very well, unfortunately.

After several further loads of belongings, including his iMac computer and a load of other related items including the carcase of a four-drawer chest of drawers.

By the time we'd completed the move it was time to depart Newcastle-Upon-Tyne and drove back to Milton Keynes and got back at around 4.30, having stopped twice, once at Ferrybridge and the second, near Leicester.

Rain Stopped Play

Carol has been on Half Term all this week.  We took Daniel to Stanstead Airport last Saturday, going down to St Albans to collect him at around 1 o'clock and then delivering him at Stanstead at around 4 p.m. He went off to Amsterdam. The journey wasn't too bad, and we came back up the M11 towards Cambridge and then back to Bedford and eventually back home to Milton Keynes, using the new road between Bedford and the M1 at Brogborough which has only recently been opened and certainly speeded up our journey. You can get from the Black Cat roundabout on the A1 and onto the relatively-new Bedford By-Pass and then onto the new road near Kempston and home.

I have suffered with a really awful cough for the past couple of weeks, then Carol got it. We would have gone out, but she's been really ill and spent two days in bed. On top of that the weather's been really awful, raining more or less continuously. So it's been a rather dull sort of week. We don't, as a rule, spend our time in doors when we have a chance to get out and about, and, what with the really awful weather over Christmas, due to snow and more snow and frost and cold and really awful conditions, the past week hasn't exactly helped. Let's hope the next school holiday the weather and our health allows us to get out and about.

Today is the first anniversary of our moving to this house, which is to be celebrated, most definitely, considering what we had to endure at the last house (read earlier posts.)

Well, for you cricket fans, I don't wish to disappoint you (with reference to the title I gave this post.) I personally detest cricket, but the name seemed appropriate. Being forced to watch the wretched game as a child at school, and then having to play it was enough to put me off permanently for life. If someone had had some sense and had explained to be the basic rules of the game I might, possibly, have taken more interest in what was going on.  But they didn't so there you go. Football has about the same sort of effect on me. It bores me ridgid. I'm not a great fan of rugby either, but at least it's a bit more EXCITING. Running around a muddy playing field in the middle of winter in a howling gale and rain pouring down wasn't exactly going to make me want to like it. I really have better things to do with my time.