A bit windy today so I went for a walk. Its a couple of kilometres from where I live to the point where the walk gets interesting. What I usually do is cycle to Caxton Way and lock Ellen to a lamp-post and then begin my walk. It was a little muddy in places but nothing like as bad as I had feared. Some sheltered areas where still frozen. Also Kitchen lane has been treated in some way. It looks as though excess mud has been scraped off and the surface rolled. Not many birds around.I should have gone out earlier in the day but was trying to earn Brownie points by spring cleaning in the house.
Stevenage viewed across Norton Green landfill site. A good spot for spring passage migrants.
The highlight was two buzzards and a red kite sharing a thermal.
Just went for a little bimble around local lanes. I rode about 40km. I still can't summon any real enthusiasm for cycling at the moment. Perhaps when spring arrives...
Rushden. Where I ate my lunch.
Two views looking north-east ish from Wallington. Open, dull Hertfordshire countryside.
Pond on right overflowing into road, then downhill into the village.
George Orwell's house.
Views of Wallington.
Old road from Wallington to Baldock. Now closed to motor traffic.
This afternoon I went for a short ride. It is just an 18 km loop east of Stevenage.
I am really not in the mood for cycling locally. I want to go to more interesting places. However, I have the lurgy, I'm sick of riding in the rain and I only had a couple of hours; so Aston it had to be!
If it has worked, then the map above will give an indication of where I went.
River Beane at White Hall. It is from boreholes near here that water for Stevenage is drawn.
Ford at White Hall, with Ellen.
The mysterious Frogmore Hall seen from across the Beane.
Three views of what remains of Aston House. During WWII it was Station XII, where unusual weapons were invented and developed. Now the grounds are a small exclusive housing development and a golf course. The only remaining building being the stables.
Mosses and lichens on a gravestone in St Marys churchyard.
Ellen replaced Hardy on 8th December. I had been riding Hardy since about February. I found the dumped frame on my way to work day, took it home and built a tough expedition bike. Recently the bottom bracket kept coming loose, and I kept tightening it. Eventually it failed; the fixed cup breaking off completely. I had been tightening the adjustable one while the fixed one had been fracturing! So I rebuilt Ellen (The Elswick Hopper) who had lain dormant in the loft. She is light and fast, but much less rugged than Hardy. I shall replace her soon with something similar, but ten years younger.
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