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April 13, 2017

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The love of chalkstreams - Top 5 places to enjoy the chalkstreams

So why such a love of chalkstreams ? Rare. Special. Unique. Sparkling, clear water tumbling over bright gravel. Brown trout hanging in the eddies. Bright green weed wafting gently with the current. Kingfishers streaking momentarily into view. Idle cows, front feet planted in the stream, sucking down the chilled water. Mayflies dancing. Water voles keeping busy. Secretive otters curled up on couch es of dried reeds for a day of rest in the sun. This, and much more, is the life in the day of a chalkstream . Southern England is blessed with these streams that are part of the weft and weave of the Hampshire countryside . The River Test is the supreme example of a type of river that only exists in England . There are no other chalkstream s anywhere else in the world. They are, in the best possible way, geological freaks of nature , the product of an ice age that left behind seam of chalk that goes deep beneath the downs which absorbs the winters rain , chilli

BADGER CAM AT PAINSHILL PARK

Painshill, for those that do not know us, is a landscape garden in Cobham, Surrey. Originally created in the 18th century it is 158 acres of garden designed to be a walk. As the visitor strolls dramatically placed follies and stunning vistas unfold before them. What the visitor often doesn’t realise is that, under their feet, live a large collection of badgers. Painshill visitors will often get a glimpse of birds, rabbits, deer and maybe a fox or a mink. However we never hear of visitors spotting badgers. These Painshill residents are so silent in opening hours you wouldn’t know they are there . At the beginning of 2020 we set around trying to get some footage of the elusive and shy mammals. Armed with a small motion censored camera we went looking for active sets across the site. Active sets are often spotted by their shape, they are longer and far more oval than a rabbit hole, as well as their cleanliness. Badgers will clean their entrance of leaves and twigs. Cluttered plant debr

You Will Always Be Able To Spend A Penny at Didcot Railway Centre

Photo by Frank Dumbleton Are we about to lose our 1p and 2p copper coins? Maybe says the Bank of England. Definitely not says Downing Street. Whatever happens after the politicians have finished pontificating, we can assure you that the beloved ‘copper’, the pre-decimal penny, one twelfth of a shilling until 1971, will always be in circulation at Didcot Railway Centre. The platform ticket machine in the Museum and Archive will deliver on deposit of 1d, completely mechanically and without electronic intervention, a souvenir of the days when you needed a small piece of pasteboard to go on the platform to say farewell to a dear relative, or do a bit of trainspotting. The photograph shows brothers Henry, holding a 1965 penny, and Oliver with the ticket received in exchange for it. The old pennies are readily available from the staff in the Museum, in exchange for a 20p piece, a rather less significant coin than the real penny, you will agree. The penny platform ticket was val

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