We have several rabbit holes under and through the compost heap. Often, they get taken over by foxes and badgers. Here is a video of one rabbit digging some earth out of its burrow. Instead of digging and scattering the dirt into a mound behind itself, this rabbit also pushes the soil forwards using its front paws, spreading it out into a low flat low layer. Very neat. It worked alone over a couple of days. Starting just before sunset on January 28th, and then over a period of 40 minutes on the morning of the 29th. It was amazingly neat. Finally in the last minutes of digging, a Redwing bird comes and helps out.
Settle and Carlisle Railway
25th March 2023
We had booked a Steam Dreams trip on the London Euston to Carlisle via The Settle and Carlisle Railway, with the Royal Scot. Today was the day. Alarm clock set for an early rise. We were catching the trip from Milton Keynes at 6.55am but allowing plenty of time to park and navigate the HS2/EWR inspired roadworks and the Bucks CC potholes and failed roads.
We were greeted by Steam Dreams as we walked through the doors of Milton Keynes station and directed to our platform. (How did he know we were with his company?!) Despite our early start we were not the first to arrive. The train arrived on time, hauled by a 1972 86101 Sir William Stanier FRS. The class 86 locomotives started production in 1965. In 1970 three class 86 locomotives were modified and converted to run 5000 bhp with a top speed of 110mph. These were a test bed for the class 87 locomotives. The conversions were renumbered 86101 – 86103. 86101 was bought in 2019 by Locomotive Services Limited which operates the Saphos, Steam Dreams, Midland Pullman, Statesman, and Intercity rail excursions.
We were seated at a table of four in Carriage B, one of five Pullman class carriages. Our amiable traveling companions also boarded at Milton Keynes. They were from Kent and preferred to board here rather than Euston. The man was a train enthusiast and had a large model train set up at home and they were organising another Steam Dreams trip for sixteen people later in the year.
Very soon we were offered and consumed a glass of Champagne, with optional peach syrup, to start our breakfast. We were offered porridge, with whisky soaked raisins. as an extra item to the menu below:
Glass of Champagne
***
Tricolour melon and fresh blueberry salad in a minted syrup. served with Tiresford Farm natural yoghurt and seeded granola
***
Grilled back bacon, Cumberland sausage, Stornoway black pudding, griddled flat mushroom and vine tomato with Freshfield Farm scrambled eggs
or
Loch Duart smoked salmon, toasted English muffin, Freshfield Farm scrambled eggs and a chive hollandaise
***
Morning bakery basket
served with a selection of preserves and Netherend Farm salted butter
Freshly brewed tea and coffee
***
Late morning offering
Freshly brewed tea and coffee, and a selection of Danish pastries
At Crewe we were due to change locomotives to the Royal Scot (46100). Unfortunately, due to some track/signalling/fire issues, this was not going to happen. The announcement went on to suggest that the change almost did not happen, but they had managed to get the Royal Scot out of its locomotive shed and up the line to Warrington Bank Quay Station to wait for us there. We stopped at Crewe for a few more travellers to embark. Here at Crewe there was many railway anoraks with their cameras. While we waited here, we saw another excursion train, pulled by a diesel locomotive “Steel on Steel”. We saw it again at Warrington Bank Quay. I think it too had an issue with its star locomotive.
We set off again, stopping at Warrington Bank Quay Station where our 86101 headed off to Carlisle, where it would power us back. As soon as she left, the Royal Scot manoeuvred to the head of our train, and we headed off to Carlisle. It was difficult to find a good place to see the manoeuvring of the engines. There are quite a few Youtube videos showing this happening, but I have yet to spot myself in the crowd of photographers.
We headed on North, stopping on occasions to allow fast electric trains to pass. At Lockstock we left the mainline and joined the Settle Carlisle line, passing through Blackburn, Settle, Ribble, the Ribblehead Viaduct, and stopping at Appleby to load up with water a second time, and then finishing in Carlisle. (First water stop was near Chatburn.) If we had not been able to use the Royal Scott, it probably would have been unlikely we could have gone across the Viaduct, because the line there is not electrified. There were quite a few walkers by the Viaduct. I bet they were delighted to see a steam train go over it.
At the water stop, in between the rain showers, I managed to get a few more pictures of our train. (I later learned that R had noticed me on the next platform and decided I was a train nutter, but wondered why I was focussing on her.) Tea and cake materialised.
In Carlisle we had two hours to explore the city. We ventured up to the cathedral. A quite different cathedral to most, quite small. Someone was practising on the organ, which lent a good atmosphere. Superb organ pipes.
Walked back in the showers, vising the secondhand shops in what looked like a rundown city centre, to make our way back to our carriage. We set off being towed by the 86101, down the main line to Milton Keynes. This was a much faster trip, reaching speeds of 155 kph (96 mph), quite good for an aged locomotive and rolling stock. On the way back we were treated to a glass of Champagne before our dinner, which also included a bottle of wine.
Assiette of native fish.
Beetroot cured salmon and halibut fishcake dill, caper and citrus mayonnaise with a pickled cucumber salad
***
Duo of Gressingham duck.
Roast supreme and confit leg, thyme infused potato fondant, winter squash puree, roasted heritage carrot,
with cherry and red wine jus
***
The great British cheeseboard
served with Allen’s chutney and artisan biscuits
***
Warm gingerbread sponge, poached Yorkshire rhubarb, almond brittle and mixed spice custard
There was of course coffee and chocolates to finish, and we were each given a special presentation pack of chocolates to take home.
The staff on the trip were superb. Despite the long day, they were jolly and helpful. It appears most of them were from Crewe where the company is based. They travelled to Milton Keynes and stayed the night in a hotel there, getting up early to be coached to Euston Station to get the train ready for a 6am departure. On the return they would be coached back from Euston getting home at 3 am. A pretty long day for them. It was tiring enough sitting there eating and drinking.
The food and drink serving is all coordinated with where you get on and off, so no one misses out on the full day’s meals.
Other thoughts about the trip. Surprised by the number of freight trains on the rails. Of course, we passed by Rugby where there is a terminal and interchange with the road network. Even saw a large train where the wagons were exclusively Tesco. I didn’t know Tesco used the iron road for transportation. I suppose there will be more room on the lines when HS2 is fully operational. Fully meaning the lines all the way up to Manchester.
Short Video of the trip. Please subscribe and Like.
Garden Nature – Grey Heron
2nd February 2023
Rosemary spotted a Grey Heron near the field pond. I rushed out to take a photograph. I was far from it, and it was standing down the slope to the pond, so little of the Heron was in sight. I grabbed a few frames from about100 meters away, and then walked towards it. Of course, it flew off.
I looked at the frames I took, not technically good, but you could see it was eating a frog or toad. So worth keeping them. I think it was a Toad, and so does Rosemary.
Our very Own Otter
2nd January 2023
The wildlife camera threw up an interesting find. In between the rabbits, muntjac deer and the foxes, was an Otter. We have seen it only once. Maybe it was exploring the pond. There are several ponds in the immediate vicinity, many with fish. Our pond dries out in the Summer so not suitable for fish. Anyway, nice to see it, a change from Rabbits and Foxes.
Garden Nature – Sparrowhawk
1st January 2023
The New Year brought with it the Sparrowhawk. It spent an exceptionally long time perched in the tree by the bird feeders. Most of the time was spent preening. Needless to say, there were no songbirds in the vicinity. I took several (hundreds) of photographs, which I have trimmed down to this lucky sequence of it emptying out our songbirds in one avian excretion.
Fox Cubs
Back in the late spring, early summer of 2022, we had a skulk of foxes in the field bringing up four fox cubs. We believe it was two vixens, with a couple of cubs each. Normally we would see two cubs at a time, but on occasion another two cubs would come from the other side of the mound and join in with the play. One set of cubs disappeared during the summer. We assume (hope) they moved on somewhere else. The cubs are now fully grown, and we have seen them since this video was put together.
You can watch the short edition, a little over 5 minutes, or the long two and a quarter hour video. The longer video also stars Badger, Muntjac deer, Squirrels, rabbits, Great spotted woodpecker and various other birds.
The Highlights
Five minutes and 52 seconds showing the highlights of the cubs.
The Full Monty of a Video
Two hours and 19 minutes. The full monty.
Canons Ashby at Christmas
16th December 2022
Many National Trust houses reopen for Christmas and are decorated with a theme. We try and visit at least each year. There are some houses which are decorated in an extravagant fashion, such as our local house, Waddesdon Manor. This is a big money-making scheme and visitors are charged entry whether they are or are not members of the National Trust. These houses tend to become very busy. We typically visit the smaller houses which have been decorated by the volunteers and are still free to National Trust members. This year we have already visited Chastleton House in late November and squeezed in this visit to Canons Ashby to meet up with some friends of ours.
The weather had been cold and frosty for several days, and wonderful frost patterns had formed on the lawns and outdoor furniture. The house looked spectacular with the bright blue sky and the white from the snow/frost patterns. The house had been decorated with small paper Christmas trees, castles and Welsh dragons, the theme being Arthurian legends. Seems the volunteers had made many of the decorations. Brilliant and, of course, R cannot resist a dragon. There were even dragons eggs and a puffing, growling dragon.
Of course, no visit is complete without a visit to the cafe (not to mention the secondhand bookshop), where, on our second visit, we stayed and chatted until past closing time. Back at the car park, the NT staff were trying to figure out who was still in the gardens, and which cars belonged to visitors.
Cold winter in Kingswood
11th December 2022
We have had a dry and very cold few days in the United Kingdom. The temperature in Kingswood dropped to -11C and has been below freezing all night and day. I haven’t felt anything as cold as this since we first moved here in the late 1980s. Despite this cold patch, the UK average temperature for 2022 averaged more than 10C, the first time ever it has topped 10C. The cold weather went on until the 18th, but of course warmed up for Christmas.
I grabbed a few pictures of the frost patterns on cobwebs and vegetation using my mobile phone.
Occulation of Mars
8th December 2022
I was up at 4.00 UTC to see a rare event. The planet Mars was occulated by the moon. The next time this happens will be January 2025. I took around 80 photographs, discarded many, and superimposed each image on top of each other. You can see the moon in the center of the image, and images of Mars on the top left getting closer and closer to the moon. Eventually Mars was behind the moon. This occurred at around 4.59. I went back to bed, intending to photograph the moon when Mars reappeared on the bottom right. I was a little late for this and missed the initial image of Mars reappearing an hour later at 5.58.
I was lucky, a noticeably clear night in Buckinghamshire, though cool at -5C. The down jacket did little to keep my hands warm.
Trip to Chastleton House
30th November 2022
We visited the National Trust’s Chastleton House to see it decorated for Christmas. We try and visit a National Trust house at this time of year to see the Christmas decorations. We bypass houses such as Waddesdon Manor, as a protest, because they charge NT members who visit at Christmas time.
Chastleton House is a large house clothed in dilapidated splendour. The previous owners fell on hard times, with the resultant leaking roofs, no heating and poor decoration. The NT has preserved this look throughout the house. The house was decorated for a 1960s Christmas. You can see vinyl records, the old tube monochrome TV, the old 60s GPO phones and valve radios. The homemade crackers were brilliantly made by the volunteers from crêpe paper and toilet rolls. Do you remember making paper chains by sticking together coloured pieces of paper? The volunteers must have spent a while making all those on display! Great use was made of games and various glasses and cocktail paraphernalia. Champagne coups were a feature and some wonderful 60s food. There were also exhibits from before the 1960s. At Christmas in 1938, the children’s parcels were parachuted in by an uncle who was an RAF pilot. The parcels were scattered across the front lawn, stuck in trees and attached to the house. R spied a thriller written by one of the last private owners. Yes, she ordered a copy, but sadly could not find one with the same attractive jacket.
There was limited access to the gardens, but nice for a quick wander.
After our visit we looked for somewhere to eat (yes, shockingly there is no NT tea-room!), and ended up in the roadside Cotswold Cafe next to a garage. Excellent; it was very clean and served very good basic grub. I had a baked potato with baked beans, cheese and salad while R had a tuna mayonnaise filled roll with salad. The cafe was decorated with old motoring memorabilia, see the model campervan photo.
After our lunch we headed to the nearby limestone Rollright Stones, where you park in a layby in Oxfordshire. There is a nominal fee of a quid each to visit, which we put in the honesty box. There are three monuments – The Kings Men, a late Neolithic or Early Bronze Age stone circle, with nearby an Early or Middle Neolithic dolmen, named the Whispering Knights, while across the road (and in another county, Warwickshire) lies the King Stone, thought to be a single monolith Bronze Age grave marker.
Well worth a visit, though everything would have looked better on a bright sunny spring or frosty winter day, rather than the heavy overcast sky we were greeted with.
We have visited Chastleton House on other occasions. The previous visits were in 2007 and 2005. Did we remember doing so? Mmmm.
