LIDL satellite kit goes live

part of my tool kit
I took great care not to drop anything the seven floors down

four holes done at last

4 bolts to be screwed home
if there is a gale the dish must be taken in

compass was provided and I got the SATELLITE FINDER meter from MAPLIN in Solihull after reading some help pages on the web and taking the advice that a TV is too slow to indicate signal strengh for ease of adjustment.


the black lead goes to the signal strengh meter

menus to be learned


success Astra 1B
and I really like german TV which I saw in Denmark as a neighbour
this is a preset collection of 200 channels

Alles Nick
but why the T-shirt in english?

kids TV
guess who was on CNN dangeous, but as boring as Bush or the IRA or the NAZI party

news in Arabic
Aljazeera - Qatari tv station Qatar based satellite television station. Independent arabic satellite news channel with updated news and different views

France TV5 still on the BIG BLUE hold your breath

arte the wonderful franco-german arts channel

EURO NEWS sent without commentary
I love it

german text tv ARD works too but their clocks are one hour ahead of ours - so at 4:10 am to 4:30 my cult programme
Die Schönsten Bahnstrecken Deutschlands is on
Karoe to Liebnwalde

but FreeView has the sharpest image

evening light LIDL satellite kit - Google Search

The ASTRA Satellite System is the leading Direct-to-Home (DTH) satellite system in Europe, delivering services to some 107 million Direct-to-Home and cable households. The ASTRA satellite fleet currently comprises 13 satellites, transmitting in excess of 1600 analogue and digital television and radio channels as well as multimedia and Internet services. ASTRA's two prime orbital positions for DTH services are 19.2° East and 28.2° East. Professional services such as Direct-to cable (DTC), Satellite Newsgathering (SNG) and Occasional Use are offered from the orbital position of 23.5° East.

The Astra 1KR craft launched to 3.4E for testing, before moving to 19.2°E, where it will replace Astra 1B, which is effectively decommissioned and Astra 1C, which is elderly and running beneath full capacity

on thursday in Brum

in the Bull Ring England football shirts are 70% off

After this I bought some more masonry drills in the covered market - the Wilkinson ones were not up to it
and I stocked up with fruit and vegetables. in th eioen airt one.

I spent more than an hour helping my favourite market trader, COL, "3 cucumbers for £1"
he was getting a bit shirty with some of the dumber customers
so I cooled the situation down by explaining what was going on "he is going home and selling out"

i really enjoyrd beign out of doors people watching in the agora
I was rewarded with ice cream and a bunch of tomatoes

It was good for me to stand up for an hour on my wonky knees
I really enjoy the internatial culture, I heard lithuanian and polish spoken, as well as the usual locals from three continents

But I forget to take any more snaps
no exercise means my weight is rising - up to 165 kilos again.
today is my first day without pain killers . . .

shopping LIDL and WILKINSON

on last Saturday 24 June 2006

discussing the new Rail Link to Glasgow Airport

Westminster is closed so we get Scotland or Wales on Saturdays

inside the new Scottish parliament building in Edinburgh
Saturday morning TV whilst I do my email

the bus driver said that he has driven this route for 5 years at the same time and knows everyone.

Group House is deterioating with broken windows and one open


cable tv junction here

wild daisies taking over

taxi sir? 0121 786 1000 and 0121 789 73333



the works gates but only the ABBA taxi / hire car dispatchers office is active

traffic lights control system is under the pavement

traffic at the Mackadown

all gone - the BSA Machine Tools offices I blogged before
I picked up a job sheet from 1947 so another industrial archive has been lost.

these Birmingham flats are opposite and behind LIDL

recycling on LIDL car park














and this front door too this flag is the one I can see from my flat in the background.
I am going upstairsto empty my trolley of the italian vinegar and olive oils, tinned fish and 14 litres low fat milk I just got at LIDL

this much bashed bus stop is still intact on Bosworth Drive

with a new bus arrivals indicator Bluebell Drive is past the shops

past Argos to the new Wilkinson
I want to put up my LIDL satellite dish

and I bought some masonry drills

10 checkouts at Wilkinson hardware super store

another kind of jeweller's shop

I like the other rose climbing up the elderbery tree

home in time for World cup on TV

red card

good morning england

or blogging from my pillow in Merton House


when I opened my eyes today I saw things with many happy associations bathed in sunlight.
from bottom left corner clockwise:-
leather brief case used by my bank clerk father
computer tool kit
on a dinner trolley fron 1935 (orignally bright orange)
on top diary and spectacles
a corner of a 1935 chest of drawers from my mother's bedside
the Panasonic tv made in Wales is paid for at last
free view box unplugged
satellite tuner unplogged
Sony six speaker surround sound system (when turned on BBC Beethoven string quarter opus 16 number 2)
center speaker
book on SURREALISM bought as a present but never sent
box of music CDs
some dvd film (seldom time to play them)
big envelopes to be reused
empty box to send a present to some one
orange bowl is part of the wet and dry vacuum cleaner (never used)
a pilke of directoris and catalogues
books of philosophy (mostly Wittgenstein and Bertend Russell)
and fiction - coiled cable for networking to spare bedroom
un-assembled shoe rack from IKEA circa 2002
blue satchel for carrying french CPAP machine
lotion for old dry skin on forhead and hands
ansd danish "cow udder ointment" for the same
kitchen roll from LIDL (very good wet strengh)
one of three occaisional tables from about 1980
as a mat I have an old METRO newspaper and a map of Europa


I use office clocks because of my eyes
I am very short sighted, myopia, astigmatism and presbyopis
5.58 am and I have been meditating for one hour
best on awakening with an empty stomach






at my head the antique (10 to 15 years old) french CP 90 machine is still turned on (yellow pressure gauge)

the red spirit thermometer mounted on boxwood was used by my mother to check the temperature of my childhood bedroom
all windows open for sleeping even in cold weather
a coal fire was only lit if I was ill in bed
60 degrees fahrenheit is the "Best heat"
Calculator for Converting Degrees Fahrenheit to Centigrade (Celsius)
Temperature in Degrees Centigrade 15.6
but we used to wear wooly underwear and seaters and socks

the striped bolster is from my granny's home iin USK - old in 1953
the orange metal shelves were the cheapest possible from Shirley B and Q in1999
the mahogany chair was my paternal grandfather 's
the cardboard is a screen to guard my head against the early morning sunligt if I should have slept to 7 or 8:00 am

pillow panorama
computer and old tv still under dust covers
my mother's wardrobe from 1935 . . . . as above
so childhood memories of going into my mother early in the morning
not of my father because I slept in my high sided cream painted cot until about 1942 or 1943
which was placed downstairs at 230 Widney Lane when the blitz began

and standing up by my bed before I open the windows fully to enjoy the fresh air,
and air the bed and bed clothes
looking north of east the camera angle controls the exposure and apparent mistiness

Bosworth Drive Chelmsley Wood

running my bath the sunlight only reaches the bathroom at this time of day and year,
the laundry box is from about 1935 and was originally white, but the bridge is IKEA vintage 2000 and reglued, red towell a present from Denmark

clothes rail from LIDL
with an old sheet as a dust cover

my washing machine runs in the night on half price electricity from about 2:00 am to 4:00 am so I have hung up the damp towels before bathing and blogging

now 7:50 am and time post this and to water the tomatoes and have breakfast

on the radio SIBELIUS FINLANDIA is music in ALL CAPS

CBSO

junk and a dog called Zeppelin

by rolling the 21" monitor onto a cloth I was able to drag it out to the lift without hurting my back - I learned this trick when watching the TV programme about the Summer Exhibition at the Royal Academy of Arts in London
- this was how they moved tons heavy sculptures during the hang.


and I added to the junk at the back door which was all gone within 6 hours


roses in the garden of Merton House



looking up at my seventh floor balcony past the elderberry tree

Zeppelin

his owner said he is camera shy !

back on the seventh floor

Moor Street tunnel to Snow Hill on friday

the up train coming down the curved tunnel

click to enlarge the "up" line means in the direction of London

you can see the original tunnel mouth beyond the Birmingham inner ringway bridge
so the down line goes uphill - up the bank

The english language is fun, you wash down the walls and wash up the crockery and this rainy weather means that the first day of Wimbeldon (tennis) was a wash out

tram to Wolverhampton on the left at Snow Hill station - tunnel to London and Oxford straight ahead and there used to be a siding to the right going to the Birmingham branch of the Bank of England with truck loads of bullion to be sold to the jewellers

mares' tails at Snow Hill Station

about 14 floors is the limit because of the nearby BHX airport

in love again

Corporation Street survival of victorian Birmingham is opposite the BIRMINGHAM SONY CENTRE AT 160-162 MAP B4 6TB


VAIO Desktop

in there I found this dream laptop is actually much better value than 5 years ago

SONY VAIO VGN-AR11S - Core Duo T2500 2 GHz 1 Go 200 Go 17" DVD±RW Blu-ray

A single-layer Blu-ray disc (BD) has enough storage capacity (25GB) for approximately two hours of high-definition video with audio. A dual-layer (50GB) BD can hold enough data for approximately four hours of HD video. TDK recently announced that they have created a working Blu-ray disk capable of holding 200GB of data (six 33GB data layers).

Sony VAIO media centre
http://products.sony.co.uk/vaio_xl100_series.asp

Steve doing his sums after I asked for a discount

stunning screen quality of SONY HiRes TV

wills and administrations at Birmingham District Probate Registry

33 Bull Street
BIRMINGHAM Birmingham District Probate Registry The Priory Courts 33, Bull Street Birmingham B4 6DU GOOGLE MAP

THE PRIORY COURTS

"33 Bull Street" Birmingham B4 - Google Search

the in-house only database which covers from 1964 to 1985 and you may search 4 years at a time
the mouse mat said http://www.ironmountain.co.uk/uk/
to search 1975 to 1995 there are fiche at another desk

and printed calendar (published by HMSO) 1858 to ? Bimingham Central Reference Library but not in their on-line catalogue
National Probate Calendar is on fiche 1858 to1943
1837online to earch the index to death duty registers 1796 - 1903



the counter
no success this time they require
FULL NAME OF DECEASED
DATE OF DEATH
LAST KNOWN ADDRESS (which may be a hospital)

GRANT DETAILS
Probate Registry
Date of Grant
Type of Grant (probate, admon will, administration)
I had not noted the latter so I have to go back to the calender and I was not able to test their one hour service yet (pay by cash or cheque - no plastic).


Hugh Watkins mirrored in the lift on the way out


the court house on the corner of Bull Street and Corporation Street

serious BLING for sale BRUM

then I walked down Coproration Street and found:-

Antique Jewellery & Silverware Specialist, Rex Johnson & Sons

Specialising in antique jewellery, silverware and diamonds, Rex Johnson and Sons is a family business based in Birmingham

a collection of hat pins owned by the late Duchess of Windsor
mostly pairs and a single pin would cost about £6000
the 1936 newspaper has the abdication headline

ear rings owned by the late HRH Princess Margaret

silver spoon given to the baby Princess Margaret by the Queen of Norway

Rex Johnson had been stocking up at Sotherby
Jewelers, 8 Corporation Street Birmingham

http://www.rexjohnson.com/

also seen - an elegant solid silver branch pair of candelabra by Tiffany & Co. of New York, circa 1953. These candelabra were a gift to John F. Kennedy & Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy on the occasion of their wedding. They may also be seen in our category " Items of Exceptional Interest".

after Corporation Street Birmingham

I entered the shopping complex from Corporation Street in the centre panel, walked right to left over the railway New Street Station through that mall, then over a bridge off left and will turn right at the bottom of the gallery drop down by lift to BOOTS the Chemist to get my new multi vitamin pills (with all minerals)

exiting the Bullring Mall and here are views from the balcony towards St Martin's market
where I will stock up with vegetables, fruit, cheese, and cheap bacon bits and turkey schitzels


free deckchairs

Cafe NERO on Selfridge's balcony

COSTA coffee hut with more tables outside

this pine tree died

tv at home

when I got home exhausted I sat down for a good read in front of the tv with ice cold coffee, grapes, cheese on brown bread

and a years supply of vitamins 3 for the price of two every summer

5 afternoons of ASCOT horses

and Ascot Hats





thinking hard DEAL OR NO DEAL?

all over she went home with £2000

in the diary room at BIG BROTHER on ITV Channel 4 and Friday night is eviction night

and the WEAKEST LINK

before brunch

this morning I watered my plants then had a bath and ate a danish style brunch - I am much better and my bruises are fading but still chose to be house bound and pinned down until Saturday when I will run out of green stuff and bread.

my two lettuce are flourishing and I will eat them in about 3 weeks just before I go on holiday in Denmark

time to repot the best, already 12 inches high, and plant out the surplus tomato plants
again I will wait until the weekend in order to save wear and tear on my bruside knee

click any picture to see full size

I think these are pepper plant seedlings germinating at last


blocking the hall is my 6 year old Optiquest 21 inch monitor which is heading for the back door and teh junk pilel - I won't lift it but it nearly ruined my old Netto shopping trolley getting to here. So I have to roll it and drag it to the lift and down and out.
It could be cheaply repaired but the technology is dated and the available windows drivers don't enable it to be used at higher resolution than 1024 x 768. It was making some sparking noises and has been dodgy and the image wobbly for weeks


the Compaq MV720 monitor is back in use from 1999 it has a fading sticker ECOLOGY ENERGY EMISSIONS ERGONOMICS TCO 99 - (Google Search)
- remember the swedish scare about VDUs frying their pregnant office workers. The Sony laptop VDU only lasted 4 years so I am undecided about what type to buy
At least it should be ready for high definiton TV or DVD

The LVD TV 4/3 TV RZ-15LA66 will offer you high quality images and can be used as a very performing VDU. The RZ-15A66 has the visual technology called Digital Comb Filter, which enables the getting of clearer and softer images. Soundwise, the RZ-15A66 has the DASP Surround sound built in for a more realistic ambiance...

a quick look out of the window to the south the little red car is £400 second hand

my work chair was second hand in 1999 and has been repaired, the cushion cover is IKEA 2000 over an ancient pillow
My back support was home made in Denmark from a cardboard roll and a rolled up flat kitchen cushion - I used to hang it from the head support of the driver's seat in the Mercedes taxi - guaranteed to eliminate those stabbing pains which shoot down the leg when a disk gets slightly displaced and presses on your sciatic nerve - (Google Search)
What you need to know about sciatica

Review of common conditions that can cause pain along the sciatic nerve and links to treatment options

but arching your back and maintaining good muscle tone and posture is the key to freedom from pain


open sandwich brunch two slices of german ryebread, cottage cheese from Belfast (£1 fo 2 kilo in the market), chopped raw onion, english cucumber, green pepper from the Netherlands, and clementine from Spain or North Africa adds a contrasing colour.

Skimmed milk from Lidl - the little milk jug holds the same amount of protein as an egg - and the two pint glasses are of typhoo tea mixed with a little german earl grey.

snaps two

when I am at home I have been using the handicam
so see the other blog for the latest pictures

milk before dawn
accident at home
dawn desktop includes some skies good for a desktop images
my plants this morning on the balcony

balcony merton house

early morning light

at 5:48 am June 16 2006

the stone trough came from my granny's garden The Haven, Monmouth Road, Usk, Wales in 1953 and the white kitchen sink below came from about 1937 was installed at 230 Widney Lane, Solihull until my mother had it replaced with stainless steel. The garden seat came from Usk to Solihull and to here in 2000

texture of seat a rough replacement by the retired fire officer who was my mother's gardener - the original planks had smouth semi circular round edges to match the sockets and the whole was painted green.

movable back to this seat as seen on victorian tramcars (but no lugs for screwing it to the floor) and it probably came from Woodbank, Bridge Street, Usk originally all a fine green


click any picture to see full size

limping round the shops

I ran out of multi-vitamins so with bruesed toe and knee after my fall went shopping

This new drive in sign for McDonalds greeted me when I got off the bus
a bit misplaced on the roundabout with the complicated one way traffic system you have to drive the opposites way and turn left four time and right once to get into the drive in


note the chair lift help for disabled into the upstairs betting shop at William Hill - Chelmsley Casinos & Gambling Website 3 Greenwood Way Chelmsley Wood Birmingham B37 5TL (click for googlr map) Tel :0870 518 1715

William Hill is one of the UK’s leading bookmakers with over 1600 betting shops throughout England, Scotland and Wales. We offer a wide range of bets across a host of sports including horse racing, football, greyhounds as well as exciting numbers betting such as the Irish Lotto and Virtual Racing. Our betting shops have a range of services to make your visit more enjoyable and convenient, including Big Screens, comfortable seating, refreshments, and debit card betting.

stairway to gambling heaven?


I love the saturday morning atmosphere inthe Chelmsley Wood shopping centre


the guy on the left is the salesman who is drumming up new business for http://www.three.co.uk/
the picture taken on my Sony Ericsson K608i from Denamrk, but now the Nokia 6280
with two digital cameras 2-megapixel camera, up to 8x digital zoom, and integrated flash is a contender for my next camera

rose out side a pensioner's home in Bosworth Drive
seen when I got off the bus.

paramedics at Merton House not for me - yet - but a reassuring sight.

and I forgot to buy the vitiamins (senior moment)

tuesday is a market day

I got up before dawn on 13th June 2006
and started blogging

dawn at 4:50 am
I went tothe markets early before it got too hot

value for £1



"English strawberries 80 pence a box" was the traders cry . . and I turned round and bought - 3 or 4 were over ripe but tasty

home again in Crabtree Drive Fordbridge, Solihull, near Chelmsley Wood

Saturday morning

Bull Ring Birmingham - as part of a student summer holiday job with SGB, I took down the concrete floor shuttering when the little house to the left was built in about 1954 or 1955

6:45 am getting ready for the market


strawberries

by Centro train - New Street station on the platform
http://snaps2006.blogspot.com/2006/06/new-street-station-birmingham.html
with my handicam in SNAPS TWO
via Cheltenham and Gloucester past the cathedral and along the River Severn banks to Tutshill


Welcome to Wales --

Cymru ar y We: Y porth Cymru Gyfan -- and the sign is in the wrong place - in England the boundary is the river Wye

Wales was legally annexed by the Laws in Wales Act 1535, in the reign of Henry VIII of England, Wales went from being a Kingdom to a Principality in 1284 through the Statute of Rhuddlan. http://www.abcounties.co.uk/thewelshcounties.htm

St John's-on-the-Hill my prep school form 1945 to 1949
and the cedar tree (centre slightly right of the lap post) is central in the victorian gardens

Castleford Hill (I never knew this name the River Wye is hardly fordable even at low tide)

Tutshill - (Google Image Search)

Forest of Dean, Gloucestershire. ENGLAND

but postally
Chepstow
Monmouthshire
NP16 7LE ie Newport Wales
United Kingdom http://www.stjohnsonthehill.co.uk/


a glimpse of Chepstow castle - (Google Image Search)

Chepstow Station Cas-Gwent where I stood age 9 to 13 when travelling to and from school

quarry at Chepstow

OOPS ! -- rushing to snap severn bridge - (Google Image Search)


under the approach to the Severn Bridge -- Severn Bridge - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


we stopped here and were waiting to cross the bridge into Newport Station - the houses still has the typical slate roof and pebble dashed brickwork


River Usk looking upstream with most of the mud banks covered at high tide

Casnewydd Newport - and the trains are announced in welsh by a man followed by a woman in english


looking east the wide space between the platforms was laid out by Brunel for broad gauge (seven foot)

looking west towards Cardiff, Swansea and the Atlantic Ocean

Disabled Toilet Toiled i'r Anabel

Hanson heavy freight train British Rail Class 59 - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia continuing the traditon of massive mineral taffic (especially coal until worked out)

old bridge abutment and the little patch of nature was full of bird song

I was on the other platfoem in 1942 and saw my father for the last time

they forgot the welsh sign Welsh Language Act 1993 (c. 38)

Newport railway station - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Cardiff to Bristol -- Virgin Trains -- Cross-Country Route


probably from Brunel's drawing board in about 1840

black tongued dog Gwybodaeth / Information

Aerial photograph of Newport Castle, Monmouthshire, 1994 ::: Gathering the Jewels

Newport Castle

recrossing the Usk out bound at 9:35 am and looking down the river USK estuary - to the right Newport castle - (Google Image Search) and in the foreground the arches of the road bridge and above the left hand arch against the sky, the t silhouette of the one hundred year old

Newport transporter bridge - (Google Image Search)

Cwmbrân Station

and on the car park I met a colleague and we went up the steps, and a Stagecoach Newport bus came within minutes and saved us the mile long steep uphill walk

OPEN DAY Gwent Family History Society

Gwent FHS - Open Day at Cwmbran 2006: 10th June: " Gwent (used to be Monmouthshire) Wales 25th years since the Society was founded, broke all records with OVER 50 STALLS, and over 100 volunteers manning them.


County Hall with the archives in the cellar to the left and the show in the Civic Suite to the right

signing in and selling raffle tickets for boxes of chocolates
Some 500 people normally sign in each year, in addition to quite a number who " slip through the net" at the busiest times. They come from all over the country (or countries, if you distinguish between Wales and England) some travelling over 100 miles specially to visit us. Pride of place in 2004 went to some special family historians with roots in Monmouthshire who had arranged their holidays around the 12th June and who had travelled literally from the other side of the world. They were Alan & Jan Spencer, from Wellington in New Zealand, but originally from Blaina, and also Kathleen Cox, from Perth in Australia, whose daughter Sheila Khan is from Torfaen

The numbers attending on 2006 were less than normal bit it was the hottest day of the year to date, and also the day on which England played their opening match in the World Cup!

family tree printer extraordinary RON and the little boy is his grandson other fairs to see them at Genealogy Printers

Bristol and Avon FHS and their site Bristol & Avon FHS
we reminisced about seeing the - Unreal Aircraft - Lost Classics - Bristol Brabazon

Cardiganshire FHS had a book I could not walk past without buying
Parish Registers of Wales
Williams and Watts-Williams
second edition 2000

- their site Cardiganshire FHS

military historian David Nicholas was selling his book They Fought with Pride - the Second battalion of the Monmouthshire Regiment 1914 to 1918 and his datbaseof 3000 names includes some of my Holmes Watkins cousins

Pat Hase Clutton Bunfighter Bristol & Avon FHS

Western super Mare and North Somerset FHS their site Weston super Mare FHS

Wyvern Midland Railway Index

and I could not face the stairs so I took the Lift Lifft up

Ann Macey adminstrator of the RootsWeb: Genealogy Mailing List: Wales : MONMOUTHSHIRE


about 734 hits from archiver.rootsweb.com for MONMOUTHSHIRE-L hugh watkins

I have been on the list from about August 2002 when Mike John was active too SEE:-

monfh : Monmouthshire Family History.

My name is Mike John, I am the group moderator, I live in Monmouthshire and have 15 years solid experience of researching and collecting information about hundreds of Monmouthshire families. My Family History Website. This site contains many Monmouthshire transcribed records. http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~monfamilies/myfamily-history.htm

and Ann Macey's hat with the G for Gwent FHS badge

on the floor below
and on the balcony

Gwent FHS had eight stalls.

• Abergavenny/Monmouth Branch
• Blackwood Branch
• Chepstow Branch
• Ebbw Vale Branch
• Newport Branch
• Pontypool Branch
• Publications Sales
• Society Pedigrees

what a view - note the steeply terraced car park


Janet Patrick had my pedigree from 2002 on her table - when I was member number 3873 of Gwent FHS - and indexed as LAPHAM (my mother's maiden name) made it easy to find amongst all the JONES WATKINS MORGAN on the laptop.

Caroline ?Sands Clutton Bunfighter said, "Hello Hugh"

Gwent Record Office


David Rimmer archivist gave me a briefing on plans to scan and digitise Mommouthshire parish registers in Gwent Record Office
he is related to William Rimmer (music) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

William Rimmer (d. 1936) was a Lancashire composer and conductor of brass band music who was particularly well-known for his tuneful marches.

Monmouthshire Libraries and Information Service
had ancestrylibrary live online.

Newport Community Learning & Libraries are hoping for it soon

Aberwystwith

Hanes Teulu
Family History

the National Archives of Wales

Llyfrgell Prifysgol Cymru Llanbedr Pont Steffan

National Library of Wales
I was told that at the end of 2006 Welsh parish registers held at the National Archives will be moved to the appropriate county record office [WNA will retain fiche of course]

which means my newly aquired copy of :-
Parish Registers of Wales
Williams and Watts-Williams
second edition 2000 will be out of date by 2007

A magic moment was overhearing a question and answer entirely discussed in beautiful softly spoken welsh

going home

Cwmbrân to Chelmsley Wood
At about 3:30 pm
Cwmbrân County Hall The panoramic windows at the top are of the balcony of the civic suite, I tookthe lift downstairs and out through the terrace door, and down about three flights of stairs (this google map makes the terrraced car parks look flat) and took this picture, and hobbled very slowly to the bus stop. At Cwmbrân station google map NP44 1QX
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cwmbran_railway_station
the first train out was an Arriva Trains Wales lovely and cool air conditioned with good trolley service and an ice bucket, but too bad about the colour scheme of the soft furnishings.

the hay crop has been cut and rolled up into great cylinders - off camera to the right
I remember when this work was done with horse drawn machines in the nineteen fourties and as little boys we helpd


the branch line to Usk and Monmouth used to be here
change at Pontypool Road Junction station by GWR railcar to my granny

History of the railways around Monmouth and the Wye Valley branch ...

The route was from Little Mill junction, some two miles north of Pontypool Road Station, to the Monmouth Railway at Wyesham near Monmouth the google map shows trees growing on the old railway

darn tree !!!obscures a herd of black and white cattle drinking from the River Usk on a very hot day (by Glen Usk Farm?) - about half of them were up to their knees in the cool water - a scene of the lush meadows for thousands of years except originally they would have been red or like highland cattle. unfortunately the aerial photographs of google maps are of low resolution here, multimap NP7 9HH but this map shows the family farm High Mead NP7 9SU was quite close to here
http://www.multimap.com/map/photo.cgi?client=public〈=&pc=NP79SU
http://www.old-maps.co.uk/
County: MONMOUTHSHIRE Date 1886 copy paste this co-ordinate grid Ref: 331600,212300
or a post code as an address search

speed
the steps to the left could be the remains of the walls of a three or four thousand year old hill fort where all the cattle could be hidden from raiders and guarded by the farmers and villagers

note the ghost image of my left hand (click to about full size) holding the Sony Ericsson phonecam
we are climbing up through the pass through the hills to England

arriving in the second of the great cathedral towns of my day.

Hereford station was very empty the line is closed to the north is closed - probably the engineeers are working on the points at the junction this Saturday and Sunday
originally the centre two tracks would have been used by the endless coal trains from the South Wales Colleries with high grade anthricite for the steam boilers of the workshops of England and the atlantic liners sailling out of Liverpool (for example)

outside buses await mine will be here in 40 minutes, so I asked where to shop and was told to go to Wm Morrison Supermarkets Plc
"Station Approach, Commercial Road"
Hereford HR1 1DN
click to see map and zoom out to see my journey as a whole


Morrisons Supermarket a lattice pork pie, Weight Watchers hard water flavoured with grapefruit and lime, and three kinds of cider incudign Westons scrunpy http://www.morrisons.co.uk
BULMERS is the local firm but I no longer like their sweeter weaker ciders

Cider remains the 'core' of the Bulmers business, its main brands, Strongbow, Woodpecker and Scrumpy Jack, are all market leaders

http://www.magnerscider.com/
BTW my grandfather Alfred Lapham brewed his own cider and the Watkins farmers did too
my mother started my drinking off, when I was aged about 11 or 12 with a glass of Bulmers Woodpecker cider (or a shandy) with sunday lunch

Clinical research trials have proved the health benefits of drinking cider, in moderation. The key results of the independent trials show high levels of antioxidants in cider. In fact, a half pint of cider contains the same amount of antioxidants as a glass of red wine.

It is established that a diet rich in antioxidants may help to protect against diseases, such as those types of cellular damage that can lead to cancer and cardiovascular problems.

It is important that no-one drinks more than the recommended daily intake of alcohol, which for women is 2 to 3 units per day and for men, 3 to 4 units, an average cider having about 2.5 units per pint

the noble facade of Hereford Station and our coach is loading up - next time I will take a close up of the clock. I was very tired and dozing off because the smooth driving, but the country was rich and beautiful with many missed opportunities for snaps including fields of hops, and well worth the detour.

look beyond the double electricity poles the grey plastic tunnels probably cover strawberry beds which bring the crops to market two weeks earlier. A current local scandal - do they spoil the countryside? http://www.strawberry-plants.com/CalPacific/Tunnels.htm

the viaduct we should ahve been on


outside my window when the coach unloaded an ancient section of traditional walling with lime and sand mortar

it really hurt climbing the steps of the foot bridge loaded up with my purchases - and I was worried the trainwould leave before I got down again.
Ledbury station would make a fine subject for a first historical model railway layout not too big and after the tunnel an unseen loop with a couple of sidings for exhibiton use.


waiting for the off at Ledbury station single line working meant we had to wait for the other train to arrive first

This Centro train was the slowest from Bromsgrove up the Lickey Bank I have experienced in the 60 years I have travelled that line. The guard told me that the eight year old rolling stock ws purchase second hand from Midland Mainline 8 years ago had been re-engined a year later and was now worn out. I suspect that it was over heating and the driver therefore had to keep the speed down, and once you are late on the run in to a big city you get a string of double yellows as you follow, out of time table sequence, a goods or stopping train which should have been after you. A bit like getting in a stack at an airport when the aircraft flies a race track pattern over a radio beacon waiting to come in and land. Well I had chosen the slow route !

The climb is just over two miles, at an average gradient of 1 in 37.7, between Bromsgrove and Blackwell (near Barnt Green). It is on the railway line between Birmingham and GloucesterGrid reference SO985710). The Lickey Incline is the steepest sustained adhesion-worked gradient on British railways. Shorter, steeper sections of climb exist on elsewhere. It climbs into Birmingham from the south over the Bunter geological formation (one or two exposures are visible from the track-side), and passes about a mile and a half away from the Lickey Hills, a well-known local beauty spot. Wiki
Of which I got a very good view this time.

desperate for a loo McDonalds Bull Ring just before closing time - the security guards onthe Bull Ring lock the toilets at about 7:30 pm. My mother aleways walked in to the finest hotel available to visit the ladies, but no hotels on this route - my knee was hurting and I was dog tired after 14 hours on the road


8:05 pm At Martins and down to the 97 Allison Street, Digbeth bus stop
and home by 2100 a cold wash and on line - but too tired to do much more than empty the phone camera of 72 snaps

from snow hill to RSBA gallery

I arrived in Birmingham on the 97 bus and took the train to the High Town from Moor Street to Snow Hill
platforms 4 and 5 are for the trams to Wolverhampton

buffer stop made in Osnabrük Germany

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trams_in_Germany




across the tracks to the right

St Pauls station exit

Constitution Hill built with pride but neglected for 50 years

victorian barley sugar twist woodwork to the neglected windows soon to disappear

turning right towards St Pauls Square and the Royal Birmingham Society of Artists Gallery





looking back at St Pauls Square

on the right only the front wall is left during demolishing and rebuilding - and on the next corner is the RBSA gallery

RBSA prize

great show
images copyright their owners

I am going to add the text on sunday or monday























2006:06:08 20:32:19 and the bar is dry already the show closes at 9:00 pm

afterwards

I turned round and walked up hill to explore
St Pauls Square
blogger went down yesterday and now ??? it took about 6 or 7 goes to upload the above in MS IE 6 - now using Mozilla 1.7.8

pavement made of bricks with 18 maltese crosses

Apollo gallery open ?

no closed but what you can't hear is the music of at least 3 or 4 groups were rehearsing in old warehouses

This was the first time I have walked through the jewelry quarter - still lots of workshops left

we did tell him !! crack is 4 monkeys - don't do it

It was like this when I got here - A ASBO says think !

cast iron lace is great and lots more wonderful architecture



and then I took the 8a bus round the houses to catch the 97 home

LIDL - Chelmsley Wood Library

First I had to go to Lidl at Kitts Green to stock up with 14 litres skimmed milk, two kinds of ground coffee, a tray of cottage cheese, two whole meal loaves and four packets of rye bread altogether about 14 days supplies of basics.

delightful weed on the Lidl car park
and on the way to park my trolley

garden of Merton House
after sitting down and drinking ice cold coffee for an hour,
I dcided to walk in to the Chelsmley Wood centre

Chelmsley Wood Medical Centre it looks like someone missed the door,
and I went here to get a repeat prescription from the pharmacy on the right

Hippuris vulgaris common mare's tail a weed at widney lane but a prehistoric survival

white wild rose at Bennets Well school

wild barley gass already with seeds

I am heading for the humped backed foot bridge, and the lower square building which is the library
view from the bridge

the brook is clear again after the rains have run off

under the main road bridge

golden rain and happy memories of my mother and Brumleby

the bridge to the library

great machine and extra clear keyboard
I tried to do some look ups on ancestrylibrary edition but was too tired to do much good

censored - SOLGRID - oops - an unseen word on google groups

the thread has been partially deleted since I replied so what was going on?

air conditoned computer service at Chelmsley Wood library
much better than Birmingham Central Library, small is beautiful

after that I went to Somerfield supermarket and purchased 5 kilos of rolled oats and took bus 97 home and went to bed for the rest of the afternoon

indoor sunday

now I know why I kept all these cottage cheese tubs
replanted tomato seedlings on my balcony window sill

peppers and squash

I should have done this one or two weeks ago
three tomato seedlings remain in the black mini greenhouse from LIDL. The roots had grown into a mat desparatly seeking nourishment.

summer now

I have still not got the angle right on my LIDL satellite receiver - this should help

97 City Centre 10 min on the sign and three minutes later 4 buses arrived in a convoy

you can see the subject of the first snap on the gable and Merton House and Bosworth Drive renewed speed bump
CAR PARK by SELFRIDGES& CO at the Bull Ring Birmingham, after the cash point, on the way to buy fruit and veg. at the markets

then from the 97 bus on the way home


Custard Factory the bus was rolling so the camera shutter movement causes the sloping effect

surprise

when I came out of the Birmingham Central Library at 8:00 pm I was greeted by music and on the big screen mounted on the scaffolding of http://www.birmingham.gov.uk/townhall.bcc :-

Sleeping Beauty ballet by Tchaikovsky


relayed live from the stage of Covent Garden theatre in London

chairs and picnic baskets too

I didn't stay because of the very tinny sound quality - now if there was suround sound I would have been captivated

Acclaimed at its opening in 1834 as the finest Music Hall in the country, the Grade 1 listed landmark is now being lovingly and painstakingly renovated by a dedicated team of conservation and construction professionals. Designed by Joseph Aloysius Hansom for the performance of music, political speechmaking, public gatherings and the use of the urban community, the Town Hall opened in 1834. Since that time, its imposing neo-classical design has dominated the city centre’s Victoria and Centenary Squares.

Joseph Aloysius Hansom also designed and patented http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hansom_cab

SNAPS TWO: fire after sunset