skimpy diary and piffling poems

Friday, November 06, 2009

Dec2009,London

Su5Dec2009
Su12Dec2009
Su19Dec2009
Su26Dec2009

Monday, November 02, 2009

Nov2009,London

Su1Nov2009Rosary church,Hinde street
M2 WLDC,CaSM,St Jude's
Tu3 Hinde Street, with Gordon's group, Dave's flat
W4 Dave's flat,Lyon-Liverpool,1-1
Th5 nomads,Thursday tea-time
F6 Friday forum and little talk
Sa7 Joe's
Su8Nov2009Sister Margaret and Rosary
Su15Nov2009
Su22Nov2009
Su29Nov2009

Friday, October 30, 2009

Fw: robertmitchell,SPAMnewsletter,Oct2009-1of29-back in "the smoke" - car smoke, not house smoke

--- On Sun, 18/10/09, Robert Mitchell <imaginerobmitch@yahoo.com> wrote:

From: Robert Mitchell <imaginerobmitch@yahoo.com>
Subject: robertmitchell,SPAMnewsletter,Oct2009-1of29-back in "the smoke" - car smoke, not house smoke
To: "Robert Mitchell" <imaginerobmitch@yahoo.com>
Date: Sunday, 18 October, 2009, 5:33 PM

attached shots

1   Th17Sep The Georgian redundant church, St Willibrord and All Saints, taken from Akenside hill

2   Su20Sep The flood in Morpeth last year, reached this level.

3   Tu22Sep Slightly blurred - sorry - shot of Peoples Kitchen where they do a great deal for the homeless and poor.

4   Th24Sep Newcastle library is like any open plan office so this is a snap through the window from the fourth floor of the library, of the cupola on top of the Laing Art Gallery next door

5   Su27Sep sunrise looking along the Team valley from the Gateshead Road near the A1

6   F2Oct organ recitals at St Nicholas cathedral church on Mondays at 1.00 pm

7   Th8Oct the 100 metre stretch of Hadrian's Wall at Heddon-on-the-wall

8   Th8Oct by luck the sun was at the right angle to show where the broad wall on the east side,becomes the narrow wall on the west side, both on the earlier built broad foundations.

9   Th8Oct Hexham Abbey east end on the right, founded 674 by St Wilfrid, seen from the park in its grounds. I sat here for about an hour waiting for the library to open.

10 Su11Oct Nowadays the "Waggonways" are foot-,cycle- and bridle-paths. Before, they carried coal in wagons pulled by steam locomotives, from the mines to the staiths at the mouth of the river Tyne.

11   Su11Oct This is a schematic model of Newcastle on three levels, across the road from the Central Railway Station. In the foreground on the lowest level is the railway. On the top level is the Grey monument.

12   Tu13Oct St Nicholas cathedral church, looking along the south aisle towards the altar, with the nave on the right. The caff is straight ahead

diary                  http://sdapp.blogspot.com/

flickr photos       http://www..flickr.com/photos/the-reindeer

Hello kind reader,

Sorry for the slow answers to emails, the lack of comments on flickr, and the lack of photos on flickr, blogger, and SPAMletters. I have had only a few hours each week on the computer. I mean to do all these things sooner or later - later is more likely. Sorry for the typing mistakes.

Over the last month, I have walked to Medomsley, walked to Chollerford along the military road, but mostly stayed in Newcastle.

Next month, I hope all being well, God willing, nokkon wood, to have Christmas in London, or maybe two months.

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Th17Sep09-10.40bst,Newcastle lby,Dell,Dell,Dell,Dell,Oce

A little east of Newcastle city centre is the redundant church, St Willibrord and All Saints,which I snapped yesterday morning. St Willibrord English saint, was the first bishop of Utrecht and brought Christianity to what is now Holland. The church was built about 1780 with an elliptical nave/auditorium. Betjeman called it "one of the finest Georgian churches in the country". It's Grade I listed and looked after by the city council(?).

The hill beside it going down to the Tyne, is called Akenside hill, after a poet and medical doctor, Mark Akenside, who was born there (1721-70). He was eclected Fellow of the Royal Society (FRS) in 1753. Before, the hill was called Shambles after the butchers who had shops there. The stream that ran through the Shambles was renamed Lort stream - Dirty stream - after all the offal that the butchers dumped in it. Before it was called Dean stream, and today runs in a culvert under Dean Street at the bottom of Grey Street.

Lort stream rises in Leazes Park, next to Royal Victoria Infirmary, where I paid £1 for a restful cuppa in their caff. Leazes Park is also beside St James Park where they are fairly happy with the Magpies start to the season in the Championship. Thirdly, Leazes was the first Newcastle public park, opened in 1873. Fourth, Lort stream was dammed to make a lovely lake beloved by anglers.

This morning I walked 4 miles to Segedunum - strong fort in Latin - Roman fort at the eastern end of Hadrian's wall, in Wallsend. Being there about 6 in the morning I did not pay the fiver they asked to go into the museum. I made a snap and had a look through the fence at the fort, the most thoroughly dug fort on Hadrian's wall. The road runs between where the fort and the wall were. So on the other side of the road are the 2000 year old foundations of the wall - before your very eyes! A reconstruction of the wall - 15 foot high, 20 foot over the parapet and 10 yards inside the true wall - was my second snap.

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Sa20Sep09-12.10bst,Newcastle lby,Dell,Dell,Dell,Dell,Oce

I have walked through two towns which have had bad floods, namely Carlisle in 2005 and Morpeth last year in 2008. In Carlisle the river burst its banks, and in Morpeth it was the Wansbeck. In Carlisle they are already building new and higher sea walls and widening the drains and sewers. In Morpeth, a year after the flood, they had a meeting to see what should be done.

Four free museums in Newcastle

Years seventy five ago, "Discovery"'s there.

Turbinia, Parsons' ship in Blandford Square.

Northumberland! "Great North" is right for you.

The coal with Romans, Angles, Armstrong too.

The "Laing" for Art, Laing's cash from making ships.

The watercolours good for handy tips.

But "Bessie Surtees house" is not yet seen.

John Scott - Lord Eldon, his eloping queen.

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Tu22Sep09-08.50bst,Newcastle lby,Dell,Dell,Dell,Dell,Oce

Found a dead stoat by the road, with a black tip to its tail, for the first time. I believe I have seen a couple of live stoats running across the road ahead of me, but they might have been small cats. A small mammal ran throught the undergrowth by my feet - perhaps a shrew.

Last week I walked to the east end of Hadrian's wall. The fort there is Segedunum, "stronghold" in Roman/Latin. It was shut in the early morning but I could see the layout of the fort in the field beside the museum through the chicken wire fence. The kind museum has not grown a high hedge which has scuppered me before - Epidauros, Greece and Knosson,Crete spring to mind. Today's road A187, runs between the fort and the wall. Across the road are the foundations of the wall and a few yards of rebuilt wall at full height, about 10 metres from the true wall. You can feel how the barbarians must have felt when they saw the wall.

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W23Sep09-08.50bst,Newcastle lby,Dell,Dell,Dell,Dell,Oce

I've had my Stormlite waterproof jacket for five or six years now. But the tape on some of the seams has come off and rain gets through. I bought some stuff called Seamgrip which is messy and poisonous - isocyanates - but seems to seal the seam. It takes 12 hours to cure so I try to do a stretch in the morning, let it set overday and wear it in the evening. The sole of my left shoe is peeling off at the front so I tried Seamgrip. Needless to say, needing a 12 hour cure, the Seamgrip let the sole and upper spring away straightaway. Some tape is doing it better now.

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Th24Sep09-08.50bst,Newcastle lby,Dell,Dell,Dell,Dell,Oce

Newcastle library is brand new and only a few months old. Last year when I was here, it was still behind scaffolding. It looks like an open-plan office when you go in and the staff walk round dressed in casual black clothes. To join the library you only have to say "yes". There are six floors and open lifts without boxing, like Richard Rogers' "Lloyds" building in the City of London.

The computer suite is on the fourth floor with about 60 computers. On the second floor are the 15 minute computers. You can have up to 2 hours and the 15 minutes do not add on. I found this out when my computer shut down after about a minute, to my sorrow. On the ground floor are the magazines and newspapers, with the magazines in racks while the daily papers are scattered around on tables. Many tables and cubby holes are scattered around for those who wish to work. These are the sections I need myself.

I have not borrowed any books. They are mainly on the ground floor but can be found on all the floors. A caff on the ground floor opens at 8, before the library at 8.30. The caff looks good though I have not eaten there.

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F25Sep09-09.40bst,Morpeth lby,Northumberland,Fujitsu-Siemens,F-J,F-J,F-J,hp

Red squirrels are still found in Northumberland but the greys are moving in. They could have gone from Northumberland in 10 years if worst fears come true. The main reason why reds are dying, seems to be red squirrel pox which does no harm to the greys, but the greys are carriers. Also greys are bigger, stronger and heavier and take the food and shelter that is going. Red seem to do better in coniferous plantations as greys do not eat the food found there. Thus Kielder forest is a stronghold of the reds.

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Su27Sep09-11.30bst,Newcastle lby,Dell,Dell,Dell,Dell,Oce

I walked into a lovely sunrise going into Gateshead and took a snap along the valley of the river Team. The clouds were spread out across the sky so that the rosy pink from the sunrise, could be seen from east to west. I could not get all of that in my snap so I pointed the camera towards the sunrise.

I have taken to shifting dead rabbits from the road to the grass by the hind legs. I think it's better for road safety - not least my own! The rabbits don't get squashed by the cars and the cars don't have to make sudden swerves round the rabbit.

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M5Oct09-10.40bst,Hexham lby,Hexhamshire,Fujitsu-Siemens,F-J,F-J,F-J,?

I've had another look at Hadrian's Wall, from the east end - mainly because I missed some bits of wall by walking along the wrong North side of the A69 walking into Newcastle. First I found Denton turret, which is South of the A69 - a small shelter for the Roman soldiers while they were on the wall. Then near Heddon-on-Wall, the military road makes a turn and we have today 100 metres of broad wall. There is no longer stretch of wall east of Heddon. Farther west near the North Tyne river, I found "Plane trees" I found the spot where the broad wall - 3 metres wide - becomes the narrow wall - 2 metres wide. I believe even experts are still guessing why the wall suddenly becomes narrower.

A few days ago I caught the first Metro train at about 5.30 to Tynemouth at the mouth of the Tyne (!!). The station is as it was first built in Victorian times 1868(?), with a brick building in the middle and 200 yards of glass along the platforms. I think this is following Joseph Paxton's Crystal Palace at the Great Exhibition of 1851. And Paxton learnt his trade building greenhouses at Chatsworth(?) in Derbyshire(?)

Then I strolled along the beach to Tynemouth fortified Priory which looks big even in ruins. Then through the foot tunnel under the Tyne river - built 1951 through morraines left from the Ice Age. And on to St Paul's church, Jarrow where the east end, choir, is one of the two churches that St Bede/Baeda would have known when he was working - 720AD(?)

There is much history round Newcastle!

Today I'm in Hexham where the cathedral was first founded by St Wilfrid, 674AD.

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Th8Oct09-09.00bst,Newcastle lby,Dell,Dell,Dell,Dell,Oce

Since last Friday I have walked along the Military Road from Newcastle to Chollerford, which is now a bridge and not a ford where Hadrian's Wall crosses the North Tyne by Chesters fort. The Military Road was built, so I read, by General Wade, in 1745 to take an army across the North of England from Newcastle to Carlisle. Sadly, the foundations of Hadrian's Wall were what he needed for his road so he knocked down 15 to 20 miles of the wall. I missed this stretch when I walked into Newcastle a few weeks ago by going the quick way along the A69.

The longest bit, over 100 metres, is in Heddon where the road makes a bend to the right. For reasons still not clear, the Romans changed the wall from broad - 3 metres wide - to narrow - 2 metres wide. Photo 8 at Plane Trees near the North Tyne, shows where this happened.

I met Terry on his bike on my way out of Newcastle by the few yards of Hadrian's Wall in Denton. He kindly fed me and let me sleep on his couch. He and his family, did the same again when I walked back to Newcastle on Tuesday. I showed them my sketchpostcards and some of the photos. He had a DVD player with a USB port linked to his thin screen TV, while I have a USB card reader with my card from the digital camera. It all worked a treat!

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Su11Oct09-11.50bst,Newcastle lby,Dell,Dell,Dell,Dell,Oce

Yesterday I went to the Stephenson Railway Museum. It's seems well advertised but is rather out of the way and only open at weekends. It turns out to be quite small but packed to the rafters with old steam engines and a workshop where volunteers are getting more ready. A small caff and learning area is for mums and kids and quite a few had turned up. They had some "interactive" exhibits and maps to show you why the railways were invented in South Northumberland. The only grumble was that I could not make their audio with headphones chats, work. They do events throughout the year and the highlight is the "Santa Special" at Christmas. A steam train full of kids goes for a run with Santa handing out presents.

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Tu13Oct09-09.50bst,Newcastle lby,Dell,Dell,Dell,Dell,Oce

Yesterday I went to the cathedral church of Newcastle, St Nicholas. First I had a pot of tea in the cafe, which is a happy caff in beige and run by volunteers. I bought a postcard at the shop next to the caff, and wrote it out while I drank the tea. At 1pm, Michael Stoddart, the inhouse organist and director of music, gave a free recital. The music was by Bruhns, Pachelbel, Messiaen, Jongen, Bridge, Alain. I closed my eyes and listened for about an hour. It's the third I have gone to.

A bit of doggerel about coal from Newcastle

Coal

It's "Coals to Newcastle" - no need for that!

When said to you, it leaves you feeling flat.

For hundreds years, black coal rolled down to Tyne.

On trucks on waggonways, to staith from mine.

For thousands, pits and rails meant daily bread.

Drift coal from Poland - now the pits are dead.

Railways

Coal trucks on rails, wood, iron, cast then wrought.

Steam engines station'ry or locos bought.

Coal trucks were pulled downhill on waggonway.

First horse, then engine steam would make rope play.

George Stephenson built loco - flatter run.

Then steam 'n diesel gave the whole world fun.

On Sunday night 8.30, near the Discovery museum, I went to a handout run by "Helpline". A vegetable pie was followed by rice pudding, with tea coffee, scones and cakes. Fresh veg is plentiful at this time of year and the hot rice pudding was welcome on a cold evening.

I met a keen walker who belongs to the Ramblers. He walked from Winchester to Eastbourne, the South Downs Way, about 100 miles in 48 hours without sleeping!

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W14Oct09-09.00bst,Newcastle lby,Dell,Dell,Dell,Dell,Oce

I have been skippering in some trees near Newcastle town centre. While I was away walking along the Military Road, someone dumped a load of empty bottles and cans. Some of the bags were broken so I had some trouble

Some doggerel about the Peoples Kitchen

Alison Kay's Peoples Kitchen

Kay's Peoples Kitchen, near St James's Park.

Queen's OBE, great leader made her mark.

Kitchen, bricked in wood frame, at Bath Lane.

Three courses soup main sweet, is belly's gain.

Those with habits can get lots of food.

Then courts and NHS, put in good mood.

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Su18Oct09-17.20bst,internet caff,Praed St,?,Hanns.G,?,HiPoint,MS Office

Last month, in Newcastle library, on a day of wonders, I read that England had beaten Sri Lanka and South Africa, and that Essex had won promotion to the first division by one point from Northants. I could not help feeling that one of the fates had made a mistake as she span the thread of life. Perhaps she pricked her finger or her foot slipped off the pedal.

In the last few days, Mars has gone past the twins Castor and Pollux in Gemini, going eastwards.

In Newcastle I went to a free lecture about Parkinson's disease, the first in a series called "Well Brain" and sponsored by Durham University. It seems that the illness begins low in the brain stem and spreads up. Thus a loss of the sense of smell is one of the early symptoms, whereas trembling is one of the later symptoms.

Today I caught the train from Newcastle to King's Cross. We lost an hour through engineering works south of York. We went through fields, trees, hedges, towns and a power station - Drax? - but mostly fields.

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Best wishes to all, Robert

Thursday, October 22, 2009

MISTAKE new photo - robertmitchell,SPAMnewsletter,Oct2009-1of29-back in "the smoke" - car smoke, not house smoke

Th22Oct09-16.50bst,Marylebone lby,lenovo,IBM,lenovo,lenovo,?

MISTAKE with photo number 1, in the October SPAMnewsletter.

For some reason I uploaded the sound memo, instead of the photo, of All Saints church.

So here is the photo.

1 Th17Sep The Georgian redundant church, St Willibrord and All Saints, taken from Akenside hill

Best wishes to all, Robert Mitchell

Wednesday, September 16, 2009

Oct2009,England

Th1 Newcastle
F2 Newcastle

Stormlite and SeamGrip
Five years ago I bought a Stormlite coat.
'Twas only worn when rain could make ducks float.
In time the seam "tapeseals" began to peel.
The rain got through to give a bad wet feel.
I bought SeamGrip - the glue takes hours to cure.
But now, I hope my rainproofness is sure.

Sa3 Heddon-on-the-wall,windy, bright big, 180degrees, rainbow

Winds and gales
The weather girl says we are having gales.
So I will need a few Newcastle Ales.
Three times the wind has stripped my bags away.
When found downwind they're round a tree asplay.
At night there could be rain - some risks at play.
Three bags give me the winter setup strong.
Then I'm OK if winds keep going long.

Su04Oct2009B6318m military road
M5 Hexham
Tu6 A69, Terry
W7 Newcastle, Peoples Kitchen

The military road and Hadrian's Wall
To Chollerford along the mil'try road.
Old Wade was jabbed by Bonnie Prince's goad.
At Denton gladly found the turret, wall.
Some weeks ago, 'twas missed with eyesight small.
At Heddon more than hundred metres wide.
It's thanks to road here, turned aside

Th8 Newcastle
F9 A193

Alison Kay's Peoples Kitchen
Kay's Peoples Kitchen, near St James's Park.
Queen's OBE great leader made her mark.
The Kitchen, bricked in wood frame, at Bath Lane.
Three courses, soup, main, sweet is belly's gain.
Those with habits can get lots of food.
Then courts and NHS put in good mood.

Sa10 Stephinson Railway Museum

Stephenson Railway Museum, Silverlink and Middle Engine lane
Our railway's heart is South Northumberland.
From mine to staith, coal's waggonways were planned.
Museum's land was middle engine house.
Monkwearmouth's roof had led to heavy grouse.
The METRO test house sheltered from the rain,
The volunteers who mend the steam with pain.

Su11Oct2009A193, Newcastle

METRO
Well-liked 'n busy, METRO's '84 (eighty-four)
Three zones, three pounds, it's also good for poor.
Extension first, was North to airport grand.
Then second, out to Wear and Sunderland.
Last month I went three zones to Whitley Bay.
Then Tybnemouth Pri'ry early in the day.

M12 Newcastle

Coal
It's "Coals to Newcastle" - no need for that!
When said to you, it leaves you feeling flat.
For hundreds years, black coal rolled down to Tyne.
On trucks on waggonways, to staith from mine.
For thousands, pits and rails meant daily bread.
Drift coal from Poland - now the pits are dead.

Railways
Coal trucks on rails, wood, iron, cast then wrought.
Steam engines station'ry or locos bought.
Coal trucks were pulled downhill on waggonway.
First horse, then engine steam would make rope play.
George Stephenson built loco - flatter run.
Then steam 'n diesel gave the whole world fun.

Tu13 Newcastle
W14 Newcastle
Th15 Newcastle, lecture on Parkinson's Disease
F16 Newcastle, Ron Eager house
Sa17 Newcastle
Su18Oct2009Newcastle to King's Cross, London
M19 London
Tu20 London, Gordon's group
W21 Wednesday club
Th22 nomads and Thursday tea-time
F23 WLDC downstairs
Sa24 American church,Simon community,St Giles,ASLAN
Su25Oct2009Sister Margaret
M26 Art at St Martin's,St Jude's,Earl Court
Tu27 TateModern,"Black hole",Baldessari
W28 StJude's,Wednesday club
Th29 nomads,CamdenArtsCentre,Thursday tea-time,HowardIsenberg and3-D photography
F30 Footsteps,Joe's house

robertmitchell,SPAMnewsletter,Sep09,1 of 29, three great Tyne bridges, new,swing,high level

W16Sep09-08.50bst,Newcastle lby,Dell,Dell,Dell,Dell,Oce

diary http://sdapp.blogspot.com/

flickr photos http://www..flickr.com/photos/the-reindeer

Hello kind reader,

Sorry for the slow answers to emails, the lack of comments on flickr, and the lack of photos on flickr, blogger, and SPAMletters. I have had only a few hours each week on the computer. I mean to do all these things sooner or later - later is more likely. Sorry for the typing mistakes.

Over the last month, I have walked the rest of Hadrian's Wall, looked round Hexham, been to Kielder water, Newcastle, and Northumberland up to Bamburgh castle.

Next month, I hope to stay near Newcastle and make trips out - Morpeth, Consett, Segedunum, Arbeia, Jarrow, Tynemouth priory,...

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F21Aug09-11.20bst,Hexham lby,Northumberland,Fujitsu-Siemens,F-S,F-S,F-S,w2k3v

Hadrian's Wall and Kielder Water are in the Northumberland National Park, which has fewest indwellers of all the parks. Light pollution -mostly street lights but also houses - is pretty low. With the help of the new moon I have been looking at the Milky Way between clouds.

I found my first tree full of cherry plums a couple of days ago. It was on the old road from Corbridge to Hexham that runs alongside the new A69 north of the Tyne. I stopped for a rest and a feed while I read two old Times and a Women's Weekly I picked up - the weekly quote was from Mae West, "To err is human but it feels divine". 3 or 4 ripe plums fell off the tree while I sat there.

The Tyne runs through Newcastle and I spotted a fighter in the Toon Army, way upstream. A little West of Bellingham in Tynedale, a black and white magpie shirt was seen on the driver of a small tractor in a field.

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Sa22Aug09-09.50bst,Hexham lby,Northumberland,Fujitsu-Siemens,F-S,F-S,F-S,w2k3v

Yesterday I looked at Brunton turret, what is said to be the best turret on Hadrian's Wall. It was about 6 courses of stones high, and about 2 metres square, on the road between Wall and Acomb, not far from Chester fort.

Today I found my first bush full of ripe blackberries, of this summer. Scrumptious! Clearing a stone the other day to make a flat spot - as well as woodlice, I found a thick white web nest of spiders. They were light brown, about 3 mm across with short legs - quite big for under a stone I thought.

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Tu25Aug09-09.00bst,Newcastle lby,Dell,Dell,Dell,Dell,?

I reached Newcastle yesterday and found the People's Kitchen in Bath Lane. About 30 years ago, a woman of Newcastle on her own set up a soup kitchen for the homeless. She went on to become famous, meet the Queen for an MBE(?) and found the People's Kitchen which is still going today. Last night they had a handout - vegetable soup, pasty and pasta, bread, tea/coffee, clothes from a new van which is a mobile kitchen.

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Th27Aug09-17.00bst,Newcastle lby,Dell,Dell,Dell,Dell,Oce

I skippered on the A69 roundabout near Wylam and getting up was easy under all the street lights - about 20. Some nights before I was in a fir plantation North of Wark where the North Tyne meets the road. Those needles let no light through and no streetlights helped.

My bright white bags could barely be seen and I nearly got lost walking 20 yards to the road. The only things I can see are big trees.

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Sa29Aug09-08.50bst,Newcastle lby,John Dobson street,Dell,Dell,Dell,Dell,Oce

John Dobson was the architect who, with John Grainger, built the new town centre of Newcastle, North of the old town centre round St Nicholas cathedral, in the 1830s. At the heart of the new town centre is the monument, like Nelson's column, with Earl Grey at the top. A Newcastle man, Earl Grey was prime minister when the great reform bill of 1832 was passed. He is perhaps better known for his Earl Grey tea.

Yesterday I went to the free Laing Art Gallery. They have an exhibition of watercolours from their own stores, paid for by the Friends of Laing. I like to see watercolours in the hope some of their genius will rub off on me. Laing was a Scot who made money on Tyneside from shipbuilding and funded the gallery.

The rabbits on the grass round the Civic Centre are tame and do not mind being seen by passers by. Out in the countryside they run on the sight of me. I saw a dead rabbit near Hexham lying flat under a tree. Some flies were flying round it, laying eggs I believe. About a week later the rabbit had shrunk to a furry bag of skin and bones - quicker than I would have thought could be done.

Earlier this week, I went to the free Discovery Museum. The first thing you see is the "Turbinia", built by Charles Parsons in 1894 and the first ship powered by a steam turbine.

Turbinia was the fastest ship of its day at 35 knots, 40mph, 65kph. I recall the story of how

it ran rings round the British fleet at the Spithead review. Parsons was knighted and given the Order of Merit.

Parsons first made the steam turbine for generating electricity and I believe that all big power stations nuclear and fossil fuel, have steam turbines to turn the generators. For ships however, I think big diesels have taken over. The QE II cruise liner had steam turbines.

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Th3Sep09-09.40bst,Alnwick lby,Fujitsu-Siemens,F-S,F-S,F-S,hp

The kind Geordies of Newcastle have been giving me their loose change - £13 - £14. It's about the same, male and female and they walk up and say "Buy yourself a coffee". One guy saw me in Penrith a month ago, and he gave me a handful of change - about a fiver.

Yesterday I strolled through Amble, a small harbour at the mouth of the river Coquet. First it was a fishing harbour. Then coal was found but the last shipment went out in 1969. The old West jetty is now a marina and they are back to fishing, but with a lot of tourism. They have have a big new town square by the harbour with a sun dial with one of the biggest gnomons in Europe. Walking on the tidal mud of the Coquet, was my first curlew, small, light dappled grey back with long down curved beak.

In a bend of the Coquet is Warkworth castle, stronghold of the Percy family. I took a shot of the gatehouse but some of the walls have fallen or been robbed of stone. Most of the keep is still there. I think English Heritage are looking after it.

On Wednesday morning I was lucky to wake up, shortly before the nearly full moon set (full moon on the 4th), when it was about 5 degrees above the skyline. I was in a hedgerow with no street lights. I like roundabouts because they often have street lights.

The night was clear and the stars bright after the moon had set. The winter stars are rising in the east. Orion strides over the skyline and Gemini is flat to the east. Procyon, Canis Minor, the small dog, was below and between them. Procyon being "before the dog" as cynics will know, the dog star Sirius had not yet risen. Mars (I think) was below the twins Castor and Pollux, on the skyline and slowly twinkling, about once or twice a second, if I am not mistaken.

In the south are Capricorn and Aquarius with a lot of faint stars which I must learn some day. The only bright star was Fomalhaut, "the lonely one" in Arabic, in Piscis Austrinus, southern fish.

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M7Sep09-09.30bst,Alnwick lby,Northumberland,Fujitsu-Siemens,F-S,F-S,F-S,?

I often here the tawny owl in the woods at night - often heard, seldom seen. At dawn few birds sings now, but a group of jackdaws were singing. They stopped when they heard me, but started again straightaway. A sycamore by Bamburgh castle was leaning heavily eastwards under the west winds. In its shelter two other sycamores grew straight up. Is this perhaps why the sycamore is not a native tree?

I thought lighthouses had been overtaken by GPS and radar. But I have spotten two on the Northumberland shore - Blyth and Bamburgh. The St Mary's lighthouse near Whitley Bay is not working.

I quite often see a small mirage on a longish stretch of road - looking like a pool of water in the road - but it is never there when I get to it. I feel fairly sure that it is light from the sky bouncing off the steep temperature gradient, just above the tarmac. Now and then I can see the dark trees in the mirage. The light is only ever turned through a small angle.

I have seen some satellites slowly going between the stars, mostly for 5 or 10 minutes and perhaps across half the sky. Going away from the sun they suddenly are lost when they go into the earth's shadow. Going towards the sun they fade like the moon, as the sunlit side slowly turns away. Could it be the international space station?

I also see shooting stars - a streak of light for about half a second stretching maybe 10 - 15 degrees across the sky. I don't see many - about 1 a week.

Perhaps I should say there is no message in the SPAMnewsletters, nor teaching. "Bare underholdning","only entertainment" as Lise Myre(?), Norwegian cartoonist of "Nemi", each day in the METRO, said in an interview I read in Oslo last year. I do acknowledge that I am sometimes trying to teach myself!

This morning under the A1/A1068 bridge near Alnwick, with no streetlights nearby, I got up by the light of the third quarter moon. In the fall, the 3rd quarter moon moves from the spring stars to the summer stars and can be good for up to 10 days.

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M11Sep09-09.20bst,Newcastle lby,Dell,Dell,Dell,Dell,Oce

Trees of the rose family are setting seed now - berries,haws,hips. I have taken two snaps of rowan and Swedish whitebeam with bright red berries and dark green leaves. As a wild-life photographer I could do better. Most animals, herons, ducks, sheep, cows, even bullocks, take one look at me and turn tail. So I have been snapping those that can't run away - at least not fast enough - caterpillars and slugs.

Near the Cheviot hills a few days ago, I walked by a field of bullocks in the dark. I could tell by the thunder of hooves that they wanted to know what this flip-flop of sandals meant, in the road by their field. Some weeks ago, I saw another herd of frisky bullocks and this time the old man the pedigree bull, was running with them. He could not keep up but felt he had to try. I know the feeling!

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Su13Aug09-11.20bst,Newcastle lby,Dell,Dell,Dell,Dell,Oce

I have heard the short squawk of the heron at night, and once saw one fly a ring round me. The robin sings under the street lights. I've also seen a few caterpillars - a couple big at aboiut 3 cm and long furry, and another bright green thin looper.

Between Newcastle-upon-Tyne in the south and Berwick-on-Tweed are perhaps 4 bigger rivers and many smaller ones. Blyth and the Port of Blyth are on the river Blyth.

Then, going north is river Wansbeck which flows through Morpeth farther upstream.

In the tidal flats of Coquet I saw a curlew near Amble. A km upstream is Warkworth with its castle, a stronghold of the Percy family. But the capital of the Coquet is Rothbury reached after a steep climb - I speak from experience - and Cragside, the home of Lord Armstrong, "Geordie genius".

The fourth is the Aln, with Alnmouth, where I did not go, and Alnwick, where I did, with Alnwick castle, the family of the Duke and Duchess of Northumberland.

North of Blyth is Seaton Sluice which had a port in Victorian times, thanks to investment by the Delaval family. But by 1890 the wharves had been left to the wind and the waves as trade had been lost to Blyth.

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M14Sep09-12.40bst,Newcastle lby,Dell,Dell,Dell,Dell,Oce

I found a big bank of rose bay willow herb, all gone to seed. They also make a great show when in flower.

Over the last two weeks, I have looked at some of the castles in Northumberland. Bamburgh is said to be the "iconic" castle of Britain. I walked by in 1993 when I walked from London to Edinburgh - I am always walking by things I want to see. It was a castle in the dark ages for the kingdoms of the celts and angles. The Normans dug a well through the Whin sill basalt, 45m(?) down to get water from the sandstone, into which the Whin sill was forced about 300 million years ago

Warkworth castle is in a bend of the Coquet river near the sea at Amble. The keep and the gatehouse were quite good but some of the walls have gone. There is also a hermitage which I could not find.

Alnwick has a barbican outside the main gate and is the family home of the Duke and Duchess of Northumberland. Most barbicans seem to have been knocked down as they go before the gate itself - London Barbican! Some of the Newcastle barbican is still there - called the Black Gate after its owner in the 1700s, although its North gate is almost all gone.

Dunstanburgh is said to be the biggest but is in ruins. On the other hand, Morpeth castle is small but has a whole ring of walls. I walked right round!

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Tu15Sep09-11.10bst,Newcastle lby,Dell,Dell,Dell,Dell,Oce

Last Friday, 11th, I walked back to Newcastle from Morpeth through the coal fields of North Tyne. At the 6 mile bridge, 6 miles North of Newcastle, I was at the spot where the Great North Road is crossed by a historic "waggonway". Coal was first shipped out of Newcastle in about the 1400s, I believe. It was loaded into wagons on wooden rails and run down a steady slope called a "waggonway", which can still be traced to this day. The coal was loaded onto ships on the North bank of the Tyne.

The waggonway at Killingworth is where George Stephenson learnt about railways and the steam engines that pulled the wagons down to the Tyne. His rails were 4ft 8.5 inches apart and this guage has spread across the world.. By remarkable coincidence, the cart tracks on the Roman roads are also 4ft 8 1/2 inches apart, so says my book on Hadrian's Wall. Did we get the gauge from the Romans? Where did the Romans get it? Greeks? Minoan Crete? Perhaps the need for all carts to run in the same grooves, has kept the gauge so steady over the years.

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W16Sep09-08.50bst,Newcastle lby,Dell,Dell,Dell,Dell,Oce

Last night I went to the People's Kitchen for a welcome meal - pasta, potatoes,cabbage and rice, with as much tea as I could drink.

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Best wishes to all, Robert

attached shots

1 F21Aug the outlet on the dry side of the Kielder dam, from which flows the North Tyne

2 Sa22Aug a bright show of flowers on an old wooden rail in Hexham, between Hexham Tyne bridge and the railway bridge.

3 Tu25Aug flying geese/swans and flowers at the Newcastle Civic Centre

4 Th27Aug turret on Hadrian's Wall

5 Sa29Aug Newcastle Civic Centre, seen from Dobson Street

6 M11Sep Alnwick castle in the early morning

7 M11Sep Bamburgh castle on Whin sill, owned by Lord Armstrong

8 M11Sep This plaque is by Wakenshaw VC junction/cross roads a little to the West of Newcastle Town Centre

9 Sa12Sep From the Tyne bridge looking over Newcastle city centre

the Norman castle keep, 1080 - hence 'Newcastle' instead the Angles' 'Munkcaster' - but this keep was put up by Henry II about 1160, the crown steeple/lantern tower of St Nicholas Cathedral, Armstrong's swing bridge, Robert Stephenson's high bridge,...

10 Sa12Sep Four big names with links to Morpeth, 15 miles North of Newcastle

11 M14Sep Bamburgh (from old English Betanburgh, burg of Queen Betta) castle

Monday, August 17, 2009

robertmitchellSPAMnewsletterAug2009 1of29, no summer this year! straight from spring to fall

M17Aug09-11.00bst,Hexham lby, Northumberland,Fujitsu-Siemens,F-J,F-J,F-J,w2k3v

diary http://sdapp.blogspot.com/

flickr photos http://flickr.com/photos/the-reindeer

Hello kind reader,

Over the last month, I have walked round Lakeland and Furness, and some of Hadrian's Wall and nearby sights.

Next month, I hope to walk the rest of the wall, go to Kielder water, go to Bambrugh castle, and swim the Atlantic.

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Th16Jul09-10.10bst,Morecambe lby,stone,Belnea,cherry,ms,NMORefBW1

My first raspberries of this summer this morning - delicious! Blackberries are on their way.

I went to Heysham this morning. Heysham has s Peter's and St Patrick's chapel. Both seem to date from about the same time - the 700s. There are also some rock cut tombs which are thought to have been cut around the grave of a holy but unknown man. They are all too late to be linked to St Patrick!

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Su19Jul09-12.30bst,Kendal lby,Dell,LG,Dell,Dell,iCAM

I have seen a few dead birds, mostly nestlings, sometimes after rain. They are bald with no feathers so I can't guess what they are - balckbird? One with feathers was heron I think. Nestlings that have grown too big for the nest are fed by the parents while they hide on the ground, I believe. On the promenade at Douglas, Isle of Man, I saw a herring gull nestling, almost full-size but with mottled brown feathers and not flying. In the grass by the road a fluttering showed me a small goldfinch, I think

Today I walked into Kendal, Westmorland. Their motto is "Pannus mihi panis" meaning so they say, "Cloth is bread for me". Kendal did well from sheep and wool as can be seen from the parish church, St Mary's(?). It seems to have three naves rather than nave and two aisles and is the second widest in England. It seems that leather and shoes have taken over from textiles as the main industry.

All hump-backed bridges are canal bridges - Brindley bridges. Almost, but no! In Morecambe I saw my first hump-backed over a railway. The Lancaster canal goes Tewitfield wharf, but there I lost it in the dark and carried on along the A6070. The road crossed the canal farther on and I saw that the canal was full of water but overgrown and not dredged. The towpath had been mowed and was good walking.

In Kendal, where the canal ends I found two roads, Canal Head North and Canal Head South, on the two sides of the wharf at the last basin. Sadly however the canal was filled in 1947, having lost its trade to the Kendal railway of 1847.They are talking of making the waterway to Kendal again but not yet! I think they would have good cruising business to the Lakes, as they have to Llangollen in Wales.

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M20Jul09-10.00bst,Windermere lby,Top-Tec,Dell,Logitech,Logitech,iCAM printer

Sir William Hillary of Douglas Isle of Man, set up the Royal National Lifeboat Institution is 1824. This sculpture is on the Promenade of Douglas showing the famous rescue of 1830 of the stricken St George on the Conister rock, in Douglas harbour. Michael Sandle is a well known Isle of Man artist who has become known world-wide.

Fuchsia are self seeded round the S of the Isle of Man and many garages are Total.

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W22Jul09-11.10bst,Ulverston lby,Dell,Dell,Dell,Dell,iCAM printer

Yesterday I slept in Rayrigg wood near Windermere, a cathedral of tall beech trees with a high green roof. It was pitch dark when I got up, but the night was clear and near the new moon. I saw the Milky Way overhead from Altair through Deneb to Cassiopeia. Arcturus is low in the NW. Over the last 3 months I have watched Regulus, Spica and Saturn sink in the West.

In the morning it started to cloud over as forecast. I was in Newby Bridge at the S end of Windermere and had the good luck to find old pig sties, empty but dry. I was glad to watch the rain through the door, open to clear out any condensation.

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Th23Jul09-10.20bst,Barrow-in-Furness library,Cumbria,Dell,Dell,Dell,MS,iCAM printer

The spreading thistle is spreading - something to think about for those wearing sandals.

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F24Jul09-10.00bst,Barrow-in-Furness lby,Cumbria,Dell,Dell,Dell,MS,iCAM

Today and yesterday, I've been looking round Barrow-in-Furness with its big docks where they build nuclear subs though well out of sight as far as I can tell. I first had a look at Furness abbey the second richest Cistercian abbey in England and looted by Henry VIII.

There is a dock museum and a statue of Emlyn Hughes who was born here. I always wondered why he played for England and not Wales! It seems his father was a Welsh rugby league player.

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M27Jul09-10.00bst,Ulverstone lby,Cumbria,Dell,Dell,Dell,Dell,iCAM

Yesterday, Sunday, I walked the scenic coastal route from Barrow to Ulverstone, along Morecambe Bay. Across the bay I could see the two nuclear power stations at Heysham.

Then the rain came in from the West and I put on my three waterproof jackets and trousers. A kindly couple gave me a lift for the last few kilometres into Ulverstone.

Today, I had a look at Conishead Priory, which looks quite impressive. I was a little taken aback to find it is now a Buddhist temple and they are having their summer festival for which you need a pass. So I went on to the Ulverstone canal which was busy for about 50 years till the railways came in 1850. At 65 foot wide, 15 foot deep and a mile long, it was called the deepest, widest and shortest canal in England.

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F31Jul09-11.00bst,Keswick lby,Cumbria,Dell,CTX,Dell,Dell,iCAM

Canada geese and sheep live happily together in the flooded fields after the heavy rain. Sheep run away when I show them my camera! I saw a big weeping hawthorn. The lower half had been taken over by ivy, and the twigs and branches from the upper half were hanging down before the ivy, like a weeping willow.

I slept the night by the A66 outside Keswick - no rain for the first time for a few days. Keswick has an old town, with Moot hall, market place, Main street and many old buildings. I walked down to the "lake", which is Derwent water and a wonderful outlook towards the fells around. I bought two-for-one survival bags at one of the many outdoor shops in Keswick and all the Lakes towns. The Keswick convention seems to be still going.

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Sa1Aug09-10.30bst,Keswick lby,Cumbria,Dell,CTX,Dell,Logitech,iCAM

Yesterday afternoon, Friday, I found the Keswick Convention site on the map, and there I met Tim of All Souls'/ASLAN, who kindly fed me a tasty lunch. Friday is the last day of the 3-week convention, so he took me to the last hour of the tent city by Rawnsley Hall. In the evening I went to the last session of the convention at 7.30. We heard about the 250 youngsters doing Hebrews 11, a talk about David and Goliath, and much singing with a 6-piece band.

This morning it was raining as forecast, so I went to Castlerigg ring of stones, up on the top of a hill with a sou'wester blowing. About 40 Borrowdale volcanic stones, brought here by the glaciers, make an outer ring about 30 metres across. On the east is a "unique" oblong of 10 stones calle a sanctuary. It seems these stones circles in Britain, were put up between 3500 and 1600 BC/BCE, in the new stone age and bronze ages. Stone tools say this could be new stone age ring. It's looked after by the National Trust, who have a stone collecting box saying "Please support the National Trust". I put £1 in.

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M3Aug09-11.00bst,Penrith lby,Cumbria,Dell,Dell,Dell,Dell,iCAM

Sadly I read no Beatrix Potter books as a child and grown up, I said "They are for children!"

I walked by her farm, Yew Tree Farm, between Coniston and Ambleside, where her "beloved Herdwick sheep" are still being farmed. All I know about her, I have picked up over the years (63 next month).

As a young woman she looked at lichens, showed they were made of a mould and an alga living together, but her paper was turned down because she was a woman. She took to writing children's books which became world renowned. She then married to live on Yew Tree Farm and I believe did not write another book. I am now thinking of reading them!

Penrith is a pleasant market town with St Andrew's church. The West tower dates to 1397 but the nave and aisles to 1720 in Georgian classic style. Inside, columns hold up the gallery and roof. Penrith was burned to the ground in 1346(?) in a Scotish raid and backed the English Duke of Portland in 1745 against the Young Pretender.

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F7Aug09-11.40bst,Carlisle lby,Cumbria,Dell,Dell,Dell,Dell,iCAM

A flock of 20 swallows gathered on power lines above me. Some days ago, I saw about 30 screeching swifts fairly high, perhaps 100 metres, and lower, some twittering swallows about 10 metres up, all hunting flying insects, flies, beetles, bees, wasps, hover flies, ... Unheard bats hunt at dusk or dawn almost at ground level, though none has hit me yet.

What is sin? - or greed? I wondered as I plodded along the A66 towards Penrith. Then I saw some bushes by the road over about 10 yards full of ripe raspberries. So that is greed!

In the morning a few days ago at the Somerfield near Penrith Market Square, I found a leaflet about Hadrian's Wall. I was not surprised to find that the Wall is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. But the site is the frontier of the Roman Empire, and stretches about 150 miles from Wallsend in Newcastle to Ravensglass on the seashore of the Western Lakes.

The wall is about 73 miles - 80 Roman miles - of those 150 miles. The World Heritage Site also has the German Limes which go from the Rhine to the Danube, I believe.

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Su9Aug09-14.00bst,internet caff,acer,acer.?,ms,?

Carlisle has three bridges. The Eden bridge over the river Eden, is said to be 40 yards upstream of the Roman bridge carrying the Wall. Bridge Street runs towards the Caldew bridge. I walked over the Petterill river on my way to my skipper. On 8 January, 2005, high tide and heavy rain made the Eden and Caldew burst their banks and flood the town centre. A new flood scheme of walls and earth banks is being built. Warwick Road, the main road east and A69, is shut for 6 weeks while they build a bigger sewer.

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F14Aug09-11.20bst,Hexham library,Fujitsu-Siemens,hp,F-S,F-S,w2k3v print

Yesterday I walked to Hexham from near Hadrian's wall, about 20km but thanks to an early start, I was at the TIC before it opened. Hexham abbey was founded by St Wilfrid, about 674 AD/CE. The crypt of his abbey is still there but above ground was burnt by the Vikings.

The first purpose-built gaol in England was put up in 1330 by the Archbishop of York and Lord of the Manor. It was mighty sturdy and is still there.

Today I went to Corbridge for their Roman fort, which was closed at 6 in the morning (!). I could have climbed a gate but threat of patrolling security and prosecution for trespass made me change my mind. St Andrew's church is 7th century. The Vicar's Peal tower, which is a small keep, 1200s, helped in the border wars and during raids by the reivers or cattle rustlers.

Garlic mustard has gone to seed, is drying out, leaves deep red with green edges.

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M17Aug09-10.30bst,Hexham library,Fujitsu-Siemens,F-J,F-J,F-J,w2k3v

Outside Hexham, I found a skipper between two middling sycamores and a 5 foot dry-stone wall. In the middle the nettle and bramble cannot grow for lack of light and it's a comfy spot. I found a like spot between two tall limes outside Ellesmere. It's always worth checking out.

Yesterday I had a quick look at Housesteads fort, the main tourist trap on Hadrian's Wall. Today I walked about 20 km back to Hexham. Well into the fourth quarter moon and with not much light pollution round here, I could see the Milky Way between the clouds.

I could see nothing under the street lights of the village Four Stones. Back in the darkness, the stars had all gone, 8/8 cloud, and a light rain was falling! The rain became heavy and I had to walk two hours into Hexham. I treated myself to a £3 breakfast in the Tesco cafe.

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Best wishes to all, Robert

attached shots

1 Sa18Jul St Peter's parish church of Heysham and very old, it seems - 700s?

2 Su19Jul West tower from the North of Kendal parish church

3 M20Jul On the Promenade of Douglas

4 W22Jul comfy dry pig sty in Newby Bridge

5 M27Jul looking towards Ulverstone and the railway bridge along the Ulverstone canal

6 Sa1Aug Castlerigg stone ring, 10-stone "sanctuary" in the foreground, taken with my back to the sou'wester.

7 M3Aug Herdwick Inn, Penruddock, showing Beatrix Potter's "beloved Herdwick sheep"

8 F14Aug Sunrise seen from the scenic route along Morecambe bay, from Barrow to Ulverstone. "Red morning, shepherds warning" - it rained later and I got a lift from a kind lady to Ulverstone.

9 F14Aug United Utilities say sorry for blocking the A69 out of Carlisle to put in bigger sewers.

10 M17Aug looking NE, overlooking the cliff below Hadrian's Wall on Whin Sill, near Sewingshields and not far from Housesteads fort.

Saturday, August 08, 2009

Sep2009 England

Tu1 A189/1086
W2 Amble,Warkworth
Th3 Alnwick
F4 A1,rain,Warenford
Sa5 Bamburgh,Seahouses
Su6Sep2009B1340,A697
M7 Alnwick
Tu8 Cragside
W9 B6344,A697
Th10 Morpeth
F11 Newcastle
Sa12 Newcastle
Su13Sep2009Newcastle
M14 Newcastle
Tu15 Newcastle
W16 Newcastle,St Ann's church,3 bridges
Th17 PK,Segedunum fort
F18 Medomsley
Sa19 A692,Newcastle

four free museums in Newcastle
Years sev'nty five ago, "Discov'ry"'s there.
Turbinia, Parsons' ship in Blandford Square.
Northumberland! "Great North"'s the show for you.
The coal with Romans, Angles, Armstrong too.
The "Laing" for Art - Laing's cash came from making ships.
The watercolours good for handy tips.
The "Bessie Surtees" house is not yet seen.
John Scott - Lord Eldon, his elop'd dear queen.

Su20Sep2009PK,Newcastle
M21 Newcastle, PK Outreach, kipped under railway arch

Monday,21stSeptember,2009
Ron Eager Centre, fearsome DVD
All murders, beatings, tortures you could see.
They have a shelf of books that we can pick.
Sue Townsend's son Ade Mole, will do the trick.
Of chuckles belly laughs, a steady string.
Give me a funny book without a sting.

Tu22 Newcastle
W23 Newcastle

Peoples Kitchen founded by Alison Kay
I sit here waiting for Kay's Peoples Kitch.
Those nasty drops of rain fair make me twitch.
Was sitting reading happy 'neath the sun.
Bad West wind blew in dark clouds one by one.
We had a dry East wind some days ago.
It veered to West and now I've lost my glow.

Th24 Newcastle

Newcastle
A Celtic(?) old town, Roman bridge and fort.
Monkchester Anglo-Saxon name, we're taught.
The Normans built "Newcastle" on same spot.
Then coal was found. That brought in wealth - a lot!
George Stephenson brought running steam to rail.
With wharves and shipyards, many ships at sail.

F25 Morpeth
Sa26 Newcastle

What happened today, Sa26Oct2009
The sun is shining from a clear blue sky.
The West wind blows quite hard so we won't fry.
Sri Lanka lost to England in SA.
The England middle order could make hay.
Was in Newcastle lib'ry for hours.
Computer, sketching, reading, dodging showers.

Su27Sep2009
Newcastle

Sunrise over Gateshead
The rose sunrise means snapping finter's hot!
To gateshead east, along the Team - snapshot.
The clouds should be too thick to block the light.
So thick to bounce it back into your sight.
The pinks clouds stretched so bold from east to west.
For minutes few, a lucky world seemed blessed.

M28 Newcastle, organ recital at St Nicholas
Tu29 MetroTynemouthPriory,StPaul's,Jarrow rain
W30 walk back to Newcastle,A193

Tuesday, 29th September, 2009
Five thirty Metro, fast to Tynemouth town.
The castle Pri'ry, kings three, on high moun'.
Foot tunnel, next, beneath the river Tyne.
St Paul's, old church with Bede monk's writing, fine.
It's raining now - I want to my find my spot.
The ledge beneath the bridge - warm, dry - the lot!