Symonds Yat

Leaving Canop Ponds and we were off to see 'The Rock' . No not Dwayne Johnson of Hollywood fame , the one we had in mind is even bigger!

The rain was just starting to get heavier as we arrived at 'Symonds Yat' a viewpoint that provides fantastic views across the River Wye valley. The plan had been to to do a walk from Symonds Yat East along the side of the river getting the hand pulled ferry across to the other side and do a circular route. However the views across the English counties of Herefordshire and Gloucestershire with Monmouthshire and the Welsh border just a few miles away kept us occupied.  

 Famed for its natural river scenery and wooded expanses, Symonds Yat Rock is a limestone outcrop rising some 500 feet rising from the banks of the River Wye.
It is a fantastic place to see Wild Peregrines  They had bred well here until the early 1950's when the effects of pesticides drastically reduced the national population.
 In 1982 the re-occupation of the site started when three young were reared but the following year the nest was robbed.  After this event in 1984 the RSPB  in co-operation with the Forestry Commission made a protection scheme and for the first time Peregrine Falcons in the wild were shown to tourists.It was possible to see one of these wonderful birds  through a scope perched on a ledge and looking a bit wet and miserable. No flying through the valley at 200 mph today though.

Surprisingly a lot of the cliff holes were occupied by Canadian Geese of all things sitting on eggs! At some stage when they hatch they are going to have to make a massive leap of faith. But thinking about it making a nest so high up is undoubtedly a lot safer than on the ground. They are safe from predators who would eat the eggs such as Badgers , Foxes and Rats. 
It's great that during the breeding season the RSPB make telescopes available to visitors to watch the birds. 

Down below on the River Wye there are Paddle Boarders but at this distance they are just specks. It is just possible to make out a Barn Owl disappearing into a long abandoned shack.
It's not just the raptors that are here though. The feeding stations attract lots of smaller birds such as , Tits, Chaffinches, Sparrows and a particularly inquisitive Nuthatch. 

Nuthatch

 It was with reluctance that we had to move on from Symonds Yat , I could have stayed all day. Unfortunately the weather had worsened and the rain had become heavier so it made sense.

We adjourned to the car  park at Symonds Yat East conveniently next to the Saracens Head pub. 
It's a lovely little hamlet nestled below the rock. The following pictures hopefully capture the essence of how lovely it is. 

The Saracens Head had a good choice of real Ales. Managed to sample a couple over a very tasty baguette with local cheese and pickles. Firstly the HPA (Herefordshire Pale Ale ) 4%. The second pint was the Butty Bach another Golden Ale but a little stronger at 4.5%.

Thoroughly enjoyed our first trip to this wonderful part of the country. Sadly no Wild Boars this time but I suppose it gives the perfect excuse to return as if one were needed.

Forest of Dean - Canop Ponds

After a tasty breakfast we took a very short drive down the B4226to Canop Ponds. I had noticed the Forestry Commission car park there yesterday and thought it might be worth checking out.
Unfortunately the weather wasn't great with drizzle in the air. We walked up some steep woodland which was very muddy to get to a track surrounded by fir trees on both sides.
 The track leads to a series of man made ponds.
The lower pond was created in 1825 to supply water to a waterwheel at Parkend Ironworks.

There were again signs of Boar activity all over the place but still no Boars sadly.  There was however a very protective Swan on the water though. He was really giving the Ducks who were just minding their own business hell!
He was going out of his way to chase the poor creatures from anywhere near the Pen who who was on the nest.

Once again there were some lovely brightly coloured Mandarin Ducks. It was a bit strange because they were very close to the nest and they didn't seem to bother the male Swan (cob).

Female Swan (Pen)

Mandarin Ducks

Mr Angry Swan

The Forest of Dean or simply 'The Dean' as it is also known is made up of  110 square kilometres (42 sq mi) of mixed woodland. One of England's finest surviving ancient woodlands. It is the second largest forest in England after the New Forest.The location in Gloucestershire lies between  between the River Severn and Wye and is great for exploring.

Mandarin Ducks are very interesting
(well I think so).

They were introduced to the UK from China and

 have become established following escapes

 from captivity.
They nest in cavities in trees close to water and during the spring, the females lay their eggs in the tree's cavity after mating.

More Mandarins

Forest of Dean- Speech House Walk

Our first visit to the Forest of Dean and looking forward to plenty of walking and hopefully wildlife spotting. I would love to see some of the notorious wild Boar that frequent the area. Boar became extinct in England 300 years ago. The modern Forest of Dean population established itself after an escape from a wild boar farm in the 1990s and an illegal release in 2004. It is estimated that there are some 1200 Boar in the Forest and and ongoing and controversial cull is going on. Sightings are common and the receptionist at the Hotel said one the size of a 'baby Hippo' was seen wandering along the roadside opposite last night!

A nice simple walk to start with from the front of our hotel up to the 'Cyril Hart Arboretum'. Just looking at the verge there is evidence everywhere of Boar activity with all the churned up grass. Crossing the busy B4226 we entered the Arboretum with all its fine specimen trees before turning into the forest trails.

 

Lots of Spruce trees in what is essentially a working Forest with many mature conifers. Again lots of Boar activity but they remained evasive. However we did have a an equally impressive sighting , and my first ever of a beautiful Goshawk perched on a tree branch at close quarters. It was one of those moments I didn't know whether to reach for the binoculars or the camera? I opted for the binoculars to observe this stunning bird of prey in it's full glory. It got a bit twitchy and made it's way off deeper into the trees. Not something that you see very often! No wonder that it is know as the 'Phantom of the Forest'

Evidence of Boar activity

The walk took us past 'Speech House Lake'  a former quarry but now home to a variety of wildlife including Mandarin Ducks. By now the sun had put in a welcome appearance  and it got quite warm. A perfect time to sit on a bench and enjoy the packed lunch we had taken with us.
Got chatting to a very interesting couple who were out walking too. He was a maker of Violins and had taught Ric Saunders of Fairport Convention and Nigel Kennedy how to play.

Look who arrived when the sandwiches were opened

 Speech House Hotel, notice the digging by Boars

The walk took us back through the Arboretum and back up to our hotel and a well earned drink. But not for long ! I was back out again going a bit deeper into the forest following the Gloucester Way footpath and part of the sculpture trail. I went right off the beaten track and actually got a bit lost at one stage. I spent a bit of time watching a lovely Nuthatch feeding on a tree trunk. I checked my bearings with a group of walkers from Wales .They told me they also had got lost and stumbled upon a Boar with half a dozen piglets! Typical , I couldn't find one for trying.



It was with a little bit of relief that I spotted the hotel again. Talking of the hotel it was built during the reigh of Charles II in the 1670's. It is still owned by the crown and the Verderers Court still regularly meet there to discuss the management of the vert and venison.A  pint of the Hillside Brewery 'Legless Cow' (4.2%) went down very well indeed.

Marillion Cambridge Corn Exchange

Situated right in the heart of the city is a new venue for me 'The Corn Exchange'. The building was opened in 1875. A quarter of a million local bricks were used in various colours. Today the venue can hold a capacity of 1849 attendees. In fact it has been over 20 years since Marillion last played at the venue.

I didn't venture in for the support band for once as I caught up with a few old friends beforehand in the bar. How time flies when you are reminiscing and drinking beer! I will mention at this stage the distinct lack of photos.. Yes I had another run in with an over officious steward and it got a little heated. I wouldn't have minded so much but I did check on entering that it was acceptable to take a few pics for the blog. No problem as long as I didn't record. However as soon as I tried to take a photo the aforementioned steward appeared like a bald genie out of a lamp shining his bloody torch at me. He then spent the rest of the night glaring in my direction and frowning a lot..... So to clarify the pictures you will see are not great but better than nothing . I did rather well to get anything at all really.

 

 The set list was going to be a chunk of the new album F.E.A.R which was played in it's entirety at The Royal Albert Hall last year. Along with a selection of songs from what 'H' (Hogarth) describes as 'the broad sweep of what we've been doing over the last 30 years'. He had already remarked that looking into the crowd he could immediately see that the IQ level was raised compared to most  other venues.

Hogarth enjoys bantering with the audience 'This is a deeper song' he announces.  'That doesn’t make it better. Just deeper.' Also his nine-year-old son is in the crowd so is banned from using the 'F' word as it will embarrass him.  'It's only fair really as I feel the same when he uses it'.

Two of my favourite songs made the setlist 'Afraid of Sunlight' and 'Real Tears for Sale'.

As always seeing Marillion live you are unlikely to see anything from the 'Fish era' of the band. However for the second encore and the final song of the night we got a rousing rendition fitting for the location 'Garden Party'. With it's references to 'Punting on the Cam' Couples loitering in the cloisters and champagne corks firing at the sun it is a perfect ending for a band that really don't know any other way. 

Full Set List

• El Dorado I Long Shadowed Sun
• El Dorado II The Gold
• El Dorado III Demolished Lives
•  El Dorado IV FEAR
• El Dorado  V The Grandchildren of Apes
• Power
•  Quartz
• The Party 
• Seasons End
• Living in FEAR
• Cover my Eyes (Acoustic excerpt)
• Real Tears for Sale
• The Leavers I Wake up in Music
• The Leavers II The Remainers
• The Leavers III Vapour Trails in the Sky
• The Leavers IV The Jumble of Days
• The Leaders V One Tonight 
• Wave
• Mad
• Afraid of Sunlight
• The Great Escape

Encore

• The  Release
•  Easter

 Encore 2

Garden Party

Walking The Ridgeway - Vale of the White Horse

This was a leg of the Ridgeway that I was particularly looking forward to. Once it was again to be a circular walk starting off at the village of Ashbury in Oxfordshire. The rather boggy footpath took us past the parish church of Saint Mary, originally Norman but was rebuilt in the 13th century. Quite unusual to see a white stone church! Next port of call was the village of Compton Beauchamp before veering off up Woolstone Hill towards the Ridgeway.


We had already had some tantalising views of White Horse Hill in the distance. The White Horse at Uffington is believed to have been cut into the hillside around800 BC. From the  summit there is a good view of the flat topped 'Dragon Hill' . Believed to be where St George battled and slew the dragon.
The horse itself is one hundred metres long and best viewed from the bottom of the valley. There are a number of other hillside horses but this one is generally regarded as the best.

The White Horse with Dragon Hill in the background

Passing the ramparts of the Iron Age Hill fort of
Uffington Castle we head towards the next landmark  'Waylands Smithy'. Thankfully the forecast rain showers have held off and it ia starting to warm up a little but no sunshine...
Waylands Smithy is a Neolithic long barrow. A burial place for important ruling families built around 2800BC.The name 'Wayland' comes from the Saxon God of Smiths. The Blacksmith who made the shoes for the White Horse of Uffington.

Continuing along the Ridgeway which is quite uneventful after all the previous excitement. We then take the Bridleway  towards the village of Bishopstone. There is a large village pond and some lovely footpaths , once of which was taken in error. The landscape is quite interesting leading down to Bishopstone with the 'Strip Lynchets'. I had too look up what exactly they were.'A lynchet is a bank of earth that builds up on the downslope of a field ploughed over a long period of time. The disturbed soil slips down the hillside to create a lynchet They are also referred to as strip lynchets. 

Strip Lynchets

From Bishopstone after the false start we head towards the Hamlet of Idstone where once again we go slightly wrong. Finding ourselves on the wrong side of the footpath. It was either a long walk back round or  navigate the brambles and barbed wire fence... We decided on the risky option only crawling under the barbed wire fence rather than climbing over it. Unfortunately I seemed to have crawled through a patch of stinging nettles resulting in my arm swelling massively. 
Thankfully the rest of the walk back to Asburypassed without further injury or incident . The length of the walk was in the region of 12 miles and a well deserved pint was in order. The drinking hole in question was the 'rose and Crown' where a pint of Arkells  'Hoperation' IPA (4.5%) accompanied by pork scratchings went down very well.

 

Walking The Ridgeway - Tring Station to Aldbury Nowers

Easter Sunday and the driest day of the holiday so time to put away the chocolate and get out and about. Our starting point was just down from Tring Railway Station. Near to Ivinghoe Beacon the official starting point of the Ridgeway but that will keep for another day. We walked along the Grand Union Canal which runs from the River Thames in Brentford, up through the Chilterns. From there onto Birmingham where it finishes some 137 miles later. Originally it was the Grand Junction Canal , opened in 1805 and went from Brentford to Braunstone, Northamptonshire to link with the Oxfordshire canal. The path took us past plenty of fisherman before raising upwards above the canal. Lots of free range hens going about their business on our right before arriving in Bulbourne. Crossing the railway bridge we picked up the footpath opposite Folly Farm making the climb towards Pitstone Hill.

To our left were the old chalk pits, much of which is now filled with a bright turquoise coloured water. The path climbs ever upwards and after all the recent rain is very heavy and muddy going. As you reach the summit of Pitstone Hill there are some great views and the first glimpses of Ivinghoe Beacon come into view about a further kilometer away.

 From the summit of Pitstone Hill we picked up the Ridgeway which was Marina's first introduction to this historic trail. The path takes us through the beautiful Albury Nowers nature reserve (a site of Special Scientific interest). The site hosts the flowers of chalk grassland and has butterfly habitats with several different species of butterfly including the Duke of Burgundy, hairstreaks and the Essex skipper.

 

 We descend our way downhill and have the option of turning off to the village of Aldbury which was tempting as there is a nice pub there. However we continue onwards to Station Road linking Aldbury to Tring.A kindly landowner had provided a permissive path along the side of a field which we followed back to our starting point.

 

It was a shame not to have seen the picture postcard village of Albury with it's duck pond and the original stocks and whipping-post which still stand on the village green next to it. So we had a little drive up and I enjoyed a fine pint of Badger Best Bitter (4%)to quell the thirst from all the walking.