The Sentinel

 The Sentinel has been watching over the people of our town for months now, perhaps as long as a year. 

I think it has no human operator. It works of its own accord, pulling up blocks of building material not particularly high into the air to make a new residential development on the old Marks and Spencer's site; an overpowered machine taller than the church steeple working on a four storey complex. 

Ergo, its purpose is not just there to build. It is there to survey all. 

I have no idea whether its presence is benificent, or malevolent. All I know is by day or night in all weathers, it pierces the sky above our town, casting a red glow over the surrounding shops, visible from miles away. 

What will happen to us when it leaves? Or perhaps, before its work is done. 

Si

All text and images copyright CreamCrackeredNature 27.12.25 

Back over the 10km Mark

I had a rather lazy uninspired day today until after 6pm, where I shook myself up, stretched my legs, and headed out running with no clear direction in mind.

I ended up running to the far end of Farndon and back in the full length of the river reach. I haven't run this way in so long, and frankly I imagine it's spent a lot of recent time flooded.

The fields are full of crops, used to be a lot of maize grown round here, looks like they are now growing some sort of root vegetable. Which is how I felt after my run.

It turned out that I had run over 10km for the first time in a longish while, in an hour and four which isn't too bad. But I was pretty damn tired afterwards.

I don't have a lot to show you, as I didn't see a lot and I was concentrating more on having a good run. Again, it's a dull day and not much was flying, apart from two hang-gliders I've just seen going over my flat.

Si

All text and images copyright CreamCrackeredNature 08.06.20

Down to the North Weir

Felt a need to be outside for longer today, so I walked rather than ran, a pattern I think I will alternate daily.

I ended up walking all the way down to the North Lock and Weir, under the bypass and old railway bridge, a post industrial landscape of which traces remain of the working nature of the area despite the increasing number of new houses along the river.

The North Weir is a powerful, intimidating flow of water, that seems to dredge up a whole load of chemical smells from the river's past. It never feels a healthy place to be, yet it and the old rail bridge are compelling sights.

You just have to watch out for the cowpats.

I did a little bit of binocular astronomy last night, in between watching last night's Starlink pass - not as impressive as the night before. I managed to locate the well known globular clusters Messier 13 in Hercules and Messier 5 in Serpens.

Tonight, we have Lyrid meteors on offer. Hopeful of seeing the odd one.

Si

All text and images copyright CreamCrackeredNature 21.04.20

Cottage Lane Nature Reserve

Back running today, a beautiful late afternoon for a run too. It made me feel like going a bit further afield than the park or the cricket ground, so I headed out to Farndon.

When I last headed out to Cottage Lane reserve, we were in the midst of the February floods and while the reserve itself wasn't too bad, all the routes to the river beyond that were barred by marshy ground and ponds of standing water.

No such problems today after the sunny spells, and the reserve and beyond were far more pleasant places. It's only a small reserve, with small ponds and small stand of trees, but it was full of birdsong when I visited today, lots of small songbirds fluttering about, a chiff chaff singing and lots of calls I couldn't identify.

All the winter thrushes are long gone. Swallows and martins are being photographed in the area, but I haven't seen them yet. What I did see today from my tiny yard were two buzzards, soaring high above urban townscape, which I'm really not used to seeing.

This evening a solitary specimen circled lower, white patches on its wings clearly visible.

It's been good soaring weather.

Si

All text and images copyright CreamCrackeredNature 07.04.20

Sunset to Coddington

So my Race to the Stones training continued today, with a long walk out to Coddington and back, on another day of cloudless skies and crisp temperatures leading to icy puddles and frost dusted pavements.

I've not been out this way for a long while, and such a trip would not be complete without being held up at a train crossing, luckily it was only the one LNER train thundering through, sometimes I've been held up for over twenty minutes at Barnby crossing!

i've not seen any winter thrushes until today, but in the trees alongside a farmer's field there was a flock of about 30 Fieldfare - I think - flying about, their pale bellies glowing orange in the lowering sun. Lots of sparrows in the hawthorn hedgerows, chattering away in their endless grey squabbles.

I'd timed the walk so I could get to the top of Coddington Hill as the sun set, and for once my timing was on; I had lovely views and was able to follow the sun until the moment it set; not long after Venus began its Evening Star role, shining brightly as I walked down Beacon Hill.

I've made over 20000 steps for the day, Race to the Stones will need probably 70,000 on consecutive days. It's daunting, but I'm looking forward to it.

Si

All text and images copyright CreamCrackeredNature 20.01.20

Industrial Rainbow

Sorry that my posts seem to be running a day behind my activities, I've been taking an awful lot of photographs of various themes. Hopefully I'm catching up now.

I was so engrossed in writing about swans yesterday, I forgot to report to  you that I saw my first house martin of spring yesterday, flying over the roadworks and under the blue sky rainbow that appeared briefly in a rain shower that came down from a ghost of a cloud in glittering sprinkles.

Very early to see a house martin! Normally the sand martins arrive first but when I walked down to the river to see if there were any about, no sandies!

Still haven't heard a chiff chaff yet though.

Si

All text and images copyright CreamCrackeredNature 14.03.19

Manhole Covers

I was at the Town Hall  today, and was struck by the number of venerable old manholes and service covers there were in its vicinity, all of them proudly bearing the legend of who made them.

It reminds me of the times when I used to help my stepfather on his land and architectural surveys. As well as holding the end of a tape measure, a levelling staff or ranging poles, one of my tasks was to help lift up manhole covers and investigate where the contents were going.

This was the hardest part of the job. The covers had often not been opened for years, needed one of a variety of "keys" to be lifted and whichever one you had was  never the right one, which combined to mean that lifting the covers, even with two of us, was incredibly hard work.

Having to stand there holding the cover up while my stepfather dropped his tape measure in to take measurements was a painful business indeed as I wasn't that strong when I was 18 and skinny as a whippet.

Opening up foul drains wasn't much fun either, for obvious reasons.

Si

All text and images copyright CreamCrackeredNature 11.03.19

A Day with Freya

Yesterday I spent the day outside at work, administering a day when staff could get their bikes checked over and any small repairs done for free.

I'd like to say when I was doing it this time last week it was an idyllic spring day, but the sun wasn't shining where I was and it was freezing. Yesterday, we were exposed to the howling scream of Storm Freya for ten hours outside, and although the wind died down during the day a little, it was still bitterly cold.

Like turn my hands purple cold. With gloves on.

We had squally bursts of rain, and brief vision of rainbows until  the sun set and the dark came, and thetemperature dropped further...

Si

All text and images copyright CreamCrackeredNature 05.03.19

Sketching Industry

I found myself with five minutes spare before a two hour seminar today, and with nothing else to do to kill the time other than stare out of the window, I decided to stare out of  the window anyway, and draw what I saw.

I like sketching, despite being no bloody good at it. I find doing it very quickly, and just using very bare curves and basic shapes, gives the least terrible results.

So here, in all its glory, is the sugar factory vista.

Si

All text and images copyright CreamCrackeredNature 19.12.18

Let there be More Light

So, no more entertaining children. and back to the remarkable sights that the sunsets this winter.

I'm always looking for photo opps, but at this time of year a photographer who likes going close upon wildflowers and insects, and dreams of one day being a good bird photographer despite the struggles with his camera.

Bird photography has never worked out for me. My bridge camera - not a very expensive one - is very sensitive to my shaky hands and the results have always been disappointing. I intend to practice in the garden this winter, with birds on feeders, and see how I do.

I'm also looking at how I can get walking and running again with these plantar-fascitised trotters of mine. Because I'm getting a bit fed up.

Si

All text and images copyright 11.12.18

The Muddy Road to Kelham

After an aborted start in the morning, I set out on a walk to Kelham just to see what I might see. And frankly, to give you people something relatively new to see.

My poor cricket club is suffering a bit from the wet weather - there are standing water pools on the outfield - and the Trent is very high making me nervous about flooding. Our ground drowns in flood conditions as the water table is so high. My route took me past the club, then over some very very boggy meadows that left my new black walking boots rather brown in colour!

I would have taken in a game of rugby if there was one in progress, but there wasn't. They were all being forced to do boring training by the looks of things.

The walk to Kelham I think highlights one of the problems of the immediate area, and Nottinghamshire in general. It is rather boring, and isn't very pretty. The land is mainly flat and boringly agricultural, and usually very muddy. The footpaths are short cuts across mud between boring things. The main stand outs in the landscape are industrial ones.

Kelham at least is an attractive village, although today I wish that cafe that seemingly used to exist did so. I took photographs, wandered around, then made a mistake by heading for home along the muddiest path imaginable. It only led to the sugar factory as well.

Birds were hiding from the wind today, but I did encounter a lovely charm of goldfinches in a hedgerow, the hazy sun making their gold wing bars really glint as they skittered along as I flushed them.

Tomorrow, another walk awaits. But where?

Si

All text and images copyright CreamCrackeredNature 30.12.17