Martins Blog

Thames Path stages 7,8,9

admin — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 15:25:04 +0000

Almost half way, at 49.5% of the distance. Satges 7,8,9 were boring. Datchet to Cookham Rise, Cookham Rise to Henley (and was that a long one) and Henley to Reading (we got wet). The only problem we had was the Henley Regatta. The ******* who run the race blocked off the path and wanted to charge us for using it, all for a ****** boat race. We had to take a detour around. So now we have a problem we have run out of rail way stations convenient to the route.

Snooper Strabo

admin — Sat, 26 Jul 2008 13:49:12 +0000

I just replaced my old Road angel Classic with a Snooper Strabo. Firstly the road angel started to malfunction (eventually fully broke a month ago). The road angel people didn’t seem very helpful. Despite this I was on the brink of buying the Road angel 7000 but discovered that had stopped manufacture (albeit temporarily due to supply problems on the screen was what they told me). Seems however the 9000 was still available but that is more expensive especially by the month if you don’t want the extra features. I then discovered and bought from a helpful outfit the Snooper Strabo.

So far an excellent purchase. It seems to have a more comprehensive directory of mobile cameras (so worth the purchase on those grounds).

I did discover one smallish software problem. A helpful email conversation with the technical support people produced a DVD with the June 2008 update. Took over 3 hours to install (which they told you about). Waiting now to see if the bug re-occurs.

Thames Path Stage 06

admin — Sun, 13 Apr 2008 14:15:11 +0000

This seemed a long drag from Chertsey (one mile to river before you start) to Datchett. We avoided the one burst of rain with coffee at the magna carta tea rooms. The houses have become more grandiose and for the wealthy. Not least of all the Queen at Windsor. She has to suffer the noise of planes taking off from Heathow just like much of London. Here are the pictures.

Vacation in France for 2 and a bit days.

admin — Sun, 13 Apr 2008 14:10:16 +0000

This was the third trip to the small seaside village of Audreselles. Whilst a major aspect was drink buying we also went to visit one of the bunkers where the Germans were planning to launch V2 rockets against England. Here are the pictures.

The Thames Path Stage 05

admin — Sun, 13 Apr 2008 14:06:48 +0000

This was on 29th March 2008. It was from Hampton Court to Chertsey. Shame on British Rail for buiding Chertsey Station so far from the Thames. This was about 9 miles. So we have now gone about 40-45 miles. Here are the pictures.

2008-03-18 Visit to Guide Dog For Blind Training Centre

admin — Sun, 13 Apr 2008 14:02:40 +0000

This is in Leamington spa, Warwickshire. This was a great visit meeting several colleagues I hadn’t seen for over 10 years. The dogs were great. These are the pictures.

The Thames Path Stage 04

admin — Sun, 16 Mar 2008 16:47:44 +0000

So we just completed stage 04 which took us from Richmond to Hampton Court. The photos are at http://picasaweb.google.com/martinlf99/2008_03_15ThamesPath04. This time we did it on a Saturday. This meant we could get cheap tickets (before 10:00) which meant the train left earlier in the morning so we could start the walk earlier by about 75 minutes. It also meant we could find a space in the car park, andit only cost £2 for the day rather than the midweek £5 for the day. (Makes you wonder what business the railway people are in charging such exhorbitant car park fees). On reason for leaving early was the weather. I had a look at an excellent web site http://www.xcweather.co.uk. This gave a very accurate localised weather forecast which said rain was due at Heathrow at 18:00.

I can recoomend this wether site. So far each stage has started and finished at a convenient railways station. An initial look at the next stage could be a problem in that respect.

The Thames Path Stage 03

admin — Sat, 08 Mar 2008 08:59:21 +0000

This was Putney to Richmond. The photos can be found at picassa. The highlight was the heron just standing there at Richmond bridge, it allowed you to get quite close. This time coming back from Richmond we didn’t make the mistake of getting off at Clapham Junction, instead we went into Waterloo and got the fast train to Farnborough. We were not only an hour quicker on the return Train Jouney but also about one hour quicker on the walk. We took a packed lunch this time but there was an excellent pub The Ship at Mortlake which would have done. The had some nice beer though.

The Thames Path Stage 02

admin — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 13:18:35 +0000

Sucessfully completed stage 2 which was from Rotherhithe to Putney bridge. See photos. Bit stiff and sore. This time it was about 9 miles which is two miles more than the first stage. The major mistake was on the way back not understanding the Railway time table. Should have been easy Putney to Clapham Junctin to Farnborough. Only in turns out no rush hour train for Farnborough stops at Clapham junction. So we had to get a slow train to working. Took about 1 3/4 hours!

The Thames Path Stage 01.

admin — Sat, 23 Feb 2008 16:07:41 +0000

So my back consultant said I had to develop more muscles around the lower back to support the spine. One solution is long walks. So we have decided to walk the length of the Thames Path 180 miles (in stages of course). So yesterday 22/2/2008 we started at the Thames Barrier and made it to Rotherhithe with a long stop for lunch. We started at 12:14 and finished at 17:45. A total of 7.0 miles in 5.5 hours (A bit slow). We did however stop off for lunch in a good pub the Cutty Sark Tavern, 4-6 Ballast Quay, London, SE10 9PD for at least one hour. Pictures are at: my picassa web site. So we walked 7.0 miles from the Thames Barrier to the junction of Rotherhithe Street and Salter Street (in Rotherhithe) Which of course gives the start point for Stage 2.