Bill Nichollss Blog :: Geograph Britain and Ireland

Blog Entries by Geograph Users

Recent Posts by Bill Nicholls

New EntryWitney to Oxford

4 months ago

My Blog was prompted after reading a news clip on the BBC app on my phone. The article was about the viability of reinstating a rail link from Witney to Oxford. I remember when I worked at oxford Instruments in Osney being taken to Osselli Engineering in Eyensham on a motorbike one lunchtime. I remember going over the Rail bridge at Eyensham then over the crossing by the Station. Many years later I was driving along a new road where the railine went to the new Oxford Instruments building...

railways

The Day I went to Prison

102 months ago

Well I did pay to get into the prison like many others to see the Inside Reading Prison Art Exhibition which was on as part of the Reading Arts Festival Photo but face it I did not go to see art I went along to see what the prison I used to see from the school yard and classroom next door Photo was like. I'd always wondered what a prison looked like inside and as Reading Prison closed in 2013 I thought it would be rude to pass up the opportunity to look around Photo...

reading prison

Flight of Fancy

123 months ago

One of the things I have always wanted to do was to take a Balloon flight. I nearly had one as a surprise for my fortieth but the cat got out of the bag and my wife did something else for me. I never forgot and dropped the odd hint now and then. Then on my last birthday I got my surprise a Hot Air Balloon Flight. The hard bit was deciding where to fly from but my wife & I decided Oxford would be the easiest so on April 15th we went along to Oxford to take our flight. Take off was around 7:30...

oxford hot air balloon flight

Walk along the Itchen Way

124 months ago

Been a while since I wrote one of these for Geograph but I think this one is a worthy one to do. The reason I happened to be here was because my wife was at a conference at the Holiday Inn. This seemed an ideal opportunity to take in some places I have not visited and get a few church's for my Blog. I planned to visit four and if I had time at the end go to the cemetery nearby. As it was I was out walking for over six hours and did not have the time at the end. Started out from the Holiday...

church's walk

End of the Cooling Towers

133 months ago

I have been sadly lacking in blogs of late mainly because I have been concentrating on my own personal blogs but I thought my recent exploits should be shared here. Didcot Powerstation as we all have heard is now coming down. The first of the three cooling towers were blown up early one Sunday Morning witnessed by many thousand people. In the weeks leading up to the event the contractors announced they would be coming down on the 27th July between 3 & 5 am much to the annoyance of all the...

didcot power station demolition power stations didcot south oxfordshire

The Last Three Months

150 months ago

My submissions have gone down in the last three months which is down to a few things. I had uploaded 20,000 images (no fanfare for that) and the cost of driving out to places is not getting any cheaper but one of the other reasons is I have started blogging more. I juggle five of them at the moment and I blame the Geograph one for starting me off on this trail. So what have I been doing Geograph wise apart from posting photos of our village hall being built? Photo Well a lady who...

cholsey farimile hospital peppard newbury reading

A return to Brookwood

154 months ago

A return to Brookwood was on the cards, I needed to revisit the Commonwealth War cemetery there for a photo of J A Wilding Photo so I could finish off my blog. The place has always had an impact on me from the sheer size of it Photo Photo. I doubt even if it is as big as other some of the other war cemeteries in this country but none the less it is always worth going round Photo. I spent quite a while wandering round though was disappointed I could not see...

brookwood war graves commonwealth war graves commision basingstoke canal deepcut flight locks canal.

9th September 1944

156 months ago

On that day two airmen lost their lives when a Halifax Bomber returning from a raid crashed just outside Wallingford narrowly missing the town. It was thought they managed to steer the plane away to save the town. Two roads in the town are named after them and each year a service is held in their honour at the memorial by the two roads Photo. I thought it was time to look into the story a bit more. This starts with my trip to Wales where I found out the Flight Engineer Sergeant...

wallingford service memorial

Last part of the Red Line

157 months ago

After a failed attempt the previous week due to a flat battery on my camera I set out for Buscot again only this time with a full battery and a back up camera checked before the journey. I was impressed by the village the previous week so took a few photos before setting off on my trek Photo Photo. It was then off towards the lock for some photos of the weir pool Photo before heading off to the Church of St John’s which was along a rather overgrown footpath...

pillboxes buscot curches river thames

A search along the Kennet

157 months ago

It was a weekend I had the chance to go and find some more pillboxes. The plan was to go to the Kennet and find the ones between Colthrop and Newbury then the next day go to Buscot and finish my Thames trek. Things as usual did not go to plan. On Saturday I drove to Midgham lock and walked along the towpath to Colthrop passing some gravel workings Photo before finally getting to the pillbox I was after Photo. I’d seen photos before so knew what to expect. I then noticed a...

river kennet pilboxes locks narrowboats canals

Much ado about nothing

158 months ago

Well that is about what I have been up to in the last month since my trip to Garlieston. Commitments at home decorating have taken up my time so that only short trips out is what I managed. June started off well with the extended bank holiday weekend and I thought a good chance to get some photos of a crane Photo that appeared at work to lift some new coolers over the building Photo, unfortunately due to a technical error the lift was cancelled and now probably put off till...

thames valley

A weekend in Garlieston

159 months ago

I would not say my wife and I were keen caravanners even though we have owned them for many years. Up to now we kept it on a seasonal pitch at Fforest Fields in Wales but last year due to having some work done on our place we decided to let the pitch go (the need for some where to stay came first). A new two birth caravan gave us a bit more flexibility in that it was a easier to tow and made my wife a bit more adventurous. Glastonbury was the start (at least to try the van out) so next it...

scotland garlieston coastal beach harbour disused railway benchmarks

Looking for the Gunpowder mills

159 months ago

Saturday 12th May was another of those days my wife went off to a dog fun day. I came along to keep her company as it was somewhere different. I had checked out the map of the area and it looked quite fruitful in the number of pillboxes there could be. So after getting to our destination of Chilworth I thought it was time for a walk round on my own, while my wife and dog enjoyed their day. First problem I encountered was I had left my map behind, had the GPS but no map of the places I wanted...

walk chilworth historic gunpowder mills geographing trip report

Back to the Thames

160 months ago

Kelmscott is a place I had seen on the map and heard about from a friend and also in the middle of a walk I needed to do to log the remaining pillboxes along the Thames so after finally working out how to visit them I set out. The plan was to do my last section in two halves due to not having a partner to help out in the logistics (ie car both ends), it turned out to be the right way. The first part was to walk towards Radcot, then in a couple of weeks go towards Lechlade. Kelmscott is a...

kelmscott grafton lock pillboxes river thames

Another bit of the Jigsaw

160 months ago

Sunday the 22nd saw me go back to Newbury to find the final bit of the jigsaw that is the Didcot, Newbury and Southampton railway. My wife came along with our young dog to give him some time out to get used to a different place and water. We parked at Newbury Parkway shopping centre which gave me a chance to update some photos of the new John Lewis store Photo before setting off along the Kennet Photo. As I had not been along this section it was all new to me and seeing all...

didcot newbury&southampton line newbury parkway newbury river kennet narrowboats.

One of those fill In Days

160 months ago

Sunday the 8th was one of those fill in days for me. I never had any plans to go anywhere so thought I’d fill in a few of the places on my Didcot, Newbury and Southampton Railway map. I had go as far as Shaw near Newbury and now needed to trace the route over the two water courses and onto the main railway. Stopping off at Shaw I parked up near the River Lambourn and walked along the path to see if any of the bridge remained. On getting near I noticed a footbridge had been built near where...

didcot newbury & southampton railway newbury

A walk round Kings Somborne.

161 months ago

Has the sound of a rural community about it and was a place I had heard about for a while as my wife had been there dog training, so when she said she was off there again one Saturday I said I would come along. I looked on my OS maps for the place to see what was worth visiting and to plan a route to take. We got to the village hall Photo around 9 and by 9:15 I was checking my map for which way to go and setting the GPS, the offer of going off road in a 4X4 though tempting did not...

king's sombourn village sir thomas sopwith

Travelling along the Didcot to Newbury Line

162 months ago

This is a project I have had going for a while and am in the process of writing an article for I had been meaning to get round to catching up with more photos for a while and today seemed like the time to do this. The area to cover went from Hermitage to Thatcham and to my shame had to be covered by driving from place to place; even this took around two hours. The first place to stop was just outside Hermitage by the M4 embankment this is where the Didcot to Newbury railway was cut in two...

didcot newbury&southampton line disued railways historic.

Poor pickings

162 months ago

My travels of late have not been up to much and an update from Newbury parkway Photo Photo along with a short trip along the Upton cutting Photo Photo and some local photos Photo Photo Photo near me only meant that I should get out again. Sunday proved nice and sunny if with a hint of cold in the air. Time for another quick walk along the river Kennet. My next walk would take from Woolhampton for a couple of miles to Migeham Lock and...

upton parkway didcot newbury & southhampton railway disused railways.newbury river kennet pillboxes

A Productive Sunday

163 months ago

My wedding anniversary and what better way to celebrate that to go out wandering (well my wife was off on one her doggy days). As I have been (for want of a better word) researching into the Didcot, Newbury & Southampton Railway for a future article on Geograph I thought I had better get down to Didcot Station and get some photos of the platform and any remnants of the old DN&SR. Didcot Station was opened in 1884 and renamed Didcot Parkway in 1985 when the place was modernised to become a...

lowbury hill the ridgeway didcot newbury&southampton railway

Garmin Road test

163 months ago

First time out with my New Garmin Oregon 450 with UK Mapping, bit of a far cry from the old Etrex H I had been using I must admit. I had gone to Hackelton with my wife as she was on a dog training day so I took the opportunity to go out and road test my new toy. The start point was Hackleton Village Hall Photo and my intention was to go to Piddington then work down to a disused railway follow it till the road and back to Hackleton via Horton which would take in four squares on the OS...

hackleton pittington horton gps garmin benchmark bridges disused railways

Three Bridges

164 months ago

You could probably call four bridges but one of them had been demolished. I had been meaning to get out and update my photos on the progress of the Spring farm bridge near Goring but due to other commitments I have not been out till today. Spring Farm Bridge was due to be demolished a year ago but due to time constraints it was put off and over Christmas demolished with along as I found out the one at Purley near Reading. This came as a shock because I thought the local residents had...

railway's bridges demolition.

Time for another

165 months ago

I think it is time I wrote another Blog being as I have not written anything since June. Mind you things have not been easy as we have been getting some building work done round the house so my little trips have been curtailed to a certain extent. That is not to say I have stopped contributing just not quite so many. Up to when the work started I had 500+ in backlog to work with now I’m down to going out on a weekend to get a couple of hundred. A lot of the photos I have taken are from round...

pillboxes benchmarks village

Newbury Park Way Development

170 months ago

It’s a while since I wrote a blog entry and I feel quite embarrassed about this but I have not had anything to write about. My pillbox treks have been curtailed due to the spring and summer growth of weeds and foliage but I do have a couple of other little projects that have kept me occupied. The first is Fairmile Hospital near where I live where I have been allowed access to follow the development both inside the old building and outside, this at the moment is work in progress and a great...

newbury construction towns

More from the Kennet

171 months ago

I’m well overdue for another blog but other things and Bank holidays have taken over and my backlog of photos just got bigger. I decided to go back to the river Kennet and find a few more pillboxes before the spring growth finally put pay to my treks to look for them. On the last walk I’d got as far as Towney Bridge but had checked out the next area I wanted to visit which was Aldermaston Wharf Photo. I thought I had found a good place to park but found the place packed so went to...

pillboxes canals river kennet swingbridge locks

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