Ashurst Stroll

We’re into October now, but the weather is still nice, so we thought we’d take advantage of it while it lasts and have a day out yesterday. We decided on New Forest and settled on Ashurst in particular – only a ten-minute train journal from Southampton Central (£4.10 each for a return with a railcard).

We left around 12, so we could start our day out with lunch. We had a walking route for the ‘Ashurst Stroll’ (with a guide here) which started at the station then went past the Happy Cheese (TripAdvisor), so that’s where we stopped for lunch. (It was fine but not particularly remarkable.) Then we set off again just after 1.

We started following the Stroll but decided to head off in another direction, which took us to a bench labelled Gulliver’s Rest. This is a landmark on another walking route. I gather Willy Gulliver was a New Forest keeper. From there, we found our way back to the original route.

We did catch a brief glimpse of some deer. At least, I think they were deer – they were so far away I couldn’t really see what they were. Shortly after, we crossed the railway line at Crooks Hill bridge, after which we had a much closer encounter with a horse.

The last stretch of the route took us along the A35, which seemed a shame when we could have been walking through the woods. I think if we want to walk round Ashurst again, we’ll perhaps look for a slightly different route. The good news though is that we made it back to the station just after 14:30, so only had to wait 5 minutes or so for a train back to Southampton. (That was pretty good, given that the trains are only hourly – though we could have stopped in another pub if we’d needed to pass time.)

Music in the City

Hot on the heels of the Shirley Fringe, this weekend is Music in the City. This year, almost everything was on the Saturday, with only a DJ and some classical music on the Sunday, but there seemed a lot more on the Saturday.

We started with brunch at Thrive, then I went to 94 High Street—the designated ‘rock vault’—to catch Charmtype (Youtube), while my partner went to the medieval merchant’s house for a mix of protest songs, folk, and sea shanties.

After this, I went to the bandstand in Palmerston Park, which had been named the Andrew Cummings Stage. (I have no idea who he was.)

First up there, I caught Exhilaro, who opened with a cover of Metallica’s ‘Creeping Death’, then played a bunch of their own songs, including I think ‘Chains’, before finishing with another cover (Sepultura’s ‘Territory’). I guess we were lucky to get these old school covers, because a Youtube recording began and ended with KoRn and Limp Bizkit instead. Anyway, not really the kind of thing I listen to much these days, but they were pretty good, especially given that they seemed fairly young. (They were also on a ‘teenage bands’ bill at Planet Sounds later in the afternoon.)

Next Hail, who are a symphonic metal band, in the style of Nightwish. Again, maybe not exactly my cup of tea, but I thought they were quite good. After that, I took a quick break to nip to the loo/shops, so I missed most of the Andrew Cummings Tribute (which seemed to be performed by a mix of individuals from various acts), though I did return in time to see a male-female duet of ‘Love You to Death’ featuring the singer from Hail. The last of the acts that I caught at the bandstand were Shiversa (Youtube).

After that, I headed to HMV for Dandelion Chain, a post-punk/goth outfit who probably would have been better suited to one of the underground vaults (or a crypt…) rather than performing in daylight. Youtube clip here, though it doesn’t capture the frontman’s more energetic dancing.

Finally, for me, another set from Beardos and Weirdos. Unfortunately, it was basically a truncated version of the Fringe set that I’d seen twice last Saturday (though we did get the uncensored version of ‘You Oughta Know’). They left a few songs out, presumably for time reasons, though it turned out that they had time to add ‘Gone Away’ and ‘Weak’ at the end (but we still missed ‘Plush’ and ‘Today’).

Fringe benefits (part 3)

We did catch a couple of bands on Friday, though I don’t think one of them was actually part of the Fringe – we were mainly out to watch the football. But we completed our Fringe experience on Saturday.

First, back to Clockwork (again) for a solo session from Waldo Salt’s frontman, which featured a good few covers (my favourites ‘In Between Days’ and ‘Enjoy the Silence’) alongside originals. Then it was down to the Wellington Arms for cover band Beardos and Weirdos. I’d been listening to them a bit on Youtube, so wanted to catch that set.

After that, we took a quick shopping break, before going back to Clockwork. First up was a singer-songwriter Roger Shephard. I’m not sure how old he was, though he told us some of the songs he played were written (by him) in the 1970s. He did open with a cover of ‘All the Small Things’ and close with ‘Boulevard of Broken Dreams’. He was followed by a second set from Beardos and Weirdos, though it was the same set list as before. At least they had a bigger audience this time around.

B&W setlist (from memory):

You Oughta Know (Alanis Morisette)

Man in the Box (Alice in Chains)

Weak (Skunk Anansie)

Gone Away (Offspring)

High and Dry (Radiohead)

Drive (REM)

Plush (Stone Temple Pilots)

Today (Smashing Pumpkins)

This is Love (P J Harvey)

Glory Box (Portishead)

Fringe benefits (part 2)

Day two of the Fringe. Today, we had dinner at Bites of India, before heading back to Clockwork for three more musical acts, interspersed with poetry readings.

First up, Scarlet Grig. Not really my thing. I found her vocals a bit screechy on the high notes. I wasn’t sure what to expect from the poetry, but enjoy Andy White’s slot, especially his care instructions for a small rocky planet. The second musical act was Wonderlux, though it turned out to be just the singer performing solo. She told us she was performing mostly new material, but it was all new to us anyway.

 

Then there was another poetry slot, read by Anita Foxall, which I didn’t think as good as the first. Finally, Teenage Waitress, which it turned out was also a solo act. Our favourite of the three musical acts, though I can’t remember what many of the songs were about, besides for one about a headless chicken…

Fringe benefits (part 1)

Today was the start of Shirley Fringe. We had dinner at What a Pizza, then headed over to Clockwork bar for music. There had been a late tweak to the line-up, so we’d just missed the start of Simon Maggs and People Like Us, but we were just able to get a seat. They weren’t really my thing, though not bad either. A cover of Glory Box was a surprise.

The main thing we’d gone for was to see the Guillotine Union Boys again. 

We’ve seen them a couple of times before at Urban Wild festivals, so we knew what to expect and weren’t disappointed. Perhaps the most notable point of the set was Bound to Lose dedicated (in a fashion) to Nathan Coftas, for his part in the Jason Arday case.

For those about to rock(grass)

I'm heading back to Southampton today, after a couple of weeks in Essex/Norfolk, but last night we finished our holiday by seeing Hayseed Dixie at Sheringham Little Theatre (a complete surprise to us - we didn't know they were playing until we arrived in Sheringham).

I think it was my first experience of an all-seater gig and, unfortunately, we were near the back (there weren't many tickets left when we bought them). Consequently, we didn't have the best view or photos (heavily reliant on zoom).

I think they only played three AC/DC songs: Dirty Deeds; You Shook Me All Night Long; and Highway to Hell. (Links are to Youtube videos of live performances, but not from this show.) There was a smattering of other rocking songs from the likes of Guns n Roses, Judas Priest, Black Sabbath, and Motorhead.

We did manage to get closer after the show though - I bought a CD (also available on Amazon) and managed to get all four members to sign it.

This is the end of this leg of the tour, but they have more shows in the autumn, including one in Southampton. I don't know whether we'll bother seeing them again so soon, but it was good to catch them once.

Almost total eclipse (of the eclipse)...

Today was a busy day. We went to Felbrigg Hall in the morning and Cromer in the afternoon. We went out again in the evening, because there was a near-total (90% or so) solar eclipse, but we didn't see much of it - we were outside, but the sun dipped behind some buildings. We didn't have special viewing equipment anyway. We did see an impressive sunset over the beach though.

Felbrigg Hall

This morning, we visited Felbrigg Hall (near Holt). We didn't go in the hall itself, though we did go in the walled gardens.

The dove cote was empty, but there were some chickens roaming the grounds.

We also took a walk through the grounds to an old church. Only on the walk were we told about a recent death due to cattle-trampling, but (perhaps in consequence) we didn't see any cows...

Recommendation: Walnut Tree, Thwaite

Driving from Colchester to Sheringham today, we stopped for lunch at an all-vegetarian pub in Thwaite called the Walnut Tree. I've only been the once but, if you're in the area, I'd highly recommend it. The enchiladas were one of the best meals I've had in quite a while.

Full review over on TripAdvisor.

A visit to Clacton

The upcoming Clacton by-election contest, pitting Nigel Farage against Count Binface, has generated a lot of social media attention - including in both music and wargaming circles. With less than a week until polling day, I took advantage of a family holiday in Essex to visit on the ground.

To be honest, we didn't see a lot of the town, except from the car. We only had two hours in the car park and spent most of that walking along the beach looking for somewhere to eat (we ended up at Martello Lounge, reviewed here). Even just driving through though, I saw many posters supporting Farage.

Lordsdale Butterfly

Today, we joined a ranger-guided walk from Shirley Pond along Lordsdale Greenway. I took quite a few wildlife photos, particularly of various insects.

I believe this is a Painted Lady. There were quite a few of them around.

Urban Wild 2026

It's a scorching bank holiday weekend, which also marks the start of half-term I gather. There is a series of 'urban wild' events taking place across Southampton, including a festival today on the Common.

We saw several acts, including...

The Red Star Socialist Choir, who did several numbers, including a song about diversity to the tune of YMCA.

A folk group, Angling for Farthings, who played several songs with a local connection, including one about cabin boy Robert Parker (who was victim of cannibalism).

Shanti Green who did sea shanties. Perhaps they should have done the Robert Parker song, though they did do a version of the Wellerman (not this version though).

And, finally (before we left), The Guillotine Union Boys - another political act, singing about (inter alia) fascism and Elon Musk (two different songs) and a version of Which Side Are You On?

Voted

This morning, I voted in our local elections. That is, I either exercised my democratic right or discharged my democratic duty, depending on your view.

It's the first time I've voted in-person since the introduction of photo ID requirements. (I have postal voted in the meantime.)

I was curious how long the process would take, so I timed myself. I left the house at 8:22 (so this doesn't include getting ready to go out, since I was doing that anyway). I had voted by 8:29. At that point, I was on my way to work, so didn't go straight back home - but I had gone out of my way to get to the polling station.

So, it was about 8:35 by the time I was back on my normal route to work. So, one could say about 15 minutes total or perhaps 10 (because it would have taken me some time to get that far anyway).

I'm always slightly resentful of the fact that our polling station is in the opposite direction from work, so I was interested to learn that experiments are underway that might allow voters more choice over where (and when) they vote. That's something I'd welcome.

Slightly ironically, I then spent much of the day writing against the idea of compulsory voting, in response to this recent proposal. I may have more to say about that later.

Picket

I'm not on strike, but many staff at Southampton Solent are, so today I popped along to spend a couple of hours on their picket line.

We were joined by (UCU General Secretary) Jo Grady - which was expected - but also by one of my undergraduate students, which was more of a surprise.

It's a boy

While the pigeon may be gone, I have another photo update from my garden. The small holly bush has flowers.

I had hoped that flowers might mean berries later but, after some quick online research, these look like male flowers to me. That's a bit of a shame, because it means no berries.

Weston Shore

We had a few days of nice weather over Easter, so decided to have a day out in (at?) Weston Shore yesterday. We took the bus into the city centre, stopping off at Cafe Thrive to pick up a takeaway lunch, then back on the #17 out to Swift Road, from where we walked along part of Shoreburs Greenway past Jurd's Lake. (This is apparently a butterfly trail, but we didn't see any particularly interesting wildlife.)

When we reached the shore, we stopped to eat our lunch on a bench looking out over the water, then we walked along the shore back towards Woolston. We passed a few cyclists and dog-walkers, but I was surprised how quiet it was given that it's still Easter holidays. Maybe we picked a good day to come in that respect; the day before was warmer and sunnier (probably too warm to be walking around in the midday sun) and the next day (today) there was apparently a kids' litter pick

We had a quick stop in Mettricks (which would have been convenient for lunch, if we hadn't already eaten, but was busy), then got the bus out again to further along the shore and walked back to the Greenway and did that bit again but in reverse. From there, it was back on the bus into the city centre and home again. All in all, a pleasant little jaunt.

Pigeon nesting

 We were away for Easter but, before we left, I'd noticed a pigeon or two taking an interest in the bush in our garden. I thought they might be building a nest and, indeed, it looks like that was the case:

I don't know whether I'll be able to post regular updates, because I don't want to disturb her/them* - but I'll try to if I get a chance.

*Edit: later research suggests it may actually be the male who sits on the eggs most of the day.

Cheesy peas

I knew my partner was cooking chilli for dinner tonight, so I'd been told not to have beans for lunch. Therefore, jacket potato with cheese and peas:

It may seem an odd combination, but if you like peas and you like cheese, then why not...

Post-storm fallen tree

I was forced to cancel a lecture last Friday due to Storm Eunice. 

It's not the first time I've known campus to be closed due to inclement weather. I had assumed that, in these post-pandemic days, classes would generally be moved online rather than cancelled. That is what many people did, but unfortunately my personal laptop chose the day before to die. (I think/hope it's a charger issue rather than the laptop itself, but don't have a spare to test it.)

Local damage is not as dramatic as some of the pictures that I've seen online, but there are a few broken/fallen trees around, including this one that blocked my route to the local shops on Saturday:

As I said, not the most dramatic, but this picture might be useful for lecture slides when discussing freedom and obstacles. If someone were to put a barrier across the path, then this would be a restriction on my negative freedom. A fallen tree, however, may leave me unable - but not unfree - to walk down to the shops.

Pixabay

I've not updated for a while as we were away for a bit. I took quite a lot of photos during our travels, so I decided to upload some of them to Pixabay. This is a site that I've used for a while, because pictures can freely be used even for commercial purposes, without attribution, which is ideal for lecture slides. I figured that, having used pictures from this site, I should give something back by uploading some of my own.

 

I'm still figuring things out over there. I'm not a professional photographer, so my pictures aren't as good as many of the others on the site. Still, it may be a handy way for me to organise photos that I may want to use again, even if no one else does. If you're interested, my pictures can be found on my profile here.