Curly's Capers

Just finished the leg from Dursley to North Nibley. As you can see from picture ( 2 ) the signposts are in a very tasteful green and gold . Furthermore upon entering Dursley , you can read the legend Dursley Historic Market Town on the Cotswold Way. Excellent ; another town with pride. Picture (1) shows the view from Stancombe towards North Nibley , with the iconic Tyndale's Monument see ( Way ahead 30/6) on the skyline The walk , was well marked and included a good contrast in uphill and downhill walking. Even the 'bus back to Dursley was on time. A good outing indeed. Ciao4now Ck. NP. "Rio" by Michael Nesmith (of Monkees fame ) It just makes you feel good.

Pitched up yesterday at the Cheltenham Cricket Festival; found out who we (Gloucestershire) were playing against (Northants ) and made my way into the ground. I try to go once a year , in order to maintain the social law , stating that:' If one wishes to sleep in the sun in a field , then watch cricket ' However , that plan failed , on two accounts : 1 - temperatures were on the low side ( 18/19C) and there was a constant threat of sharp rain showers. 2- too much action upon the playing surface ; wickets were seen to tumble ( 15 in the day's play ) , eleven of which transpired during the afternoon session ( 1:30 to 6:00 p.m.) that I saw. The usual modus operandi , when entering a cricket ground is as follows. Select your seat affording a view in the general direction of the pitch. Sit and wait to absorb the rhythm of the game and realize that nothing much is going on. Wait again and realize that really nothing is going on. Open your morning paper and check the obituarie...

Have just concluded the stretch of the Way from Cleeve Hill to Dowdeswell . Cleeve Hill is the highest point of the cotswolds at 1083 ft. or 330m. Source ' Wikipedia ' The views , this day were clear with high visibility ( see Picture 1) , where you can see , nestled in the valley to the west Cheltenham Racecourse. The waymarking was generally good , with posts to guide you to the summit and trig point. However , when the path left the common , there was an area of doubt as to which right hand route to take into the woods. The matter was resolved at the bottom of the slope with a friendly post , by the gate ; but it had created a few moments of anxiety in this walker's mind. Further on in the journey ; navigation became quite a problem when reaching the quarry (see Picture 3). The first shock was noticing the fly tipping of tyres , rubbish and even a burnt-out car; which after the beauty of the walk was quite an eye-opener. After reeling from this outrage , one looked ...

Whilst walking along the South Bank in London , I espied these trees covered in dots. I found out  afterwards that it was an art installation by Yayoi Kusama , who has an exhibition running at the nearby Hayward Gallery. The trouble is I am beginning to think of further colours on tree barks ; am I going dotty I wonder ? Ciao4now Ck. P.S. right click ( Windows ) or click  ( Mac)  on pics. to see more detail.

As one can see from the above picture (3 )  The Cotswold Way  became an official  National Trail ( one of fifteen )  in 2007. It therefore , in my humble opinion  (IMHO in textspeke !)  should carry a measure of prominence and in particular carry a measure of quality waymarking . This has ,  in my experience of the walk so far ( Chipping Campden to Cleeve Hill +  North Nibley to Wotton Under Edge , and finally the last mile stretch into Bath City ) has generally been carried out in a consistent fashion , apart from the start and finish - return to  posts  ' Beginning  , Ends , & The Man With The Trimba  and   Watch This Space '   However  a raise of the cap , should be given to the worthy citizens of Wotton Under Edge , who elected to produce signposts of blue and white colour , proclaiming  The Way  throughout their Town ( photographic evidence to follow ) ; a sense of civic pride has been restored.  The Cotswold Way  has  been a backdrop to my life as a Gloucestershire bo...

Yesterday , I ventured forth on a short leg on my journey along  The Cotswold Way  , which remember runs from Chipping Campden to Bath , a distance of over 100 miles. My route , took me from North Nibley to Wotton under Edge  (only two miles - but it was a hot day) The view , you can see is taken near Tyndale's Monument at the escarpment above North Nibley , looking down the valley towards Wotton. The monument stands 33 metres in height. It was built in 1866  to commemorate the first translation of the Bible into English , by William Tyndale ( born N. Nibley 1484) His story did not end happily as he was later accused of heresy and burned at the stake in France 1536 , ( Mel Gibson take note - there could be an 'earner' here ) It was a very pleasant stroll in the sun and included a shady section through woodland. Only another seventy plus miles to complete. Ciao4now Ck.  Np " Woods " Bon Iver - must check for footage from Glastonbur...

Thought I'd better do a couple of catch-up blogs , now that I've made it back to my desktop.  I've recently spent a few days in Cornwall , and during that time I visited this bird sanctuary in Marazion , prompted by the excellent book "  While Flocks Last "  by Charlie Elder , which I recently read .  In this book Charlie visits all the red-listed (that is birds whose numbers are diminishing  or indeed nearing possible extinction ) birds in the British Isles. He writes with a dry humour and easily engages the reader.  Here is an example :  "  Life stirred in our planet's primeval soup three and a half  billion years ago and from the slime multi- cellular  organisms evolved , grew scales and crawled onto land whereupon many took up work as estate agents ...... " In a deeper meaning , he reminds us that all species have a right to life , however nondescript they may look or act .  "Everything has a purpose under heaven " as the good song tell...