Friday, 11 July 2025

Church update : St Peter, Wootton Wawen

Let's go back to number 1 in the Churches series! I recently revisited St Peter's in Wootton Wawen, the oldest church in Warwickshire with parts being Saxon. Finally, the church was open when i was there so i was able to go inside at last! The mix of styles and periods inside is fascinating.




Wednesday, 9 July 2025

Little Kimble and Ellesborough

At the weekend i headed down to Buckinghamshire for the first time in a while. I visited Little Kimble again, which is one of my favourite places in the world. This time though i also walked the mile to the neighbouring village of Ellesborough. On returning to Little Kimble, i was able to go inside the church of All Saints for the first time. You can see my photos here.




Monday, 7 July 2025

Bedfordshire Places (2) : Leighton Buzzard

Leighton Buzzard is a market town in the south west of the county close to the Buckingamshire border.

Leighton Buzzard may have been founded as early as the 6th century. The name Leighton is thought to be derived from the Old English for farm clearing in the woods (Leah tun). The Buzzard part of the name may come Beau-desert and was added to the town's name in the 12th century. However, there are other theories about the origin of the town's name.

Leighton Buzzard gained a market charter in 1086, and it became a successful market town thanks to it's good transport links to local agriculture and to London. These transport links included the Grand Union Canal which flows through the town. Leighton Buzzard gained a railway station in 1838 which is now part of the West Coast Main Line. One of the oldest surviving narrow gauge railways also has a terminus in the town (Leighton Buzzard Light Railway). A more modern transport link built close to the town is the M1 motorway.




Sunday, 6 July 2025

Wildcat

It has been a while since we had a model kit update. The latest project is #113 a Grumman Wildcat which, after a bit of a delay, is now progressing well and is in the painting stage. You may have noticed (or not) that the model kit list page has moved, it is now part of my website.


Friday, 4 July 2025

Church update : St Michael & All Angels, Ledbury

Let's go back to number 12 in this series, the parish church of Ledbury in Herefordshire. On my second trip i was able to explore more of the church including the separate bell tower. Unfortunately, i was unable to enter the main building, maybe it will be a third time lucky some time in the future.



Tuesday, 1 July 2025

Return to Wootton Wawen

Wootton Wawen in Warwickshire is one of my favourite places and i returned there at the weekend. The church in the village, St Peter is Saxon and the oldest church in the county. It has never been open when i have been visiting the village... until now! It was great to finally see inside it. I also had a walk along the Stratford Canal until the heat wore me out! You can see my Wootton Wawen photos here and the canal ones here.




Monday, 30 June 2025

Bedfordshire Places (1) : Marston Moretaine

Marston Moretaine (or Moreteyne) is a village in central Bedfordshire.

The village has Saxon origins, Marston Moretaine being listed in a Saxon charter in 969 as Mercstuninga. In the Domesday Book, the village was listed as Merestone. The name is derived from the Old English for settlement by a marsh. The manor was held by the Moretaine family for a time. The official name of the parish was changed to Marston Moreteyne in 2018 though Moretaine is still used in many places such as road signs.

The village is located next to the Millennium Country Park in the Marston Vale in central Bedfordshire. The village is located in a redevelopment area so might be expected to expand in future years. The village is served by Millbrook railway station on the Marston Vale Line.

St Mary the Virgin's parish church dates from 1340 though most of the surviving church was rebuilt in the mid 14th century. The church unusually has a detached tower from the next of the church, the tower being about 20m from the north wall of the chancel.




Friday, 27 June 2025

Church update : St Mary the Virgin, Tutbury

The rather nice church of St Mary the Virgin in Tutbury, in Staffordshire is next to the ruins of the castle. On my second visit i was able to go inside as well as see the church resplendent in some fine Winter sunshine.



Thursday, 26 June 2025

Monday, 23 June 2025

Modern Collins (15) : Fatal Fortune

Fatal fortune by Marian Babson is a fast moving if somewhat implausible adventure across central Europe. The plucky heroine has arrived from the US to rescue her young nephew who is in danger from a brutal gang. With the help of a reporter, they manage to keep one step ahead of the gang of ruffians. Meanwhile, the family patriarch approaches death...

The book has a number of surprises and keeps you gripped, more or less, though can be a bit silly at times.

Sunday, 22 June 2025

Caersŵs

I haven't been to Wales for some time, indeed only once this year so far. So, yesterday i headed to Powys to visit the village of Caersŵs which is on the river Severn, though the river is a bit of a tiddler here compared to how it is like in places like Worcester. Caersŵs is a nice place, and you can see my photos here.




Thursday, 19 June 2025

Return to Coventry

I returned to Coventry this weekend, though unlike the visit a week before, i left the station this time and did some sight seeing in the fine city including the magnificent cathedral. I also was able to check out the Coventry Very Light Rail system which is on test. You can see my photos here.




Wednesday, 18 June 2025

Stoneleigh 701

My first time seeing a 701 out in the wild (i did see one Derby on a delivery trip a few years ago), also the first time i have travelled on one too.

Monday, 16 June 2025

Modern Collins (14) : Gothic Pursuit

Another of the Tim Simpson series of stories by John Malcolm mixing art and furniture history with amateur detective work. In this story the hunt for a rare piece of furniture designed by a well known 19th century architect leads to a number of murders.

A fun and easy read on the whole and a well structured story, though sometimes the art and design history can make your eyes glaze over a bit (and i like history!)

Sunday, 15 June 2025

776

Another dialphone has joined the collection, a fine but slightly shabby GPO 776. This was the last dialphone designed by the Post Office and was the first intended principally for the residential instead of the business market. After this BT (as they became) would go push-button only on their new telephone models leaving this model as a final last gasp of a more civilised age.


Wednesday, 11 June 2025

Coventry and Walsall rails

Over the last few months i have been trying to visit nearly every railway station in the West Midlands so i can update my photography ready for my forthcoming book. I have nearly finished that now with very few stations remaining after i visited Coventry and Walsall at the weekend. I think i have all of the photography i need now. The aim is to get the book completed by the end of this month and do plenty of checking before it is submitted to the publisher at the end of next month. You can see my photos here.



Monday, 9 June 2025

Modern Collins (13) : The Fenokee Project

The Fenokee Project by Roy Lewis takes place mainly in the frozen wastes of Canada and takes quite a while to get going. This is a slow moving tale of a cold (in more ways than one) case. 

A man tries to find out how his wife died eight years before. What may have seemed an accident seems to be mixed up with paid off witnesses and big business corruption.

It takes a while to warm up but when it does you are rewarded by a complicated but logical plot. 

Thursday, 5 June 2025

Tuesday, 3 June 2025

Leicester waterways

At the weekend i felt like a change from the heavy railway diet i had had recently, so i headed to Leicester to explore the waterways there. The Soar Navigation, part of the Grand Union Canal, stretches around quite a bit of the city centre and is a terrific walk with some amazing bridges. You can see my waterways photos here, other Leicester photos can be seen here.



Monday, 2 June 2025

Modern Collins (12) : Prime target

Prime target by Martin Russell is an intriguing tale of crime, psychology and terrorism. Pitt starts to get confused when people begin mistaking him for someone else. This continues and he starts to question his own sanity and reality. 

Finally, it is revealed that it is all a trick (a somewhat elaborate one to honest) and he is the captive of terrorists who want him to plant a bomb in Downing Street!

The story has many twists and turns though some are a bit obvious in the end, such as Karen. However, a dog saves the day and that always makes a good story even better.

Thursday, 29 May 2025

Guildford trip day 2

The second day of this year's Guildford trip involved travelling to a number of stations in Surrey as well as walking through the nice town of Ewell. Later on i had time to revisit Farnborough and take some more photos, although fatigue was setting in so i didn't explore too far! My Surrey railway photos can be seen here, Ewell photos are here.

Another successful trip to Guildford, either my sixth or seventh (lost count!) We'll be back next year.



Wednesday, 28 May 2025

Guildford trip day 1

Last Friday i headed down to Surrey for what has become my annual pilgrimage to the railways of the south west of London (well it is my 7th or 8th trip anyway). On Friday i ticked off a couple of stations in Berkshire then went down to Hampshire to visit Farnborough and tick off stations between Farnborough and Basingstoke. Finally, i arrived at my hotel in Guildford. Tomorrow would have a lot more rail adventures. You can see my Berkshire railway photos here, my Hampshire railway photos here and photos of Farnborough here.