Grange Walkabout 2012

Reckoning that yesterday's problems couldn't really recur so soon as the day after, I decided to revisit Grange in Gillingham – this time with a camera, as I had promised myself. Thus, as with Hillyfields yesterday, this is primarily a photo-essay with a little explanation here and there.

I decided to model the walkabout on last year's first visit, but not copy the route. Indeed, although I went over much of the same ground, I made a point of taking alternative paths and exploring places I had spotted last time. There was also a place outside of Grange, across the main road, which I shall cover separately.

Here's my start point, just around the corner from the route 176 'bus stop where I arrived...

Not just the church, but the extensive grounds as well, comprising a park-like greenspace  with a children's play area, and some of the monuments are spaced around this area...

In one corner to the north is an exit to Layfield Road...

This leads to The Barge public house, which is looking much better these days than when the Google camera car went down there, as these 'then and now' images (the former from Google Street View) show...

Just around the corner in Court Lodge Road, partly sunken into the ground and overlooking the main road from its elevated location is The Ship Inn...

 It is so much more peaceful up there than down on the often (but not always!) busy main road...

Heading back into Grange itself, Court Lodge Road takes one along the eastern side of the churchyard-cum-park,  arriving at this corner shop at the junction with Grange Road. It's one of those shops of this kind that just seem to be appropriate in their location, somehow...

Turning left past the shop entrance and continuing on a short way, one comes across this unusual scene of the road passing above a cul-de-sac below, which can be accessed by one of two ramps. This is Dial Road...

Note that the solar panels in the roof of that house (and there are more in the roof's front) weren't there when the Google car snapped the scene, so they are a fairly recent addition.

One of my favourite features of Grange is the 'village stores' shop a little further along the top road. Again, it just works there and that place would definitely be missing something without it...

At this point I decided that I had done enough for today and headed back on the next (frequent!) 176 'bus from a stop back toward the Premier corner shop pictured above. I had gone down a number of other roads and checked out a close or two, but there was nothing really photo-worthy from any of that.

I still very much like this whole area, and was so pleased to be back there, especially on a brilliantly sunny day. I was beaming almost non-stop!

Hillyfields Walkabout

I was determined to go for a walkabout to and around Hillyfields Country Park in Gillingham today – and despite a series of obstacles, I actually managed to achieve this.

First, I was held up by a series of tweet to-ing and fro-ing with Medway Labour's Tristan Osborne regarding my previous-but-one post here.

Then, the 'bus I was on made a poor turn at the hospital turn-off from Rock Avenue and scuppered its suspension. After limping along (and juddering over rough bits) as far as St Mark's Church, the driver realised he had a real problem and that was the end of that. The vehicle was left there for at least two hours.

As I looked up when exiting the 'bus, I saw that the sky was much more 'dodgy' weather-wise than even the most recent forecast for the area had indicated, just a few hours earlier.

It was beginning to look as though my planned trip out was jinxed...

Yes, it is what I call a "Puff-Pack" after its licence number – in this case, it was Puff-Pack 272. Poor old thing! It's a hard worker too: I have frequently seen this particular vehicle in operation...

UPDATE 15 September: it is now back in operation, as I witnessed on Chatham Hill this afternoon.

Anyway, instead of my original plan to approach Hillyfields Country Park from the stop at the northern end of Richmond Road and walking around the corner to (and up) Rosebery Road, a hastily-devised Plan B took me along Gillingham High Street to a series of back streets (James Street, Jeffery St, Gardiner St, Saunders St and Victoria St) to Burnt Oak Terrace and along to Parr Avenue where the entrance I sought to the park was situated...

I found the park interesting: not so much its ground-level playing field...

...but certainly the elevated orchard, up these 42 steps (these are just the top few, and a view looking back down from the top)...

There's a good panoramic river view from up there, as this guide shows...

Now, what's in those woodlands back there...

Well, there was quite a lot, actually, including a fair amount of litter, I noticed. At least I was able to avoid most of it in the photograph above.

After exhausting all the little ways that were passable 'up top', I came back down the steps and headed south, toward the entrance at Greenfield Road. This is accessed via another set of steps, and has a poetical inscription set into the paving at their summit...

After exiting the park and wandering more back streets (Railway Street, crossing the road at Gillingham Station and taking the footpath to the south of the railway line) I ended up at Balmoral Gardens Community Healthy Living Centre, tucked away from general public/street view yet spectacularly visible once one came upon it...

That was quite a serendipitous find for me, so with yet another back street trek (Randolph Road, Gorst Street and Trafalgar Street) I found myself in Canterbury Street so decided to catch the 'bus back home. It had been an interesting enough trip out – and I was intrigued to find my 'incoming' 'bus still there where I had disembarked a couple of hours earlier – so I took that photo of it as shown at the top of this post!

SG-1 Modes of Address

The form each of the members of Stargate SG-1 normally uses to address one of the others is interesting to put together in one place.

Today's exercise mostly excludes when they are in more complex situations, such as with two or more SG teams together, where – for example – "Sir" could be ambiguous.

Anyway, here we go, starting with the way the others address...

Colonel Jack O'Neill

• Captain/Major Carter says "Sir" (or "Colonel" when with General Hammond, who is also Sir to her)
• Daniel Jackson says "Jack"
• Teal'C says "O'Neill"

Samantha Carter

• Colonel Jack O'Neill says "Carter" (or sometimes her military rank alone)
• Daniel says "Sam"
• Teal'C says "Captain [or, latterly, Major] Carter".

Daniel Jackson

• Colonel O'Neill says "Daniel"
• Samantha Carter says "Daniel"
• Teal'C says "Daniel Jackson".

Teal'C

• Colonel O'Neill says "Teal'C" or sometimes just "T" or even "Buddy!"
• Samantha Carter says "Teal'C"
• Daniel Jackson also says "Teal'C".

This simple aspect of the scripting serves to continually remind the viewer of the relationships between the members of the team, and to some extent how the military ranking is structured in the US Air Force. It's also fun for 'anoraks' like myself to write about in places such as this.

As Teal'C would no doubt put it: "Indeed..."

Flavour or Body?

The title might seem like an odd question, but it's a distinction one needs to be careful to make if considering buying McGuigan's 'Classic' Cabernet Sauvignon, from Australia.

McGuigan produce some very good wines, by the way, but they are too expensive for me to recommend routinely, so look out for offers – such as those at Sainsbury in recent weeks, where one or another white and a red has been marked down, in turn, to a much more affordable price (around a fiver, typically).

In the case of their Classic Cabernet Sauvignon, the label describes it as full flavoured rather than the more usual description full bodied; and in fact it is really medium bodied (and a a bit, perhaps) but certainly with lots of flavour.

I like it, especially with pizza and salad, or picnic-type items again with salad. It also goes well with Bavarian smoked cheese, though not quite as well for this as (say) Kumala Zenith red.

Who's New Companion?

No, that title is actually grammatically correct as it refers to the Doctor's new companion. We saw her in the show this evening, but playing a different character in Asylum of the Daleks.

I have to admit I was impressed by this lady, whose images have tended to be mainly of the glammed-up variety which I find off-putting, very tinseltown-ish. It did not seem to bode well.

However, Jenna-Louise Coleman is definitely a capable actress, and her presentation in this evening's episode – as well as in the BBC's publicity photos – mitigate against that kind of characterisation.

I am now looking forward to her 'proper' appearance on the programme, which will be coming to us very soon!