Out With The Old...

...You know the rest. Farewell 2023, here's to the New Year. Cheers!

Moto

I came across this fascinating picture a while ago but it came up in "memories" today. This is an aerial view of junction 12 of the M4 motorway, whilst under construction. 

The motorway runs bottom left to top right and the old A4 Bath Road can be seen intersecting (bottom right to top left). The Bath Road is historic and parts of that route may be Roman in origin. Both the A4 and M4 originate in West London and broadly speaking run in the same direction to the west, although the newer motorway mostly avoids towns and cities that developed along and around the older trading route. The M4 continues west beyond Bath and Bristol into Wales, land of dragons and Bira Brith LOL.

This image from the 1960's era is of some interest to residents of Reading. At the top is the small town of Theale, largely unchanged now. Although (below left and across the A4) is now an industrial park, with rail station, and home to a busy Amazon distribution centre. 

To the right, just over the junction and towards Reading, is Calcot where IKEA and Sainsbury's (previously known as Savacentre) are now located. Finally in the bottom area of the picture is part of Beansheaf Farm, now all but forgotten. Houses were starting to be built here in the 1980's, with the field in the middle, just below the junction itself developed only a couple of years ago. 

The white box-like structure in the next field is a WWII gun position, which remains today. Just in case of invasion LOL. Apparently it is now home to a colony of bats, a protected species in the UK, so cannot be disturbed. This is also the start of Linear Country Park, where mad dogs walk their owners. Linear Park itself follows the historic Holy Brook River that runs into Reading and the site of the historic Abbey ruins. 

For those really interested and still reading, the previous M4 junction (central Reading), off screen to the left, has the very imaginative name of junction 11. The next one- you'll never guess- is junction 13 and serves the town of Newbury, some 17 miles or about 20 minutes drive away.

Now you know LOL.

Christmas

Festive greetings everyone! Have a joyful day.

Sweet

Drunken Goodness made and in the fridge, ready for baking tomorrow LOL.

Just Don't

Not one word, don't say a thing LOL.

Yippee Ki Yay

Not many realise there is actually a panel missing from the historic Bayeux Tapestry: it is known as the McClane Panel.

(We all know it's a Christmas movie really)

Wise Words

Just sayin'...

Grogu's Always Hungry

Serves you right, Elf on the Shelf LOL.

Pies

Nice little article about Sweeney and Todd's pie shop, which has been in Reading for 45 years. Read here. 

Yes, there is a Barbers shop next door LOL.

Chocs

Weekday visit to the cinema with ym, to see the fun filled origin of Willy Wonka. Growing up, I avidly read many Roald Dahl books. Wish I still had them.

7 Years

This came up as a memory: happy days LOL.

Picture In Picture

When your main tv unexpectedly stops working and the shops are shut for the night LOL.

If I can't hold out until the January sales, I guess there's always Cyber Monday just around the corner..?

Benson

Overnight temperatures just up the road, in Benson in Oxfordshire, fell to -7 degrees Celsius. Wow, that's a bit chilly!

Winter is coming.

Fire

Yesterday a serious fire broke out in Central Reading development- Station Hill. 

This was  covered extensively by the national news outlets, which is quite unusual. Normally, this sleepy, working class town is overlooked by most. This is the second fire at the development in recent months. What perhaps made this story stand out was the rescue of two people, not by the emergency services but by a calm but quick thinking crane operator, who lowered a cage to the two workers through the smoke.

Read the Daily Mail story here.

60 Not Out

The longest running and best sci-fi television show in the (known) universe was first broadcast sixty years ago today. Brilliant!

Lollipop

I happened to be driving past a primary school this afternoon and was pleasantly surprised to see a Lollipop Lady on duty, shepherding the children across the road.

It's so nice to see that some things haven't changed. 

Sydney

New NCIS, streaming now,  strewth! 

Even the theme tune, riffing on the original series, sounds good to these ears. So, since the franchise has now gone international, can we expect NCIS: Portsmouth..?

11-11

 

Simod

Took a trip today to Reading Museum, to see the Simod Cup, now on display. This competition was won by Reading Football Club back in the 80's, when their fortunes were considerably better than they are now.

Back then they were still playing at the out of date Elm Park ground but on their way to promotion to the top tier league, the Premiership. Now they are are stuck at the bottom of the third league, facing sanction from the FA and a second winding up order in the courts from the tax man. At least though they have the Mad Stad, or SCL Stadium as it is now known. Perhaps this is the club's most valuable asset and it is no wonder Reading Borough Council have taken steps to ensure the current Chinese owner cannot sell the ground, without making adequate provision for the Royals. 

There is a campaign to force the owner to sell the club. Whether it will have the desired effect waits to be seen.

Plants And Animals

Today the Royal Mint released the new and historic definative coin set for the UK. As well as featuring His Majesty on the "Head" or Obverse as it is officially known, the "Tail" (Reverse) has a whole new design. Plants and animals from throughout the UK are featured, and the designs approved by the King himself. This reflects his passion for nature and the environment, and his desire to communicate the importance of conservation.

Halloween

Not that I particularly mark Halloween but this image did appeal LOL.

Not Helpful

Don't you just hate it when you convince yourself you've been really productive by say putting the washing on early, before going out with the dogs, but discover later you'd left a tissue in a pocket? LOL

We Don't Need Roads!

Great Scott, it's Back to the Future Day.

Time Team Lives

Watching a brand new Time Team Special with Tony Robinson, filmed over the weekend of the coronation of King Charles. They were digging in the village of Aldbourne in Wiltshire, looking for evidence of where Easy Company -the Band of Brothers- were stationed for 9 months during the war. According to the journal kept by US service man David Webster, they had a liking for Lardy Cake; proves I'm in good company then lol. New episodes as well as archive ones can be found on the official Team Team YouTube page.

Eager Beaver

If you get the chance to see Sarah Millican's new show, you'll understand. So very funny but also rude. You've been warned LOL.

See You

You have to love the Aussie sense of humour, don't you? Presenting this, advertisement for tourism to the Northern Territory LOL.

Walkies

Spent a very pleasant couple of hours enjoying the Autumn sun, dog walking with YM. Temperatures today are forecast to reach a lovely 24 degrees. Someone just wants to curl up now and go to sleep. I know how they feel LOL.

No S**t

I love the fact in step two, they talk about quantity and they don't need extra. Zoom in to the image if you don't believe me LOL!

Just Sayin'

Yep.

Storage

What do you know- my fridge/freezer has now decided it wants to identify as a cupboard and no longer wishes to keep items cool. Just brilliant!

Lucky Me

Must be my age LOL.

Safety First

Quite possibly the best safety sign you'll ever see...

Drink Up!

If you're drinking rum before 10 AM it doesn't automatically mean you're an alcoholic. It may however mean you are a pirate LOL.

Happy International Talk Like a Pirate Day.

Decimal Silver

The UK' Royal Mint has issued this lovely silver sixpence, something of a novelty it might be argued. Our circulation coins have not included a 6p since the early 1970's, when the decimal system was adopted. There have been a few special releases such as this over the past few years. This one is however something of a standout: it will be unique in that the reverse shows the King's personal Royal Cypher. 

Enjoy these images of this historic coin, struck in 925 Sterling silver.

Warmer

Who'd have thought our hottest day of the year would actually arrive in Autumn LOL? This is also the first time since records began (mid-1800's) that September temperatures have exceeded 30 degrees Celsius for five days in a row. Amazing.

Read more from the Guardian.

Of course we can't say definitively what temperatures were like prior to 1850 but this is the date generally accepted by scientists as the end of the Little Ice Age. This was a period from around 1300 AD where global temperatures fell by at least 2 degrees. Some might therefore argue it is unsafe to use perhaps the coolest point in the past 2000 years as the benchmark to record global warming. I'll leave that to others to decide.

Certainly this current pleasant September makes up for an extremely poor July and August.

Hot-ish

After an extremely disappointing July and August for the UK, the weather has perked up somewhat. At least for a week, we can enjoy a bit more Summer despite it is now officially Autumn LOL.

Coffee?

 LOL!

Super And Blue

A blue moon and a super moon in one night. It's said to be blue because it is the second new moon in a calendar month and super because it is at its closest to planet Earth.

Super blue moon or blue super moon. You decide LOL.