Art You See
  • Home
  • What's new
  • Contact
  • RSPB fund raising
  • Longwater Road Nature Reserve
    • Manor farm then and now
    • Fleet Hill farm then and now
    • Scenes from the reserve
  • Exhibitions
  • About
    • Where to buy

Quiet, nay silent end to a most curious year.  31st December

31/12/2020

 
When looking back over blogs, what tends to be forgotten so easily in the mists of time are the surrounding events that provides more of a context to proceedings. Thus, this year's restoration of Manor farm, Fleet Hill farm and Chandlers farm has rumbled on against a background of

- Covid-19 pandemic, with the government's total mishandling
- A US election, seeing an sociopathic, tantrum, child not getting re-elected, then throwing a hissy fit by embarking on a coup attempt worthy of the very worst of dictators.
- Brexit negotiations finalised at the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the twelfth month, when bumbling Boris blinked and caved in.
- We were to witness some of the very best of the British spirit in coping with the pandemic, along with, it has to be said, some of the worst.

Through it all, when they could, the unsung work force of Inert, Cemex and haulage firms kept up their restoration of Manor farm.

Which brings us to this, last entry, of 2020.  Well, nothing has happened. I held off a weekend report as last week's site visit (Wednesday, 23rd December) revealed a silent Manor farm, with gates across the bailey bridge firmly locked. The latter being a bit of a laugh, as there is a large section fencing, near the sewage works, that has fallen over.

There was the possibility that some work was happening on Chandlers farm, as I heard machinery noise coming from the direction of the old works building.

My site visit yesterday (Wednesday 30th December) proved another silent one, both on Manor farm and Chandlers farm.  Water levels were high, the south footpath particularly saturated, but funnily enough the south vehicle track looked rather dry.  Perhaps Cemex/Inert decided it best to shut down for two weeks.  It should be interesting to see which Tier the various areas are going to be in next week, and whether plant operators are permitted back to work.  We shall see.

I have a feeling that the yellow road bridge has disappeared.  It might be my imagination, but I am sure I missed it as I headed east, but then forgot to check on my way back west as I headed for my car.

Well, that's me signing off for the year. I will only starting posting when Inert et al return to Manor farm.

Comments are closed.

    Author

    A polite notice first: All photographs on this blog are owned by me and subject to copyright.

    Also, note that I have special permission to be on the Eversley quarry site of Fleet Hill farm, Manor farm and the Hampshire part, Chandlers farm. They are not open areas for general access.  Please keep to the public rights of way.

    I was quite fascinated to see how Cemex would restore their gravel extractions workings to become a nature reserve, and so started this blog.  There is an ulterior motive. It does mean that my partner and I get some well needed exercise as we stomp around the reserve every week.  Following the progress of the restorations does mean the walk is not as tedious as it might otherwise become.

    Don't worry about one of the archives being November 2025. You haven't entered a time warp! It's just that I've discovered a way to pin a post to the top of a blogger in Weebly; not straight forward apparently.  I have to set the date far far into the future.

    Archives

    November 2025
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017

    Categories

    All

    RSS Feed

Proudly powered by Weebly
  • Home
  • What's new
  • Contact
  • RSPB fund raising
  • Longwater Road Nature Reserve
    • Manor farm then and now
    • Fleet Hill farm then and now
    • Scenes from the reserve
  • Exhibitions
  • About
    • Where to buy