Tag Archives: travel

Steam Train passing Aldermaston Station

After the (luckily short) heat wave this week it was pleasantly cool this Saturday morning, also a bit damp as it had rained most of the night and still hadn’t fully stopped by the time I decided to leave for the train station. For it was time to watch and photograph another steam train passing Aldermaston Station.

Since the electrification of the line watching steam trains passing through isn’t the same any more, but then again some progress is necessary and I certainly prefer the electric trains over the old stinking and noisy Diesels we had before.

I haven’t bothered looking up the details of the steam engine pulling the train today, I hope you’ll still enjoy the pictures without that information. If you do know more about the locomotive feel free to leave the information in the comments.

An Emotional Return to Bremen

Today would have been my father’s 87th birthday, sadly he passed away in January this year. Last weekend my sister and I returned to Bremen to lay him to rest and to revisit some of the places of our childhood and youth (we have both long since moved away, my sister to Heidelberg in the south of Germany, me to the UK). Our father had lived in Bremen for almost his whole life, only moving to Heidelberg to be near his daughter when his wife (our mother) passed away in 2008.

As there are no direct flights from Heathrow to Bremen any more I flew to Frankfurt on Wednesday evening and stayed at an airport hotel. Their noise insulation was very impressive, I didn’t hear a thing of the motorway and the planes landing right outside my window. On Thursday morning my sister picked me up for the long drive to Bremen. The Autobahn was very busy and slowed us down significantly, meaning we didn’t arrive in Bremen until late in the afternoon. At least we crossed the river Weser in some brilliant sunshine. When stopping to buy some fruit on the way we also stopped at Jan Reiners, an old narrow gauge train locomotive. Until 1954 it had pulled a train along the Jan-Reiners-Damm, which passed right outside the plot where our father’s house was built in the early 1960s (the train track and dam was converted to a walking and cycling path). After checking in at the Park Hotel we had a quick look around the hotel and went for a short sunset walk in the Bürgerpark. In the evening we went for a nice meal with a cousin of our father and her husband at the Meierei, talking about our father and more.

Friday started with a run in the Bürgerpark for me, before we drove over to the Hachez outlet shopping store. Hachez was the favourite chocolate of our father, so I think it was quite fitting that I left with 1.3kg of chocolate, I think my sister was in a similar range. We continued into Bremen town centre, direction Marktplatz. We took pictures of the Bremer Stadtmusikanten, the Bremer Roland, the Rathaus and the Dom as well as the Schuetting, before meeting up with one of our aunts (a sister of our mother). The Sun even came out for some of the pictures and for a while we could sit outside at the Raths Apotheke.

By lunchtime it was time to drive over to the cemetery, the Riensberger Friedhof. The five of us met up with the urn carrier at the gate of the cemetery. He took us into the waiting room, among other things some minor administrative steps had to be completed. My sister and I had decided against a formal ceremony, we opted for only the burial with the urn being carried to the grave by the urn carrier. After a few minutes reflection we started the slow walk to our father’s final resting place. Unfortunately (or may be fittingly) the weather had turned by now, it was cold with occasional rain as well as a fierce biting cold wind. Once we arrived the urn was placed in the prepared hole, we had a few more minutes for quiet reflection, leaving flowers and saying our final good byes. Finally the urn carrier filled the hole and put a pot of flowers our father’s cousin had brought on top. As the grave was new our fathers name wasn’t on a stone just yet, but it was listed on a board. We then visited the grave of an aunt and finally the grave of our mother, who was laid to rest here back in 2008. As her plot was full by now it wasn’t possible to bury our father in the same plot. His plot and his stone will look the same as our mother’s though once his plot fills up. I quite like this style and we both feel it’s right for our parents (for myself I have a different idea, but that’s not for this entry).

As we all started to feel the cold by now we decided to move on and drove over to the Bürgerpark for tea and cake at the Kaffeehaus am Emmasee. We spent an hour or so talking about the funeral and our parent’s life and memory. A nice end to the occasion. Later in the evening my sister and I went for a meal at the Gasthof zum Kaiser Friedrich in the Schnoor area with our aunt. From here we also called another aunt (our mother’s second sister) who unfortunately couldn’t be with us in person.

After such a long and exhausting day I had looked forward to a good night’s sleep, although that wasn’t meant to be: That night a cold I believe I had picked up at home in England (when I returned to work I found a colleague had exactly the same symptoms at the same time as me) hit me quite strongly. I hardly slept that night and felt quite bad the next morning. I was so tired I almost fell asleep at the table during breakfast. After a lunchtime nap I felt slightly better and we drove out to Kuhsiel, a popular weekend destination during our childhood and youth. We went on a short walk along the Blockfeld dam protecting the land from the Wümme River. As the restaurant/café at Kuhsiel was closed for refurbishment we enjoyed a hot chocolate and cakes at the Dielencafé . During the walk we also by pure chance bumped into one of the best friends of our late mother, giving us the unexpected opportunity to catch up with her. In the evening we went to Bremen’s oldest Chinese restaurant before an early night.

Sunday morning I felt a bit better and after a last walk in the Bürgerpark I felt fit enough for the long journey back. My sister drove me back to Frankfurt (with an unexpected detour to the outskirts of Oldenburg, where I had gone to university) from where I flew back to the UK.

A few pictures:

(Click on the pictures for the larger version)

Red Kites near Penlan Farm, Wales

During my Easter visit to Wales Andy didn’t only take me to Llangrannog on Sunday, he also took me to a spot where lots (and I mean lots) of Red Kites come together. I’d estimate we saw about 20-30 Red Kites in about 20 minutes. I took quite a few pictures, in particular of one which seemed to have caught something only to then drop it. We’re not entirely sure, but we think it was carrying something that looked like a mouse or similar small animal in its talons. Then suddenly it was gone and the Red Kite seemed to react surprised and confused.

(click on the pictures for larger versions)

The location where we watched the Red Kites was an unclassified road off the B4337 at Penlan Farm, just north of Trefilan.

Cliffs, waves and a surfer in Llangrannog, Wales

The Easter weekend 2016 I spent in Wales. On Saturday I went for a coastal walk on the Ceredigion Coastal Path from Aberystwyth to Borth. Saturday evening I drove to my friends Andy and Liz in Cribyn, after some fish and chips in New Quay we caught up on the latest news.

On Sunday Andy and I went out to take advantage of the sunny intervals after Saturdays rain. One of our stops was at Llangrannog, where we watched a surfer and enjoyed the views from the high cliffs.

(click on the pictures for larger versions)

A very nice day out, more pictures in particular of Red Kites in flight to follow in another post.

I’ve walked/driven over that bridge, now it’s gone

If you actually know a place in the news it makes it much more real than if it’s a place you’ve never even heard of. I’ve been to Pooley Bridge twice, among other things to go on an Ullswater Steamer cruise. While there I crossed the bridge giving the village its name a couple of times, both in the car and on foot.

Picture of an old bridge over a river
Pooley Bridge in April 2012

Storm Desmond and the related rain has now destroyed the old bridge, built in 1764. Not to mention the flooding and misery it has brought to other parts of Cumbria. Carlisle (where I usually stay overnight on my journeys to Islay) has also been badly hit. I’m not sure of the exact area, but I believe one of the hotels where I sometimes stay is flooded as is the park where I go for my morning run.

As far as I know nobody has died and I hope it stays that way, at least people seem to be safe. Still, it will be a long hard slog for those impacted by the floods.