Saturday 27 March 2010

A Random Trail

This is a strange walk in a way – when I returned and looked at the map it seemed I'd been in among houses all the time, but it felt like it was mostly green open land – I guess it comes from being on footpaths, rather than on roads.

Anyway, I started off along the quay and cut through Boal Quay parking lot, and then through the streets between there and London Road. The houses here are an interesting mix of ages – a few 17th century cottages still remain, but the bulk are Victorian or Edwardian, with some in-fill building within the last 50 or so years – so one can walk along a terrace of solid Victorian 3 stories houses, and suddenly come upon a side street with a courtyard of 1990's build apartments.

Reaching London Road I cross at the first available place, and see in front of me a tiny alleyway - it's only about 3 feet across, and on one side has a Grand Victorian building, now quite run down, and on the other a plot where it looks like construction has started, but stopped a few years ago. I assume the ally must lead somewhere, so go down it. At the back of the at the end of the building plot I can see that there is another Victorian building, this one really run down and is boarded up. The path runs the length of the plot, then turns a sharp left, and is now only 2 feet wide, running between the abandoned boarded up building and a tall wooden fence. The path is strewn with beer cans and only runs for a few feet before it turns to the right, continues along to a wide road – what a strange little alleyway!

Continuing on I walk in the direction of where I think the brook that runs behind the cemetery must be, and I cross the main road and choose a street at random to walk down. Suddenly, this road opens up to a green open space, and there is a bridge crossing the stream. On the other side the path goes along the bank of the stream, and I decide to turn left, and walk along with the green and the water to one side, and more allotments to the other. On my walk the other day I went past a huge allotment site, and this one seems at least as big – it's good to see so many town folk growing their own!

After a very short time the path comes to the railway line, and crosses it – I'm kind of taken aback at the fact that there is just a gate each side that I open with signs telling me to stop, look and listen – somehow this doesn't seem right in the middle of town, more what I'd expect to see in the middle of the countryside.

The path continues along with trees to one side, and then crosses over the stream to back onto houses on my left, and a wide area with brambles growing on the right – worth remembering for the autumn when the blackberries will be ripe! I'm walking along thinking that this path must link up with the Railway cycle path somehow, but just as I'm thinking that, my path ends at an industrial site, so it obviously doesn't!

I walk for a bit on the road, and then spot another path leading back through the trees, and take that. After a while the path becomes one of the small streets with terrace houses on both sides, and crosses the railway again – this time with a crossing barrier and lights!

I turn left along another road, this one with bungalows on one side – quote pretty and open, and then I see that I'm crossing Tennyson Road and The Walks are opposite me! So it's a simple walk across them and back home.

When home I get out my Ordnance Survey map to try to see where I've been – I can re-trace my route, but I don't see the name of the stream is that I crossed, and it's not evident that there is some green open space there. I guess it's all in how you look at it – and I chose to think I went for a walk in the country!

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