End of the line

What a dreary day it was yesterday. I decided to take Fern for her afternoon walk in Stanmer Park and as soon as we got out of the car the heavens opened. I did take this picture (in the rain) of a sight which could be quite attractive in the right conditions.

The lower picture was taken from much the same spot almost two years ago.

I have been posting daily pictures on this blog since October 2009 and I have decided that I have come to the end of the line.  I will continue to post pictures on my other blog - Pebbles in the Sea - but not necessarily every day.

My thanks to all who have dropped by and the few who have left complimentary comments.

More apple blossom

Still in the garden - and still raining!

Apple blossom

The weather has been so gloomy that I have had to resort to a picture taken two years ago.  This is what the tree in the garden will look like as soon as we get a blue sky!

Withdean Park

Looking down the park from the very top.

Sign of wind to come

When the flowering cherry trees in our road are in full bloom we always get strong winds.  Any day now.

Blue sky

After the dull mornings we have endured lately, what a pleasure it was to see blue sky over the Downs when I drew back the bedroom curtains this morning.

Primroses in Waterhall

The bank where these primroses are blooming faces north so they are several days behind all the others, most of which are now past their best.

Not in Stanmer

This group of trees at the bottom of the garden at my cousin's farm caught my eye as the sun shone on them while the sky behind was dark.  At the left front is a holly, the lighter green tree in the middle is a dawn redwood, the evergreen at the back is a Monterrey cypress and the one on the right just coming into leaf is a tulip tree.

Stanmer church

Stanmer church and part of the village as seen from the edge of the Great Wood.

Reminder of 1987

Back in October 1987 a "hurricane" whipped through south-east England and many trees in Stanmer woods were uprooted.  To this day there are humps like this one which are where the root patterns of the trees were pulled out of the ground.  Many of them (again, like this one) still have the remains of the trunk jutting out.

Bluebells I bring you

For one reason or another, I haven't been in Stanmer woods for several weeks.  I went into the Great Wood yesterday afternoon to get out of the wind and discovered the bluebells in bloom at least a week or ten days earlier than usual.

Baseball in Brighton

Tucked away behind the rugby pitches in Waterhall are two baseball fields that have seen better days.  Now, however, the Brighton Buccaneers softball club is in the process of renovating them.  The picture above shows the work as it was a week ago while to the left is as it was a month or so back.

This is a view of the second field from behind the batter's plate - which has only recently been put in place.  Up until a week or so back there was some pretty awful chain link-type fencing which has been removed and which will presumably be replaced.  The picture below shows the pitcher's mound looking towards the batter's plate - as it was!

Too late

When we were washing up after dinner the other evening I noticed the gorgeous sky.  By the time we had finished, I had found my camera and gone outside it was very nearly too late.

Waterhall tadpoles

The spawn in the Waterhall dew pond has hatched and there are dozens of tadpoles swimming around.  They don't stay still long enough to get a photo that isn't blurred.

Back on the Downs

This is the view from the Roman Camp looking north. The high point on the horizon is Ditchling Beacon. It might not look much higher than anywhere else but it is the third highest point in Sussex. In the middle distance are Stanmer woods while to the left the flats are in Hollingbury and we get a glimpse of the Hollingbury industrial estate.  To the right is Coldean.

Hanover district

Jersey Street and Ewart Street (left) are part of the vibrant Hanover community. It seems not so very long ago that this area was a bit run down but the rise in property prices has meant that Hanover has changed as new people moved in. This is now the heart of 'green' Brighton - but there still seems to be at least one car for every house and parking is a nightmare.

St Bartholomew's church

Seen from Albion Hill, St Bartholomew's church certainly stands tall - as it should. The cross makes it taller than Westminster Abbey and it has the highest nave of any parish church in Britain. It was supposedly built to the measurements of Noah's ark.

St Peter's church

Looking back down Albion Hill we can see how the old slums were cleared and replaced by tower blocks of flats. St Peter's church, which became the parish church in place of St Nicolas, look small by comparison.

Albion Hill

The small two-up-two-down houses of Albion Hill were built in the mid 19th century to house the fast-growing number of manual workers in the town. On the edge of the now "in" Hanover area, this is still just about first-time buyer territory.

Street art

As we head back into town, St George's Road becomes St James's Street and that is where the Property Shop is situated with this large mural on the wall in a side street. That's some advert!

The Sidewinder

As we head back towards the centre of town we come to the Sidewinder pub. Just how the mural links in is something I have yet to work out.

Kemp Town Pier

Down towards the sea and running parallel to Eastern Road is St George's Road and this is where we find the community centre known as the Kemp Town Pier. This was built in 1912 as the church hall for St Anne's church, which has since been demolished. The Pier is - or was - also th John Nixon Memorial. I'm not entirely sure it is still used as a community centre; it looks more like shops and flats.

Kemp Town goods yard

Just after Edward Street has become Eastern Road we reach what was at one time the Kemp Town railway station and goods yard. The station and goods yard are long since closed and turned into an industrial estate but the building on the south-west corner retains this reminder of the past.

Bingo, anyone?

Edward Street

The court building is now in Edward Street, a nondescript road that lost its character when the buildings on one side were demolished to make way for the courts, the American Express European headquarters and so on. The south side still has a few speciality shops like this among all the lawyers officers.

County Court

Further down Church Street we have the old county court building. The only indication of its previous purpose is the archway on the left which seems to lead nowhere.

Ancient and modern

From the 21st century on the left where the Jubilee Street redevelopment can be seen to the early 19th century Dome and Corn exchange. This is a view down Church Street from just below Bond Street.

Bond Street BOGOF

Just along from yesterday's mermaid but this time in Bond Street itself. I'm almost sorry that I can't see the painting underneath the dogs.