Home via LandGuard

We have been staying at Thatched Farm. They have two small cottages (formerly barns?).  I think we were in the smallest.  The location is just a few miles off the A12, well into the countryside.  It is a nice cottage even though it is so small.

2010_0924-27 Thatched Farm, Waldringfield

There are a few more pictures in the album.  One is of the solar panel generation meter at the RSPB.  It was generating a mere 790 watts while I was taking the picture.  I have to ask - are these things really worth having?  What is the energy requirement in building the thing in the first place, and is it recovered over its lifetime?

On the way back, we visited LandGuard Fort near Felixstowe.  It's a mess of development and re-development and a fascinating place to visit.  Some of the information that has been lost, which archaeologists will have to work out, is exactly what type of Radar was installed there in WWII.  It is amazing how quickly knowledge is lost.  An attempted invasion of England by the Dutch was repelled in a battle at the fort in 1677.


We then move on to look at St John's Great Wenham, which was unfortunately locked.  We drove onwards for a while in a generally homeward direction and came upon The Carriers Arms. Lunch was good, but nothing special. 

We arrived home in time to see Basildon's parking attendants watching the school traffic, and chatting for a long time to a woman who then got in her car and drove away.  One day they may, possibly, get it right. 

Pavement re-build

At the bottom of our road they are relaying the pavement. On Monday they will close the road from where the two car are and dig up the hugh slab of concrete that is suffering subsidence (off to the left of the picture) and re-lay that. I'm looking forward to the very uneven road being fixed, but not to the parking restrictions that will follow - a coincidence? Probably not.
After the yellow lines are painted we will not be allowed to leave a car on the road all day. This will be difficult as we do not have space to park off the road at the front of the house. Our councellor has been less than helpful - more of that latrer no doubt.

Christmas Cards & Parking Restrictions

Christmas
Well it's nearly December, Guy Fawkes day has passed, Diwali has passed, (so no more late firework parties for a bit) even Thanksgiving has passed, so its probably OK to talk about Christmas. However, OK or not, some things have to be prepared well ahead of schedule. Jo has started making cards.

Correction!

Jo has finished making some of her Christmas Cards. Follow the like for all her greeting cards, that I've taken pictures of. Todays pictures are different. Since Liz completed her decorating and reorganization the dressing table that I've used before is no longer in good light.

Parking Restrictions
Essex County Council (ECC) have proposed putting parking restrictions in the close. This is for the best possible reasons - to stop the congestion at school times, and to stop commuters leaving their cars here and walking to the railway station (12 minutes - I do it most days). The restrictions will be for one hour in the morning, and 1 hour in the afternoon. It should help stop parking like this:This picture was taken on November 8.

Sound like a good idea?

Maybe, but it isn't thought through. What is Mike going to do with his car when he goes on holiday? It is normally parked where the Galaxy is, but that will have yellow lines, and for two hours a day he'll have to go somewhere else - and he'll have to come back from holiday to do it. Our guests will suffer the same problems. At least now we can park here and take the risk of a knock or scrape from a careless parent. The traffic planners at ECC really need to think more carefully before making these proposals. I have filled in my objection and returned it. I hope my neighbours have done likewise. Other parts of Billericay have residents permits - a much better idea.

Poor Parking

I've been working from home for the last few days. So I've started noticing what happens outside. Some people seem to want to park on the path. I'm sure this is illegal. Even so it not good for the tyres or the kurb. This is from 2 April:


This is from today.