Millenium Trail - The End

Here is our Faithful Companion, Charlie - having a rest in the Playing Fields (also known as Arlebury Recreation Ground) whilst Our Daughter was enjoying herself on the zip wire.

I like looking at pub signs.

We went past the new Fire Station - the old Fire Station is seen in an earlier Millenium Trail post.

A lovely door knocker - this one spotted by Our Daughter.

A lovely pub sign.

Some photos of East Street or Ram Alley as it used to be called.

Aren't these properties pretty - pity that they are so near to the main road - you couldn't have a pet cat if you lived here unless it was an indoor cat. Not quite sure how I stand on that issue - our cats love the great outdoors but then we have also lost cats who have been hit by cars. It's a tricky one, isn't it?

A lovely Georgian terrace - I'd love to be an Estate Agent here so that you could see the inside of these glorious properties.

We have often driven past this house and wondered what it is like on the inside - the people who live there look as if they have great taste! I just love that blue colour and I noticed as we went on our walk that other houses now seem to have also been painted in this or another similar blue.

This smaller cottage has been painted in a dark blue colour and you may re-call The Old Post Office in an earlier Millenium Trail post. There are some shops which are also painted in this colour.

Red and green should not be seen (is that an old shipping code?) - I'm not quite sure if this combination works - what do you think?

Well, that is it - the Millenium Trail, all done and dusted. If we hadn't cut across the Playing Fields we would have joined another Trail called "The Arle Valley Trail" - which is a more rural Trail.

So, if we are stuck for something to do in the next few months I can see that we will be heading back to Alresford .

Hope you have a good week-end.

Until next time.

June.

Millenium Trail - Part Four

I absolutely love this Georgian house that we saw on our walk - the setting was beautiful and well away from the road. I'd love to see inside - the high ceilings, the old fireplaces, etc. I wonder if those windows have  indoor shutters ?

Further down the path we came across this gem - Fulling Mill. It was built in the 13th century and used water driven hammers to work raw cloth into a useable material.

Imagine waking up in the morning and looking out of your bedroom window to see some swans swimming by - how wonderful would that be?

Probably a copy of the original sign.

And here is a photograph of the Mill / cottage from the other side.

We followed the River Arle.

 We went past another "No Fishing" sign.

The River Arle - clean and clear - no shopping trolleys abandoned here!

A lovely place for ducks.

And swans.

Further down the Trail you cut back into Alresford via the Playing Fields and the zip wire.

What fun!

There is still some more to show you. I can't believe that I took this many photos.

I hope that you enjoy them as much as we enjoyed our walk.

Have a lovely evening!

Until next time.

June.

Millenium Trail - Part Three

Continuing on the Millenium Trail we headed off down Broad Street. As you can see from the photograph there are some lovely Georgian buildings in Alresford.

The blue house was once "The Old Post Office."

Another house had clearly been "The Old Bakery."

Some of the doors had beautiful door knockers.

We carried on down Broad Street until we came to "The Old Fire Station" which was built in 1881.

Near to the Fire Station there was a Millenium Trail sign. There were a group of people looking at it and they did not seem in any particular hurry to move on - being the inpatient types we thought that we would just carry on without looking at the map. We realized about a quarter of an hour into our walk that we had probably headed off in the wrong direction and re-traced our steps.

 However, had we looked at the map we would have missed out on seeing the watercress beds and some of the photographs below.

We would not have seen this.

Nor this.

Or this ... Although it is of a broken window and a rotten window frame I liked it!

Hubby, Our Daughter and Our Dog, Charlie near the watercress beds.

We would also have missed this. It is not often that you take a wrong turning and end up being pleaseantly surprised, is it. It was very peaceful! Just us and the birds chirruping in the trees - Wonderful!

We headed back towards the Trail sign. The group blocking the map had by now moved on and we were quickly onto the right path.

Tomorrow I will show you a beautiful Georgian house, a wonderful thatched cottage, the River Arle with swans and ducks which I had initially thought that I would put in this post but I thought it a shame not to show you the photographs that I'd taken when we had deviated from the Trail.

Until next time.

June.

The Millenium Trail - Part Two

The first place of interest on the Trail was the Church of St. John the Baptist. As you follow the Trail you initially see the graveyard and the rear of the Church.

We seem to be forever in one Church or another these days! The lights were on and we thought that there might be a service going on but that wasn't the case and we had the place to ourselves.

In the graveyard are the graves of French Napoleonic prisoners of war, four men and one of their wives!

The stained glass windows were amazing.

I liked this image of "The Last Supper." It seemed uncanny that we had looked at this and Our Daughter's homework last night was about the twelve apostles and which one had betrayed Jesus and who was the first apostle! Judas and Simon Peter!

I liked this stained glass window - it reminded me of being in Sunday School and learning about the Parable of the Lost Sheep.

The wonderful vaulted roof.

The view of the front door from within the Church.

Swinging round from taking the above photograph you see the Church Altar.

The front entrance to the Church. Hubby had stayed outside the Church with our dog, Charlie whilst Our Daughter and I went inside. When we got outside he told us that we had just missed seeing the Church cat who had disappeared quickly at the sight of Charlie!

This sign was on the wall as you headed towards the Church. I liked its simple style.

Tomorrow I will show you more from the Trail - an Old Fire Station, watercress beds, a wonderful cottage, swans and ducks amongst other things. You will not be disappointed!

Enjoy your day!

Until next time.

June.

Alresford - The Millenium Trail, Part One

Well after putting the house in order on Saturday apart from a few jobs the question was do we stay at home to wash the kitchen floor and finish off tidying up or do we take the dog for a scenic walk rather than round the block. Nobody voted to stay at home! We headed off for Alresford to follow The Millenium Trail.

The Trail starts off in the Station Yard. Alresford is one of the stops on The Watercress Line. Although we live near we have never taken a trip on the line and having looked into the Yard and Station we made a mental note to return there soon for a train ride especially as they have special events such as War on the Line - which is due to take place on the 11th and 12th June, 2011.

These are lovely old trains and it is brilliant that rail enthusiasts have made sure that these lovely trains are available for the public to enjoy. There is something nostalgic about steam trains - reminiscent of "The Railway Children" by E. Nesbitt.

When we arrived there was already a train at the platform waiting to take people on their journey so there wasn't really a good opportunity to look around as people were busy in the ticket office etc.

There were a lot of vintage posters and signs - although I think the one above has been made to look old as it is about a local garage!

Lovely old posters.

An old cigarette advertisement - which wouldn't be allowed these days.

A photograph  from the station platform looking down the line.

Another old advertising sign.

The station and platform from the bridge.

Another look at the wonderful trains. We didn't have much time to dwell as we had to head off to start The Millenium Trail. I will show you more photographs tomorrow from The Trail.

It really was a nice walk and far better than washing that kitchen floor and staying at home watching the telly.

I did however watch  "Lark Rise to Candleford" - well, I couldn't miss that by washing the kitchen floor could I?

Until next time.

June.