Another Local Walk

 

Now that the snow has gone, the wind has died down and my aching knee is a lot better yesterday seemed like a good day to go for a short drive and a walk.  We headed down into Loxley Valley.  I returned to a trail that's easy-going with a flat, wide path beside a water channel that feeds into the Loxley River and where there's an interesting mill and mill pond.

The wheat in this field was beginning to show substantial growth. 

However, in places where the farmer had driven across the field it looked very waterlogged.

 

On my right hand side as I walked there was the tributary of the River Loxley and one of the many weirs along it.

I walked over a wooden bridge, but did not go over the one above which I think goes uphill to Acorn Hill.

Instead I could see the mill at the end of the mill pond.  There were patches of ice on the water.

There were piles of wood and tree branches stacked up probably being used by those who now live at the mill. 

The trail is a right of way for walkers so I passed the back of the mill buildings, crossed the stone bridge before turning back to our car which was in a parking area at the beginning of this trail.

This is the former mill called Olive Mill or Olive Wheel Mill. It sounds Mediterranean doesn't it, but in this rural area of small industries it started life as a forge and grinding works before becoming a paper mill.  Then it was taken over by a company that produced metal items. I could have walked on by the water or up the lane above, but that will have to wait for another day. I may even see the water wheel that powered the mill if it's still there?

Walking back passed the mill pond I caught a glimpse of a pretty mid Victorian, white-painted house.  It's called Olive House and belonged to the mill owner. Later it became the home of a local general practitioner doctor.

Another house across the field is also a private dwelling. It's on a lane leading to another village and apparently is was once an inn called Rowell Bridge Inn.  I saw some walkers going along the public footpath between the wall surrounding the field and the stone wall of the house so that would be another interesting trail to explore one day.  

Hazel catkins from my walk.  I didn't pick it,

 this small twig was on the ground.

Once more I shall be catching up with reading your blogs.  I sometimes  have a break from the computer over the weekend so I'm behind with all your news.  As always I hope you have a good day and week.

Museum and Art Gallery, Reading, Berkshire

On the Saturday morning of our stay in Reading daughter D dropped me off outside Reading Town Hall so that I could visit the Museum and Art Gallery which is within this building.  It's a building that I used to spend time in when we lived in Reading, firstly as a child looking around the exhibition rooms and the children's library, (the library was there before the new central library was built), going to events in the concert hall and where Mr P and I had our wedding reception in one of the function rooms.  My father also worked in one of the municipal offices before the new civic offices were built to serve Reading Borough. Then I took my own children and grandchildren to the museum, which has now been refurbished, re-arranged to appeal to today's families and individuals. Mr P was one of those who worked on the latest refurbishment of the galleries.  He has also worked on other historical buildings and business parks in the Home Counties and London You can read more about Reading Town Hall here.

The schoolchildren had been having fun over the half term holiday learning about the history of food. The banqueting table and the paper, pâpier-maché or cardboard covered in crepe paper items looked impressive.  Thank goodness the swan and the boar's head haven't been served at a banquet for many a day and the swan, like many other creatures, is a protected bird!

The Reading Guild of Artists (group of professional and amateur artists in the Berkshire area) were putting on the 89th Annual Exhibition so I looked in on that.

Here is a selection of the exhibits and some of those that caught my eye.

3D works - Lobster by Shirley Smith, bowls by Carole Stephens

Sonning Lock Weir by Clare Buchta

View From Grey's Court by Gill Goodwin

Hospitium by Linda Saul

There's a lot more to see in the different rooms such as the replica of the Bayeux Tapestry, the history of  the Huntley and Palmer Biscuit enterprise and the history of Reading and surrounding area in general which I'll share another time.

I'll leave you with the pretty Venetian and Bohemian Glass items that were in the cabinets in one of the entrance halls.

Joining Riitta's Friday Bliss #27 linkup

Friday Bliss #24

On Sunday we went to church for Family Praise Service and found not only were the snowdrops in the church grounds still looking beautiful, but the crocuses were also flowering in the grass like bright little jewels.

the lasagne al forno before oven baking

One day we popped back to one of the the local garden centres to get one or two more plants.  The glass houses were brimming with new plants for sale.  I saw this lovely witch hazel, but it was rather pricey so I walked on to another greenhouse to find the hellebores that I was interested in.

I'm pleased with what I got - a white hellebore,  daffodils 'Tête-á-Tête'

and yellow crocuses 'Romance' 

The mixed narcissi in the covered yard have also started blooming now that we've had some more sunny days. Hopefully the good weather will continue into the weekend and next week.

Joining Riitta's Friday Bliss # 24 linkup