2011 Streak Day 261 (Wednesday Sept 21st): This was a good day

2011 Streak Day 261 (Wednesday Sept 21^st): Walk 5.7 miles, Time 1hr 50min, Weather - bright and clear , sun and fluffy clouds

One of the interesting things about trying to catch up with myself, writing my blog posts in retrospect, is that it forces me to remember my recent past. Normally I would have no reason to relive events of a couple of weeks ago but now I do. Armed with a few jotted notes from the day and a photo I close my eyes and try to picture what happened.

Some days are so featureless it is difficult to sense their shape or anything clear that happened, whilst others are bright and sharp.

This is one of those sharp days, when it felt good to be alive and I felt lucky being able to do what I was doing.

The sun was out and although it was not spectacularly warm, it felt like one of those clear autumn days that lift the spirits. I was walking along the canal, which for some reason it looked more beautiful than ever, and I had a purpose. I was walking the 6 miles to The Rex  to see a film (Sarah's Key).

I could breath deeply and think of how I was uniting two of the great attractions of the area: the canal and one of the most attractive cinema interiors in the country. If I cannot stand upright, breath deeply and appreciate those things and everything else around me, then I would indeed be a very sad case.

Some days this 2011 project is the easiest thing in the world.  

2011 Streak Day 242 (Friday Sept 2nd): Looking towards the future

2011 Streak Day 242 (Friday Sept 2^nd): Walk 2 miles, Time 40min, Weather sunny and bright

I took the car to Berkhamsted and walked along the canal. I rather like it here because it feels much more a part of the town, with more communal space than at Hemel. There is more parkland and greater variety of buildings along the canal side (including 3 pubs). in the summer holidays it is the place people go

This picture is of a small area of sustainable plant in the park, next to the children’s play area. I like the idea of councils creating such plantings, especially as it runs counter to the local government tradition of formal, geometric displays of bedding plants. The flowers are usually colourful and pretty but the arrangement is very rigid.

I also like it that it is near the play area for young children. If sustainability is about anything then it about them and their future children. A neat little bit of symbolism.

2011 Streak Day 242 (Wednesday Aug 31st): These things are important

2011 Streak Day 242 (Wednesday Aug 31st): Walk - 2 miles, Time - 45min, Weather - overcast

This is picture of work in progress is a small example of how the planning system can work.

In canal history terms the site is interesting as it had been a working wharf from the earliest days of the Grand Union Canal in 1798 until 2002, when Bridgewater Boats stopped using it in 2002. 

However a vacant plot beside a canal, in an attractive town like Berkhamsted is an obvious opportunity for housing development. A plan was put forward for that would have lost the wharf and its connection with the past. There was however opposition.

In the event the initial proposal was dropped and a new owner got planning permission for a scheme, which scaled back the housing and incorporated a boatyard. As you can see some housing new housing is in keeping with its surroundings .

The story of the battle against the original proposals is here, including a link to the documents presented to the planning committee. A colossal amount of work was required to oppose the initial planning application but it showed that sometimes things can be done to preserve the character and tradition of a place.

This is important to know because at the moment there are threats to our planning system, making it far easier for developers to get the go-ahead. 

The proposals have incurred the ire of, amongst others, the National Trust (not a body I would have thought a  Conservative politician would want to cross) and it is well worth reading the wonderfully spleenic polemic by their chairman Simon Jenkins.

These things are important because we are often unaware of all the forces that shape our environment and the character of the places we live. We need systems to both preserve and improve what we have. We cannot leave it all to chance and market forces.

With all the time I spend running or walking by the canal I am acutely aware not only of how fortunate I am to have it nearby but also of what a wonderful amenity it is. Yet knowing something of the history of canals and how in middle of the 20^th Century they were scruffy neglected areas in the backend of towns makes me aware that their present state cannot be taken for granted

2011 Streak 71/365: Not quite Italy

2011 Streak 71/365: Walk 3.5 miles, Time - 1hr 10 min, Weather - sunny and springlike

At the end of the Italian Job the thieves's coach is delicately balanced over the edge of a precipice. Could they save themselves? Could they save themselves and the gold? What was Michael Caine's idea? Who knows (though there was a competition in 2009 to find a solution to the problem)

I thought of that as I saw this line of parked lorries overhanging the canal. Of course, this being Hertfordshire, where we don't go in for extremes, the overhang is very slight. Nevertheless I can idly daydream.

In fact the whole morning felt extremely playful. The weather was mild and sunny and it felt like the first day of spring. It was as if everybody had thrown away their winter coats and come out to exercise, play and have fun. Boys were playing rugby, people of all ages were playing tennis, in the area of the open air gym there was a group of women doing outdoor exercises, along the canal there were plenty of runners and cyclist, and from the playground came the chirrupy sound of children running about and enjoying themselves. 

One of those days where you breath in deeply and think 'it is good to be alive'.

What Marathon?

Sometimes I am amazed at the connection you can find. This is picture bizarrely contains a number of family relationship.

Running is a way I mark out my territory. If I cover a route enough times I get to know the landscape and feel an association. This is a photo from a familiar run it is therefore part of my territory. So that is me

The totem pole was carved in British Colombia and shipped out to a timber merchant who used to operate from this site in Berkhamsted. My sister now lives in British Colombia. So that is my sister.

In the background is a pub called the Crystal Palace, an area of London I know well, not only because my elder daughter currently lives there but because my mother's family come from nearby in Croydon. My mother was a girl when the Palace burnt down in 1936 and she once told me of her memories of watching the flames dominating the night sky. She also supported the football team. So that is my mother and my daughter.

What other relationships can I find? Oh yes... the totem pole was actually carved on Vancouver Island and in two weeks time I am going to visit my sister. She and my brother-in-law are going to run the half marathon, my wife is going to run the 8k and I am going to run the marathon in Victoria, Vancouver Island.

So that is it. There is no way I am in good enough shape for a marathon but I have to try. I have to follow the connections in the photo.

The Dangers of Golf

I regularly run near to three golf courses: The Grove, Berkhamsted, and Ashridge. The Grove I have already written about.

The Berkhamsted course is particularly attractive. It is carved out of the Common and actually adds to the recreational feeling of the land. It is criss-crossed with footpaths and is not therefore a privileged enclave, fenced off and private. In fact it was the Golf Course in conjunction with the National Trust who preserved the land as a Commons and for that reason I feel warmly towards it. However footpaths crossing the fairways can be dangerous.

Running out from behind some bushes I heard the metal crack of a driver. Better stop I thought. At the same moment I looked round I heard the shout of 'Fore!' and a ball flew past me, about an arms length away. “That was close” I thought and then carried on. It had been the merest pause; I hardly missed a step and didn't think any more about it. Only afterwards did I think that I had been rather sanguine. Another couple of feet and I could have been laid out on the grass watching stars circling above my head. It would have been no ones fault. The golfers could not see me when they hit the ball and because I was running I came into its path sooner than I would have done if walking.

There is only one conclusion: 'pay more attention'. That is an interesting problem when running because sometimes it is good to disassociate and let your mind wander somewhere else. So the conclusion has to be specific: 'disassociation is fine but not near the golf course.'.

It might be a little indistinct but this the photo with this post looks out to one of the greens of the Ashridge Golf Course. I had a look at the club website and took particular pleasure in their dress code. Apparently tailored shorts are allowed but only if they are worn with long socks, turned over at the top. Brilliant! Grown men basing their rules for dressing on the Boy Scouts.

Even if I could afford it (or even if I played golf), I would never join a club that thought dressing as a Boy Scout was a way of keeping up standards.

Photothon 19: War Memorial

This run is to the war memorial on Berkhamsted Common. I expected to take a fairly straightforward shot of the memorial but was attracted by this solitary wreath.

I used to think poppy wreaths were only laid on Remembrance Day and memorials were bare the rest of the year - but that is obviously not the case. This wreath is fresh and I have seen a number of other memorials with fresh wreaths. Has there been a change of practice? Is there now a policy to honour the war dead more frequently.?

I find it disturbing that I do not know. It is another example of not paying full attention. I pass this memorial moderately frequently and the memorial in Hemel very frequently but have no idea how often they are bare and how often they have poppies. I see them without fully seeing.

This also applies to the inscription. I have run or cycled past here many times, without taking the time to look at what it says. I always thought it a bit strange to have a memorial in the middle of the Common away from any community, apart from a golf club, but never investigated it further. Today I did.

It s for the Inns of Court Officer Training Corps who trained 12,000 officers for the Great War on Berkhamsted Common, 2,000 of whom were killed. One in six is a high number, on average 13% of the British soldiers mobilised were killed (source here)

I looked at the memorial and then I looked at the land around and pictured it swarming with soldiers, digging, drilling, shooting, practising for the Front.

How fortunate we are to be born of this era, in a wealthy country, where we can take our leisure for granted. I can run this landscape without a thought in my head except how tired my body is feeling. I can enjoy being here without worry. It is a privileged I should never take for granted