Suburban greenery

Following a recent inoculation of some sort at Horton Retail - an efficient bit of inoculation it was too - I thought that I would return through Long Grove Park, a route which I had not taken for a bit. With a search this evening suggesting around eighteen months. And with reference 1 suggesting clockwise passage then, while this passage was anti-clockwise. Always something of a surprise how different the same things look from the other direction. 

I was very struck by how green and spacious it all looked. A good part of the green around the old mental hospital had survived for the new inhabitants to enjoy, even if there were not very many of them out on this occasion - the middle of a Saturday morning. 

Being picky, carved out of the grounds of what was the Manor Hospital, rather than Long Grove Hospital, which was on the other side of Horton Lane. Perhaps that is why it was once called South Field Park - or perhaps Southfield Park - in the way of the new school in the corner, for which see reference 8. Another school with space in its marketing budget for a fancy website. Undreamed of at the Girton Glebe of my younger days.

Leaves just starting to turn.

A young fir tree of some sort, coming along nicely. Presumably planted at the time that the new houses went up. Google Images is quite keen - although not unanimous - on the Deodar Cedar of reference 2. An identification which I would, so far, go so far as to say plausible - and fitting given the horticultural pretensions of the directors of these old hospitals. I need to take another look.

While this one is Wellingtonia No.12, first noticed more than four years ago, back at reference 3, and doing well enough now.

A couple of the seriously old pollard oaks, most of which are to be found on the Common proper. Now into the grounds of what was the Manor Hospital.

And just to prove there is still some individuality left in suburbia. A resting camper van in a quiet cul-de-sac. From carcheck at reference 4 we get 'Make=IVECO-FORD, Model=DAILY 59E12, Colour=Grey, Year of manufacture=1997'. So not as old as one might have thought and Bing confirms that this is are a real make and model combination, a little to my surprise. Nevertheless, the MOT has expired and of the 7 tests that were taken, 4 were fails.

A clump of dwarf cyclamen growing on or around the stump of a large tree, in front of a house on Christchurch Road. Google Images gives a majority vote for Cyclamen hederifolium of reference 6, which looks fair enough. On the other hand, there appear to be lots of varieties of cyclamen about these days, so I can't be too sure without doing a bit more work. But not now.

While on the Wellingtonia above, Images gives a near unanimous vote for the giant redwood, aka Wellingtonia, with images of handsome specimens of same scattered all over the country and beyond. Not confused by the monkey puzzle right. Just as well to check from time to time what it does when I know the answer already.

Back home, a good autumn showing for the jelly lichen. Green rather than the near black I sometimes get.

And an autumn showing from one of the two anniversary roses, this one bought from the shop at Wisley. The telephone doing a rather better job here than it did on the dahlias of Middle Lane, previously noticed.

And lastly, the bricks. Tidied up into a single line, pending their being put away properly, should the brick stoppage reported at reference 7 prove permanent. Starting to show their age after two or three years of use. And few of them were actually new in the first place.

PS 1: Microsoft is still sending me advertisements from the Sun Hotel in the City, presumably triggered by browsing activity at the time, nearly a month ago now, of the post at reference 5. Advertisements built on imagery of hotel registration which do not look as if they actually come from the hotel in question. Generic. Lazy.

PS 2: I commented recently on the UK's poor record with outsourcing big projects. I see from reference 8 that we are not much better at large procurements, with two out of the three bidders dropping out of the procurement for a new fleet of helicopters for the RAF without having made a formal bid, a formal response to the invitation to bid. A dropping out after what one supposes to be a serious spend. A procurement which might get the chop anyway.

[Hafod cheddar produced in Llangybi, near Lampeter, was among the stolen cheese]

PS 3: A correspondent has alerted me to reference 11, reporting the theft by fraud of 22 tonnes of high-value cheddar from Neal's Yard Dairy, I assume from their cheesehouse under the arches at Bermondsey, a place noticed five years ago at reference 12. First thought was that a theft of this sort could take them down if they were not covered by their insurance. Second thought was what on earth with the thieves do with the stuff. What kind of an operator would buy stolen cheese in bulk? Very wasteful just to boil it down to pig food or something. Perhaps it has got to Romania, or perhaps even feeding the troops in the Ukraine, this last being a fairly corrupt (if put upon) place. Third thought, reading the BBC piece again, £300,000 does not sound as bad as 22 tonnes. A valuation at about half the retail price. Neal's Yard is a fairly big operation and I dare say their bankers would be good for the loan of a sum of this sort.

References

Reference 1: https://psmv5.blogspot.com/2023/03/made-it.html.

Reference 2: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cedrus_deodara.

Reference 3: https://psmv4.blogspot.com/2020/07/wellingtonia-12.html.

Reference 4: https://www.carcheck.co.uk/.

Reference 5: https://psmv5.blogspot.com/2024/10/the-bent-crane.html.

Reference 6: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyclamen_hederifolium.

Reference 7: https://psmv5.blogspot.com/2024/10/bricks-off.html.

Reference 8: https://www.southfield-park.surrey.sch.uk/.

Reference 9: UK’s defence helicopter competition in disarray after two bidders withdraw: Airbus and Lockheed Martin pull out leaving just Leonardo UK in the contest to replace ageing Puma - Sylvia Pfeifer, Financial Time - 2024.

Reference 10: https://uk.leonardo.com/en/home. An Italian outfit. Whatever happened to Westland and their friends?

Reference 11: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cje03dq2pyyo.

Reference 12: https://psmv4.blogspot.com/2019/08/east-pole.html.