A bridge at Bridge

The village of Bridge lies just to the east of Canterbury and probably derives its name from the fact that the high street provides the crossing point of the River Nailbourne for the A2, the main London to Dover road.

 But Bridge has another bridge, It carried the Elham Valley Railway over Pett Bottom Road which I cycle along most mornings. The railway no longer exists but the bridge remains.   

 If you think that calling a village with a bridge, 'Bridge' suggests a lack of imagination, I would point out that there is a 'River' near Dover and elsewhere it Kent there is a 'Ford' and two villages called 'High Street'.

BT - Always there to help

 

I shall not bore you with my struggles with BT and the 'Digital Voice' which they have imposed on my telephone (for customer convenience). Suffice it to say that they have replaced my telephones with gadgets which are too small to hold and which I cannot hear. They stop working if there is a power cut – I mean, it's unlikely that you are going to want to telephone anybody if the power goes down, isn't it? And they randomly filter my callers by cutting them off before my telephone has even rung but if I need help, BT are there for me. (see above) Of course, if my telephone is not working then I will want to email them, won't I?

Read the last line of the helpful email.

Happy Christmas

 

Just what I would expect to find in the middle of the countryside.

And even hotter today.

 

 

21°C at 05.30 at Upper Hardres

15.8°C in cold air pocket below Stelling Minnis at 06.35

It's going to be hot today.

 

Hollyhocks on the A2 at Canterbury

The last five years of sowing hollyhock seeds from the window of my car and from my bicycle on the overbridges is now beginning to take effect.

The central reservation on the A2 is showing results.

Right, is the dense garden which I created under the pedestrian overbridge at Bridge. The hollyhocks seem to have managed to suppress the other vegetation which was present.

Left, this display is a result of my return journey from the swimming pool. I threw the seeds from the car window.  You have to be careful otherwise they blow back inside the car. The pool closed three years ago.

So, as you drive around Canterbury on the A2, either going to, or coming from Dover, have a look out for my hollyhocks. My plan is for the flowers to be so successful that they spread all along the road. I think they look prettier than the scraggy stuff which usually grows there.

Wild hen's nest in my garden?

 

Perhaps I should spend more time in my garden then I would not make discoveries such as this. There are over a dozen eggs in this makeshift nest hidden between my garage and my shed.