Pilning Perambulations

The coronavirus lockdown is having a number of interesting effects.

On the one hand I continue to work thanks to the power of the internet and the ability to plug into the work systems and into my team in order to keep things going forward (and I will be forever grateful for being able to continue with work when so many others are losing their livelihoods as everything is being thrown up in the air).  I am spending more time than ever talking to people on Skype to make sure we are keeping in touch as team and making plans to keep the project on track as much as possible in the current circumstances. In fact activity levels seem to be higher than ever, although I do wonder how much actual progress is being made, but I'm sure things will settle down in time.

On the other hand I find I am starting to appreciate the little things around me more than ever before. The fact that I can't go out other than for essential shopping and exercise means that those occasions during the day suddenly assume much greater importance.  And I now find myself regularly walking around the local roads to and from the local shop during which I am noticing little things that I haven't paid too much attention to in the past.

Map courtesy of Google

It's not the most picturesque place in the world but the views across the fields along Bank Road make a welcome change from staring at the computer screen.

What is noticeable about the area is the flatness of the landscape, sitting as it is on the Severn flood plain, which means there are numerous drainage channels running along the roadside and around the fields. 

Coming as I do from the Fens, I am familiar with the civil engineering that is needed to keep the water under control and the scale of the works around Pilning appears to be much smaller than in Cambridgeshire and Norfolk but it still makes me wonder how it all works and how it is maintained.

The main railway line between London and South Wales runs down to the Severn Tunnel but you can still follow the line of the railway that was closed in 1964 that ran from Pilning Low Level Station (next to the still just about open Pilning High Level Station) to connect with the line down to Avonmouth through Severn Beach.  And I think it's the crumbling remains of Cross Hands Halt that are still visible from the roadside.

While I was walking down down to the shop last Thursday it was very apparent that the local birdlife was enjoying the peace and quiet of the distinct lack of traffic on all the roads.  There were a couple of chiffchaffs calling out to make their territories, while blue tits, great tits and long-tailed tits were all in abundance, together with magpies, jackdaws, pigeons and a couple of mute swans on the fields.  I was also taken by the variety of wild flowers growing in the verges. I am no expert on flowers so I was particularly intrigued by the blue flowers found growing in a clump on the road bridge over the old railway.  An internet search coupled with a look through my collection of wildlife spotting books suggested it was green alkanet, although it might some other member of the barrage family.  All this was a welcome sign that Spring was pretty much here.