Fully recovered from my recent bout of the nasties, I thought I should take dad out on a long walk to work off some of the Christmas pudding.
With a clear blue sky above and very little wind in the air we decided our walk should head up the new bypass towards the Kingstown area of the City where mum could meet us in the car later.
Overnight frosts had left the smooth black tarmac paths very slippery in places and it was great fun to be able to pull dad across the ice as he held onto my lead.
No seats
A number of cyclists and runners also found the paths quite dangerous and were using the grass verges to avoid the worst areas.
In many ways this walk is quite monotonous as little thought has gone into non road users. However, it is great to keep my toenails down and me reasonably clean.
The path lacks any areas to sit down or take a few moments to rest and take in the fabulous views of the countryside. It also lacks any dustbins, which on a path many miles long is really not acceptable.
Sadly the verges are now littered with rubbish either thrown from cars or deposited by the wind from elsewhere.
Transmission towers
One highlight of the walk was a solar powered unit by the roadside that was flashing. Well I did say the walk lacked interest….
A red lamp on top of the box was trying it’s best to attract attention, but sadly it will have to wait for an engineer to attend to it. We did however wonder what it was measuring or recording.
Another highlight became apparent as we looked above our heads. A number of electrical wires strung between pylons prompted our thoughts on the design of the towering structures.
Below you can see a gallery of the many designs we spotted during our two hour walk north.
Further investigations done whilst I write this post reveals that there is a Pylon Appreciation Society in the UK. You can become a member for £15.
A fully paid up subscriber receives a field guide to Transmission Towers as they should be called, a 10×8 inch photograph explaining the various parts of the towers and a members badge.
For the more serious connoisseur of metal towers the Pylon of the Month website maybe what you are looking for.
This website even features paintings found in the National Gallery of Scotland and Christmas ornaments featuring , you guessed it, Pylons.
Lost dog?
Arriving into Kingstown we came upon this large black poodle or Labradoodle which appeared to be without his owner.
Sadly he, or she, scooted off before we realised he was out alone and were unable to see if he was wearing a tag.
Looking back at the picture it looks as if he was wearing a blue collar and given his condition has possibly been roaming free for a few days.
If it helps, we spotted him by the bypass near to the Kingmoor Hub roundabout about 10.30 this morning.
Open mouthed
And finally whilst we waited for mum to collect us for the journey home dad took this picture of a garage forecourt.
He just thought is looked amusing as the cars sat in the sunshine open mouthed or waiting to be fed by a big mother car.
Until next time
Charlie
Pylon gallery
