The vagaries of England's place names are well known and much enjoyed by residents and a source of much wonder and bafflement for visitors.
On the telly on Friday last, Mrs fbb watched a progamme in which house hunters are introduced to possible ideal homes. The presenter took us to "Chop Gate" in North Yorkshire with "Gate" rhyming with "plate".
fbb was on his feet gesticulating wildly (no, actually twitching slightly in his armchair) and shouting, "It's Chop 'Yat', you wally!".
No such problems of pronunciation (why isn't in pronounciation?) with Winkfield. Maps show clearly that it is on the A330 somewhere north of Ascot.
It has a church ...
... a typical "Olde Worlde" pub ...
... and some not-so-old very posh properties. According to the timetable, it is served by Green Line 703.
Really? The 703 trundles along the A330, passing a rather fine school ...
and the road sign for Winkfield.
But, surprisingly, at the junction, the 703 turns right eschewing the A330 ...
... and taking the B3022 North Street ...
... waving a fond farewell to Winkfield out of the back window. We get an idea of the social status of this area as the bus immediately passes ...
... the Polo Club where lorries are strictly forbidden. Oh yes, it is posh!
But it is four stops past the wave-goodbye-to-Winkfield junction that we come to the blue blob for "Winkfield The Squirrel".
We have, teasingly, passed a clue as to where The Squirrel might actually be. The school is Cranbourne Primary School. A few yards down the lane beside the pub (it's called Squirrel Lane) is ...
.. tada - Cranbourne Stores.
So it is NOT Winkfield The Squirrel, it is ...
... Cranbourne The Squirrels.
The pub is closed ...
... and has been for some time.
So it is NOT Winkfield The Squirrel, it is ...
The pub is closed ...
Winkfield may be a small village, but it is a huge parish.
Comfort and Confidence, PLEASE, Reading Buses!
Mud Pie Modelling
Yesterday saw a major effort on the rebuild of the landform that makes up the tunnel on the Peterville Quarry Railway. When the original "top" was removed part of the rockface collapsed and has had to be replaced. The opportunity was taken to extend the urban area in the corner just a little. Hence the hole.
No subtlety is required for modelling like this; just a willingness to get the hands dirty (and jumper, trousers and footwear - shouldn't really have done it wearing slippers!) and to enjoy the mud pie work.
In tomorrow's Bits blog we nip across the pond to Vancouver.
Next Various Bits blog : Monday 13th April
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Short Thought
The stone was rolled away, the tomb was empty and the guards had fled.
Everyone agrees with those simple but challenging facts. Of course non-believers will shout "ridiculous" and then come up with equally ridiculous explanations as to what happened to Jesus' body.
Four things are clear.
1. No one was expecting the tomb to be empty
2. Even Jesus' critics and enemies accepted the empty tomb
3. No one ever produced a body
4. Many thousands have given their lives in service of the risen Jesus
Delusion or commitment through experience?
In the end Faith alone has the definitive answer. A God who exists outside of our space time continuum, with powers and abilities beyond human understanding or replication, and not constrained by the laws of physics could engineer a resurrection. Easy peasy.
Over the centuries believers have anthropomorphised** God (sits on throne, rested on the seventh day, sent his Son to save the world) in a desperate attempt to explain the unexplainable in a form acceptable to a limited human mind.
The video below does just that, but uses a modern context to explain the reason for the season.
The stone was rolled away, the tomb was empty and the guards had fled.
Four things are clear.
1. No one was expecting the tomb to be empty
2. Even Jesus' critics and enemies accepted the empty tomb
3. No one ever produced a body
4. Many thousands have given their lives in service of the risen Jesus
Delusion or commitment through experience?
In the end Faith alone has the definitive answer. A God who exists outside of our space time continuum, with powers and abilities beyond human understanding or replication, and not constrained by the laws of physics could engineer a resurrection. Easy peasy.
Over the centuries believers have anthropomorphised** God (sits on throne, rested on the seventh day, sent his Son to save the world) in a desperate attempt to explain the unexplainable in a form acceptable to a limited human mind.
The video below does just that, but uses a modern context to explain the reason for the season.
anthropomorphised** = given to God a human form or human attributes.
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White Bus, which is based in the village of "Cranboure", has a postal address of Winkfield. Cranbourne Primary School says it is in Winkfield. The local care home says it is in Winkfield.
ReplyDeleteIs FBB presuming he knows what he's talking about without checking local knowledge, again?