Phil's Occasional Blog

More #uksnow

Pics taken not long ago...

Worcester cathedral through the snow:

White stuff settling in the street:

(click on pics to enlarge)

Photos Copyright © 2009 Phil Randal

LOL

Life imitates the net. Someone defaced the pristine snow on my car this morning.

(click on pic to enlarge)

Photo copyright © 2009 Phil Randal

More Babies

Swan and cygnets, Worcester to Birmingham canal, tonight.

Update, May 17th:

I spotted mummy swan tonight with her 8 cygnets on the canal.

Photos Copyright © 2008 Phil Randal

Flash, Bang!

Photo taken from my window just before 9pm tonight. Worcester cathedral is on the lower left. Click on pic to enlarge.

Copyright © 2008 Phil Randal

Snowmen

"Global temperatures for 2008 will be slightly cooler than last year as a result of the cold La Nina current in the Pacific, UN meteorologists have said", the BBC reported on Friday. As if to emphasize this, most of the United Kingdom was covered with a good sprinkling of snow today.

Snowmen near the river Severn (click on pic to enlarge).

Photo Copyright © 2008 Phil Randal

Milkbar's Open!

When I was a kid, many more moons ago than I'd care to admit, my dad used to take our family out into the countryside at weekends for picnics in the midst of nature, miles from civilisation. Whenever we saw sights like the above there was a universal cry of "milkbar's open!" from children and parents alike.

Lambs, Holme Lacy, this morning (click on pic to enlarge).

Photo Copyright © 2008 Phil Randal

Christmas Day

Worcester Cathedral tower, bathed in an orange light from the setting sun, today.

Inside, the cathedral was littered with snaking cables and floodnights, remnants of yesterday's televised Midnight Mass.

A reminder of this summer's floods.

Xmas sunset.

Photos Copyright © 2007 Phil Randal

Monsoon season

Its the monsoon season here in England. This afternoon, it took me two and a half hours to drive from Hereford to Worcester, via the only navigable route, the A49 to Ross on Wye, then the M50 and the M5. That journey would normally take me around an hour.

The M50 was more like a river than a road, and is now closed.

(Click on pics to view full size)

To add insult to injury, I arrived back in Worcester at 5:30pm, to discover a complete lack of electricity, caused, as it turned out, by a foot of flood water in one of Worcester's electrical substations. Power was restored just after 8pm.

These have been the worst flash floods here since April 1998. On that occasion, it took me 3 1/2 hours to get home.

Photos Copyright © 2007 Phil Randal

Cygnets

Bluebells

Bluebells, West Malvern (click to enlarge).

Photo Copyright © 2007 Phil Randal

Snow!

Mini-snowperson resting on a riverside bench.

Swan statue by the river Severn.

Snow "thing", by the river.

Narrowboat in a rather icy Worcester to Birmingham canal.

Pitchcroft, covered in snow instead of water, for a change. And yes, all you pedants, I know that snow is water!

Photos Copyright © 2007 Phil Randal

Shadow

I'm but a shadow of my former self!

Photo Copyright © 2007 Phil Randal

Storm Victims

Tree blown over in the storm of January 18th, 2007.

Remains of another storm victim.

Photos Copyright © 2007 Phil Randal

Missing, Presumed Drowned

Weir on the river Severn, Worcester, July 2006.

Weir's it gone? January 20th, 2007

Photos Copyright © 2007 Phil Randal

Flood Pics

Flood barrier, Hylton Road, Saturday.

Rain stopped play? Worcester cricket ground, New Road, Saturday.

Pitchcroft (Worcester's racecourse), Sunday.

Making the most of the flood waters, Pitchcroft, Sunday.

Photos Copyright © 2007 Phil Randal

Kleve Walk

Kleve Walk. October 24, 2006.

Kleve Swim? January 14th, 2007

Photos Copyright © Phil Randal 2007

Today's Special

The Quay restaurant (with Brown's restaurant behind it), today. The flood levels aren't as bad as in the 2000 floods as this pic from November 1st, 2000 shows:

The river rose a bit more on Sunday.

The nearest silver car in the first pic is parked next to Brown's entrance (pictured above).

That's an oh so apt menu.

Photo Copyright © 2007 Phil Randal

Flotsam

A boat, washed up against the railway bridge over the Severn during recent floods.

Trees reflected in a pool of floodwater, Pitchcroft, Worcester.

Photos Copyright © 2006 Phil Randal

Roses

More unseasonal flowering. These roses were spotted today. I saw Fuchsias in full bloom yesterday, too.

Photo Copyright © 2006 Phil Randal

Spring has Sprung (II)

It's an unusual autumn we're having this year.

Roses are still still in bloom (photo taken today)

and Mr and Mrs Mallard, despite their feigned innocence below, were spotted flirting on the canal this afternoon, outdoing the courting couple I observed back in January, 2003. Why do the ducks bob their heads like that, anyway?

Footnote: Despite this being the earliest I've ever seen Mallards courting, it's not in any way unusual, according to several articles on the net. It was news to me ☺

The Times has also reported on our unusual Autumn.

Photos Copyright © Phil Randal, 2006