Near as I can figure it, through the possibly flawed perceptual filters of my own reality tunnel, the most likely answers this week, seem to me to be:
Q1. The River Idle
Q2. Gainsborough
The initial clues appear to place us in the town of Retford, in the county of Nottinghamshire. Some of the sources I checked claim that two railways arrived in the town c 1849, The Sheffield and Lincolnshire Junction Railway and The Great Northern Railway and that these crossed on the level at Retford, forming a traffic bottleneck and potentially dangerous intersection, which was subsequently replaced c 1965, by what is known in the trade, as a 'Dive Under' where the track from one line is lowered to pass beneath the other.
Retford sits on the river Idle (a good fit for the 'lazy sounding river' clue), which is oriented South to North through the town. An aqueduct appears to carry 'The Chesterfield Canal' ( opened c 1777), across the Idle in a West to East orientation. Following the river North out of town, would bring us to Mattersey Priory, which the English Heritage web site indicates, was founded c 1185 and was destroyed by fire c 1279. From the maps I looked at, it does seem to lie West of the Idle.
Travelling North East out of Retford, would bring us to the town of Gainsborough and it was here that some references claim that Sweyn Forkbeard, a king of England for five weeks, died after being thrown from a horse c 1014. The actress born in Gainsborough c 1882, is probably Sybil Thorndyke, some of her biographies claim that she was born there on the twenty fourth of October 1882 and appeared in a play called 'St. Joan', c 1924. Some sources claim that Mary Anne Evans ( aka George Eliot), used Gainsborough as a model to base the town of 'St. Ogg's' on, in her novel 'The Mill on the Floss', which may have been published c 1860.
Following the canal's course on the map, leads to the point where it connects to the River Trent, at what does seem like a linear village (linear as in the houses follow the line of the road and do not spread out) of West Stockwith. East Stockwith lies on the eastern bank of the Trent and does not appear to have a span connecting it with West Stockwith.
N.B. Due to the number of people who normally write poison pen letters in green ink posting on his page, the Eastender has moved to moderated comments but rest assured, if you have a non abusive comment relating to the puzzle and its solution, he will endeavour to publish it.
Saturday, 23 January 2016
Saturday, 16 January 2016
Sunday Times Where Was I? Holiday Competition
Near as I can figure it, through the possibly flawed perceptual filters of my own reality tunnel, the most likely answers this week, seem to me to be:
Q1. Dagenham
Q2. Bobby Moore
N.B. For question two, Bobby Moore is also known as Robert Frederick Chelsea Moore.
The initial clues seem to place us in Dagenham, in Essex. According to some of the sources I checked , the name 'Dagenham', is possibly derived from 'Daeccanham', which in old English may mean 'ham or farm of a man called Daecca'. From reading some of his biographies, Five Elms Farm, Dagenham, was the birthplace c 22 January 1920, of a footballer called 'Alf Ramsey', who was capped 32 times for England.
The actor mentioned in the clues, is probably 'Dudley Moore' and some of his bios claim he was born c 19th April 1935 and attended 'Green Lane Junior School' and 'Dagenham County High School'. He did release a record called Goodbye-ee, with Peter Cook.
The housing estate is probably Becontree, which some references claim has twenty six thousand homes and was constructed between 1921 and 1935. Becontree is also thought to be derived from old English and means 'Tree of a man named Beohha'. A grocer born c 1898 and fifth of six children, is most likely Sir John Edward Cohen, founder of Tesco who opened his first stores in Becontree And Burnt Oak c 1931.
Travelling west from Dagenham would bring us to Barking and it is here, in the Quaker Burial ground that the prison reformer 'Elizabeth Fry' ( born c 1780), was buried. Barking Abbey appears to have been founded c 666 ad, by Saint Erkenwald (feast day 30th April ), with the first Abbess being Saint Ethelburga (feast day 11th October). Some of captain Cook's biographies claim that he was born c 1728 and was married in the nearby St Margaret's church c 21st Oct/21st December 1762.
The park where the author enjoyed a flask of tea, is probably Greatfields park, which lies South East of Barking Abbey and a few streets away from number forty three Waverly Gardens, where the footballer 'Bobby Moore' (born c 1941 ) was brought up. Moore was captain of the England football team on ninety occasions.
N.B. Due to the number of people who normally write poison pen letters in green ink posting on his page, the Eastender has moved to Moderated comments but rest assured, if you have a non abusive posting related to the puzzle and its solution, he will endeavour to publish them.
Q1. Dagenham
Q2. Bobby Moore
N.B. For question two, Bobby Moore is also known as Robert Frederick Chelsea Moore.
The initial clues seem to place us in Dagenham, in Essex. According to some of the sources I checked , the name 'Dagenham', is possibly derived from 'Daeccanham', which in old English may mean 'ham or farm of a man called Daecca'. From reading some of his biographies, Five Elms Farm, Dagenham, was the birthplace c 22 January 1920, of a footballer called 'Alf Ramsey', who was capped 32 times for England.
The actor mentioned in the clues, is probably 'Dudley Moore' and some of his bios claim he was born c 19th April 1935 and attended 'Green Lane Junior School' and 'Dagenham County High School'. He did release a record called Goodbye-ee, with Peter Cook.
The housing estate is probably Becontree, which some references claim has twenty six thousand homes and was constructed between 1921 and 1935. Becontree is also thought to be derived from old English and means 'Tree of a man named Beohha'. A grocer born c 1898 and fifth of six children, is most likely Sir John Edward Cohen, founder of Tesco who opened his first stores in Becontree And Burnt Oak c 1931.
Travelling west from Dagenham would bring us to Barking and it is here, in the Quaker Burial ground that the prison reformer 'Elizabeth Fry' ( born c 1780), was buried. Barking Abbey appears to have been founded c 666 ad, by Saint Erkenwald (feast day 30th April ), with the first Abbess being Saint Ethelburga (feast day 11th October). Some of captain Cook's biographies claim that he was born c 1728 and was married in the nearby St Margaret's church c 21st Oct/21st December 1762.
The park where the author enjoyed a flask of tea, is probably Greatfields park, which lies South East of Barking Abbey and a few streets away from number forty three Waverly Gardens, where the footballer 'Bobby Moore' (born c 1941 ) was brought up. Moore was captain of the England football team on ninety occasions.
N.B. Due to the number of people who normally write poison pen letters in green ink posting on his page, the Eastender has moved to Moderated comments but rest assured, if you have a non abusive posting related to the puzzle and its solution, he will endeavour to publish them.
Saturday, 9 January 2016
Sunday Times Where Was I? Holiday Competition
Near as I can figure it, through the possibly flawed perceptual filters of my own reality tunnel, the most likely answers this week, seem to me to be:
Q1. Colintraive
Q2. Loch Fad
N.B. For question one, some maps show the ferry route from Ardentraive to Rubodach but on checking the OS map, Ardentraive looks like it is up the hill a ways from where the ferry docks and the CalMac timetable shows the route as Colintraive to Rubodach.
The initial clues seem to place us at the hamlet of Colintraive, in a large wilderness area called Argyll and Bute. According to the Cal Mac timetable pages, their ferry runs from Colintraive across the Kyles of Bute, a distance of some three hundred and thirty yards, to Rhubodach, on the island of Bute. The Eastender is a big fan of Cal Mac, the traditional fried breakfasts they serve on their island hopping ferries are wonderful, just what you need to set you up for a days hiking (they do fish and chips on the evening trips) but you probably won't be able to sample them on this route, as it only takes five minutes to complete the crossing.
Bute, according to some of the sources I checked, is around twelve thousand, two hundred and seventeen hectares or thirty thousand, one hundred and eighty eight acres in area and is split by 'The Highland Boundary Fault', upon which sits the two mile long 'Loch Fad'. The fault runs from Arran, through Bute and thence in a north easterly direction, all the way to Stonehaven. It may still be active and a magnitude 1.4 earthquake was recorded In Argyll and Bute, as recently as the 29th November twenty fifteen.
The twenty five mile path the puzzle author is referring to is probably 'The West Island Way' and driving south east from Rubodach, would bring us to the town of Rothesay, where lie the magnificent Victorian toilets, which according to the blurb on their website, are 'World Class' and do seem to have twenty urinals.
Rothesay castle was built c 13th century and from the pictures I saw of it, does indeed have a circular curtain wall. The mansion that the writer describes, is probably 'Mount Stuart'. The Eastender has been in this house and was astonished by it, it is Victorian gothic in architectural style and castle like in size and has a marble hall decorated with priceless tapestries and a ceiling painted with astronomical themes and signs of the zodiac. The guy who built it (The Marquess of Bute) was once the richest man in Europe (he controlled the flow of coal through Cardiff docks and probably got a fee from every load that was processed through that facility).
N.B. Due to the number of people who normally write poison pen letters in green ink posting on his page, the Eastender has moved to moderated comments but rest assured, if you have a non abusive comment related to the puzzle and its solution, he will endeavour to publish it.
Q1. Colintraive
Q2. Loch Fad
N.B. For question one, some maps show the ferry route from Ardentraive to Rubodach but on checking the OS map, Ardentraive looks like it is up the hill a ways from where the ferry docks and the CalMac timetable shows the route as Colintraive to Rubodach.
The initial clues seem to place us at the hamlet of Colintraive, in a large wilderness area called Argyll and Bute. According to the Cal Mac timetable pages, their ferry runs from Colintraive across the Kyles of Bute, a distance of some three hundred and thirty yards, to Rhubodach, on the island of Bute. The Eastender is a big fan of Cal Mac, the traditional fried breakfasts they serve on their island hopping ferries are wonderful, just what you need to set you up for a days hiking (they do fish and chips on the evening trips) but you probably won't be able to sample them on this route, as it only takes five minutes to complete the crossing.
Bute, according to some of the sources I checked, is around twelve thousand, two hundred and seventeen hectares or thirty thousand, one hundred and eighty eight acres in area and is split by 'The Highland Boundary Fault', upon which sits the two mile long 'Loch Fad'. The fault runs from Arran, through Bute and thence in a north easterly direction, all the way to Stonehaven. It may still be active and a magnitude 1.4 earthquake was recorded In Argyll and Bute, as recently as the 29th November twenty fifteen.
The twenty five mile path the puzzle author is referring to is probably 'The West Island Way' and driving south east from Rubodach, would bring us to the town of Rothesay, where lie the magnificent Victorian toilets, which according to the blurb on their website, are 'World Class' and do seem to have twenty urinals.
Rothesay castle was built c 13th century and from the pictures I saw of it, does indeed have a circular curtain wall. The mansion that the writer describes, is probably 'Mount Stuart'. The Eastender has been in this house and was astonished by it, it is Victorian gothic in architectural style and castle like in size and has a marble hall decorated with priceless tapestries and a ceiling painted with astronomical themes and signs of the zodiac. The guy who built it (The Marquess of Bute) was once the richest man in Europe (he controlled the flow of coal through Cardiff docks and probably got a fee from every load that was processed through that facility).
N.B. Due to the number of people who normally write poison pen letters in green ink posting on his page, the Eastender has moved to moderated comments but rest assured, if you have a non abusive comment related to the puzzle and its solution, he will endeavour to publish it.
Saturday, 2 January 2016
Sunday Times Where Was I? Holiday Competition
Near as I can figure it, through the possibly flawed perceptual filters of my own reality tunnel, the most likely answers this week, seem to me to be:
Q1. Binsey
Q2. Bruern Abbey
The initial clues seem to place us at St Margaret's well, in the Village of Binsey, in the county of Oxfordshire. The well appears to have been used by Lewis Carroll as the model for a 'Treacle Well', in his book 'Alice's Adventures in Wonderland'. St Frideswide (Patron saint of Oxford, feast day 19th October) according to some of the sources I checked, is believed to have died at St Margaret's c AD 727 and allegedly cured many people, including her deranged stalker, a prince of Mercia who had been struck blind upon entering Oxford, probably using 'treacle' (where treacle back in the day meant a healing ointment) made from the water drawn at the holy well.
A poet who wrote about trees being felled at Binsey, was probably 'Gerard Manley Hopkins' (b 1844). He appears to have been some sort of proto environmentalist and wrote about the destruction of the aspens at Binsey, in a work called 'Binsey Poplars', where an aspen tree is a type of poplar:
"My aspens dear, whose airy cages quelled,
Quelled or quenched in leaves the leaping sun,
All felled, felled, are felled"
The railway most likely follows the course of the old Oxford, Worcester and Wolverhampton line, which tracks the river Evenlode. A historian who mentions this river and who judging from his overly verbose prose was probably a fan of the writer Pliny the Younger, was William Camden (born c 1551). He penned the lines 'Evenlode passeth by no memorable thing else but la Bruer, now Bruern, sometime an Abbay of white monkes'.
The author of a work called 'Sculptura', was a polymath called 'John Evelyn', he designed many gardens but I was not able to locate a sixteenth century country house whose garden he designed, North west of Fawler Station, which is a few minutes before the stop at Charlbury, where the author 'David Halliwell', who wrote 'Little Malcolm and his Struggle with the Eunochs' lived.
A few miles along the line after Charlbury, lies the village of 'Ascott Under Wychwood'
which is where 'Ascot D'Oilly' castle ( c 12th century),once stood.
Bruern Abbey, from some of the sources I looked at, does seem to have been founded c 1147 by Nicolas Basset and was dissolved c 1536. From checking the map, it appears to be situated close to a level crossing.
N.B. Due to the number of people who normally write poison pen letters in green ink posting on his page, the Eastender has moved to moderated comments but rest assured if you have a non abusive comment relating to the puzzle and its solution, he will endeavour to publish it.
Q1. Binsey
Q2. Bruern Abbey
The initial clues seem to place us at St Margaret's well, in the Village of Binsey, in the county of Oxfordshire. The well appears to have been used by Lewis Carroll as the model for a 'Treacle Well', in his book 'Alice's Adventures in Wonderland'. St Frideswide (Patron saint of Oxford, feast day 19th October) according to some of the sources I checked, is believed to have died at St Margaret's c AD 727 and allegedly cured many people, including her deranged stalker, a prince of Mercia who had been struck blind upon entering Oxford, probably using 'treacle' (where treacle back in the day meant a healing ointment) made from the water drawn at the holy well.
A poet who wrote about trees being felled at Binsey, was probably 'Gerard Manley Hopkins' (b 1844). He appears to have been some sort of proto environmentalist and wrote about the destruction of the aspens at Binsey, in a work called 'Binsey Poplars', where an aspen tree is a type of poplar:
"My aspens dear, whose airy cages quelled,
Quelled or quenched in leaves the leaping sun,
All felled, felled, are felled"
The railway most likely follows the course of the old Oxford, Worcester and Wolverhampton line, which tracks the river Evenlode. A historian who mentions this river and who judging from his overly verbose prose was probably a fan of the writer Pliny the Younger, was William Camden (born c 1551). He penned the lines 'Evenlode passeth by no memorable thing else but la Bruer, now Bruern, sometime an Abbay of white monkes'.
The author of a work called 'Sculptura', was a polymath called 'John Evelyn', he designed many gardens but I was not able to locate a sixteenth century country house whose garden he designed, North west of Fawler Station, which is a few minutes before the stop at Charlbury, where the author 'David Halliwell', who wrote 'Little Malcolm and his Struggle with the Eunochs' lived.
A few miles along the line after Charlbury, lies the village of 'Ascott Under Wychwood'
which is where 'Ascot D'Oilly' castle ( c 12th century),once stood.
Bruern Abbey, from some of the sources I looked at, does seem to have been founded c 1147 by Nicolas Basset and was dissolved c 1536. From checking the map, it appears to be situated close to a level crossing.
N.B. Due to the number of people who normally write poison pen letters in green ink posting on his page, the Eastender has moved to moderated comments but rest assured if you have a non abusive comment relating to the puzzle and its solution, he will endeavour to publish it.
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