THEN AND NOW

First of all, many thanks for all the birthday wishes for Mr. HCB yesterday - along with the stars and hearts - he truly is a treasure and as many commented, not at all grumpy - he just likes to give that impression!  We had a lovely day together and neither of us even had a nap but I’ve made up for it this afternoon!

This morning, Mr. HCB went out walking with his friend to Coate Water, a nearby water park and whilst out and using his Merlin Bird ID app, he heard 9 different birds, including a song thrush, which is quite unusual - we don’t hear many of them nowadays.  One bird surprised him because according to the app it was a Rose-ringed Parakeet, so he was quite excited to tell me about that when he got home.  We have certainly never seen one around here - many of them being found in London and the suburbs, which was why they were often called “Twickenham Parakeets”.

Before Mr. HCB went out, I had been looking for an old postcard, which he purchased many years ago, showing The Town Gardens, a park in the Old Town area of Swindon - and where a friend of ours from Church works.  We had been telling Stewart about this postcard because he was interested to see how it had looked many years ago and this morning I had my “Eureka” moment!  Mr. HCB, bless him, decided that he would come home straight after his walk and take me up to The Town Gardens, so that we could compare how it is now to how it was then.

I should have taken it with me and stood in the same spot to take my photograph but you can at least see the steps in both shots.  However, you cannot see the bandstand in my shot at the bottom because the trees have grown so much and actually, we should have gone about a week ago, before the high winds, as the trees had really passed their best by today.  We also noticed that some of the cherry trees had obviously been felled, as there were several new, smaller ones planted.

According to a recent study and apparently, on the local News, Swindon’s Town Gardens in Westlecot Road, Old Town, has been named the most popular cherry blossom location in the UK.  This was decided by looking at the number of Instagram tags and Google searches during the peak of the 2023 cherry blossom season.  Fame at last for our town and a great accolade as it is so often shouted down!

These particular gardens were officially opened to the public in May 1894 and further work was carried out in 1902 and 1918, so that by the 1920s the gardens were artistically laid out and planted, including a beautiful rose garden, for which Stewart has responsibility - and there is also a bowling green in another area.  

Looking at the postcard, which is in the Valentine’s Series, there is a number at the bottom right, 13505(JV), so we wonder if this was taken on 13th May 1905, which would make it almost 120 years old and there is certainly cherry blossom on the trees.  

As always, the tulips were beautiful, as you can see in my extra collage - and having stopped to chat to a lovely couple who were sitting having a cuppa, I took a photograph of their dog called “Albert”.  I thought it was a Jack Russell, but was informed by his owner that he was, in fact, a Parson Russell Terrier, but it is very similar to a Jack Russell and a Fox Terrier.  He told us that these dogs were bred to chase foxes alongside other dogs and horses, flushing them out of both above ground and underground hiding spots. Every day is a school day on Blip!

Also in the extra is a pigeon, having a crafty little nap on a tree trunk - spotted by Mr. HCB as we wandered around  - he didn’t seem at all phased by our chatting and sat quite still so that I was able to take the shot.

We then took a detour from our usual route out of the gardens and wandered back to our car by a circuitous route.  However, I did find some great street art and even some dereliction so we may go back so I can get another Blip.  All in all, I have done about 3,500 steps - not many for those who do upwards of 12,000 a day, but a lot for me, so I’m happy with that.