Maud Heath's Causeway

On Wick Hill, near the village of Bremhill in Wiltshire, stands a monument to a lady called Maud Heath. The monument which was erected in 1838 consists of a plinth which is capped off by the statue of a lady in a bonnet. The base of the plinth bears the inscription: "Thou who dost pause on this aerial height - Where Maud Heath's Pathway winds in shade and light - Christian wayfarer in a world of strife - Be still and consider the Path of Life".

It seems that Maud Heath was a local 15th Century land owner, who held properties in both Langley Burrell and Chippenham and who is remembered locally for a folly that she commissioned.

Maud was apparently concerned that the local people from the villages of Bremhill, Foxham, Tytherton and Langley Burrell were having difficulties getting from their villages to the market in Chippenham, as they had to cross the marshy River Avon floodplain (a route that Maud had seemingly used for most of her life herself). So in response to her concern, in June 1474 (the year of her death) Maud provided a trust with the finance to enable a 4.5 mile cobble causeway to be built from Wick (in Bremhill) to Chippenham. This causeway was further improved by the trust in 1811 when the part of the causeway that crossed the River Avon was updated to include a bridge made up of 64 small brick arches. These brick arches can still be seen today as they raise the footpath up above the level of the local road that follows the route of the causeway - a road which is still shown on OS Maps today as "Maud Heath's Causeway".

The monument to Maud Heath on Wick Hill.

Maud wearing her bonnet.

The inscription at the base of the monument.

A marker near the monument on Wick Hill.

The bridge on the causeway which crosses the River Avon.

Looking along the bridge.

The church at the start of the bridge.

Pictures, Wiltshire (April 2014).

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Andover’s History of Land Speed Records

Let me start by saying that I don't have a fetish for pedestrian underpasses. However, sometimes the art work in pedestrian underpasses needs photographing before it's destroyed by other less able artists.

The first piece of underpass artwork that caught my attention was a mural in Woking, which summarised the destruction of Woking by the Martin Tripods in H.G. Wells' "The War of the Worlds". My eye was caught again this month whilst I was walking through Andover. Between Junction Road and the town centre there is an underpass that is adorned with pictures of vehicles that have previously held land speed records. The mural was too good to just pass by, so I had to stop and take some pictures.  

Working from the dates and speeds that are shown on the mural I believe the vehicles depicted are those in the below table. However, it should be noted that some of the speeds detailed in the mural differ from those quoted on Wikipedia, also it seems that some records were measured over a mile and some over a kilometre, which gives some variability to the numbers. It is also interesting that the mural depicts a vehicle called “Goldenrod” from 1965, which going by Wikipedia was not a record holder as it was slower than “Green Monster” from 1964!

Name	Power Source	Date	Record (mph)
Jeantaud Duc	Electric	1898	57.65
La Jamais Contente	Electric	1899	65.79
Gardner-Serpollet Oeuf de Pâques	Steam	1902	75.07
Ford 999 Racer	Internal Combustion	1904	103.5
Stanley Rocket	Steam	1906	127.66
Benz No 3 200 hp (150 kW)	Internal Combustion	1914	124.10
Sunbeam 350HP	Internal Combustion	1925	150.87
Sunbeam	Internal Combustion	1925	152.33
Sunbeam Slug (Mystery) 1000HP	Aeroengine	1927	203.792
Blue Bird	Aeroengine	1928	206.956
Golden Arrow	Aeroengine	1929	231.446
Blue Bird	Internal Combustion	1935	301.129
Railton Mobil Special	Internal Combustion	1947	394.200
Blue Bird CN7	Turboshaft	1964	403.100
Green Monster	Turbojet	1964	434.02
Goldenrod	Internal Combustion	1965	409.277
The Blue Flame	Rocket	1970	622.407
Thrust 2	Turbojet	1983	633.468
Thrust SSC	Turbofan	1997	763.035

So it seems that in the 100 years from 1898 to 1997 man increased his maximum land speed from 57.65 mph to an impressive 763.035 mph. So the question is, how much further can this record be pushed in the next 100 years? It seems that 1000 mph is only just around the corner!

The Underpass.

Blue Bird (1935) & Stanley Rocket (1906).

The Blue Flame (1970) & Goldenrod (1965).

Blue Bird CN7 (1964) & Benz No 3 (1914).

Golden Arrow (1929).

Green Monster (1964), Gardner-Serpollet Oeuf de Pâques (1902) & Blue Bird (1928).

Railton Mobil Special (1947) & La Jamais Contente (1899).

Sunbeam Slug (1927), Sunbeam 350HP (1925), Ford 999 Racer (1904) & Jeantaud Duc (1898).

Thrust 2 (1983) & Sunbeam (1925).

Thrust SSC (1997) & Unidentified! 

Pictures, Hampshire (April 2014).

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Not So Secret Bunkers

Back in February, after hearing about a local legend, I took a trip to Grovely Wood near Salisbury.

The legend in question is the legend of the Handsel sisters. As the story goes in 1737 four Danish sisters moved to the Wilton area and unfortunately for them, their arrival coincided with an outbreak of smallpox which killed 132 people. The locals believing that the sisters where responsible for the outbreak and branding them as witches, took them to Grovely Wood and bludgeoned them to death. The sisters were supposedly buried in the woods in four separate graves and it is said that the graves were marked by four gnarled beech trees, the largest of which is said to have a hollow at the back in which people leave offerings.

Armed with my Ordnance Survey map showing a section of Grovely Wood labelled as "Four Sisters" I set off in search of the four trees. Sadly however the gnarled beech trees remained elusive, possibly hidden amongst the numerous pines.

Walking back along the old Roman road that runs through the wood I did however happen across a bunker on the edge of the tree line. As can be seen from the pictures below, the bunker was very conveniently labelled with the word "Bunker".  Inside the bunker there is also some rather interesting graffiti. On the floor there was an arrow pointing to the far end of the bunker, with the words "Head Rush". Also on the far wall of the bunker there was a painted symbol which resembled a "W". All rather odd.

A quick look on the internet hints that the nearby farm (Oakley Farm) served as an RAF Ordnance Depot and Head Quarters during WW II and that Grovely Wood was used by the US Air Force as an ammunition depot. Grovely Wood was seemingly chosen for this purpose due to its proximity to main line rail stations such as Wylie. Apparently, bombs and shells were left stacked out in the open in the woods, and the less robust munitions (e.g. fuses) were stored in hundreds of small huts that were dotted around the wood. Given the military history of the site, presumably the bunker is related to this WW II heritage.

The bunker seen from the Roman Road.

The entrance to the bunker.

I would never have guessed!

Looking into the bunker.

"Head Rush"  - what does it mean?

"W" - what does it mean?

The "vent" at the far end of the bunker above the "W".

Having stumbled across a bunker in Grovely Wood in February, I was again surprised to stumble across another bunker last week whilst out wandering near the village of Upper Chute in Wiltshire. This bunker, whilst of the same approximate size as that in Grovely Wood, seemed to be of a different design, with the only apparent access way being a padlocked hatch on the top, as opposed to an open doorway at one end. The “Chute” bunker as I will call it, is in a small patch of wooded land next to the road, apparently left and forgotten. The only discernible features of this bunker were the entrance hatch, a bent pipe on the top of the bunker (possibly a ventilation pipe) and a long straight pipe protruding near the base of the bunker. Searching the internet provided no obvious clues as to the nature and purpose of this particular bunker.

The "Chute" bunker. The access hatch can be seen on the left end of the bunker, and the possible ventilation pipe can be seen on the right.

A pipe protruding from the bunker.

The entrance hatch and the possible ventilation pipe in the distance.

So if any readers know the location of the Handsel sister’s beech trees or knows more about these two bunkers, please let me know via the comments section below.

Pictures, Wiltshire (February & March 2014).

*** Update October 2014 ***

Following some very welcome advice from reader Mr Hodder I took another trip into Grovely Wood to track down the Handsel trees. Following Mr Hodder's instructions I found the trees easily, as the below pictures show. Three of the tress still stand, and one of the tress has a small hollow at the back of it where people have placed offerings. From a quick look some of the offerings include small plastic toys, beaded necklaces, plastic coins and some fabric items. For those who want to see the trees for themselves, they are approximately located at 51.100393, -1.900126.

The main avenue through Grovely Wood. 

The first Handsel tree.

A rear view of the first Handsel tree, note the hollow at the base.

Peering into the hollow, numerous offerings can be seen.

Another Handsel tree. Sadly this one has fallen.

The third Handsel tree.

The fourth Handsel tree.

Pictures, Wiltshire (October 2014).

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Precision Agriculture

I have always been fascinated by some of the weird and unusual hobbies that people have, and some of the bizarre sports that people take part in. As such, during a recently visit to Anglesey my curiosity was piqued when I was introduced to a pastime that I never knew existed, the sport of competitive precision ploughing.

This seemingly odd sport sees competitors assigned a plot of land, which they plough slowly and meticulously, carefully measuring out and planning their furrows and then carefully cutting the soil. It seems that there are a number of factors against which competitors are judged, including the uniformity, firmness, and straightness of the furrows and the overall appearance of the plot (as well as a bunch of other aspects, which I cannot even begin to understand).

The competition was mostly centred around the use of vintage tractors, however there were a couple of competitors using vintage ploughs drawn by Shire horses (probably much more difficult to control than a tractor pulled plough).

So if your ever see an inordinate number of tractors in a field slowly ploughing small patches of ground with farmers fretting over their work and painstakingly measuring each cut, you may have just happened upon a precision ploughing competition.

Pictures, Anglesey (March 2014).

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Beware Chalk Pit!

It seems to me that recently this blog has focused on a number of weird and unusual monuments. Keeping to this theme I have recently visited another striking monument, this one being dedicated to a horse.

A few miles west of Winchester is Farley Mount Country Park, which is named after the local hill (Farley Mount). This hill is home to a folly, which is unsurprisingly known as the “Farley Monument”. The monument stands in memory of a horse named “Beware Chalk Pit”, which is reportedly buried beneath the monument. The horse in question was owned by a Paulet St. John Esq., and it is said that whilst out fox hunting in September 1733, that the horse and rider fell into a twenty five foot deep chalk pit. Both rider and horse survived this calamity and in October of the following year this “lucky” horse was entered into the Hunters Plate on Worthy Downs under the name of “Beware Chalk Pit”. The horse won the race, and this victory is presumably the reason why the owner created such a magnificent folly in honour of the animal.

The inscription on the monument explains the story: “Underneath lies buried a horse, the property of Paulet St. John Esq., that in the month of September 1733 leaped into a chalk pit twenty-five feet deep afoxhuntiing with his master on his back and in October 1734 he won the Hunters Plate on Worthy Downs and was rode by his owner and was entered in the name of "Beware Chalk Pit".”

What the inscription does not explain however, is how much was the prize money for winning the Hunters Plate, and did Paulet St. John have any change left over after building such an impressive folly?

The Monument.

The explanation.

The view from inside the monument.

Pictures, Hampshire (February 2014).

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The World's First POW Camp?

South of Peterborough in Cambridgeshire near the junction of the A1(M) and A15 roads is the settlement of Norman Cross. As you drive through Norman Cross you cannot help but notice its monument, which consists of a stone plinth topped off by a bronze eagle.

The Norman Cross monument is a memorial to the 1,770 prisoners who died at Norman Cross in what is said to be the world's first purpose built prisoner of war camp. This prison camp was built during the French Revolutionary / Napoleonic Wars by the Navy, to house an influx of French prisoners. Typically prisoners of war would be housed in old forts and prison hulks near the coast. But in 1796 there was a need to transfer 4,000 prisoners from the West Indies to the UK, so it was decided to create a dedicated prisoner of war camp to house them all.

Norman Cross was chosen as the ideal location for the prison camp as it was conveniently situated on the Great North road, whilst also being sufficiently inland to prevent prisoners from easily escaping back to France. Work commenced on the camp in December 1796 and lasted four months, with the first prisoners arriving at the camp in April 1797.

The design of the camp was based on an artillery fort. The camp having a block house sited at the centre, with six cannons overlooking the prisoner's accommodations. To prevent escapes, the camp was surrounded by a 27 foot deep ditch (to prevent tunneling). Outside of this ditch resided the tall stockade walls.

Whilst in operation the prison mostly housed low-ranking soldiers and sailors, with officers often given parole to live as “free men” in the UK, honor-bound not to attempt escape.  At its peak occupancy the prison was home to some 6,272 inmates.

The prison was only in operation until early 1814, when Napoleon was finally defeated and peace with France was achieved. By June 1814 the final prisoners had been repatriated back to France.  The final wooden buildings of the prison were dismantled and sold in June 1816. Some of these old prison buildings were however given a new lease of life, by being re-used in nearby towns.

The Norman Cross Monument.

The eagle that crowns the monument.

A nearby information board explaining the history of the prison camp.

Pictures, Cambridgeshire (February 2014).

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