Thursday, 17 October 2024

A Comet From Peter's Village...

I took a walk over Peter's bridge and down to the river front there, to try and get a clear western horizon so that I could catch Comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS...

Comet Tsuchinshan in the autumn twilight from Peter's Village...

This is an average of 10 x 10 second exposures: I could not convince myself that I could see it with my own unaided eyesight, though the head of comet could be seen in binoculars. 

I thought it would be good to make an effort to photograph it as it won't be coming back for another 80,000 years...

Friday, 11 October 2024

Halling Riverside....

 Some views from a sunny autumn day on the Halling riviera...

Mist clearing from Grey Pit lake (now called St. Andrews lake by the Redrow estates marketing folk...)

Grey Pit looking north-west

The River Medway from Halling riverside, looking south...

View towards Wouldham...

Looking north along the Medway...

St. John's at Halling...

The riverside path...

View across the river towards Wouldham...

View south down the Medway,,,

Rowan at Low Meadow....

Thursday, 10 October 2024

Auroras Over Halling...

Just before midnight, the skies were lit by the brightest show of the Aurora Borealis that I personally have ever seen.  I rushed to grab a camera and managed to catch a few shots before they faded...

View north from my back garden, about 11pm

I had managed to photograph some aurorae back in May, but these were much brighter and I rather overexposed the shot. Rays of red light could be seen gently undulating, something I'd never seen before...

View north-east, about 11.30...

The bright show faded quite quickly. This picture shows the fading aurora against the background constellations of Auriga and Perseus. The Pleiades can be seen to the right...

Leicester University put their magnetometer readings online, giving some advance warning of auroral displays. This is the plot for the night of October 10/11th. It can be seen the auroras were on display all night, although they faded quite a bit after midnight.

The Sun's 13 year sun-spot cycle is now close to its maximum and sun-spot activity is expected to cause more bright auroras that can hopefully be seen from the south of England.


Wednesday, 1 November 2023

Out to Luddesdown...

Much as I would like to avoid the subject of the wretched vineyard these days, it occupies such a vast area that it is difficult to skirt around it if you are walking anywhere near Cobham or Luddesdown...

Hatch Hill...

Hatch Hill (above) has been in the clutches of the winery since its inception, and it shows. These days, I'm really past caring whether or not Vineyard Farms build their billionaire's concrete pleasure dome at Upper Bush. I hear they are quietly lobbying councillors once more and will be giving presentations to our elected representatives on their latest and undoubtedly still vainglorious and wholly unnecessary (at least from a community and national perspective) plans. What really gets me down is the weed-strewn neglect of any land that isn't under vines. It seems such a waste. Doubtless they will claim it's all for the benefit of wildlife blah blah and maybe it is, but to me it just seems like they have too much land to manage with not enough staff...

Late autumn view over Luddesdown valley...

View from Wrenches Shaw towards Cobham...

I know late autumn isn't a good look for any agricultural land but vineyards, with their exposed metalwork and miles of wire that make the fields look like war-zones, are especially ugly during autumn, winter and much of spring. They will look like this until May and the return of a welcome covering of leaves for a few short months.

Grapes left to rot on the vines...

As if to emphasise the waste, it seems that much of this year's bumper harvest is being left to rot on the vines. Whether this is down to a lack of labour, a lack of processing capacity or just quality issues, I don't know...

Starlings trying to sleep off their feast..?

...but at least the glut has attracted some wildlife back to the otherwise silent and empty fields. Flocks of starlings have been attracted to the bounty of waste and are gorging themselves insensible on the fermenting fruit. Normally they would be chattering away and squabbling amongst themselves on their perches, but this lot looked too squiffy to do anything much. Stragglers struggled to land first time and some on the ground seemed too woozy to even take off. Sad piles of feathers here and there suggested that perhaps local foxes had been taking advantage of the starling's state of apparent inebriation. I went back the next evening just before sun-set to see if I could catch a murmuration (something I haven't seen for a few years given declining starling numbers) but this lot were still perched quietly on the overhead wires, seemingly too stuffed or hungover to do anything...

Winery plant at Court and Brooker's farm yard...

The amount of kit at Court and Brookers Farm had certainly increased since the last time I bothered to look. The rotary wine presses were new additions and seemed to be quietly whirring away, so obviously something was being processed. I was surprised to see the open nature of the hoppers, but perhaps a bit of starling poo is all part of the unique flavour of the Silverhand brand...

Steel industrial vats for wine manufacture at Court and Brooker's Farm...

All these tanks (41 of them) were put in on the back of a RETROSPECTIVE planning application. This does seem to be the way Vineyard Farms work - act first, then seek permission later.  It's not the first time either. You really wish Gravesham Council's planners would just "grow a pair", refuse it all and insist the tanks were taken down, but I guess VF just have too much financial clout to be denied. Permission has been granted on a temporary basis, with the tanks having to be removed by 22 June 2026. I dare say Gravesham Council will cave in and grant an extension come the time...

As I made my way past the Golden Lion I became aware that the air was filled with a powerful, sweet, sickly aroma. At first I though it was coming from the wine factory behind the pub, but as I walked down the Luddesdown Road towards Cobham it got stronger and stronger....

Compost Corner...

It seems that what I once thought were piles of fly-tipped chalk were now being used to contain the (and perhaps neutralise the acidic) "pomice" (unwanted grape residues from pressing and juice extraction) for composting purposes. The stench was quite overpowering and I hope the wind keeps it away from Luddesdown village (and the Golden Lion) while it all rots down. I thought maybe VF might have given their proposed anaerobic digestion plant idea a whirl, but perhaps that wasn't really anything but a sop for planning purposes after all...

A "fly-tip here" sign...?

Given the amount of fly-tipping that goes on in the vicinity, this sign almost seems like the classic "kick me" joke but Vineyard Farms (always ready to throw money at problems they themselves create) have deployed a battery of security cameras in the area to keep an eye on things.  

The road, as usual, is also the subject of a retrospective planning application.  But hey, Vineyard Farms are very big and very rich, right? Why should planning laws apply to them? I see they've had their plans for a 40 space car park just up the road from the pub turned down, however.  They are also thinking about building a barn extension at the wine factory to act as an off-licence. There's already been a few accidents up the narrow lane due to winery traffic (roads signs knocked down, an HGV hitting a house, a mini-digger crashing while being towed - and these are only the ones that have made into the VF accident book, by all accounts...). I can't see these developments improving matters, but I have no doubt the Gravesham Council's planners will eventually roll over and let VF do just what they want. 

Apparently (according to VF's tardy tank application documentation), all of this development is part of a "Brexit Good News Story". Tells you all you need to know, really...

Warren Hill, looking west across Winterham Hill towards Cobhambury Road...

I had originally planned to walk up into Cobham but the cloying stench of VF's compost heap had clung to my clothing and left me feeling rather nauseous, it being one of those stinks that insists on following you everywhere. I therefore decided to head for home and walk back towards Cuxton along Warren Road. The land to the north of the road has been part of VF's empire for about three years now. It was planted out with rapeseed a while back, which was then just left, seemingly forgotten. It has finally been cut back and things look a bit tidier, if still a bit bleak and depressing...

The Warren, looking east...

I was cheered up to find out that Vineyard Farms/Silverhand Estate had finally attempted a bit of local outreach, with the "What's On" bit of their web-site (a thing of beauty, if not information) advertising a (free!) "community harvest day". More places were made available to accommodate a sudden interest from numerous Cuxton residents. This can only be a good thing (though I would be surprised if such things became a frequent and regular occurrence. We really aren't "their sort" after all...).

After having a play at picking a few grapes, the punters went back to the Golden Lion and a good time was had by all, so I hear.

The pub has long been known as "The Vineyard Farms' Social Club", by all accounts being oft-frequented by estate workers and patronised by VF's management alike. They have now cemented that close relationship by buying the lease of the pub, so I understand. Quite how long the Golden Lion will continue as a "local's pub" now is anyone's guess. Perhaps its long-term fate will to become rather like Chapel Down's The Swan at Tenterden, given the "high-end" aspirations of the new leaseholders.

(And that would be a pity because it is already the perfect pub - according to its landlord and landlady, at least. Go to their "TripAdvisor" page and you will see that anyone who leaves anything less than a four-star review must simply be a liar, an idiot or a chancer. And you can't argue with evidence like that...)

And all of this is why I dislike the vineyard so much. They just do what they want and even local councils run scared of them. 

I know it's "their" land but in effect, they have stolen the bluebells, the orchids and the butterflies from us and are reserving them for paying tourists at a price. We can't even stand and admire the view across Bush Valley without "trespassing". They have turned huge swathes of once beautiful, varied and productive ancient farmland into a bedraggled-looking, semi-industrial, sterile monoculture of grape production. They are still buying up or leasing property all around us. Luddesdown Court, the oldest house in the country, has been bought up by them and is now an AirBnB. (It would cost a family of four ELEVEN THOUSAND POUNDS to rent for just one week in summer, which shows you who the vineyard is really for - and it ain't us!). They've got all of this history in their possession and yet they feel they need to even hijack that, monetise it and churn out made-up bollocks for marketing purposes instead. 

Now you have pay for "vineyard tours" of  bluebells, orchids, wildflowers etc. But (as the innocent, early posts of this blog show) these were all things I used to enjoy at my own pace, on my own and for nothing until Vineyard bloody Farms came along. Now they've curtailed free access to "their" property, employed surly, swaggering "rangers" to tell us to "get orf our larnd" and are keeping it solely for the benefit of their wealthy paying customers.

As Joni Mitchell once sang:

"They took all the trees/Put 'em in a tree museum
And they charged the people a dollar and a half just to see 'em
Don't it always seem to go, that you don't know what you've got 'till it's gone
They paved Paradise/Put Up a Parking Lot..."

Monday, 9 October 2023

Wealdway to Cobham...

Today I followed the North Downs Way to the ridge above Buckland Farm, and then walked down the hill to pick up the Wealdway through Luddesdown and into Cobham...

Stonyfield...

Much of the farmland owned by our feudal overlords at the "Silverhand Estate" winery has been left to revert to wilderness. It was therefore good to see that the weeds at Stonyfield were being hacked back... 

View towards Buckland Farm from the Weadlway...

View north towards Cobham in the distance from the Wealdway...

Vines from the Wealdway...

Grapes awaiting harvesting...

The vines in this area appear to have delivered a bumper crop of grapes. Vineyard Farms are going to have to put some hard work in to harvest them all...  

View north through the vineyard from the Wealdway...

View east across the vineyard from the Wealdway...

More grapes for the harvest...

View looking south from the Wealdway back towards Buckland Farm...

Not sure whether this is to deter livestock or unwanted ramblers...

View towards Cobham...

Luddesdown Church...

Court Lodge Farm through the vines...

Hawthorn berries have also benefitted from the favourable conditions...

View across Luddesdown cricket ground from Henley Down...

Panorama looking south from Henley Down...

More farmland reverting to wilderness under vineyard "management"...

I hadn't walked from Luddesdown to Cobham this way since last year. I was saddened to see that Vineyard Farms appear to have extended their tentacles to encompass Cobhambury Farm. The cereal crops that were once grown here were a welcome change from rows upon rows of dreary, weed-infested vines. Alas, all that seems to be growing now are weeds, a sight common across much of the "Silverhand Estate" that is not under vines. 

It seems incredible that in these globally uncertain times in terms of food supply, we can allow a company owned by a billionaire tax-exile to sequester vast areas of productive arable farmland that is then allowed to revert to wilderness...

The remains of another Cobham windmill? Lord Darnley's one was in the village and is now a private house...

Vineyard Farms checking out their new barbed wire fence along Lodge Lane in Cobham...

New barbed wire fencing seems to be springing up around much of the land that is constantly being added to Vineyard Farms' estate. These fences seem to be doing far better than the "hedgerows" that the vineyard boasted about planting a year or so back. The tiny hedging twigs (bought with public-funded grant money - times are tough for billionaire tax-exiles after all...) were shoved in the ground at the start of last year's drought and unsurprisingly, most of them seem to have died...  

View across the valley from the Darnley trail...

View south from the hill above Warren Road...

Warren Hill wilderness...

The farmland to the north of Warren Road came under the tender care of the vineyard a couple of years ago. It was deep-ploughed, dragging up the unsightly chalk substrate, and has since been left to the weeds. Once again, productive farmland seems to be neglected and is reverting to wilderness...


View towards Cuxton across Forge Field...

A small oasis of managed land still exists above Forge Cottage....

Barrow Hill, view across Bush Valley...

...and still Barrow Hill remains weed-strewn. This, of course, was intended to be the site of Vineyard Farms' vainglorious winery, plans for which were finally rejected by the Planning Inspectorate a few months back. The time window to appeal to the High Court against that decision has long since elapsed. Both the Medway Council and the Planning Inspectorate websites give no indication that Vineyard Farms/MDCV UK Ltd have lodged an appeal, nor can I find any evidence of one on the High Court schedules to date.

Whisper it quietly, but I think VF may have finally abandoned their grandiose scheme, at least in its original design. 

We await their next throw of the dice...