Welcome to the Rudloe and environs website.
Here you will find news, articles and photos of an area that straddles the Cotswold Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty in north-west Wiltshire.
Contributions in the form of articles or photos are welcome. Even those with completely contrary views to mine!
Thanks to the website builder 1&1 and Rob Brown for the original idea.
Rudloescene now, in January 2014, has a sister, academic rather than anarchic, website about Box history here: http://www.boxpeopleandplaces.co.uk/
It contains thoroughly professional, well-researched articles about Box and its people.
Contact rudloescene through the 'Contact' page.
BH? Benson & Hedges? Broadcasting House? No - Bank Holiday of course. There was a short tour around the Bradford Road greenfield developments on Monday and, unrelated to Rudloe, a trip to London on Saturday which is included in a section/gallery at the end.
The title pictures show the blue, drinking water pipe that supplies some western parts of Corsham. This supply originates at the Leafy Lane/Boxfields Road reservoirs before wending its way to the alleyway twixt Springfield Close and Bradford Road thence to an adjacent garden before 'falling' to the Bradford Road. The second picture shows the closed off Skynet Drive. Incredibly, in spite of the 'Road Ahead Closed' sign at the A4/Bradford Road junction, about 15 cars/motorbikes came up here in the 20 minutes or so that I was hanging around. The third picture shows the current state of the Bradford Road adjacent to the Bellway development and a new friend who insisted on walking with me (and the blue water pipe again).
The unique, Bradford Road tree canopy and a lovely meadow reduced to these view-blocking, grey terraces (or semis?) for Russian spies
The JCBs that these buckets are attached to seem to spend most of their lives reversing (beep, beep, bloody beep). Buck It.
In the shadow of the beech at the entrance to Rudloe Estate
The Redcliffe greenfield development (which has made Corshamite Gibbons many millions) creeps ever closer to Rudloe filling the required strategic gap that was supposed to stop west Corsham becoming a damned great conurbation
The Johnston-owned, 15-acre field at the north side of the Bradford Road, the site of a proposed slope shaft and associated paraphernalia for Hartham Quarry. A new site is now proposed (see planning application 19/07824/FUL) beyond Rudloe Firs.
Hedge bedstraw and fine dry stone wall along the Bradford Road. The plant is also known by another, very odd, name - false baby's breath!
No garden gate but you can imagine the conversation, curlers in, "So I said to Mrs Dawson, have you heard about the new, half-million pound houses where no private conversations can be had without retiring to the rear"
Apparently, Goblins Pit was another name used for Brockleaze Quarry at Neston. But why use names associated with another village here?
In earlier times, we have seen oilseed rape and miscanthus here. Quite what yet another alternative name for Brockleaze Quarry has to do with this location is a mystery known only to the namers of streets in new developments (Wiltshire Council apparently)
Strange goings-on here. These adjacent blocks (of semis?) on the Redcliffe development are misaligned (look at the roof lines) and have different styles of misaligned windows. And look at the (almost non-existent) gap between them - maintenance?
Wall lettuce, ragwort and dock in the Park Lane verge opposite the Redcliffe development
This rather exotic looking ipomea (morning glory) was also found in the Park Lane verge
And talking of exotics, there are two Ferraris drifting along Park Lane here presumably from Nick Mason's stable
For the moment, we can see the Bellway, Dickens Gate, greenfield development (with correctly-aligned roofs/rooves) from Park Lane but the foreground will soon be filled with Redcliffe affordable (to whom?) homes (closest to the pylons)
The Dickens Gate development creeps closer to the Airbus site in Skynet Drive. Russian spies, or their acolytes, will soon be installed here overlooking the site, equipped with cameras and listening devices.
My new friend in Bradford Road
And now the London trip on Saturday, 24th August 2019, to watch Warrington get thrashed at Wembley by the outstanding team of the season, St Helens (and to meet cousin/2nd cousin who had made the trip from Barmouth via Warrington). But hold on ... miracle of miracles, Warrington won!
In spite of having 'through' tickets, we always (2009, 2010, 2012, 2016, 2018 and now this year) walk between Paddington and Marylebone (it's just a ten-minute stroll) as we pass through an exotic (we're on an 'exotic' theme today) landscape where we attempt to partake of a full multicultural, ethnically diverse breakfast (in place of the full English of course!).
Oxfam 'empowers women' but, apparently, not on its own doorstep in Edgeware Road (the A5)
The local parish church in Old Marylebone Road looked distinctly down at heel on this Saturday morning. It seems that the traditional Christian communion here has been displaced principally through the scale of recent immigration.
And so we arrive at Marylebone, gateway (one of) to Metroland, in Melcombe Place
Chiltern Railways (operated by Deutsche Bahn) reminds us, unnecessarily one would hope, not to be uncouth - but we are in England. Three teachers joined the London-bound GWR train at Swindon - two of the three placed their feet on the seats.
Wembley Stadium, in line with national propensity to secular proselytism, exhorts 'no smoking' and then ...
... fills the stadium with smoke
Only the fans of the victorious team in evidence on Wembley Way - and how this has changed (the development with fans separated from the environs and funnelled between the stadium and the station) since my first final in 1960
A reminder of past times on the return walk to Paddington
Back home (Chippenham) - against my better judgement I used the car park of that mercenary American company, APCOA. My preferred option, in the grounds of Wiltshire College, was unfortunately closed. Artemesia vulgaris at left.
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