Christian Ainley my day to day

Stoke Poges golf course from the  Memorial gardens  For the last day of my leave it was an afternoon walk to Stoke Poges memorial gardens it’s a lovely peaceful place of remembrance just on the outskirts of Slough.  It was a short walk from my home of just under 2.5 miles the gardens are beautifully maintained by Buckinghamshire county council whos team work hard to keep all the fountains and gardens in check.  The gardens overlook the world famous Stoke Poges golf course of James Bond Goldfinger fame and of course Layer Cake too. It’s nice place to visit and a good opportunity to photograph some flowers and wildlife as it’s full of bees and butterflies.  Butterfly drying its wings    White foxgloves  Lavender field 

  It’s our last day in Bristol and we left the hotel to go and search for some graffiti that we’d seen in the city’s suburbs. Just a short drive out of the city near the big Tescos there are some large murals painted on the side of some houses as well as a complete jungle of graffiti under the M32 fly over. I have to be honest it’s not the best part of town and there are signs of drug abuse and homelessness people everywhere but they left us alone as much as we left them alone.  But it was nice to walk around never knowing which piece of street art would pop up next, of course there were various tags and names but there were other bit that were cleaver and well structured. You might look at it and see mindless destruction of property but it’s a thought an idea in someone’s head and use of a talent that provokes an idea in us the viewer, if it’s appreciated or hated you stopped to take the time and it achieved its goal.  I’m going to up load a few pictures to the bottom of...

Clifton Suspension Bridge  Today it was a latter start to the day after a hotel breakfast it was out to look for WeWard cards it’s a phone based game similar to Pokémon. It’s strange that there are lots where I live but in this city they are really spread out ! Our fist activity of the day was a walking tour Blackbeard to Banksy and we met our tour leader Luke outside the cathedral. Lucky the weather today is a lot better and there was some sunshine. The tour took us all over the city and covered a lot of the graffiti in the city centre and some of the city’s history and development over the centuries. Of course Bristols famous bands were mentioned with pride Bananarama, Massive Attack and Spartacus by JPS Andy Whitfield  Radiohead to name a few.  It’s a really good tour and well worth booking. I’d recommend doing it on day one of your trip as you’ll get some helpful insights that will make your stay cheaper and more interesting. The walking tour is two hours long but it’...

Concorde BOAF nose Picture this as an idea, I want to collect £10 from every person in the UK and with that money I’m going to construct a super sonic airliner to fly the richest 1% of the country to foreign destinations mainly Barbados and New York. I’m sure I’ll get short shrift and you’ll laugh me out of town. But essentially that’s what happened the plane that was going to make the world smaller was only bought by the two national carriers and most of them for a nominal fee the tax payer paying the most. Concorde is celebrated as a success in engineering terms but as a commercial product it was a complete failure.  Royal Navy Sea Harrier FRS.2 The weather in Bristol is wet, extremely wet so it’s looking at indoor pursuits and the Bristol aerospace museum at filton comes high on that list. The birth place of the British made Concordes and the site were were the second Concorde and the first British one took off from. Bristol has a rich aviation history during the first and secon...

Bristol  Today is the first day of our trip to Bristol after a two hour drive it was lunch at our traditional first day away eatery Burger King for a chicken royal with cheese. Then it was a walk around the city it’s a bank holiday Monday so it’s a mixed bag some places are open and others closed . I did manage to find some of Bristol’s famed graffiti though and there’s lots of good pictures, I’ll try to up load some to Instagram at some point.  We wondered down to Temple Meads to get some pictures of the historic train station, sadly after 170 Bristol Temple Meads years of use it’s under heavy renovation and there’s lots of scaffolding up while they work on the arched roof. We stopped off for a coffee in Starbucks then went to look at the new shopping arcade. We made our way to the hotel. Future inns the first room we got was right next to the pub and was extremely noisy and with the pub being licensed till 23.00 it wasn’t good. A quick walk downstairs and it was an upgrade t...

Bee on daisy  The weather is back so we went out for another expiration, I wanted to find the paths that linked onto the main one leading up to Black park.  The first one ran down the side of Wexham Park lane it’s so well hidden that you wouldn’t know unless you’d seen someone walking there. The other path I wanted to explore linked up with the path from Uxbridge road, we found the path that linked across the top of the field but had to find it’s continuation which was across the road.    Cows in field  Foxgloves      We followed the main Rowley path up to Rowley road and then to Black park. We stopped off for a mocha and a muffin before heading back home. We thought we’d follow the Rowley trail and this involved cutting through Rowley farm there was a field full of cows there was a bull in the field but he had other things on his mind.  It was a nice adventure this afternoon and we’ve completed those paths and have a new route to f...

  Michelin Cross Climate 2 It’s time for new front tyres after 22000 miles on my old cross climate ones I’ve decided to go for the updated version the cross climate 2’s.  Tyres tend to be a talking point and many people have their own opinions. I used to work with a group of guys who swore blind that part worn tyres are great value and would get their tyres for £20-£30 a corner. I’m not convinced, let’s put it in to the worst case scenario you are travelling at 70mph on the motorway and there’s a torrential rain squall you have to slow down or stop because of an incident up ahead do you really trust those tyres with and unknown history, they could be 10-15 years old or older the may have multiple repairs you just don’t know !  It’s for this reason I always go with the best I can afford to keep myself and my passengers safe. Having to start work early in the morning I chose I tyre thst can cope in any situation and is designed to last and Michelin tick all those boxes....

  So we have a bit of a road trip planned for next week to Bristol and after 22000 miles my front tyres on the car are looking a bit warn and down to the wear marker on one side, when you also factor in my repair job on one of them they had to go.  I booked it in to Protyre in Slough for two new Cross climate 2’s. I got there a bit early and went for a roam. It’s near a retail park and some out of town car dealership. I had a brief window shop in B&Q but there was nothing that grabbed me. Iwalked further down and looked at the Mini’s in the dealership and then the Jeep’s and Alpha Romeo’s. There was a Mini I liked but I think I’ll stick with what I’ve got for now. I popped in to Greg’s bakers for a bacon roll and mocha before heading back to see if there’s any progress. Have fun stay safe 👍🏼

  I had been looking at the map of my local area on the WeWard app and noticed a footpath that I hadn’t known about as the weather was nice we went for an exploration.  The first part of our exploration took us through the old gravel pit that has been handed back to nature.it took us close to the bridleway but there was no way out so we had to backtrack and drop down on to the road we walked down 300 meters of country road much to the motorists dismay.  Eventually getting on to the bridleway I was surprised how wide it was and we followed it all the way from Wexham park lane to Rowley lane, we then explored some of the paths around Rowley farm it’s rather unspoiled and I don’t think many people go there. It was all lush green and we only bumped in to one other person. He was a senior citizen and he was cutting back the brambles on a path, he’d come out to keep an eye on his daughter while she walked the dog. I’m not being rude but this gentleman must have been in his eigh...

  It’s a return to the gym today for a back, it was cross trainer to start on intervals level 14 as they were all free today. A nice 30 min session on there covering 1.56 km and 360 calories. It was on to dead lift next adding 10kg a side and then adding two 5kg plates not heavy but a nice session. Reverse flys on the machine next starting with 50kg and going up to 57kg  Lat pull downs next starting at 42kg and going up to 60kg  Rowing on the weight machine starting with 50kg and going up to 57kg.  Some up right rows next only light 20kg and going down to 17.5kg to round out the session.  Have fun stay safe 👍🏼

  Is a return to the gym today and as all the cross trainers were in use it was my 6th rowing machine activity of the month and my apple challenge completed. I managed just over 4 km in 30 minutes.  It was on to machine chest press to start starting off with 20kg and going up to 35kg  It was on to incline press with a bar next and starting with 10kg added and then upping it to 20kg I’m not making much progress here I need to look at this.  It was on to cable flys and a different machine today starting with 18.1kg and going up to 22kg a side it was good and I could really feel it.  Machine flys next and starting with 42kg and going up to 55kg to finish.  The gym was getting busy and I was running out of time. I went on the wider chest press machine and starting at 19kg I worked up to 37kg and failure before calling it a day. Have fun stay safe 👍🏼

  The 1980’s were a hedonistic decade defined by money, power and As Gordon Gekko (Wall Street) would say greed. Tom Wolff’s serial first appeared in Rolling Stone magazine and ran for 27 instalments, these would latter be released as a novel of the same name. It’s been called the book the defines a decade and having finished it I would have to agree.  Set in New York a wealthy stock broker is out with his heiress mistress in the wrong part of town ( the Bronx) when there’s an attempt car jacking. Speeding away from the scene the driver serious injuries the young black male who attempted the car jacking and attempts to forget about the incident hoping it will go away.  A corrupt politician, a journalist seeking fame and a group of lawyers all as slippery as the next turn this book into a great crime thriller. You’ll love, hate and pity the characters as this 80’s tragedy unfolds.  Of course I’m a third rate writer who could only dream of having a tenth of the success...

  Plots of R.A.F fighters intercepting  three air raids  In early 1938 the threat of war loomed large and preparations were made across the U.K, the chain home radar stations that linked together around the coast were under construction and being tested and prepared. The structure of R.A.F fighter commands leadership was also being organised with command and control bunkers built as part of the preparations. Facing one of the largest airforces in Europe at that time, most of whom had already been battle hardened in the Spanish civil war which had only just come to an end was a daunting prospect.  Splitting the country up in to different groups the south east of England found itself protected by 11 group commanded by Keith Park a highly respected New Statute of Air Chief Marshal  Sir Keith Park 11 group  Zealander. On the 22nd of June 1940 the battle of France ended in surrender and Britain braced itself for the coming conflict and the start of the Battle of...

  It’s my first rest day and the weather is nice and sunny so it’s an opportunity to get out on the bike and get some miles in.  Trying to push for a bit more distance today the aim was to get close to 30 miles, my left knee is a little niggly so I kept the route mostly flat following the Thames from Datchet to Bourne End.  Have fun stay safe 👍🏼

  It’s back to the gym today and with a nice east row to start it was on to a shoulder routine.  Shoulder press machine first nice and light to kick off 20kg going up to 30kg Lateral raise machine again starting low at 20 and going up to 25kg.  Upright rows next 20kg going up to 35kg and mirrored in military press. Front plate raises 10kg up to 20kg  Ab crunch’s on the machine to finish off 72.5kg up to 80kg.  Have fun stay safe 👍🏼

  My intention was to get out for a cycle this afternoon but the weather has taken a turn for the worse and it’s chilly. So I decided to get out for a walk instead.  On my last couple of walks I’ve been exploring new areas and footpaths that I’ve seen but never been down. Today I found an out of the way footpath that leads to a huge open field that’s a great picnic area. I then continued up to Blackpark and around the lake before coming home. It was just over 5 miles and it was nice to get some fresh air.  Have fun stay safe 👍🏼

  I know the weather is still nice but I had to go to the gym, I am paying the membership so I should make an attempt to visit.  I started off with rowing I tried pushing the pace today and got to just over 4km in 30 mins.  It was on the the preacher machine with plates to start. Nice and light at 15kg and working up to 25kg not much but it’s the first. Next door it’s the preacher bar station, I picked up the fat bar added 20kg to start then went up to 30kg it felt ok.  Cable curls next I tried to pick the same machine week on week to have the consistency. I kicked off with 20kg and worked up to 28kg.  Lat pull downs while I was waiting for the biceps machine starting at 42kg and going up to 55kg.  The biceps machine was free so I jumped on started with 20kg combined and worked my way up to 33kg and failure.  Bar to finish just light curls to kill it off 20kg down to 17.5kg  It was a nice session and I’m glad I took a rest yesterday I could feel t...

  Wooded meadow The weather is still nice so I decided to get out and make the most of it, only a short walk and an opportunity to listen to my current audio book Bonfire of the vanity’s by Tom Wolff it’s good and worth a listen. I took the camera with me but I’d spent lots of time in Langley park this spring so it’s difficult to find something new to photograph.  I covered just over 5 miles and even had a little exploring I found a footpath I’d never used before that took me near a farm with some horses. One of them was a curious fellow so I grabbed his picture. Curious horse  It was nice to get out rather than being stuck inside a hot flat watching rubbish on TV. If your indoors get out and explore you might find something interesting or learn something new.  Have fun stay safe 👍🏻 Daisy’s