environment, natural history, personal, photography, pleasures

Waltham Abbey – 2

So this was the exciting part of our day out on Monday of this week …

For Christmas I bought Noreen and half-day falconry experience with Coda Falconry, who are a couple of miles north of Waltham Abbey. I also made sure we had a couple of guest passes to go with it, especially as I wanted the chance to do some photography (which was not just allowed but actually encouraged).

Noreen has always been interested in falconry, mainly because of its use in medieval times. So this was a superb chance to have four hours hands-on experience. And did we have a great time!

We were a small group: 4 taking part and 3 guest observers. Paul, the falconer, was patient, interesting and knowledgeable about a whole range of natural history and not just falcons.

Starting at midday, and after some brief introduction, Paul brought out a variety of birds, one at a time. And as the day wore on the birds got bigger and bigger!

The first three birds were in turn a tiny Scops Owl (from SE Asia), a European Kestrel, and a Barn Owl. Otis, the Scops Owl was really sweet; he was no more than six inches tall; and he loved being stroked, siting happily on a gloved hand, eyes shut, head tucked in, apparently dozing off!

Otis, Scops Owl
Otis, Scops Owl

Bramble, the male Kestrel, was really beautiful with grey head and chestnut back …

Bramble, Kestrel
Bramble, Kestrel

Next up was Dizzy, a female Barn Owl …

Dizzy, Barn Owl
Dizzy, Barn Owl

Paul let us all (participants and observers) feel the Barn Owl’s plumage as it is just so soft – unbelievably softer than anything previously encountered, and softer even than eider down – the feathers were almost ethereal! No wonder Barn Owls are so silent in flight.

All these birds were flown. They would all sit on a post, waiting for a gloved hand, with a piece of food, to be proffered. Then they’d fly over and enjoy the morsel. All the participants experienced this with every bird.

By this time it was pushing 1.30 and, after a short break, time for an hour-long woodland walk to show off Griffin, a 15-year-old Harris Hawk. I opted out of this part as I wasn’t sure how my knees and back would stand up; and besides it was very hot and sunny and a cool drink and some shade was needed. Just as well I did opt out as the walk lasted more like an hour and a half!


Griffin, Harris Hawk. © Coda Falconry

I used the gap to have a quick look at the “zoo” on the rest of the farm site (it is very family and school group orientated), see a few of the other birds of prey and have that cool bottle of pop.

When everyone returned about 3pm, Paul showed the final two birds of the day: a Eurasian Eagle Owl and a Golden Eagle.

Logan, the Eagle Owl, is a mean-looking, brute of a bird, although according to Paul he’s actually a softie! But he is certainly fearsome in flight.

Logan, Eurasian Eagle Owl
Logan, the fearsome Eagle Owl

Apparently there are now thought to be two pairs of Eagle Owls living in Thetford Forest, and there is a lone female on the loose in Epping Forest (not very far away from Coda’s site). Apparently the females (which as with all birds of prey are larger than the males) are quite capable of taking a fox. (One of Coda’s Harris Hawks has also been known to take a Greylag Goose – no mean feat!)

Last up was the largest bird of the day, Nelson, the Golden Eagle, who weighs in at around 6lbs (almost 3kg). We were all of us allowed to have Nelson sit on our hand: as Paul said “It’s not every day you get to hold a Golden Eagle!”.

Ere mate, that ones a bit tasty, innit!
Nelson: Ere mate, that one’s a bit tasty, innit!

The photo above is of Nelson sitting on my (thankfully gloved) hand. He was certainly a magnificent beast: around 75-80cm from beak to tail and with the wonderful bronze/gold head and nape which gives them their name. You wouldn’t want to meet either the Golden Eagle or the Eagle Owl on a dark night!

By this time it was pushing 4pm and the afternoon wrapped up with with the group seeing a number of Coda’s other falcons.

We went off very tired, rather stunned and slightly sunburnt for a much needed couple of pints!

Coda Falconry are a small, award-winning, friendly outfit, with a wide range of birds of prey most of which have been hand-reared and/or are rescues; their team even includes Loki the Raven, who is apparently incredibly mischievous and cunning. Coda do several different experience sessions as well as frequent filming, regular re-enactment displays (many at Headingham Castle), routine pest control work, and more.

What a brilliant day, and thoroughly recommended!

PS. More photos on my Flickr photostream at https://www.flickr.com/photos/kcm76/albums/72157692159960390.

arts, history, personal, pleasures

Waltham Abbey – 1

Monday of this week saw us on a special away-day to Waltham Abbey, but I’ll keep you in suspense about the specialness until part 2.

I was brought up in Waltham Cross, just a couple of miles as the crow flies across the Lea Valley and marshes from Waltham Abbey, and although we didn’t go there frequently, I remember the town from my childhood.

I’ve not been to Waltham Abbey since Valentine’s Day 1979 (a day with an inch of ice on every road!) when Noreen and I went out to an expensive restaurant there. And it’s even longer since I was there in daylight.

We didn’t have to be at our appointed place until midday, but having contracted a friend to drive us, we decided to leave early, at 8am, as we knew we had to negotiate the London suburbs to the M25 and then one of the most notorious sections of the motorway. After a slow start we were amazed to be parked up outside Waltham Abbey Church before 9.30. So we had time to spare.

The first requisite was breakfast, and The Gatehouse Café opposite the west door of the Abbey church was calling. Full English Breakfast all round as we didn’t know whether we would get lunch. I’d spotted the café had good ratings on TripAdvisor, and we weren’t disappointed.

Breakfast over, we still had plenty of time to investigate the Abbey church – which I had not been in since singing in a choir there 50 years ago! And let me tell you this is a church well worth a visit.

Waltham Abbey was re-founded by King Harold 1060, there having been a place of worship there since the 7th century. It is said that Harold’s battle cry at Hastings in 1066 was “For the Holy Cross of Waltham” – the Holy Cross being an early 11th century “relic” owned by the Abbey. And it is also reputed that Harold was buried in the Abbey church – there is today a memorial stone (the Harold Stone) some way outside the east end of the church, where the original high alter would have been – the church was originally at least twice the size of what you see today (indeed what you see today is only the nave of the original 12th century church).

The Abbey church itself is of Norman architecture, with decorated round arches in the nave, clerestory and triforium, and substantial round pillars some of which are decorated with spiral or zigzag cut stonework.

Waltham Abbey Tower

The abbey was re-founded (again!) as an Augustinian priory in 1177 by Henry II as part of his penance for the murder of Thomas Becket.

In 1290 the Abbey at Waltham was one of the resting places of Queen Eleanor’s body on its journey from Lincolnshire to burial at Westminster. On the orders of Edward I a cross was erected at each overnight stop, and the one at Waltham was placed at what is now Waltham Cross, being both the nearest solid ground to the Abbey and on the then road north out of London. Waltham Cross is one of only three of the original 12 crosses which survive; the others are at Geddington and Hardingstone. (The cross outside Charing Cross Station is a Victorian replica, and several hundred yards from the original site – but that’s a different story.)

Waltham was the last abbey in England to be dissolved by Henry VIII in 1540 – a mark of its importance – with the last Abbot and the cannons receiving handsome annuities or other payments. This included Thomas Tallis who had been a senior “singing-man” since 1538 and who went on to a post in the choir at Canterbury Cathedral. The Holy Cross also seems to have disappeared at this time. Since the Dissolution the Abbey church has been the local parish church, with the addition of a 16th century tower but demolition of the remaining Abbey buildings.

Waltham Abbey Denny Tomb
The Denny Tomb

The church still contains a couple of Tudor monuments; there is a section of painted wall and a Tudor window in the Lady Chapel; as well as some hideous Victorian additions. The 16th century tower is faced with some rather pretty flint-work and the church stands in a substantial, well-kept and treed churchyard. Much of the Abbey grounds are still preserved, although the only remains are a gateway and the remnants of a bridge.

All in all it is well worth a visit.

From here we went on to our to our midday appointment, which I’ll tell you about tomorrow in part 2.

amusements, ramblings

Ten Things

It’s “stick you neck on the block” time in this month’s Ten Things …

Ten Vanity Projects (Past and Present):

  1. London’s Garden Bridge (hopefully now permanently abandoned)
  2. HS2 (High Speed London to Birmingham, and beyond, rail link)
  3. Olympic Games
  4. World Cup Football
  5. Formula 1
  6. Heathrow Runway 3
  7. London’s Millennium Dome
  8. Pedestrianisation of Oxford Street
  9. London’s Emirates Dangleway
  10. Donald Trump (right; a vanity project all on his own)
current affairs, environment

Enviroconcern

Two articles on environmental concerns in the Guardian during the week caught my attention.

First George Monbiot slices into agriculture and our habit of eating meat in The best way to save the planet? Drop meat and dairy. While he may be technically correct, I don’t see this being very practical – although of course most of us could happily eat much less meat than we do.

Secondly Simon Jenkins inserts quite a few daggers between the ribs of Heathrow’s proposed Third Runway in Heathrow airport’s polluting new runway is a macho folly. Jenkins doesn’t say it in as many words, but it is essentially just a vanity project and willy-waving by the erstwhile BAA. To be sure, the alternatives aren’t too wonderful either, but then as I’ve been saying for a long time we have to get to grips with our fetish for flying everywhere – two, three, four long-haul holidays a year are just not sustainable.

amusements, medical

Something for PPG Awareness Week

This week (4-9 June 2018) is Patient Participation Group (PPG)** Awareness Week. And as I’m Chairmen on my GP’s PPG I thought we might have three, light, doctor-orientated amusement.

** What’s one of them then? You can find out the basics of what PPGs do in this short article from the Patients’ Association

beliefs, personal, pleasures, sexuality

Who’s Day

Today (2 June) is International Whores’ Day, aka. International Sex Workers’ Day.

As regular readers will know, and you don’t have to look too far back in the archives to find out, I am a firm believer that sex work should be decriminalised. I’ve never used the services of a sex worker, and I have no plans to do so, but I fail to see why people should not be able to pay for sex, or to sell sex, if that is their choice.

Prostitutes (of all types) perform a valuable social service. In part they may be considered part of the leisure industry, providing what might be called “alternative entertainment”. But they also provide service for many who would not otherwise have sex, or have the sex they want, and that can be a significant factor in preserving mental health.

Fortunately there does seem to be a growing body of academically rigorous evidence that decriminalisation is the best way to protect the human rights of sex workers, and ensure they can follow their chosen profession in safety, with unobstructed access to legal recourse where there is violence or abuse. New Zealand has shown the way on this, as have the World Health Organization and Amnesty International.

I don’t want to have to write at length about all the reasoning, so here are just a few relatively recent reports of some of this research.

Decriminalising sex work is the only way to protect women – and New Zealand has proved that it works; Independent; 29 May 2017

Decriminalising prostitution could ‘dramatically’ reduce sexual violence and STI transmission; Independent; 20 December 2017

Decriminalising Sex Work Is Better for Everyone; Big Think; 12 December 2017

Amnesty International policy on state obligations to respect, protect and fulfil the human rights of sex workers; Amnesty International; 26 May 2016

Q&A: policy to protect the human rights of sex workers; Amnesty International; 26 May 2016

Decriminalising sex work in New Zealand: its history and impact; Open Democracy; 21 August 2015

I don’t understand why prostitution is illegal. Selling is legal. Fucking is legal. Why isn’t selling fucking legal? You know, why should it be illegal to sell something that’s perfectly legal to give away?
– George Carlin

Why is the decision by a woman to sleep with a man she has just met in a bar a private one, and the decision to sleep with the same man for $100 subject to criminal penalties?
– Anna Quindlen

environment, history, links, medical, science

Monthly Links

Here’s this month’s collection of links to items you may have missed the first time round. As usual we start with the seriously scientific and end with … the not so seriously scientific.

Science, Technology & Natural World

London blogger Diamond Geezer visits the National Physical Laboratory in Teddington. I’ve never been there, but I really should because, although it will be much changed, my mother worked here as a draughtsman’s tracer during the WW2.

A guide to the spiritual world of Hawaii’s lava. Guess you need it if you insist on sitting atop a huge volcano!

We have this notion that all humans are descended from a small population in East Africa. However the current theories are that this is wrong and that our origins are much more diverse and colourful. [LONG READ] [£££]

Now you might think this is bit of an obvious thing to do, but scientists have finally unravelled the genetic secrets of roses.

So what sort of nutter spends his life being stung by insects? Justin O Schmidt is the answer.

Health & Medicine

Do you keep marine fish? If so do you know how deadly your aquarium might be?

It seems that migraine changes your brain and the way you experience the world – all the time, not just during an attack. [LONG READ] [£££]

Nothing is off limits at the Menopause Cafe – watch the video!

Sexuality

Oral sex has been around for a long, long time: here’s a brief history from ancient China to DJ Khaled.

Environment

So how are we really going to solve our waste problem? New Scientist takes a look. [£££]

This is why I don’t indulge in long-haul, safari holidays: it seems tourism’s carbon impact is three times larger than previously estimated.

Following which, the Guardian looks at the true cost of eating meat, only to find this is also even worse that we thought.

But then we can’t even manage the food we don’t eat: Sainsbury’s has dropped a pilot project to halve food waste.

Social Sciences, Business, Law

So here’s a 45-year-long American study on how to raise genius children. No it isn’t for parents to “hothouse” normal kids but to take the brightest and stretch them. Now explain to me why we shouldn’t have Grammar Schools! [LONG READ]

History, Archaeology & Anthropology

New evidence suggests that ancient humans settled the Philippines 700,000 years ago. That’s around 600,000 years before previously thought.

The Ancient British Queen Boudica was the scourge of the Roman’s in Britain. Or was she?

How about finding an 800-year-old label to date a shipwreck in the Java Sea – and thereby rewrite its history?

Wow! Just, WOW! An historian has created an incredibly detailed map (above) of the medieval trade routes across Europe, much of Africa and much of Asia. Absolutely stunning!

London

So just why has the number of Londoners using are tube recently fallen so dramatically?

Lifestyle & Personal Development

Scientific American reckons that we don’t understand ourselves as well as we think, and offers ten things you don’t know about yourself.

If you’re really curious, and not at all paranoid, you can get a clue as to how long you are going to live.

Every year there is a Boring Conference in London. Diamond Geezer reports on this year’s siesta fiesta.

Did you ever want to know everything Facebook and Google know about you? Here’s how. [LONG READ]

Shock, Horror, Humour

And to round off this month’s offerings, we have not one, but three amusements …

Ever wondered what to do with your old bras? Well you can always donate them to the cows.

Not to be beaten by the Boring Conference, the Flat Earth Conference suggests the Universe is an egg and the moon isn’t real. There’s another report here.

And finally … If you ever happen across a Tube Snake, do make sure you report its location as they are an endangered species in need of conservation.

Toodle-pip.

environment

More on Trees

The Conversation has an article Forests are growing again where human well-being is increasing, finds new study.

This is true as far as it goes: wealthier countries are increasing their forest cover, and poorer countries are losing forest. But of course there are caveats:

[S]witching from net forest loss to net gain may simply involve sourcing things like wooden furniture or paper pulp from abroad, often from poorer nations with weaker environmental policies and safeguards … [for example in] Vietnam, where national increases in forest cover were linked to sharp increases in imported wood, about half of which was illegal.
. . .
… recovered forests often aren’t all they seem. Under some definitions they can include plantations of oil palm or rubber – technically “forests”, yet with few of the ecological benefits of the environment they replace.

Caveat emptor, as usual!

The Woodland Trust have an article on the fight for street trees:
Street fighters: Protests, petitions, planting and paints. It takes all sorts to stand up for street trees. It includes the little section:

Urban trees hold historical and cultural significance. They’re part of our urban heritage. They’re landmarks. Old friends.
But they also serve us in other ways. They clean our air. They shade our pavements. They lift spirits, feed wildlife and beautify our surroundings. They even increase the value of our homes.
Without trees, our towns and cities would be very different places.
. . .
What do street trees do for us? They create habitats for wildlife. Trees provide homes and food for birds, insects and other wildlife.
They promote health and well-being. People exercise more and feel better around trees.
They prevent flooding. Trees intercept rain water and can even slow floods.
Trees improve air quality. Trees reduce air pollution and keep our cities shaded and cool.
Trees elevate house prices. Houses are worth more and sell quicker on streets with trees.

This is why I believe in trees.