Gull watching at Whistable

Well they were watching me, and more specifically, eyeing my chips. Still, a refreshing change to be able to eat chips on the beach at Whitstable on Sunday, even if those beady eyes were monitoring every move... Very orderly though, one per post and one between each post - I think the collective noun for seagulls is a mob, but this lot were more like a platoon.

Isn't it pretty... on a global scale

This amazing image was on all the news bulletins yesterday (taken by Nasa's Terra staellite on January 7th 2010), but just in case you missed it here it is to enjoy and marvel at. I don't know which I find more impressive - the 100% covering of snow or the technology that allows such a picture to be captured in the first place, but either way here is Mother Nature at her most powerful. And despite what the Daily Express said yesterday, just because we're freezing, it doesn't mean global warming is a myth. Doh.



And for comparison, here's a non-frozen view.

Snow Snow Snow

A picture postcard evening in Canterbury, just enough snow (at last) to be able to go "isn't it pretty". So mid-evening, a gentle walk round town, and a couple of pictures showing a snow-topped cathedral, still displaying its Christmas tree. No people around, hardly any restaurants open, a magically quiet town for a change.

St Augustine's Hospital, Chartham

An aerial photo of St Augustine's Hospital at Chartham, long since closed. This picture was taken in the 1980s, and shows the sheer scale of our mental hospitals before the redevelopment and closure of many of them. Easy to see, even from the air, how patients could be simply stuck there for decades, a small cog in the health machine, doomed to be institutionalised, even with the best available care. In an era when mild educational disabilities could be a ticket in, many of these hospitals were the size of a small town.



I have a small booklet outlining the history of St Augustine's, but if anyone has any old photos, ephemera or memories to share I'd be happy to add them to the archive of East Kent Hospital history that I am slowly compiling. All original material can be returned once a copy has been made - and this applies to material on any hospital in East Kent. I have a list of about 50 so far, and the archive is still just a few boxes and several shelves in the library, but 2010 plans include a web-based database, a web site and a couple of filing cabinets to help make this vital local history more accessible to all.

More to come on other hospitals - watch this space.

Kings Wood

A New Year's Day walk - some crisp snow underfoot, crystal clear skies, and some beautiful scenery. Cobwebs were properly blown away, and resolutions made (sorry) to return for another walk very soon.