Southey Woods, Castor Hanglands

Led by me, with Maureen and Gordon. Grey, very occasional light drizzle, a cool wind, but ideal temperature for walking. Less muddy than usual in the woods. Just over 10 miles.



Similar to this walk August 23rd andthis walk August 30th

Ufford church, at 44 metres above sea level, is one of the highest points in the area

Another slight variation on this walk. We started at the Willow Brook Farm Shop, and tookthe footpath just across the road heading more or less north-east. The path leads across a reclaimed landfill site with warning 'no smoking notices'.

Then it continues along the side of a wood. At the corner the path should go diagonally across a field to the minor road, but we walked along the edge and then for a short distance along the road. Freshly ploughed fields are hard work until the paths have been made good.



We turned left at the point where the path meets a bridleway at the junction with the road. We walked west along the bridleway, past a pond and a few trees until we reached Langley Bush Road. Here we turned right and walked north along the road as far as the end of Hilly Wood.

We turned left again (north west approximately), following a bridleway to High Field Road. We should have turned left here (see garmin trace) and walked south eastas far as the second block of woodland, called Jubilee Wood. A right turn just south of west took us to the path into Ufford, where we turned left and soon uphill, past the hall and the church.



We walked passed Hillside Close on the edge of the village, and another 400 yards later, turned right on to the track known as 'the drift' . We ignored the inviting seat here, and walked about half a mile south to the gate leading into Southey Wood. We followed the main waymarked path until after another mile we had a break at the well-placed picnic tables.

The tiniest bit chilly today!

After that it was straight past the car park and over the road to the track towards Upton. This leads down hill past the church and we chose to follow the road through the village, past a row of thatched cottages and some houses, then turned left past Model Farm, before heading left along a bridleway marked on the map as Blind Lane. We met a man trotting on a horse along this section.

At the end of Blind Lane there are three chopped tree trunks with the letter A,S,W scratch-carved into them - useful seats, but we resisted the temptation this time, and followed a path diagonally across the corner of a small field through some woodland and out onto a shady path heading east. This leads on to the open fields, now harvested, with the two improvised horse-jumps. See this post.



We carried on towards the east, until we met the north-south path, and turned left and north towards the Castor Hanglands nature reserve.

The main path through the reserve is clear and easy to follow. Today it was noticeably less muddy than it has been. Not much visible wildlife, but we did meet these horses.













We carried on through the reserve and then took the permissive path to the farm shop and cafe, where we stopped for lunch.



map and details

Phend Family Vital Records from Switzerland

On December 31, .. I was "exploring" databases on WorldConnect. In previous searches I had never found any entries on the surname Phend. Imagine my surprise when the results showed not just one family but several by that surname! All in the same database. I immediately sent an email to the contributor of that database and as a result found a distant cousin, Sonja Reid, something along the line of 4th cousin 5 generations removed, but a cousin nevertheless. And I will be forever indebted to her for the information she provided. At that time she didn't have my ancestor, Johannes Phend, in her database but Sonja was pretty sure that he belonged to her family. Sonja had been doing extensive research on the Gsteig bei Interlaken Parish and had the microfilms at her local Family History Center.

I gave her all the information available (names, dates of births, marriages, etc.) and, amazingly, two days later I received an email from her with transcriptions of the applicable records! And she sent printed copies the following week. I was so excited, I sent an email out to all of the Phend relatives that I had email addresses for, about 25 of them, and waited for their response. The result was disappointing, not a single one of them replied! Perhaps they didn't want to acknowledge that our immigrant ancestor, Johannes, was an illegitimate child? I don't know, it didn't make any difference to me. The only thing is, there will always be a dead end to that line since his father's name was not recorded. We only know that, according to his christening record, he was the illegitimate son of Catharina Fendt. But, along with the records Sonja sent, she also provided information for several more generations of Phend's and other connecting lines in Switzerland. It was Awesome.

Presented below are those transcriptions and cropped scans of the records. You'll definitely have to click on the images to be able to read the records. Johannes Phend and Barbara Wyss had five children: Barbara, Margaret, Johannes, and two infants who died at birth. Barbara died in 1821 while giving birth to the last of those infants. In 1824, Johannes married Susanna Kuebli and they had a son, Jacob, born in 1829.

Daughter, Barbara, was born 6 Jun 1807, christened 14 Jun 1807. Her parents are Johannes Pend, tailor, from Aarmuehle and Barbara Wyss. The witnesses are Jakob Pend, von (from) Aarmuehle; Magdalena Wyss, Jakob Blatters weib (wife), am Wasserbach; Anna Wyss, Hansen in der Polsteiten.

From the Habkern Kirchenbuch, 1627-1925 created by the Evangelisch-Reformierte Kirche. Microfilmed by the Genealogical Society of Utah at the Staatsarchiv des Kantons Bern, 1992-1995. Call Number: ..678 & ..679. FHL Film ..678, Births 1807, Page 13.

All of the records below are from Gsteig bei Interlaken Kirchenbuch, 1593-1875 created by the Evangelisch-Reformierte Kirche. Microfilmed by the Genealogical Society of Utah at the Staatsarchive des Kantons Bern, 1991. Call Number: ..438 - ..447.
Daughter, Margaret, was born 23 Feb 1812, christened 1 Mar 1812. Her parents are Johannes Bhend and Barbara Wyss, from Habkern. The witnesses are Johann Caspar Brugger, storekeeper from Aarmuehle; Margaretha Bhend, the old "Hauptmann's" daughter, from the same place, single; Magdalena Bhend, Jakob's (deceased) daughter, from the same place, single.
FHL Film ..440, Christenings 1812, Page 165, Entry 21.Witnesses: Johann Caspar Brugger, Handelsmann, von Aarmuehle; Margaretha Bhend, alt Hauptmans seel. Tochter, indidem, coelebs; Magdalena B'hend, Jakobs seel. Tochter, indidem, coelebs.

Son, Johannes, was born 20 Jul 1815, christened 30 Jul 1815. His parents are Johannes Bhend, tailor and Barbara Wyss from Habkern. The witnesses are Herr Christian Tschiemer, Gerichts Statthalter (some kind of a local official) from Habkern; Jakob Blatter, uxoris affinis, from Wasserbach in the same place; Barbara Wyss, born Wyss, from the same place.
FHL Film ..440, Christenings 1815, Page 251, Entry 96.Witnesses: Herr Christian Tschiemer, GerichtsStatthalter von Habkern; Jakob Blatter, uxoris affinis, am Wasserbach, indidem; Barbara Wyss, geb. Wyss, auf der Burg, an der Bolseite, indidem.

The birth and death of a child of Johannes and Barbara was recorded just above hers and says that a premature daughter of Hans Bhend from Aarmuehle and Barbara Wyss from Habkern was born dead on 10 Dec 1821. She was buried on 11 Dec 1821.
FHL Film ..446, Deaths 1821, Page 149, Entry 86
Text: Ein todtgebohrenes unreifer Maedchen der Hans Bhend von Aarmuehle und der Barbara Wyss vo Habkern.
Recorded just below the child's record is the death of Barbara Bhend, born Wyss. She died 14 Dec 1821, was buried 16 Dec 1821. Barbara Bhend, born Wyss of Habkern, the wife of Hans Bhend from Aarmuehle, married 9 Mai 1806, died from heavy, long childbirth requiring an operation. She was survived by 4 children. She was 37 years and 10 months old.
FHL Film ..446, Deaths 1821, Page 149, Entry 87Text: Barbara Bhend, geb. Wyss von Habkern, der Hans Bhend von Aarmuehle, Ehefrau geb. , cop. 9 Mai 1806. Storb als Kindbetterin, an geschwaren, langen daran sie eine operation ausgehalten, hinterlasst 4 kinder. Alter, 37 Jahr, 10 Monat.

The marriage record of Johannes Bhend and Susanna Kuebli. The banns were proclaimed January 4, 11, 18 and they were married in Gsteig on January 23, 1824. Johannes Bhend, from Aarmuehli, christened 18 January 1782, illegitimate child of Katharina Bhend, widower of Barbara Wyss, deceased, from Habkern. Widower since 14 Dec 1821. Susanna Kuebli, from Aarmuehli, christened 1 January 1786. The daughter of Jacob Kuebli and Verena Laederach, deceased, from Worb.
FHL Film ..444, Marriages 1824, Page 56, Entry 3.Text: Johannes Bhend, von Aarmuehle, get 18 January 1782, unehelich, Mutter, Katharina Bhend. Wittwer des Barbara Wyss sel. aus Habkern, seit 14 Dec 1821. Susanna Kuebli von Aarmuehle, get 1 Januar 1786, E. Jacob Kuebli, Verenea Laederach, sel von Worb.


Jacob [my 2nd Great Grandfather] was born 27 June 1829, christened 5 Jul 1829, the second child of Johannes Bhend and Susanna Kuebli. His father was Johannes Bhend, from Aarmuehli, the son of Katharina, deceased. His mother was Susanna Kuebli, from Aarmuehli, the daughter of Jacob and Verena Laederach from Worb. They were married, 23 January 1824. The witnesses are Jacob Kuebli, des kinds Grossvater (the child's grandfather); Jacob Kuebli, Sohn, der Mutter Bruder (son, the mother's brother); Margaritha Bhend, des Kinds Halbschwester (the child's half-sister). FHL Film ..440, Christenings 1829, Page 792, Entry 80.

Crystal Springs ..

Got out on the skinny skis for the first time this season. Jennifer and I were originally planning a trip to one of the MTTA huts but were not able to on short notice due to their archaic reservation system. (That and our hut of choice was already full.) We decided on one day of skiing but where would we go? While the state was already charging to park at Sno Parks, no grooming had actually occurred except on the MTTA trails. I checked with the ranger stationed in REI and he told me the I90 Sno Parks would be groomed starting December 5th. Since this information was not online I took it because it was all we had. Jennifer and I were still going to head that way because we didn't know where else to go.

Meany snow cats awaiting more snow

Signs were good when we arrived at the pass and it was snowing. We continued east and stopped at the Crystal Springs Sno Park. We figured with the snowmobile traffic, it would resemble groomed and be good enough to ski on. To our dismay, the parking lot was not plowed and a high clearance vehicle was needed to negotiate it. So we drove down the highway to Cabin Creek to see what was in store. When we arrived, we saw a few guys digging a spot out in the parking lot so they could park. I wasn't particularly interested in that kind of workout, so we went across the highway to check on the trail condition. It certainly was not groomed. There was a small trail trench in the middle and that was it. We decided to head back to Crystal Springs.

The road

From our earlier trip to the parking lot we knew there was a spot to park just outside the lot where the road was plowed and we would not be in the way. We parked there and geared up. Jennifer was excited to use her new skis for the first time. We skied through the parking lot and onto the trail while keeping a close eye out for snow machines. The snow coverage wasn't great, but we didn't have to ski on dirt anywhere. Once we hit the road, there was low coverage from wheeled vehicles driving on it, so we kept to one side. We decided to head down the road to Trollhaugen as they had run their snow cat on it but did not groom. (That, and it was off limits to snowmobiles.) We skied down that way on what was nice compacted snow from the cat. Once at an intersection, the cat had turned around and we ventured out into untracked snow on the trails there. We made a small loop and returned back out to the road.

Skiing in the untracked forest

On our way out we stumbled upon ski tracks heading into the Erling Stordahl trails and we followed them for a loop. While not quite as nice as skiing on the trails the cat had driven on, it was nice having the track in there for us already. After that loop we called it quits and headed home.

Faster skiing on tracked snow

It was fun getting out on the skinny skis for a change. They'll probably make me better on the fatter skis, because I find it more difficult to balance and ski with them. Jennifer had fun and cannot wait to go back. Unfortunately, the trails will not be groomed until December 5th. Which makes sense to me now that I saw that the coverage probably wasn't enough for a proper grooming. And they wouldn't want to start grooming on Thanksgiving Weekend for obvious reasons. (Although I bet the state could have earned more money if they did.)

Greetings from Montana!

So, here I am in southwest Montana, in what is called “God's Country” by some people. It is a gorgeous place. But I must say, there are many areas of this nation that can easily be referred to as God's Country. Our nation is, to put it mildly, a fantastically beautiful place. I've seen much of it in the last 10 months and, the good Lord willing, will see more of it in the future.

However, I'll be taking a short “vacation” from traveling for a few weeks. (It is hard to believe that I've been here over a week already!)

The Agenda: Simply relaxing and taking care of a few “chores” such as sorting photos and deleting duplicates from my hard drive, which is rapidly filling up. Never fear, ALL photos (except the obvious duds) are also stored on two external drives. The van is in need of a good cleaning too so I'll be removing everything from it as well as doing some sorting and discarding of things I think I no longer need, which I don't think will be all that much.

The local library has wifi (Yay!!) that is not “fast” but isn't too awfully slow so I've spent an hour or two there nearly every day (they are closed on Sunday and Monday). But most of my time has been spent working on the computer. I have made some headway with sorting and deleting images from the netbook but it is a slow and somewhat tedious process. However, seeing those pictures again has brought back some wonderful memories as well as more than a few “Huh, what is that? Why did I take that?” moments. LOL.

Now, Susan, if you're reading this, I just want you to know that I'm not complaining... but television reception is nearly nonexistent (one channel comes in but it's fuzzy) and NPR is the only radio station that comes in clear. Luckily they have a collection of DVDs and VCR Tapes (remember those?) so I've been watching a few movies (most I've never seen and some I've never heard of). It's almost like leading a “normal” life!

I haven't done much sightseeing yet, but that too is on the agenda. After all, Yellowstone National Park is only two hours away! The day after my arrival I visited with an acquaintance who also has a place here (he influenced Susan and Don's choice of vacation homes) and he gave me a list of “must see” places in the area. So Sunday afternoon (July 4th) I went for a drive along one of the area highways. Soooo pretty. I think I'm going to like it here...




I will be forever indebted to my friends Susan and Don for their generosity. I know I've said it before, but it truly cannot be said often enough – THANK YOU!

Palm Springs, CA

Leave Lake Havasu City and head towards Palm Springs for a free 3 night stay at Desert Pools RV Resort (less 1 hour of our lives we will never get back- sales pitch)

Gets a bit windy in this part of the country so there is a huge wind farm.

We arrive at the Desert Pools Resort in Desert Hot Springs

Our site is nice enough, but we find out the 2nd day that it is bordered by Oleander shrubs which Tucson was playing in and chewing on sticks on the site. We find out after he develops a cough that it is highly toxic. I of course panic and we take him to the vet. Vet thinks it is just a respiratory thing and we vow to keep him clear of Oleander in the future!



After boon docking in the Desert for a few weeks it is wonderful to sit and soak in the Mineral Hot springs Tubs. They ranged from 98 degrees to 104 degrees.

That made the88 degree mineral springs Pool feel refreshing in the evening.



We ran into our friends Gloria and Rich - who we met last winter in LaFeria Texas.

We even got to get together with my friend from High School, Shelley and her husband Rick. Had a nice dinner outin Palm Springs.

Enjoyed ourselves but now it's time to head to Truth or Consequences, New Mexico to do some work at a Hot Springs there!



Till Later!Meanwhile, we keep on Trek'n

Melissa, Gary & Tucson

NEW PA alpine route at Sunday School Crag

Tom Thomas engulfed in PA alpine sending this new line

Tom Thomas, Andy Shriner and myself decided to go out climbing. As per my last post conditions looked fickle at most SWPA ice areas. I didn't check Sunday School figuring its usually one of the first to come in. Neither Tom nor Andy have been to Sunday School making it agood choice as a first stop towards getting some climbing done. We had a fourth lined up for the day, but he bailed at the last minute making us an uneven 3 man team... Not the best way to go out when conditions have been so limited and everyone wants to climb as much as possible. We made the adventurous hike into the ice. It's fairly steep going and... well to make this readable, I'll just call it "alpine" in style.

Tom and Andy approaching our destination

Those that have been here know exactly what I'm talking about. After our approach, we stood before the ice laden walls. A little boney, but definitely climbable. In the recent years though, boney has become the standard, thus making todays conditions "in" I guess? Either way Tom was amped up and anxious as a high strung cat to start clawing at the walls. Understandably so having climbed here for 15+ years. How can't one get excited with all the various options of ice between chossy, usually protectable, rock sections. Its alpine climbing heaven (in an easily accessible, miniature form ;) I always find the climbing reminiscent of The Black Dike in NH. Not nearly as long, but harder, similar pitches in abundance and concentration. Tom racked up an arsenal of screws, gear and pins while Andy flaked the rope and set up to give Tom a belay. It was at that instant that I realized the predicament of having 3 climbers. Tom and Andy were paired up to have a go at a surely fun line. The reality that our ice climbing has been ultra limited and I could be picking a plum as well. It really bummed me out to say the least. I WANTED to be climbing too. May sound like a childish thing to some, if so, I guess our passions for ice climbing differ. Its pretty high on my list of fun things in the world... Here's one of a handful of days being wasted all because of a backed out partner. It made me realize how valuable my wonderful "better half" Laura really is. I can't stress how much of a trooper she is. I just wish she could've been there. We make such a great climbing team and having her there is priceless! So cutting my losses on climbing and being totally bummed about being partnerless. I decided to take advantage of the great climbing talent and work on some photograpic opportunities I seldom get. I started hiking and worked my way up around to the return of an adjacent cliff to click off some shots from different angles, hopefully documenting a first ascent.

From a distance, Andy is in blue at the base of the climb

The route looked awesome and Tom did a great job leading it for a first visit to Sunday School. He described the opening rock section to be quirky as do most other climbers. I found it took a few seasons to learn to read this odd style of climbing. The rock isn't as friendly as other local rock for hooking, etc. Slopers are the norm with some odd fractures here and there for a "thank god" moment every so often.

Tom enjoying the opening moves

Either way after a quick introduction he was into the business and working up through the rock to a steep snowfield which appeared to be in good condition.

Snow covered choss

The snow led to the base of a vertical ice section that offered some reasonable ice screws and three dimensional climbing around thin columns.

some ice...

Then more ice...

The ice ended at a steep rock cleft that offered up a piton placement before another snow ledge. Another section of ice was above, but extremely poorly bonded.

The rock cleft finish

Tom wisely opted to end the route at the base of this ice. He built an ice screw anchor and Andy followed the line in fine style. He seemed to be enjoying himself the whole way up, pulling his first "legit" pin and getting some V-thread practice in lean conditions. I snapped quite a few photos of all the action. Here's my photo highlight recap of the guys in action on this new unamed line at Sunday School Crag. Congrats go out to Tom and Andy on the great new addition.




Here's Andy in action seconding...

Sunday School partial crag overview

Andy starting up the ice

Tom belaying below the delaminating upper section

Crazy Angle, could be rotated 90 right?

Andy Shriner enjoying a wonderful day in PA

My artistic attempt

Visiting Neighbours at Work

A couple of weeks ago I visited Seven Cycles - a local manufacturer of titanium, steel and carbon fiber bicycles. I was given a tour of the factory and it was, of course, fascinating. I never tire of seeing local framebuilding shops: The machinery, the precision of the work involved, even the heaps of tubing and the scraps of metal lying around excite me. And there certainly was all that at Seven, on a grand scale.






To my surprise - seeing how they are TIG-welders mostly - there was even lugwork. Lots and lots of lugwork in fact, with interesting cutouts.






But what made the biggest impression on me during the visit was not the intriguing floor layout, the delicately carved titanium latticework, or the explanation of Seven's approach to the manufacturing process. It was the fact that I recognized so many of the faces I saw there.





It is hard to explain the state of mind this put me in without coming across as preachy about local manufacturing, which is not my intent. I am not thinking about the political-economic implications of local manufacturing as a concept, but about the very concrete existence of my local manufacturing. I mean, there is a factory 6 miles from my house, and in this factory they make bicycles from scratch, and the people making these bicycles - well I happen to know many of them and they live nearby, and sometimes we even see each other on the street. That is highly unusual is all. In today's society the relationship between objects and the people who make them has become completely abstracted. We do not expect our neighbours to make the stuff we might be using; we expect that stuff to be made by some nameless entity, far away from our little world.





When I told SevenownerRob Vandermark how much I enjoy watching frames being built, he replied that not everyone feels that way. For some seeing the process takes away the mystery, and it's more exciting if a frame just "appears" - shiny and new with flawless paint. I've heard that before. A framebuilder once told me that he discourages customers from watching him work, because it makes them more aware of the possibility of human error and later those customers are liable to feel more nervous about their frames. Psychologically, that makes sense. But it also means that consumers of goods prefer not to think about the process of making those goods, which has all sorts of far-reaching implications.





Maybe it's because I've made things by hand myself and used them, as well as given and sold them to others who've used them. But seeing how something is made excites me rather that ruins some illusion of flawlessness.






The first person I saw when I entered the production area during my visit was Bryan Hollingsworth of Royal H. Cycles - whom I watched make a lugged mixte frame for me more than 2 years ago now. He works for Seven(making carbon fiber frames!) a couple of days a week, and on Royal H. the rest of the time.





Welder Mike Salvatore has his own project on the side as well, albeit a Sketchy one.






Dan Pugatch lives in Somerville and is well known on the local cycling scene.





Dan writes ablog and contributes to Boston Retro Wheelmen, but what I didn't know is that he also has this cool tattoo that promotes cycling to work in regular clothing. Notice that the pirate is riding a step-through with a full chaincase. I wonder how the crate is attached to the rear rack, and whether there is a sword peg brazed onto the frame?






Jonathan Henig lives maybe 5 minutes from me and is a fellow photographer. First thing he did when we started talking was examine my camera lens and nod approvingly.





I had not met Neil Doshi before, but I knewhis bike - a happy marriage of titanium, green canvas and leather.






And now I saw it in person, along with dozens of other contraptions in the famous Bike Room. The bikes of Seven employees are staggeringly practical - lots of upright 3-speeds, handmade racks, huge saddlebags. More what I would have expected to see at Rivendell than at Seven, a company known for its racing bikes.






After my tour, I couldn't help but wonder whether I'd gotten the most out of it. The space is truly impressive and there is a positive energy that makes me want to run out and apply for a job there, regardless of what it is they'd assign me to do (I hear there is a titanium shavings sweeper position open?). In retrospect I should have asked more detailed questions about the manufacturing process. I should have taken close-up photos of the machinery with a medium format film camera. Instead I walked around talking to everyone, then watching them quietly, then talking some more. Not necessarily about bikes either. And then we all said "good-bye" and "see you soon" and then I rode my bike home - an idyllic route from Watertown along the Charles River Trail.






Cycling home after my visit, I remembered the first time I met Rob Vandermark. It was about a year and a half ago, when I had just discovered the Ride Studio Cafe. The first time I came in there was this tall, polite, unassuming guy serving coffee behind the counter. Naturally, I thought he was the barrista. Later someone came in with a flat tire and he went to take care of that, so then I figured he was the all-around shop guy. After a brief chat, it also turned out that he was my neighbour - living nearby in Somerville and commuting to Lexington by bike when possible. Only well into another conversation with him later did I learn, with some embarrassment, that he was the owner of both RSC and Seven Cycles. As a customer, you would never know. And of course the whole point is that it should not matter.







I guess all I'm saying is... My neighbours build bikes. And I think that's really, really great.