Past Remains

I'm breaking the tradition of only posting one blog per year!

I didn't intend to make a yearly blog, and was rather surprised to realise that I was. However, things are all over the place this year, so I'm going to make another update...as much to put my own thoughts in order, and also to explain why the site is a bit sketchy at the mo.

After being quite ill for the first part of the year, and then having another bad bout recently, I'm actually feeling better than I have done for quite some time...holding my breath and crossing all my fingers, and it's still early days but my health is starting to balance out...providing I remember to eat three decent meals a day and keep taking iron and other vitamins! There comes a point in life when you can't run on empty anymore.

Anyway, I've been making various visits plus revisiting and taking more photos to complete and update those that need it. Whilst getting my health sorted I haven't had the energy to do much else, but I've just recently scanned and post-edited a whole backlog of prints, with more still to do. It's a case of doing a bit at a time, and although I haven't posted anything up for a few weeks, there's a lot to do off-line in order to bring everything up to date.

What I have done...

I finally found out when the United Reformed church in Seaton is open, made a visit and took a load of interior pics. Some of those are on a film that hasn't been finished and processed yet, but once I have all of them they'll be uploaded and added to the page and gallery album. At the same time I picked up a booklet with history and info, which I didn't have before, so will be adding that to the page too. I began overhauling the St Andrew's church in Colyton page, as there wasn't much on there, and wasn't happy with some of the photos. So I made another visit and took three films worth! Those are now ready, but I need to re-sort all the pics I have, decide what to keep, delete the ones on the site and replace with the new batch. It's all these odd bitty things that need to be done, and I think I mentioned in my last blog that this year is one of slogging to get things up to date.

Some other photos that I didn't like included Seaforth Lodge and Check House, which are in the Seaton Blue Plaques page and album. I've now retaken them and will be adding new pages for each of them, as well as exchanging the old for new in the Blue Plaques. One of my new visits this year, Coastal Erosion in Seaton, has a stack of photos to be added since the torrential rain and floods in July, including the Old Beer Road subsidence and mudslides...which also means re-organising and adding to the page There is just one new item to be added..."the most photographed lamp post in Devon", in Colyton. It's not new to my camera mind, as I took photos of it some years ago, but again they didn't come out to my satisfaction, so I retook them after visiting the church recently.

They'll be a lot more overhauling, as many of my early pages contain only a few pics and scant info. To that end, I've been doing a lot of research, both on and off line, and have been forking out money and sending off for books, booklets and other documents. I haven't been totally lazy! Honest!  

As well as all the slog, I've made a list...a humungous list...of places I want to visit. I found out some interesting facts about various places whilst doing extensive research on related areas, and some of those will be visited in the near future. After all, a girl's got to have a break!  And, during the worst days when I was housebound, one of my favourite things to do was to get on Google Earth and travel up and down the coast, and 'walk' on street view around villages where I haven't been before. Not quite as good as being out and about myself, but a very good substitute, and a great way of finding new and interesting stuff.

Another thing I really want to do is get the Lyme Bay section up and running, as well as the other things that are in the pipeline. I've made a start on some of the town pages, the Cider & Wine page and the Seasonal Diaries, and have gradually been working out how to organise the new sections. I think that one of my problems is that I added so much to do, that when my health deteriorated it all became too much to cope with. Once I get some of the backlog out of the way and start publishing some of the new sections I'll be able to sail through it easier. Fingers crossed again! 

So that's where I am at the mo. Cheers for now and thanks for looking.

Apologies for the lack of new site visits lately. Two reasons. Firstly, I've been seriously unwell since Christmas and haven't been able to get out and do much. And secondly, the ones that I have managed to do are more suitable for a local history book that I'm currently writing, therefore I'm keeping them a bit secret at the mo. Oh, and another reason is that I've been gradually re-working the older pages, updating and adding more pics.

There are a few pages and albums that I still need to take more pics for. Illness has stopped play as far as travelling is concerned, but I'll hopefully be adding those in the not too distant future. I have Rougemont Castle to complete, with photos of the towers and outer walls, Rougemont Gardens and better pics of Rougemont House, plus some extra details of Bradninch Hall. And, I still need to take interior pics of Lyme Regis's Catholic Church and also Harbour Inn in Axmouth in order to complete the pages and albums. Whilst in Exeter, I plan to visit the Royal Albert Memorial Museum, plus add pics of other places. Lots to do, as soon as I'm able!

I'd love to pretend that I've spent a lot of time working on the Lyme Bay section, which is still under construction. Sadly, I'd be a liar if I did! The whole idea has turned out to be rather complicated, but I have started to work on the individual pages for it...a bit at a time...and I might reorganise it somewhat before it's up and running.

Meanwhile, I've added 'Other Photography' to the nav bar, in order to showcase pics of favourite subjects that have nothing to do with the website as such. Having said that, they are all taken in the area where I live, which adds to the picture...and some of which will also eventually connect with the site visits.

That's about it for now! I plan to slog this year to organise, complete things started and bring things up to date. If health allows it'll be a bonus to get out and about a bit further afield and add some interesting things on the way. Meanwhile, I hope you enjoy and thank you for looking in at my part of the world.

Time to update, methinks!

What Happened.

Last year was a real slog due to various factors, and I didn't get around to doing everything that I'd planned. However, I did catch up with the Site Visit pages of all the albums that I'd previously uploaded, and published the pages to the new explores and visits as and when. Just by way of explanation...I began this website primarily as a way of showcasing my urbex explores (urban exploration of derelict and abandoned buildings), although my intention was also to include various interesting, unusual and historical local places. As it happened, the latter has taken over. Partly because I've already documented the local (and reachable) urbex places known to me and haven't discovered anything new, but also because I've developed a passion for local history. And, for the next stage of the site...coming soon...I need to add lots of other items to be able to do that. Nearly there!

What's Happening.

Right now, I'm tidying up the site and getting it a bit more ship-shape. I've just discovered how to re-order contents on the Site Visit contents page, lol, so the categories are now where I want them to be. I was going to split it into more than one page as it was rather unwieldy, but I've gradually trimmed it up by tweaking here and there, so it will stay as is for now. I've also been gradually adding more photos to the Site visit pages, and making them more interesting and comprehensive with a short potted history (hopefully the interesting bits) and a good overall view of what the place or building is about...also a personal view with anecdotes and some unusual facts and observations, so not just dry facts. Still a lot to do, but getting there.

There are still more places to visit and document before I go onto the next stage...and, to be honest, I'm sort of putting it off because it's going to be a big job!  Something else, which I've only just had the idea for, is to add some pages about activities which occurred throughout the local area at specific times in history....and I've just begun a write-up about Smuggling in East Devon & West Dorset, with lots of pics and stories connecting various places visited. A scope there for other 'industries' too, I reckon. 

What's About To Happen

One of the things which struck me when I first began exploring and researching info about places, was the connections between them. I was amazed, because most local history books don't seem to show that very well but tend to present each historical place or event as a stand-alone. I came across lots of interesting and odd facts that connected places in the most unusual way, and soon realised that the best way to present that was through a website, which has the flexibility of linking these sites, as well as adding to them. It's been a two-year journey for me to learn, set-up, build and add to this site, but being able to make those connections will soon be the next stage. A totally enjoyable journey, I might add. This is my passion and I've loved every minute.

And I hope that my visitors enjoy and get something out of it too.

Hello! Just a quick first entry to let visitors know where I'm at with the site and what's coming up in the near future.

What's Happening

Well, I've been uploading a stack of photos and there are now 80 albums in the Photo Gallery. The latest one is Racal Electronics (Part 1), and there'll be more pics added once they've been sorted and scanned. Part 2 of Racal will contain photos of it's demolition and the final remains. The site visit pages were created at the same time as the albums, but I haven't completed the write-up on them yet, as I've been keen to get the photos and backlog of previous visits done, for various reasons...plus it's more fun than doing the write-up! I'll be getting those published as soon as possible.

What's Going To Happen

Regarding the history and information on the site visit pages: Some of the pages are very scarce in the history department, mainly because I haven't been able to find out much...or there wasn't any in the first place! However, even where there's a lot of history I've kept it to the bare minimum; just the salient points as a summary from the much larger bulk of information which can be read about elsewhere. And to that end, I will be adding source links and references...hope I haven't given myself too much work there!  They'll also be additional history during a further stage of the site construction...more about that later!

Something I'll need to be doing at some point is to re-organise the Site Visits contents page. It's become very long and unwieldy, and the categories need to be re-ordered. I'm not sure how I want to do it yet or where I want everything to be, but will probably be split over more than one page. It will mean that both the contents page and the individual site visit pages will be unavailable for a short time, but I'll give notice of that on the Home page and in a blog as to when it'll be...and more importantly, when they'll be back again!

I've almost finished the backlog of previous visits...just two biggies coming up, namely Warners Holiday Camp (Coastal) and the Axe Valley part of The Taunton Stop Line (Military - WW2). There'll be a few stragglers left; some bits and bobs which I may or may not include (haven't decided on that yet), then it'll be recent visits from then on. Phew! Never thought I'd get there!  Another thing I will be doing is to complete previous albums where the pics need to be put in proper order and add captions to them all. Now I'm convinced I've given myself too much work!

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed and continue to enjoy the site. I did write a much longer blog, with more about my intentions for it, but I tried saving as a draft and lost the whole lot! That'll teach me to copy it first! So I'll write some of the other stuff another time.

Thanks for looking.