18/5/24 Woking

 

    Today we venture down to ballet - yes ballet - definitely not for us , but Isla does ballet on a Saturday morning . It's held in a Methodist church hall , and a very busy one at that . Ballet classes on one side and martial arts on the other . The ballet classes change every half hour while we're there . The kids disappear and leave us to our own devices , Isla has aerials after lunch , Justin has cricket , so we head home for lunch .

   Some of the gardens , although small are brilliant - a stunning pink rhododendron with slate for ground cover . Others are as you would expect , not so good . 

It's funny , what we think looks unkept , is actually like that for a reason - No Mow May - It's growing season , so there's lot's of new growth and with that there's lot's of insects needing food from nectar etc , so with that they are looking after the ecosystems , and is promoted by local councils etc. We are hoping they'll tidy things up in the coming months. 

    Here's some of the typical housing here - this is their front yards .

      More rhododendrons , there are many different colours about .

      Small pink roses also grow happily beside the canal .

     I'm sure someone will know the name of this tree , it has long sprays of flowers , which breaks up the green canopy 

                                           Another pretty pink one on display near the canal .

         And some more 

     New growth is bursting out everywhere , seems we timed our arrival at the best time .

    There are alleyways at regular intervals around the streets , allowing access to other streets , shops & the canal . Generally they are bitumen , some have a rather large amount of stinging nettles growing on the sides . Add the blackberries as well and the usually 3 person wide track is down to one .

     After some lunch we decided to go for a walk towards where Justin was playing cricket at Old Woking Cricket Ground . The track took us over the railway tracks - which there are numerous - and into another section of town . The gardens and flowers on display were excellent , here's a stunning rose that was beside our path .

    This tree- about 500mm thick was covered in this vine which looked like Ivy - the tree was covered in vines .

   Another rhododendron , this time orange .

    Some peonies .

    We found a gateway that lead down a 2 lane road/pathway to Woking Park . It was covered overhead with Elm trees and made for a stunning walk . It lead us down to an area that opened up into parkland , tennis courts , the Leisure Centre where Isla does swimming classes and eventually to where we found the cricket ground .

   Had an encounter with one of the locals on the way - a squirrel that was equally inquisitive about us as we were of him . He approached us from 10m or so away , came within a couple of metres before scooting off up a tree .

   From here we went around to the cricket ground and had a pleasant afternoon - the sun came out and it was nice and warm - something that's bit hit & miss over here 😂. We are certainly feeling the weather difference here - don't think we packed enough warm clothes , but we're surviving . The cricket ended and we chatted to some of Justin's team mates , who were all quite happy to come over and say hello . Might have enjoyed a beer as well - the clubhouse is licensed !!

Here's a map link :- https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid=1qReu_CTdfW-CfB8GpPY4gjKj77QBqAU&usp=sharing