Perseids

We travelled down to Hampshire for the weekend.

First we got the train to Clapham Junction, and got out on the street for a break.

We’d left earlier than planned, which was a good idea since it turned out our expected connection was late leaving Waterloo “due to a shortest of train crew” or something like that. We got the first train to Woking and waited for the next available train to Petersfield.

In Clanfield we looked at the clear sky. It should be the start of the season for the Perseid meteor shower. As the remains of daylight faded I could make out Vega, Deneb and Altair, and figured out where Perseus should revolve into view, beneath Cassiopeia. But we were very tired after the journey and couldn’t carry on after seeing one or two possibles. The full moon created a lot of natural light pollution in one section of the sky.

The next morning I walked around to the shops in the village. I saw cyclists off travelling across the trackways between the fields.

Many moments of seeming absolute stillness, with no traffic or aircraft noise even faintly over the horizon. Local bus services only seem to include 4 in the whole of Saturday:

I went in a shop and got all the local newspapers. I noticed amongst them a pile of copies of The Light, the anti-lockdown newspaper. The guy at the counter didn’t know about it as he couldn’t scan a barcode so I gave the recommended 50p. It’s quite possible the copies were put there by someone else as I’ve seen them being dumped amongst the local newspapers at a supermarket in Crystal Palace as well.

Here are the notable stories in the Hampshire Chronicle on Thursday August 11th:

I saw at least one Ukrainian flag flying in support in Clanfield. These are from the Isle of Wight County Press from Friday August 12th:

The Petersfield Post including Clanfield & Horndean for Wednesday August 3rd:

And finally, this is what The Light is up to now:

We travelled around the area and went to see Emsworth, going down to the quay where we can see Hayling Island in the distance.

In the town:

Sadly the night sky on Saturday was cloudier and I couldn’t stay awake and interested past midnight again. On Sunday in the village pub we heard someone else expressing disappointment at the Perseids.

Going home from Petersfield station involved a rather nice semi-metallic subway to reach the platform.

And another warning on the way back, now emphasising that it will take longer than the official strike days: