March babies on the River Thames

A few weeks ago we were privileged to see the Egyptian Geese with their baby Goslings.

Since moving to Henley just before Christmas I have been intrigued by these calm attractive birds. There only appears to one one pair, but there could be more. If all these Goslings survive they could eventually match the number of Canadian Geese on the Thames.

Whilst the Thames has calmed down, I am saddened to hear of the devastation and human suffering that the recent floods have imposed on people around about.  I do hope that the insurance will soon pay up.  It must be so hard losing all your valuables and sentimental pieces to mucky river water!


Here are a selection of Egyptian Geese pictures taken by me.

Henley miscellany

 

Spring arrived very suddenly and the blossom came out on the trees - above a few in Kings Road Henley

 

A rather nice plant on sale in Waitrose at the moment!

 An example of the recent fog's that have appeared in the morning, and given way to lovely sunshine

 A charity bus in Henley Car Park

 Some lovely Victorian Houses - from one of the exits to the car park leading into Kings Road

 Hurrah the water has eventually gone down, these pictures were taken a few days ago

The Sue Ryder sale - Nettlebed - This Saturday

Today we set off for the Sue Ryder charity sale from Henley,

It is held in aid of the excellent Sue Ryder charity.  Sue Ryder have a nursing home in Nettlebed. It is rumoured that they may be coming to Henley when the Townland's Hospital is rebuilt.

The house that the nursing home is in is magnificent.

The sales is very crowded.

Below is a tape recorded from the 70s.  I had a similar version to this made by Ferguson

The items on sale range from clothes, to sheets to carpets, to furniture, to electrical goods.  A massive range of books are also there.  I got a copy of "Henley Heritage" by signed by the author Jan Baldwin'

 This is a preserved kiln, kept for historical purposes. It is a landmark in Nettlebed. Used for making bricks in days gone by

Finally some ancient stones in the grass by the roadside in Nettlebed, the caption in the photo below the shot underneath this text, gives part of the story about these stones.

Finally a mosaic shield

The Henley Pancake Race

The Henley Blogger was present at this year's Pancake race, his first experience of this event.

The Mayor of Henley was present, and was the voice on the megaphone throughout.

It was sad that there was not a large crowd, but of course Shrove Tuesday has passed, and therefore the relevance of the event to Saturday shoppers was not that apparent!

My hearty congratulations to all who took part on a lovely sunny day, but with a cold wind blowing at the time. Thanks for the free entertainment.

Here are some photos I took of the event - they speak for themselves!

 

 The Mayor flips his pancake really high!

In contrast on Tuesday the Wallingford event was well attended.  The Henley Blogger was delayed arriving due to the bus being held up in the traffic, but here are a few pictures of the crowds for you to see.  Maybe next year we could have our event on the day?