Yeah I think they must be pretty allusive as I used to go fishing with my Dad all the time & we never saw one. Would even visit parks or sanctuaries that they were supposed to be known to populate & still never had any luck!!!😕
That was a great video, steam always wins! I saw I kingfisher last year near high rocks, they are very very fast! I did enjoy that, well done great video 👍
Hi Richard. Nice film. An interesting walk is from Tonbridge sports ground to Hayesden weir and beyond. There used to be an area there called the Shallows which is now mostly dry. That is because a new flood relief channel was dug to offer some protection to the town which constantly suffered from bad floods during the 1970's. Unfortunately, the Shallows was a spawning ground for fish and the relief channel (sometimes called the New Cut ) deci.ated the angling for many years. Between the sports ground and Hayesden is a stretch of river called the Long Reach which is lined with pill boxes. These were frequently used by night anglers in the winter for shelter! On your walk past the Town Lock if you had kept going you would have come to Eldridges lock. As a 14 year old myself and a friend used to walk from the train station to Eldridges to spend the weekend fishing for pike and eels. Sadly, I don't get up there too often these days as I now live in West Sussex and it's not practical. All the best, stay safe.
A good bit of deduction Kevin. Yes there is a golf range nearby and must have been the source of the balls, although they would need a serious wack to reach that far!
Ooh! Good job Arun! A Kingfisher - how cool! Enjoyed your river walk Richard! Getting a bit too cold for me to go do one of those now, but I love living vicariously through you!
@@RichardVobes we are starting to get into the 50's now. However this past week we had comfortable 60's but I had to try to button down the garden for the Winter. I'm on bed rest for the next few days as I just had an injection in my hip yesterday & in a couple of weeks I go back in for an epidural in my lower back (which will put me down for about a whole week). So this why I am watching you vicariously right now - but def feeling the change of seasons in my bones (lawdy I sound ancient!😅🙄).
Can I tell ya kind of a funny (but gross) story about Kingfishers?!? For years I wanted to see one. One thing that was kind of special between me & my Dad was we always liked to bird watch & when he passed (12 yrs on Oct 21st) I took over the back yard feeders for him. We always like to see what new birds we could attract to our yard or spot when we were out in nature. The Kingfisher always alluded us (& Dad was an avid fisherman, outdoorsman & even worked for the Forest Service for many years). My Mom however - her last job - her office sat right across from a small park with a small pond in it that had a pair of Kingfishers that apparently resided there. She said it (they) was the prettiest blue gray bird & had the most interesting rattle call that she just got a thrill out of. What didn't thrill her so much was, almost daily that bird would fly over to a tree right out side of her window w/ a frog (or whatever it's daily catch was) in it beak & then proceed to beat it to death on a branch right in front of her!!!😖😝😅 I did finally see my first Kingfisher by chance though. Earlier this Summer while driving through town here in Eugene while crossing a bridge over the Willamette River. It was sitting up on a telephone/electrical wire above the river. I only got a quick glance, but there was def no denying that beautiful blue gray bird!🤗
Canals are making a comeback, Droitwich canal has recently been reopened, Huddersfield narrow canal about 20 years ago and I think Lichfield is in the planning stage, plus numerous other places around the country.
Hooray for Kingfishers. More to help them. Napoleon came to Ok ent, and his great great great nephew just got married in Paris. Living and working in London.
If anyone that loves photography and uses Instagram look at the photographs of Steve Bailey photography he has posted photographs of a Kingfisher they are stunning photographs
Richard Trevithick was the man who first used steam to drive vehicles around 1801 for a locomotive loco, and 1802 for a 4 wheeled vehicle after he designed the first Hi Pressure Boiler making this possible , the replica car will exceed 25mph !!
Could you do a video of some towns that have US namesakes? Most of the namesakes would be in Massachusetts, Connecticut, New Hampshire, New York state.
@@RichardVobes yeah, they even named the counties after yours. Its confused me at time while watching you that I'll think "oh I had ancestors that came from Norfolk" (example) then go back & look up my notes & see that "oops! No I guess they settled in ? Co, Mass, NY or NJ." Like one of them was a wealthy tobacco merchant & grower but refused to change religions during King Henery & Elizabeth I reigns so they started taking away all of his properties in England & Holland, all his merchant ships, etc. So he ended up settling in Ilse of Wright Co, VA.
I always thought that the railways and the canal worked together up until the 1964 to a fashion and it was the lorries, trucks and the building of the motorways that spelled the end of the canal transportation business.
I think you are right to a degree, but the writing was on the wall for the majority of freight when railways could move stuff within hours and not days or weeks.
@@RichardVobes The chillington interchange near Wolverhampton is a listed site were the good from the canal was placed or exchanged to London and North Western Railway using cranes to lift the goods from one to the other. The canal-rail interchange continued in use into the 1960s, the site was later used for road transportation and the crane was used up untill the year 2000 historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1252658 th-cam.com/video/K1DbNqwnJbw/w-d-xo.html
Wonder if Arun is named after the river? I was just trying to think of anyone else named after rivers. I believe Trent is quite a common man's name in the States. And there's Avon Barksdale in The Wire, but maybe fictional characters don't count. Never heard of a Medway or a Humber. (Except for the car.)
Yeah Trent is a pretty popular man's name over here. Don't know about other English rivers - but a popular female name you hear over here is Mackenzie/McKenzie. We have a pretty well known McKenzie river in Oregon (not far up the road from me)
@@ramibu239 Interesting. I also remembered that Shannon is a popular name for girls (mainly in America) and it does apparently come from the Irish river Shannon. And I've seen people named Hudson. But it's a complication that the river Hudson (and presumably MacKenzie) are named after people, so it's difficult to know whether someone is named after the river or after the family name. I suppose the name Shannon might be considered 'romantic'. English rivers don't usually sound romantic. I wouldn't want to be called Blackwater, or Mersey. Let alone Ouse. I just thought of a Scottish example: Clyde.
Richard Vobes Yep. As one does for Tunbridge Wells (the wells at Tunbridge) - the spelling was interchangeable for Tonbridge/Tunbridge until it was standardised the way it is now by the Tonbridge Local Board in the late 1800s
Sorry Richard but im shouting "stop calling it TOnbbridge at you today" ;) Just in case you dint see my last post "Why Tunbridge Wells and Tonbridge are pronounced the same way" www.kentlive.news/news/nostalgia/tunbridge-wells-tonbridge-pronounced-same-1086993 This page has the history of Tonbridge and I think you will enjoy it.
Lovely stroll along the river - Arun was very lucky to see a kingfisher - I have seen one once, years ago when fishing with my dad
Great to be in the lovely outdoors.
Yeah I think they must be pretty allusive as I used to go fishing with my Dad all the time & we never saw one. Would even visit parks or sanctuaries that they were supposed to be known to populate & still never had any luck!!!😕
That was a great video, steam always wins! I saw I kingfisher last year near high rocks, they are very very fast! I did enjoy that, well done great video 👍
Thanks George.
Very much enjoying this mini series with you & Nigel.
Thanks Dave.
Hi Richard. Nice film. An interesting walk is from Tonbridge sports ground to Hayesden weir and beyond. There used to be an area there called the Shallows which is now mostly dry. That is because a new flood relief channel was dug to offer some protection to the town which constantly suffered from bad floods during the 1970's. Unfortunately, the Shallows was a spawning ground for fish and the relief channel (sometimes called the New Cut ) deci.ated the angling for many years. Between the sports ground and Hayesden is a stretch of river called the Long Reach which is lined with pill boxes. These were frequently used by night anglers in the winter for shelter! On your walk past the Town Lock if you had kept going you would have come to Eldridges lock. As a 14 year old myself and a friend used to walk from the train station to Eldridges to spend the weekend fishing for pike and eels. Sadly, I don't get up there too often these days as I now live in West Sussex and it's not practical. All the best, stay safe.
Thanks, Adrian for the extra information.
I live in Thailand , we have Kingfishers as well ,. exactly the same colours as the UK ones
Peter Mcintosh I seen a. Crow. This morning it was a pink one.
How lovely!
Another nice video Richard thank you.
Was there a golf driving range near there? That was a driving range bucket from a golf ball machine
A good bit of deduction Kevin. Yes there is a golf range nearby and must have been the source of the balls, although they would need a serious wack to reach that far!
I wondered if they were either nicked - or collected up and forgotten to be returned.
@@MrNas42 200yds?
@@KevinsRambles 200-250 yards I would say.
@@MrNas42 Just out of my range but some guys could do that easily, I could once upon a time when I played off of a 10 handicap
Ooh! Good job Arun! A Kingfisher - how cool!
Enjoyed your river walk Richard! Getting a bit too cold for me to go do one of those now, but I love living vicariously through you!
Not too chilly here - still mild for the time of year.
@@RichardVobes we are starting to get into the 50's now. However this past week we had comfortable 60's but I had to try to button down the garden for the Winter. I'm on bed rest for the next few days as I just had an injection in my hip yesterday & in a couple of weeks I go back in for an epidural in my lower back (which will put me down for about a whole week). So this why I am watching you vicariously right now - but def feeling the change of seasons in my bones (lawdy I sound ancient!😅🙄).
Lovely walk 👍🏻
Can I tell ya kind of a funny (but gross) story about Kingfishers?!? For years I wanted to see one. One thing that was kind of special between me & my Dad was we always liked to bird watch & when he passed (12 yrs on Oct 21st) I took over the back yard feeders for him. We always like to see what new birds we could attract to our yard or spot when we were out in nature. The Kingfisher always alluded us (& Dad was an avid fisherman, outdoorsman & even worked for the Forest Service for many years).
My Mom however - her last job - her office sat right across from a small park with a small pond in it that had a pair of Kingfishers that apparently resided there. She said it (they) was the prettiest blue gray bird & had the most interesting rattle call that she just got a thrill out of. What didn't thrill her so much was, almost daily that bird would fly over to a tree right out side of her window w/ a frog (or whatever it's daily catch was) in it beak & then proceed to beat it to death on a branch right in front of her!!!😖😝😅
I did finally see my first Kingfisher by chance though. Earlier this Summer while driving through town here in Eugene while crossing a bridge over the Willamette River. It was sitting up on a telephone/electrical wire above the river. I only got a quick glance, but there was def no denying that beautiful blue gray bird!🤗
Thanks so much for that delightful story! :)
Fame at last, Nigel!
Canals are making a comeback, Droitwich canal has recently been reopened, Huddersfield narrow canal about 20 years ago and I think Lichfield is in the planning stage, plus numerous other places around the country.
It is great to see the canals coming back.
Hooray for Kingfishers. More to help them. Napoleon came to Ok ent, and his great great great nephew just got married in Paris. Living and working in London.
If anyone that loves photography and uses Instagram look at the photographs of Steve Bailey photography he has posted photographs of a Kingfisher they are stunning photographs
Richard Trevithick was the man who first used steam to drive vehicles around 1801 for a locomotive loco, and 1802 for a 4 wheeled vehicle after he designed the first Hi Pressure Boiler making this possible , the replica car will exceed 25mph !!
Thanks for that extra info.
Could you do a video of some towns that have US namesakes? Most of the namesakes would be in Massachusetts, Connecticut, New Hampshire, New York state.
That is a good thought - will have to see what I can find.
@@RichardVobes yeah, they even named the counties after yours. Its confused me at time while watching you that I'll think "oh I had ancestors that came from Norfolk" (example) then go back & look up my notes & see that "oops! No I guess they settled in ? Co, Mass, NY or NJ."
Like one of them was a wealthy tobacco merchant & grower but refused to change religions during King Henery & Elizabeth I reigns so they started taking away all of his properties in England & Holland, all his merchant ships, etc. So he ended up settling in Ilse of Wright Co, VA.
I always thought that the railways and the canal worked together up until the 1964 to a fashion and it was the lorries, trucks and the building of the motorways that spelled the end of the canal transportation business.
I think you are right to a degree, but the writing was on the wall for the majority of freight when railways could move stuff within hours and not days or weeks.
@@RichardVobes
The chillington interchange near Wolverhampton is a listed site were the good from the canal was placed or exchanged to London and North Western Railway using cranes to lift the goods from one to the other. The canal-rail interchange continued in use into the 1960s, the site was later used for road transportation and the crane was used up untill the year 2000
historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1252658
th-cam.com/video/K1DbNqwnJbw/w-d-xo.html
Just spotted that you've Slatered me again!!!! Ha-ha-ha! :-)
I keep doing it - not sure why! So sorry.
Wonder if Arun is named after the river? I was just trying to think of anyone else named after rivers. I believe Trent is quite a common man's name in the States. And there's Avon Barksdale in The Wire, but maybe fictional characters don't count. Never heard of a Medway or a Humber. (Except for the car.)
Yeah Trent is a pretty popular man's name over here. Don't know about other English rivers - but a popular female name you hear over here is Mackenzie/McKenzie. We have a pretty well known McKenzie river in Oregon (not far up the road from me)
@@ramibu239
Interesting. I also remembered that Shannon is a popular name for girls (mainly in America) and it does apparently come from the Irish river Shannon. And I've seen people named Hudson. But it's a complication that the river Hudson (and presumably MacKenzie) are named after people, so it's difficult to know whether someone is named after the river or after the family name. I suppose the name Shannon might be considered 'romantic'. English rivers don't usually sound romantic. I wouldn't want to be called Blackwater, or Mersey. Let alone Ouse.
I just thought of a Scottish example: Clyde.
@@DavidB5501 oh yeah didnt think about those!
@@DavidB5501 and btw...Ouse!🤣😂🤣😂 Could you imagine?!?! Poor kid if that ever has happened!
I believe Arun is named after the river.
Well about the river the man was my cousin kieron knowlden
Tonbridge should be pronounced Tunbridge.
Should it?
Richard Vobes Yep. As one does for Tunbridge Wells (the wells at Tunbridge) - the spelling was interchangeable for Tonbridge/Tunbridge until it was standardised the way it is now by the Tonbridge Local Board in the late 1800s
If you see an iridescent flash of light,that’s a Kingfisher alright! But a cold wet splat upon your skull,you’ve just been pooped on by a gull!
Oooops - let's hope not.
It would be great to see a "dog's eye view" but she is probably too small for a camera!🐕
It would be more worm's eye I think!
Sorry Richard but im shouting "stop calling it TOnbbridge at you today" ;)
Just in case you dint see my last post "Why Tunbridge Wells and Tonbridge are pronounced the same way" www.kentlive.news/news/nostalgia/tunbridge-wells-tonbridge-pronounced-same-1086993 This page has the history of Tonbridge and I think you will enjoy it.
Oh thanks for that - I was only going my Nigel's pronunciation of it - and he lives there.
@@RichardVobes Thats OK wait till you get to Wrotham pronounced "root-ham" everyone stumbles on that one ;) www.visionofbritain.org.uk/place/506