James Weedon
Various articles that don't form part of a specific series.
BERRY OR BUST BY BICYCLE!
My son Harry and I have often discussed cycling from our home in Milton Keynes down to my parents in Berrynarbor, but it's always been a bit tongue in cheek. "Wouldn't it be great" . . . safe in the knowledge it probably wouldn't ever happen. Then at the end of July we found ourselves with a couple of spare days ahead of a trip down to North Devon. My wife Emma had to work, but Harry and I were both free. Could we? Should we? Shall we? Why not!
It was 3.00 p.m. on a Tuesday and we were due to have a family lunch at midday on the Friday at The Muddiford Inn - which by the way was excellent! That meant we needed to arrive in North Devon on the Thursday night to avoid turning up tired and sweaty just before heading out for lunch. A plan was hatched and a route planned using the cycling app Strava. With a total distance of over 200 miles, we thought we should split the ride over 3 days. OK, to be more accurate, I thought we should split over 3 days, Harry being younger [18], fitter and a strong Cyclocross racer and Time Trialist, was keen to try it in 2 days . . . thankfully he took pity on me.
A few quick phone calls and we had managed to book overnight stays at hotels that were happy for us to store our road bikes in our room. Stop one on Tuesday night would be at Cotswold Water Park near Cirencester and stop two on Wednesday evening at Bridgewater. The latter being chosen to give us a good night's rest prior taking on the Quantocks and Exmoor.
A stunning evening riding through the Cotswolds
>Exmoor. One of us was finding it easy going!
By now it was approaching 4.00 p.m. and with 70 miles to do before nightfall we rushed around packing what we could fit into our two cycling back packs. Essentials being food, drinks powder and gels for energy, a spare set of cycling kit each, enough chargers and cables to recharge our phones, Garmin bike computers, lights and radars [we run radar rear lights that alert us when there are cars behind us along with an indication of their distance and closing speed - an essential fourth sense on busy roads]. Oh, and some clean clothes for evenings and toiletries. Tools, spare inner tubes were wedged in our saddle bags.
So around 90 mins after coming up with the plan . . . and with a two-day head start on our support vehicle, we set off on our adventure.
Leg 1 - Milton Keynes to Cotswold Water Park. 70.82 miles. 2,992 ft of elevation. Average speed 16.3 mph. Moving time 4:21:06.
Ride notes: Set off a bit later than ideal, but a lovely evening riding into the sunset. The Cotswolds didn't disappoint. Some wonderful quiet roads on a beautiful still evening.
Leg 2 - Cotswold Water Park to Bridgewater. 80.12 miles. 3,530 ft of elevation. Average speed 15.5 mph. Moving time 5:09:43.
Ride notes: The longest leg. Not quite as picturesque as Leg 1, but Malmesbury was quaint and descending down through Cheddar Gorge was fab! Bridgewater in rush hour wasn't the best, but the Holiday Inn Express was clean, tidy and the pub over the road served a good pint. Shortest Leg tomorrow but with loads of climbing over Exmoor. Just what these tired old legs need on day 3!
Leg 3 - Bridgewater to Berrynarbor. 57.24 miles. 4,918 ft of elevation. Average speed 13.8 mph. Moving time 4:04:46.
The climbing day. The Quantocks weren't too bad and were dispatched early doors. Then coffee with my cousin [best coffee of the trip I might add!] and on to Exmoor. As expected, it was a beast. The climb from the Elworthy road up towards Raleigh's Cross was particularly tough, but we made it. Following a quick refuel for a cream tea at Simonsbath, we finally rolled into Berrynarbor late afternoon on the Thursday, an hour or two ahead of our support vehicle which had left Milton Keynes late that morning.
It was a bit surreal riding down into Berrynarbor from Diggers Cross knowing we had ridden all the way to get there. It felt more like three long rides on consecutive days than a single journey, but it was definitely an excellent adventure with my favourite cycling buddy. On the way we managed to have breakfast with my big sis' Helen, nephew Jamal and Helen's partner John on the Wednesday am, and coffee near Bishops Lydeard on the Thursday with my cousin Katie and family to say "Hello" to my aunt Caroline and cousin Sarah's daughter Izzy, over visiting from the US.
Journey's end (almost!) at Digger's Cross.
The weather was perfect on all three days being overcast, but warm with no rain. We had no mechanical issues or punctures and everywhere we stopped for food or coffee and cake turned out to be little gems. On the way we enjoyed an entirely new perspective on the country we live in - quite different from the usual 'tunnel vision' of the A420, M4, M5 and North Devon Link Road. I doubt we could have arranged it any better with a years' worth of planning - sometimes things just work out!
PS - No, we didn't ride home again! Harry did another 100+ miles around North Devon over the following weekend, whilst I took a well-earned rest from the saddle!
Ride Totals: 208.18 miles, 11,400 ft of climbing, Total ride time: 13 hours, 35 minutes.
James Weedon
41
NEWSLETTER WEBSITE - UPDATE
Work continues to make all the back editions of the Newsletter available on the website. Since the December Newsletter, a further 17 editions have been uploaded, covering from June 2004 back to February 2002. So that makes a grand total of 121 editions that can be viewed online.
Unfortunately, the last edition we had an electronic backup of was October 2004, so every edition uploaded since then has had to be recreated manually from the ground up.
This is a time-consuming two-person process, with a number of steps along the way:
- Source original copies. Happily, the editor has a set of pristine hard copies that we are using.
- Scanning. This is done using a mobile phone mounted in a custom harness. The scanning is performed using Microsoft Lens - a mobile phone app that uses OCR (Optical Character Recognition) techniques to recreate the document.
- Reformatting to plain text. Whilst Microsoft Lens is able to recognise text (although it is by no means fool proof) it struggles with the layout. So any formatting is removed. Sections that could not be scanned (usually as the text is interspersed with images) are retyped by hand.
- MS Word document. This step takes the plain text and coverts it to a basic Microsoft Word document, with articles titles, paragraphs, footers and some basic indentation, but no images. This is the candidate 'framework' of the re-created edition.
- Convert to HTML format. Websites are written in HTML (Hyper Text Markup Language). Happily, Microsoft Word has an option to export a document into HTML format, so this step is simply a case of saving the new document as a filtered HTML file.
- Split into articles. The new website allows articles to be shown either in the edition they were published in, or as part of series. This means they must be stored as individual files. So we go from a single input file to somewhere between 35 and 45 files, each representing a single article. The articles are grouped in a folder - one folder per edition.
- Adding images and formatting. This is the point where we add in any images and custom formatting. Where possible, we use the original images allowing the site to offer much better quality than could be printed in the original hardcopies. The editor scans and emails these ready for inclusion in the edition. The images are cropped and sized as required. Where the originals are no longer available, we use a scanned copy from the printed hard copy. Sadly this is a much lower resolution, but often it is the best we can do.
- Tagging the articles. The details of which articles relate to a specific series are stored in a database, so this step creates entries in the database for each of the articles in the edition, tagging them to the right series.
- Create Searchable content. The new website has a search feature that can identify every edition and article that features a name or phrase. This step loads each article into the database to allow the content to be searched
- Upload ... and hope the Editor approves. The final step requires all the article files, images and the updated database to be uploaded to the internet. There are typically around 70 files required for each edition (40 articles and 30 images).
As you will have gathered, it's a fair amount of work. Each edition takes between 5 and 8 hours to replicate. It's tempting to wish that we had kept better backups, but then you realise that the Newsletter pre-dates Microsoft Word, PC's and even the internet! So, in reality the only backup possible is the hard copy printout.
Technical facts - just in case anyone is interested!
- The Website is a Webapp written in Python.
- Jinja templates are used for the screen presentation.
- The site utilises Bootstrap to make it responsive - meaning it adapts its layout based on the size of the screen being used to view it (i.e. mobile phone, tablet of PC).
- It uses a SQLlite database to log the editions, articles, artwork and maintain the searchable content.
- It is hosted on Microsoft Azure in the cloud.
- At the time of publishing, the site consists of 7709 files across 260 folders, using 565MB of disk storage.
James Weedon
45
NEWSLETTER WEBSITE - UPDATE
As reported in Edition 194, a major revamp of the Newsletter website is well underway, the idea being to preserve the content and unique social history online, for all to enjoy now and in the future.
As things stand, we have uploaded 104 editions, covering the period from August 2004 to October 2021. The plan is to get every edition online in the end, but things are about to slow down as we don't have electronic copies of editions earlier than Oct 2004. So, there will need to be a lot of scanning, re-typing and editing - busy times ahead!
You can check in on progress and see the latest 'oldie' we have uploaded by clicking on 'Just uploaded' on the top right of the website homepage. Or you can review all the Editions uploaded via the "Editions - See All Editions" menu. We hope to add some each week as we refine the process. Wish us luck!
The process of uploading the old editions has been an interesting one. I now know why the WI is no more and how the Ladies Group came into being instead! Plus, I keep happening across new series to add, the latest additions being: Hatched, Matched, Bikers of Berrynarbor, Welcome and Farewell, Sunday School and In the Papers. No doubt more will appear as we work steadily backwards through the editions.
As a one-off
special to commemorate the Editor's announcement that Edition 200 will be
her swan song, we have jumped ahead a little and uploaded Edition 1 - from
August 1989! See: here.
To set the scene,
the artwork was hand drawn on to stencils and the entire newsletter was
produced on a typewriter. It's amazing to see how many of the articles from
then still feature, for example The Wine Circle, Manor Hall Management, The
Horticultural Show, Berry in Bloom, News from the Primary School and of course
fabulous postcards of the village courtesy of Tom. Talking of Tom's
postcards, we are re-scanning all his originals so that they are available in
all their glory on the website. * Tech note:
when we first published the Newsletter online in 2004 a typical screen
resolution was 800 x 600, so the images were sized to fit comfortably on
the website. With the advent of 4K screens and more, it is now possible
to see the images 1:1 as they were scanned. A typical
resolution now being 1600 x 900 or higher. To appreciate the
improvement, take a look at Tom's postcards in Edition 1 online. We
were surprised to find that there was a dog in the foreground in the
Berrynarbor Mill image - who knew! If anyone has
ideas or suggestions for how we can further improve the website, please let us
know.
James Weedon
14
MYSTERY SOLVED?
Whilst uploading back editions of the Newsletter
for the new and improved website [see: www.berrynarbor-news.co.uk] I came across an article with a picture that left
me totally befuddled. It was in the
December 2011 edition [No 135] with a picture entitled 'Sheep in the Sterridge
Valley', written by Lorna Bowden.
The more I
stared at the picture, the more familiar it seemed - yet I could not for the
life of me work out where it was taken. That, despite spending the
formative years of my childhood pedalling manically up and down the Sterridge
on push bikes in the company of the valley gang of the day - Guy Harding,
Philip Worth, the three Coopers [Shaun, Neil and Dean], Warren Bailey and, more
often than not, Nick Constantine - an interloper from the 'wrong' side of Two
Rocks!
The photo featured what looked like Barn
Cottage, but there was no sign of what my sister Helen and I always referred to
as The Ice Cream house. Why the Ice Cream House?Because during the 1970's it was painted in
the same colours as a block of Neapolitan ice cream!
But I
digress. If it really was Barn
Cottage on the right-hand side of the road, where was what is more commonly
known as Derrivale? It should
have been on the left- hand side of the road. Plus, the road towards Barn Cottage from Tree
Tops is pretty much flat. The road
in the photo seemed to be sloping sharply up hill . . . and where had the
cottage shown on the left disappeared to? There are no buildings opposite Tree
Tops. Just a wall of earth.
As published in Edition 135...
... Corrected!
With my brain unscrambled, it is back
to converting and categorising old editions of the Newsletter for me. Having started with the August 2021 edition, I
have currently converted 59 taking the site content back to No. 135, December
2011. So just another 134 editions
to go then. The first edition published online was October
2004 - No 92, so we can definitely get that far back. Going beyond that
might be tricky since only hard copies exist of those first 91 editions. But even so, 100 editions on the web is a good
target - wish me luck!
James Weedon
[formerly of
Chicane]
PS - If you have not seen the new website, do take a
look. The Search page is very
powerful. Try entering your
surname or that of a relative, or a local place name. You will be amazed at what turns up and we
only have about 25% of the total Newsletter content on the site
currently. The Newsletter is a massive source of information on the
village. Memories, social history,
photos, stories and more, resulting from the hard graft by the editor, her
contributors and the newsletter artists. Now preserved online in a more
digestible form for all to enjoy, and hopefully as a research tool for years to
come.
PPS - Having been thinking about the Valley gang, I
feel a belated apology is due to Les Bowen for all the times footballs banged
into his van, parked outside his workshop where Riverside is now. With
current traffic levels, it seems odd to think of playing football on that
stretch of road, but we were always out there. I distinctly remember a
side mirror getting broken on one occasion, with much scurrying home in the
aftermath. Must have been Shaun's fault I reckon, he was usually the ring
leader in our adventures!
17
THE NEWSLETTER ONLINE
Back in the autumn of 2004 I somewhat unadvisedly suggested
to the Editor that the Berrynarbor Newsletter should have an online
presence. Ever since then I've been getting bi-monthly emails of 'joy'
containing the latest newsletter to upload - thanks mum! The website editions are cut down versions of
the full newsletter and are edited to remove personal details and articles not
suitable for the internet.
One of the benefits of viewing the newsletter online is that
you get to appreciate the artwork and images in a higher resolution than is
available via the printed hard copy. Tom's postcards often end up with
remarkable clarity given the age of the prints. The same goes for a lot
of the original artwork which looks especially crisp online. There is
also a section displaying some of the original artwork that has been created
for the newsletter over the years. I
often wonder what some of the subjects would think of being online as
their memory now lives on in cyberspace.
I suspect most would find it totally baffling!
Over the years a large number of people have contacted the
Editor via the web site, which got us thinking about how many visits the site
gets and which pages people are viewing.
So in October of last year we added Google Analytics to the site. Google Analytics is a clever package that
allows web site administrators to track how people locate their site, which
pages people visit and some basic statistics about them. Rest assured, the data collected is
very 'broad brush', this is the Berrynarbor Newsletter and not Orwell's 1984!
The more eagle-eyed of you may have also noticed a small
thumbnail map on the front page of the web site. This is a freeware [i.e. no cost]
application that can be installed on web sites to show the locations where
visitors to the site come from. Unlike
Google Analytics, this one pays for itself by offering focussed adverts when
you click on it, so in theory it should offer links to sites related to
Berrynarbor. The authors make their
money when users click on a link as they are paid a small transaction fee by
the advertisers for each 'click through'.
Enterprising stuff!
10 facts you never knew about the Berrynarbor Newsletter
online, statistics as of
- If
you Google for Berrynarbor, the Newsletter is generally the number one
hit!
- The
website typically gets around 350 visitors per month.
- Since
October the site has been visited by people from 30 countries worldwide,
with hits from places as diverse as
- 75%
of visitors reside in the
- Within
the
- There
have been more hits from visitors in Caerphilly, Mansfield and Glasgow
than from within North
- 43%
of the site's visitors are referred from Google.
- The
most popular word used to locate the site via search engines is perhaps
unsurprisingly "Berrynarbor", but a lot of people clearly think it is
spelt "Berrynarbour"!
- The
December edition has been viewed 75 times online, with users spending an
average of 3 minutes and 28 seconds on the page.
- 42%
of users have a screen resolution of 1024x768 pixels and 75% run Internet
Explorer on Windows.
As you can see, Google Analytics opens up a world of useless
facts! However, it is heartening to know that people do visit the site
and that the Newsletter has a truly global audience. The website is a 'front door' for
the village online, so if you have any ideas or suggestions for the web site
please pass them on to the Editor.
We can't promise to implement them all, but we'll do our best.
James
4
A HOME FROM HOME?
How do you get from Lynmouth to Barnstaple? A simple question you might think, but you could be surprised by the answer.
- "At the end of Lynmouth Crescent (1), cross straight over
Dulverton Drive (2) and turn into Buzzacott Lane (3). From there, pass by the turning
to Combe Martin (4). Barnstaple Court (5) is the next turning on the right."
Confused? Well don't be. The answer lies in Milton Keynes, home of concrete cows and infinite roundabouts.
As most people know, Milton Keynes is a new town. As such, the Development Corporation were faced with the difficult task of picking names for the many thousands of new roads. In the end, they opted for a simple solution - pick a theme for an area and name all the roads in the area accordingly.
- Far Bletchley - Haydock Close, Chepstow Drive, Epsom Grove, Sandown Court, Wincanton Hill [Race courses]
- Crownhill - Lennon Drive, Morrison Court, Hendrix Drive, Bolan Close [60/70's pop stars]
- Browns Wood - Mendlesson Grove, Holst Crescent, Schuman Close, Wagner Close [Composers]
- West Bletchley - Tweed Drive, Severn Way, Derwent Drive, Ouzel Close, Mersey Way [Rivers]
- Denbigh - Arbroath Close, Lothian Close, Kinross Drive, Ayr Way, Peebles Place [Scottish towns]
- Water Eaton - Grasmere Way, Buttermere Close, Crummock Place, Windermere Drive [The Lake District]
When choosing the road names for Furzton, the theme selected was North Devon and Somerset. The following are just a subset of the names used:
- Combe Martin, Blackmoor Gate, Challacombe, Simonsbath, Bampton Close, Countisbury, Barnstaple Court, Buzzacott Lane, Brendon Court, Exmoor Gate, Trentishoe Crescent, Withycombe, Arlington Court, Lynmouth Crescent, Porlock Lane, Watersmeet Close, Muddiford Lane.
There can't be many places in Britain that are more different from the Sterridge Valley than Milton Keynes. However, I can still take a drive through Combe Martin, pass by Blackmoor Gate and pop in to Lynmouth, which I guess makes it a real home from home!
James Weedon
29