L2L Day 19 - Thame to Brill

No walking today - my knee doth protest too much, methinks!

So, a day of torpor - Thame wasn't short of watering holes and coffee stops to occupy me for a few hours before getting a taxi the 10 miles to Brill.

Mr Tariq gave me a lift. We had a good chat in the car on the way. 


Having spent his early life in the Pakistan Navy as a Chief Petty Officer, he took early retirement and came to the UK to study for Masters in Law LLM.  He's a very proud family man with his son in Computer Science and his daughter having chosen medicine.
For me with a sore knee, he also has a very comfortable Mercedes!

In Brill, once the rain had stopped, I limped out to see the famous windmill 


and revisit the house where a close family friend Pat Birnie had lived. 


In the sunshine it was a glorious spot to look out towards the prevailing South West wind





While looking at the sails, I met James Learmont. He was 'recce'ing the site and checking on how the windmill would sit against the night sky tonight when photographing the Milky way. He was using the Photopills app for establishing the location of the Milky Way relative to the landscape.


We talked about the challenges of light pollution when watching the Milky Way, 26000 light years away. He explained that darkness is measured on the Bortle scale. Apparently, Brill is Bortle level 4 which is OK but not as good as Bortle level 2 which James found on the beach at Aberdaron on the Lleyn peninsula a few weeks ago.

Originally from Scotland his family goes back to Thomas the Rhymer the 13th Century musician, poet and prophet. 


On the way back from the windmill, I popped in to All Saints Church and met Gemma the Rector.


Gemma took over the role five years ago during Covid and now has seven churches under her command. She described the opportunities for churches to become seven day a week spaces. Gemma and her team are clearly very enthusiastic, resourceful and well ahead of the game with her churches having a very full calendar and a multiplicity of uses.


Jason her husband made me a coffee while Gemma demonstrated the ingenious counterbalanced font cover.


Let's see in the morning whether my knee has benefited from a day off.


Comments

  1. Pam12 April 2026 at 14:31

    Sorry to hear the knee is giving you trouble 😢

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. David's 2022 Walk13 April 2026 at 00:53

      Hi Pam. Looking forward to seeing you in Ashby de la Z. I'll miss Monty's company.....and of course J's too!!!! :)

      Delete
  2. TT12 April 2026 at 15:35

    I'm crossing my fingers for you already,Dave.🤞XX

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. David's 2022 Walk13 April 2026 at 00:55

      Diolch TT. Dwi'n gobeithio fydd y coes yn 'wellhau dros y tridiau nesa

      Delete
  3. Jill and Neil - interrailing for seniors13 April 2026 at 01:51

    Get some WD40 on that knee!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. David's 2022 Walk13 April 2026 at 12:13

      I'm hoping the occasional single malt might have the same effect.

      Delete
  4. Jill and Neil - interrailing for seniors13 April 2026 at 04:09

    Until the Saxons arrived in the 8th century Brill was known as Bryn. The Saeson wanted to call it Hill. After several battles they reached a compromise.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. David's 2022 Walk17 April 2026 at 12:49

      And what did the Saxons ever do for us???? :)

      Delete
    2. David's 2022 Walk17 April 2026 at 12:49

      This comment has been removed by the author.

      Delete

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