IMAGES TAKEN NEAR TO
Forest Hills Drive, SOUTHAMPTON, SO18 2FY

The riverside path continues.

First Southampton 40629, a Dennis Dart/Alexander Dash new to Yorkshire Rider (which became part of FirstBus when its owners, Badgerline, merged with GRT), pauses in the turning circle built into the bottom of Hillgrove Road where it meets Meggeson Avenue; it is operating route 8 to Lordshill via Southampton city centre. At this time, the routes serving Townhill Park did so on a one way loop, so most buses did not bother going round the turning circle. I have fond memories of going on these buses in Leeds, so it was a pleasant surprise to find one in Southampton.

1960s housing a short way east of Woodmill Bridge. The south side of the road is built on quite a steep bank. Beyond the houses on the north side is a broad swathe of parkland along the River Itchen.

First Southampton 34071, a long wheelbase Volvo Olympian/Northern Counties Palatine new to Stagecoach Viscount, thunders along Meggeson Avenue while traversing the Townhill Park and Midanbury loop before returning to Southampton city centre on route 3A. In an attempt to address the large number of elderly double deckers in its fleet, First had recently acquired a significant number of secondhand midlife Olympians, hence this former Stagecoach bus being part of its Southampton fleet.

A couple of hardy canoeists paddle their way downstream early on a cold late December morning in this view from Image]

Now only for feet and bicycles, this bridge once carried the main A27 trunk road traffic.

This park runs beside the River Itchen and happens to be exactly in line with the runway of Southampton International Airport, so you can see low flying aircraft either taking off or landing. The picture shows seven of the holes in the evening light. (Well, I had to find some use for my new 400 mm lens)

This attractive arcade of black alder (?) trees is very much the home of the learner driver, with as many as a dozen at a time vying with another to practice reversing manoeuvres around one another. The river in question is the Itchen, off to the right here.

Path along the river Itchen at Mansbridge.

The suburb of Mansbridge, on the northern perimeter of Southampton, takes its name from the old Mans Bridge which spans the River Itchen and was, for some considerable time, the only road link across the River Itchen in the vicinity of Southampton. The 18th century bridge still stands and is a Grade II listed structure (Historic England List entry Number: 1092023 https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1092023 ) but it is now open only to pedestrians and cyclists, having been replaced a larger and more modern road bridge carrying the A27.