Discovered in the Bleak Midwinter - January 2

[kiwisue.livejournal.com]

During my recent UK holiday I visited the National Arboretum at Alrewas, in Staffordshire, with constant_muse. We were there to visit Lew's memorial in the Allied Special Forces Grove - as neither of us had much knowledge of where that was on the site we were basically "winging it" As I recall it was a day that offered us clouds and sundry scattered showers, and the results were in evidence all over the soggy lawns and paths of the Arboretum. The sun came out as we finally found our goal. We had a few adventures finding the grove; possibly our lack of navigational skills, but then the map outside the Remembrance Centre was not terribly clear and at the time we decided to set out there didn't seem to be any volunteers around to ask (there were plenty later, I am not sure where they'd all disappeared to at the critical moment). So we walked all the way around the Arboretum until we finally found ourselves on the right path according to the now-visible signage.

This post is dedicated to future visitors, may they be less directionally-challenged than we were!

Firstly, here is a google image of the Arboretum, with arrows showing the way visitors to Lew's memorial should walk. Needless to say we went in completely the wrong direction!



Directions: From the car park, enter the main building (the Remembrance Centre). From there you can walk through the cafeteria to the courtyard and into the Arboretum itself.

If your immediate goal is the Allied Special Forces Memorial Grove and Lew’s memorial, don’t take the diagonal path to the right, towards the impressive War Memorial mound, as you will get lost - the only signs seem to be the ones on the direct route. Walk along the main path, past the Falklands memorial, until you reach the intersection a little before Hut 2. Head right towards the river Tame then turn left onto Annette’s Memorial Way. The Allied Special Forces Memorial Grove is along that path. The first garden is dedicated to the men and women of Special Operations, the second to “Our Friends” (it is here you will find the plot dedicated to Lew). There are several more gardens further along. There is a WWII pillbox nearby, overlooking the river, and many more memorials to view during your visit.
( Pictures Beneath )

The Arboretum is a wonderful place to visit - so many stories, I truly didn't mind wandering about (well, I didn't once we'd found what we were looking for, before then I was a little anxious).

More Information: http://www.thenma.org.uk/
http://www.alliedspecialforcesmemorialgrove.org.uk/

File download (*.pdf file of the Arboretum image above, including the arrows and directions): https://www.dropbox.com/s/3socu9jlsyc6p4f/NATIONAL%20ARBORETUM.pdf?dl=0


Also I have locked this post to the community. Possible paranoia on my part, but while I think a map would have helped us, and hopefully will help others, I wasn't sure it was something that should be open for the world to see. Tell me I'm wrong and I'll unlock it. ETA: unlocked

3rd January - Prosfic - Halfworld Mercenary by Slantedlight (from a story by Emily Ross)

[byslantedlight.livejournal.com]

Squeaking in under the wire, in my traditional fashion... A long time ago I was reading the Pros letterzines Cold Fish and Stale Chips, which was basically a letterzine of WIPs in one form or another. Some were complete and inviting comment before publication elsewhere, some would later be completed, and some were presumably abandoned, but the authors who submitted a piece were asked a series of questions. One of them was "Do you intend to finish this story, or would you like to see someone else do so?" For some reason, a story by Emily Ross caught my attention - believe it or not it was an elf story, and I found myself wondering what happened next. So I had a bit of a play. *g*

I tried to track down the original author to ask more about the story, and whether she would mind her beginning being posted online, but with no luck (if anyone knows her and could put me in touch that would be great) and so instead of posting her beginning here, I rewrote it and offer up all credit to her for the original idea. I've marked the section that begins my own part of the story with a double-asterisk.

I do appreciate that I may lose alot of non-AU (and non-elf!) readers right here, and I may lose a few more when I tell you that there is much more of it to be written, but my excuse is still moving house/job/Christmas all at once I'm afraid - I've still not been able to catch up, and much as I tried to write something new and more CI5-ish, it just didn't happen. I will try to write something over the next few weeks though, because things are finally calming down - just a bit too late for the Bleak Midwinter...

( Halfworld Mercenary )