www wherewasi? suntimes cd 06oct04

[paul]

http://travel.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,15091-1181458,00.html

have just come back off holiday anfd flight was 6 hours late. the plane due
to bring me back collided with a flock off pink flamingos which made plane
unsafe to fly.

home safely but tired

think text refers to captain bligh

am guessing painetr is samuel palmer

we solve tonight, but will be happy if someone else wants to do for me

good luck

paul

Thanks to a feat of engineering of 1963, this part of the journey could be a
bit of a bore, so to speak. However, I am not heading in the boring
direction - although I am availing myself of a second engineering triumph,
which opened in 1991. Eyes fixed on the road, I cast a furtive glance to my
left to catch a glimpse of the view as the world floats 213ft beneath me.

Soon returning to ground level, I pass the edge of a busy town. A
19th-century engineer is buried here (he died penniless). I associate him
more with places far to the west: he made locomotive history in 1801 and
1804, then spent several years in Peru. I have less grand aspirations, and
plan merely to follow the course of a river whose journey ends two miles
north of the town. Thus, I pull off the main road and motor south - where,
within a few miles, the urban, semi-industrial landscape gives way to
rurality.

Four miles from the town, I reach a village, through whose centre the river
busily gurgles. An unpopular vice-admiral lived here during his final years:
he was governor of New South Wales between 1805 to 1808, and his most famous
adventure (1789), was made into a film in 1935. Armed with my watercolours,
I am tempted to stop: the little river bridge would make a splendid picture.
However, I opt to continue upriver until, one south-south-westerly mile
later, it flows through a second village.

There is no shortage of artistic inspiration here, either: another bridge,
the ruins of one of Britain's first Norman castles and a railway viaduct
whose nine arches leap like graceful ballerinas across the valley. But I nip
artistic temptation in the bud and continue a further three miles upstream,
where I cross to the river's west bank and a third village. This is the
place for me - perhaps because a landscape painter (born 1805), was so
inspired by the valley that he lived here for seven years. Several artistic
friends visited him, and they became collectively known as the Ancients.

Retrieving my artist's materials from the car boot, I smile at the thought
that in one respect, at least, I may follow in their footsteps. Memorable
artist? No. Ancient? Oh, yes.

THE COMPETITION

1. What is the name of the river?

2. Who was the painter? Samuel Palmer?

Click the button above to submit your entry or send your answers on a
postcard to Where Was I? October 3, 2004, PO Box 5078, Leighton Buzzard LU95
1AE by Wednesday October 6. Only one entry per household. Normal Times
Newspapers rules apply. No correspondence will be entered into.

LAST WEEK'S ANSWERS AND WINNER

1. Aldeburgh

2. Sir Robert Watson-Watt

T Melia, from Liverpool, wins a week for two in Abu Dhabi, courtesy of
Etihad Airways (0870 241 7121, www.etihadairways.com) and the Sheraton Abu
Dhabi Resort & Towers (00 800 325 35353, www.sheraton.com/abudhabi)

[BlueIce]

Agree Samuel Palmer.
Suggested Answer for other is River Darenth

--
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[Steve Watson]

On Sun, 3 Oct 2004 07:42:04 +0000 (UTC), "BlueIce"
<eawr...@lineone.net> wrote:

> Agree Samuel Palmer.
> Suggested Answer for other is River Darenth - River Darent according to OS

Steve Watson