Neil Gits Out & About

I love Autumn. It’s still nice and warm, but not stupid hot like Summer, there’s plenty of daylight (until the clocks go back!) and if you go out during the week, it’s not over-crowded, with the kids back at school and their parents back at work after the holidays. Even better, the football season returns and the opportunity to have some memorable days out on the road, watching games & taking photos – my idea of heaven !

Unfortunately, I have had to trim back my travelling a tad, but this week the weather was just perfect and being out on the road for various reasons, I took full advantage to make some cheeky little diversions with my camera in my pocket and my boots on my feet. Tuesday saw me kill a little time between trips to Orpington & Chafford Hundred by finally getting to walk across the high glass-enclosed footbridge that connects Lakeside to the train station – I got some great views from up there whilst on an extended stroll inside and out of the shopping centre, including the lake itself. Wednesday I was in Chelmsford as usual and got in the city an hour early to try out a different route for my bi-weekly wander and see what I could see. I made the mistake of wearing a coat though – it was 20 degrees at peak, but at least I had somewhere to keep my much needed bottle of water !

After a day indoors on Thursday (apart from popping down to the Post office and Asda !) Friday was the day I attempted a special walk. I discovered Coalhouse Fort a few weeks ago and decided to make the 4 mile hike from there to the other Thames Fort at Tilbury and back. It was very peaceful walking along the river, there wasn’t a lot to see, but I did get a few good photos along the way. Alas, after 45 minutes Tilbury Docks was clearly in sight, but no sign of the Fort and the increasing amount of graffiti on the wall along the footpath and the evidence of much fly-tipping along the bank, suggested that possibly I’d missed it and was now heading ‘out of bounds’ ! So I did an about turn, returned the way I’d come back to my car at Coalhouse and drove home the scenic way avoiding some nasty A13 Friday afternoon traffic, to look up online where this Tilbury Fort place was exactly – if it was still there !

Apparently I hadn’t been too far away, but would have had to walk through the sewage treatment works to get to it by foot, which might not have been too pleasant on a hot afternoon ! So I will return by car to the official car park and complete my photos soon hopefully. By the way, if you enjoy tales from my travels on the show, do visit my Facebook page and have a look through my photo albums on here. You’ll find about 7000 pictures taken all over the UK and a few from Europe too which should keep you busy whilst waiting for my next live radio show on Monday at 7pm. The current ‘Repeat Play’ could well be on Gateway now, once I’ve clicked ‘publish’ … Here are the songs from last Monday :

This Week’s Tunes – Monday 14th October 2024

B B & Q Band – On The Beat
Alexander O’Neal – What Can I Say To Make You Love Me
Randy Hall – Again & Again
Chi-Lites – Stop Still
Incognito – Nights Over Egypt
Incognito – Marrakech
Commodores – Nightshift
Jessie Laine Powell – Something Special
Luther – Don’t Wanna Be a Fool
George McCrae – It’s Been So Long
Atmosfear – Dancin’ In Outer Space
Celine Dion – Just A Little Bit Of Love
Marvin Gaye – I Heard It Through The Grapevine
Jesse Green – Come With Me
Robert White – Hold Me Tight
James Brown – It’s Too Funky In Here
Shaila Prospere & Terri Green – Gonna Get Over You
Xxception To The Rule – Angel In Disguise
Nina Simone – Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood
Billy Paul – My Head’s On Straight
Stephanie Mills – Top Of My List
Stevie Wonder – Do I Do
Full Flava ft Angela Johnson – I Wanna Be Loved By You

Feel free to get in touch with your soulful request or just for a mention on the show – put a post on “The Old Gits Soul Show” page on Facebook, text (01268)833978 or message me via e-mail : [email protected].

The Old Gits Soul Show is broadcast LIVE from 7pm–9pm every Monday, repeated on Saturday evening from 5pm–7pm, on Gateway 97.8FM in Basildon & East Thurrock and available nationally via the Radio Player at Sky TV as well as online via www.gateway978.com You can listen on your smart speaker or your phone too … plus you can hear it again anytime you like via the “Listen Again” button on the Gateway website – just search “Cool Soul” !