All along the watchtowers

Travelling by coach around communist Poland in the 1970s, I'd see these wooden structures dotted around forests and fields; I reasoned that these must be watchtowers – lookout posts for internal security troops guarding strategic installations hidden behind the trees... my reasoning was that since these didn't exist in the UK and the UK was a free country whilst Poland wasn't, they could only serve a sinister purpose. But as it happens, these are hunters' 'pulpits' (ambona łowiecka). It's from up here that brave hunters shoot the local wildlife. Below: the nearest pulpit to my działka, near Machcin II.

Below: getting close... I explore, shinning up the ladder. There's a latch on the bottom left of the door, it's not locked. I lift it, open the door and enter.

Below: getting in. There are three windows, each has a hinged blind opening downwards. All three were left open, suggesting to me that this spell of dry, sunny weather was a good time to air the pulpit after the winter. The sun, getting lower in the sky, shines through a crack in the wood.

Below: here's the pulpit in January. The hunting season in Poland runs from autumn to the end of February; exact dates vary according to prey (hare, female deer, pheasants etc).

Below: here's one in the Las Watraszewski forest; note the construction of each one differs. This one looks decidedly ramshackle.

Below: here's one in Zgorzała, photo taken in April 2020, when the world was in lockdown. This one has a clear corrugated plastic roof.

Below: view from inside – note the encroaching housing estate across the field.

Below: by December 2020, it had toppled over. Google Maps imagery from this earlier this year suggests it's still lying over there.

Below: close encounter with a hare, Jakubowizna (taken with Nikkor kit lens zoomed out to 55mm – that close!). It came running towards me – stopped, looked behind it, hesitating for a second (note its stance) then turned to its right to dash past me at a close distance. A split second later, a fox ran into view. It had evidently been chasing the hare and the hare had decided that I was the lesser threat. The fox, on seeing me, turned around and sprinted off the other way. Fate had intervened. 

How can one shoot to kill sentient life? Let it live. Let it share in experiencing consciousness. 

BONUS SHOT below: 16 May, early evening. Just round the corner from the Machcin pulpit, a young male deer sporting a pair of proto-antlers. With the wind blowing towards me, I got in quite close before the deer turned and ran.

EXTRA DOUBLE BONUS below: 18 May, morning. Closer to home, between orchard rows of apple trees that lead down to Grobice, a young male and young female deer together.

Whenever I hear gunshots in the forest in winter, I sincerely hope the hunter missed.

UPDATE 19 MAY: You may be forgiven for thinking that the hunters are out in force, with all the gunshots out there. But these are not guns; they are bird-scarers, pneumatic devices making the sound of a gunshot at random intervals. The strawberries and cherries are ripening, starlings and wood-pigeons are getting ready to feast.

This time last year:
Blossom, sunshine and trains, Chynów

This time two years ago:
A better tomorrow for the soul

This time three years ago:
Blossom time in Jakubowizna - the apples

This time five years ago:

The Ice Saints - right on cue

This time nine years ago:

Then and now: Trafalgar Square (recreating my father's photos)

This time 11 years ago:
Reflection upon the City Car

This time 13 years ago:
Biblical sky

This time 14 years ago:
Travel broadens the spirit

This time 15 years ago:
Welcome the Ice Saints

This time 17 years ago:
On the farm next door

Hills... I gotta have hills.

Central Mazovia is pancake-flat. The horizon is at the same level whichever way you turn. In this, it's like Iowa, where to quote Bill Bryson "if you stand on two telephone directories, you have A View". Which generally, I don't mind from a flashback-familiarity point of view, those big skies remind me of the prairies... But the flatness means that hills are at a premium - even temporary, man-made hills...

Seeking a higher vantage point is instinctive in animals. Felusia's favourite place in the kitchen for example, is perched on top of the coffee machine - the highest point in the room - an ideal spot from which to observe human activity. Scrambling to the top of a man-made hill around these flat terrains to have a look around, a rest and a beer, has been a pleasant local activity in recent years, made possible by the civil engineering works going on in the neighbourhood.

Gone now is the ballast mountain (across the tracks opposite from the Jeziorki end of ulica Kórnicka). It stood here between 2016 and 2020 when PKP PLK was modernising the Warsaw-Radom railway line, and afforded good views to the north and south-east. Below: looking across at Jeziorki, the 'up' line awaiting new rails.

Gone too are the highest soil mountains that once stood astride the S7 extension works. Below, the one next to Węzeł Zamienie, between Jeziorki and Dawidy Bankowe. Photo taken on 3 May 2021 - amazing progress since then. Sadly, without this view-yielding mountain.

Below: view from the top of the soil mountain at the northern end of the S7 extension, where it meets the S79. 

Alas - these high places, and the views from them - have gone. These were favoured places of mine to scramble to the top of and enjoy a beer around sunset - the golden time of day.

It seems that hills are at a premium - even modest ones. Between Zgorzała and Zamienie, all the hills associated with the S7 extension works have been levelled with the ground - with two exceptions. Both are on private land (situated on either side of the expressway); both are now fenced in. Presumably the owners simply asked the builders not to remove them - and the builders happily obliged. Win-win.Builder saves costs of removal, landowner has a Feature. Below: the hill on the east side of the S7. Plant a few trees, make a path, bench at the top, make good - nice. [There are also two such man-made hills, leftovers from civil-engineering works, by the ponds in Jeziorki. The local 'ziggurats'.]

But there's still one range of soil hills remaining, west of the railway tracks a little way north of W-wa Jeziorki station. 

Sadly, although extensive in area, they are not very high (about four-and-half metres at the highest), but they are easy and safe to climb.

Below: the view is OK, nothing spectacular (certainly not when compared to the 12-metre-high hill that stood next to where Węzeł Zamienie now is, second photo from the top), but at least it's here and above ground level. But for how long? Until a new viaduct extends ul. Dawidowska across the railway? If so, it will be a while.

Below: my brother has rendered my photo taken from the Ballast Mountain looking north (seen originally here) in the style of German artist Anselm Kiefer, catching the atmosphere of the late afternoon in winter with a light frost and a dusting of snow.

The end-of-day pilgrimage requires a destination; the destination requires a vantage point, a spot for contemplation while watching the setting sun. 

The motorbiking season is soon to start, and with it the opportunity to explore further afield, beyond the reach of public transport.

This time last year:
Flashback to a Dream - subconsciousness and memory

This time 11 years ago:
'Old school' = pre-war

This time 12 years ago:
Britain chooses a coalition government

This time 13 years ago:
Landing over Ursynów

This time 14 years ago:
On being assertive in Poland

Horizons

Good photography weather - brisk wind moves scattered clouds across the sky, dappling the landscape with patches of sun that will either illuminate the foreground or the horizon, or neither, or both, the sky itself capable of turning in some drama. Photos from three recent walks, all three being at least 16,000 paces (12km+). Of late, I've been catching a bus, buying a 20-minute ticket (3.40zł/ 60p)and walking home, extending my range and opening new vistas.

Below: lit by strong sunshine, the chimneys of Siekierki, 13km to the north-east. In the foreground farm buildings along ulica Złota, Nowy Podolszyn.

Below: Looking north-east from Podolszyn, sunlit blocks of flats in Ursynów; on the horizon, the chimneys of the Siekierki power station.

Below: looking at Zamienie from the west; four cranes suggest more high-rise developments on the edge of town. Nearest to the camera, Osiedle wśród pól, ('the estate among the fields') which will soon be engulfed by other estates. Note the distant airliner - it's approaching the airport from over Ursynów on RWY 29 as the usual RWY 33 (flying in over Jeziorki) is closed for maintenance.

Below: looking at Nowa Wola from the ulica Polna, which runs from Lesznowola through the fields of Podolszyn to Nowy Podolszyn.

Below: looking north from the fields between Nowa Wola and Podolszyn towards Warsaw, a LOT Embraer ERJ 175 departs from RWY 11, Okęcie airport. Note the shimmering heat haze - which surprised me, because there was a cold wind blowing in from the north.

Below: looking south from the new viaduct that connects Nowa Wola and Zgorzała; the S7 extension, flanked by service roads runs on the next junction, Węzeł Lesznowola.

Below: looking east from the new viaduct towards Piaseczno, housing estates of Nowa Wola and Nowa Iwiczna in between.

Below: sunset in the fields between Dawidy Bankowe, Zamienie and Łady

Below: ploughed field between Podolszyn and the Novisa Modern estate, under construction at the northern end of Nowa Wola, in the English style.

 

Below: Warsaw's skyline stretches out along the horizon - looking north along ulica Polna as it makes its way from Lesznowola via Podolszyn to Nowy Podolszyn. Asphalted at either end, there's still an 850m gap; this stretch at least is hardened, the next bit is little more than a muddy track.

Below: ulica Gryczna (lit. 'Buckwheat Street'), s dirt-track road leading from Podolszyn towards Zamienie 

For some topical perspective - wayside shrine, Nowy Podolszyn, a banner in Ukrainian colours, and on it the supplication from the Trisagion - 'From air [ie tempests], hunger, fire and wars, rescue us, O Lord'. On the notice board there's a leaflet in Ukrainian with information for refugees; next to in, in Polish, a leaflet explaining how local people can help.

Below: bonus horizon in the snow, taken on 2 April. A train of empty coal wagons heads back south along the electrified main line, between W-wa Dawidy and W-wa Jeziorki. Unusually heavy snowfall for April.

This time three years ago:
Helping others? Couldn't hurt

This time five years ago:
Local ornithology

This time nine years ago:
A hare in Wyczółki

This time ten years ago:
Warsaw by night

This time 11 years ago:

Tales of the Riverbank

This time 12 years ago:
Okęcie before the funerals

This time 13 years ago:
At the General's house

A Historic Day for Zgorzała and Zamienie

Came the day; came the hour - at a minute past ten the barrier blocking off the new road was removed, and drivers were beckoned towards the new viaduct carrying traffic over the S7 extension to Dawidy Bankowe.

Below: it's just coming up to ten and the commission that formally pronounces the new road open is in place; the bus stop is ready, all is good and the order is given to remove the barriers. 

Below: the final east-to-west crossing over the actual roadway of the S7 extension, about a minute before the barrier was removed and the road opened. Not this way for Warsaw or Kraków (yet); this way for Zamienie and Raszyn.

Below: the first car to legally drive down the new stretch of road was, of course, a black SUV.

 

Below: as the barriers are removed from the new road leading up to the new viaduct, the barriers are put up closing off ulica Dawidowska from traffic. 

Below: the first bus carries passengers across the new viaduct, a 715 headed for P+R Al. Krakowska.

Below: looking at the new viaduct from the Zamienie/Dawidy Bankowe end. There is a) a lack of pavement allowing pedestrians to cross safely from one side to the other; and yet b) no sign prohibiting pedestrians from crossing from side to the other. 

Below: what a sad sight - seeing the bus stops right outside your workplace disappear for ever. At 10am the crews came in to start dismantling Zamienie 01 and Zamienie 02 outside the Action warehouse.

From here, it's a choice of a half-kilometre walk to Zgorzała 01/02 or Starzyńskiego 01/02 in Dawidy Bankowe. As if life for a warehouse worker isn't tough enough as it is, an extra half-hour a day needs to be factored in for getting to and from work.

There's no pavement for pedestrians on the new viaduct; they are expected to cross at a dedicated footbridge with cycle path, at the other end of Zamienie. A lot more walking for local pedestrians.

Below: a footpath has been built to separate pedestrians from works traffic. I'm amazed that temporary footpaths can be built in days, and yet even something like this is better than the mud and fear that pedestrians have to contend with on ul. Karczunkowska.

Below: heading home on the first west-to-east bus to cross the new viaduct (a 715 heading for Ursynów). The driver is being briefed as to the re-routing by an employee of Pogotowie Komunikacji Miejskiej (which Google gives as 'municipal transport emergency service').

Below: OpenStreetMap is ready with the change...

Below: Google Maps is not ready. I have notified them...

It is still uncertain as to when the S7 extension will open. November 2022 the earliest, with single-lane operations on section B (between Lesznowola and Tarczyn), or September 2023 (the whole lot completed and opened in one go).

Weather notes: after a short spell of three clear days, the clouds began rolling in from the west; rain by tomorrow evening. Outlook thereafter - unsettled.

This time last year:
Future, past

This time two years ago:
Birds return to the frozen ponds

This time four years ago:
Bending the forces of physics with your will

This time six years ago:
Giving it up for Lent

This time eight years ago:
North-east of Warsaw West revisited

This time nine years ago:
Looking for answers

This time ten years ago:
Fresh powder in Warsaw's parks

This time 12 years ago:
Another Lent starts

This time 14 years ago:
Okęcie dusk

Short roads to nowhere

Two days walking around the S7 extension - yesterday's stroll was marred by the disappearance from my camera's memory card of all but two photos. Never mind - I go again, this time with added snow.

Today I will be focusing on questionable bits of building which add to costs and whose benefits won't be seen for years if ever.

Below: I have written back in September about this stump running east from Węzeł (junction) Zamienie. Four lanes of asphalt extend 134 metres from the roundabout visible on the horizon, with a pavement along one side. In the foreground, a slip-road runs off to the right to connect the service road that runs parallel to the S7 extension up as far as ulica Baletowa in Dawidy. Note the five street lamps.

But where will it go? Below: looking east towards the railway line, 210 metres away and Jezorki beyond. There lies ul. Dawidowska. This is ul. Dawidowska. It suggests that the two ends of the street will one day be joined by a second railway viaduct, less than 400 metres south of the existing one on ul. Karczunkowska. Plus, the fact that there are two lanes in both directions suggest not only that any new viaduct is likely to be that wide, but that ul. Dawidowska in Jeziorki - a very quiet and rustic residential street - will be significantly widened and turned into a major thoroughfare.

Across the viaduct that lies at the heart of Węzeł Zamienie, on the Zamienie side, the same phenomenon can be observed - a short stump of dual carriageway leading - as yet - nowhere. Below: looking west from the top of the roundabout that lies on the border of Zamienie and Dawidy Bankowe. It runs about 50 metres before coming to an abrupt stop at the walls of the local sewage treatment plant. 

Below: looking east at the roundabout from the other end of this stump, with the Action warehouse to the right. 

So before the planned route from Jancewicze to Mysiadło via Zamienie and Jeziorki can be built, a sewage treatment plant needs to be relocated and a bridge placed over a main railway line. In other words, in some highly unspecified time in the future. Until then, nearly 200 metres of dual carriageway with attendant infrastructure will have been built, to sit underutilised for - who knows? Decades? 

Now, southward, along the western service road running parallel to the S7 between Zamienie and Nowa Wola. This was once ul. Wróbelka (lit. 'little sparrow street'); I guess the service road will get the same name. Ul. Wróbelka used to lead from Zamienie to Zgorzała - now sliced apart from each other with just two viaducts to link them, one a footbridge, the other open to all traffic.

Walking along this stretch of service road, I'm shocked at how many access roads have had to be built here. The reason is clear - by law, builders of all new roads must give access to each plot running off them. Now, the S7 cuts the land here like a chainsaw going through dense muscle fibre. 

Below: this is the local authority map son which I've marked the route of the S7 extension between Zamienie (top left) and Zgorzała (bottom right). The thin blue lines show the boundaries of each plot. This is fascinating, as you can see that as of the most recent update, there are still chunks of expressway that are still not legally in state ownership! Click to enlarge, or visit Lesznowola.e-mapa.net.

You can see how narrow and long the plots are. Many are still in agricultural use; the farmers living in Zgorzała are no longer able to cultivate their land easily; they will have to go round the long way to reach the far end of their land. Below: this is how it looks in practice. Each plot is just ten metres wide. Many have been consolidated into larger plots - but not in the eyes of the law. Many are fallow and have not been cultivated for years. But even so, each ten-metre-wide plot gets its own access road.

The stump to the hump - even if it's not currently in agricultural use, but used for storage of soil for construction purposes (below), it has its own access road, too flimsy for use by heavy earth-moving trucks or diggers.

I climb it to get this photo (below) to show the absurdity of the situation. You can see how many there are - with several yet to be completed at the northern end. Each access road has to go over the drainage ditch, with a tunnel running under it.

So - there we are. If you want to know why building motorways over flat terrain is so expensive - this is why. While I'm here, more from Węzeł Zamienie as it nears completion. Below: signage is up. Looking towards ul. Arakowa, Zamienie.

Below: looking towards the footbridge taking shape 500 metres to the south of the main (pedestrian-free) viaduct over the S7 extension.

Below: looking north towards Węzeł Lotnisko; still plenty to do. Open to traffic this time next year? All depends on Section B, between Lesznowola and Tarczyn - still a muddy gash across the landscape.

Below: looking at Węzeł Zamienie from the roundabout on the boundary between Zamienie (to the right) and Dawidy Bankowe (to the left). Turn here for Warsaw, Kraków and Zgorzała.

Waiting now just for lane markings - the viaduct over the S7 extension.

This time last year:
Mole control

This time two years ago:
Poland's education paradox

This time three years ago:
What I was going to say at COP24 (but didn't)

This time four years ago:
Milton Keynes

This time five years ago:
Warsaw by night, early winter

This time eight years ago:
Burn less gas and do Ukraine a favour

This time 11 years ago:
Early evening atmosphere

This time 13 years ago:
Toponyms - how many names has Jeziorki?

This time 14 years ago:
On the road to Białystok