Blogs from Greater Manchester, England, United Kingdom, Europe

Today we thought we might go to visit an English Heritage or National Trust property because, you know, we haven’t seen enough of those yet, ha, ha. But … it’s a bit difficult to find any relatively nearby properties because we have visited them all on earlier trips to the North. We finally decided that perhaps we could visit Lyme Park which is operated by the National Trust. Even though we have visited it before, it was way back in the 90s, probably on our first ever trip to the UK, and we couldn’t really recall if we had been into the house? However, the weather was looking pretty glum. We checked the website and found that the house and garden are open today and tomorrow. Bernie checked the weather forecast and we decided that it ... read more

This morning we packed our bags again to head back to Stalybridge. But, of course, we had sussed out another National Trust property that we could visit on the way! We headed down the A19 heading for Middlesbrough. As we drove south along the A19 we could see hills in the distance. I am 99 percent certain that the distinctive half-cone shaped one was Roseberry Topping that is near Great Ayton and was a popular childhood haunt of a young James Cook. If there had been anywhere suitable to stop, I would have had Bernie take a panorama of its Matterhorn-like profile! All too often there are fantastic views here, but nowhere to stop for a photograph. When we left South Shields this morning, we were bemused at some of Syri’s pronunciation. We noticed it yesterday ... read more

Bernie washed some clothes this morning. It was safer for Bernie to do battle with Kath’s washing machine. It has been playing up a bit lately, refusing to finish its cycle, so I didn’t dare touch it with my history with household electrical items!! I did not want to be held responsible for finishing it off completely. As per usual, Bernie proved to have the magic touch and the machine completed its entire cycle without any problems. With the weather looking promising for drying clothes the clothes were hung out on the line. Albert collected Kath from the hairdresser and we packed the car to head over to Bakewell. Bernie was talking about Bakewell tarts a couple of days ago so we decided that seemed like a good enough excuse to driver over to Bakewell … ... read more

This morning we left the Cotswolds behind us to head north, but not before one final stop at Gloucester Cathedral. We were going to drive into Gloucester yesterday afternoon but Bernie checked their opening times before we left only to discover that much of the cathedral was going to be closed from 4.00pm. We decided that we could fit a quick visit in on our way this morning when we would be able to explore more of the the cathedral. A place of worship on or near this site dates as far back as Osric, King of the Hwicce, when he established a minster, Gloucester Abbey, in around 679. In approximately 1058 a new abbey was built and construction of the present building commenced in 1089 following a devastating fire the previous year. This marked a ... read more

40 years ago is very topical this week. The UK is in a mini meltdown and inflation has reached double digits for the first time since 1982! TFB has disappeared on another holiday to avoid the inconvenience of the removal men calling - Greece this time. Dilyn the Downing Street Dog and Larry the Cat are no doubt breathing a huge sigh of relief. Meanwhile, the Great Pretenders are jostling for the top job in a race to the bottom - a race full of petty squabbles and insults - and apparently no credible solutions. Tuesday, so it must be Perth - who shall we insult today? The press have the one branded Poundshop Margaret down as the winner by 4 lengths. All of which ironically brings me back four decades. As comparisons are made between ... read more