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Europe » United Kingdom » England » Kent » Ashford October 1st 1999

At 16 you haven't really done anything in life but I knew I wanted to do a skydive from a very young age, the youngest legal age to skydive in the UK is 16 so I thought what better way to celebrate then to skydive, I looked into how to book a skydive and found that I could raise money for the National Deaf Children's Society at the same time. Sponsorship raised, date of the jump booked and I got up early to go to Headcorn, I chose the wrong time of year to do it, it was October when I eventually got around to booking it and when I got there I waited for a few hours only to be told the weather was too bad and we wouldn't be able to jump today. I ... read more
Just out of the plane

Europe » United Kingdom » England » Greater London September 2nd 1999

DAY 14 - THURSDAY 2 SEPTEMBER Got up and watched ?The Jim Stynes Story - Dublin?s Jim?, which is available from Australian Football Video. I had never seen it before and recommend it to anyone. Jim?s story is a great one and hopefully will inspire other Irishmen to follow him. There?s definitely a lot of talent here. Caught a taxi to Croke Park and had a meeting with Debbie Massey, from the Policy and Planning Unit of the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA). By way of introduction I gave her some background info on the IAFC as well as a couple of copies of The International Footballer. I then requested a copy of the GAA?s international database i.e. a contact list of all Gaelic football clubs outside Ireland. The reason for seeking such a list is simple. ... read more

Europe » United Kingdom » England » Kent » Folkestone August 29th 1999

My friends took me for a walk today. Well actually, I chose it from four sea-view walks they had picked from a book of walks. We went to the url=https://www.discoveringbritain.org/activities/south-east-england/viewpoints/folkestone-warren-viewpoint.htmlFolkestone Warren. It wasn’t until after the walk that we got a clear explanation of the formation of a warren. Water gets into cracks in the chalk relatively close to the front of a cliff, and eventually the front breaks off, creating a new cliff face with a lot of rubble at the bottom. Trees and bushes grow in the rubble creating the warren. It’s a natural process that never stops. Steps have been taken to slow the erosion by the sea at the foot of the cliffs – at least to curtail damage to the rail line that runs at the bottom of the cliffs through ... read more
Martello Tower
Snake in grass
Chalk cliffs along the south coast

Europe » United Kingdom » England » Isle of Wight » Ventnor August 26th 1999

A leisurely start to the day again. We were dropped at the Ventnor Botanical Gardens, which were built on the site of a former TB hospital. The gardens were arranged down a hill, giving graceful terraces and views. The first section I visited was medicinal plants, but they gave no information on the uses of some quite common plants, so it wasn’t as interesting as it might have been. My eye and my camera were drawn by some elegantly tall, showy flowers of red, yellow, and orange. After some searching for their name, I discovered them to be Canna Lilies , yet another plant I’ve now seen from books I have read. The “Black Knight” variety was splendid with very dark red/green leaves and brilliant orange/red flowers. They rose over my head. From here we walked ... read more
Reflections
Cottage Tea Room
Ventnor Botanical Gardens

Europe » United Kingdom » England » Isle of Wight » Cowes August 25th 1999

Free day today. So, I went off to do what everyone said I must do, which was to see Osborne House. Queen Victoria and her family stayed there, and it was design by Prince Albert. I caught the bus exactly as advised by Betty Wood, a wonderful character aged somewhere between “71 and over 80”, depending on which bit of gossip you listen to. Only Jacob had the nerve to ask her, and got the “71” answer, but she said something about the war, imply she worked then. She did work for 45 years as a military history researcher. On our walks, I began taking advantage of her flawless knowledge of botany. She also knows a lot about the Isle of Wight from coming here often, and lots more from travelling all over England. This she ... read more
Commemorating boar hunting
Formal garden
Boy and Swan

Europe » United Kingdom » England » Isle of Wight » Sandown August 24th 1999

Rain all morning and mist all afternoon. At least the air isn’t as cold as in the Lake District, so my new jacket kept me warm and dry enough – also wore my new gaiters. Lots of mud, so they proved their worth. I did the short walk, as walking 9 miles rather than 6 ½ miles seemed daft. As usual, we were the last to be dropped off the bus. We had about 40 minutes to look around Brading , a small town with a short street of shops. There were several tourist attractions, such as a Doll Museum and Shop, Wax Museum, Old Town Hall Museum, and so on. I walked around St Mary's Church . It was built in the twelfth century but is reported to be the site of the first Christian ... read more

Europe » United Kingdom » England » Isle of Wight » Newport August 23rd 1999

We started off near a prison today, in Parkhurst Forest. From how people refer to it, I assume the prison is a major establishment. Certainly the “forest paths” are wide enough to take a vehicle if needed. There are narrow, untended paths angling off this maintained one. Betty Wood volunteered to be “back marker”, to keep track of stragglers. As I was videoing flowers, I asked her if she knew the names, and she did – every one. This made an interesting walk for me, although the others may not have enjoyed it too much because there was very little to see. We walked quite a way through a town – quite ordinary, except for the piglets that looked so cute. After this we tramped along various types of paths to the River Medina . Here ... read more
Medina River
Eighteenth century bow windows
Mare's Tail, Flea Bane, and Fire Weed

Europe » United Kingdom » England » Isle of Wight » Freshwater August 22nd 1999

I took a “day off” today and probably will tomorrow. Not completely “off” – just that I did the short walk, which was just over six miles. A sinus infection is plaguing me, and I thought a more restful day would help. Actually, I thoroughly enjoyed the tourism involved in this un-serious walk, which is why I may take the short itinerary tomorrow also. Weather is much milder here than in the Lake District. The wind blows to the land. Too windy to wear my sun hat, but it wasn’t particularly cold – jacket in the morning and shirt sleeves in the afternoon. Mix of sun and cloud. We spent most of the morning on Tennyson Way, walking up Tennyson Down and past Tennyson Monument to the ... read more
Tennyson Monument
St Agnes Church, consecrated 1908
View from hotel

Europe » United Kingdom » England » Cumbria » Ambleside August 20th 1999

We had the most beautiful walk today, following more passes and valleys than spectacular ridges. We started from the hotel and walked gradually uphill through the valley, then angled more steeply up to a pass. We crossed to the next valley by way of a pond called Blea Tarn(there are several by this name). To someone from Alberta, this tarn (small mountain lake) was completely unremarkable, but it seemed to be a point of interest to many people and is subject of a painting in Grasmere. From here we started an adventurous clamber along the side of the valley to the streams coming down from the higher hills. The first geology lesson was again useful to understand that each valley has a stream originating between two higher hills, which then drops precipitously to the valley floor ... read more
16 century house
Hikers on Wrynose Pass
Blea Tarn

Europe » United Kingdom » England » Cumbria » Lake District August 19th 1999

Once again, thank goodness, the weather forecast was wrong. No showers of any sort, light cloud and occasional gusty wind. We mainly walked along a limestone ridge, and Vince led. Andy took a day for paperwork, to my mind an odd decision in the midst of a week’s walking program. No problems, however. Vince does explain a lot more along the way than Andy or John, although as Catrina, a Parisian, remarked, “He is so talkative, sometimes he doesn’t notice no one is near him.”! The coach took us almost to Kendal , in the southern part of the Lake District, thus less mountainous and more open. We climbed to the top of the first escarpment, from where the most beautiful panorama of the central mountains opened out. The level 2 group has walked several of ... read more
Curious sheep
Black Fallow Deer
Kent Valley from Cuswick Scar




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