Blogs from Telford, Shropshire, England, United Kingdom, Europe

We stood at the gate . We had parked Ziggy up on the tiniest of plots of grass where parking was allowed . We were alone apart from a lone cyclist who had propped his bicycle up against the fence. He was waiting for us to come through the gate before he saddled up and rode away. We were entirely alone at that point . In the distance we could see Lilleshall church which felt a million miles away from bustling nearby Telford. On top of the highest point above the villlage was an obelisk . We had seen it from miles back . A memorial to the Duke of Sutherland and the Earl of Stafford or something like that when it came to titles . He owned land around Lilleshall and also the massive Trentham ... read more

** Again putting this post as 6th March so it fits under the South America blogs - its actually 20th Jan 2018 ** Follow on instagram k8e37 for photos of the trip whilst we are away and for prep photos! Quick update regarding jabs, all is good from the yellow fever *touch wood* so far and I'm 10 days after having it so only another 4 to go until I'm clear of any apparent side effects. I would say that around day 5 I did feel pretty tired and as if I was coming down with anything but I felt better after some rest and apart from a bit of a funny throat I'm all good. So rabies... I still haven't had jab number two. Had to phone up Boots on Tuesday to check they had ... read more

It was only a short drive from IronBridge to the 16th century Elizabethan manor house http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/wilderhope-manorwhere we would stay for the night. What a gorgeous setting. We got a recomendatiion for the evening meal...Royal Oaks Pub, Isle of Wight Got into an enjoyable conversation with a couple sitting near us. After we described our month long travel, they strongly suggested we add Isle of Wight to our itinerary. We had decided to make reservations only for when we arrived and would depart from Manchester, so we had flexibility. We had also decided we didn't want to rush and would not try to travel Wales, Scotland or down to Port Isaac...filming village for the Doc Martin series Ruth and I really enjoy. early in the morning, before breakfast, I roamed the manor estate. Talked with the farm ... read more

We've finally booked all the hotels, car hire and even train tickets and hotel for the airport trip out and back home. The full itinerary is: Evening Tues 10th May - Travel by train (1st class - thought we'd treat ourselves!) down to Gatwick and stay over in the airport Travelodge. Wednesday 11th May - Fly from Gatwick to Vancouver with Westjet 12.55pm arriving in Vancouver at 3.40pm. We pick up a Ford Escape car rental once we've picked up our luggage and head off on a drive to our first hotel an hour away in Horseshoe Bay at the aptly named Horseshoe Bay Motel. Thursday 12th May - We leave the motel and head across to Bowen Island on the car ferry. Bowen Island is a small island just off the coast and the car ... read more

So its only four days until we go away. The last couple of weeks have gone very fast. Camcorder has been ordered and delivery was attempted yesterday so I'll have to get that first thing tomorrow, which leaves me next to no time to have a play with it, completely my own fault! Oh well! Finally managed to get a Kipling case which should be delivered on Tuesday. By complete luck I found a company auctioning them on ebay, they've been going for £65 for the last few weeks, typical the time I find it is end of the month and I get into a bidding war but I won muhahaha! I wont say how much but its cheaper than Amazon so I'm happy. Ipad mini arrived and I'm pretty pleased with it and I've ordered ... read more