UK Travels - Part II

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Portsmouth.
In early June we spent a long weekend staying with friends near Portsmouth - we travelled down on a Thursday via coffee with Wendy’s second cousin near Woking. He and his NZ wife were to be visiting NZ in a few weeks. Once we arrived at Waterlooville we had lots of chat with our friends - they had taken Ian under their wing in 1980 when he was doing a course in Plymouth and have visited us twice in NZ. They are the ones who do the ironing and deck sweeping for us as relaxation when on holiday! On Friday we met up with a school friend of mine - she and her husband are both Maths professors at Southampton University. She took a day off (she said she deserved it!) and we took a picnic to the National Trust property at Mottisfont. Unfortunately it was closed (on Fridays from the week before!!) but we had our picnic lunch in the deserted car-park anyway and we then visited Helliers Gardens nearby. It was a very interesting place but we decided not to buy any of the somewhat-pricey Art-in-the-Park. On the way back we called in to Romsey Abbey and were lucky enough to also catch a fabulous display of quilts - we should have paid an entrance fee but they were packing up so we went in for nothing. There was a NZ themed quilt and we also had an interesting conversation with one of the ladies - she had visited NZ and loved it but said that the 8 million dollars she needed to emigrate was too much. We are not too sure where she got that figure from as I think I would be happy with a tenth of that amount.
On Saturday we visited the deserted village of Tyneham which is on the south coast - the last time we were here (2004) we had been unable to get to it as it is in the middle of an Army Exercise and live firing area - it is now only accessible at weekends. The village was requisitioned in 1943 by the Army who used the surrounding valley for training for the D-Day landings - they were supposed to return it to the families at the end of the war but unfortunately this didn’t happen and most of the damage was done by the army shells when they used the houses for target practice. Luckily the church has been restored and is now a great museum - even if the roof does still have a large dent in it where one of the shells bounced off. The school house has been repaired and restored; now looking more like it should with period furnishings and fittings - but most of the houses have just the stone walls remaining; roofs and floors having fallen victim to the gunners’ accuracy over the years. We had arrived in time for a tour by a guy who is on the committee of people trying to restore and improve the area. His Nan had lived in the village and he has had access to other villagers as well - so was well able to give a good insight into how the villagers lived and what the various buildings were used for. This place is well worth a visit if you have the time. We also walked down to Worbottom Bay where there used to be a coast guard station and a few holiday homes for the rich from London. It is now part of the coastal walk but also only accessible at weekends. We had fish and chips for lunch by the river at Wareham then a leisurely drive through the New Forest back to our friends.
Sunday morning it was raining but we ventured to downtown Portsmouth. We didn’t go up the Spinnaker Tower as it was raining and too misty but Ian did manage to buy two new shirts! Linda cooked roast NZ lamb for dinner. Yum.
Monday morning saw us heading home via two interesting hours in Winchester - once again we took advantage of the Park and Ride for a hassle free visit. We had a look at the outside of the Cathedral, nosey around the West Gate which is now a museum, and quick visit to the Great Hall which has the (supposed) Round Table of King Arthur on display. An uneventful trip home saw us out again that evening to help a friend celebrate her birthday with a dinner at a local restaurant.
Yorkshire.
We went to Yorkshire one weekend later in June and had 3 busy days. The weather was good except for the hail while we were at the lavender farm (near Castle Howard) - but we were able to shelter in the glass house. We left at 6.30am on Saturday and, after breakfast picnic in a Services car-park, detoured to visit Pontefract where they grow liquorice. Interesting market town but not a lot of liquorice on sale. Next stop was Castle Howard (which was free as we used Phils membership card for Historic Houses - but don’t tell anyone!). This grand house (not really a castle in the traditional sense) is best known as the setting for the TV series “Brideshead Revisited” and the more recent filming of the movie of the same name. Part of the building had been burnt out in 1940 (nothing to do with enemy action) and the restoration has not yet been completed. Some rooms were used for the movie - they have been left as-is after the filming so it really is like walking through a movie set. All in all it is a very interesting place which Wendy preferred to Blenheim Palace which we had visited a few weeks previously. After lunch we went to Camp Eden where we ran out of time as there is so much to see. A war museum set in an old POW camp it is very well presented and so full of interesting info, right up to the current situation in the Gulf. This place is definitely worth another visit - and it’s not expensive either.
We arrived at our Youth Hostel in the village of Lockton on the edge of the moors - we didn’t have a map of exactly where it was but we needn’t have worried - there are only two streets in the village and it is on the corner! It is a Green Beacon hostel in a converted school building so has a composting toilet, solar heating and intensive recycling. The warden lives in a farmhouse nearby and was once a pupil at the school so had lots of info about the site. We enjoyed a short walk before dinner and over the weekend got used to the cows ambling past the front door twice a day- watch where you walk as you go across the road! This also explains the sign at the entrance asking you to check your shoes for cow-muck before coming inside.
Sunday night we were the only people there so could have taken any of the 21 beds on offer. Sunday we caught the North Yorkshire Moors Railway from the nearby town of Pickering up to the village of Goathland which is the “Heartbeat” village. Fascinating seeing the pub, train station, village green and garage and all of the old cars used in the TV series. On our return we caught the first lot of entertainment at Levisham Station as they celebrated a 60’s weekend - predictably a Rock’n’Roll band but with the addition of umbrellas to keep the rain off!
We then drove to Scarborough. What a surprise that was complete with donkey rides, amusement arcades and a 60p cable car ride back up the steep incline from the beach to the road. Further up the coast we detoured to Boggle Hole where the only building is a 100 bed youth hostel at the bottom of a very steep hill in an old smugglers cove. We had tried to get a booking at the places on the coast but they were full - however we think our choice of Lockton was a better option. The Shire Horse centre wasn’t open so it was on to Robin Hood’s Bay - a long way from Sherwood Forest but the legend has it that he had made arrangements to travel swiftly and secretly to a get-away boat he had secreted here should he need to escape in a hurry - believe it or not. By now we are heartily sick of Pay and Display as we are usually only there for a small fraction of the time paid for. Once again it was a steep haul down to the sea-front and up again but so fascinating looking up the narrow alleys and making sure we didn’t trip on the cobblestones.
Whitby was our final stop where we decided it was fish and chips for dinner -but certainly not out of a polystyrene box on a crowded pier - so we enjoyed a lovely meal in a restaurant overlooking the harbour. Were so full we couldn’t even face an ice cream so let everyone else do the licking. We arrived back at the hostel in time for a convivial cuppa with Jenny the warden. Monday we left early and detoured across the moors to visit Wades Causeway, part of an old Roman road. We chose the slow road across to Danby (several lots of arrows on the map indicating steep grades and lots of tight corners) and visited the Moors Centre. Quite a few villages on the way had fords to cross, luckily not too full of water. After lunch we visited the James Herriot Museum in Thirsk. Set in the original house of the Vet who wrote under the nom-de-plume of James Herriot, it was once again a very impressive presentation and very enjoyable. We arrived home safely in time for tea.

Canal Boat.
Even before we left NZ we had arranged to have a week on a Narrow Boat with our friends Graeme and Linda from Portsmouth. It is relevant here that Wendy had done a trip on a canal in Wales when she was here in 1995 and was very keen for me to have my own Canal Experience. So, in the middle of September our friends arrived ready to head to Tamworth to start our adventure the next day - after the trip to TESCO to pick up the food for the week. The loading of our gear and the briefing on handling and operating the craft (very thorough briefing it was too!) took about 2 hours and we set out for a couple of hours motoring (although we were hardly “motoring” in the usual sense of the word with a top speed of about 4 knots!) including our first couple of locks before we stopped for our first night which was a Saturday. Altogether we were on board for 7 nights/6 full days and managed to cover a nice amount of the canal system - ending up back where we started in good time to hand back on the following Saturday morning.
The canal we were on most of the time was the Trent and Mersey which meandered through lots of farmland, around the edge of towns, past gardens backing on to the canal and also through some industrial areas. For the two men, who took turns at navigating the 60ft boat it was an enjoyable and rewarding time - for Wendy it was a bit of a disappointment as the scenery was not in any way comparable to the beauty of the Brecon Beacons in springtime and she found it quite boring. For Linda, the small model lock the instructor had used to demonstrate how to operate the real thing left her totally confused with no clue at all as to what had to happen - until we got to the first one and she saw how it actually worked. After that you had to be really quick to beat her to the locker to get the windlass handles out and leap ashore to operate every lock we came to - she was a natural.
It was a very relaxing week - nowhere to go and all day to get there so very stress free. Except of course in the first day or so when we were still getting the hang of driving the boat and had some close encounters with other craft - and the canal banks! Our first Tee junction was 3.00pm on the Sunday and right on the junction there is a pub with outdoor seating - say no more! I managed to get a bit close to the edge when letting another boat past and we were stuck on the mud until we got the pole and managed to push ourselves off. However, we managed to not bend or break it and got better as the week went on - but it is still easy to lose the plot when looking at the passing scenery and find the track going under willow trees or nudging the bank a little.
When we left the boat we parted company with Graeme and Linda and headed back to where we had been to visit the Wedgewood Factory and museum. Most worthwhile and informative so we spent a couple of hours there, including soup and roll for lunch before we headed home to tackle the week’s worth of laundry. Maybe we will do the Breckon Beacons canal again before we go home.

Lake District.
Please note that this entry is a little more up-to-date as we were there in late October! We had booked in months ago for a weekend stay at the Youth Hostel at Boot - which is in the western part of the Lakes District at the foot of the Hardknott Pass We left early on the Friday to be in Coniston by 12.00 so we could go to lunch with Wendy’s good friend Lynne’s Mother-in-Law. We made good progress and were in plenty of time - we were also joined by Lynne’s sister Carol so it was a good catch-up. It was interesting that we had chosen this Hostel because it is very isolated but Carol was most concerned that we hadn’t realised this - we hastened to reassure her that that was what we had wanted. We arrived at the hostel just on dark and, after organising our room, enjoyed a light supper of soup and toast.
We were most fortunate with the timing of our visit to this picturesque part of England - the leaves were falling and the colours just delightful. Almost every corner we turned we were treated to another magnificent display. I have lots of photos and while they serve to remind us of what it was like, they cannot do full justice to the colours. It rained most of the weekend but we still got around to visit Cockermouth, Buttermere and Honiston Pass - but missed the trip to the slate mine by 15 minutes so we sat in the car and ate our lunch before moving on. At Keswick we visited the pencil museum then back to the hostel via the Wrynose and Hardknott passes - these are some of the steepest and tightest roads in UK - no heavy vehicles allowed and the passes are closed to everything in the winter. Last time we visited we were unfortunately in a hurry but this time we were able to stop for a couple of photos and the rain stopped long enough for us to visit the Hardknott Roman Fort. On Sunday we revisited Ravenglass then up to Whitehaven for Ian to visit the Rum Museum. We drove down to Barrow-in-Furness and arrived at Sue and Mark’s (Lynnes brother) in time for an incredible Sunday dinner with all of the trimmings - we had not wanted to be a nuisance but obviously the cup of coffee we had suggested was not on the menu. However, it was great to see everyone and catch up on their news.
On Monday we visited the Stott Bobbin Mill, which is a Victorian Mill which has been preserved in working condition. The mill was one of hundreds in this area making wooden bobbins for the cotton and weaving trade - and, as this business dried up in the mid 20th century, they diversified into making other turned wooden articles such as the toggles for the Navy’s greatcoats, file handles and other tool handles. The factory was one of the last to close in 1974 and was purchased by English Heritage - it lay idle for 10 years before being opened as a museum.
We then drove to Stafford via a slight detour to Bakewell, where we wandered around amidst the weekly livestock and farmers market and bought a Bakewell Pudding to take to Laurie and Bob - they had introduced us to this local delicacy last time we were here and we were well educated as to not confuse the superior Pudding with the more common Tart! We stayed with them until Wednesday morning, chatting, catching up and being taken to some of the local sights then once again returned home. It was a nice 6 days.

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Photos

Closed on Fridays
Hmmmm. Should have looked at the web-site first!

Coffee Break on the way.
Nice to stop somewhere and find a nice coffee.

West Gate Winchester
We looked around the old part of Winchester.

Castle Howard
Very nice house in the country !!! Wonder who mows the lawns?

Camp Eden Sentry.
Fantastic place set in the old prison blocks. We will be back to see what we didn't have time for.

Adensfield - Spot the Antiques.
Heartbeat country - complete with all of the old cars and buildings.

Rock'nRoll Baby!
Umberallas tell the story - but they looked like they hadn't let go of the guitars since 1965!

Lock interior - Going up.
A bit scarey the first time - but a really nice feeling going up with the water rushing in.

Linda the Lock-Keeper on her way again.
Once she got the hang of it there was no stopping the girl!

Very dangerous places these canals.
Although you may think the water, banks or passing boats would be the main danger - but NO - it's the overhead power lines which may get entangled with the fibre-glass fishing rods!!

On our way to lunch in Coniston
We arrived in good time and managed a little staged scene before we went and enjoyed a very fine dinner in a local Pub. Thanks Nan I !!

Autumn Leaves.
Beautiful colours by the road.

Hardknott Pass from the Roman Fort
Wouldn't have liked to be a soldier serving here in 200AD as it was cold and damp. Beautiful drive over the pass though!

Walking with Friends in Stafford.
The weather was a little bracing but the company was great!

Comments

[Jane Fowler de Carmona]

Bakewell
I have no idea what a Bakewell Pudding is, but I love the more common Tart, so I look forwards to my parents offering this education to me next time I home. I have to say, your blogs are really giving me some good ideas for where to take Ricardo when we move. The Lakes and NW Scotland are two of my firm faves!