Deal and South East - Part 1

We left Chester on our way to Deal (which is down in the far south east corner of England, below London and more east) and stayed over night in Birmingham to break the journey where we had an enjoyable evening staying with Christine and I met up with 2 of my old venturer scouts from the 1960’s.

The trip down to Deal was quite good until we got just north of London where the motorway traffic slowed to a crawl. Because of the upcoming long weekend we had expected some delays so had allowed extra time luckily.

The apartment we are staying in is on the waterfront on the 3^rd floor over looking the bay and English Channel. On a very clear day you can see France. We have the place to ourselves as Andrew (the owner) is working overseas where he spends most of his time. View from our lounge room.

 So far we have visited Hastings, Folkston, Margate, Ramsgate, Rye, Eastbourne, Broadstairs, and the town of Battle which is where the “Battle of Hastings” took place, about 10 miles in from the coast.

Yesterday we went to a Medieval Festival at Herstmonceux Castle in East Sussex. There were thousands of people there and as well as looking through the magnificent castle, we mixed with hundreds of people in period costume and saw many displays where people plied their trade as they would have hundreds of years ago. There were potters, wool dyers, wood carvers, armourers, traditional cooking, archers, soothsayers, dancers, sellers of Mead and other wines, period costumes for sale and many costume decorations including jewelry and armour. There were also arena displays typical of the jousting competitions of the period. The “king and queen” sat in the royal box watching the various events which included sword fights, cannon fire, horseback skills putting lances through rings and slicing carrots with swords. The highlight was of course the jousting with knights in shining armour charging at each other with lances. The whole event was very well done and luckily the weather was excellent. See below castle and jousting.

 Janice – the medieval festival was just like ‘A Knights Tale’ – they even had the same music at one point (We will rock you by Queen).  We didn't even cover all of it as it was spread over a huge area, but at least Brian got to see the jousting which is what he wanted to see. 

Hastings was lovely once we found the old part with quaint shops etc.  The other part was game arcades & things like that which is for holiday makers, but not for us.

This apartment is literally across the road from the sea, and the noise of the waves is so loud, that when speaking to my son yesterday on skype, I had to move in to the kitchen.  It’s beautiful & peaceful, and we really feel like we’re on holiday.  The sun pours in here, so we spend some time just reading in the lounge, listening to the waves. 

I wanted to go to Eastbourne because that is where my grandad went every summer (from London) so I had to see it for myself.  I was expecting something like Blackpool which is made up entirely of games arcades & fish & chip shops (awful), but it wasn't like that at all – beautiful beach front, and far more picturesque than I imagined.

I would like to go to Brighton but it’s a fairly long way, so we’ll see how we go.  The other part I would like to visit is Tunbridge Wells as it has lots of quaint villages & shops.

On Sunday we went (briefly) to Canterbury, but there was such a queue to get in to see the Cathedral, we decided we’d leave that until my cousin Angie is with us, and we’ll spend more time there.  It was a long weekend so the place was very crowded (in fact all places are very crowded).  On the way back we got lost and put the Satnav on and it took us up these little winding roads until we came to a little bridge and an Inn where we stopped to have lunch.  It is a 15^th century inn called George & The Dragon and we had a lovely meal.  You just never know what’s around the corner!!! Typical old English pub.

South Wales and South West England

Following on from our last blog, we had a few days in Chester catching up on some things like washing. We visited a number of places in North Wales like Llandudno, Colwyn Bay, the Marble Church and the Great Orme headland.

I celebrated my birthday, the first one in 45 years that I have spent with my parents. We went out to lunch at an old English pub with mum and dad, my sister Pauline and her husband, and two of my cousins and their respective spouses. Had a great time over 3.5 hours.

Then it was off on another excursion. We travelled south through mid Wales visiting Aberystwyth on Cardigan Bay and then down through the Elan Valley and its many reservoirs and on to Cardiff where we stayed the night. We looked through Cardiff and visited Cardiff Castle

before travelling to the outskirts of Bath to meet a friend of Janice’s and her partner for lunch at a very quaint canal side pub called the George at Bathampton. Janice and Linda had lots to talk about and her partner Peter is a retired policeman so we had something in common to chat about.

It was then off to our overnight stay at Wadebridge in Cornwall, a 3.5 hour journey through some torrential rain. Visibility on the motorway was very poor with spray coming off large trucks and the lashing rain keeping our windscreen wipers on fast speed.  By the time we arrived at our destination it had almost cleared. The B & B was run by a very cheery man who was always laughing and we had a great time there.

The following morning it was off to Port Isaac (or Port Wenn as some of you may know it from the Doc Martin TV series). The day was overcast but not raining. From where we parked the car, it was a steep walk down to the village which is just as quaint as it appears on TV. We found Doc Martin’s house, the school, the shop the series used as the pharmacy and Large’s Restaurant (which is actually a private house). The walk back up to the car was quite an effort and we were exhausted by the time we got there.

(Doc Martin's house is second from right).

We then travelled along the coastal roads of north Cornwall, Devon and Somerset, stopping at the fishing village of Boscastle and having lunch at the picturesque town of Bude. The roads were very narrow with a number of harrowing experiences along the way. At one point we met a truck and had to reverse a considerable distance and fold in the door mirror so it could creep past with millimetres to spare. After travelling through the seaside resort of  Ilfracombe we arrived at the National Trust village of Selworthy with its thatched cottages and very old church. House at Selworthy.

It was then off to the medieval village of Dunster with its narrow streets and character buildings. We arrived at Dunster Castle just too late to see inside but had a look around the outside and gardens.

Then off to Bath where we stayed just outside the city at an old country pub called the Northey Arms. In spite of the age of the place, they had done a marvelous job of modernising the rooms with an enormous en suite bathroom. When we went down to dinner, the restaurant was almost full. We had an excellent meal with a very pleasant bottle of South African wine called “Very Sexy Shiraz”.

The following day it was off to explore bath. We parked the car and travelled into the city by bus. We then boarded the “hop on hop off” tourist bus around the city and surrounds and saw the various places of interest. On our walk around the city centre we visited the ancient Roman Baths (from where the city gained its name) which were very interesting although very crowded. View of River Avon at Bath.

On our way home we called in at Bradford-on-Avon where we had lunch in a 15^th Century teahouse. Photo below.

Being Friday evening the motorways were congested with long delays so we opted for the smaller roads which took longer but at least we kept moving.

Janice – going back to Bath, we walked around the shopping area which is lovely with some very unusual shops.  There was a retro shop which sold board games etc from the 50’s & 60’s, and an old fashioned sweet shop, plus the Sally Lunn house which is the oldest house in Bath.  In NZ we called a boston bun Sally Lunn, and this is where it originated.  We decided not to have lunch there though and opted for Bradford-on-Avon because I had heard it was really pretty and only 20 minutes away.  As Brian said the tea house was extremely old, and it was really quirky with nooks & crannies, plus all the staff had to wear period costumes, i.e. black with a lacy white pinafore over the top and a white cap. 

When we were at Port Isaac I had to pinch myself to make sure I was really there.  When you stand in a certain position and look at the house that was his surgery, and all the other buildings around, it was just amazing.  The sea was really blue and you could see to the bottom.  There were lots of dreadlock men at Port Isaac (fishermen I think).  As you would imagine with a tourist place all the trinkets and other items for sale were very expensive so we left with only our photos. 

Yesterday we went back to our friends in Stiperstones (near Shrewsbury) – I just love it there.  It looks, at first glance, that it only consists of a few houses, a church, a store and a pub, but it’s bigger than that.  Amanda & David live over the road from the pub as we have probably mentioned in a previous blog, and the food there is just sooooo good and cheap.  We had a lovely late, lazy lunch there and finally got home around 7.30pm. 

We are now preparing for our next venture which will be on Wednesday, and we don’t get back to Chester until about Saturday 21^st September, but we will have wi-fi so we’ll be able to continue blogging.

Birmingham, Cotswolds, Northampton

A few days prior to leaving for Birmingham, the inside door handle on the hire car refused to operate. We notified the hire company but as it is peak holiday period here, they did not have a similar one available. They replaced it with a brand new Ford Fiesta which, although was a very nice car, lacked the power of the Hyundai and was petrol as opposed to diesel. We had to change down gears at the slightest incline. Luckily they were able to find another Hyundai i30 diesel the afternoon before we were due to leave.

The warm weather was continuing and our trip down to Birmingham uneventful, arriving at Neil and Diane Challinor’s house just in time for lunch. Neil and I were in the police together and as a young bobby I used to visit the Challinor household regularly. Their current home is a converted farm barn with countryside all around at Ullenhall and we sat out in the garden drinking, eating, chatting and laughing for the rest of the day, only moving inside for coffee when the midges started biting. Neil and Diane’s house is only 2 bedroom and they only have a single bed in their spare room so they had arranged for us to stay at a B & B down the road. We spent most of the following day with them which was hotter than the previous day so more food and drinks. (It is a wonder we are not as fat as barrels.) Note from Janice – we almost are as fat as barrels !!! Photo taken in the garden.

Then we were on our way to Dorridge (only 20 minutes away) and the home of more friends, Geoff and Jill Osborne. I have known Geoff since I was 16 when we were police cadets together and got to know Jill a year later as she was a police cadet also. We spent 9 wonderful days with them using their home as a base for catching up with other people in the Birmingham area. On the first day we visited some local landmarks like Baddeley House (photo below)

 We visited an Antiques and Collectables Fair at the NEC complex (everything was very expensive), toured Coventry, met up with Janice’s cousin David and family for lunch in Birmingham city centre and toured the Bullring and canal area. David took us on a tour of the city and everything was so different from what I remembered (there again it has been 43 years since I was last here).

Met up with friends Wendy and Pete for lunch one day and whilst there, the heavens opened and we had a terrific thunderstorm. Wave after wave of storms came through with blue sky and sunshine in between. Amazing. We also met Christine Miller for lunch and caught up with the Warwick and Law families at the Harvester Pub on Stratford Road.

On Thursday we toured the Cotswolds with Geoff and Jill and this turned out to be the hottest UK day since 1976. It reached 34 deg. We visited Shipton on Stour (where we stopped for brunch at Mrs Brown’s Tea Rooms), then on to Chipping Campden (photo below of old market)

  Stow on the Wold, (photo of typical street)

 Bourton House Gardens (morning coffe at Bourton Gardens)

 and Bourton on the Water for dinner at the Rose Tree restaurant overlooking the village green and river. We travelled back via Moreton in Marsh, all fantastic place names. 

Last Friday we travelled to Wollaston near Northampton to catch up with Keith and Jean Powell. Keith and I were also police cadets. They took us to local historical places of interest and visited Fotheringhay where Mary Queen of Scots was beheaded at Fotheringhay castle in 1587. After a delightful dinner we headed back to Dorridge.

Saturday we visited various places of interest around Birmingham, called in for lunch with Christine and sister Pam, and headed back to Dorridge to get ready for dinner with Neil, Diane, Geoff and Jill at the Herons Nest hotel where we had a fabulous time.

Yesterday we travelled back to Chester via mum and dad’s and we have a few days here to get ready for the next leg of our journey. Would you believe that tomorrow we are only half way through our trip?

Janice – The Cotswolds are my favourite place – it’s all picture book stuff with beautiful thatched cottages, lots of beautiful flowers everywhere, and just what you would imagine the English countryside to be.

It was lovely catching up with my cousin David.  He took us to a lovely place called The Mailbox which everyone here seems to have heard about, and waiting there were his wife Jean, daughter Katie, and her daughter Eve.  We had a great lunch, and after that David took us all over the place (as Brian has mentioned).

We visited Chris (as Brian also mentioned) in Bournville.  This is all part of the Cadbury’s Estate and its really pretty there – all the roads are tree lined, and it just has a lovely English look about it.

Brian has had lots of nostalgic trips around the Birmingham area.  He keeps telling me that this was where he trained, or where single mens quarters were, or where he stood on the street corner & such & such happened.  It’s quite funny really as he kept talking to himself, saying that up that street was…….., and if I turn up here ……… - so I kept quiet & just left him to it. 

I am starting to feel a little homesick after two months, but there’s so much happening that you don’t have much time to think about it.