Month: January 2023

August continued with Retro usually a Saturday event with old vehicles but this year it was extended to include the dock area & Tony was asked to organise Retro on the Water, a two day event with lots of participating boats and dockside businesses. Here is Karen Organ ringing the Atlas Bell on North Warehouse to open the festivities.

Everyone was asked to decorate their boat. This is my Buckingham Palace Balcony scene 1953. And below spread beyond Mr B, not on board that weekend:

Nutcracker owned by Bob and pirate dog Milo, won the best decorated boat competition.

Bristol pilot cutters assembled for the race.

The entry for Gloucester Brewery

Sula was looking pretty good……..

But Isabella won! As the only female taking part I was more than pleased and won a tour of Gloucester Brewery! If you are wondering about the name , Isabella was the first Countess of Gloucester. She is now in dry dock & will be prepared for Retro in 2023.

Interesting or historic boats were invited to Retro and moorings were reserved for them

Banstead & Angel traditional craft are quite famous and have appeared in a number of TV series.

SARA demonstrating a rescue and collecting funds below:

Atlas Table Top gaming with childrens activities. Warehouse 4 opened its shop.

Dave created a new menu

Lime juice and ships biscuit was available on tours of the Kathleen & May in dry dock at Nielsens Yard.

Captain Colin giving instruction on steering

The original features and craftsmanship are stunning

Allowed to descend into the dry dock to see the restoration in progress.

The lock gates holding back the water.

And one day she’ll be out at sea again

We visited the RNLI in Poole for their Launch a Memory Day.

Tony is pointing to his Grandfathers name

I even found time to bake a cake for Rogers birthday. Apparently it was edible!

There was also the Worlds Strongman competition but I didn’t have a camera! It was great fun to watch! One was taken including me (arrow):

Off to the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham by train. I love these famous five adverts

The Alexander Stadium & ladies high jump

The Discus

This is how they film the races

These little vans collected the discus from the field

Buses from all over the country were hired to get the spectators back into town. this one was the no 10 from Cheltenham. We were at the end of the queue and waited 35 minutes. Altogether impressive organisation.

We then took Henry to Moorhampton near Hereford for a week

Rather a tired site and very quiet, but there were a lot of places to visit. Nearby Weobley is a delightful village.

Leominster is another little town worth visiting.

Any museum holds great attraction for us.

I loved this old Singer sewing machine & this thermometer amused me

Exploring further…..

We found this beautiful house. It tells the story of the family who built it.

A lovely garden to enjoy a cup of tea

A formal garden

And here is the gardener hard at work!

Then off to visit the church

We were surprised to discover …….

A serious piece of equipment!

The following day we tackled Hereford

The River Wye

We visited the Mappa Mundi exhibition first. Here is a map of France

Then the chain library. Books used to be very expensive.

1611 St James’ Bible

And of local interest

King Offa & St Ethelbert

About time too!

The crypt

Some interior images

The highly decorated tomb of St Thomas

Hereford is famous for its cider, amusing names too

We chanced upon a small dairy making cheese. It was delicious!

We had a very good day out at Brant Broughton. It was the village fete, stalls & dog show, cream teas in the cricket pavilion, and scarecrow trail. Transport provided.

The yew hedge surrounds the stately home.

The former home

And here is the owner giving us a guided tour and its history. A wonderful account of how his female ancestor had held out when the castle was besieged in the Civil War.

Each local organisation put together a floral display in the church. Here are a few:

Now to the scarecrow trail:

A very sophisticated angel

No prizes for guessing this one

I liked Rapunzel letting down her hair

This guy was a good sport!

And here to maintain law & order

A family picnic

Wild west saloon

A really good day out!

Night sky at Moorhampton

The following day we ventured to Hay on Wye. A lovely little town of bookshops and tourists!

Richard Booths bookstore above and throne below

The Castle front & rear

I just couldn’t resist!!!!

The views are spectacular

And then we took the road to Llanthony Priory

The road took us over moorland and the descended into a very narrow lane with the odd place for two cars to pass. Happily not very many motorists. It was a 12 mile drive and it took 60 minutes!! We had to stop at a pub for Tony to recover, but finally we reached the priory. It is situated in a most beautiful spot.

A little chapel remains on the site

And finally we spotted this Matt cartoon

The confetti fields near Pershore were open on 1st July. It is always busy so we booked to go on the first morning. It didn’t disappoint!

Different flowers too

The Archeology Festival is amazing. The city streets had 3-D carpets

Tony was a steward for the tram and here is a photo of it

A little further down Eastgate Street I was helping build the wall to defend the city from the Royalist troops in 1643.

And those are real canon balls from the seige.

Who could resist? I just had to be photographed on every single one but here are just a couple.

The Folk of had a lego display. Here is the Roman Forum

The detail was incredible. I’m not sure the fisherman was catching salmon.

Then the funniest Event of the summer! The dog show at Llanthony Priory organised by friend Kim.

Knowing we are not in the dog fan club we were given the task of checking dogs into each category and taking the money, however it didn’t quite work out as planned and….I just has to teach it to sit!

The gardens lovingly tended by friend Karen

Friend Sophie with her dog Dolly

I’m not sure whether these treats were for humans or dogs!

And Captain Colin from Sula did a splendid job with the commentary

Our neighbour Lyndsey with her dog, with award

It’s not every day your MP drops in for coffee

We had a cruise down to Sharpness and visited the SARA open day, on a very warm day.

Very interesting tour of the key base between the River Severn and the Gloucester Sharpness Canal.

Rather nice model boats

We had been meaning to visit the Nature in Art museum for some time..

We had lunch an spent a very nice afternoon both viewing the exhibits in the house and the statues in the gardens.

The most perfect delicious chocolates. Thanks to friends Karen & Roger.

A different view of Victoria Basin. Matilda is at the far end

And the TV star! Notice how he managed to get Matilda in the photo!

Leaving Hedgeley, Northumberland behind and heading off to Scotland. A lovely beautiful site with electric hook up but nothing else.

Of course we always discover some interesting corner and Hatherslaw & Etal villages were no exception especially when there was a railway to ride!

Quite keen on local brews but not too sure about the marmalade

You learn something new every day!

Definitely an exciting journey

Etal proved to be a charming village

And so time to hit the road for Glasgow

The campsite was easy to locate and well kept but was at the junction of several major routes so there was constant background noise. It didn’t prove too much of a problem as we were out and about every day

Glasgow proved to be quite a smart city with many handsome buildings. I can understand why the COP 2 talks were held here.

We took a bus tour after arriving by train, and the hopped on & off. Our first hop off was at the Riverside Museum.

This is probably the best transport museum I have ever seen and I loved the cars on the walls and the sailing ship beautifully reflected in the windows.

The following day we decided to follow the River Clyde downstream to Gourock. Needless to say we got distracted by another museum! We were intrigued by the window cleaners.

Science experiment outside. The whole riverside area seemed to still be under development. I was so impressed by this museum with the hundreds of hands on exhibits for children. Sadly a school party had been booked in at the same time as our visit so we didn’t get to play as much as we had wished!

We even found a reference to the amazing Waverley Paddle Steamer. I remember taking Lia for a day trip on her in 1986 when she visited Bristol

As we progressed downstream we saw a huge cruise ship not at all attractive to us. How does that block of small flats say afloat in rough weather??

Slightly different to “Our” Newark on Trent

And finally we reached Gourock

In need of tea we had a table window and the Caledonian McBrayne Ferry

And a very smart Marina & Village completed our day trip.

Whilst in Scotland I just had to Visit the House of Bruar, an upmarket store. It lived up to expectations and relieved me of a few groats! Think of it as a Scottish Harrods.

Ready to shop!

Choose your whisky:

An amusing corner of the garden centre

And I only came out with one bag!! But may have to return next year!

I the afternoon we visited Blair Castle -fantastic house with history. The entrance hall is pretty impressive, but then the whole house is.

On the road again this time destination Morecambe. We called in at T Bay services and later took a little detour to the Lancaster canal.

A National Trust property with delightful grounds and gardens, particularly the kitchen garden that has a dedicated group of volunteers.

The interior

Finally we arrived at Archers Farm campsite Morecambe quite a steep sloping site but we had one of the best pitches at the top and this was the view

Morrisons store puffins- they definitely made me smile!

All you have ever wanted to know about eels!

Sunset in Morecambe the end of this trip in Henry.

Travels in Henry
Our first port of call was the Milestones campsite at Cromwell next door to Milestones Brewery! Always a convenient stop on the way north.

Then off north to visit Alnwick and catch up with friends

Alnwick town attractive and busy

Alnwick Castle Broomstick Training

The real purpose of visiting the castle was to see the Northumberland Fusiliers Museum. My Great Uncle Lewis Robert Bramley was a Sergeant Major in this regiment. He fought in WW1 and was then died in WW2holding the line when Dunkirk was being evacuated. He is buried in Ypres Town Cemetery.

Below Ready for kit inspection. Note the position of the Bible Prayer Book

Not only were the Glosters in Korea but the Northumberland Fusiliers too

No visit to Northumberland would miss out on Bamburgh. Such a commanding position

The castle also has museum of all things associated with the Armstrong family business: armaments aircraft and so on which seems to attract the male of the species!

Our next visit was to Cragside an absolutely stunning National Trust Property. The rhododendrons were at their best but sadly the weather wasn’t. Allow a whole day if the sun is shining.

How the Armstrongs made their money

An exquisite bedroom

What a talking point! Have you ever seen such a fireplace and overmantle like this?

Here you see the engineer at work. An Archimedes screw is used on the River Avon near Pershore but here what it looks like at Cragside

Extensive grounds and gardens but the weather was poor

And a little display the pleased me

From Seahouses take a boat trip to the Farne Islands. Hmm which trip shall I take ?

Memorial to Grace Darling

St Cuthbert’s Chapel

Excellent wildlife action shot by Tony

The islands are covered by these attractive flowers

Thousands of birds

And return to Seahouses for a well deserved fish & chip supper