Great Yarmouth and Norfolk Broads 24th May 2012

Despite lovely weather there was plenty of room on the beach

It was a lovely day and we decided that it was time that we visited the seaside. Whichever seaside you visit from where we live it will be a fair old journey. Great Yarmouth may not be everyone's cup of tea as some people find it a bit brash but we like it for the odd day out. As we will be hiring a boat on the Norfolk Broads in the next few weeks we also took the opportunity to visit the boat yard and ask a few questions The actual boat that will have was out on hire but the yard still had some great looking boats on display....

One of the splendid hire boats at Richardson's yard Stalham.

Although it was a normal school day there did appear to be quite a few children with their parents in Yarmouth, maybe they had found the recent change in weather irresistible. I must admit that we find the arcades quite an attraction although if we spend as much as 50p all day I'd be surprised. On our favourite machines are those that push 2p's off shelves, it's amazing how long you can make a small amount last!

Julie remembers going on the Snail ride as a child and we always go to have a look to see if it's still there. So far yet another generation of kids seem to be getting just as much enjoyment from it......

The off shore (a far better place for them than being a blot on some country scene!) wind farm is clearly seen from Yarmouth with the two Piers giving the best views...

The Britannia Pier is home to a number of summer shows, unfortunately they all seem to only be on in the height of mid summer when we are elsewhere.

The donkey rides are as popular as ever...

After a fun day out in the sun we stopped at the Rushcutters, a pub at Thorpe, on the outskirts of Norwich, for a very nice meal....

A great ending to a great day!

Matlock Bath 17/5/2012

The busy centre of Matlock Bath

A this time of the year we are usually busy visiting a number of events like the Rushden Transport Cavalcade and the Stoke Goldington Steam Rally but sadly this year there was so much rain in April 2012 that these events were cancelled. Anyway we decided that it was time that we had a day out and decided to visit Matlock Bath in the Peak District.

Warm springs were discovered in1698 and a Bath House was built, to this day tourist are attracted to the area and there are a number of 'modern' tourist attractions. The main street always reminds me of the seaside as the buildings are virtually all on one side with a river on the other. Amusement arcades stand shoulder to shoulder with museums. Another thing that is noticeable is the vast numbers of motorcyclist that seem to be attracted to the area (presumably by the challenging roads) and there are a number of shops catering for their needs.

Another long time feature of Matlock Bath has been the petrifying well where objects can be left in the waters to be covered in a hard crust of limestone. We were looking forward to making use of the cable car to visit the Heights of Abraham. This is a self contained park on top of a hill of the same name. The park contains a former lead minewhich is open to the public and a cliffside cafe. There is a fabulous view across the river Derwent to High Tor, a sheer cliff, this is popular with climbers and walkers.

It looks like a head for heights is needed but in fact it's not too bad.

 It's worth noting that the cable cars don't run in high winds (just as well!!) and so it can be worth ringing ahead to make sure that the system is open On the ride up there are some lovely views of the river valley so don't forget a camera and possibly some binoculars. The cars travel 568m (621 yards) long and climb 169m (185 yards).

Once at the top there are a number of exhibitions to visit and the tour of the Masson Cavern. This is an old lead mine that takes you deep under the hill side. To be totally honest this wasn't quite as spectacular as some other caverns I have visited but still well worth seeing and climbing the 170 odd steps that link the caverns. Like most caverns of this nature the floor can be a bit damp and steep to sensible shoes are a good idea. Despite there being lots of steps the guides take it all at a leisurely pace and most people won't find it too difficult.

Steps certainly feature strongly in the walk round the caverns!

There are some lighting effects but these fall a bit short of amazing.

What is turly spectacular is the view across the Derwent Valley and in particular Riber castle is impressive. This was built in the mid 19th century and sits high on a hill, it was built by John Smedley, a local textile manufacturer. Smedly built it to live in and made it of local stone. His wife lived in it until her death and it later became a boys school, this ended in the 1930's. It later became an animal park but there was controversy about the treatment of the animals and that closed in 2000.It's now in a state of disrepair but there is talk of it being converted into apartments.

Riber Castle across the valley.

Apart from the amazing views and the exhibitions at the Heights of Abraham there is a very nice cafe. It has a terrace with more v iews and it's very clean and modern.

There's no doubt that Matlock Bath is very interesting place to visit and with it's abundance of places to eat and unusual shops, amusement arcades and spectacular views there's something for virtually everyone. Without doubt we will be going back.

Sywell Air Museum April 2012

On Easter Saturday April 7th 2012 we visited Sywell Airfield to see the re-opening of the museum on the edge of the airfield.

Sywell Aviation Museum is open from Easter Saturday to the end of September every Saturday, Sunday and also on Bank Holidays between 10:30 and 16:30. Entrance is free but donations are welcome. The picture above shows one of the recovered aero engines that are housed in the museum.

Some of the exhibits, like the war time kitchen above, are behind glass which does make photography a bit difficult. However it is really interesting to see how households looked in the 40's. Some of the brand names are still in use today but may have long since disappeared.

Above is another reconstruction in the museum which shows the inside of a typical Anderson Shelter. Many gardens had these air raid shelters installed.

A new exhibit for this year is the Fordson tractor seen above. It was bought by Brookland Aviation in 1938 for use as an aircraft tug during the war and after. The bonnet still has the sign writing saying that it belonged to Brooklands Aviation.

Outside were a number of military vehicles including this rather interestingly sign written jeep.

Also outside were a number of 'really' vintage flying machines.

If any of you get the chance to visit the museum I'm sure that you find it most enjoyable and educational. Also on the airfield is a very pleasant cafe known as the Pilots Mess.

Welcome 2012

Well there hasn't been much activity on the blog for a while. I must admit that we have been sitting in front of the log burner rather than dashing about. Also we have been having our bathroom, toilet and ensuite refurbished so that has tied us to the house a bit. Furthermore I have found that I have a prolapsed disc that has made walking very painful, Oh well hopefully that will be sorted before too long.

Anyway enough of the excuses we are hoping to get out and about in the near future. No doubt a visit to Cornwall will be a major part of our plans and we already have the hire of a boat on the Norfolk Broads booked. In fact there are so many parts of the UK that we would like to visit I have no idea how we are going to fit it all in. I hope to put regular reports onto the blog and look forward to your company.

Santa Pod 5th November 2011

I entered a competition in the local news paper 'The Beds on Sunday' to win tickets to go to Santa Pod (the Drag Racing Strip) to see their firework display. You had to say when Guy Fawkes tried to blow up parliament, it was 1605 and I was lucky enough to win tickets. It wasn't too bad weather and the promised rain didn't materialise. With my camera it wasn't possible to take pictures of the fireworks, so apologies for that. They (the fireworks) were excellent and one of the best displays I have seen for a long while. The bonfire was also quite impressive and, although it was hard to see, it was lit by the jet engine that was mounted in a Volkswagen Beetle!

There was some on track activity with motorcycle stunts and a number of jet powered vehicles putting on flaming displays. There was a jet go-kart!, a jet powered Volkswagen Beetle and the jet truck shown below. Not a bad evening out but perhaps a little disappointing if you expected to see more car action.

Hells Mouth Cornwall.

One of the places we visit regularly in Cornwall is Hells Mouth on the north coast. After seeing this video we will be standing back a bit in future...  Cliff Fall Cornwall

A visit to Cambridge 7/10/11

On a day visit to Cambridge we stopped on the way to have a look at the American Cemetery at Madingley. This is a quiet, moving place with rows of white crosses each one representing the final resting place of an American killed in the Second World War whilst serving in the UK.

There are over 3800 Americans buried  on the 30 acre site. The site it's self was originally donated by the University of Cambridge. Along the front of the site is the Wall of the Missing. This lists over 5000 more Americans whose bodies were never recovered or identified.

The crosses, the gardens and the Chapel are all immaculate and great care is taken of them. When you see the crosses stretching away and seeming to almost go on forever it's a very moving experience. In the rush of modern life it's easy to forget all the amazing people that gave their lives so that we can live as we do. This place serves to remember the individuals and to remind us of the sacrifices that were made by so many.

We used the Madingley Park and Ride bus to get into Cambridge. There is a huge car park and comfortable frequent buses that take you to the centre of Cambridge for a price of £2.40. With the congestion and difficulty of finding a parking place this is certainly a good way to get to get there (along with the guided bus but more of this later). Cambridge centre is mostly pedestrian-friendly and most sights can be easily reached on foot and much of the central area is traffic-free. Bicycles are everywhere in Cambridge and one has to be careful not to get knocked over by bikes that often travel on the footpaths and have scant regard for things like traffic lights!

Almost as soon as you get off the Park and Ride bus you see the Round Church building which dates back to about 1130 AD making it one of the oldest buildings in Cambridge. It's no longer used as a church; it now houses exhibitions on the history of the church and Christianity in Cambridge.

I worked in Cambridge about twenty years ago, since then many new and modern shops have been built some of them in large well designed shopping centres. However the old streets and alleyways with many unique shops still exist and are well worth exploring. There are numerous eating places and visitor attractions such as the punts on the river. Most tourists will be attracted to the Universities impressive colleges.

Whether you interest is shopping, history, dinning or just people watching you will find plenty of interest in Cambridge.

As well as the conventional Park and Ride Cambridge has a 'Guided Busway' and we went to have a look at the Huntingdon station. This has a well designed car park with wide bays. The cost of using the bus to travel to and from Cambridge is £5.40 although to me the prices were rather confusing with two bus companies operating on the route and appearing to charge different amounts.

Basically conventional buses have been fitted with small guide wheels and travel in concrete channels. These buses can also travel on normal roads when they get to the end of the actual guided part of the route. This appears to make for a flexible system.

Start of the Guided Busway.

The buses travel at just over 50mph without
the usual traffic problems.

Hamfest 30th September 2011

We went to the Hamfest at Newark, Notts on Friday 30th September. Unfortunately I didn't think to take a camera so this is just a short text blog. The weather was amazingly good for the last day of September and in fact the next day was the hottest (29.9C recorded at Gravesend for many years). Most of the route to Newark was on the A1 which over the past few years has been improved a great deal with many of the roundabouts being replaced with motorway style  junctions. Apart from the occasional bottleneck caused by lorries slowly overtaking each other it was a pleasant journey.

A Hamfest is a rally for people who enjoy the Amateur Radio Hobby. It's part social event where you meet up with old friends and part a chance to buy new and secondhand equipment. Many of the manufacturers of radio kit attend this event and there is a chance to discuss with them their products.

It may appear that this would all be of little interest to Julie but in fact she probably knew more people there than I did, this is because she used to work for the RSGB (Radio Society of Great Britain) who had many of their staff at the event. Anyway we both spent quite a bit of the time chatting to people we knew and a good time was had by one and all.

I did buy a few items that included a GPS SPeaker mic for my Icom Dstar Hand Held radio, a DV Dongle (a device that enables you to talk on Dstar via a computer) and a new bracket for the aerial on my car. I'm pleased to say that once home I was able to successfully get all the new kit working.

Another good day out and once again sorry that I didn't have a camera to record it all.

Bedfordshire Steam Fair 17/9/11

Sorry to pop this item in out of order but I just haven't had time to write the Cornwall entries yet.

Today (17/9/11) we went to the Bedford Steam fair that is held at Shuttleworth, not far from the A1. The Shuttleworth site has an airfield and a large collection of old aircraft. For the price of entry (£10 this year) you get to see the huge steam rally and the aircraft in the museum. The rally consists of not only steam driven items but military vehicles, old tractors, motor bikes, caravans, cars and just about every type of old mechanical device you can think of :-).

This event always attracts numerous Showman's engines, here is one of the best examples..

And here are a few more of these impressive showman's engines, quite a few more were scattered around the site powering fairground rides etc..

Another of the delights of the Bedford Rally are the live steam demonstrations. The steam ploughing, with the two traction engines either side of a field pulling the plough to and fro across the fields is always worth a look.

The next three pictures show a road repairing demo. The concrete and brick rubble is crushed into a suitable size by a machine that is powered by a large stationary steam engine. A narrow gauge railway then takes this material to where it's needed and where the trucks are tipped up. Eventually a steam roller will come to compress the hardcore into a road surface.

Crushing the hardcore.

The little railway engine used to haul the trucks of hardcore.

The truck is tipped ready for the roller

There's a very wide variety of vehicles at the show including quite a few military ones....

Another feature are the huge traction engines with 'cranes' that move trees about ready for the saw benches that turn them into planks and beams.

We had a great day out and came home with a few items from the market area. If we had to choose one Steam Rally to visit in the year I think that the Bedford Steam Rally would get our vote. There must be something to interest everyone at this splendid event.

Our base in Cornwall

We are regular visitors to Cornwall and love the place. This time we we were to spend 40 nights in the county. With such a long stay it would be difficult to describe each day so instead I will do a short series of blog entries about some of our favourite places.

We stay at a small five van caravan site that lies between Redruth and St Agnes, the nearest village being Scorrier. The site owner has become a friend and many of the other visitors are 'regulars' and have some interesting stories to tell.

Our site at Scorrier

 The site is on a slight hill with a clear view of Carn Brea and great TV reception and a good take off for my radio hobby.

South from the site.

Also on the site owners land is a beautiful old mine building, this lies more or less directly to the south.

Carn Brea that lies to the south west.

So that is where we were staying and in later blogs I will mention some of the places we visited.