London part 2 - the end

7th Oct

Manor Road and our regular 106 bus - credit:S

Today was a quiet one for me: a slow start followed by spending the rest of the day with Mad (Ross was working), helping to pack things up ready for the decorator on Monday. I also baked a gin and tonic lemon drizzle cake, which worked quite well (and I'm not known for my cake baking!)
Meanwhile Jeremy went museum hopping: the Imperial War Museum and the RAF museum at Hendon, arriving back about 5:30.

That evening, we met up with friends of Ross and Mad's (Nathan, Jan and Andy) at a nearby Thai restaurant called Yum Yum's - and it was yum yum, especially the cocktails. In spite of two Zombies, Jeremy was remarkably unscathed. It was great to meet up with people we usually only have contact with via FaceBook, and we had a great evening.

8th Oct

Chez Barkman/Acey - credit:S

We had a very slow start thanks to last night's indulgence, and had a family day at Ross and Mad's, again helping with their decorating prep - they sensibly took advantage of Jeremy's height and strength. Jeremy and I went cruising supermarkets in Stamford Hill for cardboard boxes. As it was Shabbat, the Stamford Hill Jewish community was out in force in Saturday best. A bit of googling has established that the spectacular furry hats are called Shtreimel, worn only on Shabbat and other festive days and paired with shiny dressing-gown-like coats. The women and girls all wear thick white stockings and flat shoes, with dresses/skirts that often look like they have been made from curtain fabric. Married women must wear wigs (for modesty).
Lunch was takeaway pizza from Franco Marca, and of course, the cake I baked.
That evening we watched a movie on TV and grazed on leftovers before an early night.

9th Oct

Our temporary home - credit:S

Our last day, and we started by getting up at 5:30am in order to watch the Japanese Grand Prix with Ross. Not a great race, nor were the Bathurst and Formula E results - wished we'd slept in!

Then it was back to the flat for washing and packing, which took a while as this was the first time we'd had to work out how to pack all our purchases, especially the variety of whisky glasses purchased on Islay. A quick stop for something for lunch, and some more assistance with the decorator prep before meeting Caro for afternoon tea at the French patisserie, La Duchesse. Caro is an old friend of Ross' from way back, and it was great to see her again - another who we normally only make contact with on Facebook.

Ross very kindly drove us out to Heathrow (took just over an hour) to our hotel. We decided that coming out to the airport the night before made the 8:30am check in time more manageable.

So good bye to the UK - it's been a wonderful 5 weeks, especially catching with with all the friends and family along the way.

10th - 12th Oct
 The trip home always seems to take forever, but was stress free. I even had an empty seat beside me on the longest leg. We got a good sleep in the Changi Transit hotel, before touring all three terminals and having a delicious Ramen for breakfast/dinner (night time, but we'd just woken up!) at the Ippudo Express stall - must remember for future visits. I binged on the War and Peace TV series on the flight to NZ: 8 hours of it! The 3 hours at Auckland Airport was a complete waste of time - must make sure we have a shorted transit time in future, as the new self service immigration processes are so much quicker.

Bristol and London Part 1

1st Oct
It was a tedious trip to Bristol, getting stuck in traffic jams and cruising the M4. There was a little excitement getting to our hotel due to masses of people and cars, and a recalcitrant sat nav trying to send us down pedestrian only streets. Don't you love hearing "you have arrived at your destination" when it's blatantly untrue - we could see the street just couldn't turn into it. Once we eventually made it, we couldn't face attempting to venture out again to find the car parking building, so paid the exorbitant hotel valet parking fee.

After a couple of hours to rest, Jeremy's ex-colleague Michael came and collected us. I'm glad we didn't try to drive ourselves, as the streets around his place are so narrow you have to back out again. It was a very pleasant evening with a lovely meal - bizarrely, Sharon and I have never met before, even though Jeremy and Michael had worked together for 22 years.

2nd Oct

Bristol - credit:S

We started the day watching the Malaysian F1 Grand Prix, an unexpected bonus as we thought we'd miss them all while away, and then we still had enough time to visit the SS Great Britain before having to return the rental car to Heathrow.

It was a beautiful crisp autumn morning and many people were making the most of the Bristol city waterfront, around the canal off the River Avon. The area has been extensively developed over the last few years, mainly with apartments, cafes and bars but with much of the history preserved, such as the steam crane, the railway tracks and steam train.

SS Great Britain - credit:J

The SS Great Britain was built in 1843 and was the first large steam driven iron ship and the first luxury cruise ship, travelling the trans-Atlantic route to New York. It was designed by Brunel who was definitely an engineering genius, and is now being recognised as such. Unfortunately, the SS GB had a chequered career: it ran aground in 1846 and it was 11 months before it was refloated, was then sold and turned into a ship to transport immigrants to Australia before being converted to a sailing ship in 1881 for hauling cargo to San Francisco. It was badly damaged in a storm, and diverted to the Faulklands, where it was sold essentially as a warehouse to store coal and wool. It was eventually sunk in shallow water, where it sat for 30 years being used as a picnic and fishing platform. In 1970, she was rescued and returned to the dry dock Bristol where she was built, restored and opened to the public in 2005.

SS Great Britain - credit: S

It's a great exhibition with galley, engine room, dining saloons and cabins set up for all 3 classes - travelling steerage out to Australia would have been very grim. Even the first class cabins had bunks way too small for Jeremy. The dry dock itself is interesting too, especially with its glass ceiling cover in water to give the illusion of the ship floating.

The run through to London was straightforward and we arrived at our Airbnb place just before 6pm.  We ate at a new pizza restaurant in Stoke Newington High Street - this part of Stokie has somewhat improved since our last visit in 2014.

SS Great Britain, propeller and rudder - credit:J

3rd Oct
I had a quiet day at home, catching up on washing and other chores. This included a trip to the laundrette to use the dryer. I love walking around this part of Stokie (strictly speaking, I think it's Stamford Hill), with its Haredim Jews (and their bizarre hats, some like giant furry doughnuts), Turks, West Indians and typical London geezers. I even saw "wooden top" bobbies (I thought they got rid of those helmets years ago!). I met up with Ross for a walk in the afternoon - he works from home, and tries to take a break each day. Another beautiful autumn day, and Clissold Park was lovely in the sunshine. Different sort of people at this end of Stokie - more gentrified, mums with pushchairs, cafes rather than laundrettes.

Meanwhile Jeremy had a busy day wandering the streets of central London, hopping into bits of various museums, looking at Samurai armour and swords among other things.

Dinner was at the Jolly Butcher pub and fittingly we had a platter of German sausages.

4th Oct

Worthing from the pier - credit:J

Today we went to Worthing on the south coast to visit our friend Joss who now lives there. We caught the train from Victoria but stupidly didn't book the tickets online in advance so paid a premium - all up, it was about £50 each return, including coming home via Brighton. Rail travel isn't cheap, but it's worse if you don't book ahead.

Worthing is your classic British seaside town, with terrace houses along the waterfront, a shingle beach with wooden groynes to stop erosion and the mandatory pier. The town itself has a nice feel - a much better place for Joss to base herself and Danny (her young son) than London.

Worthing Terraces with NZ native plants - credit:S

It was very windy on the waterfront and pier, much like a Wellington southerly, but lunch in the Art Deco styled pier restaurant gave us great views out to sea and along the coast to Brighton. It was great to catch up with Joss and to see her so much happier.

Royal Pavillion - credit: S

We went home via Brighton so I could go to the Royal Pavillion. I'd seen the banqueting hall on TV and loved its dragons, so wanted to see them in person. It's a strange place, built by extending a farmhouse in the late 18th century, remodelled/extended using cheap materials (fake stone) in first half of the 19th century, then abandoned by the royals (leaked too much and Queen Vic didn't like Brighton), used as a hospital in WWI and II until eventually restored for the public - although the restoration is pretty much a rebuild and still on going.

Dragon - credit: victoriana.com

Most of what you see, such as carpets and wallpapers, are modern copies. The dragon chandelier however is original and didn't disappoint. No photos allowed inside, so again I've stolen one!

As you can't go to Brighton without seeing the pier, we walked down to the seaside where the sun was starting to get dimmer in spite of still being a long way above the horizon - a combination of sea mist and pollution, so a real smog. I don't really relate to the whole pier thing, but they are truly a British institution and Brighton's is quite an impressive example. Like Worthing, the beach is steep and pebbled. In the distance was the new tourist attraction that opened in August, the i360 tower, apparently the tallest moving observation tower. It's basically a thick tall pole with an impaled flying saucer that travels slowly up and down the pole. We saw it as it was reaching the bottom, but gave up waiting for it to go up again.

The train trip back gave tantalising glimpses of countryside in the setting sun. Like the hedgerows of Cornwall, the train cuttings hide the views most of the time. We arrived home in the dark, having had an M&S snack for tea while waiting for the bus.

Borough Market - credit: J

5th Oct
We had a slow start to the day today. Jeremy went off to Ross' barber in Church St for a very efficient hair cut while I did yet another load of washing. We decided to have lunch at Borough Market. Although this is a bit of a tourist trap, there is some great food for sale. Jeremy's pork pie vendor was still there, but this time his pie didn't seem so great - there is no beating the real thing from Dickinson & Morris in Melton Mowbray. I chose a hot chicken and tarragon pie, which was very nice. As kids, we were always allowed a pie and doughnut for lunch on our birthdays, so a doughnut was needed to follow the pie (even though it wasn't my birthday as J so rightly pointed out). We'd had amazing doughnuts here last trip, and sure enough, they were still available, stuffed with amazing vanilla custard. We also bought something for consumption later: cured meats (including seaweed and cider salami) and blue cheese soaked in dessert wine.

Having satisfied our stomachs, it was time for some culture. We had never been to the Tate Britain before, only the Tate Modern. The main exhibition is a walk through the history of British Art from 1545 to the present. They also have the largest collection of Turners and a small collection of Constables, including one of Fen Lane that we walked down only 2 weeks ago.

Back to Ross and Mad's for the evening, with a small, healthy (but still delicious) home cooked meal - such a pleasant change.

Turing's Bombe - credit:S

6th Oct
Bletchley Park (BP) has long been on our agenda of places to visit, even before the movie The Imitation Game, but somehow have never found the time - until today. It's a 45 minute train trip from Euston, and an easy day trip, especially as BP is only a short walk from the station. The weather was still holding well, albeit with a cold breeze.

For those that don't know, BP was the base for the WWII codebreakers who deciphered German messages encrypted by the Enigma (and later the Lorenz) machines. The process was partly automated by Alan Turing's machine called the Bombe. I didn't realise there were quite a lot of these in existence by the end of the war, all demolished in the name of secrecy, however a group of enthusiasts undertook a rebuild, so we were able to see a replica in action. Quite impressive. Must have been a tedious job "programming" and babysitting them each day, a job undertaken by shifts of WRENs. I have determined that I do not have a mind suited to cracking codes, based on my appalling efforts on the interactive displays. Given that much of the codebreaking still required the human brain to make intuitive leaps, I greatly admire what they achieved.

Colossus - credit:S

We also went to the National Museum of Computing, which was disappointing, although nostalgic (punch card machines, HP calculators, Commodore Pets etc). The displays weren't well put together, and much of the ancillary info wasn't helpful. However, the rebuilt Colossus was the main reason for going there, and that was quite a sight - the first ever electronic computer made with 1500 valves. There were 10 of these built, again in WWII for decryption purposes, but they were also destroyed and their existence remained secret for many years. Consequently the Americans thought their ENIAC computer was the first. Having also seen that at the Smithsonian, I have definitely seen the first, whichever it is!

We finished the day with cod and chips at what was the local chippie, but has had an upgrade to a rather nice cafe - same people, same food (but with healthy salads added) and somewhere to sit.

Cornwall Part 2

28th Sep

Jubliee Pool. Penzance - credit:J

More fog today, quite thick. One of the locals said to Ross and Mad that it was typical St Just weather - I'm surprised more people didn't emigrate back when our ancestors did! We had a slow morning and lunch at home, hoping the weather might change. When that didn't happen, Jeremy and I decided to drive to Penzance anyway, wandering the streets for a while. I overheard one of the locals complaining about the mizzle - presumably the term for the dense mist which makes you wetter than you'd expect, but against which umbrellas are useless.

We found a couple of galleries, one of which had some great paintings and ceramics, before walking back along the waterfront past that slightly odd thing: the British seaside swimming pool. This one, the Jubilee Pool, was built in the 1930s and therefore quite deco.

Newlyn Harbour - credit:S

We drove around the bay to Newlyn, as there is an art gallery there, however the exhibition didn't appeal so didn't bother, but we did find a quaint cafe for yet another great cream tea! Newlyn is a also a large fishing port, and the harbour was full of colourful boats of all sizes.

It was only a short drive from Newlyn to Mousehole, this time for a proper look around. The mist there wasn't down to the harbour and the temperature was mild, so although rather gloomy, it was wonderful to wander around the tiny alleys that climb up and down the hill to the fan-shaped harbour. The 2 harbour walls make up the frame of the fan, golden sand decorates the top, with ropes from the beach wall to the boats acting as the spines (check it out on Google Maps satellite view!). It must be a stunning wee place in the sunshine.

Mousehole Harbour - credit:S

Many of the little cottages are now holiday lets or craft shops and galleries, but it still has a lived-in village atmosphere, with workers catching the bus home or chatting at the tiny newsagents.

Mousehole harbour - credit:J

Then it was back home to get ready for our dinner reservation, at The Gurnard's Head Inn. This hotel and restaurant is pretty much in the middle of nowhere, in an area of desolate windswept coastline: all bracken covered moorland and rocky outcrops. It's not possible to miss the Inn as it's painted a bright mustard yellow, although the fog was so thick that we were almost on top of it as it loomed out of the mist. Great meal and an atmospheric drive home in even thicker fog.


29th Sep
A great improvement in the weather today as we headed off to a small town called Helston to visit their museum, in part to follow up on some genealogy leads for Madeleine's family. It contained a large but very eclectic selection of objects, including a butcher's cart with the surname and village of one of Mad's ancestors. Helston's main street is on a hill and has a quirky feature: small cobblestone culverts running with water on either side of the street. Makes parking your car interesting and I'm sure someone must make money rescuing cars out of it.

Kynance Cove - credit: S

After lunch (during which I managed to spill an entire glass of drink over me), we drove to Kynance Cove, reputed to be a real beauty spot. Its reputation is well founded, although the wind and sun made photography difficult and we didn't do it justice. It was very crowded considering the time of year - it must be heaving in summer. At the top of the cliffs, a cold wind was blowing, so everyone going down was in jackets and hats, but at the bottom it was very sunny and sheltered behind the rocks on the beach, with people even swimming and sunbathing. The waves were spectacular, so some parts of the beach were only in use for the spectator sport of wave watching, a popular sport based in the number of participants.

Helford River - credit: J

Then it was off to the Helford River on the east coast of the Cornish peninsula for a river cruise. As it left from the Budock Vean Hotel and as we were a tad early, we prevailed ourselves of yet another cream tea!
The cruise was in a small uncovered boat - sort of a large dingy with a small open cabin and an outboard motor. There were 8 of us plus the young woman "driver"/guide. She took us down the river estuary almost to the sea, and back up the other side, detouring down side channels, such a Frenchmen's Creek, the inspiration for Daphne Du Maurier's 1941 book.

Frenchman's Creek - credit:S

The coast line was mainly rocky, with trees right down to the waterline. They looked almost like pohutukawas but were in fact oak trees, stunted by the rocky ground and salt water. The scenery looked a little like the Marlborough Sounds in parts, except for the height of the hills and the architecture of the farmhouses and riverside cottages. In some areas, there were huge expensive homes owned by people like Tim Rice and Roger Taylor (Queen drummer). The wildlife was a bit disappointing but we saw egrets, herons, cormorants and shags. The cruise lasted for 2 hours, and we arrived back to the hotel in the early evening sun.

Cruise end, Budock Vean - credit: S

We stopped off at the Penzance Sainsburys on the way home for "heat and eat" meals, and had a quiet night in.












30th Sep

Jeremy at Rick's place - credit:S

A beautiful sunny day today. Ross had managed to get us a reservation at Rick Stein's Seafood Restaurant in Padstow, much to our surprise. Jeremy is a big Rick Stein fan, and had expressed an interest some time ago to go to the restaurant, but we'd heard that it's booked out months in advance so hadn't bothered to follow it up.

Padstow is about 90 mins drive north of St Just, via Penzance and on the way, for the first time, we got to see St Michael's Mount and a wide expanse of countryside. Unfortunately most of the smaller roads have high hedgerows down either side, robbing us of the view, but the A30 allowed us to see rolling farmland, hatched with hedges and pierced by lots of giant wind turbines.

Padstow is a working fishing town, but also has a long expanse of golden sand along the River Camel estuary. But we weren't there for sightseeing!
First stop was the Rick Stein deli and shop, where we all picked up a few purchases, including a signed cook book. Then for the main event: a delicious 3 course meal, featuring seafood of course, with impeccable service. Two hours later, we waddled back to the car.

Cove, Tintagel - credit:J

Next item on the itinerary: Tintagel. The castle ruins are perched in a spectacular location - a small promontory (almost an island) surrounded by cliffs. Access is via a steep staircase (we wrked off some of that lunch!) down to a bridge then up the other side, high above a small cove. This cove has a bit of everything: several caves, a waterfall and crashing waves.

Tintagel Castle - credit: J

The castle ruins themselves are not that exciting to look at - very little left of the 13th century buildings, and lots of dubious connection to King Arthur. Recent archaeological work has discovered the possibility of a large and much older complex of buildings, suggesting the significance of the site over a very long period, back to the Dark Ages. As of this year, a rather cool (but controversial - everyone's a critic!) bronze statue of a knight has been installed, entitled Gallos.

Gallos statue, Tintagel - credit:J

It was a fairly long drive home, but again with the best views to date. We could even see Lands End and the Longships lighthouse as we headed down into St Just. Although the evening was mostly spent with packing etc, we did have a bit of excitement. We had spoken to a local last Sunday when walking around the village, asking about Nencharrow Terrace, as the 1841 census showed our 4xg-grandfather William Thomas (and wife and son) living there. A young couple  overheard and said they had deeds for their house going back to the 19th century and had names on it including a Thomas. Ross visited them tonight to discover their house was indeed once owned by our ancestors, and continued to be until the 20th century, down a line of our distant cousins. So we now have a copy of a document showing our William Thomas' signature.

So that was our week in Cornwall. Now it's back to London, via a night in Portsmouth for Ross and Mad (to see the Mary Rose) and a night in Bristol for us, so that we can catch up with an ex-colleague of Jeremy's, now living in Bristol.

Cornwall Part 1

24th Sep

Cornish coast line - credit: J

There's not much to say about today, other than an 8 hour trip from Suffolk to St Just, Cornwall. It should have been quicker, but we were stuck in a 45 min traffic jam on the M25 and were victims of road works elsewhere. The Sat Nav helped shave a few minutes off by taking an alternative route across Bodmin Moor, definitely a more scenic route.

After a grocery stop at Penzance, we arrived at our cottage in the pouring rain. Ross and Madeleine had arrived earlier, partly due to a shorter trip from London, but more likely attributable to the performance difference between a Vauxhall Corsa and a Jaguar XKR!
St Just is a small village a short distance inland of the north coast of Cornwall, not far from Land's End. It's the home of our ancestors (great-great-grandmother on my mothers's side born nearby, and some of her parents/grandparents born, married and buried here in St Just). It was the heart of the Cornish mining industry, with many derelict mines nearby, and is also Poldark country with much of the latest TV series filmed around here.

We decided it was too late to cook tea, so we hurried down the narrow lane in pouring rain to the local chippie, appropriately called Jeremy's Fish and Chips. Very nice cod and chips, followed by much chatting and catching up.

25th Sep

We were very surprised by the sunny weather this morning, so took advantage of it with a walk around the village followed by a walk along the coast. It is a very plain village, with mostly stone terrace cottages. The market square is surrounded by shops and pubs in very old granite stone buildings, with the 15th century church tower of the St Just Parish Church looming behind.

Pen-an-Gwarry - credit: S

Next to the market square is one of two remaining plen-an-gwarry or "playing place", a circular walled depression that was a medieval amphitheatre used for public events, especially Cornish miracle plays aiming to spread Christianity. The nearby concrete 1930s clock tower is rather a contrast. We visited the "imposing" Methodist chapel built in 1833 where it is likely our ancestors worshipped (but there are other chapels in the village too). Methodism was very strong amongst the miners, although by law they had to marry in a "proper" church, hence our g-g-g-grandparents were married in the Catholic Parish church. They are supposedly buried in the graveyard of the Methodist Chapel but we had no luck finding their grave.

We then went for a short drive to the coast, from St Just through Nancherrow to the Levant mine. From there we walked back along the cliffs to Botallack, and the mine ruins there.

Crown Mines, Bottalack - credit: J

The wild Cornish coast didn't disappoint, with the deep blue sea throwing huge white waves over the rocks at the base of the cliff. The farming countryside is dotted with signs of past mining activity from chimney stacks and ventilation shafts through to sink holes and strange lumps now grassed over. Like Yorkshire, the mix of rural countryside and early industry is strangely beautiful although definitely not pretty.

Back home for afternoon tea and another wander around St Just, this time to Queen St where our g-g-grandparents lived. It's so hard to tell which house as some have either been pulled down/rebuilt or heavily revovated so look reasonably new. We found ourselves back in Market Square where there are 4 pubs - handy that! I tried the local Rattler cider.

Mine ruins, Levant - credit:J

We had a quiet evening at home in the cottage, with a home cooked meal. And very appropriately, we watched Poldark, filmed right where we'd been walking earlier in the day. Nice to have a quiet day.

26th Sep

Today was as forecast - rain, rain and more rain. We stayed at home for the morning, but then decided to go to Penzance for lunch. It was about a 30 minutes drive in the rain across the bottom of the Cornish peninsula. Unfortunately, St Michaels Mount was obscured in the rain, and taking photographs was pointless. We wandered along some of the older streets of Penzance such as Chapel Street, with buildings dating back to the 1600s, some houses, some shops and some very quaint pubs, such as the Turks Head and the Admiral Benbow with its smuggler lurking on the roof. One of the landmark properties is the Egyptian house, built in the first half of the 19th century in the "Egyptian  revivalist style" i.e. covered in gaudy Egyptian decorations.

We had a tasty lunch in a quirky cafe (the ladies toilet was totally wallpapered in leopard skin print) hoping the rain would ease off, which it didn't. An indoor activity seemed like a good idea so we went to the Penlee House Museum and Art Gallery. They have a good collection of art from the New Lynn "school" - essentially a group of artists who developed a certain style from the 1880s to the 1940s, mostly of local outdoor scenes of Cornish life. The museum area was a small but very eccentric and eclectic jumble of objects, from Pompeii mosaics, 1930s dresses and copper pots to bronze age archaeological bits, mining paraphernalia and stuffed birds.

The cafe was serving Cornish cream teas, so it would have been rude not to sample....

Mousehole - credit: S

Unfortunately, it was still raining when we left and so our plan to go to the little fishing village of Mousehole (pronounced Mouzel with the mou as in mouth) went astray. We did drive into it and onto the stone pier that encircles the small harbour, but it was too wet and windy for photographs.
So the rest of the afternoon and evening was spent at home out of the rain, apart from dinner at the Kings Arms pub (nice food, slow service!) Madeleine had found a photo of the same pub from the time my ancestors lived here, so it's possible that they were customers.

27th Sep

The weather was still not cooperating with thick fog this morning. Jeremy and I decided to go to St Ives to see the Tate Gallery, and hopefully enjoy some predicted afternoon sunshine. Not a great success - the gallery is closed until March 2017, the weather didn't clear, and the narrow streets were packed with tourists. The town does have a number of small art gallery shops, so I was still able to get a creative fix. Some of the pieces would have been tempting if the prices and/or logistics of getting them home weren't such an obstacle.

St Ives Harbour - credit: S

We did go down to have a look at the harbour, but not very pretty with the tide out and the mist so low. It definitely looked better later in the day once the tide was in, and it was possible to just see across to the other side of St Ives Bay.

Ross and Mad met us for lunch, followed by a little more wandering. The weather still stubbornly refused to improve, so we headed homewards, this time along a more coastal route. The countryside here was a mix of bracken covered moors sprinkled with rocky outcrops and patchwork fields outlined by hedgerows. Houses and farm buildings are all greyish stone, with only the occasional place rendered in white. Quite a contrast to Scotland. One bizarre common feature in these parts is the Cabbage Tree, imported from NZ by some keen botanist in the 19th century and now almost a pest.

Landsend - credit: S

As we headed south, the weather improved slightly, so we kept going through St Just to Lands End. Another tourist Mecca with tacky attractions (the Shaun the Sheep experience and Arthur's Quest whatever that may be). Weirdly, the website doesn't even mention Lands End as a geographically significant destination with great views, just the shops, events and attractions! Fortunately these were easily avoided, and the crowds reasonable given it was the end of the day. In spite of the sun, there was still a layer of mist off shore, but the Peal rocks were clear and the distinctive Longships lighthouse was visible.

Round house at Sennen Cove - credit:S

On the way home, we diverted into the fishing village at Sennen Cove. Kids were jumping off the pier into the sheltered harbour, which must have been freezing even in wet suits. There is an old Cornish style round house here, with a winch to pull the fishing boats up the very steep ramp, along with the first  thatched cottages I've seen in this part of England.

The evening was spent at the cottage, watching DVDs.

Dedham

22nd Sep

Dedham Parish Church - credit:S

We woke to a beautiful morning in Dedham. Why Dedham you may ask? When I was a kid,our local library rented out framed prints of famous paintings and my Mum was smart enough to get one every week and hang it above the table where it became the subject for dinner time conversation. I had two favourite artists - Brueghel and Constable. I always remembered looking for the church tower in Constable's pictures, as it made an appearance in most of them. This church tower is in Dedham, and today I could see it out the bathroom window, as we're about 200m from it.

As it happens Dedham is a delightful little village that's been around a long while - many buildings are medieval. There are a few half timbered buildings but most of the properties along the High Street look Georgian: lots of imposing facades, albeit on a mini scale. Turns out quite a few are really only facades attached much earlier houses and shops. There are no power poles or street lights so it remains very photogenic, if not a little too perfect. We're staying in a Georgian home that has been beautifully renovated. The owner told us how their elderly neighbours pretty much dictate any changes to the village - the council tends to defer to them. On the plus side, their passion has kept the village from being over developed, but on the negative side, it makes renovating a nightmare.

River Stour - credit:S

Our first stop for the morning was Dedham's St Mary's church built from 1492 to 1522, with the 131 ft tower completed in 1519. The tower is a particularly good example of the traditional flint clad buildings in East Anglia - blocks of flint in mortar, with all the small off cut chips wedged in the mortar. I loved the old wooden carved doors, and small things like a camel decorating a memorial panel from 1632 (not many camels in Dedham - how did they know what they looked like!).

Most of the sites of Constable's Dedham Vale paintings are within walking distance, so we headed off along one of Britain's many public footpaths that cross farmland and other private land. This one went along the banks of the River Stour and over the Stour Bridge where we stopped for morning tea, sitting out under the trees, right next to the dry dock where river barges used to be maintained. These were also a subject of Constable's paintings as were the nearby locks (no longer the originals of course!). It was then a short walk to Flatford Mill, where Constable lived. Right outside Flatford Mill is the pond and Willy Lott's house that feature in the painting The Hay Wain. The sun wasn't at the right angle to do it justice, so we planned to come back closer to sunset - which we did the next day, and this is the result:

The Hay Wain - credit: S

Dedham church a la Constable - credit: J

It was such lovely weather (although getting cloudy), we continued walking north to East Bergholt, again using the public footpaths to stay off the narrow country lanes. It's no wonder Dedham church appears in so many Constable paintings as it seems to pop up regularly between trees and across fields. They say that Constable is popular because he captures countryside that is quintessentially English, and it sure is! There was also something about the light and clouds that seemed just right too.

East Bergholt church with bell cage - credit:J

There is a very old church in East Bergholt that has a very unusual feature: a bell cage. There are a few of these in existence, but in this case the story goes that 5 huge bells were purchased to go into a new tower to be funded by Cardinal Woolsey. With his downfall went any hope of a church tower. Instead, a wooden cage-like building was built to house the bells. They are the heaviest bells in the UK and sit upside down in cradles. Unbelievably, they are still rung every Sunday - I'm glad I don't live next door!

We found a quaint little tea room for afternoon tea (nothing between a a cream tea!) before wandering back along more footpaths to Dedham. The downside of these public footpaths is that their routes aren't always obvious: we went wrong somewhere, had to climb over a gate, and almost ford a stream (until we saw the little foot bridge) not having the faintest idea where we were until thankfully a few landmarks appeared.

Our hosts recommended a place for dinner that we could walk to - along yet another public farmland footpath. As it was dusk, we saw lots of rabbits. Fortunately the sign "Bull in Field" was not a reason for concern, as the bull was way off the distance. We had a very nice meal before braving the country lane in the dark - no street lights! Still better than the farmland footpath.

23rd Sep
An even more beautiful morning - sunshine with a hint of autumnal crispness. Our charming Airbnb hosts provide us with a more modest healthy breakfast thank heavens, so we don't waddle out the door. I had two aims for today, both related to Arthur Ransome (of Swallow and Amazon fame) rather than Constable for a change. He wrote two books set in this part of England: Secret Water and We Didn't Mean to go to Sea. In both, they start out at Pin Mill on the River Orwell (more of an estuary at this point, as it's close to the coast).

Hanford Water Reserve - credit: J

Secret Water is set on what is now known as the Hamford Water Reserve, inland from Walton-on-the-Naze. The original plan had been to take a boat tour on the reserve, however the tides were not in our favour. It's an extremely low, marshy area where acres of extremely soft squidgy mud are revealed at low tide. Boats can only pass much of it at high tide and today those were very early in the morning and in the evening. Instead, I used Google Maps to find a road into the reserve area. This turned out to be quite a cross country adventure over a very unmade road (giant potholes) and of course with the low tides, all we could see at the end of the road was mud and tussock-like grass. But that's exactly like the book, so I didn't mind. I say that the road ran out but in fact it turned into a causeway that we weren't brave enough to take as it wasn't in great condition. I did however walk part way out on it, and couldn't resist testing the mud on either side - definitely the sort to lose gumboots in! I'm pretty sure that this is what Ransome used for the "wade" where kids get the tides wrong and end up stuck out on the causeway as the water is pouring in.

Pin Mill - credit:S

Clouds over the River Orwell - credit:J

We had a quick side trip into Walton to look for a public toilet (not a great seaside town) before setting our sights on Pin Mill. The small harbour area is still very much as it was in Arthur Ransome's day in 1930s with the Butt and Oyster pub and Alma Cottage (the pink one in the photo), looking very much like the illustrations in the books. The "hard" (road/ramp to provide access over the mud to the water at low tide) is still there, there are still boat builders and old river barges with brown canvas sails. Only the cars and modern sailboats spoilt the illusion of going back in time.

We consumed a leisurely and large lunch at the Butt and Oyster, so no dinner was needed that night. Good old sausage and mash, sticky toffee pud and apple crumble, accompanied by local Suffolk ale and cider.

Then it was back to Flatford to have another go at photographing the view in better light - well worth it as the evening sunshine was beautiful, even if not very much like Constable's dark atmospheric colours. Shame about the jet contrail! (see photo above).

The day ended with a lazy evening at our temporary home, including chatting with our hosts. James is a potter and I had a tour of his studio and the latest pots just out of the kiln this morning. He does domestic pottery, in shades of blues and sage greens, although he is still experimenting, so the colours aren't always as he expects. It was nice to do very little as we were facing a long drive the next day.

Barge at Pin Mill - credit: S

Bingley and southwards

20th Sep

Saltaire, Salts Mill - credit: J

We had a change of venue today, transferring to cousin Tessa's place in Bingley on the outskirts of Bradford. This included driving from Huddersfield to Halifax, just like happens endlessly in the TV series Last Tango in Halifax. It's a very hilly part of Yorkshire, due to the numerous river valleys that are also responsible for the siting of a large number of 19th century woollen mills. These are large, sometimes immense, brick or stone buildings, usually with a tall chimney. Those remaining are mostly now converted to apartments, offices and other commercial uses, but we saw a few derelict examples too. There is also the Leeds and Liverpool canal, and the railways following the original 19th century routes, so lots of reminders of the industrial revolution. The countryside itself is verdant green, and very country - farm land, trees, hedgerows - but the industrial heritage adds an extra twist when juxtaposed.

Saltaire, overseer's houses - credit: J 

After a rendezvous at Tessa's, the five of us (including cousin Kay and aunt Sally) visited Saltaire. This is a strange but fascinating place - a purpose built "model" (as in role, not tiny) village built to support a huge mill. The owner Titus Salt had 5 mills in Bradford and hated the appalling conditions the mill workers lived in, so in the 1850s built a much bigger mill on the banks of the River Aire, then built houses, schools, churches, infirmary, social halls, shops etc for the mill workers. The bosses got bigger terrace houses with gardens at the front, while the workers got small 2 up 2 down terraces.

Saltaire, workers cottages - credit: S

The downside was Titus Salt's egomaniacal streak (eg buildings had to be t-shaped to align with his first name), and his very strict rules, including no alcohol which he saw as a major reason for social issues among the poor. He wasn't however a teetotaller himself, so no doubt supped on fine wines while preaching the evils of liquor. There is now a bar called "Don't tell Titus".

Inside Salts Mill and Titus himself - credit: J

The mill itself is absolutely gargantuan - the photos don't do it justice: the internal photo shows a room that is about a third of the length at most, at the external photo is only one of the buildings. The main weaving shed was next door and housed 1200 looms. Weirdly, the primary source of wool was alpaca from south America. Now the village is just a normal village and the mill is a tourist attraction, filled with gallery space, shops and cafes. The artist David Hockney hailed from these parts, and a number of his works are housed here, including a recent collection all produced on an iPad!
There seems to be a link with the Glyde family - Reverend Jonathan Glyde from Exeter was Titus's friend with similar social views, and there is a plaque to William Evans Glyde in the church. I'm planning to research this further: Glyde is a rare name, there must be a connection to the Dorset Glydes.

Bangles 5 rise lock - credit:J

Later in the day, after tea and scones at Tessa's, we walked to the nearby canal to see the Bingley three rise and five rise locks. The Leeds and Liverpool canal was built in the 1770s for transporting coal and is 127 miles long with 91 locks, not surprising given that it crosses the Penines. The Bingley 5 rise locks are the steepest staircase locks in the UK and as they're not far from the 3 rise locks, it would make for a tedious trip along that stretch of the canal.

That evening, it was into Bradford for a "traditional" northern curry at the Karachi restaurant once visited and praised by Risk Stein. Great no frills curries, sublime mango lassi! And appropriately, we stopped in at the Titus Salt pub for a drink, and later Jeremy and Martin sampled a few whiskies.




21st Sep

Melton Mowbray - credit:J

Off down south today, with a 5 hour drive to Dedham in Suffolk (actually, it's just over the border into Essex, but who wants to admit to going on holiday to Essex!). The motorways delivered us very efficiently to our first stop, Melton Mowbray. Jeremy is a huge pork pie fan, and this is the home of the pork pie and of Stilton cheese. It's quite a nice little town, but the pork pies are the star. In spite of the dubious name, Ye Olde Pie Shoppe does the best pie around. Jeremy went for the Stilton topped pot pie, while I stuck with the more traditional version. They didn't disappoint.

Stamford School - credit: J

Next stop was Stamford, where Jeremy lived for a few years in the early 70s. The centre of the town is a historic gem, with wonderful old honey-coloured stone buildings, often rickety, sometimes very grand. We wandered through his old school, some of which had changed significantly, including the fact girls now attend (J said "we didn't have those in my day, I would have remembered them"). He actually boarded there for one term, so checked out his boarding house before going off to his favourite fish and chip shop (now a chinese takeaway) where he and his mates used to buy the little scrappy bits of batter for next to nothing.

The Glyde residence was slightly out of town in a country lane. It's now surrounded by a huge hedge so we couldn't see it, but it's still called Long Acre as named by Jim (Jeremy's dad) and is now a cattery. Last stop was Uffingham to see Jol's (Jeremy's brother) school. All the mums were clustered around waiting to pick up kids, so we couldn't do more than a quick photo.

Another 2 hours of motorways and we arrived in Dedham - more on that next time. We had a very nice early meal at the Sun Inn pub before crashing into bed for 10 hours sleep!