Thursday 13 October 2016

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.

Thursday 6 October 2016

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.

Saturday 1 October 2016

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.