We visited the American hangar first which is quite new, it has an excellent collection is if US aircraft, including a B52 Stratofortress a real monster of an aircraft. The only minor niggle for me was that it was not always obvious what each of the aircraft were but given the size of them I guess. Then we visited the two restoration hangars where they classic aircraft are restored, to their former beauty.
Last full day of holiday in Norfolk, so we thought a walk along the marshes would be a good idea. We parked up at Blakeney public free car park on the land side of the A149, it is very handy for the bus stop. We had a 17 minute wait and the bus was late, the bus driver seemed set on making up the as he was speeding along taking the corners faster than necessary especially with a full bus with people standing.
We got off at Camping Hill bus stop and took the footpath opposite which leads to the marsh edge, where we turned East towards Morston. We stopped about halfway and did a bit of leisurely bird watching we were rewarded with a couple of Common Sandpipers. Next stop was Morston where there is a National Trust tea room, we stopped for a coffee and I had a Stilton, leek and walnut bake which looked like a cake, it was very tasty.
At Blakeney yet another coffee was consumed then Helen went window shopping while I walked out to the marsh to see if there was anything worth taking pictures of. When we got back to the hut we had a quick tidy round so save time in the morning. We had a reservation at a great little restaurant in town called The Golden Fleece.
We wandered down to the quay a little earlier to have a look and to give me a chance to take pictures of starlings with my big lens. Helen got bored quite quickly and decided I should stop before one of the local fishermen using the quay got pissed off with me sneaking around. The food at the Golden Fleece was great I had fish and chips and Helen had a goats cheese burger. I washed mine down with a couple of pints of Adnams Nelson.
Holkham Hall itself is not only open on Thursday during the week so we reserved it for a visit. We surfaced about 08:00 and arrived at the entrance before 10:00, the fee was £3 but I asked about the beach car park and the guy told us if we have a £6.50 beach ticket for the day it included parking at the hall, so we turned around and got a beach ticket. We planned to have a wander in the forest looking for Goldcrests and then a walk on the beach later.
The entrance fee was £15 each, which included all the venue’s. The hall itself did not open until 12:00 so we took a look at the field to fork exhibition which is a show case for the Holkham farm business. The only exhibition is interesting and very well done, the guides are very informative, and the video of the seasons on the farm is a visual treat. Next we wandered around the lake to the walled garden. By the lake there were lots of Greylag with young one pair had a brood of 8 fairly large goslings which appeared to be unusual as other pairs averaged about 3.
The walled garden was a work in progress the gardens were a bit sparse, and even more so as they would probably be at their best in about a month’s time, the green houses were being renovated and not open to the paying public. There was evidence of cafes but probably only open in the peak season. Back at the café we stopped for a coffee and there was a mass exodus at 12:00, I guess for the house opening, Helen browsed the gift shop while I updated the blog and drank my coffee.
The house is a real gem, photography is allowed so I made the most of it by taking a few panorama and HDR sets. There are a lot of paintings by well known artists, including Gainsborough. The rooms are better lit than many National Trust houses, all in all I would say it is a very well presented privately owned historic house. After touring the house we headed for the cafe again for a bite to eat, being out of season there was no queue and the weather which had been getting better all week was warm enough to sit outside.
Down by the lake there was an electric boat that did tours of the lake for £4 a head. It was a very pleasant cruise on the lake the boat hand had only started the job a week before as a rest of being in the right place at the right time. We saw plenty wildlife including what we think was a Sandpiper. We took a look at the back of the house but it is all private. Helen grabbed a cake from the cafe and went down for a wander around the beach, which was very pleasant and we were in the lee of the wind the other side of the forest. It was very pleasant sitting in the sun on a bench. We could see some birds out on the sea but even when we walked to the shore line on the way back we could not figure out what they were they were too far out for our binoculars.
For dinner we had some pesto pasta from the deli we visited the day before in Burnham Market it was almond, pistachio and rocket pesto and was very good it made a really creamy sauce. Whilst watching TV with one eye on the ponds outside the windows we spotted a Common Sandpiper, however the 16 baby mallard seemed to be done to less than 10.
I had another free day but was not up too early, I looked at the map and considered Abingdon but it would mean a 13 mile hike, so I settled on Clifton Hampden it would make for a circular walk next with Abingdon as the mod point and a land crossing between the loop of the Thames.
I parked up at the Barley Mow car park just over the river in Clifton Hampden. They clearly get flooded as the pavement was raised in stretches. The plan was to walk to the intriguingly named Golden Balls roundabout, and get to the bus to Benson. The route would mean a 3 mike walk in land. The walk was pleasant starting out at the picturesque chocolate box village of Clifton Hampden, then round the back of the Culham science establishment, and through a bluebell wood in bloom. The sunny weather made for a pleasant walk although there was a chill wind. The timing would be tight for the bus and they pass once an hour. When I got to the roundabout I saw the bus pass it was running late BT four minites but I still missed it.
There is a Notcutts garden centre on the roundabout so I went in there to get some coffee and cake and while away 40 minutes before heading out to the bus stop again. At the bus stop I saw a convoy of about 50 large customised motor bikes drive by. The bus did come just a few minutes late to my relief, the fare to Benson Marina was £2.20. The bus stop is in a sort of side road but cars had parked in the site road in such a way that the bus had to reverse back into the main road traffic to leave the bus stop.
From the marina it is country side al the way to Shillington bridge where you have to leave the river then down an alleyway to the main road where for about half a mile you have to use the pavement before you can get back onto the riverside. My next stop would be Day’s lock near Dorchester, where I chanced upon a guy just about to take his boat through the lock. I took the opportunity to take a time lapse sequence, whilst chatting to the boat owner. He was on his way to Rugby to some low cost marina he had found. He did gardening jobs to earn a living and seem be a happy with his lot puttering about the country on the rivers and canals. I closed the lock for him to save him having to moor up and return.
After the previous days efforts I was keen to get back to the car, which did not take too long. The weather was just about holding out and it was still cold. This weekend I managed to get another 20 miles done and had 70 miles left to go so I was past the 100 mile point. The next walk would be a circular one taking in Abingdon which is on a big bend in he river.
I was up fairly early for for a leisurely start and to give me time to research my route and transport plan. I left the house at 08:40 and drove the B4009 to Wallingford, where I parked in the long term car park for £2, it is free after 13:00 on a Saturday. The planned bus was from the market square but I could not find bus stop B (C and A were clearly visible). I asked one of the bus drivers bit they did not know. He asked a colleague who did not know bit when I said I was after a 134 bus he said I had just missed it. I wandered over to where it had left to investigate my options, when I noticed a taxi in the rank. The driver suggested £20 to get to Pangbourne, so rather than mess around I would take him up on his offer.
About 15 to 20 minutes look later I was £20 lighter but I had saved a lot of time. The public transport option involved a bus and a train with a wait for each, a total of one hour and twenty minutes. I will try the taxi option again in future.
From Pangbourne, unusually the Thames Path goes up a steep hill away from the river, then when you get back to the river it is a path parallel to and high above the river on a steep escarpment. At some point I passed a pillbox, which was from WW2 when the Thames was considered a place to retreat behind should the Germans start to invade southern England.
I missed a sign a mike or so out of Goring but it was only a short back track to the official Thames Path. I was in familiar territory as I had been out this way to look at Monkey Orchids at a nearby nature reserve. At Goring I fancied an early lunch and the Pierrepont cafe near the bridge did a great smoked salmon, avocado, and poached egg on toast, which I washed down with an americano.
Suitably refreshed I crossed the bridge and joined the path on the opposite bank, my next stop would hopefully be for a coffee at the hotel Moulsford, which I had spotted on the OS map. However the beetle and wedge website looked a bit posh for just coffee. *Set on the banks of the River Thames immortalised in ‘The Wind in the Willows’ and Jerome K Jerome’s chronicled escapades of his friends’ visits in ‘Three Men in a boat’, the Boathouse Restaurant emphasis is on quality of food, wines and service.” I grabbed a custard and chocolate bun just in case.
It did not take long to get to Moulsford, and although the hotel catered for walkers and coffee I walked on up the hill into the village, as the path did not follow the river. About a half mile of busy road was next, then a farm track took me back to the river. Just before the river I got a view of a viaduct and it seemed like a great place to get a time lapse sequence, I was hoping for a train or two to pass. I sat down and ate half my bun, which like the food at the café was excellent. Whilst I waited the 10 minutes I usually give a tone lapse a train did pass and I also watched some parachutists in the distance jumping out of a plane. The weather although sunny with clouds, was great there was a cold wind as the weather man had promised.
The path keeps to the countryside for a few miles, I heard the distinct sound of a reed warblers and stopped to watch it through my binoculars, it was my first this year. A mile or two outside Wallingford I stopped for a rest on a memorial bench for Dennis William Wilson, who liked fishing according to the plaque. The Thames had become noticeably narrower at this point, an indication that I was making progress, in fact I was over the halfway point.
When I got to Wallingford I decided to walk on to Benson to make the next leg to Abingdon slightly shorter, it felt wrong to walk past the car, and as it turned out quite rightly so. It was only about a mile and a bit to Benson lick where the path crosses the river again. My plan was to get a bus from the stop outside Benson marina. I arrived about 10 minutes early for the bus but twenty minutes late I had still not seen a bus apart from one that was on its way to Watlington. The timetable said there was a bus every 30 minutes, so I popped over the road to get a drink at the marina, then headed out to the stop with 16 minutes to wait.
Lots more pill boxes
Quite a few weeks back I signed up for a tour of some buildings around London in a vintage London bus. I put it in the diary then forgot about it, till Helen the diary supervisor reminded me. I eventually found the tickets hidden away in the back of a draw, where I had put them after printing at time of booking. The tour kicked off at 10:30 but registration and hopefully chance to grab an upper deck seat, began at 10:00.
Google maps suggested that the 08:45 from Berkhamsted would give us plenty of time to spare. We managed to grab a free parking space, the train left on time, and we got seats at a table, however the man sat next to Helen was tapping away on the table all the way to London I could tell it was annoying her, but it made a change I’m normally the one to be reprimanded.
At Euston we got the Victoria line to the lines namesake, Victoria station then we headed to 20 Grosvenor Gardens, where there was quite a gathering around a green double decker. It was raining lightly and it took an age to get on the bus as they were handing out audio devices and tote bags as everyone got on. It may have been more efficient to load the bus then distribute the devices, but we will never know. Helen and I managed to get a couple of the remaining seats on the top deck just at the top of the stairs on the driver’s side.
The bus is an RMC1543 one of the most popular by all accounts. We first stopped on Bond Street where we all got off and they guide told us about the building belonging to Richard Green the old masters art dealer, who had another building built opposite to sell more modern art from. Then we walked via the Burlington Arcade where the modern floor was of interest. Heading towards Piccadilly other buildings were pointed out. We were then told to buy lunch, I had sushi and a tuna and mustard onigiri, and Helen had a nice looking sandwich. We met back on the bus and headed to the Queen’s gallery attached to Buckingham palace.
A lady from the architects office who designed the Queens gallery gave us a talk about they challenges of designing a wing to fit in with the rest of Buckingham Palace, which had been added to by many over the years. We got back on the bus and headed to our next destination which were some houses in Regent’s Park, on the way we headed up Park Lane which apparently is one of the (if not the only) section of road in central London that is not 30mph, it is 40mph. The bus driver had a go at braking it but even with the run up, taking the bends at speed (relative) he hit some traffic about 2 thirds in and only managed 35 mph. The tour has a history of record attempts they currently hold the record for the number of circuits of the Elephant and castle roundabout in a vintage bus they did that whilst looking at a building on the roundabout.
At Regents park we jumped off the bus and took a look at the 6 houses built on the edge of the park they were all very large and each one was an example of different styles of architecture, e.g. Venetian, Doric, Gothic etc. We all stood outside as the tour guide explained them, we had the curtains twitching on one of them and an armed policeman keep his eye on us from the other. The policeman was keeping an eye on the entrance to Winfield house the the residence of the American Ambassador has the second largest private garden in central London, after that of Buckingham Palace. Helen enjoyed the paparazzi effect.
We skipped the Camdem Packington Estate as we were short of time so the next and final stop would be the Highbury Gardens, which Prince Charles has some connection to in that after the famous Carbuncle affair, more care was taken over the design of buildings. The development was a combination of housing association flats with low rental for local and shared ownership with 5 year no interest mortgages combined with private ownership flats. All mixed together so that it was not obvious which flats were which. We looked around one of each type and I must say it felt a bit awkward, in fact too awkward for Helen who opted out, however the two where the people were in made us feel very welcome and were proud to show off their homes.
It was a short journey on a full Victoria line tube train back to Euston where we got the 15:54 train back to Berkhamsted. The day was interesting I now have a better feel for the architecture of London but I am not sure I would repeat it unless the subject matter was of real interest as architecture is not really my thing. Having said that the tour was very well organised and the people running it friendly and informative, I imagine it took some organising.
The weather was sunny and Helen fancied a quiet day pottering around the house, I um’d and ah’d about a local walk but settled on another section of the Thames. You can get a bus from Staines-on-Thames to Sheperton and it takes 20 minutes. The walk would be less than 10 miles but would get me almost to the M25 which would be a milestone and Staines would be easy to get to for the next leg which would take me to beyond Windsor and Eton.
I arrived in Staines-on-Thames at 10:25 and parked up at a car park opposite the bus station, but the next 458 was due to leave at 10:59, so I had a mediocre coffee at Coffee Corner at the entrance to the shopping centre. The 458 was on time and I was soon back at Sheperton train station, and walked down to the ferry where I had finished the day before.
Guessing that the path would be muddy I wore my walking boots it was a good choice as the path was muddy at times. At Laleham I took a slight detour in land in search of a coffee shop, but found nothing, I had to settle for an oyster from and ice cream van at Penton lock. I had spotted a few strange fibre glass objects on houses since the start of the walk, some sun having shop mannequins, a Stan Laurel, and finally just before Penton lock a polar bear. Whilst eating my ice cream quite a few two man canoes were portaged round the lock it appeared to be a race as they were mainly jogging and support crews were on hand with energy drink and treats.
It was less than two miles to Staines-on-Thames and was done quite swiftly. I toyed with the idea if walking a bit further but saw a sign that said 10 miles to Eton, which was perfect, I’m sure I saw a bus service to Eaton from Staines. Just as I got back to hr cat it started raining as promised by the BBC weather service.
I mentioned in a previous post I am attempting to walk the length of the Thames. Finding I had the day free on Saturday I planned another stretch. I thought I would start at the beginning which I had decided would be the Thames barrage, but when I looked at the map I changed my mind as I had never been on the Woolwich ferry, so I would start there.
The weather threatened rain after 12:00 so I would need an early start to avoid it. I woke up at 07:25, not ideal, had coffee and toast, and left with just enough time to catch the 08:11 from Berkhamsted. It was a fast train, so I did not want to miss it, the lights and everything were with me this morning, and my coffee for the train was handed to me as the rain pulled into the station. The weather was bright and clear with grey sky made of high altitude clouds.
At Euston I got the Northern line to Bank, but not before selecting the wrong southbound platform. At Bank I jumped on the DLR to King George V station where I would start walking.
The Woolwich ferry is not far from the station, although foot passengers are allowed the route on foot is not sign posted, so I just followed the cars. The ferry which is the only free boat trip in London, was on the other side loading, but soon did the crossing to my side. One foot passenger got off with a dozen cars and an artic. I was the only foot passenger to get on with a dozen cars. There were a lot of seats and space below the top car deck, for foot passengers. I found some step leading to the car deck where I could get a view of the Thames.
The Thames Path leaves the river for about half a mile and joins it again at the Thames barrier where ironically the official start of the Thames walk starts. According to the map on the wall it is 180 miles to the source which would therefore take me 18 sections to do if I made sure I did at least 10 miles each time I did a walk. I was glad I did the ferry in any case.
The first section was mainly housing then it became very industrial with sand and gravel dispensing areas. Then fancy apartments followed by the O2, then back to building sites before hitting the edge of Greenwich where I stopped at the Cutty Sark pub for a coffee and a packet of crisps, I was at mile 6.
At Greenwich I used the foot tunnel just because I could, it would put me on the side of the Thames I had not walked for a while. It is hard to keep to the rivers edge on the north bank as some property fronts are private so you end up tacking in and out of alleyways. I’ve noticed that with all the developments going on often a pub on a street corner is left intact, often looking out of place next to modern buildings or vacant lots.
I could see the predicted rain coming by the mist that had enveloped the distant views, so rather than stopping I cracked on, eventually getting sight of Tower Bridge my destination. I stopped taking off in St Katherine’s dock and had a bowl of delicious courgette soup and a coffee. I took my time as my feet needed a rest, and I wanted to update this blog post as the memories were still fresh.
I got on the tube at Tower hill where confusing signs sent you round the houses to the station entrance. I waited ages for a circle line train, then at Liverpool Street they announced issues on the line, then they went as far as Farringdon when they recommended getting the bus. The 63 was due in 20 minutes and I just wanted to get home so I walked down the road and splashed out on a cab for a swift delivery to Euston; £12.50. Things were against me at Euston two I missed a train which left as I arrived, then the next one was cancelled, still I only had a 20 minute wait for a fast train and had time to grab a paper and a coffee.
I grabbed some dinner on the way home from Tring Tesco, and Helen and I settled i n for an evening watching Finale of Deutschland 83 and a couple of madmen season one repeats.
We unexpectedly got a free Saturday when a visit from my brother cancelled because their cat was sick. We one idea we had thought of this as a trip to the London Science museum to take a look at the exhibition of Soviet space programme which up until now has been pretty much a secret.
We were up at a reasonable time and headed to Berkhamsted station, as luck would have we were there with a short wait for the 09:18, or so I thought. I dropped Helen off at the entrance to get the tickets whilst I parked the car. I parked a short walk to the ticket machine but when I got to it there was a sign apologising for it being out of order. The next machine up a flight of steps only took coins and I did not have sufficient coins to make up the £4.20. Back down the steps it was a 100 yard run, (I was running out of time) to the next machine, I popped in a card but the payment failed, then failed for all three cards that I had in my wallet. Helen turned up as I was starting to register to pay by phone, and between us we managed to find the change but the train station as due imminently. I did the 100 yard sprint to the far machine, followed by an eternity entering the handful of coins, then a 300 yard sprint to the car, and back to the platform. I arrived as the train doors opened, so a the effort got us on the fast train and spared us a 20 minute wait. Out of breath I found a seat and settled in the the 40 minute train journey.
Everyone seems to be on the underground go somewhere it was extremely at which Helen doesn’t like. Helen was taken out on the escalators when the lady in front of her who was towing one of those bags with handles wheels stopped as soon as he got off the escalator but left the wheeled luggage behind Helen had nowhere to go. A few stops on the Piccadilly line followed by a couple of Victoria line stop and followed by a third of a mile walk down the tunnel and the pops up white outside the science museum. On the escalators ascend from the underground we saw a man descending with a China plate with a slice of chocolate cake on it, we looked at him confused, he smiled back.
We already have tickets for the cosmonaut exhibition but we have noticed that there was also a Alec Soth photography exhibition going on at the same time as we were early we got tickets for the exhibition and have a look around and even had time for a coffee before we went to the main event.
The exhibition was very good although very popular. Apart from the engineering model, actual space craft, space suits and other equipment there was personal items and other stuff which I think makes all the difference to an exhibition. Helen insisted on a look at the shop before we exited. To spare Helen having to fight her way back to Euston I suggested a cab to the Welcome institute for lunch and possibly a look at the exhibition of coloured mist which had been in the papers. We had lunch and bought a few books from the Waterstone’s. The wait for the mist was 45 minutes so we gave it a miss, and headed across the road to Euston. We only had 5 minutes till the 13:24 departed.
We did battle with the car park at Waitrose and picked up some dinner. Then we went to a metal detector shop in Northchurch as Helen fancied buying one and last night had googled and found to her surprise we had one locally. It turned out it was not a shop but someone’s house, we had to call to make sure we had the right place. We pulled up outside a big house call Northchurch House, which was quite big and old, it was on a sweeping bend between Northchurch and Ashridge. When we pulled up the owner was waiting and the front door and welcomed us into his house. We went through to the large lounge which was half occupied by unsold metal detectors and an impressive light diffuser for taking pictures of products. Helen explained that she wanted to have a go at metal detecting and wanted a mid-range metal detector. He explained what was available then went on to demonstrate a model in Helen price range, he did a really good job because Helen decide to invest.
A few pounds lighter we headed to Helen’s folks and to test the detector out and watch the rugby world cup semi-final between South Africa and New Zealand. We only had twenty minutes but Helen managed to get her first find and lump of rusty iron, she was really chuffed. I must say the features available since I had a go are amazing you can do all sorts of tweaking to target the types of metal you want to find.
New Zealand won the rugby in a match with a close score but NZ seemed to have the edge.
Three of the party went to Ilfracombe to catch the boat to Lundy, the wind was blowing so my decision not to spend 4 hours on a boat was vilified. Breakfast was at a leisurely pace and Helen and I left the house at just after 10:30, destination Mortehoe, where we have done a very enjoyable walk on a few occasions.
There was a shower coming in as we parked up so we delayed our start with a look around the museum and then a coffee. The museum is a small eclectic collection of stuff about Mortehoe and surroundings, apparently you could rent a rabbit farm for £40 a year then sell the rabbit meat at 19d per pound, which would bring in £15 per week, which seems good business.
The National Trust coffee shop was closed on Wednesday’s and Thursday’s but there was a coffee shop and deli just down the road, I fancied a cake. The coffee shop was a bit of a disappointment they only had filter coffee and no cake. The deli supplies were a bit thin on the ground too, it gave the impression they were either shutting down for good or the winter months.
At the southern edge of the village you can pick up the path that goes around the point, we chose that end to gave us the wind behind us for the best part of the walk, as it turned out we would also be facing the direction for the best light too. The weather was in fact great for photography with small cumulous clouds growing and high altitude whispy ones on a blues sky.
Just round Morte point we found a convenient bench out of the wind and hung around a while doing some time lapse sequences. I’m quite getting into them and will do a blog post with my workflow soon. This morning I was taking a look on eBay for cheap canon powershots that will run CHDK, you can get them for less that £50 which is a bargain.
The final slog from the coastal path back to Mortehoe took some considerable effort, but we took our time today’s walk was a very leisurely affair. At the village shop we got a loaf and headed back to the hut, but pulled into a parking space at Woolacombe to book a table for 7 for Friday evening at The Rock at Georgeham, a restaurant we enjoyed the previous time were were down this way. We stopped of at the local Nisa for some more supplies and popped into the amusements for 10 minutes but the quality and variety of games was disappointing, why do they insist of giving prizes as paper tickets, it is not the same as hearing the cash tinkle as it is paid out.
After a sandwich I went up to Baggy Point to take some pictures and left Helen watching Bridget Jones on Amazon Prime. In the end I never got to Baggy Point as I went down into the rocks and worked my way towards it, but eventually came to a dead end where the sensible thing was to turn back, and retrace my steps. I made the most of the opportunity by taking some stills and a few time lapse sequences.
I got back to the hut at 17:00 hoping to help Helen with the cooking for the evening, tonight would be Helens lovely veggie sausage and bean Spanish stew with baked potatoes. The question is do you add olive oil and/or salt or just leave them au naturel? I would go with the plain but the consensus is olive oil and salt, as the the people from Portadown say “just go with the flow”. (ed: the stew was of course, fantastic 🙂 )
(ed: The Lundyites had some great tales, they had seen seals and a porpoise. The trip was a bit bouncy, about one in ten of the passengers needed a sick bag but according to the friendly & helpful staff, it was nothing compared to the trip out on windy Tuesday. On occasions our party to had to hastily move to avoid being “caught” by a traveller loosing their sea legs/breakfast. There was a point where travellers were asked not to move about the boat as some big waves were coming up. Fortunately Lundy has a very good pub.)