Lakes Train Trip

Having purchased my first rail 'rover' ticket for the North west I set off to ride the Cumbrian coast line via Manchester, Barrow in Furness to St Bees for a couple of nights. I don't think it had changed much since we set off from here to do parts of the 'coast to coast' walk 20 years ago. For those who need a 'sea' fix I've included a video as the tide was in and waves were crashing.

The second day I travelled back to Ravenglass for a ride on the little train up Eskdale to Dalegarth, where I pottered around sheltering in St Catherine's church during a rainy period and then exploring the valley up to Stanley Force.

The next 2 days I met up with a friend in Cockermouth and our activities ranged from tracking down a marble altar from a local POW camp, a very blustery walk along Maryport prom, and a picnic on the shore of lonely Crummock Water.











The final leg of my journey was riding the Carlisle / Settle line and home via Leeds and Manchester. All in all I got my money's worth from my 4 day rail ticket.

Sutton's Sundial

Last weekend I went over to North Notts to visit Sutton in Ashfield - my birthplace and where I spent the formative years of my life, escaping when I was 20 to pastures new. Now going back to visit friends and relatives is a pleasure as I feel the pull of my roots in that area. However I always enjoy returning home to my Cheshire home.





A few years ago the authorities decided to erect the largest sundial in the world in the centre of the town. There were instructions on how to read the time but these have long gone. I still remember a friend overhearing a resident explain the time was ' Five minutes past Firths', this being the newsagents adjacent to the structure. Such is the drole humour of my home town!

Prague - City of Dreams

Last weekend Elaine and I experienced 3 wonderful days of sunshine in Prague. The vistas of the city architecture were magical with shimmering green domes and spires looking down on a myriad of terracotta roof tiles. Our own independent tour included a city bus ride, a night at the opera, a midday classical concert, an evening dinner river cruise, as well as wandering on foot through the medieval alleys and up to the castle fortress area. Other highlights included stumbling on a terraced Italian Baroque garden, a huge grey rock sculpture wall and the memorial to John Lennon in the form of a graffiti wall.

We found the Czech people very pleasant and helpful especially the young.

This is the stuff that dreams are make of!

North Wales

A few weekends ago I stayed with my friend in her static caravan on North Wales coast.

We had 3 glorious days of sunshine with lovely gentle walking, including Newborough Sands on Anglesey, the mountain at the back of the site and on the Great Orme at Llandudno. After attending a piano recital by Freddy Kempf at the theatre we were treated to a most spectacular sunset on the way back via Conway - and I had my camera in my bag!

Great Rail Journey

I have just experienced my holiday of a lifetime with 'Great Rail Journeys' travelling by train all the way to Austria as a 1st class passenger.

My journey began with Eurostar to Brussels and on into Germany staying at Konnigswinter near Cologne for the first night. Next day the route followed the mighty Rhine via Mannheim , Stuttgart and Munich and onto our resort for 6 nights at Jenbach in the Innsbrook valley (Tyrol).

My case which had been sent on by a company called 'First Luggage' was waiting for me in my room at The Jenbacherhof Hotel and well worth every penny spent!

The holiday was a dream come true with an excellent tour manager, 20 congenial companions (including an ardent botanist) and sunny weather.

My best day was a ride on the steam train 'the Zillertalbahn' up a valley to the resort of Mayerhofen.

Iona holiday talk

Today I gave a talk on my trip to Iona in June of this year to my retired friends in Congleton U3A. It was very enjoyable to share the joys and tribulations of my holiday with the 'Wish you were here ' group. Graham who has returned temporarily to 'the nest' showed me how to put my images into a Powerpoint presentation. Then in the afternoon I played 'Mahjong', which is also part of the same organisation. We have a lot of laughs and all support each other in our '3rd Age'.

http://www.congletonu3a.org.uk/