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Monday, May 22, 2017

A little tour

We've just had a couple of weeks away in the van. 
 Originally it was to visit a friend in Essex, who we haven't seen for many years,  but then as we were having to travel from one side of the country to the other we thought we'd make more of it and visit places.

We stopped off outside Welwyn Garden City for a few nights and visited St Albans.

Here the Pilgrims shells have been incorporated into the walls of the cathedral


St Albans clock tower





Built in the 1920's it's very spacious and well maintained, but talking to local people this has a price in that the Community Charges are high.


After Welwyn we moved on to 
where our friend lives and had the luxury of being the only people on its one campsite. 




Brightlingsea  has some very old and interesting buildings, some dating from the 16th Century.


This house is reputedly the oldest timber framed building in England and dates from the 14th Century.


This is what I was really interested in, the creeks and coastline of Essex.  This area is famed for its oyster industry.  Pete, our friend, who's a keen walker, took us on walks to places which we would probably never discovered.






This was one of the highlights for me, an old fishing smack in full sail, and with the traditional red sails as well.  Not the best picture, but we were out cycling and I only had my point and shoot camera with me.


Then it was on to Norwich.

The remains of the old  city walls.


Up the coast to Cromer
home of the famous "Cromer crabs" which of course meant crab sandwiches for lunch!!



Is this a '57 Chevy??


Croquet is still played here.


Crab fishing boat.



The final stop was Warwick on the way home,
with a campsite which is next door to the racecourse.  
We were lucky as one day there was a race meeting on.



And finally another friend who came to visit.


Many thanks for Wikipedia.

Saturday, May 06, 2017

Downton Abbey


Well its Highclere Castle really, and was the setting for the TV Series.  The house on certain days throws its doors open for the public, but as its the residence of Lord and Lady Caernarfon access inside the house is limited, but the grounds and gardens are open.  An earlier Lord Carnarfon was the one who discovered Tutankhamen's tomb and there's a very interesting exhibition attached to the house.

The tour itself was very well organised and the guides were helpful and knowledgeable.  The food in the cafe was reasonably priced, despite what we read on TripAdvisor.  Its run along the lines of a National Trust property.   There were a no photographs policy inside the house and Egyptian exhibition.

We have been passing the entrance for years when we visit our daughter so we decided to book up and go.  I'm not a big fan of Downton Abbey but the ones I watched I enjoyed, and the visit was a good day out.



The grounds are cleverly landscaped so that all you get is a countryside view, and any towns  or villages are neatly obscured.