MV Matilda

Travels in Henry
Our first port of call was the Milestones campsite at Cromwell next door to Milestones Brewery! Always a convenient stop on the way north.

Then off north to visit Alnwick and catch up with friends

Alnwick town attractive and busy

Alnwick Castle Broomstick Training

The real purpose of visiting the castle was to see the Northumberland Fusiliers Museum. My Great Uncle Lewis Robert Bramley was a Sergeant Major in this regiment. He fought in WW1 and was then died in WW2holding the line when Dunkirk was being evacuated. He is buried in Ypres Town Cemetery.

Below Ready for kit inspection. Note the position of the Bible Prayer Book

Not only were the Glosters in Korea but the Northumberland Fusiliers too

No visit to Northumberland would miss out on Bamburgh. Such a commanding position

The castle also has museum of all things associated with the Armstrong family business: armaments aircraft and so on which seems to attract the male of the species!

Our next visit was to Cragside an absolutely stunning National Trust Property. The rhododendrons were at their best but sadly the weather wasn’t. Allow a whole day if the sun is shining.

How the Armstrongs made their money

An exquisite bedroom

What a talking point! Have you ever seen such a fireplace and overmantle like this?

Here you see the engineer at work. An Archimedes screw is used on the River Avon near Pershore but here what it looks like at Cragside

Extensive grounds and gardens but the weather was poor

And a little display the pleased me

From Seahouses take a boat trip to the Farne Islands. Hmm which trip shall I take ?

Memorial to Grace Darling

St Cuthbert’s Chapel

Excellent wildlife action shot by Tony

The islands are covered by these attractive flowers

Thousands of birds

And return to Seahouses for a well deserved fish & chip supper



This month was all about the Platinum Jubilee, the Tall Ships Festival and Armed Forces Day

The Cathedral had an amusing trail.

In Gloucester Bob, with help from Karen & Roger. was busy getting Nutcracker prepared for the big day.

Scenes from television

And once we had watched the proceedings on TV we were off to party on Sula

My attempt at making a cake for the Jubilee.

The Tall Ships were also here for Jubilee weekend. Some photos were taken from Sula as the party continued

And all good parties come to an end!

Look closely at the man climbing the rigging

Got out his needle & thread to do a few repairs to the sail

Jack dressed as a pirate and below my favourite pirate ship!

The Armed Forces Day was very busy. The Allied Rapid Response Team setting up their stall

And the Mayor of Gloucester paid us a visit.

A very reasonable journey with stops at Leicester Forest east and Wetherby both very busy, to Scotch Corner in North Yorkshire. When I was a girl it used to be the North Riding. So, Henry is now parked on a small campsite looking south across beautiful farmland toward Ripon.

Monday mornings route took us to Northallerton – a very nice High Street with individual shops and small version of a select few chains. It also has a Bettys Tea Shoppe with quite a queue outside!

We visited Mount Grace Priory and English Heritage property formerly a cistercian monastery an offshoot of the Chartreuse monastery in France that I visited on a college exchange in 1967. It put me off chartreuse for life !

The gardens were recently refurbished by Chris Beardsmore to reflect the Arts & Crafts interior of the house

The highlight was the monks cell that has been set up. A bedroom, a workroom and facilities with running water! and a patch of garden.

In the afternoon we went to Hartlepool. We visited the National Navy museum that also houses the warship Trincomalee, and where an old fashioned quayside has been created with the small businesses you would expect to find supplying seafarers.

Then we went to (Battery Point) and the Marina where we ate real fish and chips sitting on a seat looking at the yachts and cruisers. Delicious! The watching seagulls gave up in disgust! Definitely not fed or encouraged!

Durham lived up to expectations! By chance in the Market Place we met up with Norman, a volunteer Durham Pointer! The Pointers give tourist information and are highly visible in pink jackets.

We had booked a tour of the Castle

The Norman chapel was atmospheric and my favourite room.

We then had a walk over the bridges to see the River Wear

the went to visit the Cathedral. Its vertical scale is amazing. We saw the tomb of St Cuthbert and the had a behind the scenes tour.

The guide explained how the cloisters would have been glazed and used for study.

He then took us to the Chapter house and the kitchen which houses St Cuthberts cross, coffin. and comb and other bits & pieces. We saw the gold and silver treasures and then the magnificent library.

There is a small plaque on the wall in one corner of the cloisters and this is to do with one John Washington. His shield had three stars and three red stripes. Can you guess who his descendant was?

I love visiting Open Gardens. These gardens are in a village near Stroud.

Our new sea bin attracted the attention of the BBC. It is a really tiny piece of kit that attracts litter & debris in the water, the very first one that the Canal & River Trust have bought and it does a good job.

See how small it is, and swans not disturbed by.

The young people from Young Gloucestershire analyse the contents of the bin, report to an international project and compost the approximately 75% natural vegetation.

Needless to say Tony was interviewed too!

This is Andy our wonderful security supervisor. He has just gained an award from the Chief Constable for saving a person’s life by performing emergency CPR. We all are very proud of him. You can also see the lovely Karon our fantastic cleaning lady. She is worth her weight in gold. They keep our docks safe and clean.

Our planters were red, white & blue this year.

Remember Bill & Ben?

More exploring! Off to Haverford West to meet up with a family who stayed with us many times at Rosemundy Cottage. The town was highly decorated ready for the Jubilee.

The castle houses a small but fascinating museum.

We are now wondering if this post box was made in Gloucester?

A postcard of the Mauritania

Pembroke Museum. A quirky collection of exhibits and keen model makers should put it on their itinerary

Recommended by our friends we spent the afternoon at Picton Castle. A beautiful house, developing gardens, birds of prey, and small zoo.

The fruit store. The way we used to keep apples.

I love veg gardens!

Look closely at the waterlily

And even better follows:

And finally, Emily took us to Woodland Wedding Retreat – definitely to be recommended!!! We were very impressed and wish her continued success.

We went off to Wales for a few days camping first at Goverton and then Freshwater East.

A view of the Severn Bridge, and below: the Mumbles

Lightship in Swansea harbour and below the rather scruffy theatre

Rhosili A stunning walk along the cliff path with views of the equally stunning beach

Whilst enjoying a coffee we watched the birds on the feeders. Tony got some excellent shots!

Plenty of wildflowers too

A view of Tenby Harbour

Bosherton Lily Ponds is most definitely a place to visit

The lily ponds lead down to the sea

The first glimpse of Pembroke Castle and its fantastic history. Below looking down to the river

A very blustery day to visit Carew Castle but worth a visit. A dramatic ruin!

We really wanted to see the tide mill, having seen the one in Woodbridge Suffolk.

The AA are so helpful! We discovered this sign on the edge of an old building!

Today we are off to North Lincolnshire beginning in Wrawby

Appleby proved difficult to get to thanks to a road closure However once there a nearby gent saw us wandering around the churchyard and came with the key – so helpful.

Then as we were so close we went over the bridge

Obviously a lot of money has been spent and its very popular

Back to Barrow upon Humber

Then Ulceby

And to Louth

Moved from Wagtail to Osgodby near Market Rasen. Very pleasant tranquil site. We were the sole occupants for two nights. We were given fresh eggs too

Next day we went to Gainsborough, Our last visit there was by boat in Spring 2017 on our way to Lincoln

Gainsborough Old Hall

The end of our visit to Lincolnshire but not the end of the family quest!

And it was off to prison courtesy of English Heritage

💖

The treadmill below

A most interesting visit !

Volunteering of course……

The Canal & River Trust and below Soldiers of Gloucester Museum

We visited Westbury Water Garden, and it far exceeded my expectations

The original garden plan

I never cared for tulips, but I have changed my mind since seeing these amazing specimens

A lovely place to visit

March 2022

March 3rd A birthday treat at my favourite hotel Lucknam Park, Colerne near Bath

Our first trip of the tear in Henry was to visit the Birmingham canal system – a trip down memory lane for Tony

Tony was actively involved in canal restoration and worked on this tunnel, so we just had to take a trip

Lots of other Industrial bits & pieces to see

We visited the Thinktank museum

And then a visit to Wightwick Manor – a real gem!

The Manders made their money from varnish & paint

And then there was the 147th birthday party on Sabrina

Storm Eunice came along

So plenty of warning to batten down the hatches……..