The journey…

 

Views from the A66

When you holiday in places that take a bit of travelling to get there - not long-haul flight type travel - the sort of thing with a lot of driving, an overnight stop, then a second day of more driving or whatever, you get used to considering the journey itself as part of the Holiday. We’ve been doing this for years with the Hebrides trips, and although the proper “ahhhh” moment of shoulder-dropping relaxation only really hits when we are on board the ferry to Uist, we both certainly feel we’re on holiday from leaving home. 

Callander hostel - highly recommended!

The Hebrides trip takes around 27 hours door to door with somewhere about 12 hours of that being actual driving. We factor in a stop overnight as far up into Scotland as we are confident will work - over the years we’ve stayed at Stirling, Falkirk, and the glorious hostel at Callander pictured above which has everything you could need for a very sensible price indeed. Then the following day it is an early start and a drive up either over the Skye Bridge or to Mallaig for a ferry from there. The route at that stage depends entirely on what timings work in relation to our ferry to Uist - if heading to South Uist with a drive up through Uist from there then that means straight to Mallaig and far more slack time during the day as the boat is later. If doing the shorter hop across to North Uist then that leaves from Uig on Skye and sometimes we can do that via the short crossing from Mallaig to Skye, a drive up through the island and then onto the bigger vessel to reach our final destination port of Lochmaddy.The alternative round the road and past that well known landmark of Eileen’s Doughnut….sorry, Eilean Donan Castle feels a bit more stressful somehow, plus, who wouldn’t want to shoehorn an extra ferry in there where they can? 

M V Coruisk - the Skye ferry

Our first couple of nights on the Island have almost exclusively for years been at the wonderful Moorcroft Holidays campsite at Carinish - just a 20 minute or so drive from Lochmaddy. We’ve been coming here for years, almost from when they opened I think, initially camping, then taking a room in their well appointed bunkhouse, and finally opting for the wonderful little “Hobbit House” glamping pods which are cosy and comfortable. We’ve visited enough times now that Catriona and Iain book us in to our favourite of the three pods, high up and looking out over the loch and across to Benbecula - it is enclosed by a beautiful stone wall and is just a glorious place to sit outside with a book, so long as there’s enough breeze to deter the midges! 

M.V.Hebrides departing Uig

The ferry crossings themselves are very much a highlight of the trip - indeed we have been known to book on a ferry crossing purely to enjoy being on the water and spotting the birds, marine wildlife etc. Even the short crossing to Skye might net sightings of gannets and Kittiwakes, and once on the bigger boat across to Uist the sea is alive with Guillemots, masses more Gannets, and depending on the time of year sometimes puffins. Skuas are a strong possibility, with the Great Skua seeming to make a bit of a recovery from the devastation Bird Flu wreaked on their population. A glimpse of a fin breaching the water sends up a cry of “Dolphins” from the first spotters- although it may just as well be porpoise or even one of the whale family.

Arrival at Lochmaddy on a calm day

The mindset of enjoying the journey is a bit hackneyed, but once you switch into it travel definitely becomes more enjoyable! 

Robyn

Cornish Adventuring - part 2!

 Cream Tea at Tehidy Country Park cafe

 I mentioned I think that we ended up making a second trip to the far South West during the month of May - this time was a part week's holiday spent with the group of pals we go off to Lundy and places with, we didn't have the holiday time free to commit to the full week, but agreed that we could easily add a couple of days onto the bank holiday weekend. 

Waves and surfers at Trevaunance Cove

The drive down on a Bank Holiday Saturday was inevitably full of traffic and diversions, but a fairly early departure still saw us arriving close to the big shared house near Redruth by mid afternoon. Our original plan had been to stop for breakfast on the way - but annoyingly one of the diversions meant that we didn't pass the planned butty-wagon (the excellent Max's Cabin on the A30) so by the time we arrived we were famished! As the rest of the gang were fairly scattered about, we elected to go to the lovely Country park cafe we visited on our previous trip (I blogged about it I think) to have a late lunch there - ciabatta toasties followed by one of their amazing cream teas, that filled a gap for sure! 

Minack Theatre

Saturday evening was spent settling in and catching up with everyone's news, before conversations turned to plans for Sunday - and a brewery taproom was (perhaps unsurprisingly) was suggested as a destination for some of us. Lovely pal Marc decided he was happy to drive, and suggested that MrEH and I hopped in with him & Laura (and the dog!) which we were more than happy to do after nearly 8 hours in the car the previous day. We'd been to Porthleven briefly on our last trip down, but Shoals Brewery is only open on weekends so it was nice to get a chance to visit. We were joined later by more members of the party too  - and passed several very pleasant hours enjoying some very tasty beers.

Early morning at Porthtowan beach

Part of Monday was already planned as almost the entire group had tickets for a short show at the Minack Theatre. The Minack is somewhere I have always fancied going so it was great to have the opportunity, and it didn't disappoint - perched on the cliff edge with the most stunning views! The show itself was more geared up to a rather younger audience, but still entertaining enough, and the chap presenting it had enough “Dad jokes” in his script to ensure that even the adults were kept chuckling! 

Reflective rock pools at Porthtowan

The Tuesday was a roastingly hot day - indeed one that broke temperature records for May in the UK I believe. With three dogs in our party, some of us opted for an early morning beach trip at Porthtowan, some of us paddled, some of us swam, and the dogs had a fine old time running about and in the case of the two Labradors, splashing in and out of the sea and rock pools. A trip to the bakery just down the road from the house on the way back saw us stocked up with baked goodies and the rest of the day was spent relaxing in the garden - chasing the shade, reading and relaxing. 

Coverack

Our final day on Wednesday saw another early morning beach visit with a bigger group this time (and more swimmers!) before a return to another favourite location of ours - Coverack. The excellent cafe there appealed to everyone for lunch, and plenty of ice cream sundaes were enjoyed.  We headed away mid afternoon - not before popping into the little Coverack village shop for a loaf of delicious Vicki’s bread to take home though!  All in all a really lovely few days with great pals - and we may just be plotting some more trips now too!

Robyn

Places to go and things to do...

 

Peak District - 2021

Who remembers this list then?

Places to go and things to do...

1) The Lake District 
2) The Peak District
3) Go back to the Farne Islands to photograph the puffins again. 
4) Go back to Donna Nook to photograph the seals again
5) Go back to Dublin
6) Belfast
7) Spend more time exploring the bits of Cornwall we've not yet seen
8) Glastonbury - The tor and village, not the festival! 
8) Do a trip on the Settle to Carlisle railway in better weather!
9) Northumberland
10) Ardnamurchan Point
11) Dunnet Head (I've been there, MrEH hasn't)
12) Lowestoft (Bizarrely MrEH's never been there, either!) - We've both been to The Lizard already
13) Arran
14) Islay
15) Blackpool! (Yes, really, I've never been, but LOVE tacky seaside places!)
16) Anthony Gormley's Another Place - Crosby
17) Visit to the Red Arrows at RAF Scampton  
18) Orkney! 
19) Re-visit the National Railway Museum at York
20) Make a short visit to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival
21) This one is for 2013 - get to an Airshow where the Vulcan is flying. Last chance to see her airborne.

It first saw the light of day in late 2011 I think, and I posted again with a bit of an update in 2013, but as far as I can see I've not updated it again since. With that in mind, I reckoned it might be time to update it, as I can see a lot needing changed! 

1) The Lake District - we have twice spent a few days there now - first camping, and then sharing a big house with the friends we consider our "CAMRA Family" a few years later. 

2) The Peak District - We made a fleeting visit there when heading up to Chesterfield and had the most glorious walk - we'd certainly like to return and spend some more time though! 

3) Go back to the Farne Islands to photograph the Puffins again - yes! Once again we had weather issues, but we got a decent length of time on one Island, lovely views of Puffins and seals, and MrEH even got dive-bombed by a Tern which is all you can really want from such a trip! Another thing we'd be keep to do again.

4) Donna Nook - I've been back, but (probably for the best) it's no longer considered acceptable to walk out on the sands, so all viewing is now from behind fences at the top of the beach. Still lovely, but not the experience it was.

5) Go back to Dublin - we went on the excuse of attending Bray Air Display for my birthday in 2016, and had a lovely weekend!

6) Belfast - I've been several times, including once with MrEH as well. Another place I'd like to spend more time.

7) Cornwall - well we spent a good chunk of May down there it seems! I never get tired of Cornwall and we find new things every time we visit. Definite plans to return!

(While writing this I noticed that my list had two number 8’s on it - how did I not notice that before?)

8) Glastonbury Tor & Village - yes, we did this some years ago now when on our way back from a weekend in Wales. 

8) - again!  Settle to Carlisle Railway in good weather - not achieved as yet. 

9) Northumberland - we camped up there the same weekend we did the last Farne Islands trip, and we're both keen to repeat the trip. 

10) & 11) Ardnamurchan Point & Dunnet Head - we have plans afoot around these, watch this space (in a year or so!)

12) Lowestoft - yes, done. This leaves me needing just one UK compass point to tick off (Ardnamurchan) and MrEH with 2. 

  Vulcan over North Weald- 2015

13) & 14) Arran & Islay - both Islands still on the wanted list. 

15) Blackpool - made it briefly in 2014 (for fish & chips on the night we were at Blackpool Airport with the Reds) and then for a proper visit for the airshow in 2024. Every bit as tacky as expected! 

16) Anthony Gormley's Another Place - Crosby. Yes - although another fairly fleeting visit in failing light thanks to getting delayed in traffic. Definitely want to get back for a proper look at some stage. 

17) Visit to the Red Arrows at RAF Scampton - well, that one escalated didn't it! Of course having written in 2013 that the team had now suspended all visits so it wasn't going to be possible, I nearly removed it from the list. Then 2014 came along, and as we know, a LOT happened, including me ending up spending a LOT of time at Scampton over the following few years! Such incredible opportunities, and times I will always look back on with a huge amount of joy and gratitude to those who made it possible!

18) Orkney - another one ticked off, having visited lovely Fay up there. Again, we'd like to return.

19) Re-visit the National Railway Museum at York - We've been back a couple of times, including in January when we were in York for a pal's birthday weekend. 

20) Short re-visit to the Edinburgh Fringe - I fear this one may now be beyond us as accommodation in Edinburgh at even the most basic of levels during August is likely to be more money than we are willing to pay. It might perhaps be possible as a day trip from somewhere else though? 

21) See the Vulcan Flying - well yes, and in the end between 2013 and when she retired from flight, I was fortunate to see her a good many times. Great memories, even if tinged with a little sadness that such an incredible aircraft is now grounded. 

That’s pretty decent progress isn’t it! I’m actually quite surprised and impressed how much we have done- and I am now thinking that perhaps a new list is required - or at least an extension of this one! 

Robyn

Frugal Friday…

 

I was tempted to call this a “Thrifty Thursday” post instead when I decided to use the photo above as the header - resisted temptation though! This is of course a bank of Thrift down at Gunwalloe on the Lizard Peninsula, taken on our recent week’s holiday down there. As you know, we budget for our annual fortnight up in the Western Isles, that money is set aside and only used for that purpose and things related to it, so any other trips we want to take during the year are funded separately, and this one was no exception.

We knew we wanted to do a full week away, but we’re also determined that it couldn’t cost a fortune as the budget simply isn’t there for that, so decided from the start that careful choices around where we spent money were going to be the winner here to let us have a really enjoyable week without breaking the bank. Accommodation is of course always the big ticket item for a holiday - thankfully we have the tent and are more than happy to use it - and our chosen campsite is a very reasonable £15 a night for a tent, two people and car. To that was added the single night  in a Premier Inn on the way down - £53 there, but it made the difference between getting a full day in a Cornwall on our arrival day and not, so worth the spend. It also provided us with a good breakfast that day for no additional cost, and full travel mugs for the onward part of the journey. Accommodation total then: £158.

When staying in self catering accommodation of any type when away, it is extremely easy for food to become a really significant spend - when in the Hebrides we tend to have lunch out and about, then cook our evening meal back at the cottage, and we took much the same approach for this trip too. We have two camping stoves, a saucepan and a frying pan, and can rustle up some tasty options using those, this time round we mostly opted for salads of some description with an added protein element, and sometimes some cooked pasta thrown in to the salad. It’s straightforward to cook, fairly healthy and balanced, and most importantly tasty. Breakfasts were eaten at the campsite each day - either bacon & egg butties or simply toast - and an even got a double-Yorker in a box of supermarket eggs! Lunches out and about were mostly toasted sandwiches or pasties, with an ice cream or cake for pudding - not cheap in that part of the world, but also not the most pricey choices. Food totalled a fraction over £200, plus some odds and ends that were purchased directly from our own spending accounts - and some household purchases such as topping up our levels of the delicious Cornish Salt flavoured blends. 

Of course there was diesel - for the journey down and travelling about while there. We used the petrol prices app to find the best priced filling stations, and managed to fill up more cheaply throughout than we would have done at home, including stumbling across one exceptionally well priced for the current time option on the Lizard where the service was still attended too - definitely not something you see in many places these days! We put in £152 worth of diesel while away, including a tankful on the way back which will see us through the next week or so of regular driving. There was also some additional travel - two days spent using a day Ranger train tickets (£11.30 each with our railcard) and buses totalling £12 on Saturday to save using the car on a day when we knew we would be visiting some pubs. Parking in a few places too - although generally we opted for reasonable street parking and a short walk to our destinations - another £6 or so - £63 odd in total there then.

Spending not mentioned here came straight from our own spends accounts - beers here and there, oddments of food as mentioned, and I’m not totalling that up simply because it was all stuff we might well have spent during a week at home anyway. 

The total then - roughly £575 for the bits mentioned above. Not “cheap” - but still an extremely good price for a thoroughly enjoyable week’s holiday. There were ways we could have saved more - by choosing to make sandwiches at the tent to take with us for lunches for example, or by taking more food with us. We try not to do the latter in particular though - because when visiting places that rely on tourist spending for their income we’ve always felt it’s important to try to support that. For that reason we choose independent stores over chains where possible, try to buy local products, and aside from things like tea bags, coffee and condiments, take relatively little from home. We do always empty the fridge and fruit bowl of anything perishable- so the remainder of my bottle of oat milk went with us, plus some apples and citrus fruit. Our trusty plastic box full of gleaned sachets of salt, pepper and sauces came in handy as always - including helping out a fellow camper who had found himself without sugar one morning! 

A truly lovely week, funded from a mixture of personal fun money, a surplus accumulated in our food account (deliberately accumulated for just this reason) and some surplus from our bills account too - it will mean a little less into savings this month, but so be it. We’re fortunate to be able to take trips like this, all the more so at a time when many folk are struggling with the increasing cost of living- and we definitely do not lose sight of that privilege. We didn’t consciously choose not to spend on entry fees to places - there just wasn’t anywhere much we found ourselves interested to visit which had such fees. At Tintagel we arrived after the main site was closed and were delighted to find that we could still explore the area up to the bridge for free. Our time on the trains let us see huge amounts of the county as we passed through it, and included a trip across the Tamar Rail Bridge and back, something I’d never done before. A lot of the things we enjoy are simply free anyway - just wandering about and exploring different places.

Robyn

A circular walk and an unusual view of our tent!

 

We’ve camped at Magor Farm a few times now - it’s a lovely location for exploring Cornwall, just outside Camborne and backing on to the Tehidy Country Park, less than a mile from the coast. We’ve often talked about doing the circular walk from the site out to the coast, along the coast path and then back through the park, but until this visit time has always been too short to fit it in - this time though we were determined that we ought to make the time to do it as we were down for longer. 

MrEH had sketched our chosen route out on Google Maps so we knew roughly what distance to expect, and as usual we used the OS Maps app to navigate- we actually pay the annual subscription for that as although we love proper paper maps, we certainly wouldn’t want to be paying out for an OS map for everywhere we visit, and the app makes it easy to always have decent mapping on hand. This one was fairly straightforward anyway - with the only really tricky bits being working out where we needed to cut back inland from the coast path, and then the route through the Country Park.

Out of the site then and a short distance along the road to the village of Coombe - little more than a cluster of houses really - ignoring the first footpath we saw which would take us into the park itself, in fact we would see that one later in the walk. Instead we opted for an uphill path slightly further on which took us through farmland and out to the coast. Sure enough with just 0.8 of a mile ticked off on my watch we found ourselves crossing the road and turning right onto the coast path with the most stunning views towards Godrevy to the left and Portreath to the right. 

The coast path is beautiful - just a riot of wildflowers at this time of year, plus of course the amazing views. We had glorious weather too - in fairness it probably wouldn’t be quite so much fun in driving rain!  It was sunshine we had though, and we ambled along stopping to identify this plant or that, or to see what birds were about (the trip added plenty to our year list and one “lifetime first” as well in the shape of a Lesser Kestrel which was hanging about at Goonhilly Downs on the Lizard Peninsula) before finding the right turn onto the track which would take us across to the road, back on ourselves for a few yards then across into Tehidy Country Park. 

This really was a walk encompassing most of the various different terrains you might expect from the South West - starting (and ending) with country lanes, farmland, the coast, then the woodland and even some ponds and lakes later on. All the way though and everywhere we looked absolutely swathes of spring flowers in bloom. 

We’d timed our walk so that an early lunch could be had at the cafe in the park - and that absolutely didn’t disappoint. A small menu, but a thoughtful one including several choices for vegetarians. We opted for pulled pork ciabatta toasties which were an excellent size and arrived served with a deliciously crisp mixed salad. I followed that up with the cream tea, just look…

…that cream generously covered both halves of the enormous scone, gave MrEH a blob to have with his chocolate brownie and there was still some left! The teapot too was a generous size, I had a cup and a half from it, and MrEH finished the remaining cupful after finishing his coffee. At £6.80 that was certainly one of the bargains of the trip! 

From there it was back to the woodland path which eventually lead us along the back of the campsite - although there was plenty to be seen ahead of that - including some friendly squirrels happy to pose for photos. Also the lovely carved from a fallen tree otters denoting the “Otter Bridge”  which crosses the stream which eventually runs alongside the other side of the campsite - and indeed eventually we glanced to our left and there through the trees we could see our tent! 

Then the final stretch out of the country park, via the footpath we’d spotted earlier, and retracing our steps back along the road to discover that we were the only campers on the site which felt like quite the treat - it never did get busy although as expected the bank holiday weekend saw quite a lot more people. The facilities are plentiful though, and there is plenty of space for people to spread out - our carefully chosen little spot in the middle of the site served us well. Magor might well be my favourite site anywhere now I think - the family who own it have farmed here for generations and are lovely,  it and they have precisely the laid back approach we enjoy from a site, and it’s safe to ensure that we will be back! 

Robyn

Cornish adventuring…

 

Everyone loves a bank holiday weekend, right? And most of us love them even more if we can use the benefit of a free day off to create a nice holiday around it, using less actual holiday days from our jobs! This is precisely what MrEH and I have done - with an extra 3 days for me, and 5 for him tacked on to give us a full 10 days off, by the time weekends are accounted for. It’s sometimes possible to combine Easter and the early May bank holiday in this way too for. Really extended break - although not this year as they are too far apart. 

With a new tent to play with, we decided to start our time off by heading down to Cornwall - and the additional day off before the weekend meant that we decided to travel part way down on Thursday night to attempt to get ahead of the traffic. At exactly the right time an email arrived from a popular budget hotel chain offering free breakfast for a stay within dates that were just perfect, so we opted for the £53 spend there enabling us to head to Taunton for our first night, and breakfast well on Friday morning too. An early ish departure from there meant that there was very little traffic heading west for the last leg down to one of our favourite campsites near Camborne too, and all in all it was a very satisfactory way of doing things! 

We’ve stayed at Magor Farm Campsite a number of times - it’s pretty much our perfect site, quiet, slightly dated but decent (and spotlessly clean) wash blocks, a small room for washing up, drying wet clothes etc (and now - joy - with the addition of a freezer for ice packs too!). Aside from the freezer, it has a timeless feel as though little has changed since the 1950’s.  At the time of writing I think about 9 pitches are occupied - it was a little busier on Friday and Saturday nights - but still quiet enough that you never seem to have to wait for a toilet, or a shower cubicle. Children play quietly, with parents respecting the general laid back vibe of the place, and old-school fun like donning wellies and splashing in puddles is very much much favoured.

Friday was a lazy day - after the drive down we decided we’d take our time getting pitched, then just potter about in the afternoon, so we had a short wander at Portreath, followed by a drive round to Hayle, then back to the site for food and a couple of beers. Saturday however was well planned in advance- we’d decided to leave the cat at the campsite for the day and use public transport. Just under a two mile walk (almost entirely up hill!) to the bus stop and a short though meandering, round the houses bus ride to the station, where we purchased day ranger tickets - letting us travel wherever we wanted in the county. With our railcard these cost just £11.30 each, an absolute bargain!  We opted to start in Truro - the market there has a Cornish Sea Salt stall and I wanted to top up supplies of their fabulous flavoured salts, and a short walk away in a back street is MrEH’s favourite Tugboat Coffee - he only uses their beans these days, and usually orders online, but likes to pop into the shop if we’re down here. To my delight I also found a lovely independent sweet shop which sold salted liquorice! 

Back to the station then (uphill all the way - are we seeing a theme?!) and the short ride down to Penryn. A walk to the back of an industrial estate (I bet you can guess the nature of the in line to get there, yes?!) saw us first aiming for food - The Aussie Smoker who we first encountered a few years back when they worked out of a shack (their words) next door to Dynamite Valley Brewery. They’ e expanded since in a snazzy unit with an event space and undercover eating area,  and we thoroughly enjoyed the enormous portion of loaded fries we each had, prior to heading to the Verdant Brewery and taproom. I’ve long been a fan of Verdant’s beers, and it was a delight to spend several hours enjoying not only their delicious keg beers, but relatively unusually several in cask too. The original plan had been to head from there down into the town to Dynamite Valley’s micro pub, but a combination of heavy rain and so many beers to try actually kept us at Verdant for longer than planned. 

All in all an excellent day - and the train tickets were such great value (and made life so easy) that we pretty much decided there and then to do another day using them later in the week. It is a very odd feeling getting in a train knowing that you can literally just choose where to get off though! 

Robyn

A cheeky weekend in Lincolnshire...

 

Spitfire AB910

As we have both a new tent and an extended camping trip over the time we've done before coming up, we decided that a trial run was a good plan, so last weekend saw us heading up to Lincolnshire for the weekend. A campsite was found at East Kirkby - which just so happened to be attached to a pub. Pure coincidence of course...well, partly! (Namecheck for the Red Lion pub & Campsite - which is excellent and comes highly recommended).

A new tent inevitably takes a while to get used to - so pitching takes a little longer than it used to. It's also at least half as big again as the old one, and although mostly the same style, just the sheer additional size means that it's taking a bit of getting used to. Up it went though, and within around an hour of our arrival at the site we had a fully fitted out tent and were cheerfully sitting outside it in the sunshine eating our lunch. We've gained a few extra odds and ends which is making packing the car fun - the way up was distinctly shonky, the way home much better, and I fully suspect that the next trip will prove even better - and preferably without the risk of either of us being brained by a kettle in the event of a sudden stop as could quite easily have happened on the way up at least this time! 

The new tent! 

Lunch consumed, we headed off to an RSPB reserve that we had last visited a few years ago, and would have greatly enjoyed on that occasion had it not been for the torrential downpour that struck half way round, leaving us completely soaked through. Thankfully both a set of dry clothes and facilities to change in were available or the journey home on that occasion would have been very unpleasant. This time the weather stayed dry through our visit, and RSPB Frampton Marsh was confirmed as a really lovely place for a walk - even in the exceptionally blustery conditions of the day. I left my camera in the car and had no regrets about doing so as a result of that wind. As the light dropped, so did the temperature, and after eating dinner back at the tent the evening was spent in the pub drinking very nicely kept pints of Batemans XB.

Artwork at RSPB Frampton Marsh

Saturday morning dawned beautifully bright and sunny, and thankfully that nasty wind had dropped, so after a quick bacon butty breakfast we hopped in the car and drove the short distance to RAF Coningsby where my pal Andy was taking one of the BBMF Spitfires up for a practise display or two. AB910 was the aircraft in question - a MkV machine, and Andy's personal favourite from the fleet - recently returned to the flight after several seasons away undergoing deep maintenance. We stopped first at the BBMF hangar where Andy was just conducting his walkaround - hellos were exchanged and we agreed to catch up after his flight, and after watching him taxi out Mr EH and I drove round to one of my favourite spots to watch/photograph the practise. As a bonus Claire was also there, so a great chance for a quick catch up with her also! A lovely display, and a nice chat, and all in fantastic weather too! 

Andy taxies out in AB910

The Blue Bell pub - Tattershall Thorpe

MrEH and I then decided to have a quick wander to Coningsby village before driving across to nearby Boston for a walk there (and a visit to a lovely Good Beer Guide pub!) before heading back to the campsite via the Blue Bell pub at Tattershall Thorpe - a pub steeped in wartime history and FULL of memorabilia. The picture above shows pennies left by airmen from the nearby bases in readiness to pay for their beer on their next visit. For many of them though there was no next visit, and the pennies remain, wedged into the beams as a very special tribute.  Another evening meal was eaten in the tent, and just a quick beer in the pub this time as we were both quite tired and conscious of the need for a fairly early start to get packed up the next day. 

St Botolphs Church - Boston

As with getting pitched in the first place, a new tent makes everything slower on take-down as well. One big change is that our old (smaller, far lighter) tent used to travel on the back seat of the car - the new one is simply too heavy for this as it would turn into a missile in the event of that sudden stop, so it has to go into the boot. The complication here as you might imagine is that this in turn  means that the tent needs to go into the car ahead of rather a lot of the stuff from inside it, which creates some logistical headaches! We got there in the end, and by 11.30 we were away.

Tattershall Church

First stop this time was back to Coningsby for a walk we hadn't had time for the day before - out to Tattershall Castle and church across the fields, then back via the river and village. A quick stop to grab some lunch and we were back in the car for the hours drive across to RSPB Langford Lowfields - another reserve we'd visited previously although not had the time to really do it justice. This visit we had far longer, and walked did the circuit right the way round the main part of the reserve with bird sightings including this cute little Sedge Warbler...

Sedge Warbler - RSPB Langford Lowfields

All in all a really enjoyable weekend - there should have been more BBMF flying on Saturday, but as is the way of things sometimes that was cancelled. While it would have been nice to see more, the lack certainly didn't in any way spoil the trip and we found plenty else to do. A few days in the tent with an objective eye was a good way of reassuring any concerns ahead of the longer we stay we have planned for a few weeks time, and overall we're still delighted with it, having proper headroom in a tent makes such a difference to camping! A few additional/replacement items have been identified as needed also, so we'll be sorting those before heading off again. 

Robyn

Looking back...

 

This is Mussenden Temple - part of the Downhill Demesne in Northern Ireland. I first visited when I had some spare time on the evening ahead of the Portrush Airshow when I went across in 2014 I believe it was, and was so utterly charmed by it I have been back several times since, including on a trip with MrEH a few years later. 

From the Temple itself - perched on the edge of the cliff with stunning views in both directions, to the fascinating ruined 18thC mansion, it's a wonderful way to pass a few hours at relatively low cost - parking is now chargeable for non national Trust members, but at a very reasonable £10 per day, and there are no admission charges for the estate itself as far as I know. 

We've been discussing the possibility of another short trip to Northern Ireland at some point, and looking back at this picture and others makes me want to do that sooner rather than later! 

Robyn

A very Good Friday!

 Although we do have an absolute mass of garden jobs to be getting on with this weekend, we had decided early on that we also wanted to fit in a day out - and had decided that one of our favourite RSPB reserves at Minsmere in Suffolk was where we wanted to head. Minsmere has been a favourite for years now - lots of different trails, a range of habitats from coastal and wetland through to heathland and wooded areas means there is always a likelihood of seeing a brilliant range of birds, and it’s a fabulous place to walk.

We headed off fairly early - treating the day like a normal Friday in that respect and leaving the house at the sort of time we would usually be going out for a walk from home before MrEH starts work. Traffic was fairly light, and we arrived at the reserve as planned at around 10.30am. Our RSPB membership means we get free admission, so we headed straight to the cafe to grab breakfast - which was a fantastic ciabatta style roll absolutely STUFFED with bacon and sausages, not cheap at £7.80 each but we both agreed actually really good value.

After polishing those off - MrEH had coffee and I had a generous pot of tea to wash them down - we definitely felt like a walk was needed! Our regular route sees us heading off towards the coast, then looping back towards the visitor centre before heading off through the woodland and out onto Whin Hill and back towards the centre that way. We call in at the various hides as we go to see what can be seen on the scrapes, and always linger a bit around the coastal section too. At this time of year you can’t walk up and over the hill, so we retraced our steps around the edge. A lovely walk - and the addition of some stuff to our birding year list too, Mediterranean Gull, Barnacle Geese, a lovely juvenile Kittiwake, Sand Martins and probably the sighting of the day, a Bittern.Sandwich Terns were also nice to see - we usually get Common Terns locally, and the Hebrides generally provides Arctic and Little Terns, but the Sandwich variant is one we see far less often.

There is a long-standing tradition that a trip to Aldeburgh follows a visit to Minsmere, and far be it for us to break with tradition, so back in the car we hopped for the short drive through. Ice creams first - from Ives - barely recognisable since the last time we were there as they’ve had a full modernisation. It used to be a classic ice cream shop - a long counter with the queue gently winding past so you had ample time to survey the flavours on offer that day and make your decision. Now the shop is - strangely - far smaller, and people queuing ahead of you block your view, making the choice feel a bit more rushed and last minute. We both agreed that we didn’t like it as much - and it feels like a negative rather than a positive step, although I imagine it works better for the staff. A walk along the coast to the marina, then on a new-to-us path between the River Alde and the creeks was a nice change - although in the blustery conditions also fairly hard going! 

Then a stroll in the other direction - towards although not actually as far as the Scallop Shell sculpture on this occasion - I absolutely love it but it appeared to be very busy with lots of folk using it for shelter from the wind! 

All even slightly regular visits to Aldeburgh know that a look at “Snooks” to see how he is attired is a must - we assume that local knitters take care of ensuring that he is dressed appropriately for the occasion, just look how pleased he looks with his Easter bonnet, bunny and chicks! 

Finally- and it’s another “must do” is of course Fish and Chips. We’ve never tested the theory but we think it’s actually illegal to go to Aldeburgh and NOT have F&C! Sadly far too windy this time to sit on the sea wall and eat them as we usually would, but a good compromise was found by driving the car along to the coastal car park and sitting in the car with them there instead. Delicious haddock - super fresh and always cooked to order, with lashings of salt and vinegar, SUCH a treat!  

The local gulls don’t miss a trick though - this Herring Gull kept his beady eye on MrEH throughout in spite of the fact that we were literally sitting IN the car, and was clearly MOST put-out that no discarded chips headed his way! 

Finally time to head home - via a quick stop in Ipswich to grab some diesel for my car at a price a fair bit cheaper than we would have got at home, right now shopping around and saving even a few pence per litre is all the more important isn’t it with the way prices have escalated - we are now paying over 30p a litre more than we were just a handful of weeks ago. Worth the diversion, and all in all, it was indeed a very Good Friday! 

Robyn