Return to the Cotswolds

As we approach our one year anniversary here in the UK Merrilyn and I wanted to return to the Cotswold's - a place we visited and loved in our first week here.

This time around we travelled with the Wimalajeewa's heading out in convoy a little after 9:30am. The plan was to arrive at Bourton-on-the-Water (a place we hadn't seen before) and then walk to Lower Slaughter.

Parking the car we had a brief tour of the High Street before finding the Duke of Wellington (not a very unique name!) pub with an outdoor beer garden nestled against the River Windrush. I got stuck in to a Stilton Ploughman's and James poked at some roast beef with Yorkshire Pudding. The food was reasonable but there was a mixup with the order. The waiter was on his second day and not very confident at all. In the end the manager came out and had to retake the order - delaying us about 30 minutes. But its a delightful place to spend time so no harm done.

We got some directions to the footpath leading to Lower Slaughter. Its just beyond the village perimeter and about a 15 minute walk - apparently! Although we found the footpath it was a little under 4 miles to the Slaughters which took us all about a hour to complete. In hindsight I think we probably took the wrong path. However, we were rewarded with a lovely Spring walk through fields bursting with flowering rape crops.

Arriving between Upper and Lower Slaughter we walked along the River Eye we stopped at the Old Mill for an ice cream. Well deserved. We then took a stroll around the village. It was a little strange to see the same houses and gardens at almost exactly one year past. In comparison I'd have to say that there were not as many tulips out although the blossom and Wisteria are just as impressive.

We stopped for tea and scones at the magnificent Washbourne Hotel. James had fun with Aaron and Rohan pretending to fish in the pod and - of course - throwing stones. Getting late, UD and I returned to Burton-on-the-Water and retrieved the cars. James, of course, fell sound asleep in the car. He had such fun with his friends.

Photos are here.

Nanchang CJ-6 flight from White Waltham to Duxford

Another quick post. Although this one doesn't do the flight justice!

I've always had a fascination with military aircraft. So whenever I get the chance I travel to The Imperial War Museum Duxford - home of one of the largest static aircraft displays in Europe. It's located at a WWII airfield - home to squadrons of Spitfires. In fact, Spitfires and Hurricanes are still restored there.

Saturday I had the opportunity to fly with a colleague on a Nanchang CJ-6 warbird from White Waltham airfield to Duxford. I've blogged about this aircraft before. Its a Chinese military trainer. The highlight was the opportunity to land at Duxford.

We had planned to depart early Saturday but the weather conspired. It was warm - about 20 degress - which combined with the damp ground and minimal wind to create a fog. Although it cleared about midday at White Waltham the tower at Duxford reported very limited visbility. Now the Nanchang is suitable for visual flight rules only so visibility to about 5 miles is a must. So Sean and I enjoyed the sunshine and talking to the many aircraft enthusiasts at the club (they vary from business people to commercial captains).

At 1pm we got the all clear at Duxford so off we went. I wanted to capture video on the way so there were no aerobatics this time. It's a 30 minute trip and Sean had the route well planned using a combination of landmarks and VORs. We had to thread the needle as it were of controlled airspace between Luton, Stansted, and Heathrow. But he's good as right on schedule we landed at Duxford. The Nanchang is painted in military livery so drew a lot of attention from the crowd when we landed and taxied. No pressure Sean!

We enjoyed the day looking at the aircraft then at 5pm we climbed back aboard and took off for the return flight. In fact the conditions had deteriorated with very marginal visbility. Basically due to the combination of haze and a low sun. So we were both kept very busy on the lookout for other light aircraft. Two we had them approach out of the haze "fish bowl" at about 4 miles and disappear shortly afterwards. Sean was well on top of it though with a combination of constant radio communication with the tower requesting traffic reports, and a close vigil.

We landed and then had a few beers to celebrate the trip. Thoroughly enjoyable. Here's the video.

Easter break - video

Here's a video of our long weekend. It covers the beaches at Dorset and Devon, the Eggardon Hill fort, and Lulworth Cove. I'm off to Florida tomorrow so am posting this just after having uploaded the video to YouTube. I hope it works - if not let me know.

St Mary's Church, Puddletown

Here is a video of St Mary's Church in Puddletown. You'll have read in our blog that in this church Merrilyn's ancestors, Thomas and Edith Toogood were married in the 1890’s before emigrating to Australia.

Easter break – Day 4

Sadly it was our last morning on the farm and we could tell Chester and Rosie were sad to see their new friend James go. It nearly became impossible to get him into the car! Heather sent us off with a dozen of her hen’s eggs. We weren’t looking forward to the long drive home on the M3 with everyone else today so we took it easy and detoured past Dorchester to the Isle of Purbeck.

Martin had researched Corfe Castle and we weren’t disappointed. It is a National Trust property and undergoing major conservation works. Its crumbling towers loomed over us in the car park but it was so impressive even in ruin. We had fun climbing up to the castle. James is a castle expert “It’s a broken one” he announced and eagerly ran in through the old main gate to explore. He always chooses his favourite ‘room’ and this time was fascinated with the windows (small slit openings for archers to shoot from). Poor old castle was founded in the 11th century and had served as a royal fortress for five centuries before Oliver Cromwell (I don’t think I like this guy) destroyed the castle by digging underneath the towers and blowing them sky-high with gun-powder. As a result it looks like the castle is naturally crumbling with all its odd angles and gaps. The restoration work ahead is a mammoth task.

We found a high point on the grass over looking the village of Corfe Castle and at lunch followed by Easter eggs of course. A highlight was watching the steam train stopping at the station on its way to and from Swanage at the end of the line and end of the Isle. Afterwards, James descended the defences the quick way by rolling down the grassy embankments.

Upon leaving the castle I discovered that the village and indeed the Isle were the inspiration for my favourite childhood author, Enid Blyton. I loved her Famous Five series and it turns out she based the children and their adventures on the time she spent holidaying here in Dorset. What a gem!

As it turns out the drive home was better than expected. The traffic was grid-locked between the Isle and Ringwood in the New Forest, but from Southampton on it was a fairly clear run and took just under 3 hours with a stop.

We all absolutely loved Devon and Dorset and feel like we’ve had an early summer holiday! Good for the soul!

Photos are here.

Easter break – Day 3

What excitement! This morning after breakfast guess who found his way to where we were on our holiday? Easter Bunny left eggs all over the yard of the farm and even hid some tantalisingly close to the poor rabbits’ hutch. Luckily no other animals ate the eggs before James got to them (think hungry dogs)! He squealed with delight as he discovered them all and proudly showed off his stash before offering and sharing.

But even a tummy full of chocolate couldn’t stop him from falling asleep on the 90 minute drive to Lulworth Cove, east of Dorchester. This unique cove has been fashioned by the sea over the centuries as the softer stone erodes leaving the hard Portland stone and an almost perfect circle with an opening to the sea. It was just beautiful on yet another summery day. We strolled through the village and ate our lunch on the stony beach. Martin got the energy to go scrambling in search of the impressive geological formations just around the headland but James and I stayed put and played. Martin came back and we tackled the 2km walk up and over the chalk cliffs. I was glad I had changed into my hiking boots. The reward was the view of Durdle Door, a natural archway carved into the cliff. It was just amazing to gaze at. The sea was a transparent turquoise and holiday-makers frolicked on the sandy beaches well below the cliff path. We went the whole way but it was a bit too much for James who scored a shoulder ride from Dad all the way back up to the top. Lucky thing!

Ice-cream was this time a necessity after all that exertion and as we ate a rescue helicopter landed at the top of the car park and air-lifted a walker to hospital. A bit of excitement for us but we felt for the poor person. Shame they would have missed the view from the chopper! [Martin: The roads and grass carpark were jammed when I heard a siren - first a coast guard ute followed by an ambulance. Seconds later I heard the sound of a huge coast guard chopper as it appeared over the cliff, circled, then picked a landing spot in the midst of all the cars.]

We had dinner on the beach at Lyme Regis so James could have more beach time and drove home again through the fields at dusk. We hated the idea of darting through this beautiful part of England on main roads, and the Sat Nav always gives us confidence to try new routes without fear of getting lost and home at midnight. As we crossed tiny bridges and ambled down single-vehicle farm tracks we saw many rabbits and pheasants. We actually ended up driving back through Stockland where we had started out this morning! It had been a very long day!

Photos are here.

Easter break – Day 2

This bright spring morning we woke to the crowing of roosters and quacking of ducks in the pond in the farmyard of our B & B. Our hostess Heather made us huge English breakfasts of fresh eggs and fruit which we all downed readily. She was amazed at how much James ate!

We took off soon after saying good morning to the horses Paddy and Basil and drove cross-country through the beautiful East Devon and Dorset countryside. We were enchanted by the church at Stockland and, parking the car in the lane, we ventured inside to find the local ladies arranging flowers for tomorrow’s Easter service. The birds were singing in the trees outside and it was just so springy!

We drove in an easterly direction (only partially aided by the Sat Nav) and came to our proposed stop, Eggardon Hill. This iron-age fort was of particular interest to Martin who loves nothing more than to clamber up and explore these ancient sites! James had slept as we ambled through the countryside but was now full of energy again and looking forward to lunch. Must have been the fresh air up there! The defences of the fort were so steep I thought even the sheep must have trouble sometimes. But it was fun to explore and the view from the top was tremendous. We reflected on how many changes these surroundings had seen, but that’s almost impossible to contemplate! We ate our lunch atop the steepest mound we could find although James changed his mind and suddenly decided that he didn’t want the sandwiches on offer and would much rather sulk to get his way. Which he didn’t!

After lunch and a lot of coaxing over mounds and stiles and fences we got back to the car and drove down to the coast. This particular part of England is called the Jurassic Coast for its rich source of fossils and stunning geology. Building sandcastles on the beach at Lyme Regis wasn’t ever going to guarantee a real ‘find’ but it was great fun! James had a ball collecting water and stones to make his fortifications. It had turned into such a summery day that everyone and their dogs were on the beach. We had brought his bucket from home but had to purchase a spade. Inexpensive fun at 45p!

As evening fell we brushed the sand from our feet and drove along the coast through Seaton and Beer to the seaside village of Sidmouth. The lovely light was a photographer’s delight! We ate fish and chips and sausages for dinner on the stones, almost the only ones there apart from our friends the seagulls. James and I then bought Devon ice-creams before he and Daddy went for a clamber over the rocks.

Photos are here.

Easter break – Day 1

This morning we packed and took off for our Easter break. We braved the M25 and M3 motorways along with everyone else but made good time and headed south to our first stop, the village of Lepe, south of Southampton. It was a glorious day and we ate our picnic lunch on a stony beach overlooking The Solent and the Isle of Wight. James had fun throwing countless stones into the water and was very sad to leave and continue on.

We had a lovely drive through the New Forest, famous for its gorse-covered moors and ponies. The little villages along the road looked so inviting, especially the ones blessed with a river or lake. The ice-creameries were doing a roaring trade!

Heading west we pulled off the A35 and detoured to a small village called Puddletown. It was here at the ancient St Mary’s church that my ancestors, Thomas and Edith Toogood were married in 1836 before emigrating to Australia. We strolled around for about an hour and I really felt a sense of my own history here.

At last we arrived at our farm B & B at Rawridge, north of Honiton. Two dogs, Chester and Rosie, greeted us at the gate and they became firm friends with James. I guess anyone who’ll spend hours throwing a ball would be welcome! We settled into our upstairs room then took off again to the nearest pub (well it had been a long day!) The Sidmouth Arms was located in Upottery, a few miles from home and we had a quick look around the village in the evening light before going in for dinner. Martin and I enjoyed a pint of Otter Ale, a speciality here and brewed only 2 miles away.

Photos are here.

Suprise visit.

Today we took our second trip to Legoland and boy! was James excited! He knew what to expect this time and was looking out for Lego as soon as we got near the park. Despite having definite favourites from last time, we didn't end up going on any of these rides, such is the extent of the park. Martin and I particularly loved Mini Land (miniature cities, not the cars!) whilst James made a bee-line for the Sky Ride. He was fairly cranky queuing (to put it mildly!) so I think we'll have to be prepared next time with distractions ie food and things to play with. Again we only experienced a small part of Legoland but I promised James we'll come back next week. It is term holidays so there's no pre-school.

In the afternoon Peter, Diana, Richard and (Big) James came to visit. We were so delighted to see them, especially the boys. [Martin: they have been suffering with ME/CFS for years and have only recently turned the corner. So if was just wonderful to have them come visit. We're hopeful that the boys will continue to improve and be able to share in even more activities]

It was a beautiful sunny day so we took a walk up the Long Walk to the castle then up to the Bollards & Boom gates. There was a fun,springy atmosphere and it's obvious the tourist season has begun! Meandering back through the old cobbled streets we stopped at a pub and had a drink before strolling home again.

Photos are here.