2006

Long weekend in York

Sat, 11 Nov 2006 23:02:07 +0000

Virginia and I spent a long weekend in York, an old city with Roman / Anglo-Saxon / Viking and Norman pasts. York is haunted by old buildings and walls and ruins and history. Ghosts too to judge by the number of "Ghost Walks" on offer.

We first went and saw the National Railway Museum. Being able to see such a range of engines in one place is great, technology in that era looked so good with all the levers and dials and tubes, but the highlight for me was the warehouse of railway related material. Items from china to clocks to models of liners. In their heyday the railway companies not only had trains and lines but also hotels and ships. We visited York Minster after the Remembrance Day services. I climbed the tower (275 steps, very narrow spiral staircase) to see the eagle-eye view over York. My knees and I wondered if I would make it up! Surreal was the Chapter House, with the seats set into the octagonal stone walls.

We saw the interesting Victorian Street in the York Castle Museum, and took the ride in the Jorvik Viking Centre. This well-done ride through a mockup of Viking York (which they called Jorvik) reminded me of the better rides in Disneyworld Epcot (now mostly replaced by rollercoaster routines.) The staff had good information to impart. I learnt of a Viking board game called "Hnefatafl". One does live and learn.

Holy Isle birding day

Sat, 16 Sep 2006 23:00:25 +0100

It was a long drive from Cambridge up to Northumbria. The A14 was crawling, and the A1 around Newcastle was bad, but apart from that plain sailing - if a journey of 6 hours can be plain sailing. Saw the "Angel of the North" just south of Newcastle - what an ironwork statue erected not that long ago there is called. Not overpoweringly impressive to me.
Stayed in the Victoria Hotel Bambrugh which was fine. That like much of the area could date from Victorian days if not earlier. It was stepping back in time a little. From my room I had a good view of the castle in Bambrugh. Dined at the hotel - just simpler - and breakfasted.

On the Saturday I felt guilty as I got downstairs at 8am sharp and the staff were trying to have an early morning rest. I had gone up to Northumbria to go on a bird-watching day on Holy Isle. My bird-watching is of a low-level, so by eye the kestrel perched on a telephone pole was an anonymous shape. Even with the binoculars I brought it could have been any bird to my eyes. In the telescope the guide had brought you could see the kestrel resplendent. The Saturday dawned very misty and stayed misty, making crossing the causeway from the mainland to Holy Isle more adventurous. This was my first time in the area and I had pictured Holy Isle as a rocky outcrop - instead there's an expanse of sandflats and marshes to cross before you get to rolling sand dunes then gentle hills where sheep roam.

Part of the attraction was to see Holy Isle - a castle on a high mound, a walled garden seemingly in the middle of nowhere, the eroded walls of the Abbey, tea-rooms in the High Street. We did quite a bit of walking between beaches and harbours and bird hide - saw apart from the kestrel fulmars and teals and grebes and guillemots and cormorants and eider ducks and goldfinches and meadow pipits. I wouldn't be able to tell them apart by myself even now!

Isle of Wight

Sat, 8 Jul 2006 22:58:01 +0100

Virginia and I have had a week on the Isle of Wight. I think she enjoyed it more than I did. We went and saw Osborne House where Queen Victoria liked hanging out. The excerpts from her diaries in various places made her seem almost like a normal person . . . the over-powering opulence and movie set nature of the place counter-acted that. For me the monarchy has had its day.

More pleasant was to visit places like Mottistone Manor which had an enchanting garden. Could have spent longer there - one flaw of the holiday was how much we seemed to be dashing from place to place, getting caught in traffic jams and road-works, rather than just being. There were walks I would have liked to do but it was a question of trying to do things together.

Saw the Needles. Here as elsewhere we went we seemed to be pursued by packs of school-children. Even Ventnor Botanical Gardens (pencilled in for a restful hour or two) was being used by a school party playing pirates with loud whoops and cries. There was a good exhibition at a Roman villa discovered near Brading (though hurried through by another school party.)

Two contrasting dinosaur sites - Dinosaur Isle with flash new building and animatronic dinosaur, Dinosaur Farm which was a farm building with unattractive mounds of material. Dinosaur Farm probably had more content, but Dinosaur Isle was better entertainment.

Again near Brading saw "Waltzing Waters" where water is fountained on a stage in time to music and musak. As a sop to drought areas of the world you can donate money into a well at the end.

I realised again how stressful family holidays are. You're out of the safety of an established routine, you don't know where things are, how to get to places, where to eat. It's hard work getting around. People liking different activities means compromise rather than whole-heartedly enjoyment, means disappointment to a greater or lesser extent. Getting away from it all is hard to do.

A decadent birthday

Thu, 29 Jun 2006 22:56:46 +0100

My thanks to all those who came, and particularly to Virginia.

New resident!

Sat, 29 Apr 2006 22:54:56 +0100

The house now has one more mammal dwelling therein. On Saturday we drove to Corley Service Station north of Coventry and met up with Clare from Telford. Clare was giving up one of her Ragdoll cats which wasn't coping with the other cats in the household. It had become reclusive, hiding away in kitchen cupboards. And the ragdoll rehoming group had offered it to Virginia and me as we were quiet people with a quiet house.

So we returned home, and set down the carrying basket in the kitchen. Opened it and the cat (which we've renamed Tabitha though I doubt if the cat really knows) got out. Wandered around like a prisoner at Colditz checking out the escape routes. And vanished under the kitchen cupboards.

She wasn't really seen for two days. Food disappeared. The litter trays needed cleaning. But the cat itself had disappeared even better than the Cheshire Cat. Yesterday she did emerge, and slowly gained confidence in us. As a lap-cat she is a little boisterous. All the toys Virginia got aren't attracting a lot of interest - the crinkly tunnel seems to frighten her. Someone coming downstairs will send her fleeing towards the safety of the kitchen and its recesses.

Tabitha is a vocal feline. She makes a very odd deep growling noise (apparently when she's happy.) At 6.30am this morning she was making plaintive miaows outside the bedroom door (as a guess because she was out of food.) But it is impossible to work out what she means some of the time.