London, 8-9 December 2007

I took Friday 7 December off, and Marian took a half day off, and after lunch we took the tram into town and jumped on the 3:15 train at Piccadilly Station bound for London. After arriving at Euston Station at 5:30, we made it across town in the tube, emerging at Balham Station. After a nice Sri Lankan dinner, we walked to my cousin Viv and her fiance Sunil's flat on Cavendish Rd, Balham.

The following morning we took the tube to Leicester Square, where we queued in the cold London drizzle at the half-price ticket booth to purchase tickets for a musical that evening . The selection of shows wasn't fantastic, but we got half-price tickets to "Cabaret" so we were happy.

We then met up with some friends - Ange, who Marian and I worked with at MWH in Christchurch, and who is now working in London, Eunice, who Marian worked with in Christchurch, and her boyfriend Keith, and Kevin, brother of Marian's friend Owen (who is an Australian working in Christchurch). We all managed to meet up in Cafe Nero in Haymarket for a coffee, after which we spent a good hour and a half in the National Gallery taking in some of the astounding paintings (as well as staying out of the rain).

We then retired to a nearby pub (Irish as it happened) for a late lunch.

Ange and Me
Eunice and Maz
Kev, Keith and Eunice
St Paul's Church, Covent Garden, (built 1638)
Inside the Covent Garden Market

Merry-Go-Round, Leicester Square

Trafalgar Square (Big Ben in the Distance)

The following day, Marian and I had a walk along the banks of the Thames, from the Tower of London to the Houses of Parliament. It was nice to take in the London skyline.

Some dude doing the old "statue" routine - he was actually pretty good.

To round off the day's sightseeing, and for my nostalgia's sake, we took a tube to Kensington and had a pint at the pub where I worked way back - the Rat and Parrot - now going by the name of the White Swan. It felt strange being back, a little familiar but in a vague, distantly remembered kind of way. It was good to be back though.

Chester, 2 December 2007

On Sunday, 2 December, after a hectic Saturday of Christmas shopping for New Zealand family, Marian and I had a nice day out in Chester. Chester is the county town of Cheshire. Situated on the River Dee, on the border with Wales, Chester is one of the best-preserved medieval walled cities in the UK. Chester was founded as a Roman fort in AD 79.

Marian on top of the Chester wall. You can walk most of the way around the city on the wall.
Some "Coronation St"-style houses in Chester
Hole in the Wall cafe

Chester also has a beautiful cathedral, which dates back to 1092. The original abbey was gradually extended until 1250 when the cathedral achieved most of the form seen today.

Wigan, 10 November 2007

On Saturday 10 November, Marian was in Galway for the weekend, and Brad, Sue and I had tickets to the Great Britain versus Kiwis rugby league test match at Wigan. I was excited to be visiting Wigan, having watched their famous league side on TV in the early 90's. I also had imagined Wigan to be a quintessential "Northern" town, so it was a chance to get a feel for the Lancashire heartland of north-western England.

We started the afternoon off with lunch at the Boar's Head Inn, in Standish, just north of Wigan. This is reputedly one of the oldest pubs in England, dating back to the 1200's. Just to think, these old beams were holding the roof up when Moa were roaming New Zealand. The landlord and landlady knew a colleague of mine from Christchurch, Kieron, who is from Standish, so it was good to chat to them and pass on Kieron's regards.

Brad and I enjoying some of the local bitters in the Boar's Head

After a fine roast at the Boar's Head, we drove into Wigan itself. I was curious to see Wigan Pier, as Wigan is nowhere near the coast, and seemed a funny place to have a pier. As it turned out, Wigan Pier is a bit underwhelming in reality. Wigan Pier is on the canal linking Leeds and Liverpool, and was originally a jetty to load coal from a nearby colliery into barges. Nowadays it is a boardwalk along the canal, with a museum and pub.

The pier became famous when George Orwell published "The Road to Wigan Pier" in 1937. It is a study of living conditions in the industrial north of England in the thirties. In order to report on working class life in the bleak industrial heartlands, Orwell spent the period from 31 January to 30 March 1936 living in Barnsley, Sheffield and Wigan researching the book.

The Orwell at Wigan Pier is a pub, utilising a converted Victorian cotton warehouse.

Me in front of Wigan Pier and the Orwell Pub
Trencherfield Mill, a former cotton mill across the road from Wigan Pier - converted into apartments.

After a promising start,the Kiwis were well beaten, 28-22, to complete a 3-0 series whitewash to Great Britain. Still, the locals were friendly and didn't give us too much stick.

Christmas Lights Switch-on, 8 November 2007

On Thursday 8 November I took the tram into town after work and met up with Marian, Sue and Brad and Marian's workmates Libbie and Dave, for the switching on of the Manchester Christmas lights in Albert Square. The actual switching on was preceded by some singing, dancing and pantomime acts (Dick Whittington and Cinderella). I didn't know any of the local celebrities up on stage, but we all had a good time. And the lights were activated to great fanfare and fireworks, as shown in this video clip:

Lake District, 27-28 October 2007

On Saturday morning we got up in the deep dark of 6:30 and hit the M6, northbound. After fuelling up on a full heart-stopping English fry-up at a motorway service centre, we were soon in the Lake District.

Our first walk of the weekend was to Aira Force, one of the most famous waterfalls in the Lake District, situated in woodland near the northern shore of Ullswater. Here Aira Beck plunges dramatically around 65 feet through an overhead bridge and over rocks:

A note on some unfamiliar terms that are used in the Cumbria region: The term "force" is used in many parts of the Lake District as a synonym for waterfall; it has its origins in the Old Norse word fors. Beck is a word for a stream and is derived from the Old Norse bekkr (stream).

After our walk we drove the short distance to Keswick and checked into a lovely B&B, Hazelwood, on the outskirts of town. Keswick is a busy touristy town on the edge of Derwent Water.

This is the View from our Window in the B&B

We then walked into town where we met an ex-MWH Christchurch colleague, Ross Cleeton, his wife Rose and their little girl Erin, for lunch. Ross lives in Whitehaven on the Cumbrian coast where he is busy de-commissioning a nuclear power station. He reassured us that his radioactivity dosage was being carefully monitored and that some people in Cornwall receive more radioactivity from naturally occurring background levels.

l-r: Ross, Maz, Erin, Rose, Sue, Brad

Maz and I with Derwent Water and Derwent Isle in Background

Derwent Isle from the Air

The following day, Marian and I walked off our full English Breakfast with a stroll to Castlerigg, reputedly one of the most beautiful stone circles in Britain. Actually we almost walked right past it, but luckily spotted a stile over a high stone wall and then hey presto, there it was in the middle of a field:

Castlerigg is thought to be one of the earliest circles in Britain, dating from around 3,000 BC. Thirty-eight stones are placed in a slightly oval shape of 30m in diameter; a further 10 small stones are arranged as a rectangular enclosure on the south-east side of the ring: this is a feature unique to Castlerigg. The largest stone is 2.5m high and weighs about 16 tons, so the effort required to build the circle was in its time equivalent to that needed to build a cathedral in the Middle Ages. There are many theories about Castlerigg's function. One is that the circle was an astronomical observatory (the tallest stone being in line with November sunrise), while another is that the circle was an emporium connected with the Neolithic stone axe industry.

View on the way back to Keswick from Castlerigg

After returning to Keswick we hopped in the car and drove to Grassmere, where we saw the grave of poet William Wordsworth and his wife, in a lovely churchyard. No daffodils to be seen though – disappointing!

We continued on to Hawkshead, a tiny village of higgledy-piggledy houses, archways, and squares beloved by William Wordsworth and Beatrix Potter. From Hawkshead we set off on foot for Tarn Hows, a pretty lake surrounded by woodland:

Tarn Hows - surrounded by non-native conifers

This is Beatrix Potter country, and there are a number of tourist attractions in the area that celebrate the life and work of the Kensington-born writer, illustrator and fungi expert. Her home in Sawrey near Hawkshead is now a museum. Interestingly, when the Tarn and its setting came up for sale in 1929, it was bought by Potter who sold the half containing Tarn Hows to the National Trust, and bequeathed the rest of the estate to the Trust in her will.

Maz showing the way home, on the old cart track from Tarn Hows to Hawkshead

Rural Post Box (note initials GR indicating the age of the postbox)

An Inquisitive Local

Nearly there - view of Hawkshead (where our Car is parked) and Esthwaite Water

Peak District, 14 October 2007

This weekend my friend Graeme visited from Surrey, and on Sunday we drove out to the Peak District for a walk. We drove to the village of Hathersage, and completed a 12.5 km walk along Stanage Edge, an escarpment popular with climbers and paraponters. It was also a location for the film "Pride and Prejudice" starring Kiera Knightley:

I couldn't persuade Graeeme to wear a frock - but you get the idea

North Lees Hall, also used as a P & P Location
A Well-earned Pint at "The Scotsman's Pack", Hathersage