York

Tuesday 16 June, 2009 in Travel | No comments

Today was my wife’s birthday – I won’t say which one because she’s a bit depressed about it. I chanced breakfast, despite my stomach still playing up a bit, and we then set off for a day out in York.

We drove past Castle Howard,which we were planning to visit later in the week, and soon found ourselves in a car park on the outskirts of the city walls of York. We’d been here a few years earlier but decided to take the open top bus tour anyway and also went on the river tour, the “Cruise on the Ouse”.

Afterwards we left my mother enjoying the sun and sights outside York Minster while my wife shopped in M&S and I went to Jessops – no stock of the Nikon D700 – this impulse purchase was beginning to stall as nowhere seemed to have any stock of this model

We drove back to our cottages, stopping to buy ice cream in Kirkbymoorside. Rather than go to the pub again my wife cooked our evening meal as we still had plenty of food in. I’d have preferred to have a mean out for her birthday but I think she wanted it as low key as possible.

Scarborough

Monday 15 June, 2009 in Travel | No comments

I woke up with the shits again at 3am. I was still going strong in morning, despite taking about 5 Imodiums so had to call off the planned train trip to Whitby. I went to the pharmacy in Kirkbymoorside, which interestingly also sold alcohol, and they suggested I attend the drop in clinic at the nearby doctors’ surgery. I didn’t have to wait as long as I’d expected and was soon back at the pharmacy with a prescription. It looked like another course of pills and no alcohol again. This is getting to be a habit on holiday.

In the afternoon I felt a little better so we drove to Scarborough and parked by a cafe in the North Bay. We had a wal along the promenade and the a snack in the cafe and then drove to the South Bay. I wasn’t expecting what I saw there and soon left, not feeling too impressed with Scarborough.

We had our evening meal in Royal Oak pub again, except this time I can’t have a drink because of pills.

Pickering

Sunday 14 June, 2009 in Travel | No comments

I drove my mother the the church in nearby Kirkbymoorside and bought the Sunday papers and returned to the cottage to read them. An hour later I returned to collect her and then we all had a big Sunday brunch and then I drove us to Pickering to work out where we needed to go for our planned train journey to Whitby the following day. In the evening my wife cooked Sunday dinner for us all.

Isle of Man to Gillamoor

Saturday 13 June, 2009 in Driving, Travel | No comments

We were up fairly early to get the 09:45 Manannan sailing to Heysham. As it was the end of TT Week there were lots of bikes on the boat, returning to the UK and further afield. Unusually for Manannan Executive members we didn’t get boarded until near the end as they were trying to load and stow all of the bikes.

This was our first time on the Isle of Man Steal Packet company’s Manannan fast craft but as it was very full I though I’d leave exploring the ship until another time. We made our way up to the Manannan Executive lounge, which was fairly deserted with only about 6 other people in it.

The sea was calm for the crossing and we made good time to Heysham, passing the Ben My Chree en route. We had decided to take the slower but more direct and scenic route to our rented cottages in Gillamoor. Some parts of the route were beginning to look familiar and we soon found ourselves stopping at the Ribblehead viaduct again. We’d made a big detour to see this the last time we were in the UK and hadn’t expected to be here again so soon.

We had an ice cream at the viaduct and stopped for a coffee and sandwich later on our journey to give me a break from driving. We got to our cottages at Gales Farm, Gillamoor by about 18:00. The cottages were fine; we were in Barley Cottage, which sleeps four, so there was plenty of room for the two of us. My mother was staying in the nearby Swallow Cottage. We sat outside in the evening sun for a while and then my wife and I wakeld the short distance to the local pub, the Royal Oak, and had a good meal and some drinks.

Tags: ,

IAM (VIII)

Sunday 19 April, 2009 in Driving | No comments

I had my eighth IAM session today and it was my second time out with a Police Class 1 driver. I didn’t feel so nervous this time. Aster a brief chat before we started I drove out to Braaid crossroads, then turned right down to Glen Vine and back to Braddan bridge, where we turned left and went up to the Greg ny Baa. I missed an obvious overtaking opportunity before brandish; I was expecting the car in front to have accelerated once we were in the de restricted zone and when it didn’t I dither too much about whether to pass it. In the end I waited unti, after the corner and then accelerated up to 100 mph before slowing and turning off on to the back roads at the Creg. I then did my usual steady and smooth driving on the back roads rather that point and squirt followed by heavy braking for the corners which makes my wife car sick.

At the end of the session we had a demo drive in the unmarked Police Ford Focus. Christ that car was quick! I didn’t realise they had a 2.5 litre turbo engine and the police driver certainly knew how to use it.

We had a debrief after the demo drive. The policeman said I was a safe, smooth driver with plenty of vehicle appreciation, I just needed to pick up the pace a bit where applicable. It seems odd having a policeman tell me to drive faster.

As it was a glorious sunny day now my wife and I went to Tynwald Mills again, I bought three Rohan shirts for my upcoming holiday in Egypt; a t shirt, a polo shirt and long sleeve shirt at a total cost of £117. Gulp, these shirts are damn expensive. I consoled myself by parking on Peel breakwater and having another crab baps and Bovril.

Tags: , , , , ,

Shoes and Crab Baps

Thursday 16 April, 2009 in Cars | No comments

The Porsche was really filthy from Easter trip so washed and hoovered it. I then took it to Tynwald Mills where I bought two pairs of shoes. After the disappointment of trying to get shoes to fit me in Carlisle at Gretna it was nice to find somewhere local that sold exactly what I was looking for.

I drove on to Peel and as I’d heard good reports about the cafe on the breakwater I thought I’d try it. I fancied something different so I had a crab bap and Bovril.

Tags: , ,

Ribblehead Viaduct

Monday 13 April, 2009 in Isle of Man, Travel | No comments

I had another big breakfast and then we tidied the lodge prior to checking out. I didn’t really get to see the Ribblehead Viaduct when we went over it on the Carlisle to Settle train trip we’d done so we decided we had time to visit it before going to Heysham for the boat back to the Isle of Man.

The motorways were fairly quiet; I’d imagine they’d be a lot busier towards the end of the day as the long holiday weekend drew to a close. Once off the motorway the minor roads were quite busy, especially with the queues behind the ever present caravans.

The road by the viaduct was quite busy, with plenty of parked cars as people set off for a walk, took in the views or simply stopped for an ice cream or snack from the busy van set up at the roadside. I took a few photos but being concerned about the time ad traffic I didn’t set off on the walk to the viaduct itself, that would have to wait for another opportunity.

The Ribblehead Viaduct Photo: The Ribblehead Viaduct

We arrived in Heysham in good time and we were the first car on to the boat. Considering the sailing was full I was very surprised to find that there was only the two of us in the Blue Ribband / Mannanin Executive lounge so we had a nice comfortable and relaxed crossing back to the Isle of Man.

Tags: ,

Gretna and the Solway

Sunday 12 April, 2009 in Travel | No comments

We had a slight lie in this morning, nothing too excessive but we’d had early starts the last two days. I had another big breakfast and then we went in our car to the Gretna Outlet Village as someone had suggested that I may be able to buy the shoes I’d wanted there. They had the range of shoes I wanted, but apparently only in sizes 3 and 11, which wasn’t much use to me. I tried a few other shops and then gave up and we went to Gretna Green to but some more whisky and glasses form the excellent whisky shop they have there. It was a lot busier than last time we were there in January, which was only to be expected. I couldn’t resist the temptation to try another tasting of haggis, taties and neeps.

Highland Cattle, Gretna Green Photo: Highland Cattle, Gretna Green

As it was a nice sunny day we took the top down on the Boxster and headed back through Carlisle and out through to Bowness on Solway, Cardunock and on to Siloth. We both had an ice cream at Siloth and then we headed back to the Tranquil Otter to relax with the Sunday papers, a few whiskies, a fine meal and another soak in the hot tub.

Tags: , , ,

Carlisle to Settle railway

Saturday 11 April, 2009 in Travel | No comments

Despite being out in the wilds I didn’t have a good night’s sleep. The bed was a little narrower and firmer than what I’m used to at home and every now and then I could hear the hot tub outside on the deck whirring away, presumably on some heat or filter cycle. The local bird life soon joined in with their dawn chorus so at about 06:00 I gave up on getting any more sleep and slipped out and sat in the hot tub until out alarm went off at 07:00.

We had breakfast and tidied up while waiting for Barry in his taxi to arrive at 08:30. He took us to Carlisle railway station where we bought return tickets to Settle. The train journey to Settle took a little longer than I’d expected and was fairly full, presumably due to it being a holiday weekend.

Once at Settle we bought a leaflet describing a walking tour around the town from the local Tourist Information office. The walk wasn’t massively interesting and due to a misunderstanding over when the return train was due we found ourselves with an hour in hand on a warm sunny day. We soon filled in the spare time; I had a few pints of Wainwright’s beer and my wife had a couple of whiskeys.

Settle Train Station Photo: Settle Train Station

We walked the short distance back to Settle railway station and took the train back to Carlisle. I’d hoped to buy some Rockport shoes in Carlisle and had printed off a list or retailers from the Rockport website. The first one on my list was House of Fraser but they only had three shoes on display, none of which I liked. The other two shops on the list were in The Lanes shopping precinct. The first shop I found had closed down so I carried on in search of the other shop. I couldn’t find it and after asking several people I eventually realised that the address given on the website was incorrect and also that the shop had re branded and was now a trendy teenager type shop. Not a very successful shopping trip.

What to do now? Well, the reason we’d taken a taxi into Carlisle was so that we could have a Chinese buffet and a few drinks and not have to worry about driving. We set off to the Shanghai Shanghai Chinese buffet where we’d enjoyed a meal on a previous time in Carlisle. After the buffet, washed down with a few more drinks, we phone Barry to come and collect us and take us back to the Tranquil Otter.

I went for a walk around the lake at the Tranquil Otter and then we settled down for a long relaxing soak in the hot tub as the sun went down. Afterwards we lit the log fire and relaxed some more in front of the television before turning in for the night.

Tags: , , , ,

Isle of Man to the Tranquil Otter

Friday 10 April, 2009 in Travel | No comments

We were up early this morning to get the boat to Heysham for our Easter break at the Tranquil Otter, which is just outside of Carlisle. We were the first car on an there were only five of us in the Blue Ribband / Mannanin Executive lounge, although the rest of the boat seemed full. We had a smooth crossing and were disembarking in Heysham by 11:45.

We stopped off at the ASDA in Lancaster to buy supplies for the bank holiday weekend. It was packed with shoppers and my wife was nearly an hour in the store. I’d filled up with fuel and with our luggage and shopping the Boxster was packed to the gills.

We drove through Lake District to Kirkstone Pass Inn, which I’d seen on the Britian’s Best Drives television programme with Richard Wilson (Victor Meldrew). As it was the Easter holiday weekend the pub was very busy and we’d have to queue for a drink so we decided to carry on to Tranquil Otter. We did stop for a quick coffee and toastie in Pooley Bridge on the way. I managed to get stuck in the outside toilet of the cafe and had to bang on the door until one of the passing young waitresses rescued me.

We were booked into Lodge 8, which used to be the office for the Tranquil Otter. It maybe wasn’t as big as the other lodges but it was perfectly adequate for the two of us and I wouldn’t hesitate to stay in that lodge again.

We unpacked and explored the lodge and surrounding area and then my wife cooked our evening meal which we washed down with a few glasses of whisky before going to bed. I was a little disappointed that we hadn’t used the hot tub yet, but there was plenty of time.

Before turning in I pre booked a taxi (Barry’s Taxis 07766 700020) for the following morning to take us into Carlisle.

Tags: , , , , ,

« Older entries