We've had a busy few weeks with a couple of jaunts alongside family time. It's been exhausting but totally worth it :-)
Salts Mill
Early in August Dave's mum came to stay and Dave and I had time on our own doing our own thing. The initial plan had been to visit Bletchley Park and Coventry Cathedral, but we had another crazy heat index that would not have been good for either of us, so we stayed closer to home. One of our trips out included a trip to Salts Mill where we had a lovely lunch, enjoyed an exhibition by David Hockney and had a good browse in an utterly fab bookshop.
I managed to buy two Christmas presents whilst here :-)
Reception area and entrance to the mill.
Stunning artwork depicting the mill and the surrounding area. We actually ran out of time as there was a church, really interesting independent shops and a wheelchair accessible park all within easy reach. We will definitely visit again with Pip.
Belated 18th Birthday Bash
What with Covid and then multiple health problems in the family we didn't manage to take Ben on his birthday jaunt to Norfolk but this time round we succeeded!
We stayed at a Premier Inn in Kings Lynne and the sole reason for the trip was to take Ben to the Dad's Army Museum in Thetford where most of the filming took place. Dad's Army was a long running televised comedy show and Ben was gifted a box set of all the programmes and pretty much knows the episodes and story lines word for word!
We watched a recording of the various locals that had been drafted in as extras for the television series. Originally the local drama society volunteered their services for free but Equity wasn't happy with that arrangement so shortly afterwards folk were paid. One young lass aged 10 years was paid £5.00 for a day's work in the early 1970s.
The various displays also included handwritten notes from the various cast members, photographs of scene stills and all sorts of paraphernalia.
Soon it was time for a much needed tea break complete with the traditional brown teapot, original Beryl Woods Ware and accompanied by live entertainment from Johnny Victory.
Here we are trying to choose a coaster for each of us based around the well known catch phrases associated with the show, such as: Don't tell them Pike, stupid boy, we're doomed and don't panic!
We had Mary visit quite recently and there were cafe trips, a cinema visit to see the "Railway Children Returns" which was an utterly epic film and a trip to Carnforth Heritage Museum to see the trains, watch some short films and have a cup of tea in the cafe where "The Brief Encounter" film was set many moons ago.
A Weekend with Sara, Tom and Ollie
Our last foray of the summer occurred this past weekend where we stayed with our Grange family. There was crab apple jelly making, buckwheat pancakes for breakfast and an epic trip to Coniston Water for some wild swimming! Although the trip isn't far from S and T's house it was epic in that we had a flat tyre due to inconsiderate party revellers leaving a trail of beer bottles along the side of the road! I must admit I was worried as I hadn't packed extra medicine for Pip, not envisaging being out for too long. As Sara was just about to put a call through to the roadside recovery service, a lovely couple had just returned from their swim and the husband offered to replace the flat tyre with the emergency back up! God was really looking after us for sure :-) Whilst the tyre was being replaced, Pip, Ollie and I picked blackberries and once all was well we made our way down to the shore. My goodness the cold certainly took my breath away ( outside temp 18C so possibly around 13C in the water?) but we soon acclimatised and it was really lovely to be in the water.
Such a lovely way to close out the summer and provide welcome refreshment for the new term ahead. Pip is now in year 9 at InterHigh and has quite a busy timetable but alas the tech side of things has caused massive headaches at this end - not our doing I hasten to add :-) The school is using a new system and despite turning up on time and logging in with the usual links Pip has only managed to access two out of the nine scheduled lessons thus far :-( I'm hoping tomorrow is a better day!
8 comments:
What a great summer you had
So many lovely places
And the cold water swimming is something I am keen to explore
I hope the beginning of the new academic year and access to lessons resolves
I always like the start of the new teaching year - it feels so full of promise
Siobhan
Hi Siobhan, thanks for stopping by and leaving such lovely words of encouragement 🙂. Yes the cold water dip was quite something! I’m thinking of investigating if there is any group in our neck of the woods. I’m very wary of open water though as there were several deaths in our nearby areas this summer of youths trying to cool off during the heatwave and getting into difficulty 😞. Sara and Tom are organised though with the life jackets which made me feel easier about the whole thing 👍🏻
Completely agree with you about respecting water and being safe- and yes so many tragedies this summer in water. Makes me want to weep
I live in Bristol and there are some local clubs here for wild swimming, but I lack the confidence to get in touch
Walking in the lovely rain we’ve been having counts though, doesn’t it ?🤣
Hope September is treating you kindly
Siobhan
Hello San, it's wonderful to hear about your adventures and to see all your beautiful loved ones. Everyone is growing in such spectacular ways! Salts Mill and Dad's Army Museum sounds so much fun. Greg would love them for sure. And Mary's visit and the excursion to the lake certainly created some special memories. Swimming is so good for one I think, and Mary and Pip looked like they were having a lovely tea :) xoxo
Oh! And Happy Birthday to Ben and to you! xoxoxo
What a busy summer filled with wonderful things. I had no idea there is a Dad's Army Museum I bet it is a wonderful place for any enthusiast.
So glad to hear that you have been wild swimming and loved it, as you know I wild swim as often as possible. I don't wear a life jacket but I do wear a wetsuit which gives you a rather wonderful buoyancy which makes swimming very pleasurable. I haven't swum as often I would have liked this summer but each trip has been wonderful.
I hope you get the login problems sorted soon, that sounds rather frustrating.
Thanks for sharing about the wetsuits and their buoyancy. I must admit I’m not a very strong swimmer and although the life jackets made things a bit tricky they did provide peace of mind! I think Sara and Tom are hoping we will manage another swim before the autumn sets in 🙂
Such lovely outings and family time!! xx
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