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May Bank Holiday – Seaside Special

barn — Wed, 09 May 2012 22:41:15 +0000

Our planned camping trip with the Elliots was rained off, so we rented an apartment on the beach in East Wittering.

Andrew and Pip dared each other into swimming in the sea during a break in the rain.

We visited possibly the worst tourist attraction in Britain. At one level it’s good that places like this still exist. On another level we could have done with not spending quite so long in the Museum of Mildew and the themed gardens (highlight: the Roman garden, signified by a piece of marble effect formica).

We also spent the Bank Holiday Monday at one of the best attractions. We expected rain, and got sunshine. Everyone left at 4:30, and we got the whole zoo to ourselves for the last hour or so, when all the animals perked up. Indie rode on Thomas the Tank Engine twice, and got a sticker from Sir Topham Hat, the Fat Controller.

After Drusilla’s we called in at my cousin’s in Brighton for bath time.

Finally Lucy came round and I took some photos of her Olympic craft activity, for the Olympic Local Leaders website.

Photos on Flickr as usual.

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Kew Gardens

barn — Sun, 26 Feb 2012 23:59:25 +0000

V invited us to Kew Gardens with Dave and their four boys. I thought it would be cold, grey, and too early for any flowers, but it was amazing. The sun was out and there were hundreds of crocuses and snowdrops out. The orchid house was packed with flowers, and the rain forest greenhouse and aquarium were superb too. No wonder it’s popular with photographers – I could have spent all day in the orchid house on my own.

The Valentine boys ran around non-stop as soon as they were let out of the car, pausing only for pop corn. Girls are a lot slower, although they seem to need carrying more than boys. They had their picnic dinner sitting on a newspaper on the floor of a district line tube packed with rugby supporters.

Photos on flickr.

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Grand Tour II – Peebles

barn — Tue, 06 Sep 2011 11:54:59 +0000

From the Lakes we drove up to Peebles for Griff & Clare’s 10th Wedding Anniversary. On the Friday Amy had her fifth birthday party at Traquair Village Hall. More photos on Facebook.

Saturday night saw the grown-ups’ party at the same venue, with a meal and a brilliant ceilidh. Congratulations Griff & Clare!

Grand Tour of Britain

barn — Sat, 03 Sep 2011 12:55:40 +0000

We’re using up the last 10 days of the school holidays in a Grand Tour of Britain.

Leg one – the Lakes
Leg two – the Scottish Borders, for Amy’s birthday party and Griff & Clare’s 10th anniversary ceilidh
Leg three – Whitby
Leg four – Felixstowe for my sister’s new puppy, and my Dad’s birthday

Then we return to London the night before Laurie returns to school.

Photos here.

Yorkshire Dales National Park – Camping

barn — Fri, 19 Aug 2011 23:07:25 +0000

The final camping trip of the summer was to the Yorkshire Dales National Park, 12-15 August. We camped with the Griffiths/Prentons and the Peppes and Kitty (Scotland) and the Hendriks (Amsterdam), so it seemed fairly central. The campsite (Mason’s at Appletreewick) was brilliant – on the river, just a couple of minutes from two pubs, and nowhere near anything else. The rivers were too swollen with all the rain to launch the kayaks, and the weather was a bit showery – but it was dry at most of the important times, including bathtime.

We spent a day driving round the Dales, planning to buy nearly every pub (they are all for sale). We spent another day at Bolton Abbey, especially at the stepping stones, which were an inch or two under water. The last day we Mosses went to Brimham Rocks to relive my childhood memories. The drive back down the A1 with tea at a Little Chef was also a highlight.

Photos on Flickr.

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Norfolk Camping

barn — Fri, 05 Aug 2011 23:30:36 +0000

We spent the last weekend of July camping in Norfolk. We stayed in the back garden of the Duke pub in Bacton. Nick, Nadege and Noe camped with us, and my Mum & Dad (in their motorhome) and sister (in our tent) stayed on the Saturday night.

Pip, Liz, the girls and I went to Merivale Model Village in Great Yarmouth on Saturday afternoon, which was everything I hoped for!

On the Sunday we spent the morning on Cromer beach where Indie had an early birthday party. Then the Suffolk Mosses returned home and the rest of us searched out some prime kayaking grounds.

We ended up at Blakeney, which is a beautiful little coastal village. Well, it’s not quite coastal – it’s separated from the sea by a mile or so of salt marsh, with a narrow channel connecting the harbour to the sea at high tide. We were there at low tide, but as the kayaks only draw around 6″ I thought we’d be able to make it.

After an hour of wading along the mud, pulling the boats through the 3″ trickle, we gave up waiting for the promised incoming tide, turned round and waded back to the cars. The trip was beautiful, and we met a surprising number of mud-dwelling Norfolk people in the middle of the marsh, but it wasn’t really what we expected.

Monday was spent hiding from the sun in Norwich castle, which is brilliant for kids. Although they’re not allowed in the dungeons or battlements, which limits the enjoyment for not-kids.

All the photos are on Flickr as usual.

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The Great Wilderness – Dundonnell and Fisherfield Forest

barn — Wed, 28 Apr 2010 13:54:41 +0000

Our second annual Highlands trip was at the end of April 2010, to Dundonnell and Fisherfield Forest, near Ullapool in Wester Ross, the Scottish Highlands.

Gin, Ol, Kitty, Griff and I (Pip was in a play in London so had to stay behind with the Grandparents for support) planned three nights of rough camping and Munro bagging. It didn’t go to plan because Flybe lost my bag on the way up – I didn’t fancy a 4° night in a tent wearing just my jeans and t-shirt – so we spent Friday night and Saturday morning finding a place to crash, and borrowing bits of kit. Anyway, once we’d begged and bought enough stuff that I could survive the weekend, my bag turned up, so we set off just 16 hours late.

The area is known as the Great Wilderness, and the further in you go the more remote it feels. Because we’d started so late, we camped only about five miles in, on the bend of a river under some budding silver birch trees. It was a perfect spot.

Even if it was surrounded by deer corpses – there were three within five meters, and they scattered the whole area, victims of this year’s particularly harsh winter… After setting up the camp, we took a little stroll to some waterfalls a mile or so off.

On the Sunday we had a choice of hills. The most dramatic, An Teallach, was not possible because the rivers were in spate and because the crags are dangerous enough in the summer when they’re not covered in snow. The girl who lent me some waterproofs had a friend who slipped off the path two years ago and fell to her death.

We chose Beinn a’ Chlaidheimh, the northern summit of a long ridged massif of three Munroes. First off, crossing the icy burn. It was a simple climb, with just a little scrambling at the top, and the weather was good throughout. The summit was attained after a few hundred metres along the snowy ridge, then we descended a little and stopped for lunch.

On the trip down we detoured to a waterfall before returning to another camp-fire, another great dinner from Kitty , and drank all the whisky we had left.

On the Monday morning we struck camp and walked out via the Shenavall bothy and the foot of An Teallach. The route was boggy but beautiful. We were back at the car for 2:30 and the airport for 4, and I was in the bath in London by 8pm!

Thanks everyone, I had a great time!. Full photoset is on Flickr here, and there’s a map here.

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Speed of Light

barn — Thu, 15 Apr 2010 22:46:43 +0000

This weekend we went to the Bargehouse behind the Oxo Tower to see the lasers at Speed of Light. Laurie loved it, and got “My favourite Princess is Cinderella” woven into the soundscape. It was very hard to photograph, but recommended as a visit although you’ve only got until 19th April.

Afterwards we piled children into an ampersand, and went through the Waterloo graffiti tunnel.

Also some photos from Easter weekend, when we took advantage of the lake at Paul Foston’s golf academy in Ashford on the way back from Kent. Jo, Peter and Lucy even picked up some free training.

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Back on track

barn — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 23:28:25 +0000

I’m back on my feet and at work now. This weekend Liz came to stay, and went out for lunch on Saturday and to the London Aquarium on Sunday.

Photos here…

December I – Christening, Birthday #1, School Play

barn — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 20:48:07 +0000

Indigo was christened on December 6th, and we had a little reception afterwards. Andrew the vicar scurrilously tricked me into participating in the service. Photos here or watch the slideshow…

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Pip’s just turned 36 and we had lunch at Belgo’s, dinner at the Ship and Whale, and then the next night twenty of us saw Calendar Girls in the West End followed by several bottles of champagne in a dressing room backstage. Only a couple of photos from the two days from me, but I expect there are more somewhere on facebook…

Finally today was Laurie’s nursery show. Last year she was a leading role – Angel #1, but this year she was Irish Girl #2, and sat at the front of the stage to pick her nose then eat it. A natural performer I suppose. Photos here.

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