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A Capital Trip – Docklands

A Capital Trip – Docklands

Many years ago I used to commute to London on the train to get to work and when the train passed through Stratford, where the Olympic Stadium is now being built, I saw the start of the work on what was to be the Docklands Light Railway. This was to run from Stratford, where it connects to the Central Line and the overground railway services, to Docklands at Island Gardens. Construction started in 1984 and that section of line opened in 1987 and it has extended over a number of other routes since. We hadn't any reason to use the Docklands Light Railway, or DLR as it is known, until yesterday when we had our first planned day trip to London to get photographs for the web site.

We decided to visit three separate areas of London and Docklands was the first. We left home just before nine o'clock in the morning and eventually arrived back just after 8.30 in the evening; a trip of nearly twelve hours.

We left our train at Stratford so that we could travel on the DLR to Canary Wharf. The DLR has all the appeal of a giant train set and has been described as "the biggest toy train set in the country". The drivers can't say anything, can't hear anything and can't see anything but that's how it is when you are an electronic circuit board. Trains are fully automatic and are operated entirely by an onboard computer system linked to a central control room.

Because the trains are driverless it is possible, if you are lucky, to sit at the front of the train looking forward out of the windows. The distance between stations is sometimes very short and when we alighted at Canary Wharf I took this picture from the end of the platform looking towards the next station, Heron Quays, which shows the train that we were on just leaving that station. It may look as if that train is crossing the right-hand track but, in fact, both tracks bend ninety degrees right at that point.

Having emerged from Canary Wharf Station we found ourselves in an ultra modern environment. If you like only old buildings then you would be wasting your time here as there are none but if you do have some interest in modern architecture then this is for you. The skyscrapers here are very, very tall and mostly seem to be faced with glass. The structure in the picture below with the curved roof is the entrance to the station on the Jubilee Line and the picture below that shows the view from inside the station.

I generally favour old buildings but I did find this area very interesting. There are a number of old docks here and it is easy to walk from one to another with footbridges to take one across docks where necessary such as that shown below. The 'toy train' is running on a viaduct having just emerged from Heron Quays Station on the right.

We walked across the bridge and took this picture from the other side looking back.

Walking along this side of the dock we passed a Turkish restaurant and had a look at the menu outside expecting, that in an area like this, it would be expensive so we were pleasantly surprised to find that one could have a two course lunch for £9.50 each and that smaller snacks, tea and coffee were also available at very reasonable prices. We made a mental note and continued walking on past the restaurant where we eventually found this view of the Millenium Dome.

On the way back along the dock we decided that, as it was now around midday, we would have an early lunch and went into the Hazev Turkish Restaurant we had spotted earlier which turned out to be a very good decision. Well appointed and light inside the staff were both cheerful and very helpful but more to the point is that the food was excellent.

The Docklands around Canary Wharf is certainly both modern and interesting. It is, in our view, worth a visit although I have to admit we didn't see a single canary.  :???:

We decided to move on, after lunch, to our next destination which will feature in the next post.

Red, White and Blue

Red, White and Blue

No, not our national flag but our first day trip of 2010, yesterday.

Blue.

The sky. A few weeks ago we saw the last, I hope, of the exceptional cold weather and it warmed up a bit but brought with it grey skies and a generous helping of rain. Then suddenly this week we have clear skies which, of course, brings sunshine so we couldn't afford to waste it and went to Anglesey Abbey again but to see the winter garden this time.

We decided to cut across country in a, more or less, straight line because we wanted to go through Haverhill, in Suffolk, to deliver a rather old colour laptop computer to a computer museum there. The road to Haverhill meanders across the gently rolling landscape of Essex giving us views of a coloured patchwork of fields in varying shades of green and brown bathed in the bright morning sunshine. We had to take it a bit steady as this road is very winding and going too fast can cause Amanda to get travel sick.

Passing through villages such as Coggeshall, Earls Colne, Baythorne End, New England (bit of a detour?) and Sturmer we eventually crossed into Suffolk and arrived in Haverhill about an hour after leaving home. Having delivered said laptop we set off again through Great Wratting, turning North-West through Brinkley towards Lode, which is the little village next to Anglesey Abbey, and we arrived at Anglesey Abbey about an hour after leaving Haverhill.

We shouldn't have been surprised, but we were, to find that the very large car park and the overspill car park were almost full with few spaces left only 45 minutes after opening time. It's apparently extremly popular at this time of year.

Red.

Dogwood. From the entrance we headed for the Winter Garden. We had been here before, last year, at the beginning of July and, although quite pleasant, it wasn't the best time for the Winter Garden in particular. This time was different.

What spectacular colour there is along this path. This garden is cleverly laid out and as one progresses along the path so the character of the surroundings changes. The initial startling colour is provided by the different dogwoods either side of the path. Some bright red, some white, some a glowing orange and some yellow.

Later even the trees join in the colour spectacular.

We finally left the Winter Garden feeling a little dazed by the surfeit of colour.  smilies We were next headed for the Woodland Walk passing some nice winter views on the way such as this avenue guarded by what at first glance appears to be a couple of lions but which on closer inspection prove to have human heads

and this tree sheltering a beautiful patch of spring flowers much as a mother hen shelters her chicks.

White.

Snowdrops. We eventually started down the Woodland Walk, renowned for it's Snowdrops, and yes, there are rather a lot.

There were plenty of other visitors around and that person crouched to the left of the tree, trying to look like a Snowdrop, couldn't possibly be Amanda could it? Well, yes, of course it could. There were Snowdrops all along the Woodland Walk in varying numbers and it was quite a show.

Lunch.

By this time we thought that a spot of lunch wouldn't go amiss so we made our way back to the entrance and the restaurant. We often don't have lunch at National Trust properties' restaurants for two main reasons. Their prices always seem to be rather inflated and because, in spite of that, their restaurants always seem to be very popular. That popularity may stem from the fact that there is often nowhere else convenient to go but it does, at lunchtime, make them very, very busy. Looking into any of the restaurants at this time makes me think that if we do buy lunch is there actually going to be somewhere available to sit and eat it?

Anglesey Abbey at this time of year is extremely popular, with visitors wishing to see the Snowdrops, for about five weeks during the Snowdrop season. Consequently the restaurant was even busier than usual but we decided to have lunch anyway and joined the very long queue which actually extended out of the door of the restaurant into the entrance hall.

The staff behind the counter were working flat out and were serving people as fast as anyone could reasonably expect. However my first gripe is that the food at the counter is nowhere near as hot as it should be so that by the time one has collected one's meal then queued a little longer to get cups of tea or coffee and paid for it, collected some eating utensils, found a table and started to eat the food is only just warm. I don't like the feeling that the food has to be eaten quickly before it goes cold. We also had difficulty in finding cutlery that was actually clean. Overloading the dish-washer, perhaps, to keep up with demand?

The only vacant table we could find was covered in plates, cups and left-overs from the previous users which wasn't very pleasant and we were wondering what to do with all this stuff when a member of the restaurant staff did appear and cleared the things away. Whilst she was doing that someone else come up and asked her to do the same to another table. There are some large stands which are obviously meant for visitors to put their trays and crockery but there are no notices asking visitors to do this and some obviously do not. Really I think that the staff were a little thin on the ground but couldn't possibly work harder than they were doing but there should be more.

My second gripe was that the beef I had in my Beef Stew was the worst quality beef I've had in many years. More than half of the pieces of beef were so tough and rubbery that it was difficult to get a fork more than a little way in without pushing really hard. I did complain to the restaurant manager who, I have to say, didn't even try to argue but immediately offered to refund the cost of the meal which I accepted.

Overall lunch here was not a pleasant experience and I'm not sure I'd want to do it again under those conditions even if the food was good. Incidentally Amanda's main course was fine although she didn't have the same as me.

Lode.

After lunch we left Anglesey Abbey and went the very short distance to the village of Lode to see what it was like. It wasn't generally a particularly attractive village but it did have some very attractive spots.

Now there's a nice bit of thatch!

Once again it was time to return home. I wonder how soon our next trip will be? :cool:

Down South – Day 1 – Thursday 24th Sept.

Down South – Day 1 – Thursday 24th Sept.

We left home in the morning on a gloriously warm sunny day heading for the Sussex Coast. Our first stop, however, was to be Battle (1066 and all that!) and they have some peculiar parking arrangements in Battle. The abbey has its own car park for which you have to pay and you have to pay again to go into the abbey so we weren't going to do either of those things. The other council run car parks are pay and display but in the Pay & Display cark park off Caldbec Hill there is what they call an overspill car park (unsurfaced) which is free and, consequently, it is very popular. We did actually find a space but it took a 99 point turn to get into it because there was so little room to manouevre.

We had been here last year when Marie came over but I forgot to take a photograph of the Abbey Gatehouse (silly me) so I rectified that omission this time.

We had arrived in Battle shortly before lunchtime and now it was lunchtime so we looked for somewhere to get a light lunch. We found a delicatessen, Battle Deli, which was also a little teashop and went in there.  We both enjoyed our lunch very much and I had the nicest soup I've had in a long while. Very good value. Recommended.

Not far from the car park was this ancient house.

Now there's an interesting shape.

A short way past the abbey is this view. The field on the other side of the gate is called 'Lake Field', although I don't know why as there isn't any lake, and was bought by the National Trust to preserve the view. It's a view worth preserving.

We decided that it was time to move on and headed for Eastbourne. Once settled in we went for a walk along the seafront. It had clouded up a bit by this time but was still pleasantly warm. We drove through Eastbourne, along the seafront, with Marie when she was over here and staying in Rye and it looked quite impressive then so we were very interested to be able to have a good look this time.

It certainly seems a nice town. There were a lot of rather grand buildings, mostly hotels, along the seafront and they looked well cared for; no peeling paint. There was a pebble beach and a pier.

We walked along the pier and were able to catch this view in the evening sunlight.

Nice pier and very well kept with some interesting little buildings including the 'Victorian Tea Rooms' and a Camera Obscura which was closed – pity.

So back for dinner and wait and see what the weather brings for tomorrow's walk.

Oxon-Hants-Wilts: Two rings and a spire.

Oxon-Hants-Wilts: Two rings and a spire.

Day 3 – Tuesday 18th August 2009

Today is Salisbury day. We head off to the Park & Ride Car Park on the outskirts of Salisbury but just before we get there we find ourselves at a junction with the entrance to the Old Sarum site opposite so we elect to go in This is our first ring.

Car parking turns out to be free but entrance to the central part of the ring is chargeable so as it is now cloudy overall we decide not to go into the central area. There is a good view from where we are, allowing for the cloudy conditions, and we can see Salisbury Cathedral with its very prominent spire.

This is the central, raised, area which we didn't visit on this occasion which was the original site of the City of Salisbury including a castle, palace and cathedral. I gather that there are some remains of the old Normal Castle but nothing particularly spectacular and I believe that the original cathedral was completely demolished leaving just the foundations laid out like a floor plan.

The mounds and ditch were built during the iron age then adopted by the Romans and subsequently taken over by the Normans. The defensive ditch around the central area of Old Sarum is pretty deep and steep.

On to the Salisbury Park & Ride then a short bus ride into the city. As it was a cloudy day we went straight into the cathedral which we found, on first glance, a little disappointing. It didn't generate the same levels of interest that we found in, for example, Winchester, Wells and Norwich. The nave looked rather empty with little in the way of stained glass in the windows.

They did, however, have the oldest (Medieval – 1386) working clock in the world which has no face and only strikes the hours.

This view shows one of the arches around the crossing under the tower looking through into the Quire which had some remarkable medieval wood carving on the stalls which date from 1236 – the oldest complete set in England.

Looking from the Quire, past the Audley Chapel, towards the East Window which was designed in 1980.

We rather liked this next view around the tower crossing. It reminded us a little of the Scissor arches in Wells Cathedral.

The Cloisters are rather nice and are, in fact, the largest of any British cathedral. They are also unusual in that they have never been part of a monastic foundation which is normally the case.

From the Cloisters one gains entry to the Chapter House which holds one of the four surviving original Magna Carta, written on vellum in abbreviated medieval latin, sealed in 1215 by King John. Photography is not permitted in the Chapter House.

We finally ventured outside and managed to capture a five second spell of sunshine lighting up the West Front of the cathedral. The sky gives a good idea of what it was like generally throughout the day.

We left the cathedral precincts by this gate and were back in the surrounding city. As it was around lunch time we started to look for somewhere that would provide a substantial lunch to substitute for the meal we weren't going to have back at the Danebury Hotel in Andover.

Wandering around we stumbled across 'The Polly Tea Rooms' and liked the look of the menu. We were both glad that we chose to go in because the prices were reasonable and the food and service was excellent. Recommended! It's near Bridge Street not far from here.

We didn't really have as much time here to explore as we would have liked. This was one of the streets we wandered through where we noticed this old timber-framed building.

And we eventually found the old market cross complete with a little market.

It was getting late in the afternoon now, 5:30 PM, so we decided to call it a day and headed back to Andover. However on the way back we noticed that we would be going past Figsbury Ring, our second ring of the day, and as the weather was now taking a turn for the better, we thought we'd pay it a visit.

Figsbury Ring, like Old Sarum, is a prehistoric Hill Fort and the evening light up here was absolutely wonderful. Here is Amanda standing on the outer bank looking back towards Salisbury and we could see the spire of Salisbury Cathedral in the far distance.


On our way around the ring we spotted an Adonis Blue butterfly. Not a common sight although there is a colony known to exist here. Very pretty.

So back to our palatial lodgings and tomorrow we leave for home.

Deer me!

Deer me!

We arrived back from Stamford last Monday after another good trip. The weather wasn't all good but we had enough sun to get some good pictures. On the way up we stopped off at Houghton – a small village between St. Ives and Huntingdon in Huntingdonshire. A very pretty village with some thatched cottages and a watermill and what a watermill.

Just look at the size of that wheel on the right-hand size. I have not seen a waterwheel of that width before and it must have some power behind it when it's turning.

The water level was quite high when we were there, which is not surprising bearing in mind the amount of rain we'd had previously, and the water was spilling out of the sluice at an alarming rate causing the white water that you can surely see on the left of the mill.

This mill, in its heyday, wasn't just any old mill – it had three working waterwheels and 10 pairs of grinding stones. It must have been pretty noisy inside when it was running. Now there is only one waterwheel but it does still work. It wasn't running when we were there but they do give demonstrations at weekends and bank holidays.

This picture shows some of the driving gears with one of the wood encased grinding stones behind the vertical shaft.

We continued on to Stamford which turned out to be a nice old town. Rather reminiscent of the cotswolds with its yellow stone buildings.

Amazingly there are four very large medieval churches in the town centre one of which appears in the above picture and there are lots of narrow passages between streets. You can't get buildings much closer can you?

Down this alleyway or lane we found Mr. Pang's Chinese Restaurant and it turned out to be one of the best chinese restaurants we had ever been to.

On the edge of Stamford is Burghley House and Park – a tudor mansion with surrounding parkland and Fallow Deer. They must be some of the tamest deer I've ever encountered especially the small herd which seems to stick around the visitors car park area. I saw a child of about 10 stroking one of them and it didn't take the slightest notice. It was much more interested in getting on with its grazing.

Most people imagine that these animals are the size of cows but these Fallow Deer are only about waist height. Two of the stags in the picture were obviously eyeing me up in anticipation that I might be about to produce food but they were out of luck.

We also visited Barnack Hills and Holes. This is an area next to a village called Barnack, just a few miles from Stamford, which, 800 years ago, was where the stone for Peterborough Cathedral was quarried. It is now a nature reserve and the passage of time has mellowed its appearance so that it now appears to be nothing more than grassy humps and hollows.

It does, however, have an interesting limestone flora including Pasque Flower which we thought we'd be too late for but we found a few that were still flowering.

This is what the area looks like and you can see a thatched roof in the distance.

I shall be putting the new Stamford pages onto the main web site showing much greater detail sometime in the not too distant future.

 

Ups and Downs – Day 3.

Ups and Downs – Day 3.

Another sunny October day – a bit of a chill in the air but still shirt sleeves weather.

Today was to be our longest walk of this trip at about 8 miles. We were starting from Alfriston and walking over Windover Hill to the village of Jevington on the other side where we hoped we would be able to get a decent lunch. There is only one pub, the Eight Bells, and we have no idea what it's going to be like.

Walking on the South Downs Way, which runs across the white footbridge over the Cuckmere River, we started up the slopes of Windover Hill. Only a short way along the path we thought that the view was so nice that we stopped for a picture.

There was Alfriston nestling in the valley with the church facing us and the ridge that runs through Firle Beacon beyond. Breathtaking!

As we climbed higher the views opened up even more. We were planning to pass directly above the Wilmington Long Man but before we reached that point we met some horse riders coming down. This path is a bridleway so can be used by both pedestrians (us) and horse riders (them).

A little further up the path and we could see the Long Man cut into the hillside ahead and when we reached the point directly above his head we took this picture.

The view from the village of Wilmington is much better and there is a small free car park there. The funny white squiggles just above the bottom of the picture, in the shadow, is the Long Man with his legs running (not literally) down the slope and his arms outstretched to the sides.

The slope below, at this point, is really very steep and not far off the vertical which is why there's a fence along this section of the path.

Shortly after passing this point we reached a small gate and stile which Amanda is negotiating here.

Now what about that view beyond? Well we though it was pretty amazing.

Our intended route from this point was straight on in the direction in which we had been travelling but Amanda 'collects' Ordnance Survey trigonometry points and she could see one on the map about a half mile off our route so we turned left to find it.

And here it is complete with Amanda and that stunning view at the back. She wanted to take it (the trigonometry point, not the view) home but I suggested that it might make the rucksack a little heavy and so she agreed that a photograph would be a good substitute.

On our way back from that little detour we met some of the local residents.

Have you ever noticed that sheep have rectangular irises in their eyes?

The path we were going to take towards Jevington was barely visible on the open grassland up here but there were marker posts at fairly widely spaced intervals to assure us that we were on track.

Can you just see the two small figures on the near horizon with Firle Beacon behind them? It gives an indication of scale. The path, incidentally, is immediately to the right of the marker post. You should be able to see a slight difference in colour compared with the surrounding grassland. I did say it wasn't easy to see.

This is me taking the picture that I've just been talking about. That patch of blue on the right-hand edge between the sky and the land is the sea somewhere around Beachy Head.

I think I've said this before but I'm still going to say it again – the scenery up here is stunning and I'm going to bore you with yet another picture of it.

Soon after we started to descend towards Jevington and caught a glimpse of the village and the top of the church tower – the little dark red triangle of roof just left of the centreline with a little patch of smoke behind it.

We arrived a the Eight Bells just before 1:00 PM – time for lunch.

Nice place, nice people. We needn't have worried about the food as the choices and the quality were both excellent and we would recommend it without hesitation.

We didn't want a full blown lunch, we have yet to walk back remember, so we had a starter and a dessert but no main course. Amanda remarked that her starter could easily pass for a main course, which it could have. They don't do 'small' here! The trouble with sitting down to an excellent lunch is that it has to end sometime and the walk back beckoned.

We were taking a different route back. A path we had walked about 19 years ago when we drove into the area from our hotel near Hastings to Jevington and walked to Littlington about two miles from Alfriston.

Down the hill, kink left and up the other side. It's all ups and downs around here. In fact the Downs are up – if you see what I mean. After a mile and a half we had Alfriston in sight once again. The farthest edge of the farthest ploughed field would be where we started up Windover Hill earlier this morning.

We arrived back at the Star Inn at the end of an absolutely super day and the end of our all too short trip. This is an incredibly scenic area and, no doubt, we will be back.

The next day we had a relatively straightforward drive home. Till the next time.

Ups and Downs – Day 1.

Ups and Downs – Day 1.

At the beginning of September last we visited Alfriston in Sussex which, apart from being a lovely little village in the middle of the Sussex Downs, is also only about 5 miles from the coast. We liked the area so much that, 5 weeks later, we went again staying at the Star Inn in the centre of the village on both trips and have just returned from that second visit.

Pictures from the first visit are already on the web site and can be accessed from the Sussex page – South Downs.

The day that we started our second visit was cloudy with rain at times but that was not unexpected as the weather forecast had foretold cloud and rain for that day. We arrived in Alfriston around lunchtime, by which time the weather had improved a little, and decided that lunch would be our next step. Instead of having lunch in The Star, as we did last time, we decided to try 'The Singing Kettle' a few hundred yards down the road. We last visited that Tea Room about 19 years ago and wanted to see what it was like now.

It was taken over by new owners about 6 years ago and now has a very good selection of items on the menu. We had a light lunch here and were very impressed.

The Singing Kettle is the centre one of the block of three buildings facing the camera at the far end of Waterloo Square.

By this time the weather had improved considerably to the point that there were patches of blue sky appearing together with a bit of sun. We thought that a little afternoon walk would be good so decided to walk alongside the River Cuckmere that flows through Alfriston. We walked across the footbridge and turned left, up river, to look at the little brick bridge that carries a small lane over the river. We had gone only a short way along the river when we saw a heron standing by the river looking for fish.

Because the bricks in the bridge were fairly large we thought that it was probably Victorian and, therefore, not very old. We used that bridge to cross the river to the footpath on the other side and headed back towards Alfriston, past the church, and on, down river, towards Littlington.

After passing Alfriston we looked back to this view of Alfriston Church in the hazy autumn sunshine.

The heron that we had seen on the way to the bridge we had disturbed on the way back and it had flown off down stream the way that we were going so it was inevitable that we surprised it again. I managed to get a photograph of it in flight

and another as it landed on the far side of the river.

Herons are, as you can probably see, fairly large birds.

Having reached the footbridge at Littlington we crossed the river and headed back to Alfriston stopping to take this last picture of cattle grazing by the river.

That easy, flat, walk covered about 3 miles in total and back at The Star Inn we relaxed and prepared for dinner. Tomorrow was going to be a longer walk involving Friston Forest and Cuckmere Haven.