Last Year .........

Friday 25th May. Went for an early walk to get a few supplies from local shop. Just as we set out it started to rain, well not rain really but that very fine and very wetting English drizzle that we had forgotten about. Got very wet!!
Contacted friends of long standing, Gill and David Beasley and spent a very nice afternoon catching up with their family news.

Saturday 26th May. We left the house about 8.30 and headed down to see Val and Rod in their new house at Tegryn, South Wales. We had a good run down the M5, M50 and the A40 with a quick detour into Llandielo to see Gloria and Chris Vaughan-Roberts. Being a bank holiday Saturday the joint was jumping, no parking and their shop was very busy so we decided to call in on the way back. Found V & R new place with no trouble in quiet hilltop village. Windswept and cold is putting it mildly. Plenty of catching up to do and dinner at the village local. Not feeling too well.

Sunday 27th May. Still raining and very cold and windy. Rain is near horizontal and we are both not feeling well. Head colds with hot and cold flushes so we are heading for home. Heavy rain all the way and straight to bed. Its not nice being sick while on holiday and not in your own home.

Wednesday 30th May. Haven't done much, just trying to get well. Very cold morning with light rain and a biting wind. Outside temperature is 10C but when we spoke to Jim, its 18C in Stockholm!! Met Audrey and Ray in Wolverhampton and had lunch in the Art Gallery. In the entrance there is a bust made from wire coat hangers laid flat.




Thursday 31st May. Another cold day. We drove down to Worcester via Droitwich and Ombersley and found the Left Handed Shop to buy presents for Alex. It started to rain again with lots of thunder and lightening, never seen anything like it. The street cleared in a matter of minutes.






This is the Cornmarket in Worcester and the black and white building, when we lived there, used to be a seed merchants where we bought our Christmas Trees.

From Worcester we drove back to Droitwich and had a walk around and some provision shopping. Bought back lots of memories. It starting to rain heavily again but I was determined to see the old canal which was soon to be renovated.


Old swing bridge over the canal.


The Chateau Impney seen through a break in the rain. The Chateau Impney was built in 1875 by John Corbett, the Salt King, as a present to his French wife. Corbett made his money from the salt works in nearby Stoke Prior which produced 160,000 tonnes of salt per year. Three thousand men were needed to construct the building and landscape the 155 acres. Today it is a Hotel and conference centre.

Birthday

This year I had a delayed birthday as we put back Mothers Day celebrations to last weekend so we could add it to Grahams mothers birthday, the 19th, Elins (in thought)for the 21st and then mine on the 22nd. Becky and Graham put on a BBQ at their place but unfortunately it was one of our coldest days so far.






Di made a huge chocolate cake.



The frozen desert that Becky made was lovely but sooo cold. The terracotta pots are sealed and then layered internally with different ice creams and cake, topped off with crushed Orreo biscuits, which just looked like soil.








From Di I got a new set of tree loppers and Jim sent me a company cap and DVD copies of my favourite TV program, Grand Design. He sent them very early so I had to wait to open them. Becky gave me a wonderful gismo, it’s a key fob with a small screen face and you can programme it to do a slide slow of up to 70 of your favourite photos.

Becky’s best present to us was her ultra sound. The big news is that she is having a baby boy and although she would have liked a daughter she is so relieved that this pregnancy seems to be progressing OK and best of all, the baby is fine and bigger than Alex was at the same time. So she is 20 weeks and the next few weeks we will be very much on edge.

Last Year ......

Thursday 24th May. Arranged to meet Ray and Audrey in Birmingham near the statue of the bull in the Bull Ring Centre. We traveled in by train rather than worry about parking. It took us 20 minutes to get into the city but only 9 minutes for the return trip. Very good.


Now that's a bull !!!!


The very futuristic Selfridges Store from inside the Bull Ring Centre.


Inside the Bull Ring Centre.


Very happy shoppers !!

Shopping was followed by a visit to the beautiful St. Phillips Cathedral.




The Town Hall and "the Flossy in the Jacuzzi"


Inside the art Gallery. Lovely old building with lots of wrought iron,



and domed roofs.

Last Year

Wednesday 23rd May. Caught up with a bit of washing before taking Di to meet up with Dinah to go to the theater. Spent some time in and around Wood Green Road, Brunswick Park and Cemetery, taking photos before everything has gone for ever.


This is the Park Lodge which is smaller than the old Cemetery Lodge, but sadly the Cemetery Lodge no longer exists.

The Lodge is adjacent to Wood Green Road and is the same design as the Cemetery Lodge.


This is all that's left of the iron railings and gate alongside the Cemetery Lodge. The house was to the left, between this front wall and the War Memorial just visible on the left.


Again, all that's left of the main gates to the cemetery.

You may be wondering why this is so important to me. My wonderful Grandmother lived in the Lodge with her second husband, Charles Pym, who was Park and Cemetery Superintendent. I spent a lot of my childhood here and have very happy memories of the lodge and its surrounds.

The rest of the day was spent shopping. Well actually it was more like checking out how things compared particularly in the areas of hardware. B & Q against our Bunnings stores. Still think I prefer Bunnings.

A year ago yesterday .........

A year ago yesterday was my birthday spent in England. The celebrations had taken place over the previous weekend which also coincided with the F.A. Cup Final.

Tuesday 22nd May. The weather was nice for a change as we drove down the M5 as far as the Worcester South junction where we turned off and headed across to Malvern. Saw quite a lot of Morgan sports car as one would expect when visiting the town where they are made. We visited British Camp on the side of the Malvern Hills and found the Wytche Hotel. Luckily there was no one on a bike coming towards us down the middle of the road. I must explain that last sentence. My favourite author is Phil Rickman who writes about this part of the world, commonly known as the Welch Marches. The hotel and the bike are in one of his books, as is the place we are heading for, Hereford Cathedral.

On the way we stopped in the nice town of Ledbury.


with is very old Market Hall and Council Chamber.




and something seldom seen these days, school children tending the street gardens.



From Ledbury we drove on the Hereford with its wonderful cathedral.


wonderful old stained glass



beautiful interior


and ultra modern stained glass



and finally a pilgrimage to the cathedral gatehouse with office above which features in one series of books by Phil Rickman. Sadly, the Rev. Merrily Watkins wasn't in residence.




From Hereford on for a quick visit to Arthurs Stone via the Golden Valley.


Called in at Hay-on-Wye, a haven for readers, before heading for home via Leominster, Ludlow and across the Clee Hills from where the view is spectacular but far to big for any camera lens.
A good birthday and having seen some of the most beautiful countryside in England.

This time last year ........ continued

Being a shared birthday, we also shared a birthday cake. Jane very kindly had a cake made with both our names on top. When she picked it up from the shop she was asked if it was for a gay couple!!
The highlight of the day, for everyone else, was watching the English F.A. cup on TV, between Chelsea and Manchester United. Chelsea won 1-0
It was also the school formal for our great niece, Emma.




Monday May 21st. Spent the day visiting a few of our favourite spots. The weather was quite nice, dry and about 19 degs.



Bridgnorth, High Town.



Bridgnorth, Low Town.



Looking across the river bridge towards High Town. The square building in the centre is The Theatre on the Steps. On the side of the building there is a webcam that I check everyday. The shot is looking down onto the bridge over the River Severn, but from a better location.



From Bridgnorth we drove on to Ironbridge where we had a nice lunch in view of the famous bridge.



We continued on to Ludlow before heading for home.



The very old Feathers Hotel.

Another nice day.

This time last year .........

This time last year I was celebrating a birthday with my brother in law in England.

We left Sydney on the 8th May for an extended holiday visiting England, Spain and Sweden. We changed airlines at Narita airport in Japan, flying on with SAS to Copenhagen and then on to Manchester. Arriving very early in Narita was a bit disconcerting as it seems that the airport only starts to operation at about 8.00am.




Arrived early evening in Manchester and of course it was raining. Picked up our hire car and headed down the M6 to the Midlands. Called in to see Jane and family but also to pick up the keys to Barbara and Garth's, in Walsall, where we are house sitting while they are living in Spain. Spent the next few days catching up with family and visiting a couple of our favourite areas of the Midlands, like the old walled city of Shrewsbury.



Saturday 12th May. Had our first good nights sleep, getting over jet lag but more likely due to the fact that I stopped Barbara's chiming clocks. Drove down to Worcester and had a look at our old house in Northwick before going to see Louise at her home in Droitwich, for lunch and to meet Andrew. They are well matched.



Sunday 13th May. We are flying out to see long time friends Barbara and Garth in Spain. Raining again on the way to Birmingham airport. The flight had been
pre-booked over the Internet before we left home but could have been a disaster. Everything was fine until I just happened to check the boarding passes and found that Di was going to Alicante and I was going to Cork in Ireland!!! Arrived in Alicante and met by Barbara and Garth for the drive a bit further South to where their apartments are. Its a strange area, not what we expected, seemed to be mile after mile of modern apartment blocks all the same, and more being built all the time. Barbara and Garth have an apartment of the ground floor and their own on the top floor, of an older, more traditional style block which all face in to a very nice central garden and courtyard, all just a block from the beach.




While visiting a nearby town, Barbara and Garth introduced us to hot chocolate and Churrus. Long doughnut like things that are dipped into hot chocolate, lovely but fattening I'm sure.



Nice beaches, the weather is more like we are used to but have heard that its still raining in UK. Lots of sand sculptures on the beaches and I couldn't resist this one of Hommer Simpson.



Moving, Spanish style or how to get two seater lounge to the top floor, using rope and pulleys. When it was finally over the balcony, all the bystanders applauded!! We left before they started to lift up the three seater.



It was very strange to be in a foreign country where the predominant language seemed to be English voices and everywhere there were adverts for Full English Breakfast or Fish and Chips. We had a great time with lots of catching up with old friends but flew back to a wet England to share a birthday with brother in law, Ray. Actually it was a joint celebration for mine on the 22nd also.