Cruising – Dover, Amsterdam and Portland

This year (as an infill!) I stumbled across a cruise that would take us from UK to Cairo and included some ports not previously visited and others where a re-visit was still enticing. Our embarkation was Dover and this gave us a half day to undertake a bit of exploring of Dover castle.

We had a tour of the tunnels which was interesting but not the most memorable guide. We also had time to climb to the top and were rewarded by a fantastic view. Our cruise ship (Nieuw Statendam – Holland America Line) beckoned in the distance.

After dropping off the rental car, walking the couple of kilometres to the ship and unpacking, we were all set. This was the last cruise ship for the season for Dover and we were fortunate to have a perfect Autumn day.

After a comfortable night, we arrived in Amsterdam and had booked a trip to Edam. The first stop was to see clog-making. Clogs come in all shapes and sizes with any amount of colour. Our guide advised that the makers would claim clogs are very comfortable – but his experience suggested otherwise!

Making clogs was fascinating and surprisingly quick. A small block of Yew was roughly trimmed with a special "Blocking Knife". It is tethered at one end, which enables the blade to be rotated as required.

The block is then put into a special lathe with a last (pre-formed model) and as both last and block are turned the new clog takes shape.

A similar process then occurs to hollow out the inside. The clog maker does have a little work to do with this machine by setting the angle of attack on three occasions! Once shaped, the clog (which is made from unseasoned wood and has so much water that some could be blown out) is left for a few weeks to dry before being painted. 

The clog factory was also in the middle of several brightly coloured windmills, which were originally built to drain the land. However, as pumps were introduced, many were closed and dismantled, with only a few surviving to be converted for milling and similar processes.

The machine on this tractor made short work of baling and wrapping hay compared to yesteryear. It was mesmerising viewing.

The third site was a visit to a Gouda cheese factory – the process of cheese making was unremarkable but the subsequent shop with samples was irresistible and we came away with biscuits and a cheese.

We then hopped back onto the bus and travelled up the road to Edam (dam on the Eye). This is a beautiful town.

Still need convincing?

The central square has some pristine buildings including a shop selling Edam cheese (where again we succumbed). It adjoined a building that used to be an early maternity hospital, complete with a stork symbol on the front!

The voyage out of Amsterdam was along the North Sea canal which enable access to Amsterdam rather than negotiating the ZuiderZee and its related islands The banks were a hive of activity including numerous cross river ferries. Kate and Alan joined the cruise here and both Alan and I were taken with the design of this building. It looks like a large spring toy ready to launch bits of paper across the classroom (well waterway).

The end of the waterway was marked by a large lock to manage water levels within the canal and prevent flooding.

The gates were huge and the width of the loch. They are 77 metres wide, 25 high and 11 metres thick. They each way 2,400 tonnes. This picture shows the lower gate closing which, undestandably given their size, took some time.

As if that wasn’t enough excitement, we then had the Captain advise that someone on board had become seriously ill and needed to be lifted off by helicopter. What skills – the helicopter came around and lowered a medic, then followed with a stretcher basket and lastly hovered over the ship at a precise distance from (the moving) ship until the patient, basket and medic could all be winched up together.

After a sea day we arrived in Portland, where we were met by Ngaira and Nick. They had arranged a Thomas Hardy visit. His initial home was a picture-perfect cottage. However, this needs tempering with reality. Thomas was one of four children and there were initially only two bedrooms upstairs. An extension to the right was added for his grandmother.

The width of the building was also small as can be seen by the parlour. The Settle on the right was to keep the draft away and help trap the warmth of the fire.

Thomas was a remarkably intelligent person and penned his first poem at 16 years and went onto school in Dorchester - a four-mile walk. As he published his various books (normally as a monthly series) he became increasingly wealthy and eventually designed a new house (he had also qualified as an Architect) not far from the first cottage which he named Max Gate.

Although he was very supportive of the local village and the plight of the poor (many of whom struggled to feed themselves) he did support a two-tier household. The main staircase here was backed by a second staircase (behind the glass) for the servants to make their way upstairs. He does appear like many intellectuals to have been a complicated character.

A fascinating visit supported by wonderful volunteer guides. One of the best port days we have experienced.

Thames path Part 3 The City (Kensington to the Barrier)

Once we reached Kensington the landscape changed to almost continuous industry. Having passed Teddington locks the Thames became tidal and we seemed to have hit a King tide. At Islewoth industry has been around for years. The cranes, barges and wharves in this area were decades old and surely had witnessed some colourful history.

The tide had breached the banks in a few locations. Despite the ongoing drought this grass was lush due to going under at high-water. The tide mark can be clearly seen. Must be a bit disturbing for adjoining property owners.

We quickly started to encounter many more bridges. As many have been covered in earlier blogs only a couple will get a mention here. Hammersmith bridge (1820 and built by William Tierney Clark who went onto build Marlow bridge – see 2024 blog) has hit the headlines by being closed to traffic for several years while a suitable strengthening plan is developed and funded. Fortunately, foot traffic is allowed as alternatives are quite a detour.

Occasionally industry is broken by some wonderful parks with huge trees. Battersea park was a huge oasis of calm.

A little further on there is flood wall that has been covered by thousands of hearts. Passers-by are invited to write memories about loved ones who succumbed to Covid. The wall goes for as far as the eye can see.

Despite participation in previous blogs there are some bridges that seem to insist on being picked again. The Millenium bridge with St Pauls in the background is a case in point.

The challenge with central London is that you could easily spend a day investigating a 1 km section and here we were marching through 20 kms in a day. Despite the speed there were some areas that screamed out “look at me”.

This rose window is from the West gable of the Great Hall of the London Palace of the Bishops of Winchester. It has been incorporated into a restaurant but can be easily viewed by passers-by and is a great draw card.  

Helen enhanced our activity with a couple of additions. Our Tower bridge day ended by catching up with cousin John and wife Jane for a meal at Canary Wharf. Always good fun catching up with the latest family dramas. We also preceded the following day’s walk with a trip to the Tower as it was marking 80 years from the end of the second world war with an imaginative display of glass poppies.

Some of the established display items were just as colourful. This 1607 Flemish gun on an 1827 British carriage was elaborately decorated depicting varying events including St Michael overthrowing Satan.

Even the quarters for the guards were vibrantly coloured (particularly on a sunny blue day). 

Adjoining the quarters is the White tower. Its colourfulness comes from its prisoner history. Although torture was reportedly infrequent, death sentences were not. If you were lucky, you could meet your end within the tower, but most faced the hang man outside on Tower Hill where large crowds would congregate, jeer and throw whatever was to hand at the soon-to-be-history victim.

Their plight was poignantly described in graffiti on the walls. Religious references dominated as all prepared to meet their maker.

The central tower then beckoned as it houses the crown jewels. What an interesting collection and history from the Koh-i-Noor 105.6 carat diamond to the two largest of the stones from the Cullinan collection. It was a fascinating display none of which was allowed to be photographed! 

A second view of the poppies also beckoned and of course another famous bridge managed to scrape its way into the background.

As we moved passed the hoards (where 4 k/h was impossible) we encountered numerous recesses into the bank where various wharves had been developed. This meant bridges were also a necessity some of which had to move out of the way rather than cause height restrictions. The Surrey Basin Bascule Bridge was well maintained. Bascule comes from the French term for balance scales and employs the same principle. It enables a quick opening with minimal power.

We then came across three ship museums in quick succession. The first was the Golden Hinde which although a 1973 replica of the original 1577 galleon was undergoing some significant refurbishment with new oak to planking.

Second was HMS Belfast which was commissioned way back in 1936, decommissioned in 1963 and finally became a museum in 1971.

And then once more back to more wooden times with the Cutty Sark a tea clipper ship built in 1869.

Despite being in the middle of London many pubs went out of their way to be attractively presented. I anticipate that whomever was in charge of the flowers at the Anchor (1682) was entitled to more than the occasional free pint. Certainly a more pleasant experience than Judge George Jeffreys who reportedly watched executions on nearby Wapping beach.

As we moved downstream into more industrial areas it was a surprise to come across what on its face could have been a royal palace. It was in fact the Royal Naval College. Now that would be an interesting place to study.

We slowly made our way around the circuitous O2 stadium, where new development was moving apace. The Cloud Cable car (2012) was clearly popular. Its modern spiral towers fits well with the adjoining quantum cloud sculpture.

And finally, we came to the end of the path with the Thames barrier. This was completed in 1982 to help prevent London from flooding. With Climate change and the potential for higher water levels there is now a review underway to see what can be done to increase protection.

In our case ends!

So what have we accomplished?

A few statistics may help:

We used 4 caravan sites as bases:

• Burford 5 nights
• Burcot 4 nights
• Henley on Thames 8 nights and
• Abbey Wood 5 nights

We walked a total of 302 kms if you go with the Thames Guide Book. There were 18 days walking which is an average of 16.8 kms per day. Realistically with diversions, walks to and from drop offs (stations, car parks etc) I suspect we did closer to 320 kms, which is about 18 kms per day.

Longest was Kingston to Putney a distance of 23.9kms or 39,930 steps (I suspect Helen would have clocked over 40,000).

Result – much fitter and a great feeling of satisfaction, albeit we will need a few days before planning the next walk!

Thames path part 2 - beautiful towns (Abingdon to Hampton Court)

Just before Reading we encountered a hoarding. Nothing of note except it literally went on for a couple of Kilometres. It turns out this was for the Reading festival where daily sell out crowds of 90,000 had been entertained. Seems our timing was perfect as all had departed! Note the lush grass which appears to have been a result of the river flooding rather than rain.

Having walked some 100 km, it was time to move our caravan base to Henley-on-Thames. The next week was a mixture of country and stunningly beautiful towns. The path slides past Oxford, where the banks are almost an embarrassment, to Abingdon where colourful views really kick in.

Henley might have been outshone given the grey skies but still had colourful views.

And the next day Marlow also put its hand up to be in the top ten.

Between towns there is also much of interest.

The railway bridge at Moulsford was designed by Brunel for the Great Southern Railway and built in the 1840s. It is skewed 60° to the river and comprises four semi-elliptical arches. If you look closely at the angle of the brickwork it almost defies the imagination of how they were laid.

By contrast, a mere 30 year old timber pedestrian bridge near Marlow has been closed due to being “unsafe”. This meant quite a detour to the walk. Indeed there were many detours in place – some advertised and well signposted and others just closed by builders trucks and fences – all quite frustrating and tiring.

It appears that a closure was warranted as the central section looks to have dropped…

We also encountered some quirky sights.

In Wallingford we stumbled across this street sign, which immediately raised a question. What was the link to Ian Anderson’s band? It turns out that the original Jethro Tull lived in a house down the road in the 17^thC. He was someone who applied science to farming and invented a seed drill for a more even spread rather than the clumps that arose from hand sowing. It seems Ian Anderson had little to do with farming (other than some interest in salmon farming) but just liked the name.

At Whitchurch we had to cross over the Thames. Fortunately, we were on foot so no toll applied, but for a car it was 60p.

A marked increase from the past....

We encountered a few white deer at Culham House. The colour is due to a genetic condition that reduces Melanin. Almost as odd is the design of the house behind. 

The final ‘quirky’ was a quick trip back to William Morris’s house at Kelmscott as it was closed when we walked past. The house had some magnificent fabric designs and Morris was clearly an intellectual with a considerable interest in books, including his translation of Iceland's sagas.

If that was not enough, the house had an attic that required a very steep staircase. To overcome unacceptably high risers the stairs were split into two so each step effectively halved the required riser.

While at Henley cousin Pamela joined us for a couple of days. I still find it mystifying how girls can talk nonstop for hours. It does seem one is on a walk and the other a stroll....

We did come across some quite small houses where the front door would have even required Pam to duck! They might have even challenged hobbits!

Some of the houses in the area were wonderful to behold. Whether several decades old,

or the latest designs they were all very appealing to the eye (if not the wallet).

I wasn’t aware it was lunchtime but does anyone want a quad skull?

Of course the most famous town in the river is Windsor. We moored near here last year.

This time our return trip was via the train using the GWR spur line to Slough. Windsor also has a second spur line to Staines operated by South Western Rail. Both stations have some great décor which unfortunately needs some TLC.

The following day the path took us opposite the Crown estate. By contrast to the stations it is really well-maintained. The tranquillity of the view was unfortunately, regularly disturbed by planes taking off from Heathrow (one of which can be seen).

Some bridges and signs gave food for thought (and that of course meant a Google search,,,)

The Henly-based section ended at Hampton Court. The external gates are stunning and give an interesting foreground to the Court.

As we circumvented the large grounds, the far end enabled access to walkers and the "long water" leading to a distant rear view of the court.