The title rather says it all
– a hectic week so I have compiled two blogs. This one is for the non-family
reader who are interested in our travels rather than family photos. The second
is for those interested in faces rather than places.
After some quick packing and the
collection of a 9 seater rental car we left the boats and headed off for a week
in a farmhouse in Shropshire. Great location on top of a hill with large lawn
that really got a work out from mainly six of our younger team playing tag.
The view was spectacular and
ever changing. The evening light and grazing neighbours made for a feel good
ambiance.
And bedroom windows that were
just made for a Romeo balcony.
The younger members of the
family are into most things intergalactic and Dr Who is no exception. The
display in Cardiff was not to be missed. You may think there is one Tardis but
in fact there were quite a few on display.
I had not seen the car before
but it is clear who came out on top.
Some spent quite a bit of
time trying to assess what various levers and buttons did. (An enjoyable but
fruitless pastime.)
I and some of the gang were
taken by this “life sized” Lego Dalek which took four people some 328 hours to
build. (157,460 pieces and 280 Kg… may be useful for a Trivia quiz somewhere!)
Inside was a lot of fun – but
outside the weather was very Whitbyish. The exhibition is housed in a huge
sculptured warehouse.
The old imposing building in the
precinct is called Pierhead – maybe it was at sometime but now it is well
behind the sea front.
The sculpture to lost sailors
was one of the best I have seen. The weather also helped.
As soon as we got away from
the sea the weather improved. Helen’s cousin Brian arrived for a meal much to
the excitement of the younger team members who were more interested in
accosting him than letting him through the gate.
However, Kell, Baeddan and Tieve
(with a little guidance from Sonia) had arranged a lavish and varied meal with
hand made individual meat pies, pizza, kebab and salad. The farmhouse type
kitchen and table had ample room.
Needless to say Brian enjoyed
a bit more alcohol than was appropriate for driving and decided to watch the
sunset and have a sleep over.
Helen had decided that a trip
to Cirencester was appropriate given its Medieval attractions and most of the
team spent a few hours meandering around the local museum. I had been before so
spent my time in a local garage replacing a worn and leaky car tyre!
The town is well kempt with
its flowers, pedestrian ways
And recently refurbished
church.
One wedding photo that is
appropriate for this blog is of a view of Mills Barn. It is a new wedding venue
(this was their second since opening and was very well run – mind you with a
wedding a day the processes had to be slick). The structure comprises oak
vaulted ceilings with mortise and tenon joints held together with wooden pegs.
The workmanship was superb and nice to see these skills have not been completely
lost.
After the wedding we headed
of to London as a precursor to Michael’s team heading home and the rest of us
heading to the continent.
The Children and
grandchildren did their own thing as Helen had a plan….
We were going straight to
Kensington Palace to see Princess Di’s dresses. The palace is quite plain
compared to the gates
And recently added entrance
canopy celebrating the Queens diamond jubilee.
The outlook to the gardens
from the first floor went on forever only interrupted by a statue of Queen
Victoria.
The dresses were not what I expected but I was then told I was in the wrong chamber and that this mantua was
appropriate to the 1740s.
The Lady Di’s dresses were in
a transformed chamber with patterned walls which were back lit to give a soft
but bright ambiance. For some a close inspection was essential.
Di had a range of designers.
Some of the drawings on display had annotations by Di.
What I really had not
appreciated is the imagination of the designers. The dresses on their own were
really quite boring. It was only when Di was wearing them that they came to
life. Conversely the dresses set the tone Diana wanted to achieve given the
particular function. In short they set each other off. The smaller pictures
with Diana wearing the dresses underpins how they come to life.
The other must see was the
White (almost) garden arranged on the 20th anniversary of Diana’s
untimely death.
It certainly improved the view to the palace.
We then set off to the other
side of Kensington Gardens to the Italian garden. The small cafeteria (which
can be seen in the background) was a meeting point for some friend from
Canberra at 15:00 and then for Canadian cousin Pam, Robin and Raymond at 17:00.
Helen was determined to demonstrate her Project Management skills in arranging
the day!
Upon Pam’s arrival we set off
back across the park as we were going to the Proms. On the way was Dianna’s
fountain which was more of an enormous slide for children. Great fun and very
popular albeit somewhat removed from what Helen had imagined.
The walk to the Albert Hall
took us past his spectacular memorial.
And adjoining gardens
We opted not to promenade but
to book seats.
Dinner on the first floor was
a pleasant Italian meal (although some children never grow up)
Overlooking the very well
ordered queue of promenaders.
From our box (shared due to
ticket re-seller issues – a story for another time) the size and clear span of
the Albert Hall could start to be appreciated.
We listened to pieces from
Sibelius, Rachmaninoff and Chostakovitch. A wonderful experience – which would
be worth repeating. The last night of the Proms is now on the bucket list!
We returned back to site
somewhat later than planned due to a goods train breaking down and the line
being closed. We did find a taxi driver who had never been to the area……
The following day it was time
to do some re-packing and say good by to Michael’s family. All packed and ready
to go.
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