A Visit to Cornwall

I had a very brief but wonderful trip to Cornwall. I arrived at 7:00 in the evening and was on the way back home 7:45 the next morning.

The tiny village of St Anthony-in-Meneage was the location, and the church in picture was next door to the cottage we stayed in. The church apparently has  no electricity and is lit by candlelight.

I hadn't been to Cornwall for more than 30 years and I was taken by the breath taking beauty of the place.

The purpose of my trip was to collect my mum who had spent a lovely few days staying with friends on holiday.

I have always loved looking at boats moored by the sea, and on a sunny day like I had it sometimes easy to forget just how hard and dangerous it can be for those who make a living on the sea.

The last time I would have had a photo taken with mum in Cornwall I would have been maybe 10 years old :) All these photos were taken within a 50 metre radius...

Dinner Cruise on The River Thames

Sometimes a night out can turn out to be unexpectedly brilliant. I used one of the voucher sights on the Internet to buy dinner cruise tickets on The Thames and you never know what kind of boat you will get and how good the food will be, but on this occasion the boat and dinner were excellent. Well myself and my friend Michele enjoyed a lovely evening. After recent events it was exactly what I needed and the lesson learned is that it is important even through challenging times to realise life carriers on and to do good things whenever possible. We are only here once...

Our boat arrived early evening ay Westminster Pier with the London Eye providing a lovely backdrop.

Every nice occasion requires a partner in crime and Michele raises a glass at the start of the evening, and soon followed by me :)

The HMS Belfast has fascinated me since childhood and I remember my dad telling me just how far the the guns could fire, and was always nervous when we were within range!

The Tower of London, home to the Crown Jewels, and for me the inspiration behind a gorgeous song by The Alarm, "The Day The Ravens Left The Tower". Let's hope that never happens as legend says the kingdom will fall if this happens.

My final school trip ended up in Greenwich in and around The Cutty Shark and I remember spending most of the day in the pub experiencing the delights of getting drunk. These days I fully appreciate the awesome historical wonder of the boat.

The Greenwich maritime museum and gateway to the observatory where time begins and the whole world follows...

The O2 Arena, originally The Millennium Dome. The last time I went there was to see Green Day in concert. IWe got a great view of the Arena as the river seems to pretty much completely surround it and Canary Wharf provides a stunning nighttime backdrop.

And as we headed back to Westminster we got to see Tower Bridge illuminated at night, which looked amazing, although they could have opened it for us! :)

Crossing The Humber

I recently achieved a long term ambition in driving across the Humber Bridge. I first saw the bridge in the mid 1980s when I used to go visit a friend studying at the old polytechnic. And for the last 25 years I go up to within miles of it work wise so I get a fleeting glimpse of it from a far. I finally had a spare hour on a recent trip so I drove along the A63 to the bridge and got out and took some photos from the shoreline.

As I was in no hurry travelling the 200 miles home, I decided to cross the bridge and drive back down South via Lincoln / Newark and then on A1 rather than the usual M62,M18, M1 route. It cost a very reasonable £1.50 to drive across it and although maybe it is no Sydney Harbour Bridge it is one of the most impressive bridge structures we have in the UK.

A Glimpse of Spring

Spring in the UK has been a complete washout so far, and although we have a drought and hosepipe ban in place the rain has kept on falling. At last a few days respite and something called the sun came out!

Everything is very green, and once the sun comes out the countryside is stunning. I think in terms of the usual Spring colours we get to see it has not been a vintage one so far, but there is still time...

I am sure it is only a matter of time until we are told that the food prices will go up sue to all of the rain we have had spoiling the crops...

But I am lucky to be able to walk out of work and be in such beautiful surroundings in a matter of minutes...