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Unloxit 2022

January - December 2022
What I hope, as Covid restrictions start to be relaxed at the time of writing, will be a series of staycations in Britain for 2022. Read more
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  • TravelerUnloxit 2022
    Day 1

    Just when you thought it was safe.......

    January 24, 2022 in England ⋅ ⛅ 5 °C

    .........to go back to the south coast, I do just this to see out some final days of January. I'm back in Hastings, scene of a November visit. It's an unassuming place and strangely quiet, not just because of winter but typical of English seaside resorts that have seen better days. I find it hard to understand why the fresh sea air and glorious views on one's doorstep, haven't tempted people from Chiantishire (a.k.a. the Cotswolds). Mind you, a school of thought prefers it this way and would hate it to become hipsterised.

    Following the shark which eats only beach rubbish, on my first morning there's a lovely sunrise from my hotel balcony. At the other end of the day, golden hour lights up the early Victorian terraces, some beach art with a decidedly Moorish cast, and the pier. It's closed for January but in a way, more attractive than it would be in August.    Read more

  • TravelerUnloxit 2022
    21
    Day 2

    "I told you I was ill"

    January 25, 2022 in England ⋅ ⛅ 5 °C

    So said Spike Milligan, whose grave is at Winchelsea although the headstone (pictured) doesn't actually include this quote. The village, to which I return after a November visit, used to be a Cinque Port until its isolation by silting up from successive storms. The greyness on this chilly January morning is accentuated by the brilliance of the roses. An old-fashioned letter box shows also how Winchelsea is quietly locked in the past.

    A mile walk through fields takes me to Winchelsea Beach, which continues from Pett Level along a shoreline as far as the entrance to Rye harbour. It's a brisk walk over shingle until the tide falls back to reveal flat, wet sand. The elements, while almost inactive today with a gentle lapping against the shore, have shaped some of the groynes into hashtags. The colours are so muted that I've converted the beach scenes to black and white. The weather isn't clear enough to see the power station but the remoteness has all the desert-like quality that Dungeness offers.    Read more

  • TravelerUnloxit 2022
    1
    1
    Day 71

    Club with a view

    April 4, 2022 in England ⋅ ☁️ 11 °C

    For the third time since the pandemic started, I am in Ramsgate and with a friend this time, Louise, for the first two days. This time lodgings are at the Royal Temple Yacht Club, a place oozing with character that I would have stayed at before, had I known it was open to non-yachties. Actually decades ago our family was yachty too, and we often used to put in at Ramsgate harbour, a long day's sail from the Essex coast where we kept the boat. Although we always stayed on board, we must have used the RTYC bar at times. The view from the balcony is matchless and the sumptuous bar attests to a long history of doing battle in the south North Sea.

    Like other south coast resort towns, Ramsgate struggles to keep up with those in the more fashionable Devon and Cornwall, but puts a brave face on it. Various craft shops have drifted into the town and the seaside stalwarts, fish & chips and ice cream, are abundant. The sculptures on St. George's church could do with cheering up, however.

    Needless to say, the drinking options are plentiful. The "Sorry no Whitbread" sign at the Churchill Tavern refers to the dark days when keg beers of this ilk almost pushed decent beers like Gadd's to extinction. The stained glass comes from another fine old-fashioned pub, the Artillery Arms.    Read more

  • TravelerUnloxit 2022
    11
    Day 74

    London-on-sea

    April 7, 2022 in England ⋅ 🌬 8 °C

    As noted before, the empty shop fronts in the town centres of these southern seaside towns are a shame. There are three causes: internet shopping, Covid (blamed for so many things) and out of town shopping centres. On the bus ride from Ramsgate this morning, I pass a monstrous one half-way between the two towns, featuring the usual suspects. I won't give them free publicity by naming them but we know who they are.

    One solution could be the use of these towns for commuting to and from London and while the trains are not particularly fast, they're frequent and residents can enjoy the fresh North Sea air for half of London prices. In Margate some artistic pioneers seem to have moved in---it is after all, home of J.M.W. Turner and Tracey Emin. Traditional beachside pursuits however, have still to wake up from the long winter.

    I'm taking the 7-mile walk round the North Foreland, a repeat of last June. There's no heatwave like then but a cruel Gale 8 westerly; however it does wonders to clear the air (if you look closely at the 6th image of the stone bollards on the foreshore, you can see a massive wind farm on the horizon). The Viking Coastal Trail mostly follows the cliff top but with periodic drops to Botany Bay, Joss Bay and others. Later comes Broadstairs, more genteel than the rough and ready Margate, and finally another climb for the home stretch. A good bracing walk!    Read more

  • TravelerUnloxit 2022
    Day 131

    Seventy years young!

    June 3, 2022 in England ⋅ ⛅ 20 °C

    How many people expected, way back in 1952, to celebrate another Jubilee seventy years on? In the meantime we have enjoyed the Queen's silver, golden and diamond Jubilees. Now there's only one milestone to be passed: the reign of Louis XIV the Sun King of France, and he was less than five years old on ascending the throne.

    There's a special sense of release this time around, knowing that if this anniversary had fallen in 2021 or 2020, it would have passed without much celebration. I have one reason to be grateful for the lockdowns, for without them I would probably never have found Red Cross Garden in Southwark. It's around there that I find a series of outdoor parties with music, dancing and chilling out.

    The hub of all this is around Buckingham Palace where crowds are gathered for the evening entertainment. With some of the musicians more famous than talented, I don't stay long but some of the crowd are in for the long haul.

    The final day witnesses a street party almost in my backyard, in Cleaver Square. Charlie's Patch, near a house when Charlie Chaplin once lived, is resplendent, as are the numerous cakes which look almost too nice to ruin by eating. The girl from the group From the Hip, belts out James Brown's "I got you, I feel good". So do we but the little dog, maybe less so.    Read more

  • TravelerUnloxit 2022
    Day 155

    Lucky 13

    June 27, 2022 in England ⋅ ⛅ 13 °C

    The annual fixture of the Lake District gets under way---with a twist. There's a rail strike with a warning that the first Saturday of our trip will be curtailed. Several of our 13-strong party leave a day early, although a couple of guys manage to get trains early on the Saturday morning. For me, with an engagement on the Friday, that option is closed to me, so I'm the last to arrive on the Monday afternoon.

    From the railhead at Penrith, there's a view of the 15th century castle built to help protect England from Scottish raids. It's a breezy afternoon, in contrast to what I get to hear about the day before, when the walking party is turned into drowned rats. Schadenfreude from me as down south, I had a sunny day of cricket at the Oval!

    The bus to Keswick, our base for the week, leads me to the market square, colourful with a duo of South American musicians and Luchini's ice cream parlour.

    More often than not, the daily excursions split into the walking (8 people (and drinking (5) groups. We hit on another ice cream stall on the walk down the former railway between Threlkeld and Keswick. On another day we pass a tiny church in the Newlands valley south-west of Keswick. We see it most years but these images are from different angles.

    From Ambleside to Grasmere it's an easy walk on a trail that was once used to bypass the main road and transport coffins between the two towns. Fortunately our loads are much lighter than what the bearers had to contend with. Rydal Hall, a magnificent 18th century ancestral home, provides a comfortable stop not for coffins but coffee. Later on we skirt another lake, which like all the lakes is either called "water" or "mere" or "tarn"---Rydal Water.

    Another of our favourite walks takes us south-east from Keswick to Ashness Bridge and a beautiful tarn in the mountain fastness. Once again it's been a very satisfying few days.    Read more

  • TravelerUnloxit 2022
    Day 211

    Samba in East Yorkshire?

    August 22, 2022 in England ⋅ ☁️ 21 °C

    No, not really---the reason for this street name may be trade links in the past with the port of Hull and Brazil. It's nice however to recall the sun-washed shores of Rio and Bahia which I visited a few years ago. I'm on a return visit to Hull almost exactly a year since my last visit, this time on my own for some quiet photography. I'm staying on the edge of the Old Town, which despite serious wartime damage retains some Victorian and Edwardian quarters. There's also a surprising concentration of small neighbourhood pubs. I wonder how many of them will survive the latest threat to their existence: first Covid, now the rocketing fuel prices. The city goes back centuries before this of course, with the magnificent Hull Minster, which has the largest floor area of any English parish church, and was started in about 1300.

    As last year, Hull is good for day excursions. While the beaches are hardly Brazil-style tropical, they have an understated English charm. A cultural initiative has planted giant puffins all along this coast. The giant seagull, overlooking the lady selling raffle tickets, is a one-off. It's at Hornsea. an hour's bus ride from Hull. And while people often complain about rural buses, they provide an inexpensive way of getting around and their timetables are reliable. The toy train features at Bridlington, a larger and noisier resort up the coast. Another bus trip from Hull leads east to Withernsea with its mock castle.

    After Bridlington I call in at Beverley Minster, which started life as a monastery and survived the Reformation. While the rain shortage this summer has caused water supply problems, it has allowed better photo opportunities than last year and the final picture brings out the best of the 14th century church of Patrington.    Read more

  • TravelerUnloxit 2022
    Day 217

    Soca in west London

    August 28, 2022 in England ⋅ ⛅ 23 °C

    After two years lost to the pandemic, the country starts to emerge from its slumber and the Notting Hill carnival is in full flow again. With a Caribbean heritage, it's the only big one in late August, hence no need to be in three places at once as in Lent. And it's said to be the world's largest party after Rio de Janeiro.

    There are however caveats: with an estimated 2 million attending the event over three days, overcrowding could be an issue not just because it might be Covidious but also with the risk of stampedes like that of Hillsborough in 1989. There are other sobering memories; the ladies in orange are dancing in front of a truck commemorating the 2017 fire at nearby Grenfell Tower in which over 70 people died. Reports come through of theft, assault and a fatal stabbing; but to be fair, it's the first murder for almost 20 years and there are fewer arrests than at the previous carnival,

    That said, I bring my cheapest and nastiest camera and make sure of being gone hours before nightfall. The crowds are dense only when the floats pass by and there are plenty of gaps with breathing space. Having supposed that the front-page pictures of revellers are taken by privileged press staff, I'm delighted that there's access for the ordinary public. As they say, if you've got it flaunt it and you haven't got it, flaunt it more! Image no. 7 shows drinks being sold at hugely inflated prices but by now I'm parched and it's worth it for a nice photo.

    The music of this long weekend isn't over and the day after, I attend a festival in Carshalton, postally and culturally in Surrey but still in Greater London. A twosome called Evensong play songs I haven't heard for 50 years: most people associate the Middle of the Road with "Chirpy Chirpy Cheep Cheep" but this couple do a super version of "Soley Soley".

    Finally, music can be heard in the most prosaic places. Pianos are not uncommon in railway stations but this pipe organ at London Bridge is the only one I've heard so far. A shame that the church from which it comes must be defunct but at least the organ goes into extra time.    Read more

  • TravelerUnloxit 2022
    1
    Day 233

    North-west frontier

    September 13, 2022 in England ⋅ ⛅ 16 °C

    Compared with the south-east this part of the country with its different culture, has always seemed like frontier territory. Blackpool isn't very similar to the coastal resorts near London; it's usually much too cold for swimming, which is perhaps why it became the country's centre for live comedy. By mid-September the beach, spectacular and shingle-free as it is, is almost a desert. A couple of souls are taking up the last of the rays---though what the seagull is doing, it won't say.

    Since we were here last year, the Queen's death has been commemorated all over the country. This scene and those that follow are on the North Pier, with a description on image 4 of its construction in 1862.

    An amble to the South Pier and beyond leads to the Pleasure Beach, which was founded in 1896, a few years after the Blackpool Tower. You can always tell when one of the trains is about to descend, from the excited screams of the passengers. Very nice but not recommended if you have a hangover!

    The final picture shows the venerable but now derelict Post Office, which illustrates how much work is to be done on reviving town centres. I hope that by my return to Blackers, a constructive use is put to the building.    Read more

  • TravelerUnloxit 2022
    Day 260

    Ticket to Ryde

    October 10, 2022 in England ⋅ ⛅ 13 °C

    Sometimes just known as "the Island", the Isle of Wight can be reached from London via Portsmouth and the 20-minute ferry across the Solent. This is followed by a quaint railway from the pier head, because the island-side of the channel is too shallow for shipping. An added curiosity is that the carriages used to run on London's Underground. The IOW is stuck in a nice time warp before the days of fast food joints and e-scooters.

    Apart from the one train service, access round the island is by bus service, which is frequent enough and punctual. In two hops I get to Alum Bay, a colourful blend of sands and clays, in the far west. There's a cliff walk that takes me to a glorious view of the Needles, a trio of chalk stacks marching into the sea. Being extremely lucky with the weather, I take a short boat ride to see the Needles with the late afternoon sun falling behind them.

    Most of the island is accessible by the coastal path and the day after, I reach Ventnor in the south-east and walk towards Sandown. For a couple of miles the path leaves the coast and rises through woodland. It's here that I find---along with a walking party---the church of St. Boniface. Listed in the Domesday Book, it must be one of the smallest in the country and one of the most beautiful I have seen.

    When the path descends to sea level, the sheer cliffs stay with me for a while until a flat stretch between Shanklin and Sandown. A good six-mile workout.    Read more

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