United Kingdom
Cuckfield

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    • Day 57

      Bonfire Night - Grand Finale

      November 5, 2016 in England ⋅ 🌙 2 °C

      Not only is the 5th November Liz Logie's birthday, it's also bonfire night. Freezing cold but worth the effort!

    • Day 1

      Day 1 - Driving to Wales

      August 1, 2019 in England ⋅ ⛅ 19 °C

      At 10.45am, a grey Audi pulled up outside our house. It was Chris & Angela, only 15 minutes early! We were about to embark on a 2 week holiday in Southern Ireland 🇮🇪.

      We loaded up the rucksacks into Chris’ car, I donned my motorcycle helmet & we were off. The plan was to drive to Chepstow, then the following morning continue to Pembroke Docks to catch the ferry to Rosslare Harbour. Jackie would travel in the car with Chris & Angela, whilst I would ride my bike.

      We decided to take the scenic route, the A272 from Cuckfield to Winchester, then stop for lunch. We set off in convoy, but within just a couple of miles, we were stuck in a 10 minute traffic jam for tree surgery. It was then a slow procession westwards to all the way to Petworth.

      After negotiating the narrow streets lined with Antique shops, we then hit one of my favourite stretches of road, Petworth to Midhurst. We even actually were able to make some overtakes, until we came to a grinding halt on the outskirts of Midhurst. The town was in total gridlock, we believe due to a lorry unloading timber in the High Street.

      Eventually we were back on our way, through Petersfield, then we circled the huge Boomtown Fair site to Winchester. After 2 hours into our journey, we stopped for lunch at Sutton Scotney Services on the A34, giving me a chance to rest my aching buttocks & catch up on the Cricket score.

      Boomtown Fair is a massive 3 day event, with literally 100s of bands on 17 different stages. The headliners include Ms. Lauryn Hill, Chase & Status, The Streets, UB40 & 2 Sick Monkeys. Who? Some of my favourite bands are also playing, including Killing Joke, Slaves, Pennywise, Subhumans & my particular favourite, Zounds.

      After a coffee & half a sandwich, we agreed to meet up again at the hotel in Chepstow. I put the address into the SatNav, then filled up with petrol. The SatNav then took me on a slightly circuitous route, through Andover & Marlborough, so I pulled over & discovered the settings on my SatNav were to avoid Motorways, Tolls, Ferries, etc etc. Not very helpful in the circumstances!

      With the settings amended, I joined the M4 at Swindon & cruised along past Bristol, over the Severn Road Bridge into Chepstow. On an A4 bridge near Bristol was a message ‘BORIS IS A HELCH’. Apparently, it previously read ‘BORIS IS A COKED UP PERVERT’.

      It was just after 4.00pm that I rode down the driveway to the St. Pierre Marriott Hotel & Country Club, which Chris had very kindly got for us at the bargain price of £40 for the night including breakfast!

      Outside reception, I was met by Chris & the girls, who had already checked in. Jackie took me to our room to sort out my ‘helmet head’, then we joined Chris & Angela in the sunshine for a couple of much needed beers for the men & Proseccos for the ladies. Most of the other residents seem to be a large mixed Polish contingent, who had played a round of golf.

      St. Pierre Marriott Hotel & Country Club is renowned as one of the UK’s finest golf courses. There are 2 courses, the Old Course has played host to Curtis Cup, the British Masters and the Solheim Cup. Chris & I were sad we hadn’t got our clubs to ‘tear up’ the course.

      The hotel itself is posh, it is built round a 14th century manor & has an 11th century church in the grounds. There was in fact a wedding fair also taking place in the hotel, Angela & Jackie, posed as ‘partners’ to sample the free wares on offer, well, mainly Prosecco. Chris & I received just a doughnut each!

      Around 6.00pm, we tried & failed to get a taxi to take us the 2 miles into Chepstow. Chris drove & we parked up in the shadow of the imposing Chepstow Castle, that sits on the River Wye. Unfortunately the castle was closed for the day, but we were able to walk around the outside.

      Construction of Chepstow Castle began in 1067 by William Marshall & the mighty Castle Doors have been dated as being no later than 1090, making them the oldest Castle Doors in Europe!

      At the top of the hill, we stopped in The George PH to take advantage of ‘Happy Hour’, unfortunately we didn’t ask what ‘Happy Hour’ consisted of & we paid full price for our drinks. Not a bargain!

      We then hunted around for a suitable dinner spot & settled on the very pleasant & reasonable Lime Tree. Between us we had a Curry, Steak Sandwich, Fish & Chips & I had Mac & Cheese, all washed down with local beer & a bottle of Prosecco.

      I can only put it down to the fresh air on the motorbike, NOT the company, but I felt ridiculously tired in the Lime Tree. When we got back to the hotel at 9.30pm, I went straight to bed & was asleep within seconds.

      Song of the Day - Motorcycle Emptiness by Manic Street Preachers
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    • Day 18

      Day 18 - The Long Trawl Home

      August 18, 2019 in England ⋅ ⛅ 16 °C

      The alarm went off at 6.30am & we got dribbled (that’s what the shower did) & dressed. We met Chris & Angela out in the hotel car park & set off to Rosslare Harbour for the return journey.

      We boarded the ferry without drama & I met the others back in the Club Class Lounge. We, particularly I, made the most of the buffet, especially after Jackie informed me I was on a no-carb diet in the morning.

      It was a choppy crossing, which prevented anyone from going outside on deck. Instead we read the newspapers & played 3 games of Cribbage. Chris & Jackie beat Angela & I by 2 games to 1.

      At 1.00pm we came into port at Pembroke Docks & then began the ‘Wacky Races’ home. The motorcycles were allowed off pretty much first & I got on the road ahead of the others. It was a race wasn’t it?

      The route home took us east along the A477, then A48 & A483 to the M4. I rattled along at around 80mph until I got to the hideous Port Talbot where it poured with rain relentlessly all the way to Cardiff. Eventually I crossed The Prince of Wales Bridge & was back on home ground.

      I stopped at Leigh Delemare Services just to fill up with fuel & then raced on home via the A329, M3, M25 & M23.

      I arrived home, after riding the 268 miles, at 6.30pm, just in time to watch the last few overs of the 2nd Ashes Test. Chris & Angela dropped Jackie off about 25 minutes later. This ended another fantastic trip in which we covered the whole of the southern coast of Ireland.

      Thank you Chris & Angela for letting us tag along.

      Song of the Day - Go, Move, Shift by Christy Moore

      Bonus Song of the Day :-

      Ride On by Christy Moore.
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    • Day 1

      Day 1 - A New Continental Adventure

      August 4, 2020 in England ⋅ ☀️ 16 °C

      Over the last few weeks, we have been monitoring the UK Governments travel advice & we have been changing our plans almost daily. At this moment in time we plan to race through France & Italy (not on toll roads) to Brindisi & catch a ferry to Greece, where we will stay for a month before making a very leisurely drive home.

      At 0915 hours with our little Citroen DS3 loaded to the gunnels, we embarked on our next adventure. It was with some relief that the infected north of England hadn’t spread far enough south to restrict our movements. Talking of infections, Jackie has woken up with a swollen finger, that is turning green close to the nail. Not pretty.

      An hour and a half later, we pulled into the Euro Tunnel Le Shuttle departure terminal at Folkestone & selected an earlier train (1149 hours). After a quick wee, because there are no toilets currently open in the tunnel, we received the call to depart. All very straightforward, despite initially being the low vehicles queue which would have resulted in us smashing our top box on the ceiling. Luckily we were directed to the correct queue! We were also subject of a vehicle inspection & had our steering wheel swabbed for drugs!

      As soon as we actually boarded the shuttle, I couldn’t think about anything else other than having a wee. Typical.

      The 35 minute journey flew by in which time we just about finished our picnic, then we disembarked into Calais. Unfortunately our car SatNav seemed to be struggling with the new language & took us on a guided tour of Calais. We were about to resort to google when finally the SatNav got its act together & spat us out of Calais & on a toll free course towards Reims in the Champagne Ardennes region.

      Our route took us east along the southern side of the English Channel, then just before Dunkerque, we headed south past Lille, Le Quesnoy, Landrecies, Guise, Laon & finally to Reims, arriving at 1745 hours local time. En route we booked our accommodation for the night, the Ibis Reims Centre Gare Hotel.

      We had driven through what was the green fields of France, with still numerous graveyards to remember the fallen, but now the fields were golden with wheat.

      We parked up in the hotel car park, donned our masks & checked in to our hotel, which was perfectly adequate for the budget price. After a quick freshen up, we were soon back out & heading to the famous ‘Cathedrale Notre Dame’. We crossed Square Colbert directly outside our hotel, which was heaving with people enjoying the sun & kids splashing about in a paddling pool. I attempted to take a photo, but Jackie told me to stop in case people thought I was a paedo.

      After a short walk, we arrived at the magnificent Notre Dame Cathedral. It was breathtakingly beautiful. We put our masks on & entered the enormous Gothic building with it’s massive stained glass windows. It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site & celebrated it’s 800th anniversary in 2011.

      The most famous event to take place here was the coronation of Charles VII in 1429, with Joan of Arc at his side. This was one of 25 coronations to take place there between 1223 & 1825.

      After strolling past the other points of interest, Palais Du Tau & a statue of Joan of Arc on horseback in full body armour, we located a pharmacy for Jackie’s finger which was really throbbing.

      The pharmacist didn’t like what he saw of Jackie’s finger & suggested she go straight to the hospital to get it checked out, but then after further consideration he diagnosed it as ‘Whitlow Finger’. He sold Jackie an antiseptic solution, that she has to douse her infected finger for 5 minutes twice a day & has advised she goes to a hospital if things don’t improve within 5 days.

      We walked up through Esplanade du Colonel Boucher, had a beer in a Brazilian Restaurant, then walked to a creperie, A L’ere Du Temps, for a savoury galette & half a litre of smooth Bordeaux red. It was all superb.

      Jackie’s finger was throbbing, so we headed back to our hotel, but not before picking up a bottle of Vranken champagne from Reims from the local supermarket. Back at our hotel, it was a quick shower, then popped the fizz. When in Rome................and all that!

      The night ended with up drinking our fizz out of paper cups, whilst I wrote the blog. Mr Vranken would probably be very upset.

      Song of the Day : The Green Fields of France (No Mans Land) by The Men They Couldn’t Hang.

      Bonus Songs : Fields of Gold by Sting.
      Bonus Songs : Champagne Supernova by Oasis
      Bonus Songs : Joan of Arc by OMD.
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    • Day 38

      Day 38 - Fin Whale Blowhole Spout Show

      July 18, 2023 in England ⋅ ☁️ 22 °C

      During the night Jackie hit me hard several times because I was allegedly snoring too loudly. This caused an argument & a disturbed night’s sleep. The alarm went off at 7am.

      I got up, made 2 mugs of coffee, then we sprang into action. The sleeping bags, airbeds and even the tent were all expertly folded & fitted in their respective bags. Our packing and loading of the car went like clockwork & we managed to find time for a shower & breakfast - coffee & Choco pains.

      Just after 10am we rolled out of Endai Campsite. It was the best campsite we have ever stayed at especially the individual grassy terraced pitches, the friendly staff & the on site cafe & shop. One amusing, but probably accurate online review described the campsite as being like ‘grandma’s garden’, I guess it was the hydrangeas. We definitely hope to return in the not too distant future.

      An hour and a half later, we arrived at Bilbao Ferry Terminal & quickly boarded Brittany Ferries Galicia ferry. It probably had something to do with the fact there were only 260 passengers on this crossing when the ferry has a passenger capacity of 1,015. We dumped our bags in our Cabin 7125 & took to the upper deck as we sailed out of the harbour.

      Sadly it was a too windy and overcast to justify sitting outside all afternoon, so less than an hour later we were back in our cabin making & eating pate baguettes from the mountain of food and wine we brought on board with us.

      I then came over all weary & retired to my bunk bed for a siesta, whilst Jackie bought some expensive Clarins ‘bargains’ in the duty free shop.

      We didn’t drag ourselves out of our cabin until 7.15pm & then kicked ourselves that we were missing out on a beautiful sunny evening in the middle of the Bay of Biscay. Almost straight away we bumped into the very same Orca Watcher, so I took the opportunity to ask if we had missed anything. I was relieved that we hadn’t, but he said that we may see whales in about an hour’s time, when the sea gets shallower. We sat back with a glass of wine and waited. He was wrong……….it was an hour and 20 minutes later.

      Granted they were quite a long way away, but we were treated to a show of 8 metre high spouts of sea water at the back of the boat for about 15 minutes. I took some cracking photos as can be seen below.

      Mr Orca Watcher informed us that the spouts were from a pod of Fin Whales, the world’s 2nd largest species of whale measuring up to 28 metres in length.

      It was a nice end to the evening.

      Song of the Day : Like Clockwork by The Boomtown Rats.
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    • Day 39

      Day 39 - Staring At the Sea

      July 19, 2023 in England ⋅ ⛅ 22 °C

      We both slept like babies, then at 9.30am we went to the restaurant for our much anticipated full English breakfast. It consisted of 2 small sausages, a pile of streaky bacon, baked beans, a hash brown, half a tomato, toast & a puddle of scrambled egg. It tasted better than it looked, but probably didn’t justify the cost of €11 each with a coffee.

      After breakfast we fined Brittany Ferries for their overpriced breakfast by dousing ourselves with expensive perfume and aftershave testers, then rubbing handfuls of Clarins most expensive revitalising creams into our faces.

      We then took to the top deck and sat in plastic chairs staring out to sea. Mr Orca Watcher stated that dolphins had been spotted earlier that morning. We stayed out all day, but didn’t see a thing. Occasionally I saw able to listen to the cricket when I got a 4G signal on my phone.

      As we approached Portsmouth Harbour we passed a large cruise ship, Regal Princess, heading out on a trip around the UK. The disembarkation was another straightforward affair, although Border Force did question me as to why I had been out to Ghana, which led to me divulging that I was an ex-copper and I was currently working at Manston. They soon let us through after that revelation.

      We then raced back to Haywards Heath just in time to pick up a takeaway curry that Jackie had set her heart on.

      Note: Apart from the breakfast, we were both super impressed with our Brittany Ferries crossing to and back from Bilbao, however we could imagine it could be a very different experience if the Ferry was up to maximum capacity and full of children.

      Song of the Day : Celebrate by An Emotional Fish.
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    • Day 1

      Day 1 - The NMA Tour Adventure Begins

      February 28 in England ⋅ ☁️ 10 °C

      “Four o’clock in the morning and still we cannot sleep
      Turning over, turning ‘round, twisting in our sweat
      They say there is no rest for the wicked ones
      Dear God, what have we done?”

      After an almost sleepless night due to nervous excitement and a little trepidation, the alarm actually went off at the ungodly hour of 3.45am. An hour later, after a piece of toast & a shower, I was on the road to the Le Shuttle crossing at Folkestone. I arrived at 6.18am, checked in and boarded the train for the 7.18am crossing in a carriage just for me. All the staff at Folkestone could not have been any more helpful and were interested to find out where I was travelling to. They probably regretted asking when I rattled off my itinerary!

      It was all going too smoothly. I was told the train had a communications problem, but the engineers were aboard and trying to fix it. An hour later, we had to all disembark the train and board another. As a result, we rolled into a dank grey Calais at exactly 10.am local time. I could have had at least another hour in bed.

      Back on the road, I hit the E40 heading east towards Dunkirk in the miserable drizzle, then heading south on the E42 through Lille, then into Belgium and through Mons. I passed by Charleroi and entered Luxembourg somewhere along its north western border. The roads in Luxembourg are a motorcyclists dream - perfectly smooth tarmac with hardly a pothole in sight. The roads in Luxembourg just scream affluence.

      During this leg of the trip, I had to stop on a total of 4 occasions. Twice for fuel, paying the exorbitant price of €1.99 a litre at a service station on a motorway in France (I knew I was being ripped off but I had no choice), then just €1.57 a litre in Belgium. I also stopped for lunch consisting of a very tasty poulet au curry baguette with salade & oeuf (coronation chicken & sliced egg). I wanted a coffee, but I couldn’t fathom out the coffee machine. My final stop was Lidl for essential supplies - a bottle of red & some chocolate biscuits.

      My 1st planned stop was Bourscheid Castle, which looked impressive, but not so impressive that I forked out €7 of my own money for a tour. Well I would have, but it was now 3.15pm and I had more to see. After a few photos from the road, I mounted my bike and continued.

      The 2nd scheduled stop was Vianden Castle which was a testing 30 minute ride away. In my opinion, Vianden Castle was way more impressive, however I did only see & photo it from afar. Probably worth further exploration if time permits!

      It was then a 45 minute ride south down the tunnel heavy E421 to Luxembourg City & my accommodation for the night - the Luxembourg City YMCA. I arrived at the city centre YMCA at almost dead on 5.00pm. That equated to pretty much 10 hours of motorcycling, helped hugely by the incredible heated inner soles that kept my feet not warm, but hot the whole day & a saddle webbing that kept my backside not just off the saddle, but also slip free (Both Christmas presents from Jackie),

      Now it is a long time since I have stayed in a YMCA. I had to pay a deposit of €3 for my room key card and a subsequent deposit of €10 for a padlock and key for my locker. My allocated room was a dorm with 4 bunk beds, a toilet and a shower. I made use of all the facilities and was just sorting my self out when my 1st ‘roomie’ returned to the dorm. I managed to get him to say hello, before he totally ignored me with something far more interesting on his phone.

      I then went out to explore the city centre famed for its Grand Ducal Palace, Notre Dame Cathedral & the Bock Casements along the Alzette River that runs through the length of Luxembourg. My first mistake was that I forgot to take my camera. I walked around for an hour and a half during which time darkness descended until it was too dark to see anything of interest. I considered getting a McDonald’s meal, but was flabbergasted to see that even a Big Mac cost €12. Instead I returned to my dorm for my bottle of red, lots of Twiglets & a few chocolate biscuits.

      Whilst writing my blog, Grumpy bastard had a shower and went out. Two others also turned up, so we have a full compliment tonight. I just hope no-one keeps me awake with their snoring.

      Song of the Day - Luxembourg by Elvis Costello & The Attractions.
      NMA Song of the Day - No Rest by New Model Army.
      Daily Total Distance - 379 miles.
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    • Day 7

      Day 1 - The Festival Festivities Begin

      May 24 in England ⋅ ⛅ 17 °C

      Coughing like a banshee & unable to stand it anymore, I got out of bed at 4.15am dreading that I will keep the Stone Valley Festival campsite awake all weekend.

      After packing the car we set off at just after 7.00am. We dodged all the traffic jams & arrived in Ware, Hertfordshire at 9.00am where I treated Jackie to a McDonald’s breakfast.

      At 9.30am, we rolled into the Stone Valley Festival ground, no queue and we were told we could set up anywhere we liked in the top field. Spoilt for choice we picked a perfect location and just a very short distance from the car. We set up in less than 90 minutes.

      We were just relaxing, when Andy and Tre appeared in the distance with Loupe, their 10 month old German Shepherd, affectionately known as ‘Johnny’ after The Shining character. Living up to his reputation, Johnny greeted us, by having a huge poo 💩, just 10 metres from our tent ⛺️. Lovely!!

      After a quick beer, we joined Andy and Tre at their van for pre-gig drinks, then we headed to the show ground in time for the 1st band of the day, Small Fakers, to start at 1.30pm. To our incredulity, the gates weren’t opened until 1.30pm and the Small Fakers started their set just 2 minutes later with us and literally everyone else still queuing to get in. Annoyingly, we hardly got searched on the way in & Jackie was cursing the fact that she could have smuggled in a bladder of wine. I was also cursing when I saw the bar prices - Beer £7 and a bottle of wine £33.

      The Small Fakers were good, playing Small Faces songs, obviously, that we all recognised.

      Next up was the highlight of the day, Ruts DC, who were on criminally early, who played a fantastic set including Babylon’s Burning, West One (Shine On Me), Staring At The Rude Boys, In A Rut & Something That I Said to name just a few. I returned from the mosh pit to find that Jonathan and Emma had finally joined us.

      Pop Will Eat Itself were the 3rd band who were better live than on record. Next was From The Jam who played all the classics including Strange Town, Mr. Clean & Down In The Tube Station At Midnight. The general consensus was that it would probably be their last tour as Bruce Foxton looks a frail old man. We then watched Death Of Guitar Pop, who were ok before deciding to seek some cheaper liquid refreshment - as in drinking Andy and Tre’s wine back at their van.

      Sadly this is my last memory that night. Allegedly I over indulged. Apparently we returned to the arena for The Sherlocks, then I was escorted back to my tent by Jackie and Andy. This caused Andy to miss his ‘favourite’ band. Lip Up Fatty!!

      Song of the Day - Babylon’s Burning by Ruts DC.
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