Washington week - 5 to 11 October 2006

It was time to hop across “the pond” for a family visit in Bellingham, WA. While there we went back up Mt Baker, the local volcano and a prominent landmark, to see the autumn colours.


When we were last there it was winter and the snow cover meant the road access finished at the ski lodges.







This time the road was open all the way to the top car park and from there we did the short climb up Table Mountain. (see more pictures)


October 2006 ... contrasted to ... February 2005

We also popped across the border into Canada to re-visit Minter Gardens. We had hoped that the autumn colours might be in evidence but were just a bit early to see the Maples and Acers in all their autumn splendour. (see more pictures)






Totally non-dependant on the season was the Seattle Museum of Flight: a place one could clearly spend days fully absorbing all the exhibits. We only had hours but enjoyed all we saw regardless.

All too soon our time in Washington was over and it was time to rush to the departure gate.

Jane Eyre country - 1 October 2006

The Peak District is one of our favorites parts of England so this weekend we set out on a Jane Eyre discovery trip.

Crich was our first stop after an excellent 2-hour trip from London. From there we did a 3 hour walk that went past Wingfield Manor: used in the current Jane Eyre BBC drama as the burnt out ruin of Thornfield Hall. It must have been a huge and impressive place in its day.

The walk allowed us to experience some of the peculiar delights associated with walking through the English countryside. Firstly, walking right though someone's farmyard and, secondly, being the first to walk across a freshly ploughed field. We were also the first to walk across two fields newly sown with crops.





Although perfectly legal, and following the marked public footpath, it actually feels quite criminal to do so and shortly after we received the “sentence” for our “crime”. Leaving the freshly sown field we found that we were also the first to walk up the track to the road, and the track was overgrown with nettles. Tall nettles and shorts do not mix!

However, there is one aspect of country walking which can be a little daunting: herds of cattle that do not look overly friendly. One field had lots of cows and calves standing directly in front of the gate we were intending to use to exit the paddock. We walked through them, shouting to encourage them to move. At the last minute, we found that the cows had been concealing a huge bull, standing directly in front of the gate. Rather too late to retreat at that stage!

After the walk we visited the National Tramway Museum just outside Crich. This is a wonderful collection of all types of trams and things to do with trams, beautifully displayed in a “village street” complete with relocated pub, shops, etc. We happened to visit on a special connoisseurs day when lots of extra trams were running and many other items were on show. The tram ride, which you paid one penny for, gave great views out over the Derwent Valley. The penny was a genuine old pre-decimal penny and was provided with your admission ticket. As a youngster, in the '50s, I remember my Dad putting me on the tram in Wellington and telling the conductor to take me to “the end of the penny section”. It was quite nostalgic to once again ride a tram for a penny. (see more pictures)

We also explored Cromford and Edensor: the estate village for Chatsworth.






Edensor was apparently built for the 6th Duke of Devonshire using every available style in a popular architectural pattern book. The result is a fascinating, eclectic, collection of houses.

Chatsworth Estate may be our favourite part of the Peak District, but this has to be closely followed by the limestone valleys around the very attractive village of Hartington. This is also a compulsory stop to stock up on cheese (particularly stilton) at their excellent cheese shop.

Haddon Hall was used as the setting for Thornfield in the current BBC Jane Eyre production. We had a real sense of stepping back in time, when we visited the Hall on Sunday afternoon. After arriving home, we watched instalment two on TV, and enjoyed identifying the rooms being used.

Chiltern walks - 23 & 24 September

The weekend started at Little Gaddesden village church, where they were preparing for their harvest festival. From there we did a two-mile walk circling the village including a lunch stop at their traditional English Pub.






The large house for this village is Ashridge. We had read that the gardens were open in the afternoon, but when we arrived, the opening hours on the sign said they were open but also had a ‘Closed’ sign up. Since it was just a few minutes after the supposed opening time and the gate was not locked, we invited ourselves in for a quick look around. The buildings and gardens combine to give an inspiring picture of past splendour: quite an amazing place. (see more pictures)

Since we were a little unsure of our status in the garden we moved on to do one of the Chiltern walks based around Cow Roast. After a pleasant stroll along The Grand Union Canal we found the walk turned into our own harvest festival of sorts, as the path was continually lined with various trees and bushes covered in red berries.

One highlight of the walk was King Charles Ride. This is now part of the Ridgeway track and was an avenue of large lime trees, planted over two hundred years ago.

Sunday was too pleasant to stay inside, so we headed again to the Chilterns. After a pleasant pub lunch in Chalfont St Giles, we walked a loop track to Chalfont St Peter and back.

Chalfont St Giles is the perfect traditional English village: complete with village pond, green, several pubs and church, a very pleasant place to visit and the home of Milton, of Paradise Lost fame. (see more pictures)

Thames Festival - 17 September 2006

Sunday was a beautiful day to enjoy the London festival. The riverside on the South Bank was lined with artists of various types, from the stand-alone statue type to groups on stages. We enjoyed wandering along and catching various performances. The most effort award should go to a group who endeavoured to portray a Hieronymus Bosch's painting of Hell. Their costumes were colourful and imaginative.

During the afternoon we experienced a first for us: sitting in a deck chair on a lovely sandy beach, which just happened to be on the Thames riverbank. Looking out over the water to St Paul’s was rather different from that level.

Fortunately we were able to find a pub table on such a popular night and enjoyed a delicious dinner looking across the Thames.
At 7 p.m. a two-hour street carnival started: a very colourful end to a different day.

London Open House weekend - 16 September 2006

The annual London open weekend this year enjoyed beautiful late summer sunshine.

This year's first visit was to Marlborough House to see the Commonwealth Secretariat. We were able to imagine our representative sitting there behind the NZ flag. Next was a look inside the Treasury, two floors above us was Gordon Brown's office. This elegant building, Georgian on the outside, had been totally remodeled inside.

We also visited the Banqueting Hall to admire the beautiful Reuben's ceiling.









After that we sauntered along the Thames enjoying the various artists participating in the London Festival on the way to our final buildings. For us no open weekend would be complete without visiting a livery company and true to form we saw three over the weekend. The Vinters’ Hall and Apocatheries’ Hall both have very handsome buildings that date back to the Great Fire of London. As a contrast the Haberdashers’ building was only opened in 2002: their previous building being one of the casualties of the Second World War.

One last castle before home - 10 September 2006

The fabulous sunshine continued for our final day in Scotland. We spent the night in a beautiful Victorian townhouse in Dumfries and before leaving town had another look at the picturesque set of four bridges.


Having not quite filled our castle quota, we visited Caerlaverock Castle: a magnificent, triangular castle, still surrounded by a moat. It was never taken in battle, until a siege by King Edward I when the force of 60 finally surrendered to the besieging force of 87 knights, 3000 men and a collection of siege engines.

Saying farewell, at last, to Scottish castles we followed the tourist trail to Gretna Green. Judging by the numbers, this seemed to be the most popular tourist destination in Scotland, and also the best value.


What was fascinating here was to read about a conman who sweet-talked his way into a Gretna Green marriage with a wealthy heiress. The rogue was none other than Edward Gibbon Wakefield, a man we learnt about at school as founder of the New Zealand Company and who played a huge part in the settlement of New Zealand in the mid 1800s.

It was then farewell to Scotland, and we took the scenic route through the North Pennines along Teesdale, with one final stop for lunch at the cute village of Romaldkirk before taking the motorway back to London.

Abbeys - oh, and a castle - 9 September 2006

The perfect weather forecast for the weekend made today's trip down the coast road from Kilmarnock to Dumfries a real treat.

Along the south coast are a number of ruined abbeys, the first, Glenluce, had a fascinating display of interlocking clay water pipes: they looked 21st century not mediaeval. Each pipe was marked so that the system could be lifted for cleaning and replaced with every pipe back in the correct location.


Whithorn Priory, the next, was the birthplace of Christianity in Europe. However, the abbey we liked best was Sweetheart Abbey. It is so named because the founder, Lady Devorgilla, is buried holding her husband's embalmed heart.

Before Sweetheart Abbey, we made a stop at a castle in a most romantic setting. Threave Castle is the only Castle in Scotland on an island in a river. Visitors are ferried across to explore the ruins including the remains of the little castle harbour which still exists: a magical place to visit on such a lovely day.

Dumfries is a very attractive town, built in striking red stone. No doubt we saw it at its best, arriving in the late afternoon with the setting sun illuminating the perfect relections in the river spanned by four handsome bridges: the oldest of these was built in the 13th century by Lady Devorgilla, using the same red stone as Sweetheart Abbey. We enjoyed walking around the town on a surprisingly warm September evening.