On to New York – 26 September 2011

Contrary to the weather reports, the sun has continue to shine each day, and we set out for Lake George this morning. Very shortly after leaving the campsite we pulled over to visit the historic Scott covered bridge. We had seen others earlier that were still in use but this one was special in that it was the longest wooden span bridge in Vermont when it was built.

The main, 166 ft, span is quite incredible. It was subsequently strengthened with wooden arches built inside the original structure but this attempt failed and more recently a concrete pier was constructed mid stream to support it. It has been closed to traffic for some time.

The roads around Bald Mountain had been closed after Hurricane Irene, but were now open. What the website didn't say was that there was a detour partway along our route to Manchester Centre, for any vehicles shorter than 23 feet. At 32 feet we felt obliged to ask directions. Luckily the lady we asked lived along the detour and said she had seen vehicles larger than ours travel along there, and suggested we ignore the sign and take the detour.

It proved to be very interesting. The destruction left by the flooding after the hurricane was very obvious, with the river bed a disorganised chaos of rocks, a house only half there and hanging over the temporary road (along the river bed). The replacement bridge was under construction, and we saw three other bridge repairs on the road to Manchester Centre.

The area here is obviously higher, as we saw signs to a ski field. As a result, the foliage became more and more colourful. The surrounding hills had bands of colour where the trees at a certain level were turning red. It was a real treat to see briefly the type of foliage we had come to see, before arriving at Manchester. This proved to be a neat and tidy provincial town. We found a bank to use an ATM, in what appeared to once have been a gracious home.

Lunch was an interesting stop at Dorset by the first marble quarry in the US. The large hole left after the rock was extracted has filled with crystal clear water and is obviously now a popular swimming hole on a hot day.

Lake George was an hour later. The town appeared a little as though the season was over and much was closed. But the lake itself was beautiful, with lake cruise boats lined up, including a paddle-steamer.

Our campsite at Lake George RV Park, was a lovely leafy cool haven at the end of the hot day.

Pine Acres to to Bald Mountain – 25 September 2011

The web research on Fall in New England seemed to recommend the last week in September to the first week in October as optimum time to visit. But this year is still very warm, and the trees are only just beginning to turn; hopefully they get going while we are here.

We drove to Old Deerfield historic village to have a look at the village with it's original houses built in the seventeenth century. This gave Alan a chance to meet up with us. He had set out from NZ a day behind us. Alan arrived on time, as we were looking around the village with a self guide map. Many of the houses have been restored, and are able to be viewed with a guide. We however did not have enough time to do that, and set off for our next campsite in a fairly remote area called Bald Mountain.

When we arrived at the campsite, the owners had closed the reception and left a a note to camp anywhere. The campgrounds were pretty much deserted, so we had unlimited choice of where to park. We camped right by the river, near the facilities. We were fascinated by the antics of Chip (don't know where Dale was), this should have been a clue to our location, as acorns fell very loudly and heavily on the RV roof all night long. Not such a good choice after all!!

Conifer to Pine – 24 September 2011

The flight to Boston was less then seven hours, which made us wonder why we had not travelled here before. We had to pick up our RV by 3pm, which seemed pretty impossible with a flight landing at 1.15pm, and no suitable public transport. But the flight was 15 mins early, the booked taxi ready and waiting, and we made it to Rutland by 3pm.

Bradley and Susan with Linnea were waiting there for us, it was great to meet our first grand-daughter, looking so sweet and tiny at two months old.

The RV formalities over, (Alison who sorted our booking was great and even loaned baby gear) dinner next door at Ladds, and we were on our way to Pine Acres for our first night in a RV, arriving just in time for a brilliant sunset over their lake.

London Open Weekend – 17 September 2011

A quick look on the Web doesn't show any other other countries that have the same Open House weekend scheme as the UK. It is such a brilliant idea, and works very well here, with the hundreds of years of historic building styles.

We headed to the City of London, as the Square Mile has many participating buildings packed into an easy walking area. We managed to visit quite a few, ranging from Trinity House (which is in charge if the country's lighthouses), several livery companies (the best would have to be the Drapers)

and several churches, which are normally closed on the weekends. It is a curious effect of population dynamics that many city churches have no congregations as no one lives nearby, so they are locked on Sundays and open for many different functions during the week.

One of the more unusual places we visited was a hairdresser at Leadenhall Markets. In their basements is a glass door showing part of the original Roman Basilica foundations. So the modern basement is the ground level of Roman times.

Road and Rail - 11 September 2011

We have very vivid memories of watching 9/11 live on TV, as we were new to the UK, and happened to be home, unemployed and unusually had the TV going in daytime. But while the rest of the Western World were remembering 9/11, we were a world away on Sunday with a group of Y Type MG owners. These cars were designed before and built after WWII, so started out in turbulent times.

The day started at the Stondon Transport Museum, one of the largest private collections of cars in the country. It's amazing how many collections there are around the country. This one had a very wide variety of items; cars, bikes, trucks, buses and the slightly more obscure such as a Russian ballistic missile, a Flying Flea, a 1920 street sweeper and a gypsy caravan. But probably, most surprising of all, was a life size replica of Captain Cook's Endeavor, built from the original plans.

An interesting route took us via picturesque villages and minor roads, including one that said 'Not suitable for motor vehicles', a great pub lunch at The Globe, to the Steam Trains at Leighton Buzzard Narrow Gauge Railway.

This rail track was used for sand excavation from the many pits around Leighton Buzzard. Prior to WWII, sand was brought to the UK as ballast, but this was not possible during the war, so sand pits known from as long ago as Roman times, were developed and sand is still exported from here. In particular filtration sand from this area is exported all over the world.

After a ride on the train, there was time for a coffee and we managed to dodge the black rain clouds all the way home, as the remnants of Hurricane Katia edged to northern parts of the UK.

London Festival – 10 September 2011

The annual Mayor's Thames Festival is, not surprisingly, based along the Thames, with lots of activities and previously we have watched the Festival Parade at the conclusion of the weekend. This year we went to see the Dunkirk Little Ships, displayed in the St Katherine's Docks. It was truly amazing to see these relatively small boats, who rescued soldiers from Dunkirk. Some would not have been able to hold many men, but that was the secret of the successful evacuation – all types of boats doing their bit.

The North Bank of the Thames was full of people, out enjoying sunshine, a bonus on a day when rain had been forecast. An extensive street market of stalls selling an excellent range of handcrafts were very tempting as were the many foodstalls which lined the Thames Path. We were very taken by a ship skeleton, built from timber rescued from the Thames, and covered in artwork by school children. The festival is one of Europe's largest free festivals.

The Thames Parade of Boats was due to start at 3pm, so we stood at the end of a pier to get a good look. Something obviously went wrong, as we had enough time to swap life stories with the couples either side of us, before the first boats appeared. Sadly, it was not worth the wait, although it won't put us off waiting for the Queen's Diamond Jubilee Pageant boat parade next year.

Euston – 3-4 Septembeer 2011

Many London suburbs are also towns around the UK. We live on the edge of Sudbury, which is a much more attractive town in Suffolk. This weekend we set out to explore the other Euston (also in Suffolk), which for us is the London terminus of our trainline.

Saturday was a reprieve on summer, and we enjoyed a glorious day of sunshine, exploring the Suffolk area around Euston. Starting in Bury St Edmund for lunch, we had a stroll through their Abbey gardens, and agreed with the banners proclaiming 'Bury in Bloom'. The flower beds were a riot of colour.

We also visited the Royal Theatre, which is the last Regency Theatre left in England. It was opened in 1819, and was restored a few years ago. Much smaller than current theatres, it was an interesting glimpse into the past.

After Bury, we next stopped at the lovely little town of Woolpit, which has a stunning church, with a 15th century wooden hammer-beam ceiling, liberally decorated in angels with their wings outstretched.

Pakenham was next, with the distinction of two working mills left near the town. A five story windmill and a watermill, where we stopped for tea and homemade grapefruit drizzle-cake made from flour ground on the premises – delicious.

Euston followed, with a range of lovely estate houses. The 'big house' was not open until Sunday, so we planned a repeat visit. Thetford is just up the road, and quite a a pleasant town, which in 1066 (Norman Conquest)was the sixth most important town in England. It is now a town of has-beens.

All that is left of the castle (built at the time William the Conqueror) is the 80ft mound. There were several priories and other church buildings, a picturesque reminder of the nunnery is the three nuns bridges. Henry VIII's reforms of course played their part in reducing this important town to a collection of ruins.

From here on, our circular route took us through the Thetford forest, with lovely areas of heather, which must do well in the very sandy soil..

On Sunday we paid a repeat visit to Helmingham Hall Gardens, as these would have to be one of our favourite discoveries in this country. There is such a timeless tranquillity about the huge Tudor mansion and the Grade I listed gardens, also residing in their own moat.

The gardens appeared to be under the watchful guard of a large bull with enormous horns, who stood steadfastly by the gate. But he appeared to just be bemused by the warm sunshine, and gave no trouble.

Euston Hall finally opened at 2.30pm. It was a surprisingly simple homely house, despite the grand connections of the family who have always owned it. Decended from Charles II, with a Prime Minister, an Admiral who is recognised as inventing the first weather 'station'.

In the archives room, a newspaper article said the family tree read like a Who's Who of England. The tearooms was like stepping back in time too, as a fiver got two cups of tea and two delicious homemade large pieces of cake.