A walk around Upton Hall 11-6-16

Despite a pulled  tendon Geoff manfully walked the 5.5 miles around the fields near Upton Hall a National Trust property. England's green and pleasant land around the site of the battle of Edgehill  . . .

 
  a pub!

 the gate to Upton Hall.
 

Half Term Sunday

There is a Cold War Jets Museum at Lutterworth near Leicester and on Sunday they were having taxi runs so we headed north to see what was going on. This time Geoff got to sit in a Sea Vixen and we explored the inside of an air bus.

 the noise of the jets was very impressive and we saw/heard Buccaneers and Lightenings amongst others and at one point a spitfire flew overhead.

  

 

May Half Term 2016

Busyish sort of week. We started off on the Saturday by driving down the M40 to London and RAF Hendon to sit in a spitfire from midday to 12:30 pm, after wandering around the museum. This was followed by lunch, a specially prepared picnic as getting gluten free, dairy free food in a restaurant is not easy unless you want salad.

                                               

We drove back via the M1 and Bletchly Park to see the Enigma machine and the code breakers. A really fascinating museum.

We walked on Dartmoor

So after weeks of not walking anywhere other than locally on the streets of Warwick we got away for a short break over Easter. We went to The Manor Hotel near Okehampton, a craft, sport and spa hotel where we enjoyed full board. The meals were so good Geoff put 6 pounds back on as he felt obliged to eat as much as he could, breakfast was a cooked meal, so was lunch and the evening meal was 3 courses, plus a free bottle of wine on Thursday night that we brought home.
Because we went over Easter we drove down on Easter Sunday and stayed at the Kitley Hotel near Portsmouth overnight.

The following day, because we didn't know the system at the hotel, we visited Dartmoor zoo
 , the National Aquarium in Portsmouth
went and parked on Dartmoor where we were accosted by ponies wanting to be fed. Maddy gave them an apple and got asked not to by the park wardens!
 
We popped into Lyde Castle as the final visit before we got to the hotel

At the hotel we spent our time making pottery, swimming, eating, archery, falconry, glass painting, card making, jewelry making and wood cutting. Amazing!
Geoff and I managed 2 walks on the moors as well. The weather on the first walk was very mixed, sun, hail, snow, rain, we got them all :).Wringing out the gloves!
      

The weather for the second walk was much better, hence the extra pictures. From the top we could could see from the English Channel to the Irish Sea and on the way down we went past bronze age homes and burial site.
 

Haworth

We moved on this morning but before we left Geoff and I went for a quick walk on the moors. There had been a light smattering of snow overnight and it was freezing (literally!) so we only did a mile or so before heading to Leeds.

An Expedition to the North

We didn't manage to walk anywhere the last couple of weeks , but now it's half term we're at it again. Maddison had an open day at York St Johns on Saturday for people they had given offers to so we made a weekend of it coming up to Leeds on the Friday after school, then onto York for the day sleeping in Hull. On Sunday we drove across to Haworth, as you do, to see the Bronte museum and so Maddy could get a feel for the place as Wuthering Heights is one of her A level texts. As well as the museum we went for a Valentines day ride on a steam train from Haworth to Keighley on the Worth valley railway. This was followed by lunch at the Apothecary Tea Rooms, giant yorkshire puddings with roast beef and gravy followed by apple pie and ice cream for Maddy and Bakewell tart and cream for Geoff. Then Geoff and I did a circular walk taking in Bronte Falls and the moors as the sun began to set before returning to the Apothecary Guest House for the evening.
Tomorrow we head for Leeds and visit Mum but might just get a walk sorted before we go.