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This English Summer
As we sit trying to predict the next steps in the complicated and illogical rules on international travel from the UK, this non-starter of an English summer just makes our frustration grow and our sense of isolation increase. First we had the coldest April since 1922 in terms of average minimum temperatures, in fact the third coldest April since records began almost 140 years ago. After a cold dry April we were hit with wet May, during which many areas of the UK experienced considerably more than double the normal May rainfall, and the South East, where we live, was again well below average in terms of daily temperatures. And…
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Nostalgia Trip #1: Barnt Green & Brownsover
Before we turn the metaphorical corner into memory lane, we spend good times visiting some of Michaela’s family in the West Midlands. The combination of our curtailed world trip and the effects of lockdown means we haven’t seen them in almost 18 months, so there is a great deal of feelgood in meeting up with her Dad, brothers and our nieces and nephews. Our base for this is the leafy village of Barnt Green, south of Birmingham and home to Michaela’s brother Andy and his lovely wife Claire. Barnt Green sits on the edge of the Lickey Hills which hold heaps of childhood memories for Michaela, so we take time…
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Our Next UK Tour: Nostalgia Trip
That’s the end of our music history posts for the time being, as we are now leaving on our third trip around the UK this year. There is no Cornwall involved this time, instead we will be visiting various places which play a part in our life histories, one way or another, evoking memories of some special people. A bit of a nostalgia trip. Today is the first day of June, the month we have previously earmarked for a decision on where and how we can resume travelling further afield to other countries. With a considerable lack of clarity still surrounding international travel in terms of where we can go,…
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Two Sides Of The Coin
As England takes strides to relax the COVID restrictions, we find ourselves experiencing the consequences of the changes from both sides. We are lucky enough to own a small cottage in the beautifully picturesque harbour town of Padstow in Cornwall – you can view it HERE – which is for the most part a holiday let. We have used the lockdown period to have some works carried out at the property, leaving us with some making good to do in the form of decorating and new flooring, figuring that there would be an amount of time to get this done before we could reopen for guests. That wasn’t how it…
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A Perfect Day in Constable Country
It is almost 100 days since COVID-19 put a halt to our travels and forced us to return home to England. During that time we have stayed close to home and enjoyed our local countryside and seafront walks, but now we are seeing light at the end of the tunnel, restrictions gradually being lifted and once again we have our sights set on travel in the not too distant future. Today was a landmark day for me, Michaela. With Phil and I living in Kent and my Mum living in Suffolk, the restrictions had prevented us from seeing her…. until today. I last saw my Mum on 23 January, 5…
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Walk On The Wild Side
There is very little to occupy one’s time during this lockdown, but thankfully the behavioural guidance from the UK Government includes taking outdoor exercise once per day. For us, our daily walk in the countryside is our only escape other than shopping for food, but it’s a very welcome daily event. Luckily, we live in a village surrounded by attractive countryside and woodland and can walk straight from our house into open country, safe in the knowledge that we will see almost no one and easily practice social distancing. Equally luckily, this period of lockdown has so far coincided with a spell of lovely Spring weather, we’ve had a lot…
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It’s Life Jim, But Not As We Know It
It’s just a few short days since we walked back into our own home, which in itself was a strange feeling given that we hadn’t expected to see our home again for a long time yet. Not quite as strange though as coming to terms with how much has changed in those few days, for us, for our country, for the world. On a personal level, it’s still hard to take in that our plans for the entire year have gone, plans and dreams which were so long in the making, let alone taking in this unchartered territory which now surrounds us. We retired at Christmas with the sole intention…
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Legends, Kings & Storms in Wet and Wild Cornwall
With just a couple of weeks left before our travels we take one more trip down to Cornwall. We arrive at the tail end of Storm Brendan battering the UK, the Cornish coast is being buffeted by the strong winds and the Atlantic is crashing in making a dramatic scene. The Atlantic is in an angry mood. So after reacquainting ourselves with some of the Padstow pubs on our first evening, we spend the first full day here battling the elements at Tintagel, Boscastle and Port Isaac. Tintagel is of course the legendary site of King Arthur’s castle, with its wonderful tales of Merlin, Arthur and the Knights of the…
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Dover Castle – The defender of England
As we wait for our travel date to arrive we continue our exploration of our local area. One major site which has been on our list for some time is Dover Castle, a familiar site majestically standing proud atop the white cliffs of Dover, keeping watch over the English Channel across to mainland Europe, keeping England safe through the ages, a myriad of underground tunnels holding secrets of days gone by. This site has been occupied in some form since Roman times, the Castle in its present form built by King Henry II and has played a key part in England’s defences throughout many wars, not least of course the…
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Canterbury: A cradle of Christianity
The countdown to the start of our amazing adventures and trips around the world is well underway, with just three weeks to go until our departure on January 29th. From that point on, the next chapter of our lives begins. So currently we are doing our best to shake off the extra pounds put on over Christmas and get quite a bit fitter before the adventures begin. The New Year has to date seen a stroll around the so-called lost waterways of London, following the trail of the River Fleet, a tributary of the Thames now mostly buried underground, and a delightful walk around the picturesque villages just south east…
