Travel Tales and Notes

North Pier at Tynemouth

2011-10-20T15:48:00.000-07:00

It may have been an October afternoon, and it may have been breezy, but it was also very bright and sunny when we went to Tynemouth and walked along the North Pier. The building of the Piers was a crucial factor in the development of the Tyne as a major port in the Victorian period, though they took 50 years to construct. The North Pier was started in 1854 and work on it was not finished until 1895. A huge storm two years later caused significant damage and another 14 years of redesign and rebuilding.

Take a walk along the North Pier if you are in Tynemouth. There is no charge, and the bracing walk of over 1.5km to the lighthouse at the end will certainly blow away the cobwebs!

Overlooking the Piers from the top of the adjacent cliffs are Tynemouth Priory and Castle.

Copenhagen and Malmo short break

2011-09-25T13:02:00.000-07:00

I visited Copenhagen and Malmo in July. This is the video of the whole trip.

Syria and Lebanon

2011-02-06T09:56:00.000-08:00

In December 2010 I went to Syria and Lebanon, visiting Damascus, Palmyra, Homs, Hama, Aleppo, Krac des Chevaliers, Beirut, Baalbeck and Byblos. I will be posting up more detailed comments as well as videos and photos about each place I visited. In the meantime, this is the video I shot of the whole trip.

Crystal Palace Park

2011-02-06T09:19:00.000-08:00

The Crystal Palace was designed by Sir Joseph Paxton to house the Great Exhibition in 1851 in Hyde Park, London. When the Exhibition was over, the Crystal Palace was dismantled and eventually moved to a new and permanent site at Penge in what is now the London Borough of Bromley. The park was created in the grounds of the Palace and its most famous features are the dinosaurs, lifesize replicas of what the Victorians thought dinosaurs looked like.

The park's lake attracts many wild fowl and there is a huge number of grey squirrels living in the grounds.

There is a small farm/zoo in the park, near the station which houses pigs, goats, lamas, rabbits, guinea pigs and pet birds. There is also a small hot house for reptiles and amphibians.

Both the following videos were filmed in January 2011 (you will spot the ice). The park is worth a visit if you are in the area. Alas, the Crystal Palace was burnt down in December 1936 and was never rebuilt. There is a proposal to rebuild it but the chances of that happening have to be remote. Those pushing the most for the rebuild do not appear to be those who will have to pay for it!

The terraced area of the Crystal Palace is part of the park and there are steps and some arches from inside the original building still there.

Penmon Priory and Black Point, Anglesey

2010-12-05T08:37:00.000-08:00

I was in Wales again last week so I took the opportunoty to go to Anglesey, specifically to Penmon and Black Point, on the eastern tip of the island. Puffin Island sits just off the coast at Black Point and is now a protected bird colony. There appears to be a walkway to the lighthouse just off the coast at Black Point but the tide was largely in when we were there.

There is a cafe at Black Point but given we were there at the end of November, it was closed for the season.

There is a bit of a drive to get to Black Point but you have to go past Penmon Priory and it's worth stopping off there for a visit (it's free to get in).

A monastery was founded here in the 6th century by St Seiriol. The later Augustinian Priory was dissolved in 1538 and the site passed to the Bulkeley family who built the dovecote.

Above and below, Penmon Priory

Above and below, the Penmon dovecote

Above - Penmon Lighthouse, just off Black Point

Above - Puffin Island

Above - Puffin Island and Penmon Lighthouse

Palace Spice

2010-12-01T14:02:00.000-08:00

If you are in the "Triangle" in Upper Norwood, South East London, try the Palace Spice. This Indian restaurant can be found at 16 Westow Hill. I have eaten there a number of times but my last visit was last week.

Good food, modestly prices. Go for the house wine. It was reasonable quality for something selling at under £10.

Watch out however for overly large portions, especially on starters. I think it was a mistake to go for a starter and we more than struggled to finish the main course (in fact we were beaten by it). One of us had a tandoori trout. It was quite a size. We went away absolutely stuffed.

Bill Quay Community Farm

2010-11-19T03:30:00.000-08:00

Bill Quay Community Farm occupies a narrow pice of green land between Gateshead and South Tyneside. It overlooks industrial Tyneside. There's no charge to visit the farm. Plenty of pigs, goats, sheep and bee hives. There is also a visitor centre/cafe.

I visited the farm in August 2010 when I shot this video.

Bill Quay Farm
Hainingwood Terrace
Bill Quay
NE10 0UE

Tel: 0191 433 5780

A short tour of Chester

2010-11-13T16:07:00.000-08:00

This is the video I shot on my recent visit to Chester. A former Roman garrison town, then medieval town, now modern city centre. Great if you are into retail therapy. If you have better things to do with your time than wander around shops, have a look at the cathedral, the medieval city walls, the Roman Ampitheatre (the biggest in Britain) and the Roman Gardens, all of which are featured in this video.

Grosvenor Museum, Chester

2010-11-01T17:37:00.000-07:00

This museum is at 27 Grosvenor Street, Chester. I was pleased I visited it when I was in Chester last week. A modest size museum and free to enter, it has a thorough history of Roman Chester. There is also a room dedicated to the Viking period. Look out as well for the recreation of a town house covering domestic life from the 17th to early twentieth centuries.

We spent an hour and a half in the museum. I loved the place though, admittedly, I am an historian. I was accompanied by a non-historian - and he liked the place as well.

Chester City Walls

2010-11-01T17:25:00.000-07:00

Chester is one of the few cities in Britain where the old medieval walls still survive largely intact (though I recommend Conwy in North Wales as another town where they still stand and arguably are more spectacular). Anyway, I was in Chester last week and got the chance to walk along a part of the wall, from Newgate (see picture below) to the River Dee. I shot this video at the same time.

Access to the wall is free.

A few photos to illustrate the stretch I was on:

Roman Chester

2010-11-01T16:34:00.000-07:00

Chester was one of the main towns of Roman Britain and medieval England. For the Romans it was also a garrison town. Some of the Roman remains are clearly visible though there is still plenty under the streets waiting to be excavated.

I visited Chester last weekend. The first video below is of Chester's Roman ampitheatre. I understand it was the biggest ampitheatre in Britain. It's free to get into and can also be viewed from the medieval wall.

There is some talk of the ampitheatre being the inspiration for the Round Table of the mythical King Arthur.

The second video is of Roman Gardens, a park next to the ampitheatre and medieval wall. The entrance is next to the Newgate on the wall (the gate overlooks the ampitheatre as well).

The park is quite recent, opened in 2000, according to the bit of background research I did on it. It was previosuly the site of an 18th century clay pipe factory.

The park is used to exhibit various pieces of Roman stonework and contains a reconstructed hypocaust.

Back to the ampitheatre - a couple of photos:

This 2nd photo was taken from the top of Northgate. Note how only half the ampitheatre has been excavated.

Tan Dinas walk in Betws-y-Coed - the photos

2010-10-31T06:57:00.000-07:00

In my previous post, I included the video I shot of the Tan Dinas walk near Betws-y-Coed in North Wales, made last week. Well, here are some of the photos I took on the walk as well. The walk itself is not long and is designed for people of all walking abilities.

Running water and waterfalls are regular sights on the Tan Dinas walk.

The walk takes you through pine woodland.

The walk includes a bridge over a stream which is more like a staircase. Nevertheless, it is easy going for people with walking difficulties.

Tan Dinas walk in Betws-y-Coed

2010-10-30T11:21:00.000-07:00

I was in North Wales last week, one of my regular haunts. We took a trip down to Betws-y-Coed to wlak along the Tan Dinas path. This is promoted as an all-ability walk. It is reasonably short and if you like waterfalls and pine forests, you will like Tan Dinas.

Old Station Hotel, Llandudno Junction

2010-10-27T09:46:00.000-07:00

This was another place I visited on Monday 25th October. The Old Station Hotel is opposite Llandudno Junction Station in North Wales. Nicknamed the "Killer" as it was used to kill time whilst waiting for the train to turn up, we went there for a meal rather than a drink.

If you are after something cheap and cheerful, this is the place for you. We went there as, in our group, there was a family with two young lads so family budgets were important. To get an idea of the costs, think about the fact that our meal of scampi, chips and mushy peas cost £7 for two of us.

Whilst the staff were really pleasant and chatted to us, the drawback was that we waited quite a while for our meal to arrive (over half an hour). And the dinner plates were left on the table when the others had their dessert.

But remember, this is a cheap and cheerful establishment so if you're travelling on a budget in North Wales and you are in Llandudno Junction, it's worth a visit.

Jamming at the Mountain View

2010-10-27T09:37:00.001-07:00

I have just got back from another visit to North Wales so expect a few more updates on places to visit and things to do.

On Monday 25th October I paid the second of two visits on this trip to the Mountain View in Penmaenmawr. It is a pub in the heart of the village. It was visited by us on Monday because they have "jamming". Local musicians turn up to play guitars. You can bring your own or use one provided by the pub. Generally, they sit together as a group and play whatever takes their fancy. Alas, I'm no musician so I was there to listen.

It was a pity that there were so few people there. It was quite a pleasant way to spend an evening.

Cutty Sark pub, Greenwich

2010-08-16T07:17:00.000-07:00

I visited the Cutty Sark pub in Greenwich last week. It's on the Thames waterfront in full view of the O2 arena. It's a few minutes walk from the centre of Greenwich along the Thames Walk, or for cyclists the Thames Route. Most people were enjoying their drinks on the pavement at the front of the building overlooking the Thames. Inside there are plenty of period pieces such as the fireplace. There has been significant modernisation including an internal wooden staircase but generally it is a pleasant pub. Useful to visit if you are out for a riverside walk. We got the train from London Bridge to Greenwich. It takes only a few minutes.

Things to do in the North East no 2 - The Gateshead Summer Flower Show

2010-08-13T10:39:00.001-07:00

The Gateshead Summer Flower Show is held at the Central Nursery on Whickham Highway in Gateshead every year on the weekend at the end of July/start of August. It is a craft show as well as flower and vegetables show. Plenty of trade exhibits as well. I visited this year (as I do every year). The above video was actually shot 2 years ago but the photos below are from this year.

This is a good event to pencil into your diary well in advance.

(Crafts exhibition)

(Taking a leak)

(Say it with flowers)

(Eye wateringly large onions in the vegetable show)

Gateshead Millennium Bridge

2010-07-09T16:00:00.000-07:00

My home town of Gateshead has been growing as a tourist destination because of new facilities such as the Sage music hall as well as older attractions such as the historic Gibside estate. One newish site to see is the Gateshead Millennium Bridge. It spans the Tyne and is known as the blinking eye because of its shape and the way it opens like an eyelid. Throughout the summer, it is opened at midday each day.

The following shot was taken from the river boat called the Fortuna on 7th July 2010. I was in the right spot at the right time, almost in the centre of the Tyne with the bridge fully open.

This shot was taken over two years ago from the top of the "Get Carter" Gateshead multi-storey car park. This view will not exist for much longer. The car park is being demolished.

On the road to Damascus

2010-06-30T16:22:00.000-07:00

Not quite on the road, more like on the plane to Damascus, or at least I will be later this year. I have now booked a trip to Syria and Lebanon with Voyages Jules Verne. We have travelled with them before and have been quite satisfied with their service.

A link to details about the holiday is: http://www.vjv.com/destinations/middle-east/syria/restoration-story/

JVJ call it Restoration Story. We had a shortlist of two for our December travels. The other was Nepal and India. We eventually opted for Syria and Lebanon. It will be my 5th trip to the Middle East. I did Egypt in 2003, 2004 and 2005 and Jordan in 2008. As you will expect, I'm rather looking forward to this trip.

Fresco

2010-06-27T09:37:00.000-07:00

I was in London last week on business and went to a new Italian restaurant near my flat in Crystal Palace. Fresco on Westow Hill Road, in the Upper Norwood "Triangle", opened less than a month ago. There's nothing massiely different about the menu but watch out for the size of the starters. They were on the large size, approaching that of a main course. That in itself was an indication of value for money. Generally, service was good, food was good. We opted not to have a dessert. We were too full by then.

Tynemouth Book Fair

2010-06-16T09:10:00.000-07:00

Tynemouth Station hosts a number of different fairs, such as farmers' markets. Once every two months it has a book fair on a Sunday which is worth a visit, especially if you are into local history. It is an Aladdin's cave of books written about the North East, though there are plenty of other types of books as well. I was there on Sunday just gone.

The video above was shot in 2006 - which goes to show how long I have been frequenting the book fair. The station is a grand Victorian suburban commuter station which has seen better days. It's worth a visit in its won right. Some restoration work has been carried out, some still needs to be done.

Il Forno Restaurant, Tynemouth

2010-06-16T09:01:00.000-07:00

One of my favourite restaurants in the North East is Il Forno in Tynemouth. It is based in the old waiting room of the Victorian Tynemouth Station so not only is the food good, but the location has some historical interest as well. That suits me fine as I am an historian and I meet up regularly with a group of historians to have lunch in Il Forno.

The menu is competitively priced, indeed, I would go as far as saying that given the quality of the food, they are undercharging. You can get a good quality 2 course meal for under £10. The wine obviously comes as extra.

If you are on Tyneside, pay this restaurant a visit. It is remarkably easy to get to it as Tynemouth Station is on the Metro system.

Roman City of Jerash

2010-06-08T13:30:00.000-07:00

I visited the Roman City of Jerash in Jordan in June 2008. Once one of the great cities of the Eastern Roman Empire, much work has now been done to restore it after centuries of earthquake damage. The hippodrome has been partly restored and for our benefit (and the benefit of all the other tourists) a display of chariot racing and gladiatorial fighting was laid on.

We were staying next to the Dead Sea and it was quite a drive for us to get there, though we had hired our tour guide for the day and he drove us there from the Movenpick Dead Sea Resort.

Take a hat and water. You will need them.

The Arch of Hadrian

Above and below - the Oval Forum

Chariot racing

Meet the locals

I'm the one with the sun glasses!

Inside a former secret, Soviet, submarine base

2010-06-07T15:53:00.000-07:00

One of the more unusual places to visit is a former Soviet submarine base but in October 2006 I got the chance to do that whilst doing a cruise around the Black Sea. The base was in Balaklava, better known as the supply base for the British effort during the Crimean War (there are plenty of war memorials around but more about them on another day) and for having the famous headgear named after it. Balaklava is on the south of the Crimean peninsula which is part of the Ukraine. I also did a tour of the Crimea in October 2005 but at that time the submarine base had not opened for visitors. On my return visit the following year, I was in for more luck.

(The personnel entrance)

The base is unlikely to be like anything you have ever seen before. It was built to be safe against a direct nuclear hit. The only visible parts are the nuclear proof doors at the bottom of the cliffs in the bay. The base is inside the cliff. If you like James Bond and Indiana Jones film sets, you will love this place.

(The submarine entrace from the Bay of Balaklava)

The following has been taken from my diary written on my second visit to the Crimea:

Thursday 26th October 2006

I always knew this was going to be one of the highlights of the whole holiday - a visit to the former secret Soviet submarine base in the cliffs overlooking Balaklava. I visited the town last year [ie 2005] but the base was not then open to visitors though it has not been in military service since the 1990s. There was, however, no way I was going to miss the opportunity to see it this time!
The entrance to the base is on the opposite side of the bay to the town and from there all that can be seen is the gateway in the face of the cliff through which the subs sailed plus a personnel entrance. Each has nuclear bomb proof doors.

(The access tunnel into the base - note the curving corridor)

The base itself was dug out of the hillside in the late fifties and early sixties to house the subs of the Soviet Black Sea Fleet. The base itself is under 125 metres of solid marble. To get into it we had to enter via the personnel entrance which took us along a long, curving tunnel (curving to help deflect the blast of a nuclear explosion should the Americans have decided to nuke the place). This was like entering a Hollywood world of Indiana Jones and James Bond combined.

(Weapons of mass destruction)

We followed railway tracks to the nuclear bomb assembly area deep inside the base, and then followed more tunnels to the actual submarine bays, huge caverns with the waters of the Black Sea flowing through them, bringing no more submarines now, but only the local jellyfish that seem to exist in vast numbers. All we were missing were 007 fighting the baddies and stopping them from taking over the world! If you get the chance to visit this area (which was closed to the western world and even most Soviet citizens until 1995) this submarine base is a must see.

(One of the internal nuclear blast doors)

(one of the submarine pens)

Photos from the tropical island of Mayotte

2010-06-06T10:57:00.000-07:00

In December 2007, I visited the island of Mayotte, in the Indian Ocean between Mozambique and Madagascar. The island is a dependency of France. Ours was a fleeting visit, just one day on a cruise between Zanzibar and Madagascar. These are some of the photos I took.

The biggest baobab tree in Mayotte and it was huge! David demonstrates the size of it. We were told it was about 700 years old.

Salt-making:

Salt was made by collecting the top soil in the lagoon pictured below which is flooded at high tide. The soil is mixed with water and then filtered through sand. The water is then boiled off to leave the salt.

Snorkelling at the turtle reserve

Definitely a highlight of the visit. The turtles are huge, aver a metre in length, and they feed on the sea vegetation at the shallow sea bed next to this beach which is also a turtle reserve. It is possible to go snorkelling in this area but you are not allowed to swim down and touch the turtles. To prevent this, we were all given life jackets to wear whilst snorkelling. That kept us on the surface!

The turtle reserve beach

Me with my life jacket and snorkelling gear. One thing to watch out for when snorkelling with a life jacket on as I was: your back and neck spend quite a bit of time in the direct sun. You will feel it later in the day.

The slightly more stripped down version of me!

Brown lemurs live wild on the island but some are quite tame and wait at the edge of the beach for food from passing visitors.

Lunch was on another beach and we have music provided by a local group. Face painting like this is common with women on the island.

The tropical island of Mayotte

2010-06-06T03:05:00.000-07:00

The Comoro Islands sit in the Indian Ocean between Mozambique on the African mainland and Madagascar. There are four islands in the group. 3 form an independent republic whilst the 4th, Mayotte, opted in the 1970s to stay French. Though currently styled a french "overseas community", the island will become France's 101st department, effectively making it part of France proper, in 2011. I visited the island in December 2007 though, as I was doing a cruise, I was there for only a day. (We were on a small passenger liner, the Royal Star, which carries about 200 passengers.)

This is a genuine tropical island and is not the easiest of places to reach. There is an airport but it cannot take many of the larger aircraft as the runway is not long enough. Instead, people flying to the island have to pick up connections on the African mainland.

The following is taken from my diary written at the end of the visit. I've included video as appropriate. I'll post up some of the photos in a separate article.

Friday 7th December 2007

Mayotte is one of those relics which before this day I had not visited: an overseas dependency, in this instance of France. Whilst the other Comoro Islands had opted for independence in 1975, Mayotte voted to remain French. Technically we were therefore in both France and the EU. The island probably benefits economically from the link. It seems the French taxpayer picks up a large part of the bill for running the island, though with the unintended consequence of making this island one of the most expensive in the Indian Ocean on which to live. Our guide however was part of the colonial establishment, a white French woman with a rather patronizing attitude towards the island’s inhabitants, explaining to us that the local blacks, in her view, do so many things wrongly and have to be told what to do all the time.

Our first call was to a salt producing site. Effectively, this was a mud flat that was only flooded at high tide. The women working on the site scraped the soil into heaps which would then be added to water and then filtered through sand. The resulting liquid was then boiled down leaving only salt crystals. The gift shop on the site sold, well, different size bags of salt.

The next call was the highlight of the day (and one of the highlights of the holiday) – snorkeling at the turtle reserve. On arrival we were greeted by a band of lemurs who were interested in us for any food we could provide. Alas I had none.

The turtles live on a coral reef around the beach and as a protected specie, we had to keep our distance from them and were not allowed to swim down to touch them. We all therefore had to wear lifejackets to keep us on the water surface. I was happy enough with this as I had never been snorkeling in my life before except for the practice run on Wednesday in the pool of the Royal Star.

David was not able to join in as he could not wear his glasses whilst snorkeling. He took photos and videos from the beach instead. It was a pity he missed the experience. Frankly it was incredible. The turtles were enormous, over a metre long. The place was also teeming with fish, sea urchins and coral. The coral reef itself was huge. In the crystal clear waters it was like swimming in an aquarium. My first experience of snorkeling was over after about an hour. My shoulders and back of my legs had also caught the sun though I didn’t notice this til the end of the day.

We headed back to the Royal Star, taking in the island's biggest baobab tree (and I mean, it really is gigantic) and then a Ylang Ylang plantation on the way, and the ship left port in the late afternoon.

(Ylang ylang flowers are harvested from the trees. Oils from the flowers are used to make perfume. The oil is one of the island's most important exports. Most is sent to Paris.)

Whistlestop tour of Paris

2010-06-04T14:00:00.000-07:00

Up to now I have visited 56 countries (though one doesn't really count as it is a French overseas department - Mayotte in the Indian Ocean - so theoretically we were part of France when we were there.) All but one of my visits were recorded in my diary so I am now starting to post on this blog extracts to give a flavour of when we did and my thoughts on the place. I am starting with Paris.

My first visit to Paris was in 1997, then again in 2000, 2001, 2002 and in 2009. The diary extracts below are from 2009 and show a sense of disillusionment at the cost of eating out. Much of this was a shock reaction to the huge fall in the value of sterling. When last in Paris in 2002, the pound could buy around 1.6 euros. In 2009, it was buying about 1.1 euros. And I think Parisiens were also hiking their prices to soak the tourists.

As you can see I was impressed by the new international Eurostar terminal at St Pancras. That is work a visit in its own right. If you are going to Paris or Brussels, let the train, rather than the plane, take the strain. It's far easier, much more comfortable, and going city to city, just as quick, if not quicker, now that the high speed link is open through Kent. The only drawback of the train is that on busy days, join the queue in the buffet car as soon as possible.

Sunday 21st June 2009

8.30am: I'm on Eurostar travelling to Paris, having just left St Pancras. I'll be in France only for a one night stay. It's my first Eurostar trip since the international terminal was moved from Waterloo and having now seen St Pancras, it thoroughly deserves all the accolades it has received.

I'm not impressed with the buffet car on the train however. I joined the long queue and after 10 minutes, with the first customer still being served, I abandoned any idea of eating.

9pm. I am at Montmartre, Paris, having dinner. I have to confess I am horrified at the costs here. £10 for a pint for example. Over £10 for an omlette. Paris has gone up so much in price since I was last here in 2002. But at least the Metro is cheaper than the Tube!

We've done Eiffel Tower from a distance, Arch de Triomphe, Place de la Concorde, Pyramid at the Louvre, Notre Dame and now Montmarte. Having broken the bank, we'll try to find somewhere that does not measure its prices in astronomical units. Not even MPs on £400 a month tax free food allowances could survive here!

Monday 22nd June 2009

We went along to the Eiffel Tower in the morning, hoping the queues would be shorter, so we could go up. They weren't. We didn't go up. We walked down to the Louvre again, had lunch and eventually caught the train.

Diary ends

My advice if you are doing Paris on a budget: buy food and drinks in shops, not restaurants, and enjoy having picnics in the parks. Stick to sight seeing - there's plenty to see. If you want to go up the Eiffel Tower, get there as early as you can or don't do it at all.

Arc de Triomphe - you have to pay and queue to go up to the top.

Pyramid at the Louvre

Eiffel Tower - get there early in the morning if you want to go up to the top.

Notre Dame

The Egyptian Obelisk in the Place de la Concorde

Sacre Coeur at Montmartre. This is the best place to get a free birds eye view of Paris.

One final point, Montmartre is my favourite place in Paris. Unfortunately it was packed out when we were there in June 2009. The restaurant prices were off the scale (we ended up throwing caution to the wind and had a meal there). Street artists work the patch. We had pictures drawn back in 2002 when we were there. We didn't this time. Quite what their pricing policy is now would be interesting to know.

Pontcysyllte Aqueduct in Llangollen

2010-06-03T09:41:00.000-07:00

I visited Llangollen in July 2009 though we went only to visit the Pontcysyllte Aqueduct, which meant many of the other features of the area were missed (such as the Dee Valley, the Horseshoe Pass and the Llangollen Steam Railway). We had only half a day so we drove down from Penmaenmawr, parked near the canal and then walked over the Aqueduct.

A visit to the Aqueduct is a step back to the age of canals. The Aqueduct is still in use and carries the Llangollen Canal 40 metres above the Dee Valley. Walk it and enjoy with some spectacular views. It is now a World Heritage Site. It was built by the great engineer Thomas Telford and opened for canal traffic in 1805.

Things to do in North East England: the Northumberland County Fayre

2010-06-02T02:17:00.000-07:00

Monday 31st May was May Bank Holiday and therefore by tradition the day of the Northumberland County Show. This is held at Tynedale Rugby Club in Corbridge and is conveniently next to Corbridge railway station on the Tyne Valley line. That means it's easy to get there but.... The train service from Newcastle, which we got at 10am, was packed. Though the train stopped at all the stations on the way (except Blaydon) each station was packed as well and very few people were able to get on board. If youare taking the train, my suggestion is you get there as early as possible.

If you drive there, the neighbouring fields are used as a car park. The first time we went, which was, admittedly, 20 years ago, saw us take nearly an hour to get out of the car park. We have never since taken the car so I have no recent experience to report on.

I didn't take the video camera with me this year so the following video is of last year's show. It still gives a good flavour of what to expect:

The Northumberland Show is, as you would expect, directed at those involved in agriculture. Nevertheless, there's plenty to see and do even if you don't know the back end of a sheep from the front. We had a merry time checking out rotovators (see my allotment and food blog www.self-sufficientinsuburbia.blogspot.com)

We left at about 2pm and people were still pouring in at that point. They would have missed by then most of the livestock, horse, sheep-shearing, jam making etc judging by then. Even so, there were attractions for just about every taste, from falconry to wool spinning. And just about every local government, quango and commercial enterprise you could think of with some kind of role in the county was exhibiting. I got a load of informaiton on bee and hen keeping.

Here are some of the photos I took on Monday:

Advance notice of forthcoming trips

2010-05-30T15:56:00.000-07:00

There are a number of trips I have coming up this year which I thought I would mention in passing.

In the late summer I will be on a cruise to the Mediterranean on the MV Discovery. I've been on this ship three times before and I've advised lots of people who have seen some of my YouTube videos filmed on the ship to take up the opportunity to book a holiday with them.

The itinerary for this trip is: sail from Harwich, Lisbon, Gibraltar, Almeria (Spain) and Nice in the south of France from where we fly back.

I'm back for only 4 days before I have to go to Liverpool for a few days for a conference.

Pencilled in to the diary but not yet with a fixed date is a return to North Wales. The Welsh Highland Railway extension has just opened and the cable car on the Great Orme in Llandudno is now back in operation so I want to pay a visit to both.

There will be various business trips to London coming up soon and dates are being sorted. We are also toying with the idea of using the opportunity of a London visit to do a short trip down to Cornwall. Again, nothing about this in the diary yet.

And tomorrow, I am off to the Northumberland County Fayre at Corbridge. I'll report back on that shortly.

Tower Bridge

2010-05-30T15:32:00.000-07:00

Tower Bridge is one of London's icons and is a must-see when visiting the capital. I filmed the above video in November 2009. We didn't go to the exhibition about the bridge or see the bridge opened. It costs £7 to go into the exhibition which also gives you access to the high level walkways. Fortunately crossing the bridge on the main deck is free!

It is possible to get the dates and times of bridge openings, which seem quite regular, at http://www.towerbridge.org.uk.

Back in November when I walked over the bridge, I was with friends who had a sharp in take of breath when they saw the entry prices at varous places we wanted to visit on both sides of the Thames. The result is we had quite and interesting walking tour and took plenty of photos from the outside. So it is possible to do a central London tour on a budget. (We saw the Tower of London and St Paul's Cathedral from the outside as well. Both, I felt, had relatively expensive admission charges.) I'll write more about the walking tour we did sometime soon.

The London Eye

2010-05-29T16:33:00.000-07:00

Wales is not the only place outside the North East of England I visit regularly. I am in London often twice a month, often for quite significant periods, so I have accumulated lots of diary notes, photos and videos of places to visit. So I thought I would start my London posts with what I believe is the country's most popular visitor attraction: the London Eye.

I've been on once and that was back in September 2005. I guess it's time I went on again. Anyway, the following silent movie was shot by my on a very small compact camera which I now regard as rather primitive. Nevertheless, the video I filmed is my second most popular video on YouTube. As I write this, I can report it has had over 150,000 viewings.

This is me on the same trip:

It takes about half an hour to go full circle. Don't worry if you suffer from vertigo (which I don't). Sufferers I understand have no problem on the London Eye. Depending on time of day and the season, the longest part could be the queue to get on board. Mind you, even at busy times, the queues move quickly.

The London Eye is on the South Bank, next to Westminster Bridge and just along from the Tate Modern so take a trip on it as part of a central London day out. And expect some great views of Westminster.

Great view of the Thames (this one looking east):

Good view of Buckingham Palace:

This one includes BT Tower and Centrepoint:

Conwy Castle and town walls

2010-05-29T09:47:00.000-07:00

Conwy town on the North Wales coast is dominated by the castle built by Edward I, the English king who finally conquered Wales in the 13th century. Conwy is worth a visit for the castle alone as it is substantially intact though the internal buildings are now just walls. In addition, the walls of the town are largely still standing and much of their length is accessible.

If you visit the castle and have no problem with heights, go to the top of the tallest towers and enjoy a fantastic view over Conwt Bay.

Walls only for the internal buildings of Conwy Castle as the photos above and below show. However, the rooms in the towers are all intact.

The photo above was taken on the road into Conwy from Llandudno Junction. It shows how the castle dominates the town (and initially provided the town with the reason for its existence).

Conwy's town walls are still largely standing and parts are open to visitors. A walk around them gives a good view of the town.

The following photo is of the wall on the western side of the town.

The above photo was taken the last time I walked the walls (July 2006) though it's not the last time I was in Conwy (which was just a week ago). Behind my head, the wall joins the Castle.

And here's the video I shot on the same day.

Caernarfon Castle

2010-05-28T14:44:00.000-07:00

My last visit to Caernarfon Castle was actually in August 2007 when these photos and the video were taken. This is one of the most substantial, intact castles in the UK and I strongly recommend visiting it.

The castle exists because the Welsh were invaded and occupied by the English in the 13th century under Edward I, who was also responsible for a chain of castles along the North Wales coast including Conwy and Beaumaris (on the outskirts of Menai Bridge on Anglesey). It occupies a site previously used by the Romans as a fortress, It's easy to understand why the site was chosen as it overlooks the strategic Menai Strait (Beaumaris overlooks the other end).

Edward II, son and heir of Edward I, was born in the castle and was created the first Prince of Wales. Since then, the castle has been used on a numbe rof occasions for teh ceremonial investiture of the Prince of Wales, the latest in 1969.

If you visit the castle, you will find it is also home to the Royal Welch Fusilier Museums which explains the wars in which the regiment has been involved. If you like uniforms, you'll like this museum.

The above photo is of inside the Castle. Below is the video I shot on the same day. It's one of my old, low resolution ones.

And finally, the Caernarfon Boroughs was the constituency of David Lloyd George, the Prime Minister from half way through the First World War until 1922. There is a statue of him in the square next to the Castle.

Menai Suspension Bridge

2010-05-28T09:14:00.000-07:00

The Menai Suspension Bridge was the first to span the Menai Strait and join Anglesey to mainland Wales. Completed in 1826, it was one of the marvels of its day. It still stands as a statement to the abilities of the engineer who built it, Thomas Telford. It is definitely work a visit when in North Wales.

Park in Menai Bridge (the town on the Anglesey side of the bridge) and take a walk over. A good location to see it is from the waterside in Menai Bridge itself. Another good spot we found to photograph it is from the road between Menai Bridge and Britannia Bridge (see photo below). The latter is about 30 years younger than the Menai Bridge and was designed by the great Victorian engineer Robert Stephenson to carry both road and rail.

Conwy Marina and the Mulberry pub

2010-05-28T09:04:00.000-07:00

Another one of the locations I visited last weekend was Conwy Marina. I'm not into ships, boats or anything particularly maritine though if you like modern marinas, this is the place for you. It has been built in the last two decades. Before then, I understand, the whole place was a wasteland.

The reason for our visit was the Mulberry pub, right in the heart of the marina. It's a pleasant enough place. We just went for a short drink after the trip to St Celynin's Church. It has an outside seating area and given the sunny weather on Sunday, that was very enjoyable. The pub does lunches as well but I can't comment on them as we didn't eat there. If you feel the urge to bring the car, there's plenty of parking.

Eating in Penmaenmawr - the Bistro

2010-05-27T15:12:00.000-07:00

I ate at the Bistro in Pantyrafon on Bangor Road in Penmaenmawr on Sunday evening. Unusually for me I didn't take the camera so I have no photos. I understand from Brian and Enfys, with whom we were staying, that the Bistro was opened last year and they were keen that we try it.

Decor was quite twee inside. The menu was not extensive but I was well satisfied with the quality. However watch out for a couple of points. There is no price against any of the starters. Prices are against the main courses and initially look quite steep. But - the price of the main course includes any starter and any desert so the final price is quite competitive for a three course meal. The second point to note is that the main courses all contained meat. However, for the vegetarians (and there was one in our party) the problem was solved by asking for the salmon ardennes without bacon. (He is a vegetarian who eats fish.) I had the same dish with bacon and can recommend it.

The staff generally were quite helpful and chatty, especially when I asked them to put Tom Jones back on instead of the music they had put on!

There's no parking outside the restaurant but there is a car park less than a minute's walk away behind Penmaenmawr Library (bottom of Fernbrook Road). If you are staying in Penmaenmawr however, it's central so walk there instead.

The restaurant is licensed and wine prices are typical for that type of establishment.

Recommendation: definitely worth a visit.

St Celynin's Church and Healing Well

2010-05-27T12:55:00.000-07:00

This was one of the locations I visited over the weekend whilst in North Wales. Friends I was staying with called St Celynin's Church "The Old Church", for good reason. I've done a bit of hunting around for information on the internet and found it is also called the Old Church of Llangelynin. The building dates from either the 12th or 13th centuries (sources I read differ on this) and is likely to have replaced a wooden church on the same site. The porch was added in the 15th century.

The church is in a remote location above the Conwy Valley and is about 6km south of Conwy town. The nearest settlement is Henryd. If you are driving, you will have to park about 100m away. Walk over the stile and follow the contour of the hill around to the right. Cross another stile at the top and you are looking down on the church.

The graveyard is walled but in the left hand corner as you enter is the "Healing Well" or "Holy Well". This is a walled rectangular pool. I'm not sure of its healing powers now but we did find quite a few newt tadpoles swimming in it.

The church itself is still in use though only a handfull of services a year are conducted there.

And just to prove I was there:

And here's the video I shot on my compact camera:

Penmaenmawr town centre

2010-05-27T07:26:00.000-07:00

One of the people who popularised Penmaenmawr as a holiday destination in the early days of rail travel in the 19th century was William Ewart Gladstone, four times Britain's Prime Minister. He first come to the town in 1855. After he died in 1898, townspeople paid for a statue in his memory which was erected towards the town of Paradise Road. This is a good starting point to explore the town centre (or to walk down the bank to the beach.

One point to note - the statue now in place is not the original. Someone did a smash and grab job on it in the early 1970s and as far as I am aware, it was never recovered. The replica which is on the plinth now was installed in the early 1970s.

To the left of this picture is the shopping centre called Pantyrafon. Over the past decade it has been substantially renovated but has retained its Victorian character.

Above - Pantyrafon. This was taken at the junciton of Paradise Road and Bangor Road (the latter was once the main Chester to Holyhead road but it has now been replaced by the A55 Expressway. Turn right at this junction instead of towards Pantyrafon and follow Bangor Road until you get to the restored New York Cottages (see below) which front the main road. You can't get into them but they make a good stop off for a couple of minutes for photos.

Penmaenmawr: mountains, views, wild horses and stone circles

2010-05-26T14:37:00.000-07:00

Though I live on Tyneside in North East England, there are two other places in the UK I visit on a regular basis: North Wales and London. Both are places where I used to work though I never actually "moved" from Tyneside. So, my opening post of this blog is about one of those two places: North Wales.

I've only just got back from Wales. When down there I stay in a town called Penmaenmawr. It overlooks the A55 Expressway, the main road from Chester to Holyhead. It is just to the west of Conwy and is surrounded by mountains. It even has a railway station though I think only one train a day stops there. The railways first brought appreciable numbers of tourists in the later Victorian period to what was otherwise a quarrying town. The quarry still exists but tourism is something of a shadow of what it used to be. Nevertheless, the town has had at least one famous regular tourist visitor who left his mark, or at least his statue. Victorian Liberal Prime Minister William Ewart Gladstone's statue was paid for by public subscription and erected in 1898, after this dominant figure of Victorian British politics died (can you imagine people in 21st century Britain subscribing to a statue of a modern politician!?)

Though Penmaenmawr's number of visitors is not what it was decades ago, in some respects, that adds to the attraction of the place. You will not be jostling with other tourists in the town.

This is a town to visit if you like stunning scenery. The town spreads up the lower reaches of the surrounding hills. Go up to the top of the town and have amazing views out to Anglesey and Puffin Island towards the west, Conwy Bay and the Irish Sea to the North and the Great Orme at Llandudno to the east. If you go high enough up into the hills, on a clear day you can see the Isle of Man. And if you fail to see the Isle of Man, you may see the wild horses that live up here instead.

For the walkers amongst you, use Penmaenmawr as a base and head for the hills. If you visit the town, you will understand why I return to it so often.

The one significant drawback is the A55 Expressway itself. The original route for the main North Wales route was through the town itself, along Bangor Road. The building of the road has removed the heavy traffic from the town. The resulting Expressway however demolished the Edwardian promenade and has sliced a concrete and tarmac scar between the town and the beach. You can see it from the pictures below I took from the hilltop overlooking the town.

In the above picture, you can get an idea of the views available to people taking a walk in the surrounding hills. In the distance is Llandudno. However, note the Expressway dividing the beach from the town (there is a subway through to the beach).

This photo gives a better view of the Expressway. It's the one blot on the landscape though building it has ensured the centre of the town is not destroyed by thousands of vehicles rumbling through each day. If anything, it has made for a peaceful town centre.

Don't let the Expressway put you off the beach however. The road is shielded and so you can barely hear the noise of traffic once you are on the sand. The following video gives some idea of the beach at low tide.

Look out for the wild horses whilst walking on the hills. You can also see them in the following video. Note also the hill and mountain scenery in this video. Also included is the Druid's Circle, a circle of stones laid down in the second millennium BC.

I've plenty more photos of Penmaenmawr, including loads from my trip over the weekend just gone which I haven't sorted yet. I'll try to post them up soon.