First Trip to Dublin

Across the sea for this year's ARA conference (having missed last year in Newcastle).

My first visit to Dublin - took the train to Holyhead to catch the ferry (good deal on the 'Sail Rail' tickets).  Thankfully the crossing wasn't too choppy, even managed to get a rather dodgy picture of a passing helicopter through the ferry window!

Unfortunately we arrived in an extremely wet Dublin, which rather put paid to the pre-conference sight-seeing I had planned.


Much of the next two days were spent in the conference hotel - some excellent speakers mind you, and an opportunity to catch-up / 'network' with lots of people, plus the dinner / dancing on the 'gala' night.

Must admit I did sneak out a little early one afternoon for a brief wander round the streets of Dublin - took in the sights of Temple Bar, and Molly Malone - and we did made it to an Irish pub one evening too.

Journey home could have been smoother (in more ways than one) - a rather rough crossing, late arrival, and mad dash to catch the train home, which was itself late, leaving us with five minutes to make the Aberystwyth connection at Shrewsbury.  Relieved to get back!

Liked Dublin though - will have to return for a more leisurely visit in our own time in the none-to-distant future.

More Connections . . .

 . . .  of the telephonic variety.

This weekend (or more specifically 9.30am on the Sunday morning) also saw the replacement of the telegraph pole outside our house:

Out with the old - which seemed to involve disconnecting an awful lot of stuff (not least the lamp also attached to the post).









And in with the new - with all the consequent reconnecting . . .



Martin is hoping that this is all a sign of things to come (i.e. the arrival of fibre broadband!).

Old Friends and New

Visitors this weekend - old housemates / friends from my University days, and a new friend in the form of our first canine visitor, a border terrier called Wilf.

The sun shone for the most part, walked the prom, kicked the bar, nice lunch out, the returned home to Skype our missing housemate in America - Wilf kept wandering behind the tv trying to work out where she was!  Barbecue tea, lots of wine, more reminiscing, even a Buffy episode or two.

Great to see everyone - house seems empty now without the pitter patter of doggie paws . . .

Lincoln Reunion

Just back from a long weekend in Lincoln, catching up with some old friends from school.

Initially not too impressed with the area around our hotel (the Premier Inn), but a walk up towards the cathedral and castle soon revealed some picturesque steep cobbled lanes and old buildings . . .

. . . shown here the so-called 'Norman House', believed to date from c.1170.

Had a day in the sunshine looking round the Cathedral and Castle and old town, before dinner at a pub by the canal that evening (by which time it was raining - good meal and good company though!).

The Castle was an interesting mix - medieval wall walk, a Victorian prison, and an original Magna Carta (the display of which was very impressive, given that the document itself is rather a dull looking thing).

The highlight for me was probably the Cathedral . . .

. . . soaring pillars, stained glass, and fantastically carved masonry . . .

. . . just beautiful!

On the way home we had the opportunity to call into a National Trust property, Moseley Old Hall, an Elizabethan farmhouse, which once hid Charles II from Cromwell's hoards.  The house doesn't look particularly Elizabethan from the outside, but the interior is very atmospheric, especially when taken over by a troop of re-enactors cooking period food, playing contemporary music, etc.



All in all a great weekend - looking forward to next year's meet-up.

Shout Out

A big shout out and thanks to the RNLI Lifeguards and Borth Coastguard for all their help today.

A sunny day up on Borth Cliff all went a bit pear-shaped when a family visitor was taken ill - the lifeguards and coastguard were brilliant though - and the ambulance were there waiting for the coastguard helicopter back in Aberystwyth.

All turned out ok in the end - it was a rather more eventful visit than we'd hoped for mind you.  Very thankful for our emergency services, in all their incarnations, and very impressed with the  RNLI lifeguards in particular - they were real stars!

Further East

From Stratford we moved on to visit family in East Anglia, and celebrate a 'significant' birthday.

Lovely family Sunday dinner out - nice country pub - a fine selection of fowl (chickens and peacocks) in the garden (assume they are there for decorative rather than culinary purposes!).







Next day took the folks on a trip out to Burghley House - another extremely impressive Tudor property.

The interior - which has been remodelled signifcantly over the centuries - features expanses of elaborately painted walls and ceilings depicting mythological scenes - including the so-called 'Hell Staircase'.

The parkland, landscaped by Capability Brown, survives and has been augmented with the addition of a sculpture garden and garden of 'surprises' - was interested to spot the 'bunny' in the sculpture bit!


All in all made for a fascinating day out - the house is magnificent, and there is plenty to see in the gardens too - not least Alan Titchmarsh recording a tv programme on the Lion Bridge!

Avon Days

Couple of weeks holiday - managed to escape from the garden (and the hedges!) for a few days around Stratford upon Avon, and a bit of a National Trust 'tour'.

First stop on our travels - Brockhampton Estate - a charming tudor manor house with a moat, and a tiny timber-framed gatehouse - with lots of swallows and house martins making their homes in the eaves.

On to Stratford itself where we had three nights in the local travelodge - taking in the pubs, curry houses, and other National Trust properties in the area.  

Baddesley Clinton - another Tudor moated property, with lots of Catholic connections, and stories of priest holes and raids.

Packwood House - 'presented' in Tudor style, but actually a C19th remodelling of an older property, with stunning gardens and yew topiary.

Finally, Coughton Court - another Tudor house, with Catholic connections and beautiful gardens.




All in all, a lovely few days - history, cider by the Avon, a curry or two, and the weather even turned out hot and sunny for us - what more could we ask?