Aberdovey

It is unbelievable, but this year was our 8th at the same hotel in Aberdovey, mid Wales - The Trefeddian. Over the years we have gone with my Mother, Danielle's father and friends. This year it was just us, and we had a great time again.

The photo is of Danielle and Rowan walking along the crowded beach.

More from the Camino

This is from the Camino de Santiago in Galicia. The granite blocks of the houses and the network of granite paths in the mountains give the area a unique character; solid and timeless. Bit like this little boy really.

1984

This photo of a woman in Galicia on the Camino has been popular over the years. She was a marvellously serene woman, the knife that she lay on the steps just adding a bit of mystery ...

1984

Along the Camino de Santiago we came across these three pilgrims en route to the shrine. Unlike most people on the route they were your actual monks. The scene always struck me as more spaghetti western than road to Damascus.

Goldfinches

The Goldfinches have been busy scoffing the niger seed recently. There were four nicely lined up on the feeder for a long time one morning; I go to get the camera so one of them feels he has to leave. Anyway you get the idea ...

Royce Walker

It was Danielle's Dad's memorial service yesterday. Danielle said that it went very well, 250 people there from all the various walks of his life. It was a shame that Rowan and I could not have been there.

This is one of my favourite photos of Royce. Taken in 2002 I think it shows how loved and long-suffering he was!

1984 continued

After finishing off at San Valentino in the Alps [where we had walked to from Nice the previous year] we got a train via Milan to Santiago de Compostelo from where we walked on the Pilgrim's way back to St Jean Pied de Port in south west France. This leg had not been in the original plan, but we were going such a rate that we had a month to kill before meeting up with friend Thelma in France. It was a great bit of the walk, full of heat, interest and bemused pilgrims passing us going the wrong way. This photo of a cross en route in the blazing sun of Castille is typical of the route.

Crop

The vegetable crop is going really well this year. The mange-tout peas are always a big favourite here, the challenge is to get back to the kitchen before eating them all.

The West Bank

In local West Bank Park [named after its geography, not as part of a right-on twinning programme] there sits a smallish statue of Queen Victoria. It was commissioned at Victoria's death by the local Tory Council. When Labour took power in the Council they decided they could not justify the expense, but they could not jettison the whole project. The compromise was this rather daft looking statue which is a one 1/4 size replica of what was planned. A bit like Spinal Tap really.

Airfield

We all went a walk on an old airfield outside of York last week, before everything else happened. There are numerous airfields on the flatlands around the city, built during the War for bomber raids to Europe. Most are now either used as industrial estates or have become part of the farmland. There is a poignant reminder of the crews who flew the bombers in Betty's cafe in York where they have graffitied a mirror which still survives. http://www.bettys.co.uk/cafe.asp?storyid={EBCDFAEA-C6F5-4F2A-AB0E-7C07A94D5241}

July 20 2009

Will go down as a bad day. It started well with a game of badminton with Edward and Rowan. Then Homer attacked and bit Rowan on the forehead totally unprovoked. I had to get her to the Hospital, and deal with the dog. Rowan was brilliant about it; she needed stitches under a local anasethic but handled it all well. The dog will have to go back to the Rescue organisation - we just cannot risk it happening again with Rowan on anyone else for that matter.

Danielle got back from London to discover that her father had taken a turn for the worse. By the time she had booked a flight to go out there again the news came through that he had died. An incredibly quick decline.

A lot of sadness.

Butterflies

It has been a good summer for butterflies on the moor so far. Plenty of Speckled Woods and Meadow Browns. I saw this Painted Lady last week having a rest in the sun.

Ro and Pete returned from their walk on the Cleveland Way yesterday and took Mother back home. It has been good seeing them all.

I was due to be in Scotland walking with Eddy this weekend for his 50th, but with Royce's situation declining fast I needed to stay home with Danielle.

Millau

This is another rescued panorama. This one is of Millau in southern France in 1991. It is one of my favourite places, the causse landscape http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Causses is fantastic and empty. A couple of friends have houses in a village nearby, so one day we will get down there. There is a massive new bridge across the valley at Millau so this shot may be a bit of an historical item.

Ticino

Every so often I begin the Herculaen task of Clearing Out The Shed. The end result is usually a very ordered shed that then gets gradually suffocated with junk over the next few years necessitating another clear-out. When I tried to go in last week and realise I couldn't even get into it, I knew it was time to act.

Anyway amongst the junk I found a couple of damp panoramic photos which I have resuced a bit. This one is from 1981 when I hitched through Europe on my own. Many adventures including staying in a monastry for the night in Ticino [The Italian bit of Switzerland]. This shot is the view from the monastry.

I am posting this from the Train, so because it is on a Sweedish server the spellcheck is in Sweedish. It tells me I have only spelt five words correctly [damp, bit, I, is, for]

Still in 84

We were still walking through the Alps at this time. This is a typically misty morning in Italy with the stakes ready to be used for the hay crop.

Stamford Bridge

I have supported Sustrans for about 16 years now, and it is money well spent. The network of cycle tracks around the country is fantastic http://www.sustrans.org.uk/ . Last week I rode to Stamford Bridge [the one famous for Harold's 1066 victory, not the one famous for bloated egos and salaries] and rode across the River Derwent on the old railway viaduct for the first time; another great piece of Sustrans renovation.

Yat

Another shot from Scampston, this is a gate made by a local sculptor. The Yorkshire word for gate is Yat [apparently] and this is contained within the gate.

Scampston

I took mother to Scampston Gardens http://www.scampston.co.uk/metadot/index.pl which was really nice. A modern walled garden and a great cafe. The photo is of mother about to do battle with one of the sculpture's in the gardens.

Bad News

Danielle's Dad is very ill with liver cancer, so she and Rowan went over to see him for a week. He is in hospital at the moment, but will be returning home with care shortly. Hard time all round.
Meanwhile my Mother is staying here in York, whilst Ro and Pete [my sister and husband] walk the Cleveland Way on the North York Moors. The photo shows them with Homer who obviously thinks he is going with them ...

Virgin on the ridiculous

Due to the hopelessness of Virgin Media the blog will be offline until wednesday at least. aaargh!

Then and Now

When I am cycling these Sportives I don't feel that different to when I cycled long ago. Then I get the photos and see this knackered old bloke. Here is the proof. One of these photos was taken in 1980, one in 2009. I think you should be able to tell which is which - same shirt though.

Go Ride

I went to a meeting this week where a group of us are trying to set up a Go Ride group for York. This is a British Cycling program to get kids cycling. Hopefully we will be up and running by next year.

The buttercups on the Moor have given way to the beautiful grasses that have been allowed to grow this year on account of the late arrival of the cattle.

Harvest News

The courgettes have gone very well this year after a disappointing couple of years. This is the first crop, picked small to encourage more growth. Everything else seems to be growing ok, with the lettuce already producing far too much as usual.

Radio Radio

Just finished a really good book about Radio and Life in the UK - http://www.amazon.co.uk/Radio-Head-Down-Dial-British/dp/1847372309/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1246988433&sr=1-1 Radio Head by John Osborne which I recommend.

The photo is another one from Rowan's leaving do.

Lund Gallery

Artist friend David Campbell is exhibiting at the Lund Gallery http://www.lundgallery.co.uk/ so I cycled out yesterday, listening to the Tennis, to the private view. It is an impressive gallery with a lot of good stuff there.

The photo is from Rowan's last Assembly with her as part of a recorder group which didn't sound too painful.

Rose Ball

I have managed to go 51 years without wearing a Dinner Jacket [or even knowing what one was] but I gave in and borrowed one from Edward for the Ball that Danielle made me go to last night at Rowan's School. And I enjoyed it. We were on a table with a load of people we knew and we had a great time.

We were up at 5.30 this morning for Danielle and Rowan to make the trip to Philly where Danielle's Dad is very ill.

Rowan took the photo of us before the event [my DJ didn't make it to the photo, and I know the bow tie looks like a toy one]

End of an Era

It was Rowan's last day at primary school yesterday. There was a special leavers assembley and a party afterwards. I was roped in to take some photos, and here is the one of her class. All but 3 are staying on into the Mount secondary school and there will be some new girls joining so Rowan is happy with that.

Sarah

My neice Sarah has got an editorial on the web at http://www.nfpsynergy.net/ which is the organisation she works for in London; it is good to see her making her mark.

The photo is from the Walk - a gamekeeper in the Austrian Alps.

1984

By this time on the Walk we had crossed from Slovenia into Italy at Treviso. I remember picking up some Poste Restante messages there which was the first lot of mail we had had since leaving. The path then followed the Alps on the border between Italy and Austria. It was a strange contrast between the poor but welcoming Greece and Jugoslavia and the wealthy but guarded folk of Italy and Austria.

This shot is of one of the racks that they use for drying hay on the alps.

Old School

We all got into Little Boots http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Little_Boots when she was on the TV coverage of Glastonbury. It was a bit of a surprise to discover she went to my old school, Rossall [not at exactly the same time ...]

The photo is from the Walk in the forests of Croatia where they were using horses to help with the logging.