Month: November 2019

A day trip to Maldon….

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As I am staying with my Dad in Hertfordshire for a couple of weeks, a fine day saw us take a trip to Maldon. Not exactly the seaside but deep into the Blackwater Estuary.

A pleasant ‘riverside’ town with a nice walkway backed by parkland along the front. A sunny afternoon and very pleasant sitting outside a cafe (in the sun and sheltered from the chilly breeze) eating lunch and watching the world go by.

At the end of the promenade a statue of Bryhtnoth, The Earldorman of Essex who surrendered his own life for the people, their way of life and religion against the Vikings at the Battle of Maldon.

Looking out towards the sea.

Moving on to Ashwell, last stop this year….

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Another wet night, but thankfully mostly dry day as we de-camped and set off down the A1 to our final destination this year – Ashwell a little village just north of Baldock in Hertfordshire. The journey was just shy of 100 miles, but quite eventless as we followed the A1 all the way. A bit busier being a working day but we are happy to trundle along with all the lorries at about 55 mph. Within a couple of hours we arrived and were soon set up on this cozy quiet little site.

In due course we set off for a walk to explore our surroundings and though there are plenty of footpaths around through the surrounding countryside we decided to wander around the village instead. What a pretty village it is…

It looks like it is essential to own a Chelsea Tractor if you live here – who knew?

We spent the next couple of days packing up and settling down the caravan for it’s winter sojourn as we shall be leaving it here until mid January.

A beautiful Autumn day at Belton Park….

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A very Autumnal day today, so where else to go and enjoy it – Belton Park.

The house wasn’t open but to be honest we are not here to visit the house, we are here to walk around the park and enjoy the crisp sunshine, crackling of leaves underfoot and to watch the deer relaxing.

A lovely walk though Poppydog might disagree as she would have loved to be off the lead and play with the deer and sheep!!

A trip into Lincoln….

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A grey but at least dry day as we set off for a mooch around Lincoln. Already a city a know fairly well, though as with Newark it is from more than 25 years ago. We parked up on the outskirts which has all changed quite dramatically with a lot of new build and continued construction work. Around the river (looking pretty full to the brim) new buildings have sprung up, mostly seeming to belong to the much expanded University. We walked along the riverside into the older centre of the city.

This is more like it….

The High Street looks much the same, undoubtedly a number of different shops but in essence thriving and busy.

The High Street shops turn into Antique Shops, art galleries and little Artisan boutiques and Deli’s as we climb up towards the Cathedral.

Up at the top we ever left to take a look at the castle, which from memory has seen quite a bit of restorative work in the intervening years and looks to be as popular as ever, though not dog friendly so we couldn’t take a closer look.

Over to the right the front of the Cathedral is currently undergoing significant works so wandered around to the back to properly enjoy the peaceful beauty of this magnificent building.

For a while we wandered around the ‘old’ town enjoying the history and feel of the place, the quirky lines of old buildings and again wonder how today’s architecture will ever stand the test of time?

A trip down memory lane in Newark….

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Wet and cold through the night and well into the morning but a dry afternoon, well long enough for us to take our walk which is indeed all we ask for!

Parking down by the riverside, we are rather shocked to see how high the river is and in fact the riverside walk I had planned was not going to happen without armbands!

Walking towards the town the castle stands proud dominating the riverside.

From here we wandered into and around the town, I used to live here (well a village nearby) some 25 years ago, so am curious to see what has changed.

Well the market square is still the same, though I notice that Marks & Spencer’s has gone and in fact many of the shops look a bit run down. Ah well nothing stays the same – I was curious, we’ve been, curiosity satisfied!