Boulogne-sur-Mer

Left England and the white cliffs of Dover early yesterday morning (Saturday) on the P&O ferry to Calais. We had a great time with Di, Barry & co in Dover. Di, with her usual consideration, packed a breakfast bag for us to take on the boat. Had tedious company on the boat with a family with uncontrollable kids, yelling, tantrums etc. Ferry docked in Calais, but the tide was such that the gangway for high tide wouldn’t go low enough and the gangway for low tide wouldn’t go high enough, so the relatively few foot passengers had to go down to the vehicle deck and get off after the vehicles.

We collected our new Renault Clio, black & silver, very smart and set off on the first tentative leg. Car has a GPS, so we tried to follow it to fill the tank, but, not being used to the road signage, missed the turn. Went on and found a supermarket fuel outlet. Conveniently, the supermarket sold wine. Bought a couple of bottles of a very nice chardonnay – we thought that we’d need something at the end of the day.

We headed north into Belgium and went for a ride on de Kusttram (the coast  tram), a tram that runs along most of the coast of Belgium. Some sections are right against the beach & others just inland, through residential areas and main shopping streets. Seating was cramped, so we got off at a pretty little village of De Haan, had waffles and one of the best coffees. Back on the tram and back to De Panne, where we boarded the tram. Time was now about 6:0pm. Into the car and drove to Boulogne-Sur-Mer, arriving around 9pm. Found a very basic shoebox sized hotel room quickly, that was good because we were very tired from getting used to the car and the roads. Dinner near by & back to the hotel by 10:30 – still light.

Very fast internet connection, so blogging now (10:30 am Sun) before we head off to Honfleur for the week.

Dover

Thursday:

On the way to Dover, we stopped off in Rye, one of the Cinque Ports. One of the  buildings dates back to 1475, with many others a few hundred years old. The old church (one of them) contains one of the oldest church turret clocks still functioning – made in 1561-62. There is a very steep, narrow set of passages to get up the tower with the final ascent by 2 steep wooden ladders. We got to the top, passing the clock mechanism, the bell ringers’ working area and the bells themselves. There are 8 bells, weighing a total of 5 tons. Impressive view from the deck at the top of the tower. It’s great to see Di & Barry again and they welcomed us to Dover with a beautiful home cooked roast for dinner.

 

Friday:

This morning we walked the White Cliffs of Dover, some of the path was very close to the edge of a very long drop. There is no way that people at home would be allowed so close to the edge without fences. It’s good to see that the attitude here is practical & that is that you need to take responsibility for yourself. There are many signs in many places noting that areas can be dangerous and the public has to be aware and take responsibility. We walked 2 miles each way along the cliff top to reach a lighthouse and had a guided tour of the lighthouse. Both National  Trust properties. There was a real time map on a screen there that showed the locations of all of the vessels in the channel, colour coded to indicate what they were carrying, eg chemicals, general containers etc.

 

 

Once we got back to the car we raced off to the Battle of Britain museum about 10 miles away. Unfortunately we didn’t have enough time to do it justice because we had to return the car. The museum really reinforced the enormous loss, both people and machinery – a fascinating and slightly depressing collection of stuff. There were about 20 planes, Spitfires, Hurricanes and other odd ones. There were many engines that have been dug up or lifted from the sea, mostly Rolls Royce Merlins that were twisted or warped, with sides smashed out and pistons hanging out. There were lots of bent propellers as well as tons of pieces of planes. It’s the oldest Battle of Britain museum in the UK and was opened in 1971.

Back with Di & Barry now, trying to rationalise out brochures and to fit everything back into our bags ready to go to the cross channel ferry tomorrow by about 7:45am. It’s a big boat, not like the small cat to Ireland, and the sea looks smooth.

No idea how we will go with wifi in France, not sure if our apartment in Honfleur has internet access. You’ll know when we find it.

Hastings

 

 

Well I was wrong. Does happen sometimes. Luna is not a falcon, but a Canadian Great Horned Owl. What a beautiful creature (so was the owl, ha, ha). Had a very pleasant lunch at a cafe in a big park in Reigate, sitting outside watching people, talking and learning more about birds of prey. It’d be great if we had similar opportunities to work with birds and animals as in UK.

 

 

 

Had an easy drive to Hastings and found a B&B very easily – about 2 miles from the centre of Hastings along the sea front. As for many beaches along this part of the coast, the beach is large pebbles instead of sand like our beaches. There must be some decent waves and longshore transportation because the beach opposite us has groynes as far as you can see and the level of stones between each groyne varies.

Off to the “Bo Peep” pub for dinner soon. Tomorrow we go to Dover where we will spend a couple of nights with another set of special friends before returning the car to Hertz, crossing the channel to France and collecting our brand new Renault Clio.

Leominster

Busy day yesterday and didn’t feel like blogging, so here are 2 days in 1.
Sunday’s stuff:
We were taken into the marina just after 8:30am and off loaded our stuff. The fuel tank was filled with diesel – we used about 65 litres of diesel at a cost of about £89. We left the marina with a tinge of regret because the week on the boat was just magic. It was all that we hoped it would be with exciting things like the aqueducts, tunnels, canal dug into the side of a cliff, successful boat handling and generally a busy time as well as very peaceful forest surroundings and rich green farmlands with sheep and cattle. Oh well, ‘til next time!
Stopped briefly in Whittington when we saw the Whittington Castle, mostly in ruins. The 2 gateway towers that are still standing have (relatively) modern buildings built behind them, which seems to be logical because the buildings also reinforce/stabilise the towers. The site is used for community activities, weddings, functions etc and when we called in, there was a plant market. Parking charges and, I presume, charges for using the site are used to help with the upkeep of the remains.
Next stop was Chirk Castle, not far from the Chirk aqueduct and tunnel that we  passed over/through on the boat. Took us almost a day in the boat, but just over an hour in the car. The castle is over 700 years old and has been “modernised” over the centuries. One of the impressive features is that it was not full of stuff like many other places we’ve seen. It had an amazing library with many very old books. This one is dated 1518. While the castle has been given to the National Trust, the agreement was that the owners could maintain apartments in one of the towers, which they use for holidays, and use the big rooms for the odd big family get together, eg Christmas. While many of the tower rooms and walls were empty, it was easy to get a feel as to how it would have been when the castle was in use.
The Anderton Lift… was our next stop. Poor Gill, being dragged around to look at  strange mechanical structures. The lift was built in the late 1800s to lift boats over 50 feet from one canal to the other. It was originally a water balance system and boats would go into a big rectangular box with sealed gates, one at the level of the lower canal and one for the top canal. Water was then let into the top caisson until it was heavier than the bottom one and one came up as the other came down. There was a bit of steam power originally and hydraulics later to smooth the operation. Archimedes played a part in getting this contraption to work. As we didn’t have a boat, we did the touristy thing and paid to go down in a tour boat. It is the first of its type in England. We missed the ride we were supposed to be on because we were waiting at the wrong landing, but the ticket people were helpful and rebooked us.
Stopped for the night in a family run pub and although they didn’t serve meals on Sunday night, the owner offered to knock up a meal for us.
















Monday Stuff:
How does spending 2 1/2 hours in a concrete bunker sound? Gill is a great  navigator and picks up the fine print on the map. Off the road we were travelling on, there was a note on the map, “secret bunker”. Why it was on the map if it is secret puzzled us. We headed bush and eventually we got to the end of the road and there was this very ugly concrete (isn’t all concrete ugly anyway?) structure that looked like a big box. Not sure whether we were in the right place, we got out of the car and had a look. It was the Hack Green Nuclear Bunker. What an amazing place. It was built and stocked to be used as the Regional Government had nuclear war broken out. It has been secret for over 50 years and declassified in 1993. There is 35,000 sq ft of underground bunker. When it was declassified, the bunker was emptied of all contents and the new owners acquired an amazing collection of radios, nuclear warheads, uniforms, and heaps of other stuff that interprets the cold war, nuclear attack scenarios and the operations within the bunker. A truly amazing place. All this because we thought “Let’s just make a quick detour and see what this secret bunker is.”


Onwards to another spur of the moment detour. Gone for dinner. Back from dinner at The Dukes Head & will now finish the blog. Back to the detour. A few metres (or should that be yards) before the turn off, we decided to turn and see what the Carding Mill Valley was (National Trust sign). It is a beautiful very green small valley with a small stream and little rapids. Sheep grazing all over the place which keeps the grass looking well kept. Dogs allowed, under control, and a number of walking trails. We walked partway up the valley & it was so peaceful listening to the stream rattling over the rocks. Very few people around. Wish we had more time to walk further.
Running out of time again.
Tuesday stuff:
No decent wifi last night, so we’ll try again tonight.


We spent last night in Leominster in a very nice B&B. The 1700s building was  originally a joined pair, but at some stage was turned into one.  We had a look around the town this morning, lots of half timbered buildings with walls not quite straight.





Marlborough was our next stop, mostly just to stretch legs, and we walked up & down the very wide main street filled with old buildings, which is not really surprising. Some towns we’ve passed through though, are pretty ordinary, with ordinary houses, ordinary commercial areas and generally with very little character. We still can’t help looking at the pretty towns with awe.



We went on to Avebury, which is a heritage site and has lots of stones set like  Stonehenge. The village itself is set inside the circles of stones. We were lucky enough to be there with a handful of bus loads of students, so it was noisy & busy.
We headed off from Avebury, intending to drive for a couple of hours and stop around 4pm. When we started looking for a room for the night, every B&B & pub was booked out and it wasn’t ‘til about 5:45 that we found a place to call home for the night. It seems that Wimbledon is only about half an hour train travel from this area of Surrey, so it is likely that there are a lot of people staying in the area and going to the tennis. We’ve passed many signs noting the beautiful Surrey Hills, not the suburb like ours, but the hills of Surrey.
Dinner very soon and hopefully wifi in the bar.
Off tomorrow to have lunch with Debbie, a very special friend, before she flies her falcon.

Ellesmere – last night on the boat

Saturday:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lots of birds at 4 a.m. as it starts getting light. Had an uneventful, unhurried  cruise back to Ellesmere. Stopped off at another very peaceful spot, looking over a large  mere (lake, but I’m sure it has more significance than just a lake). Lots of trees, colourful bushes on the other side of the mere and lots of birds (again).

 

 

A few days ago, we passed by a canal junction, with a small staircase set of locks  and a few single locks. We had time this afternoon to cruise through Ellesmere back to the Frankton Locks to have a look. These locks are at the start of the Montgomery Canal which has enough environmental significance that only 12 boats are allowed down the locks each day, you have to book and enter the locks between 12 & 2pm. Staircase locks look to be more complicated than single locks because the bottom gate of one lock is also the top date of the lock below, so you have to plan lock movements carefully.

Back moored in the town arm of the canal and a walk to the laundrette. Keeping clean takes a lot of time! It’s now 4:15 pm and once the washing/drying is done, back to the boat and motor just around the corner to moor outside the marina for the night. At about 8:30 tomorrow morning, one of the marina staff will come and take us into the marina to disembark. The marina is very tight, with lots of boats, so it’s good that, for insurance reasons, one of the staff has to take us in.

It’s been great being able to cook our own food and make our own good coffee after 2 weeks of B&Bs, pubs and cafes.

Llangollen Canal – not much more

Friday:

Cruised through similar terrain as we did yesterday. Went through another 3 lift bridges into Whitchurch. We moored in the town arm for a couple of hours and explored the town. Church built in the late 1700s, so comparatively new, old grammar school rebuilt in the 1800s, replacing  the school that was built in the 1500s and a number of half timbered buildings. It was good to walk, about 15 mins into town. Market today and we bought some really tasty bananas. You can see that there is not much to talk about today if buying bananas rates a mention. Passed the library, but didn’t have the laptop, so couldn’t publish the draft blogs from the last few days.

          

 

 

 

We’re moored for the night in an area that feels like forest. We are watching the reflections of the water on the  underside of the overhanging branches. Again, no human noises (apart from the odd boat passing). Only bird noises.

Llangollen Canal (still) – Between Ellesmere & Whitchurch

Thursday:

Rain??? Just a very light drizzle, but still warm. Stopped by lunchtime. Very grey & overcast at the moment, but still T shirt.

 

Pretty uneventful day, but still very pleasant. Totally different scenery today,  cruising beside very lush, bright green pastures, then beautiful tranquil forest. Stopped for lunch and couldn’t hear any human activity. Could only hear birds.

 

 

 

 

 

It can get very tiring with this slow life, so sometimes we all need a break.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We moored at the end of the Ellesmere branch arm to call in to the supermarket for more coffee (Cafe Noir again), fresh bread and more Brie cheese. Mooring was right beside Tesco Supermarket. Another successful 3 point turn in the winding hole.

 

From there we cruised down the canal towards Whitchurch, passing under a few  lift bridges. The lift bridges are all on minor roads, we’ve seen cars actually use some of them. Gill’s broken elbow is not quite ready to operate the winches (lifting a wine glass is OK), so she drives the boat through and Rick winds the bridges up and down.

 

Tonight’s stop is also a very peaceful area, can only hear birds and the occasional boat passing. Some of the private boats are really beautiful, with superb paint jobs and decorations, many boats with brass fittings, leadlight windows, varnished timber framed doors. Many boats have double doors opening to the bow deck, ours doesn’t. The disadvantage of having access to the bow deck is that either the double bed is narrow so you can get past, or the double bed has to be made up and disassembled each day. Ours is a permanent big double bed.

One of the boats waiting for the locks yesterday will be up for sale when the owners finish this cruise. It seems to be in very good condition & the owner hopes to get 25k pounds for it. Apparently the resale prices have dropped. Just dreaming!!

Don’t know how much water we have, but we topped up twice just to make sure. The water heating is through the diesel engine, so we have to start up about 15-20 mins before we want a shower to ensure hot water. There is gas water radiator central heating throughout the boat, but for some reason doesn’t heat water for shower or sink. Haven’t needed heating, in fact some nights it has been just a little warm under the light doona.

Llangollen Canal – yet more

Wednesday:
We set off this morning heading away from the aqueduct, knowing there is a winding hole about 15 minutes away. A winding hole (pronounced as in south wind) is a small widened section of canal to allow boats to turn around. With reasonable confidence, we did a 5 point turn and headed back to the Pontcysyllte Aqueduct – why?, because we could. We got there with no other canal boats ahead of us, but there were about 10 canoes with 10-12 year olds in them  getting  ready to cross the aqueduct. Their leaders were having a hard time guiding the kids to the edge of the canal to let us through. Judging by the sideways positioning and running into the canal walls head first, they were beginners. One canoe load right in front of us had no idea how to paddle or control the canoe and in the end, their instructor had to grab the bow of the canoe and pull it parallel to the canal. We managed to get past and we were away onto the aqueduct again. Looking ahead and down again was just as impressive as the other crossings, just mind boggling. When we got to the other end, there was another boat trying to make a sharp right turn out of the canal from Llangollen. In the end, they resorted to trying to pull the boat round with the bow rope, making hard headway as the boat was bow first into the turning basin wall. While they were trying to turn, we slipped in and, fortunately, our confidence was justified with our turning procedure, and we quickly turned inside them. We managed to berth, to wait for the canoeists to come off the aqueduct, before the other boat managed to finish its turn. With no boats coming towards us, we went back across the aqueduct. 4 crossings will have to do.



Down the canal again and we got to the Chirk tunnel – there were a number of other boats ahead of us, so we were able   to follow them into the single way tunnel. We had to wait for about 10 mins to get out of the tunnel because there were boats coming out of the tunnel and boats waiting to go through the tunnel and a major traffic jam.



Just cleared the traffic jam and we were onto the Chirk aqueduct again,  reasonably impressive, also had a path on one side, but something looking like a path on the other, so there was no scary look down.



Forever onwards and we were back at the locks we passed through on our second  day. The first lock took us about 1 hour to get through, there were 3 or 4 boats ahead of us and the lock only holds 1 boat. There were 6 boats waiting to go down through the second lock and for each boat that went down, one came up. Took us over 1 1/2 hours, but it was very sociable talking to other boat people. Fortunately, on the canals, you take your time. We did hear on the radio that there were holdups on the A whatever road – didn’t concern us.















We’ve stopped for the night in a quiet, very sunny (still at 7pm) section of canal.