Mum's 80th Birthday

The Saturday celebration was to be at the communal lounge at Mum's flat in Clarence Court.
Here's some pictures of my family:



George, Kelly with friend Matt, Edward, Danielle and friend Geoff and George's friend Jen. Twins George and Edward had been with me in South Africa during August. They and their elder sisters Kelly and Danielle are the 4 children of my sister Jennifer and her husband Jeremy.



Jeremy and Jennifer.



Kelly



My brother Ian's children Gilean and Tilly.




Jennifer, Ian and Janice. I'm the eldest.



Matt and Kelly




Danielle and Geoff



George and Jen



Mum's friend since childhood - Audrey




Mum's neighbor Helen




Whoops, lit the candles on the cake and the smoke detector went off!



Mum



Ian and Gilean - Ian and Claire's house will be featured on Grand Designs tomorrow night.



Ed



Tilly and Claire.



The lounge at Clarence Court.

Location:Morecambe

Using the Stagecoach North West Goldrider

Mum wanted a day out in Kendal which meant a bus ride of about 12 miles. She gets a free bus pass so I decided to buy myself a pass for a week's free travel anywhere in the north west costing £24.
Kendal lies very close to the Lake District and Mum enjoys browsing through the shops.







Spot the old cobbled streets and if you look closely - Hogarth's Jeweller's.






Here's Mum outside a shop that specializes in chocolate of any description.






A view of the main street.

For my second bus trip I caught a bus to Lancaster bus station with the intention of choosing another bus to an exotic destination. The first bus that I saw was going to Keswick which is in the Lake District, about 2 hours away by bus. I grabbed a few timetables from the office and hopped on just in time as the doors were closing.

Well as I read through the timetables I realized that It was too late in the day to get to Keswick and back again and so jumped off the bus in Bolton le Sands to walk back to Morecambe.

The next day I caught a bus outside Mum's flats that took me close to Heysham Harbour about 4 miles to the south. I planned to walk back from Heysham to Bare. The weather was clear but very blustery. As I walked along the path the wind was blowing me off to one side.

Just before the village of Heysham I reached the remains of an ancient 8th century chapel.












Next to it is the present day church and a small village with twisting streets and stone cottages.












A very picturesque church with Morecambe Bay in the background.

The remainder of the walk was along the promenade back to Morecambe, luckily the wind was blowing from the south and pushing me along. There's a row of terraced houses as you reach Morecambe that are about 4 storeys high with great views across the bay to the Lake District Mountains. Some of them have not been split into flats or renovated and would make interesting projects.

On Wednesday I caught the 555 to Keswick (early in the day this time) and planned to go for a walk around Derwentwater. Once again I didn't make it! The bus was almost half an hour late arriving in Kendal, which is the half way point. The driver got out, changed the sign on the bus from Keswick to "Not in Service" and asked us all to get off. "There'll be an open top bus along just now for Ambleside" he said.

The open top bus arrived and the sign said Grasmere so we alighted, after all Grasmere was another few miles towards Keswick.





The bus arrived at Windermere railway station, it was very cold on top in the wind so we soon moved under cover. The bus then did a 20 minute detour down to the Lake front at Bowness and back to the railway station!



See the swans.



We then set off again to Grasmere via Ambleside.



By the time we arrived it was once again too late to try and get to Keswick and back.

I walked around Grasmere Village eating a Melton Mowbray pork pie and a Mars Bar for lunch (as you do) and then set off to walk the four or so miles back to Ambleside alongside Grasmere Lake and Rydal Water.













Beautiful!
Lost the path at one time and had to scramble down through some woods and climb over a fence. Had visions of slipping in my trainers (my hiking boots were at home in South Africa) coming to grief, and not being found for days as nobody knew where I was.
Isn't life exciting sometimes?

Location:North West England

A Pleasant Stroll in Lancashire

Set off alone on a very sunny afternoon (the forecast is for snow next week!), with the 7 day bus pass in my pocket and no plan of where to go.
Opposite Mum's flats is a bus stop so I though of catching a bus to Lancaster and then seeing where I could get to from there.

Next to the bus stop was a footpath sign luring me to Hest Bank. That's the great thing about England - lots of footpaths, cycle tracks and signposts. The path was no great shakes and even a bit scary, narrow, between hawthorn edges and no views. Littered with crab apples and quite muddy in places. It went along the back of Happy Mount Park and Morecambe Golf Club.





The blue pin is Mum's house in Bare. Mum used to be a member at the golf club until her breathing difficulties.
At one point the path crossed the railway line and a large sign said, "stop, look and listen". I thought it was the track for the Lancaster to Morecambe train which pootles along quite slowly. Just after I had crossed there was a "Whoosh" and the express from Carlisle to Euston hurtled through. Whoops.

I came out near St Lukes church in the parish of Hest Bank with Slyne and checked a couple of bus timetables to see if I could get anywhere interesting in the remainder of the afternoon. I noticed that there were buses to Keswick via Carnforth and made a plan to do that later in the week before my bus pass runs out. The pass covers the whole of the north west. That's another great thing about England, almost every bus stop has a timetable posted in it, giving the bus times from that stop, the name of the stop and where the buses go to. It was quite lucky that by reading the bus timetable I realised that I was heading south back to Lancaster, instead of north to Carnforth!

I headed down the main A6 into Bolton le Sands until I reached the junction where the Morecambe and Lancaster roads meet. Traffic was hectic so I climbed down the steps to the banks of the Lancaster canal.






Another sign said that there would be a canal ferry coming along shortly, however it didn't appear. I decided to walk back towards Lancaster along the canal. There were several boats moored alongside the banks but I only saw one boat travelling. The houses on the opposite bank had gardens stretching down to the canal and some had their own jetties. I passed several other people walking and several cyclists passed me, ringing their bells.

I eventually came out into Hest Bank and made my way down to the shore. The tide was starting to go out and the view of the Lake District mountains was hazy.
I walked back along Morecambe promenade, past the other side of the golf course and back to Mum's.

Location:Bare to Bolton le Sands and back

Around and About in England

Supper with Katy and Hannah, Carol and Howard on a brief stopover in Heath and Reach. Carol is Peter's sister. Katy and Hannah are His nieces and the daughters of Robin and Wendy whom I stayed with in Spain.

















Commuter Trains - hectic










Cycling from Lancaster to Glasson Dock along the old railway track with Hilary and Jim. Hilary and I were at Aireborough Grammar School together in the late sixties, early seventies. We hadn't seen each other for decades!









We were remembering another cycle trip that we did together all those years ago when we cycled from West Yorkshire to the Lake District and back with our bicycles and tents.










Walking Jennifer and Jeremy's Springer Spaniel, Jake on the sea front at Morecambe.










My sister, Jen.








Caught the bus with Mum from Morecambe to Kendal for a trip out. I paid 24 pounds for a week's unlimited bus travel in the North West. I may go to the Lake District or Blackpool next week.

In Kendal there is a jeweller's shop called "Hogarth's" - had to take a photo.



There's Mum on the cobbled street with the shop down the left hand side before the pub.
And looking in the other direction:



And a shop that specializes in chocolate, yummy!

Location:Bucks and Lancs

Adventure from Spain to London - travel notes

Would have liked to have gone on the "little Yellow train" into the Pyrenees but timing not right unless I was to stay the night in the town at the end of the line. Wendy would also like to go so I'll leave it for another trip.

Left Caldes de Malavella on a regional train from Barcelona at 7h36 cost 5.90 euros, many commuters, Renfe train, ticket seller helpful but could not speak English. Not sure whether to get off at Portbou or Cerbere In France?
Stations:
Riudellots
Fornells
Girona - everybody left the train to go to work.
Celra - sun rose 8h00, outside temperature 13 degrees, 2 pin power point between seats, charged the iPad
Bordils-Juia
Flaca - first noticed the Pyrenees - announcements in Spanish, Catalan and English between each station and on a digital screen in the carriage. Gives time and temperature, next station, destination, coach number. No wifi. Loos next to luggage racks- very clean
Guard came & checked tickets and I asked for advice. . Bought an extra ticket to Cerbere 1.55 euros. Total 7.45 euros.
Camallera
Sant Miquel de Fluvia
Vilamalla. Changed seats to get a view from both sides of the train.
Figueres - bigger town, europcar branch at station. I still haven't driven on the right hand side. Turned Garmin on as maps not working on iPad without internet. Trouble finding satellites.
Vilajuiga
Pyrenees appear as a ridge running parallel.



Through short tunnel in foothills.
Evacuation plan on the station. Another tunnel, pretty trees and many small hills, some aloes,
Colera, nestles in the hills and is on the Mediterranean, very narrow coastal plain.
Portbou - border with France. Aim eventually for Calais to catch a ferry to Dover? Use buses in England? Victoria coach station.
Cerbere

At Cerbere. There is a discount ticket valid for one year in France for over sixties. Didn't quite make it.

I bought a ticket as follows:
Cerbere 10h32 to Perpignan 11h14 change
Perpignan 11h35 to Montpelier 13h12
Montpelier 14h16 to Nice Ville 18h33

And another:
Nice Ville 20h02 to Paris Austerlitz 8h49
Paris Gard du Nord 9h58 to Calais 11h32

Cost 197.80 euros - would have been cheaper booked ahead.

Return Calais 1st November 19h35to Paris Nord 21h15
Paris Austerlitz 21h56 to Cerbere 8h12 2nd November
Cost 99.90

The Journey
Left side is mountains, facing back. Right side is coast facing back. One single seat and 2 double, footrests, plenty of legroom, trays, headrests
Mediterranean, tunnel, the train goes to Toulouse-Matabiau
Languedoc Rouissillon
Banyuls-sur-Mer
Port Vendres Ville
Collioure - pretty pink terraced houses with window boxes
Argeles-sur-Mer - views of Pyrenees, took photo for Myriam as it's where her house is being built, bamboo alongside station, orchards.



Elne- high Pyrenees
Perpignan

Changed Train, bought water & maltesers from vending machine with euro coins
New train to Paris via Narbonne



Not so much space, sitting upstairs, hot, no power, blinds at windows, two seats each side
Be careful to note which platform you are on and not which platform the arrows are pointing to!
Voice on train gives destinations before setting off. Speaking only French.
Lift up trays
Need a map!

leaving Perpignan good views of Pyrenees, some seats face the other way
Noticed that I have a seat number on the ticket - all in French, I'm in the wrong seat and probably in the wrong coach.

Passed marshes with herons, wind farm with 8 windmills in several groups, lake next to sea?
Sea, ships, flat sand, river mouth, flamingoes, canal with barge, photo, horses in marsh
Poplar trees,

Narbonne
Parc naturelle regionale de la Narbonnaise en le Mediteranne
Check in World Atlas - works without Internet connection
Platform is in French


Beziers - bit more inland
pour votre securite il est interdit de traverser les voies
Under highway E9

Agde holiday town, wheel,
Along narrow strip of land to Sete
pampas grass next to A9
Sea on one side, then road, rail, lake, maybe 400 meters wide
Car parks for tourists
Modern duplexes

Sete
Houses on lakeside
Old buildings
Over river
High up above the platform, get off at next station. Train goes inland to Montpelier
Buses leave from next to station, list of destinations scroll next to door.
Port
Ships
Canal
Petrol storage
Hills inland

Waited in Montpellier for 45 minutes, and changed to single deck train to Nice, very busy, middle seat, many suitcases. Carriage 14 Seat 42.
Lady with Yorkshire Terrier
Train stopped for a while in Marseille
First station Toulon 16h41
Earphones stopped working
Ipad Battery 82%
Saint Raphael
red rock
Cannes
Marinas
Yellow mimosa
18h04
People in sea
A lot of grafitti painted on walls
palm trees
Island opposite
Juan les Pins
Antibes

on further after Nice to Monaco
Huge yachts, castle



View of Nice across bay
motor homes in parking next to beach
Stony
Biot
Fishing
Airplanes landing
Rounded block of flats
Race track horses
Cagnes sur Mer
Where is St Tropez?










Eating a tasty burger in Nice, free cup of very sweet mint tea, power and wifi access but no Internet
Chocolate Brownie
Wifi Gare requires login
Left Nice at 20h04
Reclining seats with extending footrests, no power, single storey
Dark

Uncomfortable night, carriage darkened could not get into a good position, even with my inflatable pillow.
Started to get light at 7h08
Had been back through Cannes & marseille, through Lyon, dion,

Trouble getting from Gare Austerlicht to Paris Nord - walk first to Gare du Lyon and then use green line 2 stops

Get off at Lille Europe for Eurostar (en route to Calais)

Get off at Calais Ville for ferries and catch a bus from the bus stop in the car park before the bridge where you cross to the town centre. Approx every 40 minutes.
Bus labelled car ferry takes you to ticket office. 2 euro only takes euros
Ferry 39 euro single



Duty free on board
Steep ramp to get up four levels
No coach or train information on board


Courtesy bus to and from ship like at airport.
At Dover there is a National Express booking office to right of main exit. Caught bus at 15h15 no time to phone anyone. Cost 15 pounds.
There is also a coach from Victoria to Paris with a 15 pound add on from anywhere else & wifi access
Canterbury 15h40, home of Kent cricket.
Finally arrived at Victoria coach station, London at 18h00, 36 hours after leaving Wendy's house!



- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Location:First destination Perpignan, 3rd October 2011. Then to Nice?