Summer Stuff

Settling back into Leigh and family life after our Portugal trip, we've also managed a bit of UK travelling. 

We took our 'van for a week to the Camping and Caravanning site at Eastbourne, meeting friends, the main objective being attendance at the Golden wedding anniversary celebration of our mutual friends and ex-colleagues; we also did a couple of great cliff walks and some local exploration.

Of course, we've also managed to fit in some of our coastal exploration, this time in Wales, and, as I write this, we've stopped off in the Cotswolds at Moreton in Marsh at the CAMC site here, spending a few days exploring this beautiful area before heading back to Essex.

Two National Trust highlights, for us anyway, were Snowshill Manor and Chastleton House . Chastleton house because it's a unique glimpse at the house exactly it existed some 400 years ago as the declining wealth of the family meant that very little was changed over most of its lifetime. 

Snowshill Manor because its eccentric owner, Charles Wade used the Manor largely to display his varied collection of objects; when he handed this to the Trust, it was on condition that his displays were to be maintained as he would wish and that's exactly what the Trust have done. Wonderful.

Two more of the many highlights of our visit to this area:

The Mill at Lower Slaughter 

Stow on the Wold

We've not fully sorted our travelling plans for the rest of this year, let alone next. We will, though, be in Nerja for October with two daughters joining us for a few days.

Rainy Return

Recently returned from our six week exploration of Portugal, we're wondering when this spell of wet weather will end. The tan's wearing off for goodness sake.

A wonderful trip

Iceland Revisited

 It's ten years since we travelled around Iceland with a great group of motor-homers and caravanners so it was good to meet up for a celebration (but in the slightly less ambitious Stratford upon Avon). A lot of these guys have been meeting every year since but it was our first time seeing many of them since that brilliant trip.....and how nice was that. We're normally out of the UK at this time but perhaps being able to attend this is the only advantage of Brexit that I've discovered as we're trapped here by the 90 day rule. Very weirdly, everyone looked almost the same, even if the trip photographs showed that this wasn't entirely the case. [Blog rules mean that images of these activities remain private] 

Meals were eaten, wine, cakes and prosecco consumed and communal activities undertaken. We also found time to explore Stratford again, take the town tour (highly recommended) and, as we always do when in Stratford, visit the Shakespeare Theatre, this time to see the RSC's newly launched modern interpretation of Love's Labour's Lost. 

We stayed on for an enjoyable couple of days after the reunion...

Visits to:

Warwick Castle - commercialised, yes, but in a good way we think. The ex Madame Tussauds waxwork figures do really bring many displays 'to life'.

We saw a fascinating demonstration of a large Trebuchet as a new attraction to add to low flying birds of prey.

Kenilworth Castle - English Heritage is the guardian of this excellent site, including a nice café in an ancient stable.

The British Motor Museum - a must-see for car enthusiasts like me. 

A shot from the Jaguar heritage collection:

I used to have one of these as a student, hand painted orange.

....and, on that note, what about our car.......

This was the first tow of our 1.7 tonne caravan with the new Volvo XC60 Recharge - and quite a test it was; we towed up to Stratford upon Avon through high winds, rain and hail with many heavy lorries on the M25 especially. Much to our relief, the car performed extremely well, feeling very secure in these conditions even if not quite delivering the immovable performance of the old Touareg. The power from the 2 litre turbo petrol engine was more than adequate after the main charge of the battery was used up. Impressive and extremely comfortable. The downside is 22mpg motorway towing.

Let's see how it gets on in our forthcoming trip to Portugal.

Travelling 2024

 As Brexit casts its travelling shadow on us we are balancing the time that we might spend travelling in the Schengen zone with staying in our Nerja home. We've decided that travelling in Portugal with the 'van works if we spend less time in Nerja in the spring, planning to use almost all of the 90 days allowed in the previous 180. Unfortunately this will impact on the time we can spend in Nerja during September/October. 

So - after a couple of trips to Nerja up to March, if all goes to plan, we'll be heading for Portugal via France and Spain for around five weeks, meeting up with our daughter and partner in Lisbon, from where they're working for a couple of months. We'll work out the rough itinerary soon.

The trip won't be with our car of eight years - our much loved, powerful, comfortable VW Touareg; we've downsized. We now have a Volvo XC60 Recharge - which is a plug in hybrid with a 2 litre turbo petrol engine. It won't have the lugging power of the 3 litre diesel Touareg but should do the job while allowing local electric only trips back home. I've sat behind a 3 litre diesel in various forms for some 20 years so, for me, it's quite a change. Still, it's controlled by a Google driven touch screen which is a bit of a novelty and it goes like stink when asked to perform so we'll see how it goes with 1.7 tonnes on the back... Watch this space; OK Google?

Anglesey Anticipation

Having reached Scotland on our tour of the Eastern half of the UK, we're heading off in a couple of weeks to fill in a few gaps on the Western Coast around Anglesey in North Wales. We are, of course, heartbroken that it's no longer home territory for a couple of well known royals; hopefully, I won't need rescuing by helicopter. 

Details in the usual place.

Coastal Retrospective

Don't usually do this kind of reflective post.... but we've being doing our coastal thing again, this time for three weeks or so along the north east coast from Whitby to Berwick-upon-Tweed, and it was so full of beauty, history and culture that it deserves comment here.

We were able, in Northumberland particularly, to walk on virtually deserted stretches of sand, washed by the sea and hidden behind windswept dunes: desolation and beauty. The sense of history, both recent and distant, was present almost everywhere we travelled, from the preserved remains of castles and museums to the remnants of the coal and iron ore mining industries; all of it fascinating. When we asked questions, sought help or simply chatted, we met so many friendly people; we'd have loved to spend more time here but we are, of course, on a mission;...

...the trip, for the east coast in any event, has reached the English-Scottish border. The next time we venture into these parts will be in Scotland. Can't wait.

Details here in the coastal tour tab.

Backroads Beauty

It's time for another mini adventure in our little Ford Ka; we choose a day long trip from our book: The Backroads of Southern Spain by David Baird. We've met David and are slowly working our way through his recommended trips into 'Old Spain', stopping at the white painted villages away from the coast, accessed by some 'interesting' little roads. We never fail to be entranced by the stories the villages hide - from Moorish times, through the Civil War to their current activities. Of course, the wonderful, brooding mountainous scenery on the trip goes without saying.

This time it's just a day trip:

 

So off we set...

Nerja >Macharaviaya >Benamocarra >Almáchar >El Borge >Cútar > Comares 

Macharaviaya, once known as 'Little Madrid', owed its fame to the wealth and importance of the Gálvez family. José de Gálvez who, as Minister of the Indies, was instrumental in expelling the Jesuits from Spain's colonies in South America. 

In the neo classical church's vault lies José de Gálvez:

That man again 

Then on to Almáchar 'the Capital of the Moscatel Grape and Garlic Soup'...

A clue to how this community has thrived and prospered......

Onwards to El Borge..

El Borge, a left leaning village (as many are... and that's no surprise given the turbulent history) with a Moorish looking church and a street named Che Guevara.... There's a lot more interesting history here; it was once terrorised by the 19th Century outlaw El Bizco.

....and so we travel on to Cútar, a village with a population of around 650; at the foot of the village, the Aina Alcharia spring is of some fame. A plaque showing a donkey with the message (in Spanish) 'alleviate my thirst as I lighten your work' at least shows some appreciation for the toil these animals put in. Luckily, we were not lured to our doom by the Bird of Death which apparently haunts the surrounding ravines.

In 2003, while a house was being renovated here, an ancient copy of the Koran was discovered, estimated to be around 600 years old, along with other Moorish documents. Again, a reminder, if we needed it, of the stories and history these villages hold.

Passing Benamargosa we see the hundreds of citrus trees in the valley floor with an increasing number of avacado trees and wonder if the drastic water shortage of recent years, and particularly the current months, will impact on the lives of the people in this working agricultural town.

The road climbs steeply from here, twisting upwards towards our last destination, Comares at around 740m above sea level.

We never fail to be wowed by this Moorish village with its winding streets, perched on the mountain top. The link says more than I can - and more eloquently. We take a (very) late lunch here, enjoying the fantastic views before heading back down the winding roads to Nerja and home.

Great Trip