Sunday 8 November 2009

The Blog Changes Its Design.

Today I decided it was time to update the layout of the blog. Technology has moved on and the layout is now easier to maintain but to do this I had to choose a 'standard' layout. I've customised it a bit so hopefully it doesn't look like every other blog!

Tuesday 27 October 2009

Lee Goes to Norfolk (and also covers a bit of Suffolk).
Yesterday, me and Tracy got back from a lovely long weekend in Norfolk. We visited many places (589 miles worth) and I would like to share some of our experiences of those places.

Day One
We started with a long drive across to the place where we were going to stay. We stayed at Moor View near the village of Dickleburgh in Norfolk). This was a lovely place to stay, run by a friendly family and I would recommend it to anyone wanting to visit the area. I only wish I'd taken my telescope to take advantage of the nice dark sky!

Day Two - Thetford
The Ancient House was an interesting old house to have a look around. It also acts as a museum of local life and centres on some notable characters from the town. People such as Thomas Paine and Maharajah Duleep Singh. We spent a couple of hours going around this place!

The town itself is nice enough to walk around on a nice day. We had in our possession a tourism leaflet that took us on a tour of the town (see pages 3 and 4 of the haunted leaflet for the trail we were on). The highlights for me though were the aforementioned Ancient House and Thetford Priory - even if we didn't have time to go in to the grounds.

In my opinion, you could spend a couple of days in and around Thetford and not get bored. That was praise for the town by the way (in case you missed it).

Day Three - Framlingham Castle and Melford Hall
The castle was our first stop of the day. I believe English Heritage should be proud of this site. The audio tour catered for both adults and children (though Tracy found listening to the childrens version just as entertaining). We both found the history of the place fascinating; for instance, Mary Tudor was proclaimed Queen whilst at Framlingham (she had gone there to gather her supporters and troops).

The museum in the old poor house had activities for the kids as well as displays for the older visitor. We managed to spend a couple of hours at this place and would say it is worth visiting. It seemed quite popular with families when we were there and only one or two of the kids seemed bored.

Melford Hall, however, didn't seem as organised a tour compared to other places we have been to and so I don't think we got the most out of it. There didn't seem to be much information supplied about the rooms we were looking at and I have to say that I was a little disappointed. Perhaps we were doing it wrong and were supposed to keep pestering the stewards (who, I want to point out, mostly seemed approachable and friendly enough) for information?

That said, the grounds were nice (I even got to play croquet) and the link with Beatrix Potter (and accompanying memorabilia) was interesting. The stained glass window 'collection' in the entrance room was nice too.

Day Four - Holkham Hall
Now this place was impressive and I am grateful for the recommendation to visit this hall. You could spend a day here with no problem whatsoever and I would suggest a visit to see for yourself as my description will not do it justice.

The grounds were lovely and open to the public; deer were seen to be roaming freely and we saw a boat on the lake that I assume was taking people for short trips.

The hall was used as one of the filming locations for film "The Duchess" and you can see why. Buying the guide book for this property was useful for that extra depth of information but in a few of the more significant rooms the stewards would tell you about the room and what was so special. So it felt like a well organised tour and even though my jumper was all crinkled from the suitcase I didn't get one dirty look. I was impressed!

The Bygones museum was worth a visit, though I was more interested in the vintage cars than the rest of the exhibition or the history of farming section; though I'm sure that many would find it fascinating as it was well presented.

And finally...
In conclusion, it was a very nice long weekend and I would like to thank all of the nice people that we met along the way for helping to make the trip that bit better.

Tuesday 22 September 2009

Oh Dear, I've Done it Again
Yes, I've left it far too long to post anything here. AGAIN!

And even now I'm only updating due to the closure of Yahoo's Geocities service.

You see, after 9 or so years of neglecting having a website, I think it's time to call it a day. There will still be this blog to neglect though, so don't despair!

By way of a general update - we are getting settled in here now and I'm starting to spend less time unpacking/arranging/fixing/constructing and more time on hobbies. Fingers crossed for this trend to continue.

If only I were a millionaire...

Monday 5 January 2009

Inspiration Arrives!

Happy nNew Year to one and all. Yes, after an eight month absence I have finally accrued some things in my life worthy of note.

Firstly - an update. I managed to move from Wales but not without a mad rush to get out of the house in time for the next occupant to move in! I ended up having to drive home with my car boot taped shut (thanks go to Sian for the tape). It was hectic but all went well.

The training to become a bus driver wentsmoothly and I am now fully qualified and herding people from a to b across the Dudley borough; a task that I actually enjoy. Alas I have noticed just how scarce manners are in the community. I never realised just how much of a difference a thank you can make to somebody's day.

Fortunately though there are the occasional happenings that restore your faith in humanity.Take today's random act of kindness for example - a gentleman got on my bus but didn't have enough money for his fare. So one of my passengers (who I don't think knew him) gave him the 30p he needed. "How kind" I thought and smiled to myself for a few minutes.

Winter Hath Arrived...

Yes indeed, since my last blog we've barely had a summer worthy of note and now it's ruddy freezing. Quite literally - the temperature is going down to minus 10 Celsius tonight according to the forecast.

The high point of my summer was a trip to Denmark with Tracy. It was for a week and I enjoyed their museums and architecture. The food was good too but it was all so expensive so we didn't really get to sample a lot of the local delicacies. Which I regret but I don't think it could've been helped. We'll have to try harder next time.

Anyway, back to winter. The snow this morning was beautiful as I left for work at 04:45hrs. None too surprisingly I was the first one to walk down our street and the blanket of snow was just begging for me to make patterns in. So I did.

Something has me perplexed though. For the last couple of months we have had an ice cream van doing the rounds around our estate. He comes round twice a day nearly every day. I don't see how he can be making any money - is there really a market for ice cream in the winter? I'm yet to be convinced that there is.

One good thing about these cold winter nights is the occasional clear skies. This gives me the perfect excuse to get my new telescope out and disappear to the back garden for a few hours. I've seen my first nebula (the Orion Nebula) and have enjoyed learning my way around the sky. All I need now is less light pollution and a better tripod. The former may necessitate a trip to a secluded lay-by in deepest darkest Shropshire whilst the latter will probably be an Ebay job.

And Finally...

Well a post just wouldn't be complete without something sci-fi related would it?!

We have a new Doctor Who! I've seen his interview and I must say that I can see why he was chosen. It'll be interesting - and positive I feel - but must they keep getting younger? This guy is only 8 months older than me; does this mean that I am capable of commanding that level of authority if I were to try?

The new Star Trek film has been delayed, delayed and then delayed again so i hope it's good when it finally arrives in May. I have my reservations - again with the age of the cast for some reason. I think it may be to do with trying to make it appeal to a wider audience. But if it's Hollyoaks in space then I'm walking out of the cinema.

I also want the special effects to be more like the re-imagined Battlestar Gallactica rather than Transformers. I found that you never got a good look at the Transformers and all of the fleeting glances just got on my nerves. I want to revel in the imaginary creations of mankind in all their slow, magestic glory.

Perhaps I expect too much.

Until next time folks - take care :-)