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Let Me Show You The World...York Floods....Madeira.....France......But First.....Italy

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    • Starting in London, from Waterloo we take Eurostar to Paris, then overnight sleeper to Venice.

    Notra Dame is the first stop before leaving Paris for a very cold Venice. And when in Venice, Harrys Bar is a must. I had a Bellini and Ellen a Martini.
    Tell Harry I sent you.
    Around The World In 80 Days

    The View, The View could only be one place. Surrounded by water, water is the best way to travel.

    Pictured above...is it leaning...or is it just me? Venice is on the move as it was built on piles of mud in the lagoon.
    But it must be the most attractive city built on water.
    Travels around Little Britain.
    To Move To
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    • Pictured right is not Brownsea Castle, but do you know where I am in Little Britain?
    Water, castles but not in the Venice Lagoon but at Brownsea Castle, Brownsea Island, Poole Harbour, Dorset, Great Britain.
    Owned by the John Lewis Partnership the Castle grounds cover 17.5 acres of the island including a quarter-of-a-mile of private beach. The castle is used as a hotel for John Lewis staff.
    The rest of the Island is shared with the National Trust and the Dorset Wildlife Trust and is open to the public.
    And right you will see me on the Hastings seafront by the strange cliff climbing railway. Hastings is in Sussex, Great Britain.

    Take the Eurostar from St Pancras as this is now the new terminal in London. The journey is even faster now.
    And in less time than it takes to go to Leeds you will be in the center of Paris eating a pile of moules.


    After the moules it's on to see the sights.
    Hanbury Hall and a short stay in the gatehouse.
    It's a fine William and Mary house in the National
    Trust collection and the lodge is a good escape
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    • Mist over Hanbury.
    Below are the cliffs at Lyme Regis,
    which recently suffered the biggest slip in 26 years.
    Most of it was rubish from an old rubbish dump.
    People were told to stay away
    after warnings of falling boulders.
    It was at the Spittles between Lyme and Charmouth.
    Me as the Fossil on the beach.
    The Sydney Harbour Bridge and Harbour.
    Cool Bar.
    Cool Drink.
    To the right, warnings of stingers and other marine dangers.
    Goffs Harbour and Me.
    Here I am at various tourist points in Australia taking in the sights. All very sunny and bright, in fact too warm. And hence the hat and orange drink in a shady bar.

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    Coming shortly, Madeira xmas walking trip and
    Madeira whale museum.
    Isole Eolie O Lipari, where Stromboli is moving.
    Seen here on my visit in 2002 to Italy. - See below.
    Why Not Visit Cornwall - Recommended Pubs In Fowey - The Lugger Inn, Fore Street for good ale and seafood, and in Polruan, The Lugger Inn, West Street....You can't beat the Luggers. See Previous Travels Page for more on Cornwall.
    Mount Etna.
    This is
    as close to the top as is permitted.
    Eurostar to Paris, overnight sleeper to Rome;- That's me in The Vatican City, although it does look like someone has pasted me there;- then another train to Taormina, and finally to Mt Etna. A Volcano worth visiting.
    Our guide up Etna, Greta, also took us by boat the the Volcanic Islands of Vulcano, Lipari and on to Stromboli, which we were able to see erupting after dark from the boat. Quite spectacular.
    Greta told us tales of terror on Etna when it erupted whilst she was there with a group of French tourists who were all screaming because they thought they were going to be roasted.
    Here I am outside a cottage in the Highlands of Scotland overlooking Loch Duart where Salmon is farm fished in the loch.
    And then to Sizewll B in my radioactive protection suit while staying at the National Trust Coastguard Cottages at nearby Dunwich.


    To the right, at another National Trust cottage, this time in Leominster.
    To the right once more you find me by the riverside at The Maltings near to the Suffolk coast.
    Travels, More Travels, And Yet More Travels.
    And so to the Madeira walking trip, pictured above. You see my party walking the Lavadas;-Footpaths alongside manmade water channels to allow rainwater from the mountains to flow to lower areas where vines and other crops are grown.

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    Madeira is a tiny island paradise in the Atlantic Ocean with a wild and rocky coastline, and a varied interier from cool snow capped mountains to tropical lowlands.
    Whilst on the West Wales coast and staying in a National Trust cottage in the grounds of a fine old house by the name of Llanerchaeron, pictured here, I was surprised to find that it is a rare survivor of a once typical late eighteenth century Welsh country estate. The property was owned by the same family for ten generations. The famous architect John Nash designed the villa in the 1790s. Llanerchaeron gives a perfect example of a self-sufficient country property of its time and today is a working organic farm with mature grounds and trees. The two walled gardens are managed on organic principles and are cared for by one full time gardener and an enthusiatic team of volunteers. Produce from the garden is available for purchase in the Visitor Building.
    Within the house is the Pamela Ward Collection. The National Trust was bequeathed a remarkable collection of artefacts by Miss P.M.Ward along with a generous endowment in 1994. Born in 1908, Miss Ward spent her early years in India before returning to live in Eastbourne. She also travelled extensively in Europe and finally established an antique shop in London.

    Left:-Londons Open House day in Spitalfields. The tiny walled garden of an Huguenot house.

    Right:-Ullapool and beyond in the Scottish Highlands. Snow fell and we were all marooned in Ullapool and missed the train back to London from Inverness.
    Many thanks to Scotrail & GNER for arranging for us to return on a later train at no extra charge.
    And so to a short stay in The Bull Inn, Battle, famous since 1066. Winchelsea looked interesting on the map, and it is too. There is only one pub, one shop, a tea room and a church, but the town is free of traffic, and its wide open streets are not cluttered with people or cars. It would be an ideal place to live. Next stop on the walk was Rye. Again a pleasant spot, but more crowded. The Standard Inn is a good pub for food and drink. It's pictured here, below right. Ellen Buckland was delighted to receive in her change one of the new, now withdrawn £5 notes. We understand that this a instant collectors item, already worth £50 if in mint condition.

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    • The Mint, Rye,
    York was once again underwater when visited recently. The poor souls of this fair city were attempting to hold back water flowing from the surrounding hills and moors.
    I enjoyed York. Unlike London, York has pubs and eating parlours where you are swiftly served and your food arrives with no delay. I experienced London at it's worst crossing East London to catch the train at Kings Cross. This required two trains. Many thanks to WGAN and London Underground for making this travel as difficult as possible.
    And to GNER for my recent aborted trip to Newcastle, when the train left Kings Cross and the overhead cables collasped and wound themselves around the train. 3 hours trapped on the train. No electricity, air con, light, toilets, and no time left for my day out. Only £18 refunded from £32 paid. Thank you GNER.
    The Dairy Guest House, built in 1890 was the town dairy, selling milk, ice-cream and Yourshire Curd and provided perfect overnight accomodation.

    Let The Train Take The Strain.....Hats Off To AMT For Their Coffee Booth On The Platform At Kings Cross Station - Decent Coffee Just Where It's Required.

    When in York, why not try one of the many evening guided walks around this historic haunted city.

    Outside Sir Winston Churchills Chartwell house, now managed by The National Trust.
    Far Right:-An artist at work somewhere in Pembrokeshire. But can you name this woman ?
    Churchills Chartwell Studio Gallery.
    He was a keen painter.

    Recently, in seat 26 of the Eurostar, I headed to Paris, and The Tuileries.

    Looking more like Micheal Winner, next stop was a Winners Fish Dinner at the Terminal Nord Restaurant opposite the station before the Eurostar back to Waterloo in London.
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    Charleston
    Charleston, the Sussex home of the Bloomsbury group, seen pictured here to the right. Virginia Woolf, Vanessa Bell, Duncan Grant, were at Charleston between the two world wars. Now open to the public, and restored to how it was then, Charleston is a must visit.
    Pictured here from a recent trip to the Midi in France are scenes from the Aveyron, Tarn, and Tarn Et Garonne regions.
    To the right a cat rests in St-Antonin-Noble-Val and Bikes in Najac. Above Toulouse-Lautrec poster. To the next right me outside the Dragon Vert in Verfeil, and far right me in Albi, birthplace of Toulouse-Lautrec.
    Aveyron, Tarn and Tarn Et Garonne were rural, French and most agreeable. Almost set in the past I felt at home here.
    The film Charlotte Gray is set in this part of France and very little has changed much since the end of WW2 to spoil the area.
    Why did Toulouse-Lautrec go to Paris when there is so much here to capture on canvas.
    As you see from the photo above, Albi is full of splendid old buildings dating from the 13th century. One such building on the river Le Tarn, the former archbishops palace which houses the Toulouse-Lautrec Museum. Here you will find his artistic work which represents the lifestyle in Paris and Montmartre at the end of the 19th century. There are over 1,000 paintings, drawings and lithographs donated by the painters family. He was born in Albi on November 24th, 1864. His father was count Alphonse de Toulouse-Lautrec; his mother, AdeleTapie de Celeyran. The victim of a congenital disorder, Henri decicated his life to drawing and painting the seedier side of his contempories lifestyles, the world of music-halls and brothels in turn-of -the -century Paris.
    Albi is also noted for it's glassworks, but I failed to find these.
    Wines are best obtained from a wine co-op, and Cave de Labastide de Levis at Massac Sur Tarn is well worth a visit. Try 'Le Grand Secret' from 2000.
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    • Ellen on French water.
    Les Fils de Compostelle
    Ellen in Eymoutiers.
    Me in the hottub when staying in Parthenay, in the Deux-Sevres departement.
    Two recent French trips to the Poitou-Charente and Limosin regions. In the center of France they are rural regions producing much of Frances food. Very traditional, very French, very pretty. A slower pace of life where at midday lunch takes two hours. I can live with that. Bon Sante.
    A Walk from Wimereux in the Pas-De-Calais departement.
    On we go along Les Dunes De La Slack.
    Wimereux is a sea-side resort between Calais and Boulogne. At Boulogne the fishing fleet land their catch and you may buy from their catch at the fish market. Consequently Wimereux has good sea-food restaurants. And so do most other places along the coast.
    And so now for the walk.
    And then the seafood.
    Still in France - a spell in Brittany. Unfortunate as it was too hot to draw or paint. Paul Gauguin was here in the 1880s when he is said to have produced some of his finest work. A rude and arrogant man reads the guide book so perhaps he too found it too hot. During his stay the Pont-Aven School of fellow artists developed here. Sadly no permanent collection of Gauguin's work can been seen, but I did track down artists whose works are represented here.
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    Brightly painted pottery on display in the market
    Normandie in the middle of a snowy winter. But do see the Tapisserie De Bayeux, pictured below left. And Honfleur hasn't changed a lot since Raoul Dufy painted the 'Old Houses along the Honfleur Dock' in 1906, which you can see at the Courtauld Institute of Art Gallery here in London. Good fish restaurants to be found in both Bayeux and Honfleur.
    Tapisserie De Bayeux
    Varied art from different influences
    At the map of
    Brittany

    The day The Wheel (British Airways London Eye) rotated was drab, so I was unable to sketch. The footpaths were still closed around Chipping Campdem so I was unable to travel and draw. So things haven't gone well lately.

    Maybe things will improve, maybe they will not. So the studio has been the only refuge to work. Furious work has been completed, pastel, charcoal, oil sticks and oil paint, which can be sighted across the pages.

    Travels, Travels and yet more Travels.
    View From The Pod
    Yorkshire Sculpture Park at West Bretton in Yourshire featured the Barbara Hepworth in her Centenary Exhibition from May-September 2003. Ellen Buckland and I can been seen her as we examine the exhibits. This exhibition brought together Hepworth's later sculptures (from 1953-73) and celebrated her work, ideas and writing. An important focus for Hepworth was landscape. The way in which she connected herself and her sculpture to the environment in which she lived is revealed through the works on display.
    Yourshire Sculpture Park features the works of other artists, Henry Moore is represented here. If you are in the area, it's a good spot to spend an afternoon.
    At The Lodge, Hanbury Hall, Worcestershire, and storms ravage across Britain the night of the arrival disconnecting our electricity. Meanwhile Brian Viner, The Independent journalist who frequently writes of the joys of having left London for a life in the countryside lives close by and was also without electricity.
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    Left:-Hanbury Hall. (Willian & Mary)
    Above:-The Lodge, our humble abode, managed by The National Trust
    He could not face a life without mans silent servant and so escaped to the Broomsgrove Hilton. So much for a man of the soil proving how dependant upon city people countryside dwellers are.
    The Robin Hood, Droitwich Spa - Good Pub to eat at.
    Back at The Lodge, no electricity meant no heating, hot water, light or cooking. Gas hasn't reached these parts. I did light a fire and manage to boil some water in a baked bean tin and then use it to make coffee. But after two days of shivering in the dark, power was returned.

    Our walk took in the Malvern Hills. "Land of enchantment, air of mystery". -Iron Age settlements, Malvin stone quarry, Victorian spa town, wells and bottle table water. Sadly on the day of the walk it was too misty to enjoy the views. We got lost. So I will quote the 17th century diarist john Evelyn- "One of the goodliest vistas in England".

    Below:-Me in Bewdley

    The second walk took us through the Wyre Forest, once a medieval hunting forest, with the nearby town of Bewdley described many times as "The most perfect small georgian town in Worcestershire" by the river Severn, Britains longest river.

    On the junction of the River Severn and the Gloucester&Sharpness canal we find Britains most inland port, which is now restored and makes a good place to visit. Boat trips, walks, bars, restaurants, pubs with the New Inn, which was built by St Peters Abbey between 1430-1450 to accomodate the growing number of visitors to Gloucester. This is a Medieval Galleried Inn, the only other I have seen is The George in Borough High Street. National Waterways Museum, Gloucester Antique Centre, the Mariners Chapel opened in 1849 which features fine stained glass windows, visit the Historic Docks at Gloucester.
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    • Ambleside in the Lake District is where I spent a weekend break, shortly after the peril had passed.
    Blackwell On The Net
    www.blackwell.org.uk
    The Lake Distict is South of Scotland and North of England and was warm and calm in the January I visited. But they had just experienced wet and windy weater. Above you will see two contrasting pictures. The calm lakes I saw, but the recent floods and wind, which, as reported in the Westmorland Gazette, left 500,000 trees blown over and 7,000 people to claim storm payments for loss of electricity. There were certainally many fallen trees still blocking paths on our walk across the hills, but otherwise it couldn't be better walking weather.
    Blackwell Arts & Crafts House at Bowness-on-Windermere is worth visiting. You will find the two stained glass windows seen here. It is one of Britain's finest houses from the turn of the last century and one of the country's most important examples of Arts and Crafts architecture. It has survived in a truly remarkable state of preservation and almost all of its original decorative features are intact. Since its restoration in 2001 the house has been filled with original furniture and artefacts from the period, which once again re-awaken its beauitful interiors and bring then to life.
    Pictured right, and 180 Million years old, this find on the beach is quite a young fossil.


    The Dorset coast is a good spot for hunting for fossils. It's cliffs and coast line are rich in fragments from the past, and many people can be seen searching on the beach for that find of the century.
    And here am I seeking the remains of a dinosaur or perhaps some buried treasure. However, it was not to be. But the Dorset coast is well worth visiting.


    Lyme Regis and me. Famous for shops full of finds from the beach, films featuring The Cobb and danger, as illustrated above.

    On The Wall At York, And at work in the studio.

    There is more.
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    Next stop, Death Valley.
    Another story for another time.

    ...Drop by again to see who's pad Nipper and I have been sniffing around...