Returning

I've been away......

We went on holiday but before that I just didn't seem to have time to sit down, organise thoughts and actually put together a blog.

So..... The holiday........ We holidayed in this country, near Portsmouth in fact.  We have a caravan and we had stopped at a site on the way back from France last year and decided to go back. As the daughter is 16 she gets to take a friend and they stay in a tent.

Before we left we had seen two weeks of glorious sunshine and after a five hour drive we arrived in the rain and it continued to rain all night....... Suddenly a UK holiday seems like a very bad idea.

But actually it was ok most days.  I wore shorts for all but one of the days and it was warm, really warm most of the time.

So what did we do? (Prepare for a photofest.......)

We visited the Sammy Miller Motorbike museum.  Sammy Miller MBE owns and runs the museum with a band of enthusiasts.  He is a famous, nay legendary, motorcycle racer who won the British Trials Championship 11 years in succession, as well as a mass of other trophies.

My daughter and I were looking at all the cups and trophies that were displayed there; as she was completely knocked out by the sheer number of them and the fact that he was so very good over so many years; when he came over to us and said that a younger man had worked very hard to get all those and that each of them represented about 50 miles of riding. At that we were even more impressed. It is a genuine treasure trove for a motorbike enthusiast, run by a legend of a rider who is passionate about restoration and the sport, as well as being just a lovely man.  While we were there he was riding one of the exhibits up and down the lane.  If you are at all into motorbikes you have to, have to visit. Seriously, you do....

Boscastle pier.  It has some installations for making sounds down its length.  Some you can't utilise properly because they've had bits removed (vandalised basically), but you can play "Oh I do like to be beside the seaside" and a selection of other tunes on there.  It's fun and there is a long windbreak so if it's windy on one side you sit at the other.  Clever....

The D Day museum and Overlord Embroidery.  This is the tank outside the museum which is the same as the one used in the film Fury, which we had recently seen.  The Overlord Embroidery is a fantastic piece of art and much bigger than the Bayeux.  Well worth a visit and if you are short like me you can enjoy the tunnels without bumping your head.

Monkey World.  Ok, this is a drive from Portsmouth but we were 'down South' so we decided to go for it. I saw no monkeys at all for the first 15 minutes and was beginning to wonder if we had made a big mistake but soon we got to see some chimps and from there we saw a LOT of monkeys, including these Limas, who were enjoying Cheerios (who knew?).

This is the home of T.E. Lawrence (also known as Lawrence of Arabia) Clouds Hill, It was more of a weekend retreat than a home but it is where he occasionally lived and nearby is where he died.

When we turned up here my daughter and her friend were completely non-plussed, so we bought them ice cream and they sat in the sun while we had a look.  It is owned by the National Trust and is as Lawrence had it, other than the books which they are trying to replace over time.

It is a tiny gem of a house and just worth popping into.  Especially if you are in the area.  It is very close to the Tank Museum and Monkey World.  His garage is almost as large as the house, as that is where his motorbike, the famous Brough Superior on which he met his death was housed.

I haven't read any Lawrence but I enjoyed our brief visit here.  It was indeed a retreat and had a calm and peaceful atmosphere, just what was needed after a day at Monkey World.

Finally for this post a picture of my cream tea after a very competitive round of pitch and put.  We spent a couple of hours on the course near Portsmouth and it was great fun.  This cafe is called the Tenth Hole and so after a game it would be rude not to stop for a bite surely?

All the food looked delicious and I was happy because the scones had fruit.  Result.... on the cakes at least, I lost in pitch and put.....

More to come about the historic dockyard and Fort Nelson.  Bet you can't wait.....