Nottingham

Another trip to the north island, this time in a car and crossing seven counties and using several busy A-roads and motorways. The speed limit was definitely more than 40mph. Whoop! However, the trip still took ages as there were several hold ups along the way. Nottingham also has worse potholes in the roads than the Isle of Wight. Incredible.

 

On Saturday we pootled around the local area with a trip to Sherwood via the large park, which had the front half of a full scale model steam engine poking out of a disused tunnel, then popped into some shops before heading home. We had lunch then some of us pottered up to Mapperley Top, poked around the charity shops (lots of goodies!), had a cuppa and a biscuit before heading home again to eat homemade pizza and watch films. Good day.

On Sunday we herded the children into the car and drove to Rufford Abbey Country Park and spent a couple of hours wandering round completing the Easter Egg Hunt, admiring the birds on the lake (saw a Moorhen nest), playing in the maze and joining in the local sport of booing drivers who drove slowly through the ford, while cheering those that went through fast. The best part was when a slow driver was overtaken by a fast driver in a four by four. Hilarious. You probably had to be there...

We went home then and had a lazy afternoon followed by roast dinner and silly card games once the little ones were in bed. If anyone has a copy of 'Plague and Pestilence' that they would like to give me I'd be very grateful!



Rufford Abbey 

Final day meant heading back to the Island. We had booked a late ferry, but set off early and zoomed down the M1 (it's so nice to drive at more than 40mph for a sustained period of time), to Bletchley Park, where we spent a pleasant afternoon finding out about cipher cracking during both world wars, the bombe machines that were built to crack Enigma, and the people that worked there. Fascinating. They also make excellent chocolate brownies and cups of tea! Afterwards we headed home, and caught an earlier ferry which was then held up for an hour or so due to a medical emergency. Never mind, we were still home earlier than planned. Excellent weekend.

 

Wild Nights (and days) Out...... August

Fireworks and Jet Planes

As it was the end of Cowes Week, we pottered down to Holy Trinity Church, laden with blankets, card games and coffee, and sat in the churchyard waiting for the evenings entertainment. This began at 7.30pm with an exciting display by the Red Arrows; I still get as excited as the average four year old by supersonic aerobatic display teams and squeaked with terror when the planes appeared to be getting too close to each other during fly pasts. I enjoyed myself and embarrassed the teenager, so all was good! At 9.30pm the annual fireworks display began, and there followed twenty minutes of exciting bangs and crashes and pretty lights in the sky. It always feels as though the whole Island turns out for this event, and the streets were certainly crowded with families, groups of sailors and wandering gangs of teenagers (who seemed oblivious to the fireworks). Lovely atmosphere as usual, and the church were doing a roaring trade in bacon or sausage sandwiches, tea, coffee and cake. Perfect evening!

Red Arrows heart

Chale Show
This annual, two day event is a much glorified village show; however, instead of the village hall there are several marquees full of local arts, crafts, food, bric-a-brac, poultry (fabulous! I'd like a black silkie please!), metal detectorists treasure, political parties, and, of course, entries for competitions such as best cake, vegetables, photography and amateur art,and children's competitions such as best Lego village, best handprint on a plate, and rice crispy cakes.  Outside are more stalls selling plants, cars, antiques, as well as charity fund raising. There are also many burger vans, a collection of vintage tractors and various ancient engines (interesting). Finally, there is an arena where you can watch falconry, horse back stunt riding, quad bike stunt riding, and the ever present Randini Magic Show.  There is also a stage with live music. To top it off, the venue is a field on the edge of the village rather close to the edge of the cliff, with stunning views along the west coast.

Fastnet Race
I didn't realise this was on and went for a quiet walk along the seafront, and ended up elbowing my way through the crowds in order to get anywhere! The Parade and esplanade at Cowes were thronged with spectators, and the cannon at the Royal Yacht Squadron blasted at regular intervals as the various starts took place. I watched the bigger yachts set off, which was very exciting, as the Solent was crowded with vessels getting in the way, which in turn were being buzzed by a helicopter and a drone, both filming I think. Nice start to the day.

Sailing
I was given the opportunity to spend the day on the 'Spirit of Scott Bader' catamaran with friends and spent a lovely day pootling about the Solent. We started from Yarmouth Harbour and sailed towards the Needles, passing through the narrows at Hurst Castle; this section was rather lumpy and we encountered a couple of squally showers. Consequently one of our number went a bit green. Not me! We headed along the coast past Hurst Castle, and eventually got to the Needles where we turned round. This section was much smoother, and we pottered around heading towards Newtown Creek before turning back to Yarmouth. Lovely day, and I got a couple of chances to steer the boat (without crashing) and also had a go at winching a rope (I think there was a more technical term for that!). I have less upper body strength than I thought. Excellent way to spend the day.

The Needles

New Forest Wildlife Park
A day trip to the North Island took us to the New Forest Wildlife Park not far west of Southampton. We spent the day admiring otters, lynx, exotic butterflies, wallabies, boar, bison, deer, owls, and wolves (awesome!). The kids had a great time playing in the various playgrounds too. Lovely day with the family.

Cowes Illuminated Carnival
Very similar to the daytime one in July, but everyone wore Christmas lights. It was a bit shorter too, but still entertaining.