Off today with friends over from Oz and friends of theirs to Cragside, former home of Lord Armstrong, arms magnate, inventor and the first person to light his home with hydroelectric power. https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/visit/north-east/cragside/history-of-cragside Continue reading Cragside

And here we are again – Cumbria, Northumberland and the Scottish Borders. Driving from Somerset to Penrith in a heatwave is not recommended, especially when one has a dog who needs to be walked, given water etc every two hours. Motorway most of the way, massive lorries, vans etc. 38 degrees in one of the many MANY traffic jams. Sunshine all the way, even on … Continue reading Hills of the North rejoice!

This is a very historical town, previously on Hadrian’s Wall and half way between Hexham and Newcastle. They even have the remains of an enormous Roman bridge over the Tyne. We had lunch at the Corbridge Larder (https://corbridgelarder.co.uk) which is a very good deli with a dog friendly cafe and a nice way with a doggie sausage. The town also has a nice range of … Continue reading Corbridge

An interesting day from a logistics point of view but not from a tourism one. Out to a garden centre for plants and lunch. Old ladies do that sort of thing you know. Then off to see the grandchildren (not mine) who were off school with chickenpox. On the top of the North Pennines the weather was chilly and foggy. Jumper and coat weather. By … Continue reading No pictures today.

This is a PS. Bob and I thought we’d look for the ancestral home. 😆 Yesterday afternoon we had a tiny crisis. We had all gone out separately, all insisting that the key was in the key box. Unfortunately, it wasn’t. Also, both the owner and the maintenance man (who had visited the day before to replace batteries in smoke alarms and sort out missing … Continue reading Whitby – and Cumbria

Today we have pottered around Whitby, looking in the shops and avoiding all mentions of Dracula. Apparently someone threatened to sue St Mary’s Church (the one on the cliff) because they wouldn’t show her where Dracula’s grave is. The concept of fiction obviously evades her. We have also had an extra event when we couldn’t find the front door key. The owner of the house … Continue reading Various views of Whitby

I know I have only been back from Italy for a week but on Friday I came to North Yorkshire for a family reunion – possibly Christmas. The weather is glorious which feels odd. I remember coming here as a child (my grandparents lived here) and it was always windy, always cold and often wet. I used to say that seaside wasn’t seaside unless a … Continue reading Whitby with the family

Some reflections. This is, as suspected, a very erudite trip. Almost everyone seems to have some sort of Dr in front of their name – retired medical doctors and retired academics. Harvard, Yale and Imperial College are all represented. Half of the group is American and those I have spoken to are not keen on Agent Orange. The Bay of Naples continues beautiful (if you … Continue reading And the final day

Pozzuoli This appears to be another nice resort on the sea at the opposite end of the bay from where we are staying. All the area we are visiting today was the summer homes of the Roman imperial family – Julius Caesar, Augustus, Agrippina, Claudius etc. The whole of the Naples area, on the way here, was covered in smog. If it’s that bad at … Continue reading More ruins in the bay of Naples.

The city of Hercules (possibly). It is the story put about that this was a grander and more exclusive resort than Pompeii but, as only a bit of it has been dug up, it’s hard to generalise. The arches that are just visible at the front of the picture are the old sea front. The sea is now at least 2km away. Herculaneum was destroyed … Continue reading Herculaneum.