The Buchans 2007

2008 blog

2007-12-31T19:58:00.000+00:00

It's New Year's Eve so it is time to publish the new blog site for 2008.

Click on this link for the 2008 blog http://thebuchans2008.blogspot.com/

Christmas 2007

2007-12-28T15:16:00.001+00:00

We didn't have snow before Christmas, but we did have some hard frosts. This is an old gravel pit near to Burley all frozen over.

Sue and I were walking close to the Bolderwood in the New Forest and spotted these two Red Deer stags. Nice pair of antlers.

On Christmas Day we were joined by Jane, Ron and Margaret. We all had a very good time.

ECA Christmas Celebrations

2007-12-19T11:13:00.000+00:00

Sue and I were invited to one of the Eastney Cruising Associations Christmas celebrations by our friends in Portsmouth. It was also part of Geoff's (front right) celebrations for his 60th birthday (bus pass country). Note the balloon.
We had a great time and as usual the staff produced a super lunch, Glyn even got his baked beans.

The table was well decked out with crackers, poppers and flying balloons so it was like a kids' day out.

Lady Bristow and you know who!

Lord Bristow and you know who!

Sue and Sybil - thanks go to Sybil, the main photographer, and Roy the facilitator for emailing the photos. I left my camera behind.

Christmas Letter 2007

2007-12-09T23:59:00.000+00:00

To read the letters double click on the letter itself and it should enlarge.

Lanzarote One

2007-12-09T20:10:00.000+00:00

The photo below is of the harbour at Puerto Carmen, Lanzarote. We went here in late November for a couple of weeks of sun, sea and beer.

Here I am at Puerto Calero filling in a geocache. There some very expensive boats in the harbour.

In the south west of the island there are these salt pans. The pans are designed to trap the seawater in huge mud reservoirs or cocederos where it then collects before being channelled through rough stone trenches to smaller rock-lined ponds, tajos, where the salt crystallizes at 25°C.

Another geocache, but with a difference. I think this is the first we have done in a volcanic crater. Fortunately the way into the crater was not too difficult, over the top would have been impossible for us.

Another volcanic crater which has been partly washed away by the sea. This is El Golfo which is a major tourist attraction.

Lanzarote Two

2007-12-08T20:25:00.000+00:00

We visited the Cesar Manrique Foundation, where this famous local artist lived. It is 5 huge volcanic bubbles which have been joined together. The house is on two levels the lower being below ground.
Manrique had a major influence on the planning regulations in Lanzarote, when he recognised its tourist potential and lobbied successfully to encourage sympathetic development of tourism. One aspect of this is the lack of high rise hotels on the island. The buildings that are there are in keeping with the use of traditional colours in their exterior decoration.

One of his mobile sculptures, many of which can be seen throughout Lanzarote.

The living area.

Views from the Castillo de Santa Barbara towards Teguise, the old capital of Lanzarote. The Castillo houses the emigration museum. This documents the emigration of the Canary Islands poorer inhabitants to Cuba and Venezuela in the 19th and 20th century.

Who goes there?

Lanzarote Three

2007-12-08T09:33:00.000+00:00

One of the main sites to see is Timanfaya National Park. The Montañas del Fuego (Fire Mountains) were created between 1730 and 1736 when more than 100 volcanoes, covering more than 50 km², rose up and devastated this part of the island (including several villages). The last eruptions were in 1824, however due to the low rainfall (and therefore lack of erosion) this area appears much the same as it did just after the eruptions. In 1968 the area was declared a national park, Parque Nacional de Timanfaya.

Not a lot grows around here.

Timanfaya's symbol - that's the one on the left!

Sue at the Ermita de los Dolores (Hermitage of Sorrows). This is where the lava flow stopped just short of the village in 1824. The church was built to honour the Virgin of the Volcanoes.

The church.

The interior.

Charco de San Gines, Arrecife. We had a couple of visits to Arrecife, the capital of Lanzarote. The first time was with our hire car. Unfortunately there was a marathon being run along the promenade so there was traffic chaos throughout the city. The second time we took the bus (we only had the car for half our time there).

The Gran Hotel is the only high rise building on the island. We had some super views, but the windows were dirty so the photos from here are c**p. Coffee and cake is £1 pp so we went there twice.

One of the busy beaches.

We knew the hotel was close to the airport!

Below is Club Nautilus, we had a self catering apartment here which was excellent.

We went to Portugal on the way home (to take on more fuel) and then had an interesting landing at Bournemouth, very jiggly.

Rainy Weather

2007-11-18T14:30:00.001+00:00

It's Sunday the 18th November and the rain has been sheeting down all day. This is quite unusual after all the very good weather we've been having. I thought I would share some of our sunnier photos with you.

Here I am with Bailey the next door neighbours' dog. He's on the lead here because a while back he gashed himself very badly on the submerged concrete by the bridge (we think).

Another day geocaching we saw this dead tree near to Ashley Walk, New Forest.

On the return from the geocache.

All ponies ever seem to do is eat. They prefer ice creams though.

Bournemouth Pier

This is a new mural on the side of the tourist train shed, Boscombe.

German Christmas market (in November) Bournemouth.

October - De Burgh School Reunion

2007-10-28T10:31:00.000+00:00

De Burgh School was opened in 1957 and I joined in 1961 in the 3rd year. Sue joined in 1960.

The school closed its doors in the late eighties and was demolished in 1997.

On the left is Graham Lee. I cycled with him to Maldon Youth Hostel for a sailing course in the 60's. Sue's in the middle and then John Edmunds. I used to do gardening with him for 5 bob (25p) an hour. We haven't seen either of them for 39 years!

Group photo of the 1958 intake plus some of the teachers.

October - Brighton

2007-10-27T19:50:00.001+00:00

Here we are in the North Laines, Brighton. As you can see it is a very colourful place with its street art and the bright shop frontages. In this photo spot the guy and his sofa.

Great graffitti!

One of the streets. I think it is just about possible to buy anything in the shops around here.

Here is Sue on the steps of a bathing machine in Hove Park. Not far away was a geocache which we did and also the Goldstone, which gave its name to Goldstone Ground where Brighton played football until 1997.

The Goldstone, lies in its southwest corner of the park. This huge rock, weighing about 20 tons, is commonly believed to have been used by the Druids for worship.
Legend has it that the devil threw it there while excavating Devils Dyke.

Brighton Marina was very close to the campsite so we found ourselves there on many occasions. On a sunny day there is a thriving cafe culture.

More boats!

This is Roedean School as seen from the marina breakwater.

Last, but not least is The Royal Pavilion. This looks good from the outside, but is a definite WOW on the inside. Unfortunately photography was not allowed inside. If you want to know more go to their website or better still go there in person, it's certainly worth it.

October - Out and About in Portsmouth

2007-10-24T16:52:00.000+00:00

We were hoping for a trip to the IOW on the hovercraft, but time was rather short so this is the closest we got.

Eastney Beach next to the caravan site is almost a truly natural area, which is hard to come by, but this shingle beach is a close runner.
The straggly spread of plants here may look untidy, but form one of the few habitats that develop without the influence of man. Plant covered shingle beaches like Eastney are internationally rare and unusual habitats. They support a fantastic range of wildlife, some of which won’t live anywhere else.
Vegetated shingle has now become a priority habitat in the UK Biodiversity Action Plan and this beach is designated as a conservation area.
The shingle is made of flint, washed out of chalk, such as the cliffs in Dorset.
Vegetated shingle is only found in NW Europe, New Zealand and Japan.

We did a lot of cycling because it was very flat and with the car parking charges being astonomical it was the cheapest and most convenient way to get around. Here we are having a lunch break close to the sally port.

Sunday - Carol, David and I decided to take the ferry to do a couple of geocaches on Hayling Island. One was very easy and the other diabolical.

Found it!

We assembled for Sunday lunch at the club house. Here are the caravan group surveying the scene out to sea. Now for a drink - Bottoms Up!

October - Glyn's 60th

2007-10-24T16:45:00.000+00:00

The birthday boy.
I am entitling this photo - Food for Thought.

Christine produced this magnificent birthday cake - guess what Glyn's favourite food is?

Sarah, second from the left, said she read my blog (that's 2 people I know of now) so I promised to include her.

The Wordsworths and Lady Bristow.

Geoff doing what he does best! Noch einmal!

October - Southsea

2007-10-24T16:20:00.000+00:00

Sue and I set off for Portsmouth/Southsea, with the caravan, on the 4th October. We were going to Glyn's 60th birthday party in Southsea, then to Brighton, to have look around, and finally to Redhill/Banstead for the De Burgh School reunion.

Roy and Sybil, Joy and Geoff had offered to take the birthday group that was staying on the Southsea caravan site on Nelson's Last Walk along with a few asides. Here we all are assembled by Nelson's monument.

Nelson's Last Walk - On 14th September 1805, Lord Nelson took his final steps on land in Portsmouth as he prepared for his last voyage aboard HMS Victory. Here we see Roy setting the pace at the Sally Port - a narrow passage which leads through the Redoubt wall straight out onto the beach where Nelson's boats were waiting to row him to HMS Victory.

After the walk we assembled at Joy and Geoff's for lunch and a very good lunch too.

In the afternoon we went to Fort Nelson for a guided tour.

Fort Nelson was built between 1862 and 1871, the guns of the fort faced inland not towards the sea. The guns were manned by a garrison of 200 volunteers. The forts were never attacked and the French later became allies. High walls and towers were easy to knock down by siege guns and so Fort Nelson was built low with earth slopes facing the attacker, the slopes hiding guns and musketry positions.

Here I am outside Fort Nelson next to Mallet's Great Mortar.
The Crimean War of 1854 called for a mortar that could be easily transported but was of sufficient size, and therefore calibre, to lob a heavy projectile over the walls of the fortress of Sebastopol. This mortar could throw a 2400lbs projectile 1.5 miles!

New Caravan Club Site Opens + other news

2007-09-29T16:04:00.001+00:00

On the 23rd September this new caravan site opened its gates. We had a look around on Sunday afternoon, the facilities are super, but we were surprised that there was little in the way of energy saving in the toilet block.

The Centenary Garden. This year is the Caravan Club's centenary.

On Tuesday evening Sue and I went down to the 'Bikes on Poole Quay' for the final get together of 2007. At the same time was there was the final of finals for the best bike of the year. This was won by an old BSA Gold Star. Here are one or two of the contenders.

Scarey stuff!

Sorry about this one, but I thought it was funny.

The whole of the quay is blocked off except to the bikes taking part. I estimated about 500+ bikes, on a very good night in the summer it has reached 1000+.

Everyone who takes part has to pay £1 (I think) and most of the proceeds go to charity.

I was on a ramble in the north of the New Forest on Wednesday and spied this old building with this picture in a frame attached to the outside. An interesting photo I thought. Oh well!

Part 5 - Other Photos

2007-09-24T09:00:00.000+00:00

View from the hill above the campsite. Lympne Castle was nearby.

Hythe beach, where the fishing boats are pulled up after each trip.

A new use for a martello tower.

Did I mention that we made a day trip to Calais to top up the cellar.

Part 4 - Rye

2007-09-24T08:21:00.001+00:00

We had never been to Rye so it was a pleasant surprise to find such a lovely picturesque town. We walked around all the sites and made a visit to Lamb House, a National Trust property.

Novelist Henry James lived at Lamb House, Rye, Sussex, from 1898 to 1916 and wrote several of his books there, in the green room in the winter and in a garden pavilion during the summer. Unfortunately the pavilion was destroyed by a bomb in WWII.

In the back garden of Lamb House.

The Mermaid Inn built in 1156.

There were many interesting front doors throughout Rye, here is one (two) of them (read the names).

This is one of the guns used to repel the French. However they did get through occasionally.

Part 3 - Hythe and Its Surroundings

2007-09-23T12:17:00.000+00:00

Staying on the outskirts of Hythe we just had to have a trip on the Romney, Hythe and Dymchurch Railway (RH&DR)
When it first opened to the public the line only covered, in double track, the eight miles between Hythe and New Romney — the railways main terminus. Owner Captain Jack Howey soon had his eye on extending the line and in 1928 double tracks carried the trains to Dungeness via Greatstone. A fantastic main line ride of 13.5 miles.
As you can see it is not a full sized train.

When the train arrives at Hythe it has to be turned round - by hand!

Close to Dungeness there are a few wooden cabins built on the shingle. Instead of gardens many of them have decorated their surroundings with 'found' objects washed up by the sea. In amongst the one below, which represents a ship, were many types of flip flop. We wondered if the one CarolW lost to the sea in South Africa was amongst them?

Here I am with a sundial on my right.

Close to the caravan site was the Royal Military Canal (RMC). The RMC stretches for 28 miles along the old cliff line that borders the Romney Marsh from Hythe in the north east to Cliff End in the south west. It was built as a third line of defence against Napoleon, after the British Royal Navy patrolling the English Channel and the line of 74 Martello Towers built along the south coast.

The first sod of the RMC was dug at Seabrook, Kent on 30th October 1804. The canal was completed in April 1809 at a cost of £234,000 (£10 million in today's money).

I thought that there was a cycling track all along the RMC, but was mistaken and there is only a short stretch from close to the campsite to Seabrook, about 4 miles. It is possible to walk the 28 miles.

Part 2 - Heritage Weekend

2007-09-22T19:50:00.000+00:00

From Canterbury we moved to Daleacres Caravan Site near Hythe. We wanted to be here for the Heritage weekend so we could see the sound mirrors at Denge. As a bonus the The Grand shaft was open in Dover on the Saturday. It is only open three times a year.

The shaft is an ingenious construction of brick measuring 26 feet (8 metres) in diameter and 140 feet (42 metres) in height. It was built between 1806 – 1809. It has three staircases of Purbeck limestone which wind clockwise one above the other down a central brick light and ventilation shaft lit by an occasional window. At the bottom the three staircases meet in the sloping corridor which leads to Snargate Street. There are 200 steps in all separated by several landings.

Here we see Sue on the steps leading to the top entrance of the shaft.

This is a view from the bottom looking up the centre of the staircase.

A forerunner of Radar, acoustic mirrors were built on the south and northeast coasts of England between about 1916 and the 1930s. The 'listening ears' were intended to provide early warning of incoming enemy aeroplanes and airships about to attack coastal towns. With the development of faster aircraft the sound mirrors became less useful, as an aircraft would be within sight by the time it had been located, and radar finally rendered the mirrors obsolete.
Here you can see the 30 foot mirror.

The mirrors did work, but the development of faster aircraft made them less useful, as an incoming aircraft would be within sight by the time it had been located. Increasing ambient noise made the mirrors harder to use successfully, and then radar rendered acoustic detection redundant.
This is the 200 foot mirror which when you are close to it looks huge.

All 141 people listening to the talk from our leader.

Part 1 - Canterbury

2007-09-21T15:29:00.000+00:00

When school goes back in September The Buchans go caravanning. The first caravan site was a mile away from Canterbury. It is a lovely site, but it is used by many people in transit to the continent.

Here you can see Canterbury Cathedral, we spent about 2 hours visiting the inside and the outside. As you can see it was a lovely day for the visit.

Canterbury Cathedral is one of the oldest Christian churches in England and it continues to play an important role in English Christianity.
Dating from 597 AD, Canterbury Cathedral still functions as the cathedral of the Archbishop of Canterbury, who is the Primate of All England and leader of the worldwide Anglican Communion. Canterbury is also a major pilgrimage destination due to the martyrdom of St. Thomas Becket in 1170.

Stain glass window in the cathedral.

Canterbury still has considerable town walls, this is the West Gate through which traffic still passes (with difficulty). The River Stour is in the foreground.

By the River Stour.

Sue in the castle.

Canterbury and the area around has lots of geocaches. This was an interesting area close to what was a Second World War II airfield. It was thought that these blocks had something to do with the airfield.

This is classed as the Smallest Fully Functional Cache in the World. It has a log book and pencil inside. I didn't open it up as I didn't want the embarrassment of not being able to put it back together again.

Bank Holiday Weekend

2007-08-27T18:11:00.000+00:00

Maggie, Andy and Tara came to stay for the weekend. Here we are at Splash Bridge in the forest. Note the sunny weather, we've not had much of that recently.

A thatched hideaway in the forest. This is close to High Corner Inn where we finished off with a well earned drink.

Namibia has its famous Dune 45 - Moyles Court has its sandpit!

It's the Bisterne Scarcrow time of year again. This one was awarded third place.

This one didn't do too well with the addition!

Summer Activities (in between the showers)

2007-08-15T08:03:00.000+00:00

Pat and Sally visited us last Wednesday whilst on their travels. We were lucky with the weather and managed to get out into the garden. It was lovely to see them and to catch up on all their news.

Pat and Stuart, yes it was bright! Unusual for this summer.

Visitors from Cyprus, Doris and Geoff, persuaded me that I should do a Hash (Hash House Harriers). As the venue was nearby at the newly refurbished Tyrrells Ford Country House it seemed like a good idea on a Sunday morning.

The welcome speech for all the visitors. Altogether there were about 40 runners and about 12 visitors. I'm on the right.

Jenny, Alex and daughter Molly. Alex is Geoff and Doris's son and I used to teach him ****years ago! If you're wondering where Sue is, she's behind the camera.

After the run we had a meal at the Tyrrells Ford. We got some funny looks because we weren't exactly dressed for Sunday lunch.

August Weekend

2007-08-07T18:10:00.000+00:00

I had heard about this archeological walk from Shireen and David at a New Forest Ramblers walk a few weeks earlier. You can see Sue here with S&D. The actual spot on which they are standing is quite significant. This is an ancient pagan site where about 7 ley lines intersect. This is on top of St. Catherine's hill near to Christchurch.

The walk was guided by Michael Hodges who is very knowledgable about the area and has published a few books on Christchurch and its history.

We have been up St. Catherine's hill before, but hadn't realised how much history there was here. During earlier quarrying, fossils of rhinocerous, sabre toothed tiger and elephant have been found. None of these animals were seen during the walk. There are many barrows here and also the Romans had a lookout post on the top, because they had views for many miles around.

Michael Hodges can be seen on the left of this photo. David Livingstone's double can be seen on the right.

On Sunday we went to Bygone Days at Ibsley. This is an annual fete run by the locals for the locals. Here I am by one of the older cars in the parade.
Sue next to our new caravan, I don't think she realises she has to stand in between the shafts.

We were entertained by three air displays. The first was by the Yakovlevs, a couple of Russian aircraft. The second display was by a local aeromodelling club and the third was by a Pitts special which was a really superb display of aerobatics.

Sue beside one of the vintage tractors.

This notice was seen on the above machine. It doesn't take too much working out, honest! If you can't read it, double click on the photo to enlarge it, or buy some specs (DW)!

Walkies

2007-07-25T07:50:00.001+00:00

At this time of year I lead a few rambles for Verwood and New Forest Ramblers. With the very wet weather it is best to walk the route, before the ramble, to check that everything is OK. On the first walk from Linford Bottom I was accompanied by Bailey, next door's, dog. I walked 5 miles he must have done 15. Here he is at Greenford Bottom.

A very friendly foal. He approached me so he is obviously used to people. Maybe he had been fed in the past. Bailey did a runner.

Checking the second ramble Sue and Bailey came this time. This was from Anderwood car park.

RNLI Open Day

2007-07-24T19:35:00.001+00:00

The RNLI HQ is in Poole and they had their Open Day last weekend. Sunday being the better (weather wise) of the two days we went then. Here you see a demonstration of the the capsize and righting of a 'D' class lifeboat with three crew members. All this was done in the inside pool. The pool has a wave machine which can produce a variety of different waves.

This is a demonstration of an experimental lifeboat which is powered by water jets. It can spin on the spot and can decelerate from full power in two boat lengths!

The launching of the 'D' class lifeboat. We also had a flypast by the coastguard. I'm surprised they had time on such a busy weekend (flooding in the Midlands). Some of the demostrations were cancelled because many of the lifeboat crew were on duty helping out with rescuing people cut off by the floods.

If you look hard enough you will realise that this is a model, and an exceptionally good one at that.

The beach was brought in for sandcastle competitions. The kids enjoyed it and also some of the Mums and Dads.

Summers Showers and More

2007-07-20T16:09:00.000+00:00

I thought I would change the fonts to something a little brighter to make summer a little better than it is at the moment, raining!

We had a week away, albeit a couple of weeks late, near to Wokingham. It was late because we had postponed due to the inclement weather.

Before going with the caravan I had searched the internet for things to do on wet and dull days. So here you will see that we did plenty of visits.

The first was to the REME Museum at Arborfield.

Here an oil painting, in the museum, depicts Corporal Fred Comber dismounting from a Challenger Armoured Repair and Recovery Vehicle with three other military vehicles in the distance and a background of black smoke.

Another display showed what school pupils thought the Army should be wearing these days. It's worth clicking on the picture so you can see and read what is there.

Needless to say the Museum is full of kit large and small, some of it which I recognise from the Army workshops that I visited. Here is a Beach Armoured Recovery Vehicle (BARV). The design attached a boat shaped superstructure to the top of a turretless Sherman, enabling it to wade in over nine feet of water. It weighs in at 28 tons and does .75 mpg.

On another day we went to Brooklands famous for its banked motor racing track. There is now an extensive museum of old vehicles and aircraft. Here is an old MG in a garage setting. I'm reluctant to say that I recognise some of the items in the garage.

This photo is for Pete Morgan, it's a 1937 three wheeler Morgan.

This is part of the banked track that still remains.

Concorde, G-BBDG, is one of the features at the museum. It is being tidied up by a group of volunteers and they are doing a very good job. Although it costs extra to go in Concorde it is well worth it.

Concorde's cockpit - it looks a bit tight to me.

Yours truly outside one of the Brooklands workshops.

Last October Mercedes Benz opened their multi million pound M-B Experience. It's a fantastic building and every conceivable MB car is there for you to see. It is possible to get into every car bar four and these are Maybachs and SLR McLarens. Sue and I sat in a few and couldn't decide which ones we liked so didn't buy one or two or .....

This is a view of the skid and test track from the Gallery.

This is the M-B SLR McLaren, it's a gullwing car with loads of umphhhhh! The cost £328,952.47 a mere snip.

Last year we visited The Vyne, National Trust, in the rain so we didn't get to see the gardens. It looked as though the weather would hold this time so we came again.
The Vyne was built in the 16th century for Lord Sandys, Henry VIII's Lord Chamberlain. It then became home to the Chute family for more than 300 years.
There is a large country-park with gardens, lake, meadows, woods and wetlands. The photo below shows the walled garden.

This is the summerhouse which is in the process of being refurbished. We were able to go in, but only with hard hats.

Sue in the garden.

One of the entrances.

This Magnolia Grandiglora flower is one of the largest in the World.

Although the weather was mixed for our week away we managed to get out and about. I went on a couple of cycle rides in Swinley Forest and altogether we did about 11 geocaches. The last of which was 400 metres away from Broadmoor Hospital for dangerous psychiatric patients. I was pleased to see that the place looked very secure.

On our return home we cleaned the caravan and returned it to storage and the following day the heavens opened and parts of UK were flooded. I think our timing was just right for a change.