Thommo

Occasionally you hear such sad news that you can't comprehend or take it in straight away.

At our weekly five a side football yesterday, I found out that one of the lads, Paul, or Thommo to us, had suffered a heart attack on Thursday last week whilst enjoying a round of golf. Unfortunately he wasn't able to recover and despite being in the prime of his life he sadly passed away over the weekend.

Paul was only 40, fit and healthy, and was a truly grand bloke. I, along with most of the other lads who play football each week, have known Paul for nearly 20 years and can't believe he's no longer with us. He'll be very sorely missed by all of us.

There's an article about Paul in this week's online version of the Accrington Observer - click here: Paul Thompson

Portraits in the Garden

A rare day of sunshine, and with family around, an opportunity for some portraiture.

First to be snapped was Carole - I spotted an unusual angle by standing above and behind the bench she was sitting on in the garden, and here's the result:


Getting a good photo of Mum can be hard work at times, however this time we managed it - doesn't she look good?

Jean and Kevan were on catering duties, but they didn't escape being snapped too:

Gail's home cooking

We visited Gail and Barry tonight, where we were treated to a lovely meal, nice wine and good company. We must do it again!

Anderton's Victorian engineering

The Anderton Boat lift is a fine example of Victorian engineering. It was built in 1875 to provide a direct link between the River Weaver, which had been navigable by canal barge since 1734, and the Trent and Mersey canal.

The two canals differ in height by around 50ft and the first attempt to link them together was through an inclined plane, where barges could be pulled uphill through a system of ropes and pulleys, however by 1870 the traffic flowing through Anderton meant this became a bottleneck. The lift was the first of its kind in the world and speeded up the transfer of goods from the canal to the river significantly.


We'd considered visiting the boat lift for some time, but until now other things had always got in the way. This time, the weather was set fair (a rare event throughout our holidays!), so there was nothing to stop us. Jean and Kevan came along with us and we made the boat lift an excuse to take in a walk through the surrounding countryside.

Near to the boat lift is the Marbury Country Park, and the walk from there, past a large lake known as Budworth Mere, through woodland and then alongside both the river and then the canal, was well worthwhile. (When I get round to it I'll update my walking blog.)

After stopping for our packed lunch we visted the boat lift, which was declared structurally unsafe and closed in 1983 before restored in 2002. It isn't possible to get near to the lift itself without paying an admission charge, but it is worth it to see the lift close up. The Visitor Centre has a cafe, a well stocked shop and an interesting exhibition, so much so that we spent far longer there than we'd expected. We had planned to visit Cheshire's famous observatory, Jodrell Bank, in the afternoon, but this will have to wait for another day.

The Midland at Morecambe

The Midland Hotel in Morecambe was built in the early 1930's in the art deco style, and in its heyday must have been an impressive sight, with many famous people choosing to stay there. Morecambe lost its appeal in the 70s and 80s and the Midland fell into decline, only escaping the bulldozer because of its grade 2 listed status.

For many years it was an eyesore, but it has recently been cloaked by boardings whilst a multi million pound restoration project was carried out. Last month the hotel reopened for business, still in the 1930s style, and we were keen to pop along for a coffee and see the restoration for ourselves.

Morecambe has been making an effort in recent years to reverse its decline, and the new hotel should give the town a much needed boost by attracting people back to the resort. So what did we think of it? - well the restoration is undoubtedly a good thing and certainly the new hotel looks very impressive. Its location is fabulous with unparalleled views across the bay to the Lake District mountains looming large in the distance. Apparently the penthouse suite have private rooftop sun terraces, even including a hot tub (though how much they are used on chilly November days is still up for debate).

The exterior has been restored to its former glory, the only modern alteration being a large glass extended cafe on the ground floor. Inside, the famous circular staircase, where stars from the 30s such as Coco Chanel, Mrs Simpson and Noel Coward all trod, has been retained, as have the celebrated murels and frescos, although only a few are visible from the hotel lobby. Though impressive, the interior didn't quite meet our expectations as the seating in the foyer seemed quite out of place and there didn't seem much space.

Despite this we had high hopes on the service, even though we were only looking for a coffee, but again our experience didn't really match what we expected as the service was pretty much the same as in any other hotel across the country. What was missing was a little more of the 1930s atmosphere - a point picked up in this month's Lancashire Life, who suggest this is currently acknowledged by the hotel and being tackled.

I'm sure that once the hotel has been open for a while and things settle down then such teething problems will go away. A restored Midland is certainly a welcome sight and good news for Morecambe, so lets hope the Midland proves itself a success and brings much needed investment to the town.

For more information on the Midland Hotel, check out their website: Midland Hotel website

Breezy day at Lytham and Fairhaven

It's the second week of our main holiday and the weather forecast isn't any better than last week - in fact it's probably worse! Still, we can't stay in all week, so as before we're keeping a close eye on the forecast and going where it's likely to be the dryest.

Today that means the coast, and Lytham is one of our favourite spots in summer where we often take a picnic and sit on the grass near the windmill. Today that was never going to happen - it's much too cold (14C in July!!) and there's a strong wind blowing too, as can be seen by the flag on the lifeboat station.

After a short walk, we headed for Fairhaven Lake, where we ate our lunch in the car in a deserted car park. Afterwards we managed a stroll round the lake but it was certainly not summer weather.

Farewell to Low Stead Farm

The end of our holiday has arrived already and it's time to say goodbye to Low Stead Farm. Before we left, Mrs Forsythe gave us a nice surprise by inviting us to the farmhouse for coffee and biscuits.

We managed to take a number of snaps of us at the farm and at Sugar Sands, the beach owned by the farm, last night:

Craster, Dunstanburgh... and a Littlehoughton

Today was the final day of our holiday and being on the coast all week has made me wish for the hills. Northumberland reputedly has some fine hill country, and whilst we were never likely to do much walking on this holiday, a journey inland in the car should be a treat.

Well it would have been if the cloud and drizzle had stayed away. We were heading for Kielder Water, the UK's largest reservoir, but after travelling for nearly an hour we reached a sign telling us it was a further 18 miles away. This was just too far on a day when the views would be hidden behind the clouds anyway, and once we noticed that behind us the clouds disappeared near the coast, we decided to turn back.

One place we'd spotted when we did our first reconnisance after arriving was Craster, a tiny fishing harbour just up the coast from our cottage. Then the weather was too bad to leave the car, but we all agreed we should return on a fine day. The harbour was created in 1906 and named after a Captain Craster, who was killed in India on active service. The cottages used to be fishermans' cottages, but nowadays many of them cater for tourists, who hire them out throughout the summer months.

Craster kippers are quite famous and the smokehouse on the hillside was proving popular with visitors, but with a long journey home to come, there was no point in taking anything back with us. Of course, this didn't stop Mum getting a 'takeaway' of cockles, but although I'm partial to seafood, I draw the line here.

Another reason why Craster is so popular in the summer months is that Dunstanburgh Castle is only a mile or so further up the coast and is a relatively easy walk across the grass. Although the cloud had returned it seemed set to stay dry so we decided to give it a go. Dunstanburgh Castle was built in the 1400's for Thomas, Earl of Lancaster and was later inherited by John of Gaunt, 1st Duke of Lancaster. The castle was partially destroyed by cannonfire in the Wars of the Roses and was never repaired, gradually deteriorating into its present state.

The walk from Craster leads to the main gateway, and this is as far as we went before returning on the same path.

There was one final place to visit before leaving Northumberland - all week we'd been staying in a little village called Longhoughton, quite appropriate for us perhaps, until we realised that a smaller village further up the road was called Littlehoughton! We had to visit and take a photo of us next to the village sign, but the village was so small it didn't have one.

Not to be deterred, we found a sign for Littlehoughton house instead and spent a few minutes taking our photos outside whilst the neighbourhood curtains twitched.

A hidden treat in Boulmer

Boulmer is a tiny fishing village a couple of miles south from where we were staying. These days it's the RAF base which gets the most visitors, and throughout the week we've seen helicopters flying around regularly from the base.

We only drove down to Boulmer just to be nosey, and so we were pleasantly surprised when we saw the view around the bay. There is some sand here, but the beach is nowhere near as broad as the one at Bamburgh but even so it was very picturesque between the showers set against the squally sky.

The only pub in the village, The Fishing Boat Inn, caught our eye too - the menu seemed tempting and inside the conservatory appeared to be on the beach itself, so we booked a table for the evening.

In the meantime, we headed first to Morpeth and then to Warkworth, which has a fine castle overlooking the river. However, today was the first day we'd got the worst of the weather, so neither place thrilled us as we'd hoped.

In the evening, though, we had our meal to look forward to - and it didn't disappoint, especially if you like fish. Top marks!

Alnwick Gardens

Alnwick gardens was the idea of the Duchess of Northumberland who wanted to transform the derelict gardens at Alnwick Castle into a spectacular garden for the public and the community.

We enjoyed the best of the weather here during our visit. Certainly by the number of pictures I took there were lots to see and do - so much so that it was difficult to decide which to include here...

A birthday in Bamburgh

We had another fun-packed agenda lined up for today, but first we had to celebrate Carole's birthday!

Judging by all the cards and presents she had to open, we were never going to be out early and breakfast was delayed whilst she worked her way through them all.

Carole also got to decide the itinery for the day, and her choice was Bamburgh, just higher up the coast from our cottage, to see the castle and the beach. The castle sits on a rocky outcrop overlooking the sea and was recently a finalist in ITV's competition 'Britain's Favourite View'.

First of all we took the tour of the castle, which although interesting, wasn't what we expected is as much a stately home than a castle these days. I also got in trouble for taking photos (I genuinely hadn't seen the signs!). After leaving the castle, we had lunch overlooking the beach and once the early threat of rain had eased, we ventured out for some sea air.




Although the sun was out and the beach looked fantastic, at this time of year the best pictures of the castle are taken either really early in the morning or late in the evening, neither of which particularly appealed. Nevertheless we managed to get some good shots.

The beach is long and wide, and for July, very quiet too. We stayed on the beach for a good while, first of all trying to throw a frisbee and then checking the rock pools for sealife. The only things we found though were the occasional jellyfish left behind by the tide.

Once the tide was starting to come in again, we decided to drive down the coast to Seahouses, another popular holiday town. Here it's possible to catch a boat out of the small harbour to the Farne Islands, where thousands of seabirds including puffins live. We chose nothing so dramatic, choosing instead to watch the boats and sample the local ice cream instead!

Later in the evening we returned to the Mason's Arms in nearby Rennington where we'd had a nice meal on the day we'd arrived. Again they didn't disappoint. Carole had one last surprise when we got back to the cottage, as we'd brought her a cake complete with candles to round off a fab day.

Holy Island and Berwick

The worst of the weather was forecast to be around Newcastle today, so we decided to head north where hopefully the better weather would be. First on our agenda was Holy Island, which is only accessible via a narrow causeway which floods for several hours at a time at high tide. Fortunately the tide tables were on our side as the causeway was open from 10am until around 5pm - well after we'd planned to leave.

Surprisingly perhaps, there's a village permanently on the island so it's not as bleak as we thought. Having parked up on the main car park, we set off on the walk to Lindisfarne castle, about a mile or so from the car on the south east tip of the island. The weather was overcast and cool but at least it was dry.

The castle was built in the 1500's, soon after the dissollusion of the monastries, and much of the stone from Lindisfarne Priory was used in its construction. The castle was needed to defend the island from the Scots, but after the union between England and Scotland its use as a fort declined. In 1901 it was converted into a country house before being bought by the National Trust in 1944.

Having read all this stuff before setting out, naturally we were keen to see inside, however upon reaching the castle and climbing the path to the entrance, we were greeted with a notice stating the castle was closed due to a wedding! Why couldn't they have made this clear at the other end of the path?? At least it saved us £6 apiece!

From the castle, we walked back towards the main village and the priory, founded in 635AD by St Aiden. By now the clouds had vanished and the sun was out. Although we didn't have time to look inside the priory, we were able to look around the grounds of the priory and the parish church, which is also on the site. After some lunch, we headed back across the causeway in order to continue our journey north towards Berwick.

Berwick's history has been turbulent - an oft-quoted fact being that it has changed hands between England and Scotland more than 13 times. Although finally captured by Richard III of England in 1482, it was never officially merged into England and was treated as a separate entity until the union of England and Scotland in 1707.


This panorama was taken from the city walls, looking south over the Tweed, showing the new road bridge (1928) and the Robert Stevenson-built railway bridge (1847). The old bridge (1624) can be just made out behind the new road bridge.

Another curious story about Berwick is the question of whether the town is still technically at war with Russia! - this is because Queen Victoria signed the Crimean War declaration in 1835 on behalf of "Great Britain, Ireland, Berwick-upon-Tweed and all British Dominions", but the in the treaty bringing about peace, Berwick was left out.


Our tour of Berwick took us around the city walls, where we were treated to some fine views over the river, then later out to sea - with thankfully no raiders from England or Scotland, or the Russian navy in sight! The walk probably amounted to a further couple of miles, so we were ready for a rest by the time we got back to the cottage!

Gateshead: past and present

The forecast wasn't brilliant again today, but as the rain was expected to stay to the north, we decided to head south to Newcastle and Gateshead where we hoped we'd stay dry.

You can't visit Gateshead without being impressed by the Angel of the North which dominates the landscape. At 65ft high it is Britain's largst sculpture and the information board at its location claims it to be one of the most-viewed works of art in the world, seen by more than one person every second or 33 million a year.

In the ten years since its construction, despite some initial criticism it has become a powerful and universally accepted symbol of the North East. It also acknowledges the old industries of coal mining and steelmaking which once made the area famous - it is constructed entirely of steel and stands on the site of the Lower Tyne Colliery.

The light for our visit was poor and didn't do it justice, but as well as the family album snaps, I did manage another which pleased me - see this link to my photos blog: Stature

We then headed down the Old Durham Road into the centre of Gateshead, to an area of town called Saltmeadows. Admittedly not the most picturesque of places, but significant for my family as it was here in the 1920s that my great grandfather lived and worked in the chemical industry.

The new houses on Cemetery Road replaced a much older terrace of tiny houses, where gran says their family (then of six, including my grandma), had moved to. We did find an alleyway which still had its original cobblestones - who knows, perhaps grandma played on these same cobblestones as a little girl eighty-odd years ago?

By the river, the area where the old chemical works used to be is now full of smaller industrial units. Before moving to Cemetery Road, they'd lived closer to the dockyards in a street called South Row, which still exists, although the houses have long gone. I had't realised that the newest symbols of Gateshead's regeneration, the Baltic Centre and the Millennium Bridge, were literally just round the corner from here.

The bridge is the only one of its kind in the world, relying on a tilting mechanism to allow ships to pass beneath - a very simple yet quite elegant design.

Of course, no visit to the Tyne would be complete without taking in the view upriver of the five famous Tyne bridges. In the foreground is the Tyne Bridge (1928 - so this was being built at the time my family were there), the next is the Swing Bridge (1876), followed by the High Level Bridge (1849), the blue Metro Bridge (1981) and the King Edward Bridge (1906).

On our Northumbrian adventure

The weather forecast's not good, but despite this we're off today on our Northumbrian adventure - a week's holiday in a farm cottage on the coast near Alnwick. This time we've got company as Mum and Dad are joining us (poor Carole!).

The weather was fine as we set off, but by the time we reached the North East the rain had caught us up, meaning we had to unpack the cars in the pouring rain.

'Who's idea was this?'

By the end of the day, the rain had finally eased and we were able to take a stroll to take in our new surroundings.

Croft cottage (on the left), our home for the week

PS - Being away from the internet for a week has left me with some catching up to do - I'll be updating the blog with posts from each day of the holiday over the next few days.

The Unnoticed Project

Last night we went along to The Cube in Manchester to look at an exhibition of photos from students at Mid Cheshire college, one of whom, Ken Topham, is a friend of ours.

The exhibition was titled "The Unnoticed Project" and the student's brief was to work with something that tends to be unnoticed in everyday life. Each of the students had a section of wallspace to display their craft and each found a unique way of expressing this theme, from a display of forensic photography to images inspired by dreams.

Ken exhibited four excellent photos capturing the spirit, personality and ambition of four children in a Romanian orphanage and judging by the number of people carefully studying them they were clearly amongst the best on display (but maybe I'm slightly biased!).

Not content with being the centre of attention for his photography, Ken (and not forgetting Ruth too) brought along recently born baby Jessica so that we all (but especially the girls) could make a fuss of her.

At one point it was looking like Bev wasn't going to hand her back!