What I Did This Weekend - In Pictures!

[Thehooperman]

Had a fantastic weekend on Geordieland (apart from the footie result that is).

We met friends on Saturday afternoon in Toon then went out to Whitley Bay for one night.

Met other friends for breakfast by the sea then stayed in Toon after the game.

Yesterday was Hexham races which was very enjoyable whilst the sun shone but bitter cold and windy when it disappeared behind clouds. Won just over £200 so that paid for most of the weekend.

Now at Carlisle on the way back to sunny Stafford.

 

[staffordjas]

Have you found the Grapevine Brewhouse yet? Good food and the beer brewed on site is really good too.

The Bicton and First and Last pubs are good for real ales if thats what hubby likes.

We took a train into Exeter and really enjoyed being tourists for a day. Well worth a visit.

We’re back home now today but didn’t find those pubs. We were looking for one with real ale as well . so will look where they are in advance for our next visit.

Definitely returning to that Imperial hotel again as enjoyed our short break..

We went to Exeter years ago whilst in Torquay and drove that time. A train trip there sounds a good idea for our next visit

 

[staffordjas]

The Bicton and First and Last pubs are good for real ales if thats what hubby likes.

Just looked them up. The Bicton looks interesting and only few minutes walk from our back of our hotel but we never walked that road. Will pay it a visit next time.

Must have walked past the Grapevine Brewery several times and not noticed it

We went in The Queen Vic most nights which was close to hotel & had just a couple of real ales , he enjoyed the ‘ Proper Job’ brewed in Cornwall.

 

[Thehooperman]

Just looked them up. The Bicton looks interesting and only few minutes walk from our back of our hotel but we never walked that road. Will pay it a visit next time.

Must have walked past the Grapevine Brewery several times and not noticed it

We went in The Queen Vic most nights which was close to hotel & had just a couple of real ales , he enjoyed the ‘ Proper Job’ brewed in Cornwall.

Didn’t recognise the Queen Vic name but just checked and it was called the Merchant when we were down there.

Meant to say the Namaste Nepalese is very good but you do need to book in advance.

 

[staffordjas]

Didn’t recognise the Queen Vic name but just checked and it was called the Merchant when we were down there.

Meant to say the Namaste Nepalese is very good but you do need to book in advance.

Aaaaah! Heard someone at the next table in Queen Vic telling her mate that it's been done up and much better than when it was the Merchant.
Seeing the meals in there , nice drinks and 'booking essential ' for most nights (we couldn't get in Sunday afternoon as rammed) , did think about just bed & breaksfast in the hotel next time.

 

[Gramaisc]

In an attempt to not let my recent fitness gains relapse and to check matters against a 'known route' that I've often done in the past, I ventured up to the Manifold Valley yesterday.

It was originally intended to be today, for the better weather, but it became clear that things had reversed in time, so a good decision was made.

Doing two biggish expeditions a week for the last few weeks has definitely improved matters, I used to find this route reasonably strenuous, but it was no trouble at all yesterday.

About eight or nine miles, with a good bit of up and down, in three hours. The weather and the dry conditions underfoot did definitely help, as well, of course.

 

[Mudgie]

We went to Exeter years ago whilst in Torquay and drove that time. A train trip there sounds a good idea for our next visit

That's a spectacular coastal journey by train, one that I enjoyed again eleven and nine days ago for my two nights in Torquay.
And I've stayed three nights in the Yorkshire Dales since then, trains to Skipton then mostly buses.

 

[DeltaHotel]

That's a spectacular coastal journey by train, one that I enjoyed again eleven and nine days ago for my two nights in Torquay.
And I've stayed three nights in the Yorkshire Dales since then, trains to Skipton then mostly buses.

Pictures

Or it never happened

 

[staffordjas]

Last weekend in Exmouth , saw this in the middle of town and thought of @Gramaisc

 

[Gramaisc]

I wanted to do this on Friday, but Thursday had been a very long day, so I did it yesterday. The difference was clear, far more people and lots of very noisy southern accents, to the point that I altered my intended route to get a bit of quiet. Sad, really, it was impossible to avoid hearing what they were shouting at each other, and very little of it was even of any interest to themselves, I'm sure.

Otherwise, it was a good day and has kept up my activity level up a bit, so I should have less of a hit when I get back westwards.

I went from Weag's Bridge again, but northwards to Thor's Cave and then up to Hulme End and back using the roads over the top.

A nice day, but it would definitely have been better to avoid the weekend people...

 

[Gramaisc]

So, I went back on Thursday to do the walk I intended to do last Saturday, but had to give up because of the intensity of the idiocy that was around.

The contrast was truly remarkable. Not just only about 10 to 15% of the numbers of people, but no idiots whatsoever.

It's probably about forty years since I last did this route and I was fearing having gone wrong a few times, then I would stumble on a confirming landmark and actually never put a foot wrong all day. About ten miles on a lovely, if slightly too warm, day.

It was nice to exorcise the evil spirits from the first attempt.

When I was self-employed, it was my general policy to do as much as possible at the weekends, then have my own mid-week 'weekend' on days of my own choosing. That was very effective then, but the intensity of weekend stupidity does seem to have increased considerably since then...

 

[Thehooperman]

Rather a hectic weekend starting with an evening of great company, beer and a curry with friends in Stony Stratford.

Then I went to Goodwood races on Saturday with a friend and her daughter from Winchester.

Then Sunday was a walk around Gunnersbury park

before the Brentford v United game. Don't mention the score!!!!

Then yesterday was the Superbikes at Oulton Park but didn't take any photos cos it was cold and cloudy and the meeting was cut short due to a very serious accident in one of the support races.

Working today for a rest!!!

 

[Gramaisc]

For various logistical reasons, I haven't had a proper night's sleep since Monday. Last night was in at 1am and back up at 3am, to head off and lurk in wait for the sunrise. The journey there was a bit quicker than anticipated, so there was some hanging about and the wind was a little chilly. Others moaned and ran about, but I just lay in a ditch, out of the wind.

The early morning sky was full of planes, going about their business.

Then, the Sun came up, bang on schedule.

Back home now, for a snooze.

 

[Gramaisc]

Foolishly, I wondered if I might have a quiet day to recover a bit.

No.

I got roped in (literally) to hanging a set of flags at a local mine.

I might now attempt to have a cup of tea...

I haven't seen the nearest chap for a good few years - not since we broke into the till at a very shady pub, under official supervision, as it had accidentally locked itself - some time after "official opening hours", whatever they are.

 

[Gramaisc]

A hike out under the direction of a bloke who not only didn't know where we were going, but didn't even know where we were at the start. This was clearly not a great situation. The only person who had been there before had done it as a scout, on a supervised night hike, so that was of little help.

I suggested that people might follow me, strictly on their own responsibility, and ascended to a point where I could see enough to have an idea of where we should be heading. This all involved not going too far off the real route, which became visible as the peak was attained.

This also gave a view of a nice lake, the intended target.

It looked just as nice from the bottom on the way back.

The route back to the cars could be seen clearly from the top, so I left them to amble along and arrived an hour and a half before them - giving me time to inspect a nearby waterfall.

 

[Gramaisc]

It being near enough the weekend and also the annual day when it is not allowed to rain, I set out on a walk, a route I've only done part of before.

It was very hot and much more difficult than was reasonable, I did complete it reasonably unscathed in the end, but great care was needed.

It looks quite nice, but even going downhill here was difficult, dangerous and very slow progress.

When I got back down to the more civilised regions, there were heaps of bluebells around.

 

[littleme]

Beautiful @Gramaisc

 

[Gramaisc]

The Sunday walking group split into two today, two of us didn't want to do the 'official' walk, so we headed off to do one that I (wisely) felt a bit tired to do on Friday evening, after the exertions of the first venture that day.

It turned out to be longer, harder and far better than I expected and we achieved all the objectives.

First of all, we found the source of the second-longest river on the island - the start of its 192km journey to the sea.

At this point, after the long dry spell, there was little open water, but quite a bit was flowing in subterranean tunnels.

We followed the course downstream and it soon developed into an open stream.

We followed it down for about 4km and then looped back through a forest, to regain the carpark.

On the way back home, I suggested that we attempt to find an odd weir that I have heard about and seen an occasional photo of. This involved an unpromising-looking journey through some fields and, expecting to be disappointed and admit defeat, we were suddenly presented with the sight of the weir - much bigger and more impressive than I expected. Again, due to the low rainfall of recent weeks, we were able to easily walk along the weir itself.

It was an excellent day - much better than I expected and some more targets can be ticked off now.

 

[Gramaisc]

Continuing the twice-weekly weekends, the foggy morning seemed likely to burn off into a sunny day, and it did. So, I did a nearby circuit, just to keep the kilometres up.

Most of it was open country.

But, the occasional shaded sections were very welcome.

Knowing where I was going, I failed to read the noticeboard at the start, which would have revealed that a section was closed - arriving at it unawares, I elected to sneak through and did so unnoticed - and unaware of what the reason for the closure might have been.

My usual midweek companion is busy chaperoning a visitor at the moment, so I did this on my own. I was, however, carrying the tracker that she now insists I wear, after I confessed the extreme dodginess of last Friday's solo birthday expedition. I only told her in an effort to sort of blackmail myself into not doing it again, but I find myself now subject to a tagging regime - having found the manual online, I am marginally offended that it is proclaimed to be particularly suitable for children and elderly people.

 

[littleme]

Continuing the twice-weekly weekends, the foggy morning seemed likely to burn off into a sunny day, and it did. So, I did a nearby circuit, just to keep the kilometres up.

Most of it was open country.

View attachment 16796


But, the occasional shaded sections were very welcome.

View attachment 16797

View attachment 16798

Knowing where I was going, I failed to read the noticeboard at the start, which would have revealed that a section was closed - arriving at it unawares, I elected to sneak through and did so unnoticed - and unaware of what the reason for the closure might have been.

My usual midweek companion is busy chaperoning a visitor at the moment, so I did this on my own. I was, however, carrying the tracker that she now insists I wear, after I confessed the extreme dodginess of last Friday's solo birthday expedition. I only told her in an effort to sort of blackmail myself into not doing it again, but I find myself now subject to a tagging regime - having found the manual online, I am marginally offended that it is proclaimed to be particularly suitable for children and elderly people.

Glad to know someone's keeping 'track' of you...