Jim's Holidays: 2020

Monday, 28 September 2020

A Stylish Place in the Cotswolds

After exchanging anniversary cards Debbie and I pack the car and set off for the Cotswolds just as it starts raining which gets very heavy on the M4. An auspicious start to a few days away. We arrive late afternoon to a warm welcome from our host and take in the lovely view across the Painswick Valley looking west to the ridge that Duncan and I walked across along the Cotswolds Way. It's a very tranquil spot with just a hint of a hum from the A46. We walk up the lane, or Wick Street as it's called, in the evening for a view over Painswick and turn back as the black clouds roll in and we have to shelter under a tree during the downpour. We dine on asparagus and samphire washed down with champagne to celebrate 14 years of wedded bliss. Our home is a wooden sided converted pig sty with ancient wooden beams but cosy enough with the wood burning stove. Thursday morning it's raining but doesn't seem to bother the horses grazing in the field below us. By the time we've breakfasted the rain has stopped and we walk into Painswick to admire the typical Cotswolds buildings and the church with 99 yew trees. We then walk down and up the steep hill to Bulls Cross then back home just in time to miss another torrential downpour which is a good excuse to laze about reading. It's an impressively atmospheric evening with huge black clouds interspersed with the sun lighting up their edges. Friday morning is cloudless and we stride up to Bulls Cross to start the Laurie Lee Wildlife Walk which is a lovely route through woods and down the Slad Valley to Laurie's childhood village. It's breezy with clouds scudding in on the north wind but sunny to keep us warm especially when ascending the sides of the valley. After blackberrying and lunch we have a drink in the Woolpack garden overlooking where we've walked before visiting Lee's gravestone in the churchyard opposite and then the cottage where he grew up. With a pint of local rough(ish) cider inside me we climb back over the ridge to our own valley and sit in the sun looking out westwards. After a while the cold northerly drives us inside to the warmth of the fire and to finish our books. Dinner is rounded off with freshly picked blackberries and apples generously left outside a house for free (a common feature round these here parts). Saturday is another cloudless morning but with a distinct nip in the air and after gazing out one last time to see a deer frolic in our field we drive to my parents who I haven't seen since February. A good chat and hearty meal from the chippy then we drive to Lansdown to put a rose from Matt's rosebush in his field. Back to my parents to pick up my glasses that I forgot then an uneventful drive home by the back rounds due to the M4 being closed nearing London. A lovely few days away.

The sty from Wick Street

Not bad for a sty

View from our bar

Rain and sun

Sunset over the Painswick Valley

The valley in the morning

Painswick from Wick Street

Painswick churchyard

Our visit to Lilliput

The Laurie Lee Wildlife Walk

Lake just before the steep bit

Looking up the Slad Valley

Looking down the Slad Valley

Intrepid Trekkers

Slad in the distance

View over where we've come from - from the Woolpack at Slad

Laurie's gravestone

The Woolpack

Rosebank - Laurie Lee's childhood home

The Pilgrimage from Wick Street to Slad

View over Weston and Bath from Lansdown

A rose for Matt

Tuesday, 15 September 2020

Eastbourne Riviera

Friday I get a train for a fiver to Eastbourne for an Autumn hiking weekend with Duncan. Nice apartment overlooking a bowling green (complete with ad for funeral director) then a vista of Mediterranean like trees to the pebble beach and a sea glittering. Duncan arrives and we're off for big shop by which time it's getting dark. Lovely curry and beers and then bed where I fall asleep watching le Tour highlights.

View from the flat

Fitful night so a little tired Saturday morning but after a cooked breakfast we're raring to go. We walk into the town centre to get the train to Glynde (10 minutes but more expensive than my ticket from London) and we walk up a steep hill to join the South Downs Way which we are following into Eastbourne. The Way is very popular with walkers, cyclists and the odd horse rider. It's mainly in open ex;posed to sun and wind but with enough wooded parts to keep in interesting along with the nice villages with expensive cars. We get great views over the downs and then over Bournemouth and across to Hastings as we descend to the sea. After a couple of beers in the pub I cook pasta with tomato sauce for tea before watching our teams win their first games of the season on MOTD before my le Tour fix.

The Long Man of Wilmington

Duncan climbing up past the Long Man - it was steep!

Lunch above the Long Man of Wilmington

At last beneath the trees

Following the South Downs Way

Sunday morning we're not in a rush as after a leisurely cuppa we have a quick dip in the sea before breakfast. Water is pleasant and the sun is out and a cormorant is drying it's wings on a pole in the water. Will be hot today and I already have a red neck from yesterday. We hike to Pevensey seeing a couple of seals basking on the way and yes it is very hot. After breaking out of the castle grounds we loop round coming into Eastbourne along the main roads which can't be helped. Back home we collapse with beers and gaze at the view of azure seas and a cloudless sky before an evening swim and tea.

Our flat behind the bowling green

One of the many Martello towers

Pevensey Castle

Pevensey Bay loop (Strava got a bit mixed up in Morrisons)

Very leisurely breakfast then bus to Seaford for a hike back along the cliffs in very hot weather with a light breeze but no shade. After a dip at the Birling Gap it's up and down over the Seven Sisters to Beachy Head before descending into Eastbourne and a trek along the seafront passing all the oldies. After recovering from heat exhaustion we go for a couple of beers at our local then get chips to eat on the beach. A lovely end to the day.

Sunrise

A chalky cliff

Duncan striding away from Seaford

The Seven Sisters

Shimmering Sea

Beachy Head Lighthouse

A shimmering backdrop

Seven Sisters & Beachy Head

Tuesday we breakfast and pack and after a little bike gears fiddling Duncan drops me off at the station and we say our goodbyes. Some great walking although a little hot for my liking. There again I can't complain that it didn't rain on us which is a first for our hiking weekends.

Saturday, 8 August 2020

Lockdown Breakout

My 2nd week of summer holiday sees me on the near empty train to Leicester which I wouldn't (shouldn't) have been able to visit a week ago due it's extended lockdown. Bruce meets me at the station and we whizz away from downtown Leicester to the allegedly safer suburbs. We go for a walk around the wetlands feeding vicious swans and picking blackberries and then go for a cycle ride to Bradgate Park. Back home we see a sparrow hawk take a small bird about 12 feet from us (with a window between) and fly off. Not spotted the local puma which frequents the steam railway track. Wednesday sees us cycle to Loughborough to see the steam railway gap and lunch next to the carillion tower. After a pleasant cycle home we go for our wetland walk and have a drink outside the Earl of Stamford. Thursday and it' off to north Yorkshire and after a very pleasant lunch at a York container park we arrive at Mr Malcolm's Marvellous Wild Campsite which is not wild but is pretty basic. But not quite as basic as last week's site as we have showers here. Soon Ramsay and Jo arrive with my tent (thanks guys) having fled extended lockdown Leeds and we pitch up on a lovely flat bit of ground with amazing views out over the valley. We dine on BBQed sausages and then tell yarns around the communal fire. Friday is a scorcher and we head for Runswick Bay which Debbie saw mentioned as one of the best beaches in the UK and indeed it's a lovely place. Trouble is thousands of others think so too and we park in a farmers field that looks like Glastonbury car parking. Of course what with social distancing and walking a while along the beach we get to a relatively quiet spot where I can find a bit of shade and the others can bask in the sun. The water is damn cold but bearable - as the saying goes "it's lovely once you're in". It seems especially buoyant too and laying on my back just drifting I wonder if there's more salt in the water here than in Devon and Cornwall. Bruce and I go for a walk along the cliffs for an amazing view back along the bay (of course neither of us brought a camera or phone) and return past hikers with very sensible footwear commenting on our bare feet. As the afternoon draws to a close our chauffeur Bruce (thanks mate!) drives us into Whitby which is pretty crowded. We have a drink in the market square and then I get about 20 chips for £2.50 at the terrible bar and restaurant overlooking the harbour. By this time it's raining off and on and we are surrounded by a lightning storm which weirdly doesn't seem to be overhead. A perfect time to ascend "Dracula's Steps" to the ruined abbey which is especially atmospheric with the rumbles and flashes. Then home to bed. Saturday and I'm up early to a cloudless sky and I sit alone sipping tea watching hawks circle overhead. I then go for a walk through the wood a safe distance from any campers to practice my harmonica and on the way come face to face at 12 feet with a large owl. After about 30 seconds of us staring each other out I try to ease my camera from my pocket but he's photo shy and nonchalantly flies off. Having desecrated Dirty Old Town I wander back to see if anyone is up yet. We drive to Boggle Hole and walk along the cliffs to Robin Hood Bay then picnic on the beach. The water is possibly even colder today. It starts to rain a bit so we go into the village and have a pint before wandering back to the car. By this time I'm listening to the FA Cup Final and The Arsenal are 1 nil down to Chelsea which is turning my mood about the same colour as the sky. We go back to Whitby abbey as we spotted a micro brewery there. There are 3 likely looking characters in pirate hats at a table sporting bondage trousers and bum flaps. Young punk rockers. Of course we are drawn to each other and they end up sitting with us invalidating all the social distancing we've been practising over the last few days. Although from Sunderland one turns out to have a Spurs crest tattooed on his arm so of course wants The Arsenal to lose the final but we've equalised and soon enough score the winner. The last 10 minutes plus another 10 of added time I'm just listening intently on the phone but after an age I'm elated. The record number extended. Who cares if it's started raining? We leave the punks as we've exhausted discussions on bands and whether punk is dead or not (and this is over 30 years after that debate was first had) and with a last shout of a certain anti Spurs song directed at our new found and newly lost friends we go back to camp for another BBQ and interrupt a romantic couple by the fire. Sunday is sunny at first to dry the tents and after breakfasting and packing up it starts pouring just as we've packed the cars. We say our goodbyes to Ramsay and Jo at an acceptable distance and Bruce and I head back south over the moorlands. Bruce's team are meant to be playing at Thrumpton so we decide to lunch there but the covers are still on and we have to eat watching the grass grow. Evening we have our habitual walk to the wetlands rudely interrupted by having homophobic yells directed at us by the morons outside the Stamford so my silver won't be passing that bar again. On our way back the same blokes keep quiet so I guess they realise that we aren't intimidated by a few drunken yobs. More likely cos there's only 6 of them there than the original 12. These people are all cowards and only hunt in packs. Monday Bruce drives me to the station and on a slightly busier train I speed from the locked down north to the safety of London, but for how much longer? A fantastic few days away. Thanks fellow campers.