The Dodges in 2019
Another year that's just gone steaming by !
These days we're firm believers in starting the year with a weekend away, as indeed are Tom & Fliss Harper, who once again joined us for a weekend at Woolacombe.
This time round we stayed at the brand new Ocean Point apartment block, which comes with stunning sea views
Sadly however, we never got to sea the view in sunshine, and, great though this apartment was in many respects, a very small second bedroom means that we are unlikely to return.
To Tenerife a couple of weeks later, flying with Thomas Cook, and also rebooking with them for 2020 ! When it was time to come home, and Bristol Airport was thick with snow, they were able to bring a spare aircraft into play, fully crewed, and kept on Gran Canaria during the winter season, to drop in anywhere as required. As a result we were back in the U.K. only 2 hours behind schedule, albeit diverted to Birmingham. When Thos Cook sadly went tits-up, we were able to rebook with Tui for the same day in 2020, and only a couple of hours later. We've since since managed to get a full refund on the payment to Thos Cook.
Anyway, back to Tenerife...
If you ever fly to Tenerife, try to get a window seat on the left hand side of the plane, which will mean you get this view of Mount Teide during the descent.
On our fourth day there, we celebrated what the media dub 'Blue Monday', though this probably isn't the sort of 'blue' that they mean !
Come to think of it, this probably isn't what they mean by 'Dry January' either !
"Just a healthy salad for me, thank you !"
The diet can wait !
There's always something to watch from the balcony. This was our fifth visit to this particular apartment....
....where the sun rises at 08:25....
...and the balcony stays in the sun until the early evening sunset !
Pushing at the boundaries of amateur photography here - these two ferries are more than half a mile offshore, and it was every bit as gloomy as it looks here.
This is the total lunar eclipse that took place whilst we were there. There was about 90 minutes of totality, but the moon was in and out of cloud the whole time so photo opportunities were somewhat fleeting in nature. The white patch on the upper-right edge of the moon is sunlight that is shining through the earth's atmosphere. What a fantastic sight that must have made had anyone been on the moon to see it !
Shortly after the end of totality, the moon is about to slip behind the clouds once again
With the eclipse reaching it's final stages, this was the last photo taken before it was time (05:25) to head back to bed !
It's a serious business, this holiday malarkey !
February saw a new destination - 'Redwings' - a terraced house with a fine view out to sea at Instow....
....shared with old friends Colin Smith and Roger Beazer. We had fairly typical February weather for most of the time, so it was a weekend for hunkering down.
During a visit to Bideford, Chris's inner child demanded a 'Harry Worth' moment. If you're under 60 you'll need to click on this link to understand this, and if you're over 60 you might enjoy it anyway.
Dining in on Saturday night
The best weather was reserved for the Monday morning, before we headed home.
A month later we were back at Instow for a weekend with Tom & Fliss, plus James and Caroline Bryant, this time at a familiar Instow haunt, namely Westfield House. This is the view from the top bedroom,
The view across to Appledore at dusk...
...then turn round, and this is the view along Marine Parade
Dining at The Quay on Saturday night
A bike ride into Bideford on Sunday.....
Followed by afternoon tea on the terrace......
....sometimes, it all gets just a bit too much !
Widget Bryant looks on somewhat helplessly, as Muttley commandeers his bed !
Sunset beyond Appledore
Anyone who visited us during 2019 will be aware that after an absence of 28 years, there is once again a model railway on the premises, though this time round it's of the vintage Hornby-Dublo 3-rail type which was popular in the 1950s and early 60s.
Now then, a modern twist: Vintage model railway + GoPro camera = fun !
This railway is all about freight operations, and as yet, there are no signals, no scenery, nothing but trains and track.
Now, all aboard for a driver's eye view of the circuit.
The approach to the suspension bridge, which is floodlit at night, to give the neighbours something to snigger at. The track alignment has since been improved.
Negotiating the northside.....
...and past the loco stabling point to complete the trip.
Superb 'O' gauge models (the next size up from Chris's) on display at an exhibition, and No Chris, you can't have one !
In late 2018 Chris joined the Hornby Railway Collector's Association, the Bristol & Somerset chapter of which meets once a month at a Scout Hut in Weston-Super-Mare in order to, let's not beat about the bush here, play trains. Aged below 70, at least for the time being, he is very much part of the 'Junior Section'. Come to think of it, he probably is the Junior Section. Here the GoPro goes for a ride on a train of bogie bolster wagons.
Hornby-Dublo 2 rail is also represented
With no speed control, a driver's eye view of the O Gauge clockwork layout is simply terrifying !
The last frame before it all started to go horribly wrong.....
...coming to rest upside-down opposite the Signal Box !
Early May saw us boating once again, aboard Black Prince's 'Sally' for the beautiful run from Napton (Warwickshire) to Market Harborough and back.
Sadly the weather wasn't the best this week, but the crew are seen posing here at Market Harborough midway through the trip.
Denise's younger sister Diana, brother-in-law Stephen and nephew Harris joined us on the Sunday. Here Roger and Colin coach Harris in the art of steering without hitting anything.
A busy time descending Foxton Staircase. As any canal buffs looking at this may already be aware, Foxton is in fact 2 x 5-rise staircases with a passing point between them, this being visible behind Denise and Roger.
Some rare sunshine for the ascent of Watford Staircase, this being situated just a few hundred yards from Watford Gap services.
Starting the ascent of Foxton on the way back.
An unusual angle on one of the locks, thanks to the GoPro and what Chris claims to be one of the world's longest selfie sticks. At over 4 metres long, it began life as a gutter cleaner !
To deepest Warwickshire later in May, where Tom & Fliss's eldest daughter Imogen married Ben Harvey.
L-R: Younger daughter Jenica, Fliss's mum Sunny, Tom, Imogen, Ben, Fliss's sister Maxine and brother Julian, with Fliss herself on the far right, a position she is not normally accustomed to !
Imogen and Ben are expecting their first child in March 2020.
Also present, James and Caroline Bryant, with daughters Jasmine and Phoebe
The Dodges well scrubbed-up, getting some practise in for later in the month.....
Smart casual once again ? What's going on here ?
In May Denise fulfilled a lifelong ambition to cruise the Norwegian Fjords.
This is our first evening aboard 'Sapphire Princess' .....
....along with Steve & Sarah Rendall.....
....and Sally & Nigel Drewett
Formal dining followed a day at sea in continuous fog on the Sunday...
....however on the Monday morning we woke to this view, just after 6.00 a.m., on the run into Bergen.
Beautiful morning colours abound as the Pilot Boat begins to draw alongside....
....momentarily disappearing from view as it manoevers towards a hatch more or less directly below our cabin.
Job done !
If a Marine Pilot becomes obese, would his or her colleagues refer to 'The Pilot Whale' ? Just wondering.
A balcony was deemed to be de riguer for this trip.
Though not as 'three-dimensional' as we'd been expecting, the run into Bergen was still stunning.
"Don't look now, but I think we're being followed ! "
'Aida Perla' - all 125,000 tonnes of her - follows us towards Bergen.
One of the suspension bridges on the approach to Bergen
The view from Bergen's funicular railway. It's modern, it's quick, but we had to queue for over 90 minutes before boarding.
The view from the top. 'Sapphire Princess' can be seen on the right, 'Aida Perla' on the left.
Our home for a brilliant week - 'Sapphire Princess', see here at Bergen, and weighing in at a relatively paltry 115,000 tonnes.
Two thirds of the party, with Nigel and Sally elsewhere.
Big cruise ships have a habit of dominating their surroundings !
Monday night saw the latest sunset that either of us have ever seen, at 22:41
What a sight to wake up to ! Moored at the head of Geiranger Fjord, along with M.S.C. Mareviglia. It was a similar M.S.C. ship that subsequently 'went rogue' at Venice.
This view of the two ships is for us the definitive photo from the holiday.
Denise dressed in a 'condom' after getting up close and personal with the waterfall
'Sapphire Princess' with two of her tenders, each of which can carry 100 passengers.
The 'Seven Sisters' waterfall, though we're open to suggestions as to why a Norwegian waterfall should be named after a north London tube station !
Sailing back down the fjord in the afternoon was simply stunning.
Another case of "I think someone's following us " !
Back to the balcony, pour a G&T, and just watch the moving wallpaper slide gently by !
Wednesday saw us at Olden Fjord, and the newly-completed Loen Skylift, taking you 990 metres up to the top of a mountain.....
....which causes something of an issue if, like Steve, you suffer from vertigo. This is how he copes.
This cable car is certainly a steep one !
Chris spent considerable amounts of time struggling to get a photographic angle which conveyed the sheer size of the 'Princess'.
Here it's somewhat different, as she is made to look utterly insignificant by the sheer majesty of the fjords.
The two virgin cruisers at the top.
The two cars about to pass on the way back down. The ship in the fjord isn't ours, it's the National Geographic Explorer, which is considerable more hard-core.
Our last day in Norway was a cold wet one at Stavanger. Here we ease past 'Aida Perla' on the way out.
To English eyes, we consider it all to easy to mis-read 'Aida' as 'Asda' ! It's the same font, and even the same shade of green !
A fine sight at Kidderminster - Deltic 55019, part of the Severn Valley Railway's Spring Diesel Gala, which Chris attended along with John Virgin.
50007 'Hercules' (named after the warship, not Steptoe's horse !) about to depart from Kidderminster.
The June flying display at Old Warden this year was just a few days prior to the celebrations of the 75th anniversary of D-Day. In all a total of over 30 Douglas DC3 Dakotas took part, and no less than 9 of them gathered at Old Warden for the display.
During the display, they provided the once-in-a-lifetime sight of all taking off line-astern over a period of about 7 minutes.
For the first time at Old Warden, we had a full display from The Red Arrows.
Note to self: OK, maybe use 1/2000th second rather than 1/1000th next time !
We used the Portsmouth - Cherbourg jet-foil to get to France this year. And how did this photo come about ? Drone ? Internet search ? Simply pure opportunistic co-incidence, as Normandie Express passed down the port side of Sapphire Princess shortly after we left Southampton !
On her second trip to France, Muttley was eager to get behind the wheel once again
This was our 30th boating trip to France, but our first to Brittany, and we absolutely loved it.
This is our first evening, spent at Beslé -sur-Vilaine.
First night aboard, a fine evening, a glass of wine - what's not to like ?
A lovely dusk, totally out in the middle of nowhere
Our first visit to Nantes, and the Galerie des Machines
And for the prog-rockers amongst you, yes, this does look like a Roger Dean album cover !
It's also what they are building in a disused quarry.
This mechanical spider requires a crew of four.
The undoubted star of the show is this mechanical elephant, which can carry 50 passengers. Sadly, during our visit, it was having it's pre summer season service.
New and old happily co-existing, as one of Nante's excellent trams passes in front of the chateau.
This is the 34-storey Tour Bretagne.....
....and this is the view from the top, accessed for the princely sum of €1 each !
The river is the Loire, and the airport is visible just below the horizon, left of centre.
The 'Commerce' area, with a couple of trams visible.
We got to Nantes by means of the River Erdre, a lovely waterway, and boasting more Chateaux than you can shake a stick at !
This lock is at Redon. The lifting bridge runs over the lock, and has to be raised before boats can enter. The lock-keeper is based in the little tower visible behind the bridge.
The Canal Guide showed moorings at Le Houssac, but gave no clue as to how spectacular they would be.
This was the drone's-eye-view the following morning.
The river Aff as we head upstream towards La Gacilly
La Gacilly was the setting for a huge photographic exhibition, including this mural on the side of a house...
...as well as this display lining one of the public paths.
One of the best known towns in Brittany is Josselin, famous for it's chateau standing next to the river.
This is the view at dusk...
Our little boat is just beyond the one moored stern-on.
Another drone shot taken the following misty morning.
The view downstream
Our floating home for the fortnight - one of Le Boat's excellent 'Tango' class.
Cheers !
Immediately after returning home from France, a fine picnic at Shear Water with old friends Heidi & Simon.
This charming miniaturised signal box is at the Avon Valley Country Park, the venue for an HRCA gathering in Mid July
As a former Signalman, Chris was impressed by the design of this miniature railway's signalling system, however he had 'no eyedill at all' what a Manover is !
being the HRCA, it was once again all about playing trains !
Our doyenne of all things O gauge and clockwork, Chris Batten, was somewhat bemused by the lack of anywhere to stick a key !
Obviously the Chairman gets first dibs on the double-header. Steve Sands, seen here having a fine old time.
Back at home, a re-creation of 'The Condor', a London - Glasgow overnight freight service, usually worked by a pair of Metropolitan-Vickers Co-Bo locos back in the 1960s.
The same, this time with the 'floodlights' on.
At the end of August we spent a fine late-summer weekend with Sarah Kaines (centre, a former colleague of Denise's) and her partner Simon, at their new home near Newquay. Also along on the trip were Denise's boss Carla (right) and her family, the newest edition to which can just be seen trying to peek out of Carla's doggie-bag.
Meet Pablo the Pug, who spent the entire weekend either eating, sleeping, playing, or being cuddled.
At present, Pablo has grown to be just about the same size as Muttley, who is just about getting used to him. She's going to get to know him really well soon, as he is coming to stay for 3 weeks over the Xmas / New Year period, whilst the rest of the family go to Canada.
Whilst there, we helped Simon christen his new man-cave / beach hut in their back garden.
Panoramic view of Fistral Beach.....
....as we enjoyed that lovely Cornish late-summer vibe.
Meanwhile, Denise's attempts at parallel parking continue to be a cause for concern.
Actually, it's part of Scott May's Daredevil Circus, performing at Perrenporth airfield
In September, we were delighted, thanks to an excellent end-of-season deal from Le Boat, to be back aboard a Tango. This was for the second time in less than three months, this time on the Thames. Our boat, nearest the camera, is seen here on a misty morning at Abingdon.
Mel & Sally Cunliffe joined us for a day-trip from Abingdon to Oxford and back
Denise captured this beautiful late-summer early-evening scene at Mapledurham
Drone's eye view taken at around the same time. It's not our boat, by the way, and those are flying geese in the lower foreground.
Later in the week, Dave Beckwith and his long-time partner Lilian Cross joined us as we explored between Henley and Windsor. This was the first time that we had ventured downstream of Reading, and we absolutely loved it.
All aboard for a grand weekend ! One advantage of a Monday-Monday hire is that you can get friends on board for an entire weekend. Diana, Tom and Fliss joined us on the Friday evening at Maidenhead, this shot being taken during our breakfast stop at Cookham the following morning.
Happily, this weekend included Denise's birthday
We did indeed, although with us it was five plus the dog rather than five including the dog.....
....until, that is, five became eight, as nephew Ed (at the back on the left), niece Lottie (steering) and her partner Guy (back right) joined us for the Saturday afternoon, as we cruised from Marlow to Henley.
Possibly the most boats we've ever shared a lock with - eight of them, at Hambledon. Everyone and his dog seemed to be on the river on a weekend of perfect weather.
The day continued with tea at Henley....
...followed by dinner at Cafe Rouge.
Early morning the following day....
...and more perfect weather as we headed back towards Benson.
Back to the Severn Valley for the Autumn Diesel Gala, and one of the locos that provided a glorious soundtrack to Chris's teenage trainspotting years - this is 'Warship' Class, D821 Greyhound
The same could be said of the 'Westerns'. This is D1015, Western Champion
Chris and John Virgin also enjoyed haulage behind 40106 (formerly D306) 'Atlantic Conveyor'.
Prog-rock legends 'Focus' played at the Taunton Brewhouse in late October
A great gig at a beautifully intimate venue
Now they say you should never meet your heroes....
....but keyboard maestro, flautist and yodeller extrordinaire Thijs Van Leer was both charming and urbane, as seen here, as he fills Chris in on the rights to 'lost' Focus tracks of the late 1970s, which, it transpired somewhat bizarrely, are owned by the BBC !
Unusually, this year the Vets4Pets xmas jolly featured clay pigeon shooting - here Denise receives instruction.
Now a lady of comparative leisure, working just two days a week, Denise has also joined a photographic club. Here, two of her prints go on display in Bath's Guildhall, including the photo of the Thames at Henley, seen higher up the page.
Merry Christmas everyone, and a Happy
New Year !
Chris & Denise
P.S: If by any chance you feel the urge
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2018
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