Golden Wedding celebration

Not the most exotic of destinations but nevertheless it was a weekend away during a year in which many of their plans were scuppered. Torquay was in fact chosen for Bill and Val as it was to be the venue for a regional meeting of the International Police Association of which Bill is a member. The meeting was scheduled for November unfortunately the meeting was cancelled due to the Covid pandemic. However a deposit had been paid so when the opportunity arose to get away out of lock down they took it. On Thursday 3rd December they set off in the pouring rain and arrived in the low blinding sun. They booked into their hotel and then took a walk down to the front then returned for dinner. The following day they wandered back down to the town and wandered around. The weather wasn’t too bad and they were able to sit outside with a beverage before returning to the hotel for dinner. The next day, Saturday 5th they returned to the town and met up with Steve Dutton a former colleague of Bill’s. ...

Highlands of Scotland 5th - 9th October 2020 Bill and Val together with their friends Sandra and David Gostling spent five days exploring the Highlands of Scotland, predominately by train. Bill and Val were originally going in April 2019 but the trip was postponed due to Bill’s ill health. even this year’s trip was touch and go because of Covid-19. On the 5th October the two couples flew to Inverness from where they were transferred to their hotel in Carrbridge. On Tuesday 6th October they were driven to Fort William where they boarded the train to Mallaig. On route they travelled over the Glenfinnion viaduct, made famous by the Harry Potter films. On arrival at Mallaig they explored this small town for a short time then boarded the coach for the trip back. Their return route took them via Benavie where they stoped to view Neptune’s staircase, a system of eight locks on the Caledonian canal. whilst there the Jacobite steam train pulled through. On Wednesday 7th October they were taken ...

Hertford 29 August - 7 September  COVID not withstanding Val and Bill are back travelling and the caravan is now out for the second time in a month. The first full weekend in September is traditionally a Scouting weekend at Gilwell Park, the Scout Association’s HQ. Val and Bill have always supported this event, met up with their scouting friends, Sandra and David Gostling from Norfolk some twenty years ago and have participated in workshops and social activities ever since. For a few years now the scout authorities have show a disinclination to caravans so the four have chosen to camp at a nearby Camping and Caravan Club site.    The great plague of 2020 not only cancelled the Gilwell weekend but their regular site was also closed. With all this in mind it was decided to find another campsite and to participate in the virtual Gilwell. The new site was located on the the edge of Hertford. They say every cloud has a silver lining, not only was the site one of the best they’...

The National Forest 14th - 19 August 2020 It’s been a difficult year, despite it being one worthy of much celebration it actually started to become quite depressing. Notwithstanding Bill and Val’s quest to do so much in this, their anniversary year they actually got stuck in a rut and when circumstances allowed for them to get out and do something they found themselves hard pushed to motivate themselves, but motivate themselves they did. They decided that the caravan had stood idle too long so they booked to stay in the National Forest at Conkers. The purpose of the trip was threefold, a) to commission the caravan that hadn’t turned a wheel since January, b) revitalise themselves by seeing different scenery and c) the visit the National Memorial Arboretum (NMA) as close to the 18th August as possible. They arrived on sited    on Friday 14th August and set up the caravan from scratch and washed it down. The following day 15th August, being VJ Day and the fact they are British L...

The Big Day 4th July 2020 Followers of this blog will know it was Bill & Val’s intention to celebrate their Golden Wedding with a number of events throughout the year of 2020. Unfortunately the Corona virus took a hold and scuppered their plans. Since the last post they missed out on a number of caravan outings, two Florida Disney parks, a Caribbean cruise and a trip to Disneyland Paris. They also missed out on a trip to the Norfolk show and other trips post anniversary. They are obviously disappointed however some of these events are merely postponed. One thing that wasn’t go to happen was to have the actu al date pass by unrecognised. The party planned didn’t happen but with the slight easing of restrictions they were able to open their garden to friends of family within the limits of the legislation.  The celebrations haven’t ended with the arrival of 4th July, they have decided they have been married 50 years until its 51. Consequently when the postponed eventually take pla...

Northern Cyprus    3rd - 11th March 2020 On Tuesday 3rd March Bill and Val drove to the Ibis Hotel on the outskirts of Gatwick Airport, they stayed the night, left the car and took the shuttle bus to the North Terminal. From there they flew to Antalia, Turkey. Here they had to disembark, clear immigration and customs then reboard the plane for the onward trip to Ercan in Northern Cyprus. After having to clear immigration and customs again they transferred to their hotel in Famagusta arriving about half past midnight local time. They remained in this resort for three nights and whilst there visited Nicosia, the nearby St Barnabas monastery, the ruin city of Salmis, Dipkarpaz, St Andrew’s monastery, the Golden beach and a little village    of Komi Kebir on the Karpasir peninsular. They also visited the Agios Afksentious church. On Saturday 7th March they checked out of the hotel    and boarded the coach and were taken to Famagusta where toured around the part...