Day five of my trip dawned in Ilfracombe and was sunny yet again which was becoming somewhat of a habit and one I could easily get used to. I had set my alarm for once though I was up long before its rather annoying electronic insistence for today I had things to do, things I really could not afford to be late for. Much as I had enjoyed my weekend with dear friends in and around Torquay and pleasant as my brief stay in Ilfracombe had been, this was the big one as it was the day I was going to Lundy Island which was the main purpose of the trip. As I shall explain, there was one boat and one only to be caught and if I missed that then all was lost. As always I skipped breakfast and had told the lovely landlady the previous evening so she wasn’t cooking unnecessarily. I do hate wasting food. Thanking her husband for their fine hospitality I stepped out to face what I knew was going to be another good day, I could just feel it. Continue reading “I finally got there.”
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A trip across the county.
I have so far written less than double digits of posts on my brand new website here and have probably made a liar of myself on about half of that small number.
My problem is that I promise faithfully to be brief and I do start off with the best intentions but the road to Hell is paved with them as we were told when children. Inevitably, I end up getting side-tracked and writing a tome that would not disgrace Tolstoy on amphetamine. When writing historical posts I usually begin by looking at my images for that day as an aide-memoire and that process for this day, 15/07/2013 reveals a day of uneventful travelling from South to North Devon which should produce a novella as opposed to the sagas I have been churning out previously. Continue reading “A trip across the county.”
Sailing in history to visit more history.
Contrary to all expectations the first part of this travelogue on my trip to Devon and specifically Lundy Island seems to have been successfully published and so I am going to ride my luck here and go for a second instalment. Continue reading “Sailing in history to visit more history.”
First stop on the journey.
Ladies and gentlemen, this is where the fun really starts.
I do hope you have come upon this page by way of the introduction I spent two weeks constructing and which represented the first entries on this brand new website which I have started in spite of a serious case of technical incompetence. Here it is. After those twin disasters I took this rather drastic step as I have had two commercial travel sites (Virtual Tourist and Travbuddy) closed down on me in just over a year and I do not want to achieve a terrible hat-trick so I am going it alone.
The site is predominantly travel themed and this represents my first actual travel blog referring to a wonderful trip I took to Lundy Island and other parts of Devon in the beautiful Southwest of England back in 2013. I have several reasons for choosing this as my start point and I shall explain my thinking here. Continue reading “First stop on the journey.”
Looping the Loop – London LOOP 1.
Hello again, dear readers and welcome to another series of posts about a little (actually fairly large) project I undertook some years ago (I started it in May 2013) in walking a 150+ mile designated Long Distance Footpath (LDP) and at no point of which was I more than 15 miles from my own front door. Clever stuff, eh?
I am writing all this in April 2020 when I am, like all other Britons and about half the developed world, effectively under house arrest as a result of the apocalyptic CoVid-19 virus which is decimating the planet in a pandemic of Bibilcal proportions. It is like something out of a sci-fi novel but the sad truth is that it is actually happening.
I have some notes available as I shall explain in a moment, all my images and more than usual time on my hands as I cannot go anywhere. This is a project I have wanted to add to my site here for some time and now seems like the perfect opportunity. If you are reading this as the epidemic is still raging and want a little light relief or if you are reading this years from now and we haven’t all been wiped out, thank you and I’d like to invite you to come for a walk with me. No need to get your boots, you can do it all from the comfort of your chair. Let’s go.
Continue reading “Looping the Loop – London LOOP 1.”
Malta to UK and some final thoughts.
Well, it had to happen and Sunday 10th March 2013 came around with me not feeling too bad despite the excellent hospitality I had been shown in Dick’s Bar and the perhaps foolish ordering of a full bottle of Maltese red wine (see previous entry for full details). I really do not know why I do such things. I rose, checked the weather which was not too bad then showered and packed which was a matter of about five minutes. It is my proud boast that it has never taken me more than 40 minutes to pack for any trip and that was for a month trekking in Nepal. I cannot comprehend why people start packing a week before they depart. Continue reading “Malta to UK and some final thoughts.”
Last day in St. Julian and Sliema.
Saturday the 9th of March and my penultimate day i.e. last full potential sightseeing day on Malta before flying home on the Sunday and so what to do? Go and visit one more of the many sites I still had not managed to visit. Maybe make a flying visit to Gozo which I still had not reached despite best intentions but they do say the road to Hell is paved with them. Six years after the event I rely on looking at my daily images to piece together my day but in this case the honest truth of the matter is that I have no idea according to them as my first image is timed at 2253! Continue reading “Last day in St. Julian and Sliema.”
Fort Rinella and a very Big Gun.
The morning of the 8th of March came around with decent weather which was a blessing and I realised I only had a couple of days left with plenty left still to see so the decision was what. I had been impressed with the way the Wirt Artna organisation had gone about their business at the other sites run by them which I had visited namely the Lascaris War Rooms and the Malta at War Museum in Birgu, both of which are fully reported in earlier posts in this sequence so I decided to head to Fort RinellaFort Rinella in Kalkara. Continue reading “Fort Rinella and a very Big Gun.”
Day trip to Birgu.
After the washout the day before I was really hoping for some better weather on the 7th March as I only had three full days left and there was still so much to do. Whilst there were various places in the mix, the weather looked pretty good and so I decided on Birgu as it combines two of my great loves which are military history and specifically the Crusading Knights. Continue reading “Day trip to Birgu.”
Winter sun washout.
If you look at the image which heads up this post then I really need say little more but I know you really would not expect that to happen and nor is it. Continue reading “Winter sun washout.”
Fergy's Rambles. 