Not Just a Granny

Waterville – Ring of Kerry

October 27, 2020 by notjustagranny

My very 1st postcard along the Ring of Kerry arrived yesterday 😃😃

This is one of the features about the Conqueror Virtual Challenges that I enjoy the most….

Waterville

Between Ballinskelligs Bay and Lough Currane (lake) on a narrow isthmus lies the coastal village of Waterville. Flanked by two championship 18-hole golf courses, one to the north and the other to the south, this small town of 496 residents is a bundle of surprises.

Waterville began as a village in the 1800s and although it remains a small village, you will never be short of something outdoorsy to do. There’s a plethora of walking and cycling routes with both easy and difficult levels. The Equestrian Centre conducts pony camps, horsemanship courses and beach rides. The Sea Synergy is a marine awareness and activity centre, with their main objective to educate about marine life and ocean conservation. Operated by marine biologist and ecologists, the organisation runs educational adventure tours and summer camps for kids and teens.

A walk on the promenade will bring you to a statue of Charlie Chaplin who enjoyed Waterville so much that for a decade he returned every year for holidays with his family. Obtaining permission from the Charlie Chaplin estate, Waterville hosts the annual Charlie Chaplin Comedy Film Festival.

When the first transatlantic cable was installed in 1858 between Newfoundland Canada and Valentia Island near Waterville it didn’t come without its problems. Working for a mere three weeks due to weak cables, it took five further attempts across nine years to eventually succeed in maintaining a lasting connection. The Atlantic Telegraph Co. had a monopoly over the industry and as a result the Commercial Cable Company from New York was established to break the monopoly and reduce prices by successfully installing cables in 1884 from Waterville to Nova Scotia. This brought a hive of activity into the village and the need for more housing to accommodate company personnel who settled in the area. Waterville became the European hub for the Company and at its peak was the largest cable station in the world.

Its so interesting to read about places on the actual route of the virtual route I’m following. I lived in Ireland for 6 months back in 2001/2002 and we travelled the country extensively. It helped that my sister and her husband lived there at the time, and loved travelling as much as I did. I went back a few years later (one of 8 trips) and we travelled to Galway and Conamarra where we enjoyed a fantastic holiday. Afterwards my friend and I hired a car and travelled right along the west coast, the south coast and the east coast back to Dublin over 7 days. Along the way we drove along part of the Ring of Kerry and it is stunning. I’d love to go back now, or as soon as, and walk the actual route.

But for now I shall content myself with the virtual postcards and the information that accompanies it, while I explore and walk around England.

If you’d like to join me on these virtual challenges, you can sign up here via my link.

https://www.theconqueror.events/r/CE1474

This is not an affiliate link and I don’t make any money from people signing up, but you get a 10% discount on any walks you sign up for and I think I get a 10% discount as well….which is a moot point really since I’ve already signed up for all the walks I want to do 😃😃😃

Posted in conqueror challenges, Health, It's my life, long distance walks - solo, Travel, walk 1000 miles 2020 | Tagged conqueror virtual challenges, ring of Kerry, walk1000miles | Leave a Comment »

On the home straight…

October 26, 2020 by notjustagranny

With just 4 days left in Lewes, today I was determined to find and follow the Egrets Way.

At least now I know where it starts, I didn’t waste 3/4 of my break trying to find the route.

But first I stopped off at Trinity Church, Southover. I’d been past it a number of times but it was always closed – today it was open 😃😃 There’s quite a history attached; “The church of Southover originated as a ‘hospitium’ or guest house to serve the nearby Priory of Saint Pancras founded by William de Warenne and his wife Gundrada in 1077 AD.

The tower was built in stages between 1714 and 1738, after the collapse of the earlier tower with spire in 1698. This may have been caused by hanging a ‘Great Bell’ in the previous year, which proved too much for the earlier structure. The location of the earlier tower is not certainly known,
but from what evidence is available probably stood where the Gundrada Chapel is built now.“

I was delighted to find a scallop shell in one of the glass windows with St James right above it ❤❤

After my brief visit to the church I walked down St James’s Street to have a closer look at the house at the end of the cul de sac – it looked like a gingerbread house. Imagine my amusement when on closer inspection I discovered the name of the house; The Gingerbread House ☺☺ Just perfect!!

I made my way towards the river via the carpark and soon picked up the Egrets Way. I’m dead keen to walk along the riverside to the little village of Southease, also a Domesday Book village and near to where Virginia Woolf, who at the time lived in nearby Rodmell, committed suicide in 1941 in the River Ouse.

Of course with all the rain over the last few days, and boy has it rained, the river is in full tumultuous flow and the riverside path is mostly a muddy quagmire, placing obstacles of watery pools in the way.

But I trudged along, determined to get as far as I could, zig-zagging from one side of the path to the other trying to find the least squelchy and muddy bits to traverse. Thanks be for my walking poles, as always they kept me upright when the mud was determined to see me on my bottom.

I arrived at one gate to find a pool of water right in the middle surrounded by mud, so balancing precariously on the wooden edges and hugging the upright struts I sort of swung my way around and through the gate….but I didn’t get very much further since the path at the next gate was just too muddy; and so I said “no, just no!”.

I beat a retreat and returned the way I had come.

Once past all the muddy puddles et al, I crossed a grassy patch and picked up the cycle/walking path that is sensibly gravelled and continued on my way.

The riverside path will have to wait for another time – perhaps when I eventually walk the South Downs Way that passes through Lewes, I may just divert for a few days and actually walk along the river to Southease….if it hasn’t been raining!!

Time will tell.

Meanwhile I followed the path, beneath the grim and dreary railway underpass, through a fine, new wooden gate and before too long I recognised the place I had originally seen the signpost for the Egrets Way, near the recycling centre. It also gave me the opportunity to see where I had gone so very wrong at my last attempt

Once I realized the error of my ways, the what and why became apparent. Instead of turning left, I was endeavouring to find a way through to the right 🤪🤪🤪👉❌👈 which of course would have taken me onto the railway line….clearly I need to do a map reading course 🤣🤣🤣 Even with the help of Google maps I still went wrong. How have I managed to not get lost on previous walks! Luck, I guess 🤭🤭🤞🤞

So now that I know my daft mistake, it doesn’t really matter since its unlikely I’ll walk that way again while here…but I’m glad I resolved the issue.

So whizzing along I made my way back into town, passing some interesting houses, the only surviving section of the Franciscan Friary

and while chatting on the phone to the relief carer who’d just left due to issues at the house, I once again went off piste….I had planned to go to Tesco for a packet of my secret vice, but since I was so completely not going in the right direction, I gave up and went back to the house.

On the way I passed the castle for another look and more photos 😁😁…wish the weather had been this fine on Saturday!!

Next a brief stop to take a few more photos of the 15th century bookshop windows….and spotted another book I would dearly love to buy – bad luck, the shop won’t be open again till Friday afternoon and by then I’ll be on my way….

I’m on the home straight. Hoorah!!

A little video with some more images from my walkabout today. The weather was fantastic

Lewes

Posted in around the UK, cities and towns of the UK, Domesday Villages of England, Historical, It's my life, Palaces and castles in UK, Travel, walk 1000 miles 2020 | Tagged Cindy's Travels in the UK, fifteenth century bookshop Lewes, lewes castle, river Ouse, the egret way Lewes, trinity church Lewes | Leave a Comment »

A 15th century bookshop

October 25, 2020 by notjustagranny

One of the very first buildings I noticed from the taxi when I arrived in Lewes 2 weeks ago, was this amazing place

I only caught a glimpse of it as we rode past but that was enough to tickle my fancy…..and the very next day, during my break I set out to explore. And I’ve had plenty of adventures….

But I determined that I simply had to visit this bookshop, only open Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays at least once while I was here. So yesterday, after visiting the Lewes Castle and the Martyrs Memorial, I popped in for a visit on my way back to the house.

Bought by the current owner in 1986, the stock consists of thousands of second-hand and collectors’ books, from rare and collectable to recent over a wide range of topics and interests. Its amazing that the same person has owned the shop over 30 years!! Wowww.

The interior of the shop, smelt musty with the dust of aeons. It was deliciously cramped with books overflowing their shelves and stacked high on the floor. Books from decades ago piled up in a kaleidoscope of ancient dust jackets and calligraphy.
Sheer heaven for a book worm; metaphorically and I’m pretty certain…actually. How the owner ever finds a requested copy is anyone’s guess, but I’m willing to bet she knows where everything is.
I had the audacity to ask if she had a particular book from 2019, and in a very dour voice she replied “I only sell old books”. Brilliant. 😂😂😂😉 Of course…2019 is so last year…

And of course you can’t visit a 15th century bookshop and not buy some books… Obviously I had to buy a couple for himself who loves books, although lord knows he already has a massive collection. The Rupert Bear book is a 1984 edition, and the Bobbsey Twins from 1959!! I could have bought another 15 at least, but reason prevailed, I’d have to lug them all back to Ramsgate next week…

However if I ever find myself in Lewes again, I will be sure to pop in and buy a few more. Delicious. I love books and really wish I could have spent a few hours there looking through the shelves. But with Covid-19, and only 3 customers in the shop at a time, there was a young man waiting patiently outside…

Posted in around the UK, book reviews, cities and towns of the UK, Fun Stuff, historical houses of the uk, me and Peanut, Travel | Tagged 15th century bookshop, book lovers, books for children, reading, Rupert the Bear, The Bobbsey Twins, Travel | 2 Comments »

A trip to Newhaven

October 24, 2020 by notjustagranny

You know how sometimes you feel like you want to visit a place and it seems like a good idea, then you go and it’s not …..🤣🤣🤣

Well yesterday I did just that..

Mistake #1 I didn’t do any research

Mistake #2 I got off the train at Newhaven Harbour

Mistake #3 I didn’t do any research

So the lessons I learned: do my research and get off at Newhaven Town stop not the harbour.

Anywayyyyy…..I went, I saw, I can tick it off my list – I didn’t get the t-shirt 🤪🤪🤪🤪

So, Newhaven. If I’d done my research, this is what I would have learned.

1. Newhaven Harbour is a grim industrial area, and on the wrong side of the river. In my imagination I pictured a lovely pretty harbour with colourful boats and twee huts. It isn’t. I couldn’t even bear to take a photo it’s so depressing. There is a boat marina on the opposite side.

Found some colourful boats, but obscured

2. It’s a 10 minute walk back to Newhaven Town. Which to be fair, except for the interesting wooden houses close to the riverside, is almost as depressing. I normally like a bit of decay and love old Victorian houses, but seriously…

These houses near the riverside were quite interesting

3. Even town centre is depressing.

4. Ho Chi Minh landed here in 1913? He was a Vietnamese revolutionary and politician. He served as Prime Minister of North Vietnam from 1945 to 1955 and President from 1945 to 1969.

After I returned last night I ‘did some research’ 🤪🤪 and this is what I found:

Newhaven: A channel ferry port in East Sussex.

There was a Bronze Age fort on what is now Castle Hill.

In about 480 AD the Saxons established a village near to where Newhaven now stands; named “Meeching” aka known as “Myching” or “Mitching”.
The settlement began to be known as the “new haven”.

Part of the Holmstrow hundred until the abolition of hundreds in the 19th c but not mentioned in the 1086 Domesday Book 🤨😒😒

Lies at the mouth of the River Ouse, westward from Seaford, one of the Cinque Ports formed by Henry VIII.

In 1848, the exiled French King Louis Philippe I landed here in disguise after abdicating his throne.

The village was of little maritime importance until the opening of the railway line to Lewes in 1847.
The railway reached the port in 1847.

Dredging of the channel and other improvements to the harbour between 1850 and 1878, enabled the port to be used by cross channel ferries.
In 1863 the LB&SCR and the Chemin de Fer de l’Ouest introduced the Newhaven-Dieppe passenger service.

The most colourful part of Newhaven was in a pedestrian underpass

The London Brighton and South Coast Railway (LB&SCR) constructed their own wharf and facilities on the east side of the river, and opened the Newhaven harbour railway station.
The area then became known as the ‘new haven’, and officially recognised as ‘The Port of Newhaven’ in 1882.

Imports then included French farm products and manufactures, timber, granite and slates.

The present breakwater was built in 1890.

Newhaven harbour was designated as the principal port for the movement of men and material to the European continent during World War I.
Between 22 September 1916 and 2 December 1918, the port and town of Newhaven were designated a ‘Special Military Area’ under the ‘Defence of the Realm Regulations’, and the Harbour station was closed to the public.

During World War II, large numbers of Canadian troops were stationed at Newhaven, and the ill-fated Dieppe Raid in 1942 was largely launched from the harbour.

When Lord Lucan vanished in 1974, his car was found in Newhaven, in Norman Road, with two types of blood in it.

Newhaven offers regular passenger services to Dieppe.

All the above research ref wikipedia

I did my best and walked in a huge circle trying to find something really interesting, and some of the little sculptures came to the party, but in all honesty, it didn’t have the magic….that thrill of exploring a new place. In retrospect I could rather have gone to Seaford. Maybe next week. Meanwhile I cut my visit short by an hour and went back to Lewes.

If you can bear it here’s a short video

Posted in around the UK, cities and towns of the UK, Historical, Travel, walk 1000 miles 2020 | Tagged Cindy's Travels in the UK, Newhaven, river Ouse, Travel | 5 Comments »

There’s a monster in the forest

October 23, 2020 by notjustagranny

https://www.instagram.com/tv/CGrmOHAB10C/?igshid=1ooi9l1506x0s

Posted in news from around the world | Tagged vegan, vegetarian | Leave a Comment »

Slow toads crossing

October 22, 2020 by notjustagranny

Hoorah! Today’s walk was fruitful albeit shorter than usual. Not only did I finally find the blessed Egrets Way path after going off in COMPLETELY the wrong direction 🤪🤪🤪 and wasting 45 minutes of my break in the process (Passing the railway station should have been a clue…🤔🤔),

But I am once again a ‘Trail blazer’ However, whilst it may appear that I’m a trail blazer, I wish I could tell them how useless I am at reading Google maps, especially when the map moves as I turn my phone to see which way to go🤨😠

And my mileage reached 40% on the Ring of Kerry virtual challenge and so another tree will be planted.

As for the toads crossing, I wonder what happened to the fast toads… 🐸🐸🐸

Alls well that ends well…and another day bites the dust. I only have 7.5 days to go and I’m off, back to Ramsgate. Can’t wait to see my Boobee

This adorable, funny, gorgeous little guy who holds my heart in his hands – my Boobee

His nickname came about from 2 sources….he has loved playing peek-a-boo from when he was tiny, so I started calling him Boo, and now he says “boo” which is just so cute I could eat him…. Meanwhile his parents have been teaching him sign language as a tool for better communication with people who have no hearing. He learned the sign for bee 🐝 and it was so cute I kept asking him to sign it….and one day, I got all muddled when playing with him and called him ‘Boobee’. 😂😂☺☺ so now he’s my special special Boobee…..aka The Blur because he’s never still for one second and I can seldom get a photo of him that isn’t blurred….his Mummy, who sent me this photo, has the same problem…our phone cameras are just not fast enough to capture him in one place ☺☺

He’s a charm; funny, smart, cute, humorous, outgoing, friendly, loves Peppa Pig madly and is just adorable. I am so blessed to have him in my life.

Some other random photos from today, not as interesting as usual as my 6.84km walk wasn’t either….

Posted in around the UK, conqueror challenges, family and relationships, Fun Stuff, It's my life, me and Peanut, Travel, walk 1000 miles 2020 | Tagged conqueror virtual challenges, grandson, Lewes, my treasure, ring of Kerry, slow toads crossing, the egrets way, walk1000miles | 2 Comments »

Reminiscing about beer and coke floats

October 22, 2020 by notjustagranny

I’ve been chatting to my sister V in SA (1 of 4 who still live there) about coke of all things. She was relating an episode from yesterday when she and our youngest sister D were showing D’s kids how to make a coke float – for the uninitiated, that’s coke and vanilla icecream. It fizzes up and makes a delicious, albeit very unhealthy drink, and a glorious mess if you don’t drink it quickly enough 🤣🤣🤣

I went on to say that much as I loathe coke and the company behind it, it’s the only drink that will suffice on a hot summer’s day of walking. It slakes my thirst and gives me an energy boost when I need it most. It’s also very good with pizza and due to its chemical composition, it dissolves heavy food….the only other time I drink it.

From there the conversation went onto our planned Camino in 2022. We’re going to walk the Portuguese Coastal Route from Porto to Caminha and then inland to Valenca and from Tui to Santiago de Compostela.

It will be my 2nd walk along this route and her first, also her first time walking the Camino since she’s cycled the French Route some years ago with our father who was also a keen cyclist.

I’m not into cycling and prefer walking, so to her credit, she’s up for walking the route. Our conversation brought back memories of my pilgrimage and that I drank a lot of beer during my walk 🤪🤪 My last reply to her went like this:

“No my tummy either but it seems to do the trick with thirst and heavy food (coke).
My choice of tipple on the Camino was beer 🍺🚶🏻‍♀️🚶🏻‍♀️of all things…I usually had my 1st one at between 10am and 11am depending on whether there was a place open to serve 🤭🤭 Mind you, now that I think about it, that’s probably why I enjoyed the Camino so much 🤣🤣”

Since I seldom drink, this was a departure from the norm for me, but as they say…..”when in Rome….” and all that, it made perfect sense to keep the Portuguese locals and other walkers company. Anyway that’s my reason 😁😁🍺🚶🏻‍♀️

My memories of the Camino are many and varied. I had such a fantastic time….it was a huge challenge and I cried a lot from pain, but I also laughed a lot and met some super people along The Way. Portugal is such a beautiful country and the route follows the coast which meant I had the Atlantic ocean to my left every single day till Caminha.

So many memories of an amazing experience

More about my Camino https://notjustagranny.co.uk/2017/09/11/day-5-porto-to-vila-do-conde/

Posted in Camino 2017, family and relationships, Fun Stuff, It's my life, long distance walks - solo, memories of days gone by, Travel, walk 1000 miles 2017 | Tagged baby boomers travel, long distance walking, reminiscing about my life, walking the Portuguese Camino, women walking solo | Leave a Comment »

A Thames Journey: (1) From the Source to Cricklade

October 22, 2020 by notjustagranny

Sweete Themmes, runne softly, till I end my song. (Edmund Spenser, 1596) One of the things I’ve missed most in this time of lockdown is being able to walk along the banks of the River Thames. I’ve whiled away many an hour of my retirement strolling along the river, mostly stretches between London Bridge to […]
A Thames Journey: (1) From the Source to Cricklade

I’ve just discovered this fantastic article and felt I really had to share it. Firstly the writer has a wonderful way with words, some terrific photos and he’s writing about my favourite river…the Thames. Its been a dream of mine for years now to walk the Thames from source to sea….just the very words ‘source to sea’ conjures a feeling of excitement and adventure and has certainly captured my imagination. I love that the writer and his companions started this walk in midwinter and his description of the early morning evokes a sense of wonder….and I could feel myself transported to the very moment of that crispy ground underfoot.

It’s a lovely read, I hope you enjoy it as much as I have. I’m off now to read some more, and the book is on my Christmas wishlist 🤶🏻🎄

Posted in around the UK, Health, Historical, Inspiration, other peoples blog, photography, Travel, villages of the United Kingdom | Tagged long distance walks, long distance walks in england, rivers of England the River Thames, villages of england, walking the Thames path | Leave a Comment »

A disused railway and a choir..

October 21, 2020 by notjustagranny

Walking never fails to throw up a few surprises and today was no exception.

It poured with rain this morning and I thought for sure my plan to walk during my break was scuppered. But by early afternoon the clouds blew away (mostly) and the sun shone bright and by 3pm it was lovely and sunny, albeit very windy.

I decided that today was the day to walk along that disused railway line, and I’m ever so glad I did….there was a delightful surprise in store.

Looking back towards the town from the entrance

It’s a beautiful walk, hundreds of trees create a green tunnel with crispy autumn leaves underfoot, and of course….lots of muddy puddles.

I did some ‘Paul Simon’ as I walked and as usual thanked my walking poles for keeping me upright 😁😁😁 Of course it had rained, ya dim woman. What a day to choose. But never no mind, on I plodded…slip sliding away…the nearer my destination….

About halfway along I noticed a beautiful towering Victorian bridge and just beneath that a group of 6 people standing about. Not at all sure what was waiting ahead, I tried to look confident and in control…as I neared the group I could hear singing

To my delight the group of people was a small choir practising for a concert and enjoying the acoustics provided by the bridge!! They were grouped around a brightly burning fire dancing merrily, it looked utterly cosy and I felt quite envious

Magic.

I stopped to listen to listen and they kindly agreed to my recording it ☺☺ the sound was amazing. After saying my thanks for the impromptu concert, I carried on along the path right to the end and passed a 2nd bridge along the way, but sadly, no further choirs….

As I neared the end of that wide green green tunnel narrowed suddenly and petered out into a narrow path amongst bushes. The whole length of that section of the railway line is 1.216kms 😁

Walking back I was hoping to hear the group singing again but unfortunately as I neared the bridge I noticed them walking ahead….too bad. Their singing was amazing and I could still smell the fire.

I noticed a few left overs from the days of railways past

From there I took a quick walk upstream, on the west side, to the end of the pathway. The river, swollen with water after the downpour had burst its banks. It looked quite amazing; fat and lazy meandering its way downstream.

The path is fantastic to walk along, so I walked right to the end.

I love this view the most

In all a most enjoyable walk and despite not pounding along like I normally do, I managed a decent 7.53kms / 12238 steps. I also noticed that the hill, at the top of which I’m currently working, has an elevation of only 65 meters….it feels more like 650 when I’m trudging back after a long walk 😉

And now I only have 8.5 days left in Lewes. Time to conquer that blessed path downstream to Southease….

Oh and please cross fingers 🤞🤞🤞🤞 for a fine day on Saturday. I want to visit the castle, it’s my final opportunity.

Posted in around the UK, cities and towns of the UK, conqueror challenges, Fun Stuff, It's my life, Travel, walk 1000 miles 2020 | Tagged conqueror virtual challenges, Country Walking, disused railways, Lewes, lewes choir, mapmywalk, ring of Kerry, river Ouse, walk1000miles | Leave a Comment »

11 years on WordPress

October 21, 2020 by notjustagranny

WordPress reminded me its notjustagranny’s 11th anniversary today…..11 years!! Can hardly believe it.

Mind you I was blogging well before that under a different url but that was a long time ago.

My blogging is mostly a hit and miss affair, and contrary to the advice of the gurus I haven’t been consistent. Mostly because I felt I had to log on via my laptop and that’s not always desirable or practical.

I did not want to blog via my phone and resisted going down that path for years. I found it time-consuming and tedious.

But technology has changed and its sooo much easier now to just get on with it.

Besides that, I recently logged off Facebook after watching the documentary Social Dilemma….voila, suddenly I have more time.

So without further ado and adon’t I’m now blogging more regularly via my phone….sorry 🤣🤣🤣🤣

It’s much easier to upload photos and videos to wordpress media but sometimes I get too enthusiastic and upload too many and then I can’t remember which I have inserted and which I haven’t.

I’m sure there are hundreds of unattached photos in my media.

Anyway here’s my achievement award from wordpress…thanks folks