Canals and pretty lights

Friday saw us visiting Laura's Aunt and Uncle in Hest Bank near Morecambe. Their house is almost alongside the Lancaster Canal so we all took a walk along the towpath for an hour or so. The canal here has some splendid views across Morecambe bay over towards the lakes, sadly we neglected to pick up the camera so no shots of our stoll.

There were a couple of boats moored up around Hest Bank visitor moorings, the most unusual of which was a narrowboat with a Turf roof. Im not quite sure of the advantages or disadvantages of having your roof covered in grass but it was certainly a talking point.

That evening we drove down to Blackpool and joined the line of traffic to view the Illuminations.
Lilian as expected slept through them so missed the attraction. Laura did some videoing so at least she'll be able to see them when she is older.

Today we will be tidying up the caravan and packing ready for the long journey home tomorrow morning.







Geoffs top tip of the day,
Dont take photos using flash through windscreen at night

The Lancashire Witches

My brother and I used to sit around my Great Grandmothers chair in her little bungalow and listen while she told us both the tales of the Witches of Pendle Hill.
Being just small children we used to lap up the stories of Old Mother Demdyke and not so old mother Chattox and their evil deeds in and around Pendle, Whalley and Clitheroe. So yesterday, the three of us set off over the moors and fells of Lancashire on the trail of the witches.

Its a fantastic drive out of Lancaster climbing high up onto the moors with excellent views over the Lune valley and over to the Lake District. Some may call the Lake District Cumbria but to me it has always been and will always be Lancashire.

We then dropped down off the tops into the Forest of Bowland and parked up alongside the Trough of Bowland which is a small shallow river running through the valley which we used to paddle in as children. Lilian had her feed while Laura and I scoffed some of the butties and pies we had prepared for the journey.

From the trough we continued on over to Barley neath the shadow of Pendle Hill. We passed through some lovely little villages, some with tea rooms and all with what appeared from the outside some very welcoming Inns.

Our day finally ended up at Dovestones Reservoir where we finished our rolls and even lashed out on buying a cup of tea each from a snack wagon.

Sadly we saw no signs of any Witches on the way although we did come across a Sheep called keith who advised us against "stopping in these parts"

Highlight of the day for Laura was "being on my honeymoon, sitting in the car out of the wind eating a meat and potato pie drinking a stewed cup of tea watching my husband feed the baby"

Oh yes, she has now decided she doesnt want a widebeam anymore, she now wants an old farm on the side of a moor looking out onto Pendle.....I may have to start working more overtime.
Lancashire really is one of Englands most beautiful counties.


A small brook or Clough pronounced cluff running through Bowland.





Keith the Sheep and a couple of mates warning travellers not to go any further



Pendle Hill




Dovestones

Not the Slough Canal Festival

I almost got excited a few weeks ago when I was reminded of the approaching Slough Canal festival during the weekend of 12th Sept. I then thankfully remembered that I was getting married that weekend and laura may not appreciate my non attendance.

Originally we were going to have a couple of weeks away on Lady Elgar for our honeymoon due to peanut still depending on her sterilised bottles and not really being old enough to travel abroad, however, we suddenly came up with the idea of doing something a little different and still giving the illusion of going away.

At short notice, I trolled the t'internet and we found a lovely little static caravan right on the seashore of Morecambe bay in Lancashire.
A quick phone call to the owners Audrey and John showed our choice of week was available and all was then booked.

The Caravan is lovely and the view form the front is stunning with superb sunsets, plentiful wading birds to view through binoculars and views across the bay to Fleetwood and the mountains of the lake district. You can even see Blackpool Tower on the far horizon which is all lit up at night as the Illuminations are currently on in that town.

The downside to this caravan is, I was silly enough to compare it internally with what a wide beam boat would be like. Guess what, Laura is now looking at wide beams lol.

heres a few pics of our journey so far


The view from our window







Sleeping beauties



Ready for a grand day out

Mr & MRS

Friday 11th September finally saw the joining together of Laura and myself in matrimony.

We met family and friends at the registry office in Sutton for the ceremony then progressed onto the Police sports club in Bromley for an evening reception.

The day went very well albeit very quickly which didnt give me enough time to admire my beautiful bride. (she scrubs up nicely)

Our thanks go to family who travelled some distance to be with us, Lauras Aunt and Uncle from Lancaster, My Brother and Sister in law and nieces from Rochdale and Laura's other Uncle,Aunt and cousins from Birmingham.

Special thanks Go to our Neighbours Ian and Lydia from Nb Serendipity for looking after Lilian overnight into saturday. They missed the reception due to horrendous traffic on the motorway giving them a 3 hour journey to Bromley which should only have taken an hour at the most.

Apart from the bride, the most popular attraction was little Lilian who was introduced for the first time to many of her relatives.

A big thank you again to all those who made our day extra special.

heres a few pics




My mum with Lilian





Lauras mum tending lilian

Peanut

Her timing was perfect. After waiting 9 months with much anticipation, Peanut finally decided to arrive on her expected due date of 8Th July.

Laura woke me at just after 7am and advised me she was going to phone the hospital as she thought it was time. After explaining to them her Labour symptoms they advised her to come in and so we packed the car and headed off to the maternity ward.

By 8am Laura was in the delivery room and so we settled down for what we thought would be a long, and for her , painful day.
The pain was certainly there but just under 6 hours later, Peanut arrived safely.

She weighed in at 8.7 pounds.

Shortly after she was dressed and placed in a cot, we were suddenly brought back to reality as Laura suddenly began to hemorrhage quite badly. The room then filled with 8 people all working away on Laura, making pin cushions out of her arms with injections and various drips and drugs being introduced intravenously into the back of both her hands.

After a little while the Doctors managed to settle Laura down and peace once again returned to our room. Thankfully Laura soon recovered herself and we once again settled down with our new Daughter to see through the rest of the day.




Lilian Rose aka peanut





Laura had to spend a few days in hospital while they made sure she was fully recovered and eventually we made our way back to Lady Elgar and home.

Our neighbour Lydia made sure our return was aptly marked.






Time seems to have flown by in the couple of days we have been at home and we've had to get used to the shortage of sleep and total attention that Lilian needs but we are both very proud and grateful for this gift we have been given

Oostende Voor Anker Pt 2

A big part of the festival is Beer.....I mean music. There are bands and folk singers playing at 2 venues throughout each day. They range from 5 piece Irish style groups to 10 dutchmen singing sea shanties.

Our personal favourites are a group called Hot Rats. Well worth going to see them if ever you get the chance.

This is them on the stage outside st peters church




Derek, our third crew member is a self confessed Hot Rats groupie. Here he is coming back laden with a bottle of specially brewed Oostende Voor Anker beer which we felt had to be consumed during the concert incase it spoilt while sitting in the bottle




They ended each of their sessions with a musical number featuring Phil, their resident spoons player



If you love boats of all shapes and sizes then its a must day out














Our Skipper Steve taking a turn around the deck of Valonia



Sunday afternoon although very hot was also very windy. This tall ship struggled a bit getting into her berth which was in the larger tidal Montgomery Dock. The crew of the three small yatchs behind her got a little twitchy






Finally, hidden very well amongst all the other boats I spotted an English Narrowboat. Sadly they were rafted up 6 boats from the pontoon so I never got a chance to meet the crew. They also blog about their cruising on the continental waterways and it can be found here Wandering Snail






Our thanks once again to the organisers and people of Ostend for a very warm welcome and such excellent hospitality during the weekend.
Sadly no commemorative plaque for me this year but you never know maybe Lady Elgar might make an appearance one day.......in my dreams lol