Life on the Open Road in a Motorhome - Chester - Anderton Boat Lift - Jodrell Bank - Cheshire - Week 28

 TUESDAY, 3 MARCH 2015 Week 28

This week we have been in Cheshire. We stayed close to Knutsford and used this as our base for sightseeing.
We found a pub - The Whipping Stick (or something like that) which was the meeting place for Knutsford Lions and as we knew a member there we attended their meeting, which was lovely to meet other fellow Lions. We also sold quite a few of our Guess the Mileage Competition Tickets!

So as for the sights of Cheshire - Well, we found the Anderton Boat Lift. Doesn't sound that exciting, but if you're a seasoned Barge traveller like myself and have negotiated a fair few locks in my time, it was amazing to see this piece of Victorian engineering that has been lovingly restored to its former working glory. (I think Fred Dibner has been here on one of his steam engine programmes!) My only gripe was that because it was winter we couldn't actually ride on the thing.

As a very young child, I remember being taken to Jodrell Bank. I was only about four or five at the time so my memory of it is a bit fuzzy so I wanted to go back and explore the place where the world’s first enormous telescope satellite dish was built.

The Mark One or as it's now called The Lovell Telescope (after its inventor) uses Radio Waves to track the stars and planets in our solar system as well as other far-off Galaxies. 

I got to hear what the Big Bang sounded like and learned when the day comes that the sun dies and becomes a pulsar star or worse a black hole - Planet Earth will not be burned up or get sucked into it - It will just become so cold that nothing will be able to live here.... So that's a relief!

We also saw the great dish move position too, which was amazing, but also a bit creepy. Probably because you couldn't see the operators or something.

I was also relieved to read that they don't send out messages inviting Aliens to come to our planet. I've watched films like Battleship and trust me - If a humanoid race has the technology to travel light years to this planet then they have the technology to overpower humans and destroy us.... Just Sayin'!

We then spent a day in Chester. What a lovely city. Again, I have been here before, but it's been so long that I had completely forgotten what it was like. I just knew it was an old Roman City that became very popular with the Tudors and has some of the best examples of Tudor buildings still standing today.

Derek wanted to go on a bus tour of the city, which I was very happy to agree to until I realised that we were sitting on the top deck of an old charabanc!!! God, it was cold. Although we did get to see some lovely views of the city.

Me on the old bus. Good fun, but VERY cold! (Below)

Ever heard of the saying 'I wouldn't give him the time of day'? Well, it comes from Chester. Apparently, there was a war between England and Wales over who owned Chester. The English won, but the Welsh used the clocks of Chester to work out the time. So, the spiteful English took ALL the clock faces off their church towers that faced West (Wales) so we wouldn't give them the time of day! Strange where figures of speech come from, but what I find amazing is that after hundreds of years Chester still has no west-facing clocks! Strange.

The famous river - I forget its name! Hahaha... Another anecdote for you. As the Industrialists settled here they created damns and ways to harness the power of the fast-flowing river. By doing so though the Port (yes Chester was once a busy port!) dried up and so they had to move further North to what is now the condemned city of Liverpool!!! The guide tried to make us imagine what it would've been like if Chester was still and Liverpool didn't exist - personally, I would call that a Eutopia! 

A Graveyard. It's just a personal thing. I like graveyards.

This is the weir built in the Industrial Revolution. I actually thought this scene looked uncannily like Durham. Well, that's it for another fun-filled blog. We have been to Centre Parcs in Whinfell for a family birthday party, so we're heading slowly back down Cumbria. Lots of Landscape photos me thinks! TTFN xxx

Don't forget to go to my YouTube Channel for more Travel VLOGS 

And my book Links here for The Beyond Series of Epic Urban Fantasy 

or if you prefer crime and suspense, why not try The Mancunian Tales

A Year in a Motorhome - Week 26 & 27 - Lancashire - Morecombe - Lytham St Annes - Bury - Salford & Media City

 

SUNDAY, 22 FEBRUARY 2015 Week 26 and 27

We spent the Halfway Point on our adventure by the Lancashire seaside. First, we went to Morecambe and apart from the Eric Morecambe Statue (which locals Like to hack his legs off from time to time) There isn't really much else here, which is a real shame because this could be a lovely little resort again one day - with a lot of TLC!

We stayed close to Lytham St Anne’s as we wanted to have a look around somewhere we potentially fancied living after we finished our travelling, so we booked three nights at the Birchwood Country Park  Hmm, where do I begin! Oh yes, with the photos from the "official website"

Okay, this looks bright and clean and lovely - Agreed? It was meant to be styled on some American Ho-down style ranch. Everything was shut (as usual) the clubhouse inside looked great, ready for a country western knees up, but it didn't open until Easter. The place smelt like a chicken farm because there was a chicken farm right next door and there were lots of gypsy style caravans parked up and looked as though they were permanent residents there.

The toilet block was the mankiest and I insisted n going to a leisure centre for a shower! There was also a motel-style block of rooms, each with a front door straight onto a courtyard, but even this was so run down I dread to think who would pay to stay there. Basically, all this place needed was Norman Bates walking around and a load of tumbleweed, then the horror would've been complete!

As for the house hunting, we've decided to knock Lytham St Anne’s on the head.... too little for too much money.

Week 27 - We spent in my home town Bury as it was half term and I wanted to spend some quality time with friends and family.

We took our nieces to Salford Quays. The Lowry had activities on for kids as it was half term and then we went to Media City where they were thrilled to find The Voice Chairs to sit and play in. We wanted to do the full tour but discovered you had to book in advance. (something to remember next time we are around Bury! Del, however, was very happy to have his photo taken by Coronation Streets Rovers and Dr Who’s Tardis!

We then met up with my cousin, her three daughters and my Aunt and Uncle for an afternoon at The Imperial War Museum. It was big, factual, historical and above all - FREE!

Trying to find things to do for kids during half term that's interesting, educational and cheap is very difficult, but I felt quite proud that we managed it and had a great time seeing our family in the process. We are moving on to Cheshire for a few days before heading back up north for Centre Parcs.

Don't forget to go to my YouTube Channel for more Travel VLOGS 

And my book Links here for The Beyond Series of Epic Urban Fantasy 

or if you prefer crime and suspense, why not try The Mancunian Tales