After a frustrating night of not being able to get a room in Edinburgh I have decided to visit the medieval city of Alnwick, pronounced Annick. This turns out to be a wonderful surprise as it is a wonderful town, it has a fantastic castle, which if you are thinking I have seen this somewhere before well then you probably are a Harry Potter fan as this is the Hogwarts castle from the early films. the town is full of rambling streets and gates that are the reminisces of the wall that use to surround the town. I stayed in the white swan hotel which when I went to breakfast…

Overcast, threatening and cool is the way to describe today, this is the first bad weather day of my trip and going by the weather forecast the further I head north the more rain I will be seeing. anyway the morning is tipped to be the best of the day so off into the walled city I go. My hotel is only a 5 min walk from the tower street entrance and so it is not long that I am inside the old city walls and making my way to the other end of the city to see the Cathedral. I make my way though windy small streets full of…

A crisp bright sunny day greats me on my last morning in Ely, it gives me a great opportunity to take a last walk around the town and past the Cathedral, taking some last happy snaps as I go.  Today I set out on my big push to “The North” with about 300km to drive to get me to my destination of York for 2 nights. So it is off up the A14 to the A1 for a blast up the motorway. About and hour into my journey it is time for a detour and to get a spot of lunch in the food bowl of the midlands, yes that…

Well after a short drive in the country side i find myself in Cowlinge. The town is located along a single street with a pub at one end and the church at the other, i would say that there would be no more than about 100 – 150 people residing. I decided to stop in for a pint at the local pub and ended up spending over an hour talking to the publican and a couple of patrons. I learned that this pub was the last of five that use to be in the town, and that the majority of the houses are owned by people in London that only…

Well today finds me a little sore from many days of walking and climbing so it is with much pleasure that i get to have a drive in the country and see were it all started for the Ely’s. So in the first of day 9 trips it was off to Wickhambrook to have a look at the town and see if i could find the church where my great grand parents were married, and i a happy to say that not only is it still standing but there was a wedding due to be carried out there today.  The town sits in the middle of the fens and the…

Well i have booked myself in for 3 nights and have already taken a walk over to the cathedral, as it is only 200 meters from my hotel. At 141 meters high it towers over the city and can be seen from all part. I signed up for the octagonal tower tour which gave me the opportunity to climb the 100 odd steps up into the lantern before climbing out onto the roof for a spectacular view over the town and surrounding fens. The climb was very steep and very cramped but it was definitely worth the effort. The Victorian’s in the 1900 decided that the cathedral, which was started…

Well today sees my last day in London so after a hearty breakfast it was off to pick up my hire car and head to Ely. I was fortunate to get a size upgrade into a Hyundai I20 this fits my needs well as there is plenty of room for my bags and comfortably handles the motor way speeds. On the way however i got to drop in on Cambridge and had a walk around, once i got to Cambridge i learnt  the meaning of a car unfriendly city, the place is full of one way street that have had popup bollards put in so that only busses or taxis…

Well today brings an easy day and my last day in London as tomorrow i am picking up my hire car and heading north. So I decided to take a walk back through Hyde Park and take a look at the wonderful architecture that is the terminal station for Brunel’s great western railway, and as far as sheds go it is a beauty, or more correctly 3 beauties all linked together and long enough to hold a train of at least 10 carriages. After spending some time looking around the station I headed back to the park and had lunch at the Italian fountains before walking on to see the…

Well today is the first grey rainy day of my trip, and there is a tube strike on so it is definitely a day for inside activity. Luckily the museum is only about a 30 min walk from my hotel, so after another hearty breakfast I donned my coat and headed off, taking the gamble that the rain would be arriving at 4pm as predicted by the weather channel, you would think that I should have learned not to trust the weather forecast by now for as I got 1 block from my hotel the rain came down. After dodging down pours in doorways I managed to find a place…

Well today sees another nice start to the day although rain is forecast for this afternoon, and the underground is about to be closed down with a drivers strike for 24 hours. So it is out early to take a spin on the London Eye and then on to the National Gallery and National Portrait Gallery. After paying my 17.50 for a ticket it was into a 4d theatre experience before lining up for my ride. The views are really amazing, i was lucky to get a pretty clear day so had a good view of the whole of London. The ride is slow enough so as you don’t have…