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2020 - Swanage, Chester, Derbs
September, children were back at school and so it was time to escape again.
We
joined
our
friends
Keith
and
Frances
Gander
for
a
quick
trip
to
Swanage.
Campsite
within
walking
distance
of
the
town.
We
wished
that
we
had
planned
to
stay
longer
as
the
weather
was
lovely
and
there
is so much to explore in the area.
(left)
Swanage
had
an
almost
Mediterranean
feel
about
it.
The
white
blob
on
the
sea
is
a
large
cruise
liner,
anchored
in
Swanage
Bay,
waiting
for
the
Covid
pandemic
to
go
away
so
that
they
could
start
cruising holidays again!
(below
left)
The
stone
globe
at
Durlston
Castle,
which
is
alleged
to
be
the
largest
in
the
world.
It
is
made
from
the local Purbeck stone.
(below
right)
an
interesting
piece
of
garden
artwork
that
we
spotted
on
our
walk.
These
model
trees
are
made
from
various
coloured
pieces of slate. A novel idea.
We
left
Swange
to
travel
up
to
Chester.
We
had
arranged
to
meet
up
with
a
number
of
Carthago
friends
as
we
were
now
a
breakway
group
from
the
main
Carthago
Owners
UK
club.
Six
motorhomes
met
up
(12
people).
We
had
to
respect
social
distancing
but
we
still
managed
to
sit
around
in
a
large
circle and have a good old natter.
We
organised
a
group
cycle
ride
into
Chester.
From
the
campsite,
it
was
a
beautiful
ride,
south,
along
the
Shropshire
Union
canal
which
took us right into the city centre.
We
had
a
quick
lunch
and
a
walk
around
the
charming old buildings of Chester City centre.
The
following
day
we
rode
north
along
the
same
canal,
up
to
Ellesmere
Port.
It
is
here
that
the
Shropshire
Union
Canal
joins
the
River
Mersey
and
there
is
an
excellent
National
Waterways
Museum,
which
is
managed
by
a
team
of
enthusiastic
volunteers.
It was a really interesting visit.
(below)
some
of
the
‘team’
at
the
National
Waterways Museum coffee shop.
Foreground:
L-R
Jon
Page,
Derek
Cornish,
Gaye Page.
Next
table:
Philip
Bell,
June
and
John
Pearson-
Gee.
The museum buildings make up the background
On
the
return
journey,
George,
Jon
Page
and
John
Pearson-Gee
visited
the
BMW
motorcycle
showroom
for
a
look
around.
John
P-G
was
very
tempted
to
treat
himself to a new 750cc machine.
Guess
what?
He
went
home
to
Barrow
in
Furness
and
bought
one!
Here
it
is
(right).
Very
envious
but
I
know
that my motorcycling days are over.
Everyone
enjoyed
the
few
days
together
and
agreed
that we should do it again in 2021.
We
left
Chester
and
made
a
short
hop
into
Derbyshire.
We
stayed
at
Beech
Croft
Farm
campsite
in
Blackwell
(about
9
miles
west
of
Bakewell).
This
was
a
beautiful
campsite,
which
had
a
well
stocked
shop on site.
We
were
joined
by
Jon
and
Gaye
Page.
The
purpose
of
choosing
this
particular
site
was
that
it
was
well
placed
to
enable
us
to
cycle
the
length
of
the
Monsal
Trail
into
Bakewell
and
back.
We
had
a
lovely sunny day for the ride and the scenery was wonderful.
(below
left)
Coffee
break
at
Millers
Dale,
and
(right)
one
of
the,
well
lit,
old
railway
tunnels
on
the
route,
(underneath) views of Monsal Dale from the Monsal Head Viaduct.
The
following
day
was
a
bit
misty
and
cooler.
We
walked
over
the
Dales
to
the
Church
Inn,
Chelmorton
for lunch. Very good it was too!
The
next
day,
the
sun
came
back
and
wearing
our
facemasks,
we
took
the
local
bus,
from
the
end
of
the
lane,
into Buxton.
The
highlight
of
Buxton
is
the
warm
water
baths,
the
municpal
park
and
the architecture.
Buxton
was
a
very
popular
tourist
town
in
the
early
part
of
20th
century
before
package
air
holidays
became
popular.
In
the
park
we
found
this
dead
tree
which
had
amazing
wood
carving
cut
into,
what
is
left,
of
the
main
trunk.
Look
carefully
you
will
see
the
ladies
in
the
lower
section
and
a
variety
of
animals looking out at the top.
(below)
The
Pavilions
in
the
park
and
the
lovely
properties which overlook the park.
(right)
the
magnificent
Opera
House
(spot
Desnée
just behind the tree).
It
was
time
to
return
home
for
a
while
as
we
had
appointments
to
keep
and
family
birtdays
to
celebrate.
The
twins
were
10
years
old
on
26th
September
-
how time flies by!
30th
September
was
Desnée’s
70th
birthday!
However,
it
was
quite
a
quiet
event
because
Covid
19
restrictions
did
not
allow
more
than
6
people
to
socialise.
We
intended
to
get
away
again
in
October,
with
Keith
and Frances, but the weather turned cold and wet.
As
October
progressed
and
the
chill
and
damp
of
winter
arrived,
so
did
the
Covid
19
virus!
It
had
been
under
control
during
the
warmer
months.
People
started
going
abroad
for
holidays
and
students
returned to school, colleges and universities.
But
now
people
were
mixing
again
and
sheltering
indoors
from
the
bad
weather
so
the
virus
infection
rates
soared, particularly in the northern English ciites and university towns.
Brian
and
Alexa
had
bought
Desnée
an
afternoon
tea
voucher
for
Leonardslee
gardens
as
a
birthday
present.
It
was
very
kind
of
them
and
we
invited
Keith
and
Evie
Branson
to
join
us.
It
was
a
glorious
day
and the tea was simply delicious. Thanks Brain and Alexa!
The
good
news
arrived
around
6th
November,
that
a
vaccine
had
been
developed
that
looked
promising
and
after
testing
it
was
considered
to
be
effective
for
around
90%
of
people.
Further
safety
testing
was
needed
but
world
leaders
are
talking
about
getting
the
vaccine
distributed
to
the
most
vulnerable
by
the
end
of
the year and to most of the population by Easter 2021.
We shall see!
The
governments
of
Europe
reacted
quickly
and
re-imposed
national
lockdowns.
In
UK,
it
was
attempted
to
keep
the
virus
under
control
with
regional
restrictions
but,
by
the
end
of
October
it
was
apparent
that
another full national lockdown was needed.
On
November
3rd,
England
shut
down
again
until
December
2nd.
Consequently,
November
was
a
quiet
month at home for us and a chance to catch up on some projects and hobbies.