Exploring Exeter, then back to the boat in Hungerford

We're now heading back towards Tottenham Hale so that Tom can get the tube into central London for a day on Thursday.  We'll sit tight for the day tomorrow, or move only a short distance as Barry's friend Fred is coming to visit for a day or so ...

Monday 6 September

The weather forecast before we left the boat predicted that it'd be fairly settled until Tuesday - sadly they were wrong again!  This morning it chucked it down, which wasn't ideal for seeing the beautiful city of Exeter.  Barry hadn't been there before, so Viv packed the brollies and off we set regardless.

Dominating the skyline is the splendid sight of Exeter Cathedral, though it wasn't nearly as impressive as I've seen before due to the gloominess of the day.  We'd have loved to have gone inside, but although it used to be free to go in, they were now charging £5 each admission to raise funds for restoring the carvings around the walls, so we declined.  I really believe that these places would get more if they asked for voluntary donations - surely more numbers of people would go in, so theoretically they'd pay less but collectively the cathedral would receive more?

 

 

 

 

 

Exeter Cathedral is reportedly "...the finest example of Decorated Gothic architecture in any Cathedral."

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Plenty of Roman ruins scattered around the city centre amongst the modern architecture 

  

 

 

 

 

 Fabulous old church bell tower

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Very friendly smiley old ruin - If you turn it upside down it makes more sense

We only had a couple of hours to spare before our return train to Hungerford, so Viv chose another delight for us in Rougemont Gardens.  Such a shame it continued to drizzle and intermittently pour with rain, but we could still get a feel for the beauty of this parkland.  I'd never been here before ...

Inside Rougemont Gardens is a Roman city wall and bank, and the bank and ditches of William the Conqueror's Castle

 Superb floral displays all over the gardens

 The new shopping complex in the town - a little damp and deserted! 

The Ship Inn - a 16th century establishment where reportedly Sir Frances Drake and Sir Walter Raleigh have supped ale 

The Ship Inn is just around the corner from the cathedral, its exterior remaining very authentic but the interior has sadly not withstood the test of time.  In 1994, apparently the premises were refurbished and a Russian visitor paid £2,700 for all the fittings and fixtures to fit out and open the first English pub in Kaliningrad!

  Impressive glass structures in the town centre

We caught the 1155hrs train back to Hungerford with no delays and found Northern Pride safe and sound.  After a spot of grocery shopping in Tesco's, we moved along for a pump out, water fill up, then meandered along the canal and three locks to an overnight stop and a look around the village of Kintbury.

The 13th century church at Kintbury, restored in 1859 

 Wooded path leading to the church

 The Old Vicarage by the canal at Kintbury

Moored up before the lock at Kintbury - Northern Pride is the third boat up

We have an abundance of guests arriving in the near future; Jill from Tamworth is visiting from Thursday to Saturday, then we have my daughter Kim and her partner Joe from Brighton Saturday lunchtime till Sunday evening, then Barry's son Tom all the way from New Zealand from Monday evening until 1 October!  Crikey!  No rest for the wicked, we're certainly never bored.  We also need to get an advertisement ready to put the boat on the market - sadly our time on Britain's waterways is running out :-(

A glorious flower from Rougemont Gardens - looks like its been painted with a red brush!

Oh I do love to be beside the seaside ...

We're now in Bishop's Stortford, at the summit of the navigable part of the River Stort.  Barry and Tom travelled with Pete to Roydon on Sunday, where I returned to the boat last night.

Sunday 5 September

Our niece Vicki and her partner Phil (and his parents), along with their daughter Ria-May, arrived in Paignton on holiday for a week yesterday, so we arranged to spend the day by the seaside with them.  It wasn't the best weather in the morning, but thankfully brightened up after lunch.

No! not Paignton this is Goodrington Beach that Phil and Vicki view from their apartment

 

An interesting arrangement of water points for the apartment block they were staying in - imagine what the pipework beneath this must look like!!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ria-May wasn't interested in the other conversation going on, just the funny looking photographer

Once we found the apartment where they were staying, we all walked to Paignton along the scenic cliff path, surrounded by vibrant, red, volcanic rock and an eclectic mix of beach huts and houses ...

Will I fit behind here?

A lonely wait

 

 

 

 

 

 

The red soil around here is the very old dust and fallout washed down from the when the moors were volcanic, approximately 280 million years ago

 

 

 

 

 

 All shapes, sizes and colours of abodes

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Love the colour scheme

Our first stop was to buy lunch and eat our fish and chips by the sea front, though Barry and I only had chips and curry sauce.  I love to eat them out of the paper, dipping the chips into the curry sauce, and once we'd eaten them all I re-wrapped the paper.  It had what appeared to be curry sauce on outside of the paper, and I licked my fingers where it'd smudged on them, realising too late it was seagull pooh that must've been on the concrete where we were sitting, masquerading as curry sauce!  Yuck!  I immediately spat out the offending particles and quickly asked Harry for his water bottle, washed my mouth out a number of times and spat again.  It certainly amused everyone in the vicinity, including an elderly lady in a wheelchair who found it terribly amusing, bless her!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Fish 'n chips at the seaside - the best place to have them - beware of curry sauce though, it may come from above!

 A typical seaside scene

Paington main beach from the pier with a choppy autumnal sea

Recovering swiftly from my stomach turning experience, we headed for the Pier and the penny arcade - always a fun way to spend an hour or so. You don't need much money, just change for a couple of pounds; you know you're not going to win anything or what you do you put back!  It's the suspense of watching the two pence's teetering on the edge and occasionally all falling down into the tray below, that's somehow very addictive and so typical of a British seaside town. 

After such frivolity we had another stroll then a Devonian cream tea - a pot of tea each, a scone, clotted cream and jam - deliciously decadent and of course it'll go straight to the hips!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

      Sandra, Ray, Harry, Viv, Phil and Vicki on the pier          Sandra holding Ria-May very tightly

You've gotta love the British seaside

 Pastel coloured frontages adorn the area - picture-perfect

 

Phil, Vicki, Sandra, Viv, Ria-May, Ray and Harry before leaving Paignton

 

 

 

Our return journey took a de-tour through Totness, where Ray lives.  It was a shame we didn't have longer to look around as it seemed such a charming place, but Ray was working at 0200hrs on Monday morning so we needed to get back to Exeter so he could get some sleep.  The weather had taken another turn for the worst and was clouding over, so sadly it wasn't the best light for photos, but Barry still managed to capture some of the essence of the town  ...

Totnes, with the River Dart running through the middle

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The attractive Eastgate in the centre of Totnes, and moored boats line-up as if standing to attention on the River Dart

We had a fairly quiet evening, ready to return to Northern Pride on Monday lunchtime following a quick look around Exeter.

A day in Dartmoor

On Thursday we made it through from Teddington to Limehouse - that's all I'm saying for now!  We're now on the River Lee, heading to the River Stort and Bishop's Stortford over the next few days ...  Meanwhile, Sandra left the boat Friday lunchtime to spend a weekend in north Birmingham with her sisters and to attend a surprise 50th birthday party, so left Barry and Tom journeying alone.

Saturday 4 September

Today Viv and Ray chose a trip to Dartmoor for us, a huge expanse of land in the South West of England.  It was a bleak day, perfect conditions for the moody moor where it's frequently misty and mysterious.  We went as far as Princetown, to the Dartmoor Prison Museum, adjacent to the huge institution full of criminals.  It was very scary to see what sinister items have been discovered when cells have been checked over the years, made by prisoners from a variety of 'harmless' things - for example an extremely sharp looking knife, made from matchsticks.

Dartmoor Prison dominates the skyline

The prison entrance - it's OK to take a photo, so long as there's no guards or prisoners

We spent a couple of hours in the museum, fascinated by it's history.  Ray had picked a spot for lunch which meant travelling thorough other parts of the moor, so we took the opportunity to stop at a couple of places to see the bridges - it's very pretty around here ...

One of the bridges at 'Two Bridges' - this is the old bridge

'Post Bridge', somewhere in the middle of the Dartmoor National Park 

'Clapper Bridge' with 'Post Bridge' behind - this one dates back to the 12th century

Driving on the lonely roads we came across many Dartmoor ponies - they're such elegant animals, but apparently they sometimes have to cull them because it gets too expensive to care for them over the winter when they can't get any food.  Shame!  We were told that you have to be careful as they can bite, but they seemed friendly enough ...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sandra befriending one of the Dartmoor ponies

Further along there was a Bronze-age settlement (Grimspound) to see, so we parked and walked up a hill for the best view.  It's amazingly well preserved considering how old it is and you can almost feel the presence of the people who would have lived there.  Such a simple life, but fraught with danger and hard work I expect. The village is made up of 24 stone houses surrounded by a low stone wall.

The Tor where they would have been able to look out for miles around, was up another hill.  Viv and I chickened out of climbing to the top and chilled half way, while Barry, Ray and Harry did the manly thing and strode up for some photos ...

The remains of a bronze-age home - the animals would live underneath to provide more warmth for the family above

  Harry at the top of the Tor ...

  while Viv and Sandra chat and chill half-way up, with the perimeter wall of the settlement below

 

 

 

This was probably the drainage system from the village down the hill - still very well preserved 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lunch was rather late after all the sight-seeing, but well worth the wait.  We sat out in the afternoon sunshine at the 'The Old Inn' in Widecombe-in-the-moor.  Barry had a pint of 'Fursty Ferret' while I sampled a tasty local cider - you knew it was made from real apples, not like the Bulmers and Magners found in most chain pubs.  After a short walk around the village, we headed back to Exeter.

Sandra, Ray, Viv and Harry waiting for their late lunch

 The church in Widecombe-in-the-moor

Looking through the graveyard over the surrounding countryside

When we returned to Viv's house I had a couple of texts about the earthquake in Christchurch (I'd left my phone charging!) - how fortunate that it was in the middle of the night so few people were out and about and there were no fatalities.  But what a mess it made.  We can definitely sympathise as I'd been in Gisborne when we had a huge earthquake in December 2007 - if you click on the link the initial footage is of Barry's photography business 'D & K', where we'd been sitting on the first floor having a glass of wine after work to say goodbye to one of his employees when the quake struck - you'll note the immense damage to the veranda below.  This shake occurred at 2055hrs - it had been late night shopping till 2100hrs ready for xmas.  Once again there were no fatalities apart from an elderly lady found the following day at home who they believe died of shock bless her.

That evening we watched the first TV of our trip, catching an episode of the X-Factor, and I have to admit it was entertaining, Simon Cowell really tells it like it is, no holds barred!  Then it was Casualty, I haven't watched that for years!  But it didn't convince me that sitting watching TV is any way to spend an evening and not long afterwards I was falling asleep, lulled by the monotony of the screen.

Tomorrow we're off to the seaside to visit my niece and her family who have come down for a week - how fortuitous!

Gorse and heather - pretty as a picture

A weekend on land - in Devon

Today we're hoping to travel from Teddington Lock to Limehouse Basin - not necessarily as simple as it sounds,  but more about that in the actual post in about two week's time the way we're going!

Friday 3 September

 

 

After making sure that the boat was 'ship-shape' and secure, we set off for the station at Hungerford to travel to Pewsey.  Once there we alighted and ate a picnic in the sun.  It may sound crazy, but the train we caught from Hungerford went as far as Taunton only, the train we were catching to Exeter St David's was the cheapest journey we could find travelling from Pewsey.  On our return journey we can go all the way back to Hungerford, so it's not a great hardship (thank goodness for the fine weather!).

 

 

 

Travelling adjacent to the canal for a few miles was quite surreal; we spotted NB Nancy-Anne moored up, and subsequently NB No Problem in a lock - it was rather strange seeing 'the cut' from 'the other side'.

We arrived early evening in Exeter, with no delays, just the astonishment that they now have mini TV screens on the backs of the seats on the trains too - goodness me, you can't get away from it can you?  Viv and Ray were there to meet us, so we experienced a smooth journey on public transport for a change. 

After tea we walked to the quayside in Exeter, alongside the Exeter Ship Canal.  This is one of the oldest canals, completed in 1566, but isn't lininked to the other inland waterways. The Exeter Canal bypassed part of a river to make navigation easier, and had the first poind locks in Britain, equipped with lifting, vertical gates. Interestingly, the design of the mitre gate, which has V shaped gates held together by the water pressure, was first introduced on the River Lee (thanks David!) at Waltham Abbey and is an important part of the canal lock today - credited to Leonardo Da Vinci (1452 - 1519) . 

  Exeter Ship Canal - The Quayside

We had a very pleasant evening partaking of a couple of drinks each - one in each of two waterside pubs, then walked back to Viv's for a nightcap.

 Viv, Sandra, Ray, Harry & Oscar (the dog!)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

                                                                     Loving the catch up times with my sisters

 

 

Possibly the site of the famous lock

What camera does Barry use - and other useful information about his 'stunning' photography

We've had a few comments on the blog or via email asking what camera Barry uses to produce his amazing photographs, so I thought we'd post a brief summary of his 'equipment' and the software he uses.

 

His camera is a Panasonic Lumix G1, purchased just before we came to UK in April 2009, after studying the market and searching for something suitable within our budget.  He doesn't use any filters (though he occasionally did on last year's photos), and has two lenses - one is a (35mm equivalent of) 28-90mm zoom lens, the other is a 90-400mm lens. He prefers to shoot as if it's the final shot, cropping in the camera, choosing the correct angle and exposure, to minimise any work afterwards.

 

The software he uses is Adobe Lightroom version 2.7 for colour correcting, etc.  He also uses Photoshop CS4 occasionally for photo re-touching, panoramic stitching, etc, as deemed necessary.

Another software tool he uses is called Nik  - a Nikon software plug-in for Photoshop that he uses to enhance or 'tweek' certain photos, or for creating his black and white images..

He skips around the locks, towpaths and places along the way holding his camera - often he'll also have a windlass in his hand - I'm not sure how he's so nimble or how he manages not to drop either of them or fall into the canal, but so far so good!  He hates camera straps, bags, etc, and very rarely uses a tripod saying they just get in the way and restrict the freedom of just 'capturing the moment'.

Having spent 35 years as a professional photographer lugging around camera bags, tripods and all sorts of lighting equipment, etc, he says this is like a breath of fresh air.

 

In response to requests asking what camera he uses, Barry is often heard saying that '... it's not the camera that takes the photo, it's the photographer', so basically anyone can spend a fortune on a camera, it doesn't necessarily mean they're going to be able to produce a good photo.  He has a real eye for a picture opportunity from his years of 'practice'. 

And finally, a professional golfer was once told he'd had a lucky round - his response was along the lines of '... you know the funny thing is, the more I practice, the luckier I seem to get", which I think explains it in a nutshell!