Forest of Dean, day two

The second day of our break was also my birthday, so I had a bit of an indulgent day, doing just exactly what I wanted. Be warned, part of my indulgence was to be able to take loads of photos without being moaned at by Rog - he was very patient, I took almost 100 and he kept on smiling all the time! I haven't posted 100 on here, but there are quite a lot, and as I dont want you to get bored you needn't read the whole way through this blog if you dont want to.

We parked the car in the carpark at the top of Symonds Yat, and made our way to the view point, quite spectacular views over the Wye Valley.



After a while we started to make our way down the steps into the valley, almost 500 ft. below. We soon found a place where the path split into two, one carried on down very steep steps, the other led to a nice gentle downward slope. Guess which one we decided to take.



Walking down the gentle slope I think we must have covered over half a mile in distance to get to the bottom.



We didn't meet too many other people doing the walk, but a couple of horse riders passed us going in the opposite direction.



We headed off towards a footbridge shown on the map, and passed these carved wooden benches



spotted some wigwams on the opposite bank



saw some rapids



When we eventually arrived at the bridge I was horrorstruck, this is NOT what I was expecting. :-(



However, holding on for grim death and looking straight ahead all the time, we made it to the other side, the bridge doesn't look quite so scary from this angle.



By this time we had already walked a couple of miles, so now we had to walk another couple of miles along the other bank to get back to civilization. It was very quiet and peaceful, we hardly saw any other people . . .



. . . until we arrived back at the ferry point.



Not being quite sure what to do, we stood around for a while until we could see some movement on the other side, a couple of walkers were being ferried over.



Once they were on our side of the river, we got into the ferry and were taken back across the river.



As you can see from this sign the ferry is provided by the pub, the Saracens Head, we thought we had better patronise them while we were there, so we went in for a drink or two and a bite to eat, and there was the ferryman, serving drinks at the bar!



Also inside the pub was this old telephone box (working, too)



After a very nice meal and a couple of pints of Butty Bach, we wandered outside to see if we could get me a birthday ice cream, but sadly the ice cream shed was closed up. We saw a couple of great woodcarvings though.



At one thirty we started the climb back up to the car at the top of the hill, almost 500 feet, this time using the steep steps and going very, very slowly.



Several times we stopped for a rest, and eventually we reached the top. The climb is worth a whole blog all by itself, but thats for another day!



Back at the car now, after an ice cream (a magnum) from the cafe by the car park, and you can see it took us just over an hour to complete the climb.



Nothing more strenuous was attempted that day, apart from wine pouring.



Happy birthday to me.

Forest of Dean, day one

Rog and I have been away for a few days of peace and quiet in the Forest of Dean, which is completely new territory for us. As we were passing Bristol on our way we popped in to meet up with Alex and take him out for lunch.
As we left Bristol we passed right by Filton Airfield (Airport?) and if I had been a bit quicker off the mark I could have taken a snap of Concorde - one of this months subjects for the photographic challenge on Facebook is aeroplanes, and I was a bit miffed to miss an opportunity like that! Oh well, never mind (worse things happen at sea as Rog is always telling me).

Here are some of the shots I did manage to take on our first day.
The new(ish) Severn Bridge from the older Severn Bridge.



In the middle of Chepstow



We stopped just outside Lydney at the Forest of Dean Steam Railway, no steam running on that day, but we did see this old deisel - I was never very fond of deisel engines, but this one was quite brightly painted.




We popped in to the Railway Museum, where we saw this row of old telephones, and behind the glass an old telephone exchange (plus a Rog lookalike!)



Our digs for the next few days, highly recommended



Just outside the digs was this signpost, so after a quick shower and a bit of a rest we walked to Joyford . . . .



. . . . where we found the Dog and Muffler, which sold beer from the local brewery, this one is called Butty Bach, and I'm not ashamed to admit that several pints of this amber nectar passed my lips while we were in the area.



More tomorrow

Week 1/52 1-7/365

I've decided to embark on another 365, this time instead of a blog a day, its a photo a day, but posted weekly each Sunday, starting from May 1st. So, here are my first seven shots, enjoy.

1/365
Urchfont Village Scarecrow Hunt, Cadbury's Milk Tray



2/365
Devizes Lions May Day Fair, vintage vehicles. An old Morris Minor van, I used to drive one of these around London during the latter part of the swinging sixties



3/365
A newly seeded patch of soil, which will soon be a part of our back lawn (loose description, its really a patch of rough grass)



4/365
Half pint of Butty Bach, in The Dog and Muffler, Joyford, Gloucestershire



5/365
View of the Wye Valley from Symonds Yat



6/365
A sign attached to the footbridge at Parkend Station on the Forest of Dean Railway



7/365
A misty drive along the Wye Valley, on the Welsh side, after a night of very heavy rain

Scarecrow Hunt

We start by buying a Programme, which includes the entry form and a schematic map of the village indicating the location of the scarecrows. Inside the programme is a list of clues, in no particular order, then we follow the map, find the scarecrows, match them up to the clues and name the scarecrow. This year the theme is "Advertising", there are 51 scarecrows in all, I have just given you a flavour here, and matched the pictures to the clues, now see if you can work them out. There is no prize, but if you want to email me with your answers (joy@treetopsystems.co.uk) I'll let you know if you are right.
(With apologies to all my non-English followers, who will not know what on earth this is all about!)

How long is a piece of cheese?



All because the lady loves . . .




Toxophilist's scrumpy?



Old salt gets battered



Aussie girls have you covered



Baffled by insurance?



Can you see the savings?



Instantly out of this world



Tenor seeks safe alternatives



He's a real sweetie



Full of eastern promise



Weakling loves the jobs you hate



Energised bunny

Urchfont Village

Each year, over the Spring Bank Holiday weekend, the villagers of Urchfont hold a scarecrow hunt. Its a great fun event for families and children, and also appeals to a few young at heart grown-ups too - including Rog and me. If you have been following my blog for a while you will know that I love Urchfont, we go there quite often, but for newer followers I'll give you a quick guided tour of the village before we embark on the scarecrow hunt itself.

Walking towards the centre of the village, with the pond on our left and the ticket office tent in front of us.



Every time I see this sign it makes me laugh - we very nearly bought a house at The Bottom, but it wasn't quite right for us, particularly the address!



The most important spot of the day, the beer tent, with great ales from the Pewsey Vale Brewery, my favourite was the Scarecrow Ale, specially made for this weekend.




Second most important watering hole, the Lamb Inn.




The pond




We were about 2/3rds of the way round when we stopped to eat our lunch, sitting on someone's brick wall.




This scene of rural decay caught my eye




As did this man in red




Rog said it felt just like being on the scene of an episode of Midsomer Murders, especially when the gendarmerie turned up (just to get their lunch from the burger tent!)




Having found all the scarecrows, and had a most enjoyable day, we make our way back to the car.




I hope you have enjoyed this little tour of the village, please come back later today to see the scarecrows.

E is for . . . .

Easy - possibly



Embellishing - maybe



English - ah yes, I can do this



Expert - I wish



Exposure - still struggling with this one