Another organised day out thanks to my old School – Selhurst Grammar School for Boys and The Old Croydonians’ Association. Today, it was a behind-the-scenes tour of the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane. We set off from home just before 10am, heading for Huntingdon Station. It’s become our ‘go to’ station-of-travel in recent years when heading …
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Category:Days-out
Audley End House and Gardens
We haven’t been to Audley End House & Gardens for quite a few years, and today, we’re taking Nicki and joining Jo, Janet and Carol there. Given the gap between today and our previous visit, I was hoping to find a previous reference here in my Blog, but nothing… nada..! So that means we must …
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Sealed with a…
…Knot! 😁 (read on)… We couldn’t decide whether to go to this event today (Sunday) or tomorrow. A quick check of the Bank Holiday weather forecast helped us make up our! Dry today, raining tomorrow. So that was an easy decision. Ann sorted out all the ingredients for a picnic yesterday, and we woke to …
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Return to Hardwick Hall with Dennis and Sandra
Today, we’re off to meet Dennis & Sandra at Hardwick Hall (south of Bolsover, east of Matlock). The eagle-eyed amongst you will spot that we four have done this before! And you’re correct – back in August 2020. This time, however, we’re heading inside the Hall itself (last time we only explored the grounds due …
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OCA – St Bride’s Church
Another organised day out thanks to my old School – Selhurst Grammar School for Boys and The Old Croydonians’ Association. Today, it was a trip to London and St Bride’s Church in Fleet Street, London. Actually, it was a full-on day even before the Church visit. By the time we headed for Fleet Street, we’d …
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London Calling!
Sunday – 4 January We woke to a freezing cold Kettering! It felt much colder than the forecast suggested. Well, at least it was dry! 🙄 But we weren’t at home for long, as we’re off to our favourite City – London – where it was a tad ‘warmer’. We’re with friends, John & Trish …
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Two for Who!
Fellow Doctor Who fan, Jo and I took a drive over to Peterborough today. It was a rare opportunity to visit the City that’s hosting an unofficial Doctor Who Exhibition at their Museum & Art Gallery. It’s been running since May this year (ending on 2 November) and has turned out to be extremely popular. …
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Lincoln Castle and Prison with Dennis and Sandra
We’re off to Prison with Dennis and Sandra – the Victorian Prison inside Lincoln Castle. We set off just after 9am and enjoyed a strangely uneventful journey north – even the A1 was quiet! 🤔 This is our 19th cultural day out together with our friends since we started these back in February, 2017. So …
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Rockingham Castle with Gill
We caught up with Gill today at nearby Rockingham Castle. For a more detailed description of the venue, read my Post from a few years ago (August 2022). Prices have gone up slightly since we were last here. We paid £17 (for the youngster) and £18 (for the elderly). Well, it was perfect weather for …
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Pie Guy!
Tonight, we headed off to the famous Brockleby’s Pies – where else but in Melton Mowbray! Jo and Janet brought me a ‘Pie Making Experience’ voucher for my birthday in 2024, but it’s only now that I’ve got around to redeeming it. Luckily, Ann came along too, guaranteeing at least one masterpiece! 🤔 It was …
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OCA – Fulham Palace
Great! Another organised day out courtesy of my old School – Selhurst Grammar School for Boys and The Old Croydonians’ Association. Today, it’s the iconic Fulham Palace – the historic home of the Bishops of London since 704AD. Thanks to the OCA, we’re building up a nice portfolio of cultural visits so far:- Hidden Greenwich …
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Bomber Command – Revisited
Today was a welcome return to ‘Bomber Command’ in Bourne, Lincolnshire. This time, with great mates John & Trish. Its full title is International Bomber Command Centre (the IBCC). July 2019 – Denis’s 90thSeptember 2023 – with Dennis & Sandra It wasn’t our first visit, but it’s such a well-laid-out and comprehensive record of that …
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Cousins Catchup 2025 – Knebworth House
It’s that time of year again – time to catch up with our recently discovered cousins and nephews. In fact, these get-togethers are turning into a regular (and very enjoyable) ‘gathering of the clans’. Gathering of the Clans! 2024 – Windsor2023 – Hatfield House2022 – Hampton Court2021- Kew Gardens2021 – Shuttleworth Collection This year, it …
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Nottingham Castle with Dennis and Sandra
Postponed from 2nd April, today was another of our cultural days out with mates, Dennis and Sandra. This time it was Nottingham Castle and then lunch at the famous Ye Olde Trip to Jerusalem Pub, nearby! We let the train take the strain and grabbed the 9.28 out of Kettering that got us to Nottingham …
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Computer Nerds
It’s official! I’m a computer nerd! (who knew?). Actually, probably most people!!! 😉👍 Why so? I drove over to meet Chris today in Northampton, and we took the short drive to the National Museum of Computing in Bletchley, having been there with Ann as part of our Valentine’s Break earlier this year – how’s that …
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Boys’ Day Out
D’you know, I’ve never been as busy as I’ve been lately – and I’m retired! So, today, was a special treat! I took the short drive over to techy-mate Chris and we motored on to Gtechnic’s HQ in Upper Heyford, The reason? A half-day ‘hands-on’ Car Detailing Workshop organised by Alex, one of their experienced …
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Valentine’s Day (2025)
14th February Well actually, a TWO-day celebration, this year, as we headed for Buckingham and the White Hart Hotel for a romantic day and sleepover. 💑💑. It’s 10.30 and we’re off! But before all that, an opportunity to explore the town of Buckingham. We arrived just before 11.45 and although the town seemed quite quiet, …
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Wollaton Hall with Dennis and Sandra
Here we are again – another of our cultural days out with Dennis & Sandra! Today, it’s Wollaton Hall in Nottingham. 9.02am: We left home just after 9am and for once, the traffic on the M1 behaved itself and we were there in good time. Well, apart from me initially putting the wrong post-code into …
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EXCELlent!
Today, Chris A and I took the train from Northampton and headed for the Excel International Exhibition & Convention Centre in the Docklands for the F1 Exhibition. Actually, this was the very first time I’ve visited Excel! Getting there was easy by taking the Elizabeth Line and getting off at Customs House and then taking …
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Greenwich and Beyond!
We travelled down to Greenwich today for our annual cultural day out, courtesy of The Old Croydonians’ Association – the ex-pupil association of my old School. Last year, in October, the OCA organised a behind the scenes at the Royal Opera House, and it was great day out. This time, we’re looking ‘beyond the obvious’ …
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First Visit: Cromwell Museum
We drove over to Huntingdon today for our first visit to the Cromwell Museum. Neither of us could remember when we last visited Huntingdon, so we weren’t sure what to expect from the town. Parking was certainly challenging and it wasn’t helped by EVie’s Sat-Nav having a complete fit in mis-identifying the road that SHOULD …
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Cousins Catchup 2024 – Windsor Castle
It’s that time of year again! It’s our annual get-together with our cousins (from Ann’s side of the family). We try and meet as a family group at least once a year around this time, where for 2024, we’ve picked the iconic Windsor Castle as the destination. Last time we were here was way back …
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More Pie!
This was a first for us! We headed for Melton Mowbray and their annual PieFest. Melton Mowbray is, of course, famous for its home-grown Pork Pie where the town is considered to be the UK’s ‘Capital of Pies’ and the ‘Rural Capital of Food‘! 😋😋 No prizes then, for guessing what the Festival was all …
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Return to Bletchley Park
The past week-or-so has had a recurring theme – ‘return to…’. Last Saturday, it was a return to my old school for their annual reunion, whilst on Monday, I made my second visit to Silverstone Museum. Tough life, ehh?!?!? 😉 Today, we’re with mates, John & Trish heading for the famous ‘Bletchley Park‘. We were …
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Return to Silverstone!
A return to Silverstone Museum for me, this time with super-techy-mate, Chris A. The reason? Well, nothing specific, we just fancied going there, and it’s only a short drive away! 👍 I was last here back in December, last year with John C for exactly the same reason! 😀 With today’s weather looking and feeling …
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Le Picnic – Lamport Hall
Took a drive to nearby Lamport Hall today for ‘Le Picnic’ with Chris & Gill and Steve & Denise. It’s on our doorstep and given our love of old stately piles, I can’t believe we’ve never been here before! 🤔 You can’t beat a good picnic and if the sun is shining (as it was …
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Bosworth Bound
On one of sunniest days of the year (so far) we headed off to the quaint town of Market Bosworth. A smooth journey there, although the sat-nav did take us through Hinkley town which slowed things down a tad. It seemed that the good weather had brought everybody out today! Parking was challenging, but we …
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That Lyveden Feeling!
Off to National Trust’s Lyveden New Bield this morning for a wander around. Looks like we were last here back in December 2017 and since then, it’s had a fair bit of money spent on it. Everywhere had received a serious makeover, there was a new car-park and the Manor House was now open to …
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Stamford Stroll
It was a gorgeous day today (the best for ages) so we took a short drive to Stamford. It seems the rest of the world had the same plans and to say that the town was ‘buzzing’ was a massive understatement! We managed to pick up pretty much everything we set out to buy, including …
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Nottingham with Dennis and Sandra
Today was another of our cultural days out with Dennis and Sandra – this time it’s Nottingham. Since we first started doing these in 2017, we’ve built up quite a list – today will be our 16th ‘day out’ together! 👍😀 Doddington Hall (December 2023)International Bomber Command (September 2023)Southwell (March 2023)Chatsworth House (November 2022)Belvoir Castle …
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