Three ships...

A bit of back-tracking in my travelogue now...

After leaving Windsor, DH and I headed for Portsmouth. 

We had allocated a day to checking out 3 famous ships which are on display there...the 'Warrior', Nelson's 'Victory' and the 'Mary Rose'.

First we toured the Warrior which was the first ship in the Royal Navy which was powered by both steam and sail. It was used as a warship for 22 years before being decommissioned and taking on a number of ignominious roles including being used as an oil jetty. It was 'rescued' and completely restored at the cost of several million pounds. 

It was a magnificent ship...and the restoration work was impressive...

The cannons were big! 

And there were also racks of guns!

The captain's sitting room looks very comfortable...

The dining room for the captain, officers and visiting dignitaries...

The sailors slept in hammocks strung up between the cannons and fire buckets!

The kitchens featured a big range and magnificent copper cookware...

The shelves which would have held the sailors's kit bags...

The next ship we toured was Nelson's Victory...

A lot darker on this ship with low ceilings...this is Nelson's sitting room...

The stairs between the various decks were even steeper than in the Warrior!

There were 'heaps' of cannons!

The tour guide showed us the spot where Nelson fell, mortally injured...he was taken to the doctor on the ship and apparently was in excruciating pain for a number of hours before he died...

We kept going down until we were able to see the huge beams in part of the hull that was accessible...

Reportedly this is one of Nelson's uniforms...the large ropes in the background prevent the cannons being thrown back to the other side of the shop when fired.

The third ship we looked at was inside a building. The Mary Rose had been built in Henry viii 's time as a warship and it was sunk during a battle. It was recovered and a massive conservation effort ensued. For the last 20 or so years it has had a wax solution pumped into the timbers to prevent the cells in the wood collapsing after so long under water and mud. Now the ship's timbers are being dried out and this will take a number of years also...

The ship is behind glass/Perspex walls with convenient viewing windows on the walkways on the exterior...

The black pipes are supporting the structure...

You can see the outline of the various decks...

So on a cold and wet March day we saw three ships; not a-sailing but 2 were moored and the other (what was left of it) was in its own big room with temperature and humidity all controlled, in what has to be one amazing conservation of heritage project. 

Another interesting fact I learned that day was that Nelson's ship the Victory, has never been decommissioned...it is still a Royal Navy ship.

Friday Night with Friends

This Friday night we are in Liverpool, staying in a hotel called The Penny Lane...and it has a Beatles theme...surprising that isn't it? Lol. 

Most times when I'm travelling I complain about the poor light in the hotel/motel/B&B rooms...which can make it hard to sew. But not this time...

The room has a huge central light and 6 down lights and it's great!

So tonight for FNwF, I brought out those hexagons that I bought at The Liberty Store in London, way back at the beginning of our holiday. I have stitched all the blue ones over paper and have now done some pink ones...but I still have a number of pink ones to go. So using the ones that have been stitched already, I played around with positioning...still no definite idea of how I will finally arrange them, or what I will make...but the cushion idea is still a favourite.

There's still a little pile of the pinks to do...

And I did a few rows on the knitting project I have been working on...I bought yarn in the first week we were here and the idea was that I would knit strips of squares that would eventually be sewn up into a blanket for the needy. A number of ladies in my knitting group make blankets this way and they have my highest admiration...as I have found it so boring, and I haven't even made one strip yet! And yet these ladies make lots of these rugs each year...all garter stitch because it sits flat. 

But I will plod on for now, but may experiment after I've made 1 strip...perhaps pick up stitches along the long edge and change over to circular needles and maybe try some different stitches? 

So here it is; 50 stitches and 50 ridges per square and I bought 5 different colours.

Thank you to Cheryll once again for organising this night which sees people from all around the globe working on various projects and then sharing what they have done. There were 54 of us this month, why not head over to Cheryll's blog and use the Linky widget there to visit some (or all of those) who signed up! http://stitchingcubbyhole.blogspot.co.uk/2014/04/fnwf.html You won't be disappointed! :-)

One out of 3 isn't bad...

DH and I love historical railways and looked forward to riding on some in the UK. Before we left Australia we did discover that many of the railways don't run until closer to summer and that many would be closed for most of the time we were on holiday. 

Wales seemed our best chance and when we arrived in Aberystwyth  we went around to the little station...

The sign said that the railway was closed until early May! DH walked up the hill behind the station and took some photos...

While he was doing that, that's me down the hill and looking at the waterfront...

Yesterday we drove towards Caravon and stopped at the little rack railway that goes to Snowdonia...it looked promising as the ticket office was open...but the ticket seller wouldn't sell us any tickets in case the second train for the day (and the last!) didn't get enough people to run...he wanted 25 people to buy tickets...once more DH took photos of this fascinating type of railway...the beautifully restored carriage sitting at the platform...

Those 'teeth' on the rack line...these help get the train up steep hills...

The station staff delayed the 1pm train by half an hour in the hope that enough people would turn up to buy tickets...

Here come the 12 midday train back from its trip...

Eventually we were given the news that there would not be another trip yesterday...so we went back to our car and headed for Canarvon...

As we drove towards the castle at Canarvon we saw another railway and I went across the road to make enquiries...this train was running and the next one would leave in just under half an hour. We could also park for free on the station property...what a win! 

The countryside we passed through was gorgeous...

There were lots of sheep grazing...they looked different some how? Then I realised that unlike Aussie sheep, these sheep still had their tails...

We passed a number of clear streams...babbling brooks perhaps? 

We had been told to get off the train at Rhyll Ddu as the train we were on was not returning to Canarvon until the next day...our next train came within a few minutes...

The interior of the second train was a little different...

Don't you love bends on the railway line?...

A couple of ladies out for a run...

Canarvon Castle shrouded in mist, just before we came into the station...

As I said to DH...if the Snowdonia train had been running we would have missed the steam train from Canarvon...and it had been such a lovely ride. A railway staff member did tell us that the mist/fog was so bad that day that not much could be seen from the train that day if we had have got that other train.

Weston Super Mare

DH has always called a nearby shopping centre at home, Weston Super Mare, despite its real name being Great Western! Lol. So when we found ourselves very close to Weston it seemed only natural to drive over for a look...

When I posted a few photos of the town on Facebook, friends who have lived in England wrote about their fond memories, especially childhood memories. I wonder if this carousel has been there for years!

The tide was out such a long way....

The Pavillion building is certainly very impressive!

We walked put on the pier which has been rebuilt after being destroyed by fire in 2008.

Looking back to land from farther along the pier...

The view from right at the far end of the pier...

More of the view from the back deck of the building at the far end of the pier. This building houses restaurants and the largest Games Arcade that I've ever seen!! 

I couldn't resist climbing the little ladder and pushing my head forward through the face hole! 

Ha Ha! The family have had some belly laughs with seeing their mother/stepmother/aunty/SiL, done up as a Pirate King! 

One of the 'facts' boards located on the pier...

After we collected the car from a nearby carpark we continued our drive along the waterfront. Not far from the Grand Pier at Weston Super Mare we caught sight of another pier...this one looked like a 'renovator's delight'...

It was all boarded up but looked as though it had been quite a place at one time! Maybe a reader could tell me about this pier? 

Because  it looks like we didn't take a photo of the pier at Weston Super Mare, here is a photo from the Internet...

It was a cold damp morning but we thoroughly enjoyed walked around this lovely seaside town.