Photo taken by Mr C

For some reason I was feeling out of sorts when I woke up, possibly because I could feel the beginnings of the lurgy coming on. We were a little late for breakfast but thankfully there was only a small queue.

After breakfast we had planned to catch the ferry to Birgu but the plan was flexed and we detoured to the war memorial first rather than on the way back from Birgu as we had planned. The pathways that led to the memorial were all blocked off. We had quite a tricky time getting to the war memorial and so it took us longer than expected. Some pathways were closed and the roads around it were very busy.

After photographing the memorial, we walked to the lift that would take us down to the ferry. Unfortunately, the extra time it had taken to get to the memorial meant that we had just missed the ferry and had to wait for it to come back.

Photo taken by Mr C

Eventually in Birgu, we took a few photos of the harbour before sitting on a bench for a few moments to look at a map so we could get our bearings. It was now time for a refreshing drink before walking into town. We didn’t opt for the nearest café and settled for a shady arcaded place a short distance down the street.

Then we headed into town checking a signboard before choosing to visit the Inquisitors Palace first. As we neared the palace, I saw a photo opportunity and realised my camera was missing. I remembered I had put it next to me on the bench when we sat to briefly peruse the map. I always check I have left nothing behind when I move on from a place but for some reason, I didn’t see the camara, maybe it had fallen on the floor underneath the bench. I will never know…

Mr C retraced our steps checking all the cafes and also the bench area where we briefly sat. It was gone without a trace.

Despite being distracted due to the loss of my camera, or, more importantly to me, the photos I had taken during the first days of our holiday I enjoyed our visit to the Inquisitors Palace.

By some quirk of fate, I had unexpectedly upgraded my mobile phone (paying less for my contract) just a few days before we travelled to Malta!  The new phone has an adequate camera, so going forward I was able to capture my own photo memories of our adventures in Malta.

Photo taken by Mr C

We went in search of lunch, ending up on the harbour front sharing a pizza and enjoying a glass of wine and beer seated in shade at restaurant Sottovento. This was handy for our next intended visit, The Maritime Museum. However, we found that the museum was closed to the public until further notice, because is being refurbished.

We returned to Valletta, on the way checking at the café near to where I lost my camera. The waitress took my phone number and directed me to the police station that was 200 yards away to see if it had been handed in there. It hadn’t but the police officer also took phone details, although both of us knew that by now my camera was not going to turn up.

It being my birthday, back at the hotel Mr C ordered a bottle of Prosecco to be delivered to the room. The bar staff said, can you take it yourself? Mr C agreed but they provided no ice bucket so it turned out to be a do it yourself sort of celebratory drink on the balcony! When we sat down, I had a little birthday surprise in that my mum (who struggles with technology) was able to use her new mobile phone to ring me up to say happy birthday.

We walked into Valletta to find a suitable restaurant for a birthday meal, ending up, to our delight, dining in our restaurant of choice, Grain Street which we had thought was shut that day. The food and service were amazing.

Our cosy nearby bar was shut on Sundays so we returned to the hotel for a nightcap instead.

The gardens are situation in what once was the friary orchard. When the friary was closed in 1538, the tower and the land around it passed to the Town Council.

Part of this land was never permanently built on. Tower Gardens was laid out in 1911 as a public park to commemorate the coronation of King George V.

In 1921 it also became the site of the town’s War Memorial, following the First World War.

The War Memorial was designed by Oswald Milne and unveiled by HRH Princess Mary, daughter of King George V, on 26 February 1921. It lists 569 local men who died in the First World War and a further 19 from the Second World War.

Greyfiars Tower is the only surviving above ground remains of the medieval Franciscan friary. It is about 93 feet high. It was built in stages from the 13th to the 15th century.

It is a lantern tower, with windows to provide light to the area below.

It is also a bell tower and orginally had a single bell in the top chamber. Only two other medieval Franciscan bell towers survive in England, one in Coventry and the other at Richmond in Yorkshire.

• Information taken from signboards in Tower Gardens.

On our visit to the Heugh Battery I picked up a leaflet for a circular walk around the headland of Hartlepool. The trail is made up of a series of 17 information points located around the Ancient Borough of Hartlepool. After our museum visit we set off on the trail, starting and ending at point 5 on the map.

Click on photo to see video

Hartlepool Headland is formed on a peninsular of magnesium limestone that reaches into the North Sea. This geological make-up has created a coastline of mixed treasures from golden sandy beaches to teeming rockpools. Much of the areas history and appeal is retold through the Story Boards.*

*information from the walking trail leaflet

The war memorial at Seaham is located on Terrace Green, by the sea front. The memorial is a Celtic cross designed by Mr TA Lawson and unveiled 1922 in dedication to the local men who lost their lives in the First World War. It was later further dedicated to those lost in the Second World War. The monument is Grade II listed on the National Heritage List for England. Also located on Terrace Green is Tommy – a statue of a First World War soldier.

Burrow Mump is a hill and historic site overlooking Southlake Moor in the village of Burrowbridge within the English county of Somerset. It is a scheduled monument, with the ruined church on top of the hill a Grade II listed building.

The hill stands at a strategic location overlooking the point where the River Tone and the old course of the River Cary join the River Parrett. Although there is some evidence of Roman visitation, the first fortification of the site was the construction of a Norman motte. It has been called King Alfred’s Fort, however there is no proof of use by Alfred the Great. A medieval church was built on the hill in the 15th century. The current ruined church on top of the hill was built in 1793. The land and ruin were donated to the National Trust in 1946 as a war memorial.

Burrow Mump is also known as St Michael’s Borough or Tutteyate.^[4] Both words ‘burrow’ and ‘mump’ mean hill.^[5]

The hill is 24 metres (79 ft) high,^[1] and stands at a strategic point where the River Tone and the old course of the River Cary join the River Parrett, above the surrounding low lying land of the Somerset Levels.^[2] It is made of Triassic sandstone capped by Keuper marl ascribed to the Mercia Mudstone Group.^[2][3]

Information source – Wikipedia

The memorial commemorates the residents of Knaresborough who were killed or missing in World War I (155 names) and World War II (54 names).

We decided to pick up lunch to eat in Telford Town park before setting off on a walk. Buying the sandwiches from M&S was a bit tedious due to the anti-COVID one way system around the Town Centre. The sandwiches, however were delicious. We enjoyed them whilst looking out over Southwater lake. A duck waddled up to our feet hopeful for a tasty morsel, but we had nothing to share. At one stage I thought he was thinking about jumping on the bench in between us so I put my leg in-between him and the bench to deter him. Nearby there was a seagull that also had its beady eye on our food. If any other seagulls got close he aggressively chased them off.

After lunch we set off on a walk along one of the trails. As we were walking we saw the unusual sight of a man carrying a hawk. Later on, we saw a sparrow hawk land close to us before taking flight again and disappearing into the tree tops.

We left the Town Park via the War Memorial. It was lovely to see the newly painted remembrance poppy on the ground in front of the memorial. There were also a few lovely painted memorial rocks placed on the benches.

We had covered 5.5 miles so I used this walk to earn my ‘Armistice Day 2020 Challenge’ medal.

After we returned home my mother and father in law called by with a present for me. Later, whilst enjoying ‘fine dining’ at home, we chose a suitable walk to enjoy on my birthday from the book ‘20 walks in and around Shrewsbury’.

After breakfast our first port of call was Ripley where we enjoyed a stroll round the village. Although Mr C wasn’t particularly taken with it, I enjoyed the church which had some interesting historical features including the base of  a medieval cross known as ‘the weeping cross’ and which is thought to be a unique survival of a structure of this type.

The next village on our list was Pateley Bridge where we went for a brief walk along a pathway by the river Nidd to find the Pillars Past sculpture before exploring the town.

Before we left the area I suggested that we made a detour to view Coldstones Cut, a massive sculpture with viewing platforms looking over the nearby quarry and surrounding countryside.  The effort of climbing the short steep walk to get to the monument rewarded us both with a WOW moment!

We had walked up an appetite so we headed to Ripon for lunch which we enjoyed sitting on a bench in the gardens by the war memorial. After lunch we toured Ripon Cathedral which I had not been to before. Over 10,000 origami angels were suspended from the ceiling. I learned that it was a project called ‘A Wing and A Prayer’ which had been designed in the early days of lockdown to recognise the work done by keyworkers and those on the front line. I found the installation breathtaking.

Whilst there I was able to get the first stamp in my 2020 Year of Cathedrals Pilgrim Passport. At the beginning of 2020 it had planned to visit many Cathedrals this year. Maybe next year…

We weren’t ready to go back to the hotel so we detoured via Knaresborough. We walked through the town spotting the window murals known as the ‘Knaresborough windows’ ending up by the castle and war memorial which due to their elevated position treated us to spectacular views of the Victorian aqueduct and the gorge below. We returned to the car via the Bebra Gardens where I spotted a beautiful memorial bench.

Back at the hotel we had our last evening chill out before dinner in the restaurant. When we arrived at the restaurant we were told that our table wasn’t quite ready. I said that’s OK and suggested that a seat could be found for us and we would order a pre-dinner drink. There were no seats were available so with our agreement we were taken to an outside table to wait with our pre-dinner drink. Our drinks didn’t arrive a promptly as we expected and, after some time, we were seated in a back room away from the bar area and restaurant, not quite what we expected as hotel residents who had booked.

As time passed, we found ourselves alone in that area with two tables of loud non-residents. In normal circumstances we would have moved to a more ambient area but due to Covid-19 rules we stayed put rather than introducing more cleaning areas for the hotel staff. A lovely waitress that had been looking after us during our stay was a bit put out that we had been sidelined into a back room and made a point of coming to say goodbye to us before she clocked off for the evening. How special was that!

]]> http://www.cheriesplace.me.uk/blog/index.php/2020/10/08/harrogate-day-three/feed/ 4 http://www.cheriesplace.me.uk/blog/index.php/2020/06/21/a-change-of-scene/ http://www.cheriesplace.me.uk/blog/index.php/2020/06/21/a-change-of-scene/#comments Sun, 21 Jun 2020 21:22:24 +0000 CherryPie http://www.cheriesplace.me.uk/blog/?p=22908 …tricking Mr C into a short walk

On Saturday afternoon we visited Buildwas Abbey which turned out be more brief than we had intended. Parts are inaccessible at the moment due to renovations and barriers closing off areas due to Covid-19. Just after we arrived a photographer turned up and whilst taking our own photographs we were careful to try and keep out of the shots that he was framing.

After our visit we drove to Much Wenlock with intention of visiting Wenlock Priory if it was open. It was but the car park look busier than we were comfortable with so we continued on our journey passing through Broseley and ending up at Maws Craft Centre. Only a few of the outlets were open so I suggested we explore a pathway that I had noticed as we arrived. Mr C chose a different path that went in the direction of the river and I kept on walking a little bit further. Up and over the Jackfield and Coalport memorial bridge and along the canal past Coalport China Works.

As we walked along the canal we spotted a photographer with his camera on tripod lining up a shot. It was the same man we had seen at Buildwas Abbey. As we approached  he did a double take and I quipped, ‘we are not following you’ before engaging in a brief conversation.

My next plan is to persuade Mr C to walk the T50 50 Mile trail with me (in stages). He hasn’t said no…