Crack On, Mate

Glasgow is still reaping the benefits from being named European Capital of Culture in 1990. It is a tourist hotspot with a lively feel and a vibrant nightlife. I spent a day wandering through the lovely University and visited the Transport, Kelvingrove and Scotland Street School Museums. Link here.

One of my small bugbears is having to pay to enter a museum or church. These three museums were free, with a suggested donation of £1. The Transport Museum is especially popular with children and had many school trips, but also had enough to entertain the adult boy. I especially liked the life sized recreation of an early-20th century Glasgow street, complete with mini-cinema and underground station. The museum is about to move to larger premises, presumably to accomodate more exhibits. The Kelvingrove has an interesting collection of medieval weapons and armour in its conflict room. The only other item I found interesting was the Spitfire hanging in the main hall. I visited the School Musem just to look at the Wildlife Photographer of the Year exhibit.

A few days later back in Somerset it was time to visit the North Somerset Agricultural Show. A countryside and agricultural show, it celebrates its 150th anniversary this year. We went out of curiosity more than anything else. It cost a hefty £10 per ticket on the gate, but there was plenty to entertain us. As expected there were all sorts of animal competitions, from guinea pigs and horses to dogs, cows, sheep and llamas. I found the Field Ploughing competition particularly intriguing - I just could not understand why people would wish to watch men in tractors plough an artificial strip of land. The Tug of War on the other hand, provided some human drama and was compelling. I wanted to race ferrets for 20p, but settled for purchasing a jar of lemon curd instead. Ah, how quintessential.

A blustery day saw a bunch of us in hired caravans at the Ruda Holiday Park near Croyde. The first night's alcoholism was followed by short but spirited visit to the beach in an attempt to tame the surf. It cost me £12 to hire a wetsuit, gloves and boots for 4 hours. I borrowed a friend's board. The waves weren't high but the cold windy rain limited the fun. My feet were numb after half an hour. Still, jumping into the freezing sea is a good way to cure hangovers.

The next day brought even worse weather so we beat a retreat and went for a walk to Baggy Point. As you can see the views are stunning.

Restless but with a sore head from the night before, we decided it was time for a Sunday afternoon walk. We chose the area around Upton Cheney and Beach, mild hills with good views over Bath and Somerset. A reminder of how beautiful the English countryside is.

A quick visit to France over the Easter holidays. Strangely enough I had never been to the area of the continent closest to the UK, normally flying to cities further afield. The plan was to camp our way around te Cote D'Opale and the Somme, visiting mainly World War 1 memorials and sites.

Many crosses dot the countryside in France, some of which are quite elaborate. In the Somme there are also memorials in every village, a testament to the intensity of the fighting. The memorial sites and cemeteries are immaculately kept and one does feel humbled walking amongst the graves of so many men.

Camping in France seems to be of a caravan-only variety. All the "campsites" we visited were either permanent caravan sites or holiday-home caravan sites. We were the only ones in a tent - "Le Crazee Rosbeefs". The airbed could not stay inflated so we spent every night sleeping on the cold hard ground. Not the poshest of holidays. However, having a mini-bar in the boot of the car more than made up for it.

We got on the 1600 ferry from Dunkerque to Dover. Little did we know, that would be the last ferry before the French fishermen blockaded the English channel. A lucky escape!