Virginia and I have had a week on the Isle of Wight, staying at a B&B in Shorwell. I think she enjoyed it more than I did. We went and saw Osborne House where Queen Victoria liked hanging out. The excerpts from her diaries in various places made her seem almost like a normal person... the overpowering opulence and movie set nature of the place counteracted that. For me the monarchy has had its day. More pleasant was to visit places like Mottistone Manor which had an enchanting garden. Could have spent longer there - one flaw of the holiday was how much we seemed to be dashing from place to place, getting caught in traffic jams and roadworks, rather than just being. There were walks I would have liked to do but it was a question of trying to do things together. Saw the Needles. Here as elsewhere we went we seemed to be pursued by packs of schoolchildren. Even Ventnor Botanical Gardens (pencilled in for a restful hour or two) was being used by a school party playing pirates with loud whoops and cries. There was a good exhibition at a Roman villa discovered near Brading (though hurried through by another school party.) Two contrasting dinosaur sites - Dinosaur Isle with flash new building and animatronic dinosaur, Dinosaur Farm which was a farm building with unattractive mounds of material. Dinosaur Farm probably had more content, but Dinosaur Isle was better entertainment. Again near Brading saw "Waltzing Waters" where water is fountained on a stage in time to music and musak. As a sop to drought areas of the world you can donate money into a well at the end. I realised again how stressful family holidays are. You're out of the safety of an established routine, you don't know where things are, how to get to places, where to eat. It's hard work getting around. People liking different activities means compromise rather than wholehearted enjoyment, means disappointment to a greater or lesser extent. Getting away from it all is hard to do.

Virginia and I spent a few nights at "Willersley Castle" in Derbyshire during September 2007, seeing history in the area. Our hotel had originally been built for Richard Arkwright we discovered. All I knew about Arkwright was that he invented the spinning jenny. I learnt he didn't invent the water frame, his big innovation and what made him rich was implementing a factory system for processing raw cotton into cotton thread. Very close to our hotel were two of Arkwright's factories or mills. We went round the machines at the working museum at Masson Mills (when we managed to find our way through the shops.) The noise of the machines would have done for me as a worker, let alone how dangerous some of the work was. Children as young as 7 were employed to clean fluff from the working machines while suspended over them. One of the machines was interesting to me as related to the computers which keep me employed. From the punched hole patterns which drove Jacquard looms evolved punched cards which were how I first programmed. Virginia particularly wanted to see Chatsworth House which we did the first day. It was in fact a disappointment, partly because of all the modern art scattered around which seemed out of place. The stately homes we were used to are frozen in time, no longer living places. Chatsworth House is still very much someone's house, and having pieces of modern art on show fulfills a purpose. Stately homes were or are much more than places to live in. They make statements - that their owners are rich, powerful, different to the "hoi polloi". So the modern art which is centred on making statements rather than being artistic is perfectly suited to the elite who want to make statements about their being the elite. We preferred Kedleston Hall to Chatsworth, though that had plenty of statements in it. Landscaping by Robert Adams (fashionable at the time.) A 3 span bridge (because Chatsworth was having a 3 span bridge and they didn't want to seem poorer.) The furnishings seemed less dingy than Chatsworth though Chatsworth allowed photography inside (very rare.) I have a soft spot for places like "Toys of Yesteryear" where memories of Fireball XL5 and Stingray and Man from Uncle are revived. We visited Haddon Hall another fascinating glimpse into the past, a hall which has grown organically over the centuries. The long gallery (for Elizabethan ladies to get exercise walking up and down in) has very uneven windows - deliberately to spread the light. King John restricted the height the wall that could be built around the earliest buildings (to prevent Englishmen's homes being their castles.) We also dropped in to see, and have a good time at, the Tramway Museum at Crich. I admired the volunteers who so freely gave their time to make the show run, it must be nice to be part of a team like that. Amusing to see that some old tram cars ended up as people's homes! On our final day we joined in a minibus tour which involved hours of bumpy uncomfortable travel. Saw well dressing at Hartington, what remains of an ancient tradition. Hartington had a nice little cheese shop and we bought some Wensleydale cheese. I was unable to resist the Wallace and Gromit connection. Wensleydale reminded me of Cheshire cheese, not a strong taste. I almost got a slipware large mug from "Rookes Pottery" - the pattern was beautiful but I couldn't justify to myself buying it. We had a cup of tea at a team room which was also the Post Office and an art gallery with nude paintings for sale. Biddulph Grange gardens were marvellous, and we could have spent more time there. A series of different styled gardens with connecting tunnels wondrous. The National Trust has had a lot of restoring to do there. Lastly Little Moreton Manor gave an impression of how bare (to us) Tudor times were. Virginia was alarmed by the ice cream eating ducks which aggressively clustered round when we had a couple of cones!

Virginia and I went for a themed week at "Lindors" in Gloucestershire. The theme was walking and waterways, but we didn't really do any walking meaning I didn't need my new half-price boots after all! "Lindors" is a lovely place, landscaped grounds with gentle rills running through them. We were in the Forest of Dean, before we went I wouldn't have been able to say where that was. The Forest has been a mining area since Roman times, for iron and for coke to smelt the iron. The steep one-track winding roads were not fun to drive along. A pleasant enough ride on a festooned boat "Kingfisher" beneath Symonds Yat. Yat is Yorkshire dialect for gate, and the name comes from a guy from Yorkshire who extorted tolls for boats to pass on the River Wye. We went to the top of Symonds Yat with its great views over the bend in the Wye - sadly no views of peregrine falcons that day. The RSPB had a lookout spot with telescopes trained on the cliff crevices where the falcons nest. Went down Clearwell Caves, another mine where in centuries past even young boys worked underground in appalling conditions. Before explosives they used to set fires underground to break up the rock for digging. The hosts for the week were keen on narrow boats (barges are an incorrect term apparently.) We learnt about the Falkirk Wheel, a new revolutionary (in more sense than one) lock linking two canals in Scotland. Something added to the to-see list. Had a trip on a Redline narrow boat on the Monmouth and Brecon canal. This canal has been cut in two by the canal wall collapsing, and the slowness in repairing it is really hurting boat hire and the like companies. I had some experience of plying the tiller as the narrow boat slowly threaded its way along the canal. Your turn the tiller in the opposite direction to where you want the boat to turn, the boat pivots in the middle, it takes a time to react. I never got happy at trying to shoot through the tight bridges, hitting the sides often particularly when I tried to steer under the bridge. We had a shambolic experience when we went past the winding hole we should have turned round in, and had to turn round in the normal canal. Dire really dire. A winding hole (wind as in the wind which blows) is a large area where narrow boats were turned round, the operators would use the wind to help turn the boats. A pleasant part of the week was sharing mealtimes and activities with the other people, who were mainly elderly. It's hard to accept one is older too. One or two struck me as the kind of people who borrow stories to puff themselves up, hard to prove but some people just don't feel right. I probably didn't feel right to them.

Down in Devon seeing Agatha Christie's place in Torquay, and where giant bears hibernated in Kent's Caverns among other places.

Virginia and I together with her parents hired a boat from Richardsons in Acle to do a one week cruise on the Norfolk Broads in late May. The helpful people at the now closed "Horizon boatyard" gave us a crash course in handling the boat then sent us on our way. The professionals made it all look easy from steering the boat to mooring it - but such skills need longer than a week for me to acquire. Our boat "Golden Horizon 2" wasn't as glamorous or as big as some of the boats we met but served us. It was quite noisy inside as when the water pump ran, or when water was slapping not lapping against the keel as at our first stop St Benet's Abbey, or when torrential rain beat down as it did during our holiday. The good weather only came when we had finished our cruise! The either frigid or scalding showers on the boat made noises like a dentist's drills. It was eerie and wrong when the boat wasn't noisy. We only used the mudweight once on the cruise when we stern moored - the weight was too heavy for me to lift alone. The stern mooring ropes were meant to be left lying along the sides of the boat, once we didn't do this and panic ensued when we moored. Each day started with checking the engine - the crew took out the dipstick to check the oil level then couldn't find where to put it back. Each day we also topped up with drinking water, the first time took ages as we didn't notice it coming out the overflow! The inverter used to power the TV could be used to recharge phones and iPads, but nothing more powerful. The boat had a new gas oven but it was little more than a camp stove. The Norfolk Broads are a very beautiful and serene landscape, especially when you cruise along reed lined avenues of water at walking pace. It's flat yes but you get huge expanses of sky. We saw grebes and magical blue kingfishers and nesting swans and herons - ducks clambered all over the boat as it suited them. Drainage pumps of different eras were scattered around like the remains of dinosaurs. We wandered to a few places as tourists. There wasn't a lot to see at St Benet's Abbey itself. Toad Hole Cottage was worth a look as a look into the past. We got a mug from "Sutton Pottery" and chatted to the genial potter there. We almost saw a candle making place at Stokesby but it had moved! The "Tea Rooms" did a great cheese and onion toastie though. The holiday was rather stressful as a whole. There was stress about finding moorings. There was stress about maintaining the boat like keeping the drinking water topped up. There was big stress manoeuvring the boat. Forward is fun enough with the delay before turning the wheel does anything combined with the wind and tide affecting where you go. I found reversing nigh impossible with not being able to see where the boat was going combined with the crew panicking about hitting things like other boats. There were those skilled at handling such boats, who knew how to use the fact a boat is very different to a car. You can pivot a boat on a spot which you can't with a car. Most of the people we met were very helpful, aiding us by taking our mooring lines and tying up for us making it look like second nature. A few of the people we encountered in boats were not so welcome. The lot who didn't appreciate to moor a boat you need a space at least as large as the boat you're trying to moor. The couple on a sailing yacht who crashed into boats as they tacked from side to side without caring or apologising. At the moment I don't feel like having another Broads cruise holiday.

Look at the Lake District

Virginia and I stay near Winchester in Hampshire, see National Trust places like Uppark and Hinton Ampner, and the Naval Dockyard in Portsmouth.

Virginia and I went to Kent, seeing places like Bodiam Castle and Sissinghurst Castle Gardens and Scotney Castle.

We're just back from a visit to Aysgarth in North Yorkshire. A lovely area, pastoral and peaceful. Dry stone walls divided up the snow streaked hills. Sheep grazed the hills. Villages retained their age-old character. The Aysgarth falls could be heard from the well appointed Robin Hill holiday bungalow we were in, we walked from the bungalow and saw three sets of falls. A great area for walkers not that we count as such. We dined twice at the Aysgarth Falls Hotel which had a peculiar backwards clock, and books around the walls. The weather wasn't brilliant - it rained quite a bit, we had to riskily drive through a flooded road to get home. The Satnav wasn't that trustworthy, it wasn't sure where the bungalow was, and it took us down a one-track country lane which was blocked when we tried to see Fountains Abbey. Very stressful reversing back to where we could turn around. The weather smiled for once as we gave up, and instead saw the ruins of Jervaulx Abbey, which were impressive hinting of when it was a major monastery. Also worth seeing was the Wensleydale Creamery, not just for its Wallace and Gromit connection. Cheese seemed to be an ingredient of all the dishes in the restaurant! The cheese production seemed to be a factory process, but they produce a lot of cheese. We had a good visit to the White Scar Cave, seeing the Ribblehead Viaduct en route. The safety helmets were a must in the cave, particularly for the two low sections. The cave was wetter than others I've been in, a lot of the path was over a stream, there was a noisy waterfall, water was running over the rocks beside the path. The Sword of Damocles stalactite was held up by string and glue as someone deliberately broke it on the first day of public access! We also appreciated a visit to the Richmond Georgian Theatre, a bit of panicky rush getting there as parking was more than difficult in Richmond. The tour was enlightening about the revolting habits of theatregoers in that era. A view into the past. We also saw the Dales Countryside Museum, a lot of detail about the history there. I was tempted and fell into the sin of buying a teapot at Ceramic Inspirations in Leyburn, and we also got a few chocolates at the Inspired Chocolate place next door. We did see a couple of castles - Bolton Castle and Middleham Castle. The ruins weren't inspiring for us on our visit, though the muddy conditions and bird droppings didn't help. There was some drama before we set off. We did our best but Amelia seized an opening and hid in the spare room bed. Virginia used the hoover to force her out leading to a traumatised cat which took refuge inside a cat tree! We had to tilt the cat tree over to capture Amelia. My packing wasn't perfect either - this time I forgot leads to recharge my razor and a new vest! Lists to take are similar to software testing. You build up software tests based on what you think need testing, as well as problems found. So I've expanded my to take lists based on what I've forgotten.

We see a lost village in Tyneham, museums in Dorchester, and an Iron Age fort at Maiden Castle when we spent a week in Dorset.

Virginia and I have spent three nights in Norfolk, staying at a 'cottage' in Caston. To get the downside out of the way first this was the worst 'cottage' we've stayed in. It was really a grungy annexe facing what could have been a gipsy encampment of cars and caravans and vans and dilapidated sheds. I kept hitting my head on the light fittings. There was a door marked private leading to owner's house, we could see and hear the family as if they were sharing the space with us. The doors are all open with wedges, my bedroom has a glass panel in it Poor Wi-Fi, dirty tea towels. Very few tea bags and no coffee. No folder of local information like shops and doctors (Caston seemed to be economising on village shops and streetlights). We found our way on the Thursday to Grime's Graves where I had last been over 50 years ago. Grime's Graves is a field of neolithic pits where they mined flint, the name Grime comes from Anglo-Saxon Grim which was another name for Odin or Wotan. There was a large party there so I dashed down the pit open to the public to avoid being crowded. Not too bad descending the metal ladder with a protective helmet on (you had to sign a form saying you were fit enough to go down) but arduous climbing back up the 9 metres. You got an impression of just how potholer-ish and dangerous it must have been mining for the treasured black flint nodules, which in their day were much more valuable than gold would have been? There was a small gift shop and exhibition there, the unreliable Satnav took us down into MOD land with barred roads. We then went to Peter Beales Roses where we spent a long time catching up with my cousin Pat and husband, so long I felt for the staff trying to clean in the Rosarium Cafe. It's a very nice place, the gardens seem designed for taking wedding photographs in. There were roses out to see and admire, we weren't buying plants but Virginia found a tartan handbag in the shop which is now a Christmas present, I was tempted by the peculiar snake like hot water bottles yet resisted spending money. by We made our way to a wild garden (not by the signposted route which indicated a sealed gate) which had with it signs on being bird and hedgehog and fairy friendly. On the Friday first went to the very relaxing and blissful Gooderstone Water Gardens, happily not inconvenienced by a nearby road closure. The water gardens are a series of ponds with linking bridges, they have benches for to spend a happy summer afternoon's on snoozing. We tried the kingfisher hideout but that faced a dried up river bed or pool. We then did Oxburgh Hall seeing the Priests Hole but not venturing into it - had tea and an apple cinnamon scone in the tea room hampered by the restoration work going on. Spoke to one of the restorers working on ivory objects including a Chinese spheres inside spheres. Oxburgh Hall is a moated stately home still lived in the family, has plenty of pictures and upper class prejudices like the symmetry in the library. This requires a concealed door of sham fake books with titles expressing family contempt and disdain at money-grubbing sons-in-law and Kings who fail to reward. Really tipped down that Friday, including as we took in Banham Zoo. Packed with young adults in the cafe when we went to have a bite to eat to wait for the rain to relent. Banham Zoo is a zoo. The animals (apart from the human animals) are in enclosures. You could see a tiger and meerkats and sea lions. On the Saturday on the way home we dropped in to see Dads Army Museum in Thetford. A tribute to how much loved the BBC TV series was and is, there is a lot of material there. We didn't stay long enough to patronise the cafe.

We go with Virginia's parents to the Oxford area, seeing Blenheim and a Transport Museum and Waterperry Gardens.

We've been away for a few days with Virginia's sister Justine in Frinton, and a very restful time it was. Perhaps 'attractions' have tended to go to nearby Walton-on-the-Naze, or Clacton which isn't that far, and so left Frinton becalmed. Perhaps Frinton has a psychic balance of peace which repels those who ooze stress. It is very tranquil wandering along the sea front, admiring the beach huts (available for rent or purchase). Quite a few people are employed keeping the numerous beach huts in trim. We walked to Walton one day which is only a stone's throw away. The pier there was closed, as was the RNLI shop Virginia and I got cards in on Tufty Club outings. The Round Table fish and chip place that we normally frequent on Tufty Club outings was also shut, but we had sandwiches at a place along the seafront in Walton sadly exposed to cigarette smoke. Virginia did detect some delicious doughnuts for us to have on the way back. Mealwise much nicer was a visit to Parker's Garden Centre in Frinton, we ate inside a tent all having a welcome hot chocolate with cream and marshmallows. We strayed to Clacton one day, the pier there has quite a few attractions but the place felt down market. The tide was in quite a lot, with the spray shooting up over the sea wall, but we did go walking on the beach when the seas had receded. Justine collected some small sea shells to adorn her garden with our aid. There is plenty of beach in this area, but happily we were out of season so there was space to walk on it. During the stay we tried to do a large 1000 piece jigsaw of a Thomas Kinkade painting but didn't get that far. In the evenings we played games in the sunny conservatory at the back of the house we were staying in. Monday night was "Scrabble" then Tuesday we tried "Ratrace" which Justine won as she did "PayDay" we played Wednesday night. "PayDay" was better but we were learning the rules with most of the games. Thursday's "Go For Broke" was rather too elaborate and not so successful. The last night (Friday) we played "The Worst-Case" a game of getting the right answer as to what to do in various disaster scenarios, we had to abandon this. Justine was disappointed that a box labelled "Cluedo" turned out to be a jigsaw not the game. We did venture along Frinton High Street, dipping into the charity shops partly to see if we could find the game "Cluedo" which we failed to do so. I admired the skill of the guy in "Costa" who provided us lunch one day. There was also The Olde Sweet Shop which provided us with a variety of ice creams to consume - I embarrassed myself by managing to drop a coconut ice cream on their floor! There are some very expensive places in Frinton along the sea front, for instance the Round House which almost has a moat. This abode displays prominently a picture of two over-endowed nudes for all to see. The over-endowed rich trying to raise the common cultural level?

A sweet siesta in Salisbury

We had a week on the Isle of Man, seeing Manx cats and ruined abbeys. Poor Virginia had an accident on the ferry back to Heysham.

Jasper unlike Amelia and Tabitha didn't need persuading to enter his carrier as we took him to "Cozy Pets Hotel" before driving down to West Sussex for a few days. There was congestion on the M25 but apart from that an easy drive down into the lovely rolling hills of the South Downs. We stopped at South Mimms to patronise "KFC", and took a Chinese meal for two to have when we arrived at the Stable Cottage at Brookfield Farm. Inside a nice supply of biscuits and nibbles, nice high beams so no danger of banging my head, plenty of space. The hot water ceased to be hot after a minute or two for me so I didn't manage to have a shower or a bath, the "Stable Cottage" is right on the road so you have people and traffic shooting past the windows. The code for the entrance gate is the same as for the key safe and I wondered if it was the same for the other cottages on site. We started our tourism on the Tuesday, a quick shop in Barnham Co-op for essentials like milk then off to see Petworth House. "Google Maps" tried to deter us by leading us to the wrong entrance, but we won out by following the physical signs. "Petworth House" has an overabundance of Art, used not so much for edification as for wallpaper seemingly and to impress. One owner amputated the legs on some pictures just to make them fit where he wanted. Unlike some National Trust places some rooms were bare of anything but Art, the family still living there using the furniture elsewhere. On the way back we dropped into Denman Gardens which was pretty enough, I was surprised by how warm and hot it was. It would have been a great spot to sit on a bench and do a crossword or two, admiring the flowers. In the evening we ate at the splendid Black Horse in Binsted Lane, where we sat in a well designed airy area with a spacious view over the South Downs. Shame the sun went down. We both had baked camembert (a meal in itself) and the haddock. On Wednesday we went to see the Weald and Downland Open Air Museum, competing with school parties to see round the buildings of different periods on the large site. Informative staff, well laid out, and I had Welsh rarebit at the bright cafe on site. Once again I came across skirrets, perhaps one day I'll taste one. We had some difficulty finding our way into the nearby West Dean Gardens which had a good pergola and sunken garden to see. The site itself is much more than just the gardens. In the evening we ate at the Holly Tree which remains a local pub yet with a comfortable restaurant area. Here and elsewhere phone reception was bad. An eclectic range of decorations there. Thursday started with rain. We were lucky with the weather, a few days before they were forecasting wall to wall rain for while we were there. We saw the Roman mosaics and hypocausts at Bignor Roman Villa, a blast from the past. In the middle of farmland. Then we went to Arundel Castle which for my money was more impressive than "Windsor Castle". The stonework was very well maintained, castle well furnished, plenty to impress visitors with the power and importance and wealth of the owners. And plenty of exercise walking up and down stairs and corridors. The gardens were designer jobs, mazes and fountains of gold. To round out the holiday we patronised the "Black Horse" in Binsted Lane again.

We had a pleasant few days in Cromer, enjoying fish and chips at Number One in Cromer, a crazy golf course, and the Amazona Zoo.

Beamish is an old Northern mining pit area turned into a fascinating collection of recreations of times past. A great place to visit.

We return to North Yorkshire to see places like The Forbidden Corner and Fountains Abbey.

A second holiday on the Isle of Wight returning to see Roman villas and dinosaur islands.

We see Portmeirion in Wales and a few other worthwhile places.