Category: #50places2025

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#50places2025

I am pleased I have reached my fifty places in 2025, and I still have three months to go. The final three places I visited in the Netherlands tool my #50places2025 to a grand total of fifty.

I will still blog about places I visit, but will start a new series of posts next year with a new hashtag, #50newplaces2026 and it will be the same rules. Each time I visit a place I will post a blog post and some photographs. I can’t repeat places, and in an extra twist I can’t use the fifty places I visited in 2025 in the list as well (though I anticipate visiting some of those places again).

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Amsterdam #50places2025

Amsterdam

The last time I was in the Netherlands was in October 2022 when I visited Amsterdam for a conference. Having spent a few days in Delft at a conference, and meetings in Utrecht I took the train back to Schiphol Airport where I had booked a hotel. I was flying back the following day, and having decided to take the cheaper but later flight, I had some time on my final day in the Netherlands. I had considered visiting somewhere new in the country, but in the end considering time, I ventured off to Amsterdam for a quick explore before heading back to the airport to collect my bags and catch the flight back to Bristol.

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Utrecht #50places2025

Utrecht

The last time I was in the Netherlands was in October 2022 when I visited Amsterdam for a conference. This time I was attending a conference in Delft and attending meetings in Utrecht as well.

Having spent a few days in Delft at a conference, I took the train back to Schiphol Airport where I had booked a hotel. 

I had some meetings in Utrecht which is just over 40km away, and was just over thirty minutes away on the train.

I didn’t have a lot of time to explore but I did walk around for a while. 

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Delft #50places2025

The last time I was in the Netherlands was in October 2022 when I visited Amsterdam for a conference. This time I was attending a conference in Delft and attending meetings in Utrecht as well.

So I flew from Bristol to Amsterdam and then it was a short train journey from Schiphol Airport down to Delft. After finding my hotel and checking in, I went for a walk around the heart  of Delft.

It’s a beautiful city with canals, lovely building, pretty churches and an amazing windmill.

I love how the main railway line through Delft was buried underground to improve the look of the city.  There are numerous cycle paths, as well as trams and buses, making it easy to get around the place.

I visited the Netherlands a few times in the early 1980s. I don’t recall the exact date of my first visit to the Netherlands, it may have been in the late 1970s. We went a few times, sailing from Aldeburgh down to Ramsgate, heading across the channel to Calais. The sailing up to Ostend and then up into the Netherlands. We would then sail back to Aldeburgh crossing the North Sea. 

In the 1990s, I was on two college trips to Amsterdam, one was a bit of a nightmare, but the other one was better.

The next time I was in the Netherlands was in 2006, but only as I was changing planes at Schiphol Airport on my way to Helsinki.

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Canary Wharf #50places2025

I had already included London in my #50places2025 list, but London is a big place.

Recently I did another day trip to London, and this time one of the places we visited was Canary Wharf. In the past I would rarely visit East London, as it was such a trek from Paddington or the centre of London. However the Elizabeth Line now makes it really quick and easy to get to that side of London now.

Canary Wharf is a modern suite of tower blocks with food courts, shopping arcades, a sky garden, and lovely views of the Thames.

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Newark Park #50places2025

After enjoying my National Trust membership in 2023, I decided I would rejoin the Trust for 2025. 

My last (proper) visit to a National Trust property was back in May. I did try and visit Westwood Manor in July, however, I couldn’t find any parking.

There have been lots of reasons for not visiting, in the main as I have been travelling going to University Open Days, throw in a holiday to France, various work trips, and let’s not forget the weather! I realised that if I was going to continue to take advantage of my membership I would need to make a bit of an effort. So with a nice day forecast I headed up to Gloucestershire to visit Newark Park.

I had visited the property before in May 2018 however when we went, the house was closed to visitors. We did have an enjoyable walk in the grounds, but it was a pity to miss the inside of the house.

This time not only was the house open, but there was also a basement tour which I managed the snaffle the final ticket for.

The house started off as a Tudor hunting lodge, before being converted into a Georgian mansion. It fell into disrepair before being leased to a Texan who brought the house back from potential ruin.

Newark Park

A secluded estate with glorious views, providing country house hospitality, garden strolls and woodland walks

Current saving £163.90
One adult £14.00
Parking £3.00
Total saving £17.00
Cumulative saving £272.10
Membership cost £91.20
Net cumulative saving £180.90

It’s a lovely house with some nice walks around the estate. There are some incredible views as well.

I really enjoyed my time at Newark Park and I am planning to ensure that there isn’t such a huge gap between this visit and my next visit to a National Trust property.

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Cheddar #50places2025

I made a visit to Cheddar, in the main to grab a photograph of the Gromit sculpture, but also have a walk. Cheddar can be slightly cheesy in places, but the magnificence and natural splendour of the gorge makes all that tack and cheese pale into insignificance.

It was a rather hot day, so made the decision to not walk up the gorge itself, but did drive through it up the road.

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Bristol Balloon Fiesta #50places2025

 

For the first time in nearly thirty years I was up early enough to head to Ashton Court for the morning ascent of the International Bristol Balloon Fiesta.

Since I moved to the South West in the early 1990s I have visited the Bristol Balloon Fiesta a number of times, but the last time I managed to make the 6am morning ascent was back in the 1990s.

We were lucky and we had green smoke and a lot of hot air balloons ascended and drifted across Bristol.

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Boulogne-sur-Mere #50places2025

The last time I was in Boulogne was probably sometime in the early 1980s, or even the late 1970s. It wasn’t really a place we stayed long at, usually it was an overnight stay after crossing the channel in our sailing yacht before we then moved down to Dieppe or Fecamp.

In July I did a driving holiday to France staying outside Calais in Guines. One of the places we did visit whilst we were there was Boulogne.

We arrived and followed the signs for the parking, but we had a little trouble in parking, as there was a market on. We found an underground car park so we parked there.

We walked down to the harbour and then down to the seafront. We walked along the breakwater.

Walked back into town and up to the castle. The castle was really impressive as were the old city walls. I did initially think that the city walls would be like those in York with a narrow walkway, but no these walls were very wide and there was lots of room as we walked.

Inside the walls were some lovely old traditional French buildings.

I did wonder if any of the town would be familiar, it wasn’t. Though I think a lot had changed over the last forty or so years.