In July I made a trip over to France and Germany. The first stage of the trip was a sea crossing from Newhaven to Dieppe. We then stayed at a campsite close to the village of Nesles-la-Vallée.
Dieppe at Dawn
In July I made a trip over to France and Germany. The first stage of the trip was a sea crossing from Newhaven to Dieppe and we arrived in Dieppe at 5am.
The last time I had been in Dieppe was in the 1980s on a family holiday. It was surprising how little had changed. Though the railway and harbour station had disappeared.
Combined rail and ferry services ended in 1994 after Stena Line, at that time operating as Stena Sealink on the Newhaven-Dieppe and Dover-Calais crossings, had transferred to a new terminal on the other side of the harbour. These changes coincided with the opening of the Channel Tunnel and the concomitant withdrawal of all SNCF Channel boat trains. The whole station was demolished in early 1995, and virtually no physical traces now remain.
The castle was still there at the top of the cliff.
Many of the restaurants and shops I had experienced in the 1980s were no longer there, which wasn’t a surprise, but the Monoprix department store was still there.
We had intended to have breakfast in the port, stay a a few hours and potentially even have lunch. However there wasn’t anything open (we could see) so headed off to Fecamp instead.
Axbridge in Somerset
At the weekend I took a short walk around the Somerset town of Axbridge, close to Cheddar.
Clevedon Pier
Clevedon Pier is a seaside pier in the town of Clevedon, North Somerset, England on the east shore of the Severn Estuary. It was described by Sir John Betjeman, as “the most beautiful pier in England”.
The pier opened in 1869 and served as an embarkation point for paddle steamer excursions for almost exactly 100 years. Two of the spans collapsed during stress testing in 1970 and demolition was proposed, but local fund raising and heritage grants allowed the pier to be dismantled for restoration and reassembled.
It reopened in 1989, the pier now, once again, offers a landing stage for steamers and is a popular attraction for tourists and anglers.
Visiting Edinburgh
Though I have visited Edinburgh lots of times, it has always been for work. My first holiday to Edinburgh was in 2021. Then we had a lot more time to explore the city. However on a recent return visit for work, I had some time for some exploring.
I would have explored more during my visit, but we had lots of rain.
Taking the train to Edinburgh
I recently visited Edinburgh for a conference. As I was in London I caught the train from Kings Cross to Edinburgh Waverley.
It was a damp early evening when I arrived at Kings Cross.
Went to platform one to get on my train.
The seat I was booked into was a table seat by the window. There was four of us on the table, so it was quite cramped.
I was quite impressed with the speed of the train, taking just four hours and twenty minutes from platform to platform.
Arrived at Edinburgh Waverley.
Walked along the platform to the overbridge.
Metallic McLaren
This shiny McLaren was parked outside the St. Pancras Renaissance Hotel in London.
Very shiny.
Walking around Uphill
Though it was quite cold and chilly, it was dry, so I went for a walk around Uphill. I went to the beach, past the boatyard and quarry and along part of the Brean Down Way.
Having parked the car I walked past the stream that runs through part of the village and headed to the beach.
From the beach you can see Brean Down. Despite it looking close, the River Axe (and its mud) gets in the way. If you want to get to Brean Down, you need to walk along the Brean Down Way.
The beach wasn’t too busy, but then it was also quite wet and damp.
I walked back from the beach and headed pats the marina and then onto the footpath by the quarry.
There were climbers climbing the quarry walls.
I got as far as looking over the Walborough Nature Reserve, before I turned back.
Cheddar after the rain
I had a walk around Cheddar after the rain and the Cheddar Yeo stream, which is usually still and clear. This time however it was much more a raging torrent.
Kings Cross
When I was in London I visited the area north of Kings Cross railway station. This area was redeveloped a few years ago now, but still looks really nice.
