A day by the Solent

We made a trip down to the Solent on Monday. For those of you who are not familiar with the Solent, it is the strait that separates the Isle of Wight from the county of Hampshire on the mainland of England. The main reason for making this trip was because my DH wanted to see the USS Theodore Roosevelt aircraft carrier which is currently anchored in the Solent off Stokes Bay (it is too large to enter Portsmouth Harbour). Unfortunately Monday turned out to be a gloomy overcast day so the photos are not the best but I think they give an impression of how enormous this ship is, there were over sixty aircraft on the flight deck.

After viewing the ship from Stokes Bay and then Lee-on-the-Solent we motored a bit further down the Solent to Titchfield Haven and parked up at Meon Shore to eat our picnic lunch. This is a favourite spot of ours and home to a national nature reserve which attracts lots of bird life as it contains various wetland habitats and is where the River Meon joins the Solent.

The weather had brightened by the time we had finished lunch so we decided to walk around part of the reserve passing the little marina on the way where there were mute swans swimming amongst the boats and also an Australian black swan plus lots of little turnstones waiting for the tide to go out so they could feed on the mud at the waters edge.

As we entered the reserve I was amazed to see this patch of cowslips, very early in the year for them and these huge fir cones, the photos don't really give you the impression of how big they were.

Once we had reached the first hide the noise of the black headed gulls hit us, there were hundreds of them, plus other birds including oyster catchers, avocets, shelduck, black tailed godwits, teal and lapwing. Oh for a long lens so I could get better photos!

A distant shot of an avocet (the symbol of the RSPB)

This black headed gull made me smile, standing on one leg and screaming at the other gulls to keep away.

A black tailed godwit searching for his food

I took these next shots as we were walking between hides, the bright yellow of the gorse looked lovely in the afternoon sunshine.

as did these backlit reeds 

and finally some pussy willow.

I love the coast and it was good to spend a day down by the Solent where there is always plenty to see and do.

A busy week

This week seems to have flown by, lots going on. I worked an extra day this week so only had a couple of days free, one of which was spent driving back from Somerset and sorting out everything when we arrived home and one spent at a family celebration.


I also rejoined Slimming World this week so have been busy producing a menu plan and shopping for the week, I hope by planning what I am going to eat in advance it will help keep me on track - wish me luck!


On Thursday it was my Aunt and Uncle's diamond (60th) wedding anniversary. We were invited to join them for a celebratory lunch, it was great to meet up with family and friends again and help them celebrate this momentous occasion. It was also my Uncle's 86th birthday - my Aunt wanted to get married on his birthday so that he didn't ever forget their anniversary! 


Out of the 45 guests there were 11 of us that were at their wedding 60 years ago. I was only 5 months old at the time so obviously don't remember the day but it was lovely to feel that I had been part of it.

Joan and Peter

Their anniversary cake and their card from The Queen

My Mum with her brother

The eleven of us present that were at the wedding 60 years ago (I am on the far RH side)

Peter and Joan on their wedding day 19.3.1955

What a magnificent wedding cake

This week I am only working for two days so hopefully I will be able to get back to some crafting and some walking as I didn't get time for either last week. 

A West Somerset Break - Part 3

The next part of the plan on our day out in Devon was to visit Woody Bay Steam Railway. Having told Nigel (owner of The Langbury) what we were planning he suggested we drove through the Valley of Rocks and took the toll road to Woody Bay village before going onto the railway. Having last visited the Valley of Rocks almost 50 years ago with my parents I was anxious to take him up on this suggestion. It is a stunning place and one which we would like to go back to very soon to spend more time exploring as we didn't have too much time as we needed to get to Woody Bay to catch the train!

Can you spot one of the goats that frequent the Valley of Rocks?

A bit further on we got to the toll road. Wow! is the only way I can describe the single track road, stunning views, hairpin bends, steep cliffs and sheer drops into the sea. It was a challenging drive especially when we met a car coming in the opposite direction but one I wouldn't have missed for the world. It was good to go somewhere I had never been before.

Eventually we reached the Woody Bay Railway, this is very much a work in progress, they are trying to rebuild the line from Lynton to Barnstaple. There is just a short stretch open at the moment but it was a very scenic ride. Note I don't have any photographs of the train - I left that to the men!

We drove back to Blue Anchor across the top of moor and over Dunkery Beacon (although it wasn't even worth stopping to admire the view from the highest part of Exmoor as the visibility was very poor by this time) and finished off this long day by having a lovely relaxed meal at a cozy pub - the White Horse Inn in Washford - a truly wonderful day.


On Sunday the plan was to ride the West Somerset Railway, probably the best thing we could do considering the bitterly cold icy wind that was blowing. I am not really into trains but I do love this line, it is like going back in time about 50 years and has lots of atmosphere and lovely scenery, always some wildlife to watch (mainly pheasants but we did spot a heron and some buzzards) and lots of lovely lambs gambolling about. The banks were also covered in wild primroses which was lovely to see. Again I left the photography to the men and was happy to take it easy after some challenging driving the day before - no 1 in 4 hills and hairpin bends for me today!


Unfortunately Monday's weather was still very overcast so we decided to drive home during the morning rather than explore and drive home later. Despite the weather we all enjoyed this break and cannot wait to visit West Somerset again, which we are planning to do in October (if not before)!

A West Somerset Break - Part 2

Technically the title of this post should say Devon as all the photos in this post were taken across the County border from West Somerset, something I should have thought about when naming these posts!


On Saturday we visited another favourite place that we have been to many times but it keeps drawing us back - this is Watersmeet, a truly beautiful spot and one of which I will never tire.  Watersmeet is well named as it is the place where the East Lyn river meets the Hoar Oak water.

I always get a bit carried away taking photographs here but it is hard to resist. 


The old fishing lodge in the photo below has been taken over by the National Trust who serve excellent coffee and cakes from the tearoom. You eat at tables on a lawn outside and every time we have been the birds come down looking for crumbs. This time we were joined by some robins who were not a bit nervous about being among people.

We were also lucky enough to see a grey wagtail and some dippers, two stunning birds but I really need to get a longer lens for bird photography as they turned out to be little dots in the middle of the picture.

After a steep walk back out of the gorge to the carpark we motored two miles down the road into Lynmouth, another lovely place with some lovely little shops to mooch in and an interesting memorial hall housing the museum that tells the story of the Lynmouth flood disaster in 1952.

Because of the amount of photos I have used I am going to have to write a part 3 to show you what we got up to for the rest of the day!