Still More Wet Weather

It's been a really miserable week. Carol's between chemotherapy cycles (only two more to go!) and we had hoped to get out for at least one day, hopefully to Whipsnade. But we certainly don't want to go if it's wet and windy. Not the best place to go, up on Dunstable Downs, when it's raining.

I mentioned that Alfie wasn't well yesterday evening. He seemed better after I'd given him the ibuprofen. This morning I was downstairs on my own in the lounge when he came downstairs to find me. He seemed in real discomfort. He had a sort of pinched look, his ears laid back. He came to sit on my knee. He has a habit of doing this, a really affectionate little dog. Then he jumped down on the floor and was immediately sick on the rug. Not a problem, but it occurred to me that he might have got some sort of stomach ache or similar. He seems to have been fine for the rest of the day, eventually eating his dinner as usual and the playing with the Comic Relief ball.

We've had a further dose of thunder and a rain storm, but it didn't seem to develop into anything, unfortunately, but it now means that we can't get the grass cut. It will need doing sooner or later as it's getting too long for our poor little mower to get through and it's now seeding which isn't a good sign.

It's now Friday morning and it's again been a wet night. No sign yet of it drying out so we can get the grass cut. It'll soon be so long Alfie will get lost when he goes into the garden. 'Garden' is a somewhat misnomer if ever there was one. The grass can certainly not be termed a 'lawn.'

When we were out yesterday, when we went into the centre of Milton Keynes, we saw workmen filling in potholes. They were using a machine that appeared to put some sort of filling into these holes in the road, with a sort of hose-type thing on the back of a large lorry and then the workmen used a machine that flattened this material and so patched up the holes. I'm not so sure how effective this will be as a long lasting solution. I just hope they manage to fill plenty of these potholes before winter when ice, damp and the mere effect of traffic moving across them will prevent them coming apart and making even more work to repair them.

A Sunny Bank Holiday!

At last, a Bank Holiday weekend with some sunshine! Usually we get rain and misery.

To get to Shenley Christian Fellowship on Sunday morning I had to negotiate a somewhat out-of-the-way route in order to avoid any of the road closures, due to yet another marathon. The exit out of Eaglestone, onto Saxon Street, which would have been my most obvious route out, was coned off. I had to drive around to come out near the Eaglestone shop and onto Chaffron Way, turning right and then down to the roundabout on Marlborough Street and then  round and onto Portway and eventually getting to Childs Way near Morrisons and then round onto Fulmer Street and back onto Chsffron Way. I don't think those who organise the Milton Keynes marathons we have to endure how much inconvenice is caused when so many of the central roads are closed off.  all very well, but those who do these things are somewhat narrow-mined and only focussed on what they want and not what perhaps the majority want.

Today we'll have to endure yet another load of roads being closed off if we want to go out, as we will, because it's forecast to be a bright and sunny day.

Later. We did go out- to Whipsnade Zoo. Carol made up a picnic and we drove off, with the intention of getting on to the A5 near the stadium, but as we approached along Grafton Street, we encountered a queue of cars, backing up past Beanhill. No doubt something to do with the marathon, or, because it was such a hot day as well as being a Bank Holiday, people were just determined to get out of Milton Keynes.

We drove along the top of Dunstable Downs and then further on into Whipsnade village, crossing the green and then we came upon another queue of cars. By now it was about 9.50, so we knew we would't have to wait long as the zoo opens at 10 o'clock. Because Carol has Z.S.L. Fellowship we wouldn't need to wait long at the entrance. The queue moved forward fairly quickly, which was just as well, as it was beginning to get really hot. The queue at the entrance didn't take long and we passed through into the zoo.

Even at 10 o'clock it was busy. Perhaps the busiest we've seen it in all the years we've been visiting. We drove around the zoo, as we always do.  Usually we would park near the bear enclosure, but there were cars parked all along the side of the road. Right round near the rhinos it was solid parking. We parked near the hippos and walked to several of the exhibits, the cheetahs, lions and hippos. We got some really good views of the cheetahs, which were right up near the fence. Usually they are hidden away in the far distance, but, no doubt because of the heat, one was against the fence and another was in a more open area. Even the lions were up near the glass viewing area, enabling me to take some stunning photographs through the glass.

We're just dismayed by the attitude of some of the visitors to Whipsnade Zoo. Driving around, it's quite difficult to avoid other people, but some people seem to think it's fine to walk in the middle of the road. We had to slow down to walking pace to make sure we don't run into anyone, but why would you choose to walk in the centre of the road when there's a good path? People just being dumb and almost defiantly refusing to get out of the way. No common sense when there's a car approaching.
We eventually decided to park near to the elephants and have our picnic sitting on a bench. It was as we sat and ate our food that we heard one of the baby elephants making a noise, something we've never heard before. It was trying to get through a gate which was closed and the mother was attempting to move it away, but the mother eventually got it to move into the centre of the enclosure, but it kept returning to the gate. Then some of the elephants began playing around with the water in the pool where there was a sprinkler on. It was interesting to see how one of the elephants drank using it's trunk.

Overhearing conversations and watching people walking past: one child said 'look at the rhinos!' How could you confuse an elephant for a rhino? Would a child not know the difference? A woman then looked over at some other animals, antelopes with great big horns and referred to them as horses. But horses do not have horns! Crazy.

We drove out of the zoo. By now it was getting too crowded and hot. Carol said she wanted ice-cream, so we drove back across Dunstable Downs and stopped at the National Trust carpark. We walked to the visitor centre, heaving with humanity. We managed to buy ice creams in the shop and walked back outside to sit on a mound of earth and looked at the view. Lots of people flying kites, walking their dogs and cycling along the paths. Ice-cream eaten, we returned to our car and drove home.

We had the television news on later when we got home, and learnt that today had been the hottest May Bank Holiday in some 40 years.

A Morning At Whipsnade Zoo

The day started out fine and sunny, so it was more or less perfect for a morning out at Whipsnade Zoo. We haven't been out for a proper day out since Carol had her cancer diagnosis. We have had trips to the Milton Keynes shopping centre as well as to Waitrose and Sainsbury's, but they were hardly what I'd call outings. She is beginning to feel a bit better, particularly as she hasn't had chemotherapy this week, so she decided she wanted to drive. I have been driving every time we've been anywhere, and she wanted to get back behind the wheel of the car, which she's hardly driven since we bought it last year. As she is a Fellow of Z.S.L. (Zoological Society of London) we can visit as many times as we like without paying. Also, being able to drive in with the car and then park up and then walk around means it's far less tiring for both of us.

My Canon digital camera has been charged up and ready for goodness knows how many months. Always best to have a digital camera well charged before going out, when it's bound to be needed. I bought a spare battery which is still in it's little orange box in the car's storage space. The camera itself has been in one of the storage boxes we got from IKEA when we assembled the shelving unit in the lounge. Infact. looking at the photographs on the card in the camera I see there are quite a few shots taken when we last visited Whipsnade.

We arrived at Whipsnade well past the opening time of 10 a.m. It wasn't very busy, which had an advantage, as it was easy enough to find spaces to park. We drove around the zoo, enabling us to see which animals were out and about. If you go when it's hot, a lot of animals have a tendency to hide away in the shade. The same when it's cold, some animals love it, others prefer to stay where it's warm and cozy.

We stopped off at the pygmy hippopotamus enclosure. We couldn't see them in the outdoor space. It was very cold and almost raining so we went into the house they have. Somewhat hot and smelly. There were two hippos in there, although they were in the pools, but part of them was visible above water, the rest hidden below. I overheard a conversation a woman was having with her male partner. As they looked at the hippos in the water, she said 'Can they breathe under water?' to which he replied 'Of course not.' Then she said 'Do they have gills?' I can't believe an adult would ever think hippos, of all animals would have gills. They're not fish, or reptiles and certainly don't show any sort of gills or could possibly be creatures which have them. Quite amazing what you overhear, but rather sad really.

 We drove through  the 'Animals of Asia ' exhibit. There's herds of deer and other animals in this section of the zoo. We stopped at various points to take pictures with my camera. It's like a safari park where you drive through and remain in your car. There aren't any dangerous animals such as lions are there are at Woburn or Longleat, but still, you have to stay inside your vehicle. We drove on and came to the area where there are camels. Several were standing in the road and wouldn't move. A few more were hanging around near a tree. Ugly things, camels. They look as if they've been put together by a committee, from spare parts. Their legs don't seem to go with the rest of their bodies. These were shaggy and scrawny. When they eat, their mouths go into a really odd sort of movement. These two camels more or less refused to budge, so we could continue on our way. There were not other vehicles coming along behind, so it didn't matter so much if we didn't continue to drive, but by now Carol was getting worried that one of the camels was going to kick the car or do something unpredictable, but fortunately they did move out of the way and we were able to finish out drive and came out of the drive-through area and into the main zoo road.

We drove right round the inner ring road of the zoo. Carol wanted to see the bears. There are supposed to be some new ones. The old bear enclosure would appear to be very old and had rather nasty metal bars, which seem to have been replaced with more modern fencing. A large area of the fence has been covered with some quite attractive woven fencing. They are attempting to make many of the animal enclosures at Whipsnade far more easy for visitors to see the animals in more appropriate enclosures. Without having bars or the old fashioned and totally unacceptable cages that used to house the animals. You can see most of the animals without fencing or bars getting in the way, which also makes taking photographs easier. From the bears we walked on to view the penguins. Always good for a laugh. They just have a comic look, the way they stand and walk, looking for all the world like little old men. A convention of waiters, or similar in their black-and-white feathers.

By now it was nearing lunch-time, so we drove back round to the area called Base Camp and walked towards the café. It has been revamped since we last visited. It is now modernised and you order your food from your table using a touch-screen computer. We're not sure whether we like what they've done. We liked to be able to use the café at Whipsnade to buy sandwiches and cake, as well as helping ourselves to coffee or tea. The modern arrangement may be more sophisticated and what a lot of people want, but it seems a shame that everything has to be changed just for the sake of it. We noticed that what used to be the Lookout Café that overlooked Dunstable Downs the other side of the zoo is now a branch of  River Cottage. Again, it wasn't brilliant before, but this is all very well and good, but will no doubt be expensive. We can always bring our own picnic and eat in the car in future. I'm not saying that the hot chocolate, chips and chocolate cake weren't good, and it was at our table very quickly, but we're prefer it to have remained as it was, with perhaps a few minor tweaks to improve things.

As we sat and ate, it became overcast and it began to rain. There was no real point staying any longer. Carol was beginning to feel tired, so we drove around towards the exit and stopped to look in the shop. They had a few adult T shirts and sweatshirts, some in adult sizes, something which I'd mentioned was missing, merchandise  which was aimed at adults and not just children. Carol bought one for herself and we left the zoo. By now it was really raining quite hard and it was clear we'd had the best of the day.

We stopped off in Beanhill to go to Ashfield Medical Centre to collect the prescription we'd ordered for Carol. It turned out that two were ready, but the one she really wanted, for the sleeping tablets, was for only 7 tablets. Which means we'll have to put in yet another prescription in only a few day's time. I shall take the prescriptions to Lloyd's in Sainsbury's on Saturday morning.

Hippos In The Mist (and other animals.)

So we were promised a warm and sunny weekend, by the forecasters on B.B.C. Breakfast. After a couple of weeks of wind, rain and snow, which meant we were confined to the house, we made the decision to get out and drive somewhere in the car. Well, not only the weather was an excuse, but the cost of petrol is currently less than £1 at the moment, so it seemed a great reason to go somewhere, so we went to Whipsnade Zoo. It was misty as we drove away from Milton Keynes on a southerly direction down the A5 towards Dunstable, but the sun was making a very brave attempt to break through. We knew that the zoo wouldn't be open until 10 o'clock, and as we were far too early when we got to Dunstable Downs, we decided to drive into the visitor center car park on the Downs and walk along the path and visit the centre, which we have been to on several occasions in the past. It's run as a joint project between Bedfordshire County Council and the National Trust (of which we are members) and is actually referred to as the Chiltern Gateway Centre and houses a National Trust shop and café. We parked in the car park, which was beginning to fill up rapidly when we arrived and found that the actual visitor centre wouldn't be open for around another 20 minutes (at 9.30, which shows how early we were. )The fog/mist had come down and goes to show that this is the highest point in the East of England. There were a great many people walking dogs along the footpaths as well as runners going their thing (as usual.) A group we saw in the distance were gathered around a van with the sign Regimental Training written on it as well as some coloured poles in the ground which we then found out as we walked along the path were going to be used for some sort of running exercise when they began to run around them. They didn't look the sort of folk who intended getting out of the way for anyone as they had that intent look on their faces, making all other human life-forms including dogs, invisible. We walked down the path towards the Downs and came to the metallic structure which is part of the Gateway Centre and looks like some sort of metallic sculpture, similar to the Angel of The North which you can't fail to see as you drive towards Newcastle near the A1 and designed by Anthony Gormley. But this 'thing' is actually not a sculpture at all but uses the wind from off the Downs to generate electricity (don't ask me how.)  For want of a better name I'll call it the Wind Catcher. It is certainly quite odd-looking and might be a sculpture or some weird and wonderful space machine which has crash-landed.

The Wind Catcher. Make of it what you will.

We then came across a group go dog walkers with an assortment of dogs. If we had our two dogs with us they would have enjoyed making friends, but knowing Alfie, our Yorkie, he would have had a field day running up and down and sniffing everybody, including humans!  I never realised until recently that this area is what is known as an S.S.S.I. (A Site of Special Scientific Interest.) as well as an A.O.B. (Area of Outstanding Beauty.) The things you learn as you move about the countryside. Also, it has historic significance as there are Bronze Age burial grounds nearby, apparently. We came upon a beacon which must have been used during the Queen's Silver Jubilee celebrations in 1977 when a chain of beacons was lit across the country.

The Beacon, along with some dogs who were being walked along the Downs but who just strayed into the shot.

We wandered inside the visitor centre when it opened at 9.30. We browsed in the shop and saw a magnificent chair which both of of couldn't resist sitting in and taking photographs of ourselves. Well, it did rather reming me particularly of the children's television series called 'Jackanory' where someone sat in a similar chair to tell stories!

Then we drove away towards Whipsnade. It was by now around 9.50, so we had to queue up with other vehicles entering the zoo. We were again driving the car inside as it makes it a good deal easier to get around inside. You can always park outside and walk in and then walk around or use the free bus, but as we have Fellowship membership of Z.S..L. (Zoological Society of London) we always try to get the best out of our membership wherever possible, so it seems logical to drive in. The mist was slowly lifting, but it gave a really soft light and meant that we could see whatever animals were out in their enclosures in a sort of soft-focus view. Hence, seeing hippos in the below photograph.

We drove right round the zoo site and stopped off at various intervals to look at the animals. Not all were on view, but whatever were out and about we saw in a slightly different aspect from whenever we visit during the summer months.

We went to one of the many cafés on site for coffee and cake and then, when we drove further, had to visit the toilets. When I came out, I heard this amazing sound, a sort of roar with a sort of cat-like undertone. Apparently it made by one of the tigers in the near-by tiger enclosure. There are three tigers in this enclosure and this one was wandering around near the perimeter fence, sort of pacing up and down. We have never seen any of these tigers at such close quarters and managed to take a few photographs, but, unfortunately, it wasn't easy to do this with the wire of the fence getting in the shot.

We wandered around the zoo for a good two hours plus, including getting some first rate views of the giraffes in their house, where you have to climb up a walk-way so that you are virtually at eye level with these incredible animals. We were rewarded with some fine photographs which I may post on this blog or Flickr. Having walked around as well as driven we decided to make our way home to Milton Keynes and had to do some shopping. On approaching Milton Keynes stadium the traffic was building up for a football match so decided on Waitrose as Asda, which is close to the stadium, which be difficult to get to due to the amount of traffic.

Christmas, New Canon camera and Greeting Grandson George

Well, that's another Christmas come and gone. A bit of an anti-climax I always think. All that build-up, money spent, food eaten, excessive television schedule and all that and it's gone in 24 hours. I think it's the fact that the shops are stuffed to the rafters with merchandise to tempt you to part with your hard-earned cash and then within another 24 hours they re-open and the self-same stuff is around 75% discounted. You can't win, either way, it's to make you feel guilty that you didn't spend your money in such-and-such a store or on-line.

I've had my eye on a brand new digital camera for quite some while and had looked at a new Canon D.S.L.R. model, a 100D, which is one of their E.O.S. cameras, which was within my budget of £350. I'd seen it on-line at various retailers, Amzon, Jessops, John Lewis and Argos and was able to get a fairly good idea of it's specifications. We've had a couple of Fuji 'bridge' cameras and, for the money, they've been good value. But we have wanted to expand into S.L.R. territory, with a much more sophisticated camera which would allow us to change lenses, use the range of exposures and other refinements which a digital S.L.R. camera would allow. I started off around 12 years ago with a very basic Sony 'point-and-shoot' camera (which I still have, incidentally.) when I wanted to try out what, at the time, was a relatively new type of photography. I wasn't sure that digital could possibly be as good as traditional, film, photography. Before long I was using the camera to do all my photography tasks and, when I bought a new Apple computer, was able to up-load my photographs on to that and edit them and publish them on such sites as Flickr and then the relatively new social media site (at the time), Facebook. Then I met Carol and I found that she was as interested in digital photography as me and that she had a Fuji 'bridge' camera which we took with us when we visited National Trust properties and also when we went on holiday to Yorkshire together. We then bought a second Fuji camera in a sale in Jessops's in Northampton. Both these cameras were in Fuji's Finepix range, and, for the money, were exceptional value and produced some good photographs.

So,  last Wednesday,after all the research, we went into the Jessop's branch in Milton Keynes Shopping Centre to buy the camera. It turned out that the one they had in the shop on display was the only one they had in stock, so that is what we bought. Having purchased it we spent some time wandering around the shopping centre before we drove over to Stony Stratford because Chloe and Steve were staying with Chloe's half sister Louisa and her husband Richard and we would at last get to meet my grandson George for the first time. I mentioned that he was born on the evening we had our rare evening out at a restaurant back in October. We had planned to visit them in Worcester, but we have both had bouts of illness which meant we couldn't drive all the way there and hence the meeting, in a pub, The Cock, in Stony Stratford.

Proud grandparents with new grandson George.

As we had the new camera with us, it was a chance to try it out, hence the picture I have posted above. Quite an emotional moment, to say the least. Considering the fact I had my heart attack nine years ago I am so fortunate to be well enough to enjoy 'the moment.' Things might be very different if I hadn't come out of it, and might not have been around to meet him. 

Chloe with my son-in-law Steve and baby George.

On Boxing Day (26th December, the day after Christmas Day in Great Britain, for those not in this country.) it was surprisingly mild and warm weather-wise. ( WweInfact, up until now, we've had an exceptionally mild winter.) We needed to get out of the house. Being stuck indoors for any length of time begins to pall. A large amount of television-watching does begin to make you googly-eyed.. We considered several places and ended up on Whipsnade. After all we can visit without paying with Carol's Fellowship membership. So we drove there, no more than a 30-minute drive down the A5 towards Dunstable and across The Downs. We were surprised how many people were out walking along the paths as we went past the visitor centre run by the National Trust. We were further surprised by the number of people at Whipsnade Zoo, no doubt visiting as we were, making the most of the weather. It was certainly strange visiting so close to Christmas. We managed to get some good photographs of the flamingoes, as we saw them a good deal closer than we are usually able to see them.

Flamingoes at Whipsnade Zoo

We had bought a picnic with us, and ate this sitting in the car, overlooking the view from the carpark, the valley below where the zoo is situated. Fortunately the weather behaved itself although it looked very over-cast. 

Visit to Whipsnade Zoo

Up until a couple of years ago we used to have membership of Z.S.L. (Zoological Society of London) which meant, having paid around £100 a year we could then visit either of their zoos, London and Whipsnade, as many times as we liked during the year. Incredibly good value when you consider that a single entry ticket costs around £25 and you can get in free(I'm not so sure of the individual ticket price around 5 years ago when we first became members.) The cost rose astronomically, to near-enough £200. We didn't continue with the membership as our finances at the time would not allow it. We were also member of the National Trust (and re-joined that recently.) as you can also get into their properties free. Carol found out that she could become a Fellow of Z.S.L. because she is a science teacher. So she applied and we now can visit again, both getting  free entry. It also means she has access to a lot of Z.S.L. material which is in their library at Regent's Park as well as being able to attend lectures, as well as their A.G.M. and get discount in their shops and restaurants at both Whipsnade and London Zoos. 

We went today for the first time in quite a few years. We left Milton Keynes at around 9 a.m. and had to get petrol on the way at our usual Shell petrol station and then on to Boots outside Bletchley as we thought it might be a good idea to get sun screen as it has been really warm and hot, with particularly sunny weather. We drove out of Milton Keynes along the A5 towards Dunstable and then on to Whipsnade along the Dunstable Downs, where we saw a few gliders as well as kites near the visiter centre. We got to the carpark at the zoo to find it filling up rapidly. We haven't seen so many people at Whipsnade, but considering the warm weather it's not surprising. We then found that there is now a completely new building at the main entrance which houses a state-of-the-art shop, booking hall as well as toilets (which, incidentally, were never the best feature of Whipsnade.) We had to get Carol's Fellowship car sorted out. Which meant she needed a photograph to put on the card. When we both had membership we had to have photographs taken and these were printed on the cards. This time it was just Carol who needed a photograph (I have to be 'signed in' as I'm not officially a Fellow). Fortunately they were able to find the old photo on their computer system, which was not too out-of-date to be used on the new card.) It means we can not only enter free each time, but can take the car in without further payment. As Whipsnade is quite a large zoo, it can take quite a while to walk from one enclosure to the next, although there is a bus which ferries you around if needed.

We have seen the Birds of The World presentation several times before, but we saw it again today and as usual it's really great to see some of the birds that you never get a chance to see in flight, such as some really colourful parrots and a little owl as well as some kestrels. Amazed at the speed these fly at.

A walk-through exhibit called 'In With The Lemurs' always delights as lemurs are such lively little creatures and we were surprised to find that there were baby lemurs on view, clinging on to their mothers (as you can see from the photo I took, above. We took more photographs that was absolutely necessary, but they are so photogenic it was worth taking every one of them.

 A new butterfly house  has recently been opened, much like the butterfly house we saw at Twycross Zoo a few weeks ago. In the middle of it is another display which housed a miniature crocodile in a glassed space which allowed you to see beneath the surface of the water. You walk into this heated  structure, rather like a vast plastic greenhouse. The butterflies fly around inside and some settle on you. It's an amazing experience. It is heated by some sort of steam system which keeps on billowing out over the centre of the building.

We walked around the zoo and within 4 hours we managed to see tigers, elephants, penguins, bears (several varieties) as well as camels, bison, hippopotami, rhinoseros and giraffe. There is now a new feature, a sort of walk-way which allows you to see the giraffes at near enough eye-level as well as going inside their house and I took the photograph you see below.  Made a change to be able to see these animals like this.

Not like you would if you stood at ground-level. You can virtually see them at eye-level.

Quite a few improvements generally at Whipsnade since we were last there. It was generally looking rather shabby and some of the animal enclosures were looking somewhat tired. They have built a wooden fence around the penguin pools, which seemed rather odd and you have to go in through a gate. There are a couple more shops and some lodges where you can book and stay in overnight as well as some toilets which are far more clean than they have been in the past.

We walked back towards the entrance and had a look in the new shop and then had tea in the cafe. By which time we had completed our visit and then went home via Dunstable. We didn't manage to see everything, particularly the elephants, but it does mean, with the membership, we can return anything we want to which may be over the summer holiday period. It is merely a 45 minute drive from Milton Keynes.

Family Summer Holidays- Part 5

The beach at Frinton, as I have mentioned elsewhere in this blog, is really the town's best asset. The sand is washed by the tide twice daily and comes right up to the promenade. I was really good at making sandcastles, even though I say it myself. I also made quite elaborate towns and landscapes on the beach and some of them had a network of rivers which were fed from pools of water left when the tide went out. My younger brother, Sandy, has always been interested in cars, from an early age, and had a vast collection of model cars, both Dinky Toys and Corgi. He used the roads I had built to play with these cars. One day he must have lost one of these cars and we spent some considerable time hunting for it. The following day, I was digging another sandcastle and there below the surface of the sand was the lost car, a little sandy maybe, but safe and sound. Some time later, when the sand was removed and it was dried out, it became as good as new.

I do remember one incident which occurred when unfortunately some child with whom I went to school and his family came to stay in Frinton and had a hut only a few huts along from  ours. He attempted to destroy all my hard work and effort building a castle or road lay-out but me and my brothers managed to prevent too much damage. It is somewhat unfortunate that I don't remember his name but I think his father owned or ran a shoe-making business in Northampton if my memory serves, but he was obviously a spoilt little brat if that was the way he treated other people's work and effort.

Then there was Radio Caroline. This so-called 'pirate radio' station was set up and broadcast on board a ship which was moored in the North Sea just off Frinton. You could see it from the beach. This was outside what I think they call 'Territorial Waters', several miles out to sea from mainland Britain. They were, in effect, illegal, but that didn't stop them broadcasting. Something to do with interfering with broadcasts for such things as coastguard patrols, ambulance etc.  The then-government made several attempts to put a stop to their activities, but I can't remember exactly how these 'pirate' radio stations were closed down. In the end the BBC set up Radio One and all the BBC radio stations changed their names from Home, Light, Third etc to Radios 1,2,3 and 4. It wasn't until the 1980's that the Conservative Government bought in legislation to set up legal, local, commercial stations such as LBC, Capital Radio etc etc. I'm not exactly a pop music fan, but it was quite a newsworthy incident when the Radio Caroline ship was set adrift during a very heavy sea one night and drifted on-shore to  be beached on the Frinton shore. It was in all the newspapers and other media at the time.

* * * *

So, what else do I remember about holidays in Frinton? Shrimping. Using nets purchased from shops in the town, somewhere along Connaught Avenue. Collecting the shrimps in buckets and then cooking them on the Calor gas ring in the beach hut and eating them. I also recall a lobster, not one we'd caught ourselves. I think my father had been given it by some fisherman or something and taking it back to the house and it being kept in the kitchen, with it's claws tied together to stop it nipping all and sundry and then being cooked. I don't think my mother relished the idea of killing it and then boiling the poor thing. But I like lobster and I suppose you don't think so much about how they are killed when you are younger. I  was probably not aware of this, having been bought up on a farm and rearing calves, pigs and lambs and then sending them off to the abbatoir.

Then there was the very violent thunder storm over Frinton one night. It seemed to go on for hour after hour, the lightening causing a fire along the top of the cliffs and seeing the grass scorched the next day. The thunder sounded, from what I remember, very much like  a railway train running over rails, extremely loud and very frightening. I suppose I would have been nine or ten at the time.
Something else. Kite flying. My brother Sandy had been given this amazing box kite. Unfortunately he wasn't in the least interested in flying it, but I was. The Greensward at Frinton, as mentioned earlier in another post, is a grassy area that runs the entire length of the town's shore-side and as the winds are perfect for flying kites, blowing in from the sea and it was a perfect clear space, all adding to the perfect conditions. When out at it's furthest extent on it's line, it must have been really high. I don't think I've experienced kite-flying quite as good as at Frinton, perhaps the nearest to it would be at Dunstable Downs, just along the road from Whipsnade Zoo. It certainly kept me amused for many hours.