{"id":3390,"date":"2014-08-21T13:30:56","date_gmt":"2014-08-21T12:30:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.petersphotogallery.com\/rodneyandlaura\/?p=3390"},"modified":"2026-05-23T08:15:11","modified_gmt":"2026-05-23T07:15:11","slug":"bed-hopping-in-england","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.petersphotogallery.com\/rodneyandlaura\/2014\/08\/21\/bed-hopping-in-england\/","title":{"rendered":"Bed Hopping In England"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Departing
Departing Dieppe<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

It was a dreary start to Tuesday July 29th, so we didn\u2019t rush to pack up and when we did, the sea mist and drizzle turned to rain. We seem to have developed a pattern of wet weather whenever we leave or enter a new country.\u00a0 Strangely, Rodney was hearing radio reports that it was a sunny 30\u00b0C on the other side of the Channel at Southampton! \u00a0Happily the weather forecast was good for our first week of \u2018bed hopping\u2019 in England and thankfully it did turn out that way.<\/p>\n

In Dieppe we stocked up on French wine, French cakes, French chocolate and French perfume.\u00a0 Rodney ate his last pot of moules mariniere with frites while I tucked into a plate of fresh prawns and salad in a bistro on the Quai Henri IV.\u00a0 \u00a0And then we rolled around to the ferry port to board the MV C\u00f4te d\u2019 Alb\u00e2tre for our four-hour cruise across to Newhaven.\u00a0 We were very lucky to find that, by being one of the first to board the ship, it did enable us to be one of the first to shuffle off in England at 9pm.\u00a0 While checking our passports, the customs man cheerily informed us that there were people behind us who would still be on the boat for another hour waiting to disembark. Ouch!<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Harvest
Harvest time in Essex<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

And so began our month in England.\u00a0 The highlights, apart from spending time with so many of our fabulous\u00a0friends and our families, were many and varied.\u00a0 We saw Eastbourne Pier just before it caught fire and a third of it was sadly destroyed.\u00a0 We visited Birling Gap after more of the cliffs had fallen away and reduced a terrace of cottages by one down to only four.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Another
Another house gone at Birling Gap<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

There\u2019s been quite a bit of walking, though nothing too strenuous lately.\u00a0 From Dedham we walked to Flatford Mill and Willy Lott\u2019s House made famous by Constable and we\u2019ve picked our way across fields in Wivenhoe, Essex.\u00a0 We strolled the paths and beside the Broads at Ludham in Norfolk and also spent an afternoon wandering around the grounds and a craft fair at Boughton House near Kettering in Northamptonshire.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"
Willy Lott’s House at Flatford<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"
Summer fun on the River Stour<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Neil
Neil checking out his new neighbours at Boughton House<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Neil
Neil checking the water sculpture in the grounds of Boughton House<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

We had another wonderful four nights up in Westminster and enjoyed the sights of London yet again.\u00a0 Boris\u2019 bikes are a brilliant way to cover the city; this year we actually pedalled over Tower Bridge to the Tower of London which currently has thousands of red ceramic poppies pouring out of a window and flowing around the moat. It looks amazing.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Poppies
Poppies pouring out of the Tower of London<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

We dragged the Taylors to the Prince of Wales Theatre at Piccadilly Circus to see the rather irreverent but award winning \u2018Book of Mormon; what a good laugh-out-loud show.\u00a0 We pounded the pavements and streets of London and for the first time we visited Lizzie and Philip at Buckingham Palace.\u00a0 Unfortunately they had gone orf on holiday without telling us, so we never got to say hello. Never mind; we had a good snoop around their home, though we definitely didn\u2019t get to see all 78 bathrooms\u2026!<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"In
In the garden at Buckingham Palace<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

We\u2019ve eaten in quaint old pubs, Indian restaurants and a classy Italian or two.\u00a0 I\u2019ve shared a huge fairy floss with little Carmen and relished eating copious punnets of raspberries. Plus we have had some delicious home cooked meals; thank you to everyone for keeping us very well fed.\u00a0 The Hansen family gathering was wonderful, it\u2019s not often enough that my brother and sister and all the children get together in one place; but we managed to do it this time at Neil\u2019s new bungalow in Kettering.\u00a0 We all talked and talked and talked and the noise and laughter were brilliant, we certainly made it a darn good ‘house warming’ afternoon and evening.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"All
All of us at Kettering<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

And now I can\u2019t believe how quickly the three weeks have gone by and in one week\u2019s time we will be on the big bird flying directly back to Sydney.\u00a0 So it\u2019s now time to start thinking about sorting out all the stuff we have here; what stays, what goes back with us and what really does need chucking out.\u00a0\u00a0 Oooo this could take some time……. so I better get on to it.\u00a0 There\u2019ll be no more blogging until next year; yes we have decided to keep Eileen and fly over again\u00a0to enjoy another three, or four\u00a0months, of nomadic wandering around Europe.\u00a0 We\u2019re both saying Year Four will be definitely be the last one, but I guess it will be a case of watch this space\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Sailing
Sailing across the ….fields…. in Norfolk !!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"
Just a shadow of myself….<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"No,
No, no, I’m sure there is more……<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

  It was a dreary start to Tuesday July 29th, so we didn\u2019t rush to pack up and when we did, the sea mist and drizzle turned to rain. We seem to have developed a pattern of wet weather whenever we leave or enter a new country.\u00a0 Strangely, Rodney was hearing radio reports that it […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3394,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3390","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-on-the-road-in-great-britain"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.petersphotogallery.com\/rodneyandlaura\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3390","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.petersphotogallery.com\/rodneyandlaura\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.petersphotogallery.com\/rodneyandlaura\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.petersphotogallery.com\/rodneyandlaura\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.petersphotogallery.com\/rodneyandlaura\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3390"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.petersphotogallery.com\/rodneyandlaura\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3390\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8309,"href":"https:\/\/www.petersphotogallery.com\/rodneyandlaura\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3390\/revisions\/8309"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.petersphotogallery.com\/rodneyandlaura\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3394"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.petersphotogallery.com\/rodneyandlaura\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3390"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.petersphotogallery.com\/rodneyandlaura\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3390"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.petersphotogallery.com\/rodneyandlaura\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3390"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}