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Harry Potter Studio Tour and London with Mum

By Adventures, Friends & Family, Happiness & Joy, LifeNo Comments

This week mum and I went on a coach trip with National Holidays. We went to the Harry Potter Studio Tour and spent some time in London city centre.

Here are some collages of photos from the Harry Potter Studio Tour, click on any photo for full size image:

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The Goblet of Fire Photos.
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Forbidden Forest Photos.
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Hogwarts Express Photos.
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Props Photos.
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Weasley Shop Props.
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Knight Bus Photos.
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Inside Privet Drive Photos.
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Other Cool Stuff Photos.

Even though mum and I had been before, there were plenty of things we hadn’t seen on our last visit. I’ve only included photos things we didn’t see last time in this blog post. Things we didn’t see last time included: The Goblet of Fire, The Forbidden Forest, The Hogwarts Express and inside Privet Drive.

There were plenty of things that we saw last time. I was great to see that they had significantly increased the interactive activities for visitors.

It was brilliant to see that they are building an extension to include things from the new Fantastic Beasts films series (of which there will be 5 films).

Here’s one final photo of Mum with a Hedwig puppet. We took a similar photo last time, how many times do you have to do something before it becomes a tradition?

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Mum with Hedwig Puppet.

The next day mum and I were released into the wild of London city centre. We saw the Houses of Parliament, the scaffolding-covered Big Ben, the High Courts and my favourite St. James Park.

St. James Park is a lovely park that is like a natural oasis within one of the world’s most busy cities. There’s a bit of a family story to St. James Park.

When my mum was a little girl, she lived in London with her mum and dad (my grandma and granddad). Every Sunday, while her mum was making the Sunday dinner, her dad would take her to watch the changing of the Guard and then into St. James Park to feed the ducks.

Here are some photo collages from photos I took in St. James Park:

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St. James Park, London. Photo collage by me (1).
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St. James Park, London. Photo collage by me (2).

Mum and I had a fantastic time and will no doubt do the trip again in a couple of years.

Mum and I did a similar trip at the end of 2014. You can read and see pictures here: London Trip, Part 1 and London Trip, Part 2.

Write soon,

Antony

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Sunday 20 May 2018

The Hadrian’s Wall Adventure (Part 4) – Warkworth Castle & Tynemouth Priory and Castle

By Adventures, Friends & Family, Happiness & Joy, Life, NatureNo Comments
Walkworth-Castle-Simon-and-I-May-18

Simon (right) and me (left) at a services stop for dinner.

 This is the fourth part in my Hadrian’s Wall Adventure with my good friend Simon. You can read and see the photos from Part 1 here, Part 2 here and Part 3 here.

Yesterday Simon and I set out to do the last leg of our Hadrian’s Wall Adventure. It was my birthday. The day was gorgeous, sunny, around 19°C all day and not a cloud in the beautiful blue sky.

There aren’t many specific Hardrian’s Wall sites near the Newcastle end of where the wall would have been. So we decided to do Castles near Newcastle.

Our first castle was the magnificent impressive Warkworth Castle. Before you see the photos, first let me apologise for any fingerprint marks on them. The lens of my iPhone had fingerprint marks on, but I didn’t realise because of the bright sunshine.

Here is Essential Info and are some photos:

Essential Info:

  • A castle including remains and a keep with Duke room’s.
  • Highly recommended.
  • Admission Fee: Adult £7.50 with gift aid (£6.80 without). Free admission to English Heritage Members.
  • Opening times: View here.
  • Parking: Plenty in front of the Castle. However even English Heritage Members are required to pay (rather than the usual free parking with sticker in car). The shop does refund the cost of parking, but this was disappointing and we could seen no reason for this.
  • Toilets: Available in the carpark.
  • Has a very small gift shop. Free audible guides available.

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Entrance to Walkworth Castle.
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Outside of Walkworth Castle.
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The most well preserved keep.
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Remains of Walkworth Castle (1).
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Remains of Walkworth Castle (2).
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A selfie of Simon (right) and me (left).
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An iron fireplace in the Duke’s rooms inside the keep.
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The view from inside the Duke’s rooms.
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A view from an archway (1).
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A view from an archway (2).
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One of the many tunnels to rooms in the remains.

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Our next stop was Tynemouth Priory and Castle. Here is Essential Info and are some photos:

Essential Info:

  • A priory, castle and World War 2 defence station.
  • Highly recommended.
  • Admission Fee: Adult £6.50 with gift aid (£5.90 without). Free admission to English Heritage Members.
  • Opening times: View here.
  • Parking: Follow signs for free parking.
  • Has a small gift shop.

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The view from the top of the hill near the entrance to Tynemouth (1).
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The view from the top of the hill near the entrance to Tynemouth (2).
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Tynemouth Priory and Castle remains (1).
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Tynemouth Priory and Castle remains (2).
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Tynemouth Priory and Castle remains (3).
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Stone coffins.
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Simon (right) and me (left) in the stone coffins. I couldn’t believe that we both fitted perfectly.
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Tynemouth Priory and Castle remains (4).
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A carving that looked similar to The Green Man on the entrance to the priory.
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Tynemouth Priory.
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Tynemouth Priory stained glass window (1).
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Tynemouth Priory stained glass window (2).
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Tynemouth Priory stained glass window (3).
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Tynemouth Priory stained glass window (4).
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Inside the Priory, photo of Priory door. Reminded me of the door to heaven.
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Tynemouth graveyard and World War 2 defence tower.
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Tynemouth World War 2 defence gun.
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Shells for the gun in bunker.
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Tynemouth Lighthouse.

We had a great time. Next year we are going to visit the fine city of Newcastle including Newcastle’s castle.

Blog soon,

Antony

Edit: 16/05/18 18:30 – Used GIMP to remove some of the finger prints in some of the above photos. If you click on the photos for full size, you will see the updated photos.

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Tuesday 15 May 2018

Thirty Two Today – My Birthday Plans

By Friends & Family, Happiness & Joy, LifeNo Comments

Good morning everyone,

Today is my thirty second birthday. I’m not actually sat here writing this, it’s a scheduled post.

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I’m Thirty Two Today!

My birthday plans include a well-earned break from work for a week.

Today I’m off to Newcastle to see castles with Simon. In fact we are probably already on our way as this post is published. There are two English Heritage castles nearby that we want to see, along with Newcastle Castle.

Later in the week, mum and I are off to re-visit Harry Potter Studio Tour. You can see photos from when first visited the Harry Potter Studio Tour in 2014 here.

So expect to see blog posts about the above soon. In the meantime have an awesome week.

Write soon,

Antony

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Monday 14 May 2018

Beeston Castle in Cheshire – More a Ruin than a Castle

By Friends & Family, Happiness & Joy, History, LifeNo Comments
Beeston-Castle-Cheshire-April-18-0

Beeston Castle Gatehouse.

 Earlier today my good friend Steve and I went to Beeston Castle and Woodland Park. The weather was glorious, sunshine, temperature in the high twenties and not a cloud in the sky.

Beeston Castle is more a ruin than a castle. The gatehouse is at the bottom of a hill and it houses a small gift shop. It’s a uphill walk to the main ruin of the castle, a walk that I felt in my legs and reminded my of how un-physically fit I am.

There was a St. George & The Dragon event on which was popular with families.

Here are some photos:

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Beeston Castle has a small exhibition detailing its history.
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Beeston Castle exhibition display cabinet (1).
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Beeston Castle exhibition display cabinet (2).
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Ruins of a tower.
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The path up to the main ruin.
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The main ruin from a distance.
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The entrance to the main ruin (1).
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The entrance to the main ruin (2). From the bridge was a sheer drop of at least thirty feet.
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Me.
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Inside the main ruin (1).
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Inside the main ruin (2).
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Inside the main ruin (3).
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Inside the main ruin (4).

Essential Info

  • Beeston Castle is ruins of a castle. It also has a woodland park to walk in.
  • Recommended, but it is pricy for what it is.
  • Admission Fee: Adult £7-9.
  • Opening Times: To see Opening Times on English Heritage website click here.
  • Parking: A paid carpark is opposite Beeston Castle’s Gatehouse.
  • Caution: If your mobility is poor, this isn’t a great site for you to visit. It’s an uphill walk to the main ruin site.
  • Has a small exhibition.
  • Has a small gift shop.

I’ve wanted to visit Beeston Castle for a number of years and I’m glad I did, especially on such a lovely day. But because it’s more a ruin than a castle, I probably wont be going back any time soon.

Especially not when I have Rivington’s Lever Castle on my doorstep with no entry fee and beautiful woodland to walk in.

Blog soon,

Antony



I aim for posts on this blog to be informative, educational and entertaining. If you have found this post useful or enjoyable, please consider making a contribution by Paypal:


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Saturday 21 April 2018
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