My 2024 UK Trip

[ChevelleSB406]

Hi everyone,
You seemed to enjoy my photos from last years edition so thought I would upload the adventures from this years.

Any questions are appreciated and happy to fill in from this Brit who has lived most of his life in the US but still enjoys a bit of home.

We started this trip flying into Heathrow and stayed in London for 3 days. We did the usual of getting drinks to pass out, and then walking about ten miles the next day once we were up and at it.

It was a crazy time to be in London, they had just had their general election and the new prime minister and all that ceremony was going on around us as we were walking about.

First pint at the Rising Sun after getting to the hotel

We like to stay at the Leonardo at St. Pauls in the City of London, the downtown square mile, its crazy expensive, but we think worth it. This is St. Pauls just outside.

The hotel consumes 3 different buildings and has a glass atrium connecting them all.

Me very happy with my first English breakfast of the trip, no substitute for an English banger in So Cal, so I gorge on them while I am over. Yes, beans for breakfast, you either get it or you don't. I for one don't get black pudding, but my parents and many other love it.

First walk early in the morning, heading roughly for Trafalger square.

Nelson on his Plinth watching over it all.

Big Ben's tower poking out over one of the lions in the square.

The square is also surrounded by museums, but I prefer all the monuments covering centuries of British history and military campaigns.

One such monument, funded by his own troops even.

Much more to come, uploading from phone and editing via computer.

 

[ChevelleSB406]

Some more from that morning. We walked down from Trafalger and Downing street as the new Prime Minister arrived. We were headed to Westminster to have a look around and catch a river tour, this has eluded me for years, as its always sold out. Fingers crossed this year.

A horse guard, various different divisions from over the commonwealth take shifts here, hence the different uniforms. They are bad ass real soldiers, and there are plenty of cool videos of them online, and their horse, being kind to those that deserve it, and wrecking peoples shit who don't follow the instructions on the signs, they are totally not worried about being sued. Don't fuck with the King's Guard, Tom's Top Tip #1 for visiting London.

Westminster, busy as all hell considering the normal weekend traffic, the huge amount of police and people for the new PM arriving, and even the arrival of a Colombian sailing vessel on its world tour, thousands of Colombians along the Thames for this arrival, and even their Navy had sailors walking all over town all weekend from current ships docked as well.

From London to every small village and everywhere you go, you will find memorials for both World Wars, they are revered and receive all appropriate respect, literally every small village that had young soldiers called up has a "Lest we forget" memorial in the village center.

Lots of parading of horses and changing of the guard, etc. London eye in the background.

Oh yeah, walking is thirsty business, so we stop for a pint or two every couple of hours, this tends to go on for 3 weeks straight

Finally made the boat, I recommend these tours, sit down, get some knowledge, rest your legs, bar down below, and really take in the sights.

Much more to come.

 

[fat rat]

Looks like a cool trip. Been there once, back in mid 80’s. Dollar was crazy strong, brought home lots of cool stuff.

 

[Cdog]

Go take a deuce on karl marx tomb. Compliments of the capitalist free world!

 

[ChevelleSB406]

Now we are cruising on the river

an old ship converted into a floating pub.

London Bridge, the one in London Epic photo of skyline behind it if I say so myself.

More skyline

"The Mummy" There is no point naming a building in England as an architect, the public is going to name it what they want after.

Here we have "The Walkie Talkie" next to my favorite building in the world "The Gherkin", "The Cheese Grater" to the left, and "Helter Skelter" on the far left.

"The Shard"

Pretty good shot of Tower Bridge

Farther down river, another downtown of sorts, tons of the investment banks are this end towards Greenwich

The Cutty Sark, fastest tea clipper for a time, until Steam power ruined it all.

 

[HNL2LHC]

Awesome pics thanks for sharing your vacation. We were just there a year or two ago. I like the images from the river. Gives a great perspective.

Go have a pint at the Black Friar’s Pub. It was a fun OLD pub that we just had to go in a check it out. Each day we’d head out for our 10+ hike and find a few places to hydrate if you know what I am saying. At least that was the reason that I told my wife. LOL

 

[Tamalewagon]

Am I the only one that is reading his comments with an English accent in my head??

 

[HNL2LHC]

Am I the only one that is reading his comments with an English accent in my head??

Cheerio old chap!!

 

[evantwheeler]

Am I the only one that is reading his comments with an English accent in my head??

I was reading thinking "Am I the only one thinking an English banger breakfast looks nothing like it's name"

 

[napanutt]

You commented about crazy prices on one of your pictures. Care to elaborate?

 

[ChevelleSB406]

Finding dinner in London, especially "The City" is a challenge. No one really lives in The City, everyone gets off work, has a few pints, and then hops on the trains to other parts of London or the suburbs if you will. Lessons learned from previous trips, I made a point to make dinner reservations each night. First night was Gordon Ramsay's Bread Street, as it was only about a 500 ft walk from the hotel. I had the "Idiot sandwich" which was short rib, some chutney, melted cheese, mushrooms, and some other good stuff. Definitely recommend.

You can even dine in an Apollo era themed command module, there was a couple in there on a date so didn't want to photograph them, so a shot of the outside.

A portrait hanging above the cooks working in the expo kitchen. Awesome.

Our hotel is 800 feet from my office building, this is how I got to know that hotel. This is my London office building. Funky registered historic building, we have the top floor plus the two roof decks which offer the best views of the city, you may have seen before in other posts of mine.

Next day we walked a few miles to Katherine's Landing, in London , I love the irony for each. Lots of big money in here with smaller yachts and terraced condos over a serene area in the middle of the city.

Later in the day heading towards our dinner invitation for the night on the 40th floor of the Salesforce Tower. Ironic as I build things with Salesforce for a living. It was a shame it was the weekend, I am sure I could have pulled some strings. Anyway, just next door is another iconic London building, this one the people have named quite accurately. I give you, "The Can of Ham"

The restaurant is called "The Duck and Waffle", I cannot recommend enough. Its not fancy fine dining, which most of these high rise joints are, its funky and not too expensive, and this is the view literally from my seat at the table. They got me a view of my favorite building, very nice of them.

A view looking to North London.

"The Can of Ham" from above, the Thames in the distance, and the 2nd group of high rises towards Greenwich.

I am proud of this shot, didn't turn out as well as I wanted, but notice the Gherkin, and then in the background below, you have The Tower Bridge, caught with a red double decker going across. If you look to the left and in front of the bridge, you see the Tower of London. All in one view.

The signature disk, a confit duck leg, duck egg, on a savory waffle, with honey sauce with mustard seeds in it. This really is a perfect dish, the kind that has been crafted for years and years, and then used to secure financial backing to open a restaurant like this. I am a bit of a foodie, and this was a life experience, and again, not expensive.

My parents dessert was a waffle Tiramisu. It was pretty good, but nothing on what I ordered.

My dessert was a sticky toffee waffle with clotted cream. Clotted cream kicks the shit out of ice cream on desserts like this.

 

[HBCraig]

Big Ben, Parliament

 

[ChevelleSB406]

You commented about crazy prices on one of your pictures. Care to elaborate?

Each night at that hotel set me back a little over $600. I was there 3 nights, that fucking hurt. A pint of beer in the city will set you back about 9 pounds, or close to $12, while up north in Northumbria, its less than half that. London is just expensive, but all the fun besides the drinking and hotel is free pretty much. Museums are free, walking is free, just gotta stay hydrated.

 

[ChevelleSB406]

Awesome pics thanks for sharing your vacation. We were just there a year or two ago. I like the images from the river. Gives a great perspective.

Go have a pint at the Black Friar’s Pub. It was a fun OLD pub that we just had to go in a check it out. Each day we’d head out for our 10+ hike and find a few places to hydrate if you know what I am saying. At least that was the reason that I told my wife. LOL

View attachment 1408110

Yep, was in there last year on our walks. I averaged about 3 different pubs a day, over 21 days this trip. My aunt and Uncle live in a village no bigger than The Keys in Parker, it has 3 pubs, a craft bar, and the Conservative Club, all thriving with that small a population. England rules for drinking establishments per capita.

 

[HNL2LHC]

Finding dinner in London, especially "The City" is a challenge. No one really lives in The City, everyone gets off work, has a few pints, and then hops on the trains to other parts of London or the suburbs if you will. Lessons learned from previous trips, I made a point to make dinner reservations each night. First night was Gordon Ramsay's Bread Street, as it was only about a 500 ft walk from the hotel. I had the "Idiot sandwich" which was short rib, some chutney, melted cheese, mushrooms, and some other good stuff. Definitely recommend.


View attachment 1408161





You can even dine in an Apollo era themed command module, there was a couple in there on a date so didn't want to photograph them, so a shot of the outside.
View attachment 1408162





A portrait hanging above the cooks working in the expo kitchen. Awesome.
View attachment 1408163



Our hotel is 800 feet from my office building, this is how I got to know that hotel. This is my London office building. Funky registered historic building, we have the top floor plus the two roof decks which offer the best views of the city, you may have seen before in other posts of mine.
View attachment 1408164



Next day we walked a few miles to Katherine's Landing, in London , I love the irony for each. Lots of big money in here with smaller yachts and terraced condos over a serene area in the middle of the city.
View attachment 1408165



Later in the day heading towards our dinner invitation for the night on the 40th floor of the Salesforce Tower. Ironic as I build things with Salesforce for a living. It was a shame it was the weekend, I am sure I could have pulled some strings. Anyway, just next door is another iconic London building, this one the people have named quite accurately. I give you, "The Can of Ham"
View attachment 1408166






The restaurant is called "The Duck and Waffle", I cannot recommend enough. Its not fancy fine dining, which most of these high rise joints are, its funky and not too expensive, and this is the view literally from my seat at the table. They got me a view of my favorite building, very nice of them.
View attachment 1408167




A view looking to North London.
View attachment 1408168







"The Can of Ham" from above, the Thames in the distance, and the 2nd group of high rises towards Greenwich.
View attachment 1408169






I am proud of this shot, didn't turn out as well as I wanted, but notice the Gherkin, and then in the background below, you have The Tower Bridge, caught with a red double decker going across. If you look to the left and in front of the bridge, you see the Tower of London. All in one view.
View attachment 1408170





The signature disk, a confit duck leg, duck egg, on a savory waffle, with honey sauce with mustard seeds in it. This really is a perfect dish, the kind that has been crafted for years and years, and then used to secure financial backing to open a restaurant like this. I am a bit of a foodie, and this was a life experience, and again, not expensive.
View attachment 1408171 View attachment 1408172




My parents dessert was a waffle Tiramisu. It was pretty good, but nothing on what I ordered.
View attachment 1408173




My dessert was a sticky toffee waffle with clotted cream. Clotted cream kicks the shit out of ice cream on desserts like this.
View attachment 1408174

That view from the restaurant. You got that right. That is the shot with the tower bridge. Much better photos for there. Thanks for sharing.

 

[mash on it]

@ChevelleSB406

(In my best British accent)

Me mum lives in between the London and twin towers bridges.
344 Devonshire Mansions, Tooley St
[Desert River Rat] like section 8 housing, I think?

Amazing area. Great pics, too

That's all I got.

Dan'l

 

[ChevelleSB406]

After London, we headed Northwest to see my Aunt up in the black country, Birmingham, Peaky Blinders territory I do like London, but give me country pubs any day of the week. Here is The Oakley, just down the road from her house, all in farmland, and a great beer garden out back


The Oakley, I could sit here all day.

The next morning we set off for Iron Bridge, a nice picturesque village not far off, and again, home to an amazing pub and garden, the Woodbridge Inn

Not "The" iron bridge, just an iron bridge, view from the pub.

"The" Iron Bridge

The tolls for the bridge from way back when.

The next day, we set off for a quick trip to Shrewsbury, not much going on here, just a walk with some pubs of course, more buildings that have gone funny shaped over hundreds of years, yet still in use.

 

[TPC]

Thanks for posting. We’re heading over in 5 weeks. I want to try that Toffee waffle.

 

[ChevelleSB406]

Thanks for posting. We’re heading over in 5 weeks. I want to try that Toffee waffle.

Let me know if I can make any particular recommendations, are you going to London or traveling about?

 

[TPC]

Let me know if I can make any particular recommendations, are you going to London or traveling about?

London and the Isles.

 

[ChevelleSB406]

Went for a walk along "the cut", the canals that go from Birmingham all the way down to London, made famous in Peaky Blinders. I find them a very peaceful place, these canal boats are often the homes of "travelers" or people having a bit of fun on holiday.

During the walk, stopped off at a pub alongside the canal for a steak and ale pie, I did a study of these most of the trip, ideal in the cool weather at the beginning of the trip.

After lunch, my dad and I dropped in at the local RAF museum, these are scattered everywhere throughout the country, and tend to align to a particular time period in their strength of exhibit. This one really had tons of cold war stuff, and tons of ground vehicles, weapons, missiles, bombs, etc. Merlin engine below.

Predecessor to the Harrier, vertical take off capability, but not much in the way of computer support to help pull it off.

A Chinook, just like we have over here.

Now that's a bomber. Can't quite get an idea of the scale of it, but trust me, it was massive.

 

[ChevelleSB406]

After leaving the Birmingham area, we cut across the country heading NorthEast and stopped over in Humberside to see my godparents. There were some adventures there, but nothing much different than last year, so instead we will just start off with another exhibit from the great Steak and Ale Pie Tour that I was conducting.

After leaving there and heading further northeast, we stopped in Cropton, on the moors, a micro brewery with good food and a pleasant beer garden. This is a yorkshire pudding wrap, so like sunday dinner wrapped all up in the dough, excellent of course.

The usual trip to Whitby, as posted before, and the customary first beer as soon as we are over the bridge at The Dolphin.

We drove out a bit to have dinner with an Aunt and Uncle at this old pub my parents hadn't been to in over 50 years, pretty awesome, but their event room gave off serious "Red Wedding" vibes from Game of Thrones .

This is one of my favorite places on Earth, the Lion at Blakey Ridge, the most remote pub in England. Hundreds of years old, and on the pilgrims trail, nothing around for miles.

A view out over the moors from their beer garden.

A few hundred years old, fireplace always going, and a labrador under each table usually with hikers having a meal and a pint before heading back to where they came from.

Steak and Ale Pie again of course

A view out the back.

Roseberry topping, the local landmark, Captain Cooks monument is up there as well.

We decided to not stay with family this trip, and rented rooms above pubs such as this one.

 

[RiverDave]

Absolutely fantastic!!

 

[ChevelleSB406]

I am glad someone responded, our fearless leader even, I was going to stop posting as no one seemed interested. In the NorthEast, I always enjoy a day trip out to Saltburn by the Sea. A cute little town from my childhood, the best fish and chips in the country, yep, fight me if you think different, and no relation to that stupid movie.

This is actually a hub of surfing in England, I have never seen any waves of any kind, but when it kicks up, apparently its big surf. Hunt Cliff is always picturesque, the tide retreats out hundreds of feet, that pub next to the cliff is an old smugglers hang out as there are caves through the cliff, etc. I highly recommend if anyone ever gets up north.

The stream flowing out to the ocean.

Hunt Cliff.

Aforementioned pub.

The town on top of the mini cliff above the beach.

Multi color changing huts of a time gone past.

THE fish and chips in question.

stream again and a bit of a view of the nice park alongside.

Another mission was to see Lyme House, in my home town of Stockport, this has been used in several movies, Colin Firth's Pride and Prejudice series would be the most iconic. Impressive house and grounds. I am most jealous of the trout stream, lake, and ponds.

front of house.

Tompion clocks, several of these are in the several million realm. One of the Earl's was a collector, these are from when England dominated the clock making game in the 1600's. Most of these will chime the time, all with just gears and springs, crazy amazing mechanical feats. Not just on the hour, give you minutes as well.

There were a lot of these as well, crazy would carvings and steamed/bent art works. Crazy detail. I forget the artists name, but you can find them in every fancy house and royal palace through Europe. It was a "gotta have it" piece, like a Carson Brummett TT in a Schiada v drive. Highly Kustom with a K.

A nice garden, shame the fountain in the middle wasn't on.

 

[RichL]

I'm really enjoying the tour. Thanks for taking the time and effort.

 

[Racey]

Some more from that morning. We walked down from Trafalger and Downing street as the new Prime Minister arrived. We were headed to Westminster to have a look around and catch a river tour, this has eluded me for years, as its always sold out. Fingers crossed this year.

A horse guard, various different divisions from over the commonwealth take shifts here, hence the different uniforms. They are bad ass real soldiers, and there are plenty of cool videos of them online, and their horse, being kind to those that deserve it, and wrecking peoples shit who don't follow the instructions on the signs, they are totally not worried about being sued. Don't fuck with the King's Guard, Tom's Top Tip #1 for visiting London.
View attachment 1407938




Westminster, busy as all hell considering the normal weekend traffic, the huge amount of police and people for the new PM arriving, and even the arrival of a Colombian sailing vessel on its world tour, thousands of Colombians along the Thames for this arrival, and even their Navy had sailors walking all over town all weekend from current ships docked as well.
View attachment 1407939



From London to every small village and everywhere you go, you will find memorials for both World Wars, they are revered and receive all appropriate respect, literally every small village that had young soldiers called up has a "Lest we forget" memorial in the village center.
View attachment 1407940



Lots of parading of horses and changing of the guard, etc. London eye in the background.
View attachment 1407941



Oh yeah, walking is thirsty business, so we stop for a pint or two every couple of hours, this tends to go on for 3 weeks straight
View attachment 1407942



Finally made the boat, I recommend these tours, sit down, get some knowledge, rest your legs, bar down below, and really take in the sights.
View attachment 1407943


Much more to come.

I want to do this trip so badly, drink pub ales and have mince pies and fish n chips

The English make the best beer imo, i don't care what the haters say

 

[Rennsport]

When I worked for Singer I was fortunate to spend a bit of time in the UK, four or so times each year. Enjoyed it immensely. And the Indian food was great!

thanks for posting up the pics!

 

[HNL2LHC]

What a great looking home or castle. Crazy to see what was done years ago. Kind of like some of the old structures before hawaii was a state. How did they carve stone with the tools of the day. Impressive!!!

 

[OldSchoolBoats]

Excellent thread Tom!!! Absolutely love the tour. This will be a thread to come back too for whoever wants to plan an EPIC trip to the UK.

 

[ChevelleSB406]

I want to do this trip so badly, drink pub ales and have mince pies and fish n chips

The English make the best beer imo, i don't care what the haters say

I swear my dad does it each year just to have hand pulled pints. He won’t drink anything on a CO2 or nitrogen system, hand pumped ales only. His all time favorite from youth is Timothy Taylor’s Landlord. He will have a couple of those and then try what we local is on the pump.

I enjoy my Guinness over there, but when we head southwest, I go deep with the ciders. When in Rome. Gotta be careful, those bastards could be 4% up to 12%. Thatchers Gold is my favorite.

 

[JL95]

Thanks for sharing. Now I am hungry

 

[havasujeeper]

Very impressive. Gotta add this to my bucket list!

 

[ChevelleSB406]

After the trip to Lyme house, see above, my parents and god parents came back to this charming pub in the Peak district where we would stay a couple of nights. This is the main building, and we had rooms in the old coach house out back. I was not expecting much, but it was the nicest rooms I had ever stayed in, in England. The remodel on the inside was ridiculous, full luxury bathroom. Such a welcome surprise. There was a caravan site next door which brough in a lot of customers, but hundreds of bikers were stopping in, and everyone running around in Aston Martins and Ferraris were out for drives as well, and stopping by for a pint on a very warm day. These country roads are ideal fun I would presume.

Another shot at around 11 o'clock at night, it takes forever for it ever be truly that dark that far up North.

A nice shot of the pub and beer garden late at night.

The next morning we woke up and set off for Chatsworth, slightly different than the Chatsworth porn town in the valley. This is the most amazing house and grounds I have ever seen. This is palace of Versailles kind of shit. It makes Buckingham palace look like a 60's tract home, no bullshit. What you are seeing below is looking up the drive, and that's not part of the house, thats some of the old stables. House to come.

Every rooms walls and ceilings were like this. Oh, and to piss everyone off, tons of stolen stuff from Egypt and everywhere else Britain had conquered over centuries.

Portrait hall with all the Dukes over the centuries. More recent ones up top.

This was one of the libraries, 140,000 books on hand I think I remember for the house.

The grounds are beautiful, cows and sheep roaming about as natures roomba lawn mowers.

This is a fountain that runs like a half mile long, they are trying to get it all working again, it flows from top of the hill down to the house.

Tons and tons of different gardens in different styles, here was one with rock formations, obviously not natures work, back breaking stuff from the Serf's back in the day I am sure.

I loved the fountain, you could definitely run a couple of top fuel hydros with enough room for shut down as well in this thing.

That's the skinny end side of the house, not the length.

Internet photo to give some idea of scope, drag boat lake would be the left with the trees blocking it, and said skinny side of house.

 

[poncho]

Nice job documenting your trip, you could do this for a living. Wife is from England, came over with her family as a child.

 

[Mrs. Riley1]

I’m really enjoying this thread! I’ve never been to Europe and probably never will. I appreciate the photos and commentary!

 

[redone76]

Beautiful pictures! You're making me crave a Tetleys!!!

 

[SeanRitchie]

Great thread and pictures. Thank you for posting.

 

[Taboma]

Granddad was a Brit from Sudbury, but only met him once in 1953 shortly before he passed. Still have distant relatives there, but no idea where.
Never visited, so like your previous thread, enjoying this shared journey. Your pictures and accompanying dialog are truly professional and greatly appreciated.
Bravo Sir

 

[ChevelleSB406]

After leaving the Peak District, we headed down south west towards Bath and Bristol, our last stops before heading home. On the way, we detoured through the Cotswolds with the hope of visiting Clarkson's Farm, of Amazon Prime fame, one of my favorite shows, and the same Jeremy Clarkson of The Grand Tour and Top Gear fame when the show was actually good. I knew it would be too crazy and crowded, my parents didn't believe me, but as we were going down a 4 ft wide road and could see the back up of Aston Martins and ferraris coming and going and all the rest, I was of course proved right. After finding a spot in an auxiliary lot, we walked over to see hundreds of people lined up to go through the shop, and hundreds more queued up for beer and food. We stayed 2 minutes to grab photos and got the hell out, beer and food was calling.

We finally arrived at the next destination, a little pub on the water in Saltford, just outside Bristol, picture it like a little island separated by a rail road line, and the water, no one knows its there, no through roads, just one road that ends in a dead end. Its perfect. If you can't tell, I have a thing about green nature, water running by, and a pint in my hand. In this picture, you can see the lock on the right hand side, and here is the step down of the weir.

We went to the same little pub a little further along as 2 years ago, which has a lock in the middle of its beer garden, and spent a few good hours in the sun, with great food, and way too much to drink. View from the beer garden, cows on the hill, just missing my fishing rod.

Photo from the entrance to the lock gate, looking upstream to where we were staying.

 

[ChevelleSB406]

The next morning we set off for Cheddar, not far from Bristol, and its known for its gorge and caves. Photos suck and don't do it just, but that shit is vertical, and narrow, barely a two lane English road, let alone American. Most of it was closed off, so didn't get good photos and the ones i took sucked and didn't get the effect. We spent some time in the village, I got about 4 pints of cider in me quickly, and then we headed off to do a bit more walking about.

Lots of Ferraris, Mclarens, Aston Martins, Porsche's, I guess a popular cruising destination.

After Cheddar, we headed to Wells, the UK's smallest City. City over there doesn't mean the same thing as it does here. Its a designation, an award if you will. Everything else is a town or village. For example, Anaheim could designated a city, but Yorba Linda, Placentia, Brea, Irvine, etc, most likely would not be. Certain statuses and such have to be reached, and another rule is it has to have an Anglican Cathedral. There are not very many cities in England, 55 I believe. Here is the smallest one. A photo of the cathedral, I didn't get a photo of the church, which is equally as impressive.

The moat is surrounding the "Bishops Palace". Apparently the Bishop at the time was a bit paranoid

Bishops Palace outer wall and moat. We didn't go inside, but apparently beautiful gardens. All of this water is coming from underground wells, and drains down the city streets. We sat for a bit, had a sausage roll and enjoyed the view.

We walked the loop around the palace, and came back down past the cathedral. This was some of the housing for the cathedral going way back when, surreal looking courtyard and street, only a tiny archway opening through a wall that opens up to this.

One of the more senior homes by the cathedral.

Said Wells Cathedral. All the statues in each of the alcoves are beyond impressive, if you zoom in, the detail is pretty crazy.

After a dinner out that night, the next morning we went into Bristol itself, and of course the Clifton bridge, not a good photo here, but check previous years threads for better shots. This bridge is high as fuck over a gorge.

This pub has the most ridiculous balcony view ever, its an absolute must if you come to Bristol, the White Lion I believe, it gives a view of everything.

Photo from same pub.

 

[ChevelleSB406]

For any interested in last years trip, its below, I thought I posted the year before, but apparently not. Again, thank you all for reading along, and let me know if you want to see anything else, any questions or tips, etc. Hopefully I have shown England is more than just London, and sure there is a lot of "brown food", but hey, people love to knock it, often only until they have tried it

My 2023 Trip to England

Hello All, I have always posted my adventures on social media, and didn't think much would be interested in my home country here, but the recent popularity of other threads has encouraged me. I went on my usual trip to see family and have some fun for a couple weeks in June. I think England is...

www.riverdavesplace.com

 

[rivermobster]

Amazing pics, and even better write up.

The country side views are Awesome.

 

[mash on it]

I'm surprised with the amount of sunny skies. I figured it was more like the Pacific Northwest. Just grey. Or gray.
Beautiful countryside.

Dan'l

 

[HNL2LHC]

Awesome pictures structure and nature with such beauty. As for Cheddar….. I could make a cheesy joke but I will refrain.

 

[ChevelleSB406]

I'm surprised with the amount of sunny skies. I figured it was more like the Pacific Northwest. Just grey. Or gray.
Beautiful countryside.

Dan'l

If you look at the beginning of the trip, quite a bit of gray the whole time we were in London, and a good bit of Birmingham. Summer is a pretty safe bet over there for sunny at close to 80 degrees, and if weather does show up, its usually not all day, and not for many days.

 

[ChevelleSB406]

Awesome pictures structure and nature with such beauty. As for Cheddar….. I could make a cheesy joke but I will refrain.

Yup, we were full of them, so it turns out the cheese name does come from it, but it wasn't that it was produced in Cheddar, it was matured in Cheddar. The caves were ideal for the purpose, so produced not far away, but the Cheddar caves is what led to us knowing cheddar cheese.