At Home for the Summer - #2 Cycling the Calke Abbey (NT) Tramway Trail

Hi there everyone 😀

Welcome to the second post of my 'At Home for the Summer' series.

As you will know, having put so much time and effort into the garden over the last twelve months, Martin and I have decided to spend the summer at home. We want to both enjoy the new garden and keep it at its best over the summer months.

That’s not to say there won't be a few trips out and about ... I’ve tried to arrange some kind of day out for each of the weeks that Martin isn’t working.

You can see our first summer big day out on our re-visit to Coughton Court with mum and dad here.

For our next trip out we were on our own, at and around Calke Abbey, another NT property not too far away. We’d not been out on our bikes for as long as I can remember and I’d seen details of the Calke Abbey Tramway Trail a while ago and tentatively put a date on the calendar to give it a go.

So, tyres pumped up, water bottles frozen overnight and a map of the route printed out we loaded up the car and headed off.

We parked up and got ourselves sorted and were soon on our way. We did have a few hiccoughs before we got fully under way. We just about got to the start of the trail when the bracket on my basket gave up the ghost, so it was back to the car to swap all our essentials over into the rucksack.

On our way again and I flew off ahead down the hill and round onto the first part of the track, which was uphill, so a swift change of gears was required, which resulted in my chain dropping off, so emergency repairs were required once Martin caught me up.

Finally we were on our way properly, hoping for no further incident.

The track took us up away from the house, along the original old carriage route and there were some pretty good views to be had looking back towards the house.

We arrived at the first of many gates and made our way through to a lovely part of the trail taking us through hedgerows of ferns and wild flowers ...

... leading us up to an old red brick barn, where we had a quick refreshment stop. Though it was very overcast and threatening a shower, it was still very, very warm and muggy ...

We whizzed down the hill, passing the dairy herd having lunch ...

Before meeting up with the old tramway trail ...

We were both really surprised to find how green everything looked along the trail, considering how little rain we'd had of late.

The track was really well maintained and not too bumpy, though there were some long stretches of shallow incline that definitely got our hearts pumping and there was more than the odd drink stop along the way, as the water bottles began to defrost.

We also experienced a very brief shower and took shelter under the trees, another good excuse for a breather ...There were plenty of old bridges and a very disorientating tunnel that had us both feeling a bit wobbly in the middle ...

We continued along the tramway trail, passing through plenty of gates and under bridges right along the edge of the estate ...At this tunnel we left the tramway trail and headed up to the right ...

The trail took us across open parkland ...

... and we ended up back alongside the main drive where, you’ve guessed it, there was just the one Geocache stop before heading back towards the house, where we passed a lady on a bike for the second time ... she had been round twice in the time it had taken us to do it the once, which was a bit embarrassing but hey!

There was also time for the regulation ... we are on our bikes ... selfie ...The last stretch back to the main drive was a bit of a slog ...

... and we may have just resorted to a short walk here ...

... though I used it as an excuse to take photos of the dry stone wall ...

... and this tree ...

The trail is just over six miles long, it’s a good track for cycling and would be described as easy from a terrain point of view. It was just about right for us, who have not biked for a good few years and we managed it quite comfortably, though of course the legs were a bit wobbly for a bit when we dismounted.

Sausage baps from the cafe went down very well as a post ride treat ...

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So, that's another great day out for us with the National Trust. A bit different to our normal visits, as we were too wobbly in the legs to visit the house or the gardens this time, though that is on the cards for another day very soon 😀

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Weekend Catch Up #3 - Whitby & The Bay to Boggle Hole

Hi there everyone 😀

We are back up on the North Yorkshire coast for the 3rd in a series of posts about our week's holiday, which started out with an annual catch up with old work friends.

On Saturday the plan was for us all to meet up in Whitby, where we would have a mooch about, a few pub stops and lunch and then to either stay out till the evening, if the weather was good, or to head back to Robin Hood's Bay to eat, if the weather wasn’t so good.

Writing this post at the beginning of August, in the midst of a heatwave, it seems very strange to say this but we woke up to a heavy mist, so had a bit of a slow start. We met up with Sue and Jude in Whitby, with Rob and Phil having decided to make the cliff top walk in with Charlie ... the gorgeous springer spaniel, who is very much part of the gang.

We had a bit of a mooch about and met up with the boys at the bottom of the steps to the abbey, before heading back across the bridge to find somewhere for lunch.

The weather wasn’t too bad, though rain was definitely on the way, and we ended up having crab and prawn sandwiches in the harbour, followed by ice creams, before we parted company and we headed back to The Piggery for a bit of a chill out before meeting up later at The Victoria Hotel at the top of the hill in Robin Hoods Bay for dinner, and very nice it was too.
Sunday was our last full day with all of us together and we had a walk on the cards. We were meeting up in Robin Hood's Bay and making the walk to Boggle Hole, starting out on the cinder path, which was nice and steady.

We soon veered off though and had a couple of serious up and downs before ending up at the youth hostel where drinks and cake went down very well.

We had a nice walk back to The Bay along the beach, where Charlie had a good run and we had a few more pit stops as we made our way back up the hill and Jude and Rob's caravan for the annual BBQ.
As always the BBQ was a real treat, with plenty to eat, all expertly cooked to perfection by Rob, plenty of chat, laughter and discussion about where we would be meeting next year.

It looks like Broadway is the favourite option, so see you all again next year 😀

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Weekend Catch Up #2 - The Piggery & The Bay

Hi there everyone 😀

It seems like an absolute age since the beginning of June when we had our annual catch up with old work friends on the North Yorkshire coast. There has just been so much else going on that I don't seem to have had chance to write these posts, so apologies that this may feel a little out of synch, but it was important to me to go back and make sure that the memories are captured for posterity.

The weekend was the start of a week's holiday for Martin and I and started with a visit to Nunnington Hall on our way to break up the journey.

We were staying in a little cottage called The Piggery in a tiny village called Ugglebarnby and we arrived in bright sunshine and it looked just lovely.

We just about had time to admire the view and empty the car before heading off to Robin Hoods Bay to meet up with the rest of the gang.

We got lucky and managed to just grab the last parking space in the car park at the top of the hill.

The views looking back across the coast were just glorious in the evening sunshine ...

We took a nice slow wander down to the bottom, passing all of the interesting looking side alleys and ginnels ...

At the bottom we met up with everyone else at The Bay hotel, where we had a few drinks sat outside in the sunshine overlooking the sea, before availing ourselves of fish and chips, which we took up onto the Quarterdeck and ate in the late evening sunshine. We definitely did our bit for national fish and chip day!

We built ourselves up to the slog back up the hill, where we parted company ... with Sue and Phil heading back to their B&B, Jude, Rob and Charlie their caravan and us back to The Piggery, where we managed to do a bit of unpacking and got settled in.

It was a great start to the weekend 😀

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Joy in the Everyday Ordinary - July, 28-31

Hi there everyone 😀

I honestly can not remember a time when we had so many warm, bright and sunny days back to back. Of course, as with anything, there are both up and downsides of such glorious weather.

It has been lovely knowing what the next day will bring, knowing that a day out will not be spoilt by rain or poor weather or worrying about whether to take a coat or a brolly. It's been lovely being able to spend so much time outside, to be able to peg out the washing and not have to dash out to fetch it in before it's dry. It's been a real treat to be able to wear the summer clothes that haven't been worn for a long old time and to not have to wear any socks!

It has not been so nice being so hot that sleep has become a bit elusive and that doing even the simplest of household chores has become such an effort. The novelty of the constant need for watering in the garden has definitely worn off. The lolling around, wanting to do something but just not feeling like it has become a bit of a pain. At times it has just been too darn hot!

We did get a bit of a break in the weather this weekend and we did actually see some rain, which was just a delight. It makes me realise just how much I love our seasons and I'm always ready to welcome in the next one and the changes that I know it will bring. I particularly enjoy the shift over from summer to autumn and am always ready to embrace the dark nights, enjoy closing the blinds early, lighting the candles and snuggling up with a new autumn drama on the TV.

Saying that, I'm not quite ready for Autumn yet and am hoping for another month or so of this summer that has been such an unexpected treat so, for now, here's what we got up to as July came to a close ...

Day 28 - Another Saturday and another BBQ with friends was on the cards. This time we had Jo, Steve, Hannah & Megan over. Martin and I spent the day preparing our feast and didn't really stop to eat, though we did manage to finish off this leftover cup cake from our afternoon tea at The Little Shed the day before. The forecast was a bit mixed and by the time our guests arrived it was a bit risky to sit outside so we retired indoors, though Martin did do all of the cooking outside, under the protection of a big brolly. We had another lovely night, ate too much, I didn't drink a drop, after last week's episode, and we had lots of good chat and plenty of laughter.

Day 29 - Yay!!! Sunday morning and we had rain. Proper rain. For what seemed like the first time since about the beginning of June. It was lovely. We both stood on the landing watching it drench the garden, glad that we would get a day off from watering. We had a lovely lazy day and spent the afternoon watching a film ... Geostorm. We both really enjoyed it and Martin even managed to stay awake all of the way through so it must have been pretty decent. It was a lovely way to spend Martin's last day off for two weeks before heading back into work on Monday.

Day 30 - Monday, and Martin was back at work for the best part of the week. I spent a nice slow, steady day, catching up with some blogging, getting tidy and just generally chilling out after what has felt like a hectic couple of weeks. Of course, I did spend a few minutes wandering round the garden seeing what was going on. It was back in the second week of June when I picked my first bunch of sweet peas this year. They have been amazing, are still going strong and I am still picking them.

Day 31 - It was not the best of days. I woke feeling pretty crummy, with a stinking headache, so didn't get up till late. I didn't really feel right all day. We are both still struggling with horrible coughs, though I think mine is starting to get better. When I did get up I just couldn't decide what I wanted. I wanted a drink, but I didn't fancy anything. I was hungry, but didn't know what I fancied. I couldn't concentrate on anything. As always the garden gave me something to smile about. Having tried to grow rudbekia a number of times and failing miserably, a couple of years ago mum brought a few straggly bits of root round from her garden, which we just pretty much chucked in the soil behind the magnolia. Well, this year they have gone a bit crazy. They have spread dramatically, grown about four feet tall and are covered in the brightest yellow flowers. They look so bright and cheery, especially when they are catching the light of the sun. Gardens are definitely good for the soul.

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So that was our July. Sunkissed and jam packed. The calendar doesn't look quite so busy for August so I'm looking forward to a bit of a calmer and more relaxed month. I'm sure there will still be the odd outing, but hopefully at a bit of a slower pace 😀

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