On Friday we walked in Fryupdale to Danby Castle which sits in a strategic position overlooking the River Esk valley in North Yorkshire. In the 16th century it was the home of Catherine Parr who, after the death of her husband John Neville, became Henry VIII’s last wife.
Today we walked the beach from Marske to Redcar. The tide was well out and, searching for evidence of a petrified forest, we instead came across a large ammonite fossil in Salt Scar Rocks.
Arrived yesterday in God’s own county. We had a Yorkshire welcome with bunting, a Union flag and the White Rose flag hung in lights over the fireplace.
It does feel good to be on the road again visiting family and friends.
Bracing walk from Marske-by-the-Sea to Saltburn and back. Time to chat, enjoy the pounding surf and feel the cold air on our noses.
Now, back at the house, the wood burner is blazing and we will settle down for an evening of travel tales.
We drove up from the south to the north east on a lovely spring day. Roseberry Topping, the local hill, was stunning in the evening light. It felt good to be back up north.
Spent the late evening at the Riverside in support of Middlesbrough FC in their 3-1 win over Cardiff. Come on Boro!
We spent the best part of a day exploring ‘BP’, the Buckinghamshire estate and site of Britain’s top-secret world of WW2 Codebreaking. The mission of those working there was to crack the Nazi codes and ciphers. The most famous of the cipher systems to be broken at Bletchley Park was the Enigma.
It was mind stretching trying to make sense of how Enigma was broken with the help of the genius of such mathematicians as Alan Turing, whose life and work was recently portrayed in the film The Imitation Game.
It was good to know that WW2 hostilities were shortened by at least a couple of years through this project.
Took a stroll along the canal and through Campbell Park to a labyrinth we have walked a few times over the years. We passed a stand of snowdrops and some wild primroses alight in the low winter-spring sun.
It is good to be back in the UK but strangely it feels as ordinary as just the next day in the next place.
We have touched down in the UK for a few weeks. Time to catch up on jobs to be done.
For the next wee while we will post occasional blogs until we head onto the continent next month.
We spent our last day in Bangkok at the Grand Palace. The morning was spent researching a family friend in the Royal Archives.
Then, along with several thousand other folk, we wandered the grounds and buildings of the complex in awe at the grandeur and gold.
On our way back to our hotel we stopped by a temple to discover a courtyard with several table tennis tables chocka with school boys who played well. Got thrashed.
We arrived in Bangkok this afternoon and after settling into our final room of this long trip, we took a ferry northwards up the Chao Phraya river to Tha Tien pier where we visited Wat Pho (Wat Phra Chetuphon). It is the oldest and biggest temple in the city and known for its huge 46m long and 15m high Reclining Buddha.
It was particularly noisy in the temple courtyards with Chinese New Year celebrations taking place. The relatively quiet space near the Buddha was refreshingly quiet and peaceful.
Up before dawn to witness the monks receiving the hospitality of those who filled their food bowls and who in turn received a chanted blessing. We were struck by the humility of the monks and the respect of those who cared for them.
Then we drove up the mountain to the Wat Phra That Doi Suthep theravada temple in Chiang Mai province. We relished the stillness of the early morning before many people arrived to visit and to pray.
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