Christmas in Blighty

Squiffy

Squiffy

Charter Member
Hi gang,

I thought I should let the crew know, across the pond, that I will be spending Christmas in dear ol' Blighty this year. I'm visiting my brother and his family in Taunton and my wife and I are flying over on Saturday. We have a big storm due here on Friday but things should be fine by the next day. My wife has family in Kettering so we will try to get there if there is space left on the trains! Otherwise we'll tour the area and maybe visit Wells catherdral. I was thinking of visiting Oxford Christ Church, but with the break, I think everything will be closed. I haven't heard anything more from the Library there. Anyway, Happy Holidays gang and let me know if there's something we should see around Bristol during the Holidays.

Cheers!

:ernae:
 
Depends how far you can travel, Squiffy. If you can make it as far as Yeovilton, the Fleet Air Arm museum has a very fine collection (not all of them British....) including a Corsair in as near original appearance as can be. I had a good day there last summer, so consider this a recommendation.
Don't miss the Westland Wyvern, one of the ugliest aircraft on display, imo. :costumes:
http://www.fleetairarm.com/
 
Hairyspin! That's great and quite close. I'll tell folks and see if we can swing it. Website photos are very nice!

:icon31:
 
Yeovilton museum is a must see!

If you get chance Squiffy Bath is a lovely city and worth a visit.

If you're in Taunton don't forget to try the scrumpy... ;)
 
Cheers mates!

Well I'm back stateside, at work, and a litte jetlagged. We didnt' make it to Yeovilton but not for lack of trying. The kid were up late Christmas night and Boxing day. So we didn't get out until well past 1PM. Needless to say, traffic was absolute murder getting through Taunton and over to the M3 was it? We called home to check the website. Last admission at 3PM Saturdays. That was it, we were snookered. Believe me it was bumper to bumper for miles. There was a bad accident on the other side of the M3 well past where we were in the line, two routes over. It's hard to believe unless you've been there. And to think I thought of a nice touring holiday over there someday. I'll have to allow for traffic.

We did get up to Kettering via Paddington, Hammersmith City tube, and St. Pancras. St. Pancras station is beautiful! The sandy brick and painted ironwork, plus the new shops are all just grand. I must say the trains are very nice too. Much better than our commuter trains, but they were cross country of course. You can go straight down to the continent from St. Pancras now.

Last Sunday was great despite the cold. We road the restored steam engine line up to Minehead. Those engines are beutifully restored. Ran wonderfully. Cars are a little musty but that's part of the historical feel. Bought a couple die cast models at the shop in Minehead. A Lancaster and a BAC Hawk, Red Arrows lead. Also got a 1/72 Tempest and Dora from Airfis up north of Kettering. My wifes great Aunt and uncle live there. They were so generous. Treated us to dinner at a local pub. More later.
 
More snow here already. THe pub in Kettering was near the old USAAF base where there was a B-17 sq. They had a a painting of one there as well as other paintings of the BOB ships. At her cousins, they made us tea and "frothy coffee" as we dropped off gifts for the kids. They also had a nice collection of prints including one large one of a Spitfire titled 'Harvest Time." It's a birdseye view passing over a downed Heinkel. Saw many interesting cars including the new MGs. The rear end of the roadster is a bitt odd but it's good to see them on the road again. My nephew got a copy of X Plane 9 and I got a card game Wings of War. It's an interesting WWI game that also has collectible minatures. My family got me a Fokker triplane to start. A lesser known ace. Well, after some more coffee today I'm feeling a little better. Loved the trip really. You folks know how to sing Christmas carols! Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

:santahat: :snowman: :friday: :unitedkin:
 
Sounds like you were a victim of the Sales, dear chap. It's a variety of lunacy that affects lots of us at this time of year and the West Country was no less affected than other parts of England's green and pleasant land. But if it's snow you wanted, you were about a month late and in the wrong county. Better luck next time!
 
Hairy, the green pastures were a welcome sight actually. I left 10 inches of snow and was greeted back home with about 6 on Newyear's eve. It's been cold as well. Only in the teens the last two days. Going up to the higher 30s F today so I can get the car ready for the snow tires. Just using the train lately. There were a lot of shoppers the week before Christmas and I'm sure there were sales hunters too afterward. But seriously, highway traffic was completely clogged and there WAS an accident. We see a similar effect here in New England. Towns are closer together , stoplights are closer together, our 'rotaries' back up too. It's just insane. My brother has been there for 3 years and this is what he described to me. I am sure he allowed for the holidays. Anyway, now I have a good excuse to go back and visit again, spending more time. That's a good thing!

:costumes:
 
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