Berit & Chris's weblog

Bath Christmas Market

For the fourth time running, Bath is hosting a Christmas market. Until the 12th of December, situated adjacent to the Roman Baths and the Abbey, wooden chalet stalls will display local arts and crafts and sell seasonal goodies including luxury chocolates and mulled wine (a weaker version of glogg). After some initial window-shopping and a late lunch, Chris and I had a look around the stalls, one of which was selling traditional Swedish ‘tomter’ (Santa’s elves). The streets in Bath were beautifully lit with white decorative lights and there was a lovely smell of Christmas spices and burning lights.

The Peak District

On Saturday, we attended the wedding of Rachel and Andrew in Bolsterstone near Sheffield. The happy couple both looked stunning, and the alternative wedding march and charismatic priest added a special charm to the occasion. The ceremony itself took place in a beautiful village church from which we enjoyed a fantastic view over the surrounding countryside and villages despite heavy clouds looming overheads. It was, nevertheless, a somewhat chilly autumn afternoon, and we were all grateful for the fact that the reception took place at the Village Hall just a few steps away.

After a lovely evening, we headed for a nearby village Inn for the night. The next morning, and following Christopher's recommendation, we headed for the nearby Peak District and the village of Chapelton located amidst a spectacular landscape. The Peak District is an amazing mixture of green mountains, moor land and lakes, and seemed to be a favourite motor cycle destination. Unfortunately, we only had time for brunch before heading back down to Bristol. However, we plan to return.

Goodwood Revival 2004

Friday afternoon, we headed for Goodwood in West Sussex for the world’s biggest historic motor racing weekend, The Goodwood Revival. The Revival is a step back in time to the glory days of post-war British motor racing when the sport was at its most thrilling and glamorous.

Everyone attending the racing event is encouraged to dress in period clothing from the 50s and 60s to enhance the experience and romance of motor racing from a bygone era. And no modern vehicles (except ambulances and fire engines) are allowed within the circuit perimeter for the duration of the Revival weekend. As such, period vehicles (pre-66’) provide all necessary services and competitor support, and internal operations are tended by more than 220 pre-66’ vehicles, from delivery and ice cream vans to taxis. To further enhance a unique feel, stalls inside the circuit perimeter are designed to look period, offering food and delicacies popular of that era, and police and military personnel and vehicles of the 50s and 60s regularly ‘patrol’ the area. Imagine the days when the police drove Ferraries…?

Early Saturday, dressed in period clothes, we parked the MGA in the designated pre-66’ car park closest to the main entrance (all modern cars being consigned to a car park further away!). As this picture shows, the car park was packed with beautiful classic vehicles, both rare and more common – this event had attracted a rather large number of similar and red MGAs! New this year, was according to Chris, the EXPO, a shopping area packed with a variety of exhibitors’ stands and traders’ stands, offering anything from classic automobile art and tweed jackets to curry sauces and jewellery. In addition, one large area was designated new luxury cars and classic cars for sale, including Aston Martins, Jaguars and BMWs (this year marking the 75th anniversary of BMW motor cars).

Once inside the circuit perimeter, we located the paddocks to have a closer look at some of the cars, which were due to race this weekend. They included Ferraris, Maseratis, Lotuses, Mercedes-Benzes, MGs, Frazer Nash, Bugattis, Bentleys, McLarens and BRMs. Also on display were immaculate MGs, Jaguars and a 1960 Mini in significantly better shape than ours! Famous drivers to compete in the weekend’s races included Sir Stirling Moss in a 1961 Jaguar E-type and Rowan Atkinson in a 1952 Jaguar MkVII.

To provide some morning and mid-race entertainment, classic aircraft dating from the 40s and 50s – including Spitfires and the Lancaster Bomber – performed some amazing air displays throughout the Revival.

Sunday, being one of the hottest days since early June (!), we settled on the Lavant Straight on the Northern side of the race track for a relaxed day of motor racing. Sunday saw the second of an eight-lap race for motorcycles of a type that raced between 1962 and 1966, a one-hour, two-driver race for closed-cockpit GT cars from 1960-1964, a sixteen-lap race for 1.5-litre Formula One and Formula One-based Tasman cars of a type that raced between 1961 and 1965 (so-called sausage cars!) and many more.

Camping

According to the Metoffice, only the summer of 1912 seems certain to have been wetter than the present one! And many areas have had double their usual rainfall! With this in mind, we went camping… Saturday afternoon, we met up with Linda and Tara, Robyn and the children at the caravan and camping site of Burrowhayes Farm, which is situated in Horner Valley in the heart of the Exmoor National Park in Somerset. It is a lovely site with good and clean facilities and riding stables surrounded by a beautiful countryside. Only problems were the slight slope of the camping spot where we pitched the tent, the lack of airbeds, and the looming clouds above – all of which were destined to ensure a comfortable nights’ sleep!

In the evening, we settled around the barbeque with Kay, David and Jessica in the neighbouring tent, and enjoyed a lovely meal despite the constant threat of rain and mosquitoes. While an anti-mosquito candle seemed to keep the most adamant away, it also created a bit of a fright, followed shortly by much amusement, when Tara was momentarily set on fire!

Sunday, we further explored the surroundings with a short walk in the woods (and in a stream in Chris’ case!), and the village of Selworthy, a quaint Exmoor village with thatched cottages and a 15th century church.

Later, we visited the medieval village of Dunster. Dunster is one of England’s most scenic villages and holds a yarn market built in 1609, the Norman church of St George, a nunnery and cottages some 550 years old, and a working water mill and castle, which both date back to 1066. In 1979, Dunster Water Mill was restored to its former Victorian glory, having lain derelict, boarded up and neglected for nearly a century. It is now operating as a family working mill, open to the public and producing stoneground wholewheat flour. Chris, Timothy and I (see pic here) had a long look around the three-story mill, with its unique twin over-shot water-wheels, before chatting to the on-duty miller about the restoration work and buying some freshly produced flour. A visit to the water mill is highly recommended.

Gulliver’s Travels

Friday night, we headed up to London with Robyn, Martin and the children to spend the weekend with Claire and Henrik. Claire had successfully located a theme park for younger children aged between 2 and 13, in Milton Keynes to keep us amused all of Saturday.

Gulliver’s theme park was complete with a Lilliput Land, Adventure Land and Toyland, and rides including roller coasters, tree top swings and teacups. The children thoroughly enjoyed the experience; Timmy frequently reluctant to get off any rides resembling vehicles. And although the log flume was among the ‘scariest’ of rides, it was an enjoyable day as well for the grown-ups! We finished off the day in style with a first class meal from Henrik, which left us all feeling a little inadequate in the kitchen :-)

Sunday, Claire and Henrik took us to a local park, where we all enjoyed a ride on a miniature steam train, before heading to the picturesque village of Amersham for lunch. Amersham dates back to Saxon times, is bursting with architectural gems and was home to Oliver Cromwell’s wife. And in addition to providing a beautiful backdrop for film scenes, including some from Four Weddings and a Funeral, the village also has some fantastic interior design shops, which unfortunately were closed at the time of our visit. But no doubt we will return!

Chew Valley

Determined to improve our fitness, Chris and I have joined the gym, and today we made the most of Bank holiday Monday and tested the facilities. They were excellent, particularly the steam room, sauna and pool.

Feeling healthy and reenergized, we spent the rest of the sunny afternoon driving through villages in the Chew Valley. I can’t remember ever seeing so many beautiful cottages - and the odd restored and converted water mill - and wonderfully ancient village churches in one place, amidst a green countryside and numerous creeks. We particularly liked the village of Chew Magna (setting aside that the place name sounds more like a volcano than anything else!), which featured a picturesque town centre, impressive manor houses, most of which were probably listed, and the ancient village church of St. Andrew.

Boat Show and ballet

We spent most of Saturday at the London Boat Show with Chris’ parents, Claire and Henrik. Unlike previous years, the boat show now takes place in London’s Docklands and stretches, it seems, for miles. The show environment features a 1,500 seat indoor windsurfing championship, life-size jetties, a waterside pub (fibreglass, but still!), yachts in numerous shapes and sizes, million pound motorboats, barges and tall ships. In addition, stalls and shops offer technical clothing, equipment and gear. In the end, I had fallen in love with a lovely 42" Sweden Yacht. Chris was slightly more realistic and seemed content with state-of-the-art navigation. Sadly, we had far too little time to explore the entire boat show and not enough money to buy anything!

Before taking our seats at the Sadler’s Wells theatre later that evening for a Matthew Boune production of the Nutcracker!, we had an enjoyable Buddhist "non-violent" vegetarian meal in Islington. Not being a ballet in the classical "swan lake" sense, Nutcracker! features a varieties of colours, a fantasy landscape setting and fabulous music. And it was a perfect ending to a lovely day.

Wildlife Exhibition

Until 18 January, the City Museum & Art Gallery in Bristol is home to a very special annual exhibition, Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2003. Chris and I decided to take a closer look earlier today. And it was amazing. The collection brings together the very best of wildlife photographs from across the world to celebrate the beauty and wonder of our natural environment.

Wells

Today, Chris and I drove to Wells on Kylie (Kawaski ZX6R-J1). Pedro went along on Ivana (Honda CBR600). In Wells, a 30-minute drive from Bristol, lies one of the most beautiful cathedrals in England, the west front of which is a complete draught of imagery including 400 carved figures. The building of Wells Cathedral was commenced in 1180 and took 250 years to complete.

Although, the ride to Wells was fairly short, it quickly got chilly on the bikes, and Pedro and Chris complained a fair bit. I was wearing winter leathers on the back of Kylie, cuddled up behind Chris and managed to stay cosy warm the whole way out and back to Bristol.

Bath

Today, Chris and I visited Bath. Bath is probably one of the most beautiful cities in Europe. The architecture is very impressing, and remarkably well preserved. Bath also offers a good mix of theatres, restaurants, museums, and excellent shopping. Ancient achitecture, however, was top on our list of sights to see today (shopping was a very close second!).

The Great Roman Temple and bathing complex built almost 2000 years ago is one of Britain's finest ancient monuments, still flowing with natural hot spring water. The baths and temple lie approx. 6 metres below street level, and from the museum there is access to the sacred spring, the spiritual heart of the Roman religious spa, and an amazing drainage system which still appears fully functional (Chris was well impressed).