Month: April 2012

So, the big event – off to see the Magician in Leavesdon…

Second day on this tour, today we had pre-booked the tickets to go on the Harry Potter Tour, at Warner Brothers Studio in Leavesdon scheduled for 15:00. So we had a day to fill. We were instructed to arrive at least 20 mins early, so we looked around the area to see where to visit and decided on St Albans.

We had a quick initial look round the town, and it was a pretty nice place. Long modernish shopping street opening out into a number of smaller, older streets. We walked down and round until we came to the cathedral. It looked pretty big. Then we walked round to the front door, and realised it was massive. I am not really one for the imaginary friend nonsense, but it is easy to appreciate these cathedrals. As normal (unless you are at St Pauls) it was free to enter, and the first thing noticed was how warm it was, their heating bill must be ginormous. Next thing to hit you is the scale of the place – it is huge, I think the biggest one I have ever seen.

We walked around the rest of city, until the rain started, so we headed over to Nandos for a spot of lunch. After Nandos and still in the rain we need to kill an hour and a half, so decided on the Slug and Lettuce. As we walked in, we thought we had mistaken this pub for a crèche, it was packed with ladies who lunch and their tiny offspring. I have never seen that many babies in a pub before. Anyway, luckily it wasn’t too noisy, so we got a couple of drinks and wasted some time.

Before we knew it, it was time for Harry. So off we went to Leavesdon.

Very easy to find off the M25, we arrived, in the rain a little early – with a very, very excited Kate in the back. There was a guy who’s job appeared to be to show people how to go right round the round-about, must be a strange existence – perhaps he swaps with the car park directors some days?

So to the place. You arrive into a large atrium, with a cafe, and the obligatory store. No real signs of where to go or what to do, just a lot of people milling about. We had pre-booked the guided tour, which was a slightly modified iTouch with info about the place, probably find that has been hacked somewhere on the web by now. Once we got this we started queuing behind some people, after having our tickets scanned, we passed the “under the stairs in Privit Drive” set and next thing we know we are in a room with the doors closing.

This is the beginning of the tour, we have been separated out into about 60, who are ushered into a movie theatre to watch a quick trailer of the show, then time for the big reveal. Screen disappears at you are at the great hall. The bloke asked for a helper and a bloody 20 something idiot squeals and puts her hand up. Imbecile.  And we are in!

Great hall pretty impressive, it is “full size” and very well done, then you are free to wander around on your own to look at the sets. They had the majority of the main ones, potion room, dormitory, Dumbledor room, ministry of magic, ron’s house etc. They are alot smaller than you might think, but all in all its pretty impressive. After this area, you go outside to see Privit Drive, knightbus, the flying car etc, and get screwed over for a tiny butterbeer, three quid for a drink of flat lucozade crossed with cream soda, and a globule of crappy cheap tasking cream on the top. Even now when I close my eyes I can still taste the rancid brew. We didn’t drink much of it, plenty did, although I am sure they were mostly gagging on it.

Next section was monsters and diagon alley. Some pictures, then the final section which was a scale model of Hogswort. It was massive, and really very impressive.

Then that was that, back to the shop, where the cheapest thing was seven quid, and the idiotic, imbecilic, moronic Harry Potter fans couldn’t wait to pour even more money into the coffers of the cash cow that is  the Harry Potter Universe.

So another couple of days out, primarily to visit The Harry Potter studios with our little one. But as it was so far away we decided to stay a couple of nights in Kings Langley and visit the Zoo today and HP tomorrow.

Whipsnade zoo was quite surprising, as it seemed to be more of a wildlife park than a zoo, which was good. It was spread over a wide area and had large open “pens” for the majority of the animals. You can bring your car on site, for an additional £20, but they also have a small bus which goes around the perimeter which is fine to hop on and off. Unfortunately if you don’t have a carriage to yourself you get to enjoy the company of humans in various states of evolution and put up with the noise they bring with them. Anyone with any money just drives in for the extra 20 quid!

There was a good variety of animals, and we caught the sea lion show which was okay. Luckily, again there were not too many people there which made the majority of the trip a pleasure. Even the canteen wasn’t too bad. We saw pretty much everything we intended to, even saw the elephants walking passed us, which was nice. It rained for a short while and we sheltered miles from home, but all in all it was a good day out.

Once finished we made our way back to Kings Langley and had a couple of beers in the pub next to the Premier Inn. Then into town and passed one pub which stated it had no license for children, to the pub at the end of the village – which was very pleasant. Decided on an Indian for supper (http://www.cinnamon-lounge.co.uk), and the place we went was quite nice, and the staff were very friendly – even got a couple of photo’s of the owner and staff. And they served Mongoose, which I don’t think I have had before… Nice Vindaloo, but Keema Naan was far to well presented!

Quick visit to Taunton on the way back from Cornwall. Worked quite well really. It was a little get together for Phil’s 40th, which he had no idea about. When I got to his house he was muttering about why is it that no one comes to visit and then we all do. Some other friends were already in the house, and Phil was all a fluster as Jess was out with her horse, and he didnt know what to do. After a sweaty 15 mins trying to get some bets on, I was ready to help him relax and get over the pub in time for the national. Phil told us the pub was great for children (you can tell he has none! ;o), and actually it wasn’t bad – we settled in for a couple of drinkies. We did a sweepstake in the pub and I think the bar maid was slightly aggrieved that we (well our Kate actually) won. She had pulled out the same horse in the sweepstake as the one she had bet on – Neptune Collonges (my Granddad always said “bet on the grey”) , so won in total around £60 pounds.

Couple more pubs and a few more people joining and we went to the Mint and Mustard (http://www.mintandmustard.com/) fancy pants Indian restaurant. Which was nice. But sooo expensive. I had a Cobra, which I didn’t realise until half way though was 8%, and a Lamb Naan with a Goan Porc ‘Vindalu’ – which was very nice, but £11.50 for a “vindaloo” – hmm.

Anyway, all enjoyed and they went off for more beer as we walked back to the hotel to get the little one to bed.

Day 3 was a day to explore the region slightly more.

We had a couple of ideas of things to do, but on the whole we thought we would explore around the area and see what we could find. We started off on a high, in more ways than one, at Adrenaline Quarry. An excellent cash cow for the owners, this is set in an abandoned quarry site, and consists of a massive zip line and swing, and a type of orienteering you can join up on.

We went for the zip line, it is sold as the: Longest, Highest and Fastest ( http://www.adrenalinquarry.co.uk/ ) it is also I would wager the most expensive! I often moan to anyone who will listen that its not the cost, its the value – this was £12.50 each, for one run. ONE RUN. Shocking. Anyway, as I am easily twisted round the fingers of my family we signed the disclaimer and went for it.

I am not very good with heights, but this, although touted as the highest did not really give too much impression of height. Once buckled in, away we went for our 30 second zip. I must admit it was pretty cool, until half way when it felt like my rope was slipping ;o) As they only have two, Kate and I went first, then before I could get out of my harness Sian was already down. It was good, but good value? Probably not.

Next we set off to Golitha Falls, a river with some small rapids and falls, about 15 miles from Liskeard. Now this was nice. It was quiet and unspoilt with noise, it was really just a small river winding itsway through some trees, with a couple of small falls on the way. But the pathway along the river was interesting, and Kate took great delight in crossing every fallen tree in sight, both across smaller streams and the main river itself. We got to the end only too quickly though, and as we expected some real falls, were slightly disappointed, but in all its was great. If only we had packed some sausages we could have had a camp fire by the river.

After Golitha, we looked for nosh, we came across the Halfway House, which looked okay, it was quiet and the meals were adequate. Sausage and mash was plentiful and the other meals were pretty good.

After food we ventured down little roads to Carnglaze Caverns which was reasonable proice to enter and was really quite impressive. Not and long and spectacular as Wookey Hole or Dan-yr-Ogof this is just three caverns and a couple of pools. The scale of the main cavern is what is most impressive. Its huge. The caverns are used for concerts and weddings, and I was very impressed with the bar in the first cavern – the only one in Britain apparently? The next cavern is really impressive, to think it was all manually drilled/exploded and dragged out by people makes it all the more impressive. You need to read all the info signs, and take your time or it would be over very quickly. We spent perhaps 45 mins down there, and was was all quite interesting.

Once finished the rain started. We had been lucky with the weather and also the lack of people so far on the trip, so we decided to have a look at the towns in the area – the closest being Bodmin. It was rubbish. We had a cup of tea and left (and I had paid for 3 hrs parking!)

Next stop was St Austells, we thought it might have a harbour we could sit on whilst the rain rained, but if it did we couldnt find it. We found the brewery though, and spent 30 seconds admiring the outside whilst we turned round to leave, sharpish.

We also did not seem to be able to find a coast road – its not as easy to tour as Pembrokeshire, but we headed for Polperro as I had heard about this, and it was sort of on the way back to the hotel. The rain gods were kind as the rain stopped as we neared the place and as we pulled in the car park, the car park gods were also kind as someone (slightly reluctantly in the end) gave us his parking ticket. Polperro is great, I really liked it, even though by the time we got there the masses were leaving and walking back to the car park passed us. Its a nice harbour village, with many restaurants and shops and a couple of pubs. We waked though and down the the harbour, which is probably slightly nicer when the tide is in, and down on to the “beach” to skim some stones. Unfortunately the weather was not great so we had a quick pint in the Blue Peter and set off for home.

Had food in the Liskeard Tavern again, which was so unremarkable I cannot remember what I had and that was that.

Day two, and a tremendously opportunity for hilarity as we are spending the day in (the) looe.. Ho ho…

Took the train from Liskeard, with a railcard only £7 for the three of us, amazing value. The line was supposed to be fantastically pretty, well, it was nice – but nothing more than many other lines you can go on. It is a separate branch line from Liskeard, but run by Great Western. It was reasonably quiet, except for some hateful woman who brought about 8 children, she told then to “go right” when she “went left” and left them take over the carriage we were in. So they just did as they pleased, and she didnt give a stuff – typical. Trouble was they were not quite awful enough to make a fuss, but as you can imagine it was enough to have be hurrumphing into my kindle.

Trip was only around half an hour, and we walked the five minutes into the village of Looe itself. We were quite underwhelmed at first sight – it seems everywhere in East Cornwall could do with a coat of paint. Anyway, I was starving and there were pasty shops everywhere so I just had to have one. They even had the “Cornwall Pasty Company”, which I saw in Manchester the last time I think, I was very lucky and found a place called The Pasty Shop, Sara’s Pastries – I had the Steak and Kidney Pie, and I am not joking when I say it was <clarkson> the best pie – in the world </clarkson> it was fabulous so stuffed full of steak and kidney – loved it. We sat on the front by the little beach as I stuffed down my pie, then went for the first of many walks around the tiny streets.

After walking for a while, we realised we forgot our “crabbing kit”, so searched out the cheapest place for a replacement and set to gather some crabs. On the third throw in, the line got tangled, and I spent 15 mins pulling the line. As i am pathetic with heights I was too scared to go to the edge of the harbour wall so I was doing a pathetic job really. We realised it was no good, and we tied it up and left it.

We had some slight spots of rain, so went into a little cafe for a coke, the time to decide where we were to have the fish and chips we decided in the end to go to Daves Diner, near the harbour. Tiny place, with old placemats, but the fish was nice, good chips, nice curry sauce and reasonably priced. Kate was presented with a couple of posters after showing some enthusiasm with the types of fish on the walls – which was nice.

After nosh we went for a walk to “West Looe”, which was the runt of the Looe litter, but had a big bronze seal. It then rained, so we went to the pub, then another, then perhaps one more. Another quick shopping trip around all the rest of the alleys Looe had to offer and we made our way back to the train. Quick pint in the pub opposite the station and we were on our way home.

Once back in Liskeard, we were brace enough to sample the local pubs, the Stag was first, and by Jove it was West Countryish. “Orwight moi luvverlies” the buxom wench said they had run out of nice lager, so had Carling. After here we mooched into another pub called The White Horse, which would have been a little troubling without seven pints rolling around you.

So over the road to the curry house, waited for over an hour – I felt ill and left when the food came. No one enjoyed it much and we walked home. Me feeling sicker than I should have.

So Eastyer hols are here, and we thought we would head off to that there Cornwall for a couple of days, as neither of us could really remember being there much before. We decided to base ourselves in Liskeard as they had a Premier Inn there, and we know you get good value there. Probably in hindsight there might have been better places to stay..

Set off nice and early to make sure we made the most of the day. Drive down is M4/M5/A38 and when there is no traffic the roads are great. We made fantastic time, and arrived a fair bit earlier than expected. Checked in early, luckily our room was ready, then walked into Liskeard itself.

The walk in was about a mile, and we strolled round realising that it wasn’t really a very touristy place, and to be honest a bit of a hole.. We had expected something slightly nicer, with some decent pubs – but it all looked in need of a little TLC. Anyway, found one pub that looked okay, as we needed to kill 45 mins before the train, so we had a couple of pints in the “beer garden”, which was a concrete slab behind the pub – but it was sunny, and they had San Miguel.

After spending 5 minutes too long in the pub we walked/ran to the train station to get the train, we got there with about a minute to spare – perfect. So slightly flustered and warm we set off for Plymouth.

Half hour later we got to Plymouth and walked in a straight line from the station to the “Hoe”. The walk down was through a massive open concorse, with shops on the side – very 1970’s, but okay none the less. We got down to the Hoe in around 10 mins, and spent 2 minutes looking at the statue wondering where the bowling game actually took place, then full of education we looked for a pub.

As we walked along the front and passed the Lido, we spotted the Yacht club, non members welcome – so we got a pint and sat out by the sea – it was warm and very pleasant. After a quick beer, we walked round to the harbour front. It had many pubs and restaurants and was really quite a nice place. Luckily for us there were very few people about so we could take our pick of the pubs and tables. Nice. Kate had a bite to eat and we shared some Whitebait at the Ship Inn – which were lovely, and plentiful.

Over to the Aquarium for a quick nose about, expensive and not very impressive. They have a massive tank and that’s about it. I think we spent longer in the gift shop than the place itself!

Another couple of pubs to check out and then back on the train to Liskeard.

We walked back to the hotel via “the forest”, and had some simple but nice (Sharing platter and chips) and the hotel pub and then to bed. Day 1 complete.

We went to see fourteen locks today.

This is a place near to Newport, where some people are attempting to renovate a number of the locks that used to be used as part of the Newport canal. To be honest they seem to be only just starting, as they have an awful lot to still do, but on a nice day its a pleasant enough place to visit.

After parking “up top” we started our walk down the locks, the first few are very well renovated, and the surprising thing for me was how deep they were. As a hights shandy I couldnt get near the edge, but Kate was straight over to it without a care. First thing for her was to get down the ladder and into the lock itself. As these are being renovated they all have very little water in them, so it was quite a climb for her, by the time she got back up she was a little tired!.

Next stop was a thin wooden block which was placed to help hold the water back before the lock, about ten foot high, she wanted to tightrope walk across it – I thought she’d fall in, she didn’t so she had to do it again coming back over, showing us how she could go one legged on the “beam”.

Once we got passed around four locks you could see that was as far as the renovation had gone, but we continued down the path, under the motorway and then along side the M4 between the tunnels and the Jnt 27. Even though I have driven along that stretch many times, I have never noticed people walking and cycling along it.. So we got down to what we figured was the last lock and turned back. Unfortuntaly it is not a circular route, so we had to retrace our steps avoiding unleashed dogs and cyclists back up to the car.

Not a bad walk, the top section is okay for a visit, the rest of the walk not so much…

We cycled up to the Rose when we got back, for a quick beverage in the sun. Luckily I only had one, as on the way back Sian had a puncture, so I raced home to get the car and save the day!! ;o)