Various summer stuff (a catch-up!)

Just thought I would do a round-up of a few bits we've done over the summer.....

We did a couple of visits to places in East Anglia to tie in with staying with my mum and dad, the first being a few days break in July. On the way to their place we went to the impressive Framlingham Castle in Suffolk, then onto Saxmundham. The next day we went to the stunning North Norfolk coast, a definite favourite of ours. We drove up through the county in rather windy weather, first to Cromer to sort out a walking map and to have a look around (we adore Cromer!), then onto Wells-Next-the-Sea to have a look around the old harbour area. We then went back along the coast through the pretty village of Stiffkey and stopped off to do a circular walk from and to Blakeney Harbour, through the saltmarshes and via Cley, where there is a famous windmill. Shame about the rain that came on at Cley, but never mind -it was a showery day. Lastly, we stopped of on the shingle beach at Salthouse and then onto Sheringham before heading home.

The next day we did a coastal walk from Gorleston-on-Sea to Lowestoft which was wonderful. We started the walk from Gorleston-On-Sea cliffs and then down to the beach, and headed south along the coast. Between Hopton and Corton we had to leave the beach due to coastal erosion, and then head along inland, via Corton's partly ruined church. On the other side of Corton we found a nice area of protected woodland right next to the Pleasurewood Hills theme park (you could hear the screams from the rides!) It was really fun exploring that, especially when we found the lovely pond with the ducks. We found ourselves back on the beach and walked along this for a while before making our way into Lowestoft town centre, first to do a bit of shopping and then catch the bus back to Gorleston. Great walk of about 7 miles on a lovely day!

On the following Sunday, having driven back home the day before, we went over to Shropshire to climb the Wrekin Hill (near Telford.) It was a lovely walk through the trees to the summit, where there are good views over the countryside. We hope to go back there one day, as there are many more paths to explore. Then, as a 'spur of the moment' choice, we drove over to Ironbridge. Having eventually found a parking space, we got out and had a look around the town, and (of course) photographed the famous bridge in the hot afternoon sun. The town was packed with day trippers - not surprising really, as it is a world heritage site and definitely on the tourist trail.

On our second trip to my parent's, we were able to visit Burgh Castle - the site of the Roman town - near Gorleston. Looks like we could do some good country walking around there on another trip.

We also did another fun country walk locally one weekend in the summer, in the countryside outside of Nuneaton, to Caldecote Hall and back along the Coventry canal. We were also lucky enough to visit the Battle of Bosworth re-enactment day again this year.

In August, we went for a little summer break on the Yorkshire coast. We stayed in a fantastic apartment in a converted barn on a farm near to Bridlington. It was so quiet out there! We did a lot of country walking on the trip, the first being around Flamborough Head, a very scenic area of coast that juts out into the North Sea near Bridlington. This was wonderful: a quiet coastal path, lots of sea birds, stunning views along the cliffs, fresh sea air, and bright skies. We also visited Whitby (what an amazing and interesting town that is - doing the Dracula walk was brilliant!) and then walked back along the clifftops to Robin Hood's Bay along the Cleveland Way. It was a gorgeous day, very hot and sunny and the North sea was a clear deep blue. The cliff views were stunning - shame about the bugs though! Robin Hood's Bay is quirky place, an old fishing village that marches down the steep cliffs to the sea. We also went to Filey Bay (good to walk along the Filey Brigg, and the town was great,) Bempton Cliffs (alas, no puffins on view!) and to Scarborough town and castle - bought some seaside rock for my work pals. Another walk we did was in the countryside on the edge of the North York Moors just outside Scarborough, which was fun even though the weather was very up and down. A pretty wooded river valley, open countryside and sheep!

We also visited Castle Howard (on the way up there) and Bolsover Castle (on the way back) I liked both, but I think Bolsover had far more character, maybe because it was partly ruined and older. Also, on the way back we stopped on in the market town of Beverley (very pretty and surpisingly olde worlde) and then had lunch by the river in the village of North Cave. What a wonderful trip!

A couple of weeks after that we went back up to Derbyshire to visit Hardwick Hall and gardens, which were very interesting, but disappointing, as the hall's very famous windows (rare at the time of construction in the 1500's) were partially covered up to protect the tapestries! Oh well. The walk down to the fish ponds was good, and we got some lovely photos.
Oh, the Mrs. passed her driving test first time, and drove us up to Hardwick! :) Well done, Carla!
There are some photos of this on Carla's blog entry here.

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I went to the London Film and Comic Con at the end of July, which was great as I got to catch up with some old friends amongst the film and TV celebrities and stalls selling merchandise. I managed to get some autographs for a friend. Then, the weekend after there was the annual "Star Wars" fan 'park meet', in London's Hyde Park. Not a big turn out this year, but a fun and relaxing time had by all. It was good that Carla was able to come with me this year.

I haven't seen many films at the cinema since "Transformers 2", but I did go and see the excellent "District 9" when I was at my parent's place the other weekend. I went with my pal Kevin who (like me) enjoys his sci-fi movies. We saw it at the Hollywood cinema Great Yarmouth. I loved the film and was particularly impressed with what they did with a small budget - the animation on the aliens was brilliant. The week before, Carla and her work pals went to see "Julie and Julia" which she enjoyed. See here, and Joe's review here.

London Film and Comic Con

Last weekend was a busy one! On the Saturday, I popped down to Earl's Court exhibition centre for the latest "London Film and Comic Convention" - one of the many sci-fi collector's events run by my old pal Jason. I've been going to these since the tail end of 1990, and having spent most of the following decade working at them (and spending lots of cash as well!) I'm now an old hand at this stuff. They are still one of my favourite things to do. Even though I don't collect that much merchandise any more, the buzz at the shows is really good as the people who go there *love it*!
The fair was made up of the usual stalls selling film and TV related merchandise, original props on show, people in costume, and special guests selling their autographs and conducting talks to their fans. Luckily, I was able to bump into two pals, Ben and Jamie, and before that have a long catch-up chat with Jason.

I met Jay Benedict (an American actor based in the UK since the mid 1970's, who was at the show mainly to sign pictures from "Aliens") who provided the voice for Shiro Hagen in the early 1980's sci-fi puppet series "Star Fleet". The DVDs come out in September, which is fab as I love that show! As you can see, I got him to autograph my old "Star Fleet" video cover: his signature is now next to Garrick 'Biggs in Star Wars' Hagon, who played Captain Carter. Maybe I can get Liza Ross' signature in the future (she played Lamia.)

I also got to meet director Stanley Long who made the "Adventures" series of sex comedies in the 1970's. The films are now out on DVD (distributed by Mel Gibson's Icon no less!) I bought his book which covers his life in the film industry, and the DVD set. Good silly stuff! It was nice to meet his wife Julie and his brother as well, who were all working on the stand.

There were some other guests stars there including Margot Kidder, Karen Allen, Paul Freeman, John Hurt, and director John Landis - all attracting big crowds. I spotted Tim Brooke Taylor and Bill Oddie doing a talk about "The Goodies" as well!

I was going to get David Warner's signature, but he wasn't there on Saturday! Oh well, next time.

When I sort the pictures out, I will blog about the English Heritage 'Festival of History' event that we went to.

Julie's Wedding and Comic Con

Some updates for late August and early September. Finally got around to do some typing!

Julie and Patrick's Wedding and a weekend in London.

Carla and I went down to London on Friday August 17th for three days. We managed to get some fun things done that day, the first being a trip up to 'Yoga Matters' near Turnpike Lane in North London. This shop specialises in all things yoga, Buddhist and 'eastern'. Best find for me was the "Yoga for Chickens" book! Carla got two more Kundalini yoga dvds. We then headed off back into central London to meet up with our pal Bill and have a walk around Kensington. Lovely evening that was! The guidebook we had takes you off the beaten track a bit and gives factoids about the buildings and places. Apparently we walked right past Michael "calm down dear" Winner's house! Also, the Kensington roof gardens were gorgeous. To finish the day we went for a (disappointing) meal in a Japanese restaurant in Soho.

The next morning we had a look around Oxford Street so I could buy a new suit and Carla could get a new bag, which we did after a bit of faffing about. Good old British Home stores! Then we popped over to the Knight's Templar pub near Chancery Lane to attend the wedding. Patrick was already there welcoming guests, and Julie arrived shortly before the ceremony dressed in a traditional sari (she has a love of all things eastern, and changed into other saris later). Mike and Tracie and her family were with her. The wedding went fine. The simple civil service was held in the balcony which overlooks the main pub area. I did my bit as nominated "giver away" which was dead easy! Carla and I stayed for a little while afterwards, and then headed off to get a meal at a vegetarian restaurant called 'Mildred's' in Soho. We also wanted to have a look around central London and found a fab shop called 'Coffee Cake and Kink'! I love glamour stuff so this is right up my street! Ahem, anyway, we came back later to have a drink with the crowd that was left at the wedding. Julie was still dancing! We wish the happy couple all the best. Check out some photos here.

On the Sunday we met up with Mike and most of the Star Wars fan "groovy gang" to have a look at the 'Star Wars exhibit' at County Hall on the South Bank. This was ok, but I had reservations of what was shown and how it was displayed. It was good to see some of the props and artwork, for instance I loved the early design of Watto, and the model of the Star Destroyer turret, but to me the rooms seemed a little dark and there wasn't enough information displayed about the individual props. I guess I had to buy a guide book! At the end of the exhibit I saw an odd thing. You could by official merchandise from a van out on the street. Yes. A van! I wonder if they sold Bantha-burgers as well!? Haha!

We also got chance to show Mike the famous Covent Garden market, and a football shop where he picked up some Arsenal merchandise for Brian.

The London Film and Comic Con (Sunday, September 2nd)

I went down to London's Earl's Court to have a few hours at the 'London Film and Comic Con', which is now in its third year. The day started off well: I got to the railway station in time for the first train to London, and it was early in, and not that busy so I got a seat. Nice sunny day as well. Then of course, it all went down hill. An announcement told us that we would be delayed because of a de-railment of some Railtrack maintenance equipment near Rugby! After an hour, we finally got under way. Then nearer Northampton a strange thing happened. The train was held up by sheep on the line! Idiot stupid farmer who can't repair fences! He should be fined. Anyway, in some ways this was funny as it turned out the train driver and the conductor had to moonlight as sheep herders!! They spent a good 30 odd minutes deciding what to do, then the next 30 running around the track and embankments trying to get the sheep back into the field!! Finally got into London an hour late, but never mind. Off to Earl's Court I rushed. Thankfully, no hold ups on the tube.

The fair there was the usual "collectors show": lots of stalls selling film and TV merchandise, various actors and actresses selling autographs. There was even an area for talks. When I investigated that part of the hall there was a "Star Wars" talk going on with Gary Kurtz (the producer) and actors answering questions posed by fans.

I got to see my friends Sarah, Paul, and Jamie there. Being able to see pals from far away is always the highlight of these events. Part of the hall was in chaos. This was because some of the cast of Heroes were there signing autographs, including the lovely Hayden Panettiere. The queues went on for hours. I suppose that confirms the show is a mega hit! Sarah managed to queue a long time for Patrick Stewart's autograph, who is apparently much shorter in real life. That's what camera angles do! In her words:

"Sunday 2nd Sept at LFCC. Experienced quite an odd day at my first convention, as I spent most of the time wandering about the dingy bowels of Earls Court 1, surrounded by fanatical people in strange costumes, in order to get my 10 seconds with Patrick Stewart. Like most people off the telly, in the flesh he was actually rather tiny, but a very polite man all the same. Somehow though, I don't think I'll be doing LFCC again..."

For me, the main problem with the event was the venue. Earls Court is sooooooo dark and gloomy! The place really is showing its age. I do hope Jason moves the show back to Earls Court 2 next year, which is a far more pleasant experience as its newer, the lighting is better and design of the hall is less oppressive. Organisers take note!

I got back ok.....no sheep on the line!