In our last post, we had just arrived in the UK on Sunday 27 April, settled in to our little cottage on the dairy farm, and on Monday I had taken the train into Hedge End (Near Southampton) to pick up our little VW T-Cross which I have named "The Peanut".
I forgot to mention in our last post that when our "Pet Taxi" picked us up in Calais, our driver had a Romanian Passport. Kate was using her Irish Passport, I used my US, and both of the dogs have Spanish Pet Passports. When we arrived at the UK border and they checked our papers, the border guard was laughing and saying that we were a rolling United Nations. 😎
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| Fisher Dairy Cottage |
We had a very enjoyable time time on the farm, but our stay was only for a week. During that week we first ventured into the nearby City of Chinchester to take care of some business. First on the agenda was to get UK sim cards.
Since Brexit, the whole phone situation is a tad more complicated. Previously my phone worked everywhere. Now - it still works but if you have an EU number, then you are roaming in the UK and vice versa. This usually means less data allowances, charges for phone calls texts etc.
Our US T-Mobile plan is allowing full usage all over here, but they state its for vacation, not extended use. Since we'll be here 6 months, I have a feeling that at some point they might cut me off.
Downtown Chinchester has a lovely pedestrian area, and I found a decent car park just steps away, so we had the keys to the city. Vodafone was right on the pedestrian mall steps away from the car park, and in half an hour, Kate and I both had UK Phone numbers. I've kept my French number as well since that would not be roaming in Ireland (the EU) so I still would have my unlimited data should we need to do some streaming.
So now we are rolling with 2 US Passports, 1 Irish, 2 Spanish Pet Passports, 2 US phone numbers, 2 UK numbers, and one French.
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| Chinchester Pedestrian Mall. |
While here we took a drive over the the seaside resort community of Brighton. Evidence of occupation has been found dating back to the bronze age but the real development of the area took off in the Georgian Era and then expanded further in the Victorian Era. It is easy to see the architectural influences of each period all along the seafront.
One example of the Victorian influence is the Madeira Terrace which runs along much of the waterfront. Over half a mile long and constructed from Cast Iron, it has suffered over the years from the effects of the marine environment. It is currently undergoing a multi-year refurbishment which will cost millions of pounds.
Built below the upper terrace, the Madeira Terrace had an open air walkway on top. Stairs and a lift provided access to this level from the terrace above. Below the open air walkway, (under the arches in the photo below) was a covered walkway.
You can see some of the stairways from the upper terrace below.
Another item remaining from the Victorian age is the Brighton Palace Pier
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| Brighton Palace Pier |
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| Brighton Palace Pier |
Not quite sure about this house. Maybe Dorothy from the Wizzard of Oz stopped by.
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| Brighton Beach Bandstand |
We parked at the far eastern end of the seafront and walked way down to the other end, stopping for lunch along the way, and eventually retracing our steps back to the peanut. By the end of the day we had put about 4 miles on the dogs feet and the ride home was a quiet one as they slept all the way home.
One of our outings was to the nearby Kingley Vale National Nature Reserve. One of the first Nature Reserves in Britain, it boasts an ancient grove of Yew Trees that are considered some of the oldest living things in Britain (myself excluded). Some of the trees here are around 2,000 years old.
The fact that this ancient stand exists is impressive in that the Yew Tree was prized for the construction of English longbows and during the 1400's a "Yew Tax" on imported wine resulted in a rush that decimated the existing stands of this ancient tree.
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| A Yew Tree |
The trees craggly appearance looks like something out of Game of Thrones.
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| Another Yew Tree |
It was (another) warm and beautiful day. We have had non-stop perfect weather. Tomorrow (weds) will be 6 weeks since we arrived in Paris and so far we've only had 2 days with measurable rain.
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| Holy Trinity Church |
For such a small church, the inside was very impressive. It's just hard to get a photo to do these church interiors justice.
We had an ice cream cone with locally made ice cream, then walked down to the park to enjoy the view and warm sea breeze.
Another outing was to Portsmouth Harbor to visit the historic docks. Unfortunately, the docks do not allow dogs at all - not even outside - so I had to make this trip solo. My ultimate goal was to go and see the HMS Victory. I had built a scale model of Victory over several years during covid, and was looking forward to finally visiting the real thing. By this time I could have walked the real decks blindfolded and likely not get lost.
My first stop was the Victorian Era Battleship the HMS Warrior. Built in 1861 it was at the time the largest Naval Vessel in the world. An armour plated, Iron Clad warship - it was part of an arms race between the UK and France. The UK became concerned when France built their first Iron-clad warship, The Gloire in 1859. As soon as she was launched, she pretty much made all of the ships in the English Navy obsolete.
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| HMS Warrior |
It had both sails and coal powered steam reciprocating engines.
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| HMS Warrior Deck |
It was a pretty impressive vessel and I spent a couple of hours touring all its nooks and crannies all the way down into the engine and boiler rooms.
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| HMS Warrior Gun Deck |
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| Officer sleeping quarters. Note the rocking hammocks |
Next on the list was the Victory. Arriving at the ship I was met with a disturbing sight....
All the masts were gone and the ship was completely covered by a weather proof enclosure. It turned out that the ship was undergoing a 10 year long, and very overdue refurbishment. The ship was degrading and collapsing under its own weight and these repairs are critical to save it.
The photo below was from the web, before the ship masts were removed.
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| HMS Victory |
HMS Victory, commissioned in 1178, made it's greatest contribution to the UK in 1805 at the Battle of Trafalgar where the British Navy defeated the combined French & Spanish fleets, forever ending Napoleon's plan to invade Britain. Captained by Thomas Hardy, it was from the Victory that Admiral Nelson planned and directed the British Fleets attack. During the Battle Admiral Nelson was shot by a French Sharpshooter and gravely wounded. He was carried below decks and survived long enough to be informed by Capt Hardy that the British Fleet had won a great victory.
Below as what standing on the top deck looked like. All the cannons and deck hardware was gone.
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| HMS Victory Top Deck |
Below decks were also under refurbishment, but the situation was a little bit better. While large sections were blocked off - I was still able to see some sections as they would have looked in years gone by.
Below is the Admirals Cabin and Head.
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| A head with a view |
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| Rear Gallery - this room was where the Admiral would hold meetings |
Galley on the middle gun deck. Food was prepared here, and you ate at your station.
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| A table between each gun |
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| Fully rigged 24lb cannon |
Below - the lamp marks the spot where Admiral Nelson died.
Although it was disapointing to have the ship in such condition - I understand the need for the conservation and it still was nice to finally see the ship. It would have been a nice touch if they knocked a few pounds off of the expensive ticket price, but no such luck.
Our last night in Chichester was spent back on the pedestrian mall. We visited the impressive Chichester Cathedral and again I struggled to obtain a photo that would do it justice.
Back at the farm, I took thise photos of some of new new born calfs. The nursing calf was only a few days old.
Time to move on. I had to learn how to pack the new car. There are 3 suitcases and then the rest of the stuff is just daily living stuff that was acquired here and will not make the trip back to the US. The bags are filled with things like food, coffee, dog food, sheets to cover furniture etc etc. All the things that you need for day to day self catered travel.
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| 15 lbs stuffed into a 10 lb box |
A 350 mile drive on Sunday took us to Holyhead Wales and our next stop for 3 nights. Here we will give the dogs baths, and visit a vet to get them the required worming treatment for travel into Ireland.
Our house was super nice. Clean, new, and open floorplan. Smart TV with superfast WiFi. Off street parking... It checked all the boxes. This was a cottage on the owners property and the owners were super nice and friendly.
Weds May 7 we are lined up for our 0930 ferry. It's a 3.5 hr crossing to Ireland and the dogs will remain in the car.
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| Annie gets a bath |
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| Phoebe gets a bath |
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| Kate gets to wave to everyone passing by |
Weds May 7 we are lined up for our 0930 ferry. It's a 3.5 hr crossing to Ireland and the dogs will remain in the car.
Its a busy crossing and lots of ships going back and forth.
Before we know it we are entering the busy Port of Dublin.
We are located about 30 miles south of Dublin and about 3/4 up a long tree-lined drive off of the main road.
Our house is part of a big square of buildings. We are one corner of that square forming an "L"
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| From kitchen looking towards living area |
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| From living area looking back towards kitchen. Our sheets cover the furniture to keep dirty dog paws from making a mess. |
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| From living area looking towards bath and bedroom |
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| Huge Master Bedroom |
We have 4 doors leading outside, and lots of opening windows to let the fresh Irish breezes in.
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| Our back patio |
We are going to stay here for a month, departing on June 7
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| Huge bathroom |
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| Tree-lined driveway |
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| Near to the house flowering shrubs along the driveway |
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| Our backyard |
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| Looking back to our house (on the right) The owners house is on the left |
A few sprinkles yesterday brought out a nice rainbow. We had to take care however that no Leprechauns were going to get me Lucky Charms.
While here we will leisurely enjoy all that the area has to offer. I purchased transport cards to day that will make transport to/from and in Dublin a breeze. We will see the sights, relax, and let you know about our adventures in this area next time.
Thanks for riding along.
PS. One note for people leaving comments.....
If your name is listed as Anonymous when you leave a comment - if you dont leave your name in the message... First name, or some other identifying info - I don't know who left the message and its hard for me to reply. It's not a requirement - but it helps.
