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A few days away to see the family

Part 2: Pin Mill, Peterborough and Tickhill

Friday 15th to Thursday 21st August 2008

In brief : In Suffolk to see our daughter, son in law and the grandchildren. Local walks, sailing and good company and then we called in to see our other two daughters on the way home.

Weather : Overcast but with some sun, partly due to being on the eastern side of the country.

The archway looking out onto the River Orwell

 

Who needs television with an ever changing picture like this at the bottom of the drive.

Low tide and the causeway is exposed.

Chance today to go sailing locally on the Alton Water reservoir .

Richard keeps the old Hiley family 420 sailing dinghy at the boating centre there. The boat is in good condition seeing that it must be nearly forty years old now.

Matthew gets fitted into the trapeze harness . . .
. . . there's a good breeze today and he can lean out further.

Richard and Cathy have also bought a smaller Topper and two wind surfers so everyone who wanted to

was able to get out on the water for a sail.

Those that didn't were able to enjoy . . .
. . . a mug of chocolate outside the marina cafe.
   
Back home the dogs were in for a treat too.
Four dogs, four bones.
   
That'll kept them quiet for a while.
Saffie guards her bone from the encroaching camera woman.

- - - o o o - - -

The final morning dawned . . . dull and grey !

We had another sail in the morning and after lunch Jack, Sam and myself went blackberry picking.

On the foreshore this old barge has been converted to a houseboat too.

The green pond . . . another irrigation pond for the farmer.

This one is overgrown with pond weed and looks like a well manicured lawn

We had to be careful the dogs didn't jump in a few days ago as it is quite deep and no doubt very confusing for them.

A thrown stick disturbs the weed . . .
. . . but the hole quickly closes to hide the water again.
   
This is the start of the Blackberry season . . .
. . . but it is the ripe ones that we're after.

It is also the potato harvesting season and this field has been lifted and cleared of it's crop.

I thought this may have been part of the harvesting equipment

but I think it is more likely to be a modern harrow for re-ploughing, harrowing and rolling the field once the crop has gone.

The main harvest may have been lifted but there were a few residual potatoes left behind

presumably from cleaning out the harvester once the crop had gone to market.

All too soon it was time to go . . . but it was high tide and we had to negotiate the flooded causeway by the pub before we left the village.

- - - o o o - - -

On the way north now, we stopped off to see our youngest daughter Jenna and her boyfriend Duncan.

( Sorry about the Carnation taking centre stage.)

We had a great meal out together but I notice my daughter had left her wallet at home again !!!

- - - o o o - - -

We stopped overnight at our other daughter's house in Tickhill, Yorkshire.

Next morning we managed a walk around the village almost without getting rained upon . . . hey this is getting good.

This is the local village cricket pitch where we met this lady and her two golden retrievers.

Hidden in the woodland, Tickhill Castle Mound, an old Motte and Bailey Castle site.

The trees also hide the more modern, and still inhabited, Tickhill Castle.

In the centre of the village there's the old mill pond, complete with its many bird inhabitants.

I think these are female Mallard ducks.

Water cascading over the weir

In the 2007 floods last year this area was badly affected, in fact taking this photo would not have been possible.

Back to normal at the pond and no sign of last year's flooding.

Thomas rides his bike back and fore as I walk along.
Paula, Abigail and Ann rest at the bench.

It seems Abi is the centre of attention here.

Full marks for having walked all the way. A short break here is certainly allowed.

 

- - - o o o - - -

Technical note: Pictures taken with my Cannon G7 or Ann's Ixus 75 Digital cameras.

Resized in Photoshop, and built up on a Dreamweaver web builder.

This site best viewed with . . . a Gingerbread Man from the local bakery.

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Previous walk - 15th to 21st August 2008 A few days with the family and friends (part one)

A previous visit - 19th to the 22nd September 2005 Family Matters