Wednesday, 24 July - Tilbury Fort
| This was a scouting expedition - to find out what the place is like and whether it is suitable for young children (up to 6 years). This year we are members of English Heritage, so it didn't cost us anything. We took lunch and ate under a tree on a very warm day. There is plenty of space to run around, lots of different guns and plenty of displays which make interesting reading. So I enjouyed it. The staff were very helpful. I think that it would be better to wait a while - say until they are 10 - because there's little that's interactive. It's fine for toddlers, but for older ones maybe not so useful. |
Friday, 26 July - Old Windmill
 | Not really a part of the holiday, but these few days were lovely and warm, too hot even. After taking Brody to Hydrotherapy for a later appointment than usual, we went to the Old Windmill for lunch. Thomas enjoyed playing on the old Tractor, while Brody enjoyed sitting near the table, watching for a crumb to drop. Food is usually very good hear, today was no exception. |
Sunday, 28 July - Tollsbury
 | Having looked after Thomas for a few days, we were invited to visit the boat that had been his parents home. They had almost completed running a holiday for disadvantaged children. It is hosted by Fellowship Afloat. Much work has been done to the boat and more is planned. It is a great space for ministering to children, and provides great activities in the estuay. |
Friday, 2 August - ChiChi and Andrew
On the afternoon of the 2nd we set off to visit Maidstone for the wedding of Chi Chi and Andrew. The wedding was different and a joyful occasion that will be remembered for a long time. From dancing down the aisle as the bride arrived to a reception with an ice cream van outside, we had a lovely evening. Sadly all my pictures were awful, so nothing to put here. We also learnt something about the 'eco' friendly sat-nav in the leaf. The journey to the tunnel was mainly on 'B' roads, and sometimes not even that!Monday, 5 August - Pensioners Praise + Lion King
 | Today, I was preaching at Pensioner's Praise at Christ Church, Billericay. The subject was the Gospel of Luke, you can read the sermon here, if you are interested. In the evening we went to the Canvey cinema to see the 2019 version of the Lion King. It's quite an impressive film, the animals look so realistic. Of course, we know the story, but it was still a good night out. |
Tuesday, 6 August - Whipsnade
 | Whipsnade is an amazing zoo. There are so many animals and for the most part they are easy to see. We started with penguins and listened to the talk, got the answers wrong and generally enjoyued ourselves. It is also a LOT of walking for young children. We also saw the baby tigers, zebra, meerkats, rhinos, camels, chimpanzees and loads more. A ride on the train takes you to views you cannot get any other way, and allows the children to rest their weary legs. |
Wednesday, 7 August - Jo at tea at church (prep for St Johns on Sunday)
| I was also asked to preach at St John's, so needed a few days to prepare. That's one of the advantages of being at home. |
Saturday, 10 August - Rochester
 | Cathedrals have been upping their game recently. Rochester had crazy golf on the subject of bridges. We couldn't miss that so went to take a look. It was good fun. We learnt a lot about bridges, but before we could play we had to wait for a wedding to finish. The business of the building still comes first. Their visitor numbers are up, but I wonder how many of those additional visitors are Christians from other places checking out what they are doing. We certainly fall into that category. Rochester itself is a lovely little town and we will try to visit again to get a flavour of the Dickens Christmas events. We had lunch at 'The Cheese Room', which advertises: COFFEE BEER CHEESE WINE - how could we go anywhere else? The service was slow but they were absolutely packed, so that wasn't surprising. The cheese was delicious, and the others were happy with their food too. We arrived back late, and I was more focussed on the events of the following day than remembering to pay the Dart Charge. Weeks later I got the penalty letter. It lets you off for a first offence and any subsequent offences before the letter arrives, so it just cost me £5, as it should have done on the day. Phew! |
Monday, 12 August - Papermill Lock
 | We decided to visit Paper Mill Lock with Jo's Mum. There is a very nice Tea room and boat trips are available up and down the canal. Although there are quite a lot of people about, it always feels reasonably peaceful. We ordered our lunch, and it arrived in a reasonable time. We had been on a boat one way, but not the other, so booked a trip on the boat that went the other way. All the time I was watching the weather forecast, one hour to rain. We should get back in time. The canal is lovely with just a few people on the tow path, you can feel that you're really out in the countryside. About three quarters of the way I found I was wrong, the rain arrived. Although the boat is covered, the sides are open. We got soaked, and then needed tea in the tea shop to warm up again, by then the shop was very busy and tables were hard to find. At least Brody enjoyed himself. |
Tuesday, 13 August - Audley End
  | We had thought of taking the grandchildren to Audley End. As we are, for this year, members of English Heritage, it seemed like a good thing to do. Maybe they are a bit young for stately homes yet, but with the quality of visits these days, maybe not. It did not look like it was going to happen, so Jo and I went ourselves. I've already written about this trip here. In the evening we took Leo to Billericay Town, to watch ???, a match we shouldn't have won, but much to our relief we did. He stayed with us for a sleep over, on his own. That was one of the things he had asked for. |
Wednesday, 14 August - Sleep over over
 | I woke to find there was something in my bed. See above and guess what it was. |
Thursday, 15 August - Audley End Train
 | Today marked our second visit to Audley End in the week. This time we took the three boys not to the house, but to the train and the childrens activities. We booked the train to save us queueing. and arrived in plenty of time. We found a reasonable space and laid out the picnic. Then the rain started, luckinly it was only a short shower and the rest of the day was dry. The boys enjoyed the train ride, the craft activites, and the other activites that were available. They even enjoyed the fairy walk, which I have to say was very carefully thought out and nicely put together. Only one gripe really. Why are ice creams here more expensive than at the house? |
Friday, 16 August - Warners Hayling Island
 | "Hi de Hi". I's the only way to introduce the topic. Last year I completed 10 years at my company, so I got the 10 year award, some money towards a weekend break. After much trying to find something that would fit the budget, we ended up here for an Elvis tribute weekend. The journey down was not that great and we arrived in the rain. I went to reception, booked in, got the key and we found the 'cabin'. The accomodation is quite good. We were not that late arriving, but alrready all the tables in the resturant were booked, only two sharing tables were left. This was the thing I liked least about the whole experience. In the evening, rather than watch the entertainment we went to their little cinema and watched "The Greatest Showman" - a very sanitised version of the P T Barnum story. The songs are quite good, but musicals are not my thing. Jo enjoyed it. |
Saturday, 17 August - Warners Hayling Island
 | Saturday was dryer, so we went for a walk along the seafront. Some of the houses are amazing, I don't know if they are holiday lets or whether someone leves there, but the level of decoration is impressive. There is also a train, so we caught the train back, and then went on for a walk around the funfair. After dinner we stayed for the Elvis tribute. He is billed as the best Elvis, but neither of us were that impressed. There was even one song that he missed a verse on, and others he sang in the style of Elvise, with some connection to Elvis, but never actually sung by Elvis. |
Sunday, 18 August - Warners Hayling Island
 | We visited Chichester Cathedral for their Holy Communion service and then took some time looking around. We had lunch in the garden behind the resturant because the rain had stopped. After lunch we visited the museum, a very modern building covering part of a Roman Hypocaust. The displays were interesting, but the supposed view of the cathedral was covered by scaffolding. Next, we visited Boxgrove Priory, and the church that used to be attached to it. There was a sign pointing to a cream tea, which was a bit of a surprise, but a welcome refreshment. Finally, we visited Halnacker Windmill. It's a long walk up a long hill but is absolutely worth the effort. The view frrom the top is incredible. Unforetunately, as ou can see, it is not possible to visit the windmill itself. Back at the camp we enjoyed the entertainment put on by the staff - a Queen special. |
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Sunday, 19 August - Warners Hayling Island - return
| Photo here | We travelled home via the Hambledon Vineyard. Our intent had been to get our wine for Christmas there but they only had sparkling wine. The journey took us through some lovely southern England countryside. Hambledon was not our fist choice, but that one seemed to be completely closed, so we used google to find the next nearest. |
The adventure continues here
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