In ten sentences through Britain - and back
From Schwedt to The End of the World
This page contains some remarks on travelling in GB. Since walking and travelling has always been
among our favourites we thought this might interest you.
Taking photos, gardening, amateurradio, literature and other activities could have also been mentioned
but
I won’t bother you too much.
The blue, grey spots mark some places we have visited.
I used some of my rigs to make some interesting
radio contacts and we must thank our hosts who all generously accepted the
wire antennas on their premises.
This is only to share our joy with you and bring back good memories
of people and places
1. McDonald’s is always the same
 Norfolk and The Broads look very much like our area on the River Oder with its meadows,
willow trees, little waterways with boats and fishermen, the blue sky with the steady wind
and clouds and seagulls all of which can tell stories…
We had our Easter Walk in Norwich at a time when it was still rather cold and frosty
but the local gardeners had done a jolly good job with all the blue, yellow shining violets
in the middle of the roundabouts at the ring roads and the park lanes in the
Gardens. We arrived from London Airport in a small Fokker plane, one stewardess
sitting in the back row, knitting, the other one doing some calculations and chatting,
pilot’s door wide open … Imagine that in 2007.
Norwich Cathedral
Cyril collected us at Norwich Airport and the A140 took us quickly into the city.
There was a marvellous view over the town from the top of the car park, down to the river
Wensum in the East and its small banks, then H.M. prison on the horizon in the North East
with its long history, Wasn’t it there where people had to stay and wait before they were sent
to Australia ? The Cathedral, Elm Hill with its ancient houses…
We had some good visits in the local pubs – sorry, was it the Dead Man or the Boar’s Head ? And we
experienced Morris Dancers for the very first time.
The walls were glittering and shining from the dust and wet air. Flint stone napping must be a real artificial skill.
There is an interesting Tea Pot museum in the Norman Times Castle across the town and we also
learned that prehistoric people were indeed digging for flint stone in simple mines.
We had never heard about that!
A little drive quickly brought us to the northern coast of Norfolk near Sharingham, Salthouse ,
Newgate where one can watch hundreds of birds , seals and admire the blue, wide sky and the waves
of the sea….Go up the hill with the little hamlet and enjoy a wonderful impression .
The football team ‘Canaries’ had a match later there in Norwich and we learnt to pronounce
the word properly on the right syllable.
Cyril and Daphne, Jane and Nich prepared a delicious meal….not to be compared with
a quick lunch at Mc Donald’s who had the same offer as in Schwedt including the promise that
the steak from Argentina was free of mad cow disease.
We like that place and its people.
2. Araf! Araf! Croeso y Cymru
“Can you tell me, please, where Liz lives?”
“Yes, I can.”
“Will you do it please?”
“Yes, I will…”
That was the beginning of dialogue I had in a pub when we inquired about the way to Liz.
She is the representative of the Welsh branch in the RSGB and we wanted to visit her and pop
in to bring her some imagazine copies.
We left the road to Betwys from Langollen and turned right into that area where you can also
find some interesting stone circles, the little brothers of Stonehenge so to say.
Then we moved down a lane which was narrower than narrow.
In London we learned why one has to measure in feet. In the Ambassador Hotel near Euston,
Kings Cross the bathroom was so narrow that only one foot could get in and the other one had
to be placed very carefully in the room. The space between bed and wall was exactly one and a
half feet and the shower cabin was not much bigger. For the breakfast they offered ‘an upgrade
to British breakfast’ for 5 BP though.
So we got to know new meanings for two words, upgrade and narrow, not to mention the
feet-measurement, which is a very old one.
But the lane down to Liz’s measured only a couple of feet as well, stone walls on the left,
stone walls on the right and happily only having to reverse three times - you remember stone
walls here and there and only half a foot left - because of upcoming cars.
So we were very releaved when we reached the main road again. And we enjoyed the pleasure
of a nice drive on a small road home to Betwys-y-Coed.
Araf, araf! Could be also kind of life’s philosophy, couldn’t it?!
By the way we visited BodnantsGarden, the place with the longest name, and some places which are
related to Marconi, the radio scientist. We saw Lake Llyn Llydda, went up the miners’ track and came down
the pyg trail
 from SnowdonPeak and enjoyed the pride of having made it.
That lake is a mysterious place. When you want to shorten
your way down you may take a stony way at
half the distance , but it is no way at all really. The devil himself must
have thrown the stones and rocks
there into the valey and
I really don’t recommend to use it. It might be a way for heroes
like us. But anyway have a try. It might happen that you will
work down your way on a clear Friday as we did when the sun
still shines on Bwich Main before it starts its last daily trip to the Irish Sea.
 Then suddenly you will feel the wind stopping for a moment, the little
curled waves on the
bluish copper green water flit to the north a n d the south in a second
like a swarm of little sparrows when they see the hawk and then in this very
moment you will see the golden knob of the
sword’s handle and the pale steel blade with the sun’s rays reflected
disapperaring into the water again.
King Arthur’s sword.
On the way to Snowdon Summit
  
Festival, John Bull demonstrating in favour of the Pound
3. Hello, Mr Herriot
We came down into the breakfast room the next morning.
It was after the match when Germany had beaten the British team. There was a little party of
walkers in the room and they congratulated us on the result.
“Where do you want to go this morning?” a couple asked. And they invited us to come with
them since we looked irresolute. Sheila and Frank introduced themselves and we had a short
drive in their car to the Butter Tubs, Muker then and along the fell up to the
corner with the
garlic plants in a shaded place and the little water falls and back to Muker to a cosy tea room to have a
rest there.
We came back crossing the old dismantled mine and the lovely flower meadows where the single,
narrow footpath wound its way snake like through a most colourful world.
What a day!
 Sheila knows so much about landscape and plants and
Frank is a keen trained walker. They taught us how to use stiles,
and to contribute with a stone to the cairn
on the summit of the hill.
So they had actually been our teachers on how to walk
on the Isle since our ways in Germany mostly differ from
‘public footpaths’. It was so often useful to have the description
of a Mary Welsh or another writer, who really tells you how
to go and where.
Mrs Percifal in Askrigg offers a grand breakfast and
very comfortable rooms.
The jackdaws in the morning on the roofs are louder than the whole traffic in the streets.
They are artistic flyers and pilots. You know it’s the area where the film teams had worked for
their Herriot’s film productions. You will find the local church and some houses, the market place …
very romantic. Have a short drive and you can pop in the White Sheaf pub in the neighbouring village,
fully decorated with Herriot’s items and where children will be sold into slavery in case they move beyond
the bar border. At least that’s what a sign tells them.
They have tasty potato chips there. Do you know where they make the best Jackets?
Walking in the Dales is a heaven like miracle , an extra present for those who like nature.
Margaret in Yorkshire has known Herriot personally by the way and you find a little Herriot
vet museum in Thirsk city when you cross from the Pennines west east to Scarborough.
Have a short stop in Thirsk in the tea room on your way to St Mary’s.
Then visit the book shop near the cobblestone market and you can have a good Yorkshire
pudding in the Black Bull. In the restaurant opposite , you know the one with the large flat
stone plates in front, sat an elderly lady who was eating a pea soup and when she faintly
burbed she loudly excused to herself – we were sitting in the back.
That’s British politeness, isn’t it?!
Sunset at Whitby shore
4. The 4th of July
 We met him on our way to
Roseberry Topping.
It was the 4th of July, American Independence
Day. The sun was shining and we had a great view
over the soft rolling hills and green pastures
and fields. That very typical Yorkshire landscape,
the little village where James Cook was born
and where he left for Whitby and the world later.
Jack had found his first love again from school
times and had come back to Britain.
He always walks up to the little summit on this
special day.
He was a former police officer in America, a veteran of the Vietnam war and he had seen so
many churchyards with graves of Russians, Vietnamese soldiers, Americans… He told us that
perhaps it might be a good solution for world politics and their politicians to choose a day a year,
put on their long Johns and black polished shoes, take a stick and go to a village festival here
in Yorkshire and give a special international performance of their kind of policy. What a good idea.
Unfortunately his proposal failed in all parliaments of the world.
We visited Cook’ s Monument, had a short rest at the Black Face sheep paddock and headed
back to our parking site in Little Ayton.
So we had done a bit of the Cleveland way in the west and some miles north of Whitby
to Sandsend and Kettleness…
We love that place and its people!
5. Just so on Lions and Stones , Foxes and Snakes
  The next day we went to at Ravenscar Coast and
visited little tourist information heritage centre.
The woman officer was a kind friendly lady
who even phoned her husband at home to
inquire whether The Red Lion Pub on the east side of
Westerdale Moor was open today. It was.
We walked along the coastal path, the dismantled old
railway line and had a try at two or three
old quarries to look for petrified plants and animals.
Rosemary stood very quietly, put her walking stick here
and there and found a wonderful piece of Ammonite.
“Where there is a brother there must be a sister”, she said, using our experience from
mushrooming in the German forest.
And indeed there was another one which we then presented at the TIC. I forgot what we did with the first.
Was it in our suitcase later by mere coincidence?
Anyway, we had a grand day out, not to mention our walk next day in the wide heather fields in the
south of Westerdale. When we drove through little Castleton village all the sheep were hiding in the wet
trenches along the street to seek protection from the day’s heat.
The heather was blooming on many patches already and made a marvellous view, really for
painters and photographers, a present of nature to the walker.
 We arrived at the top with the cross, had only some steps to the left when a lady came with a
couple of little dogs on the lead and we had a most enjoyable and highly interesting
chat on fox hunting.
She described its importance for the Yorkshire countryside, its tradition and
how many people do really earn a living from it even today , the black smith as
well as a saddler, the baker , not to mention its social importance and how
thoughtless Tony Blair must have been to forbid it on behalf of animal protection
and… but that will be too much for my little report here.
The gammon and the pint in the Lion were superb even if we both had to
share it since we
had left most of our money at home and we had to save a bit for the entrance fee
at the Village Museum at Hutton- le- Hole down Blakey Ridge to the A170. The
charming museum and its exhibition had been Museum of The Year in 1995
with the Celtic snake used as a symbol,
but whom has the beast just eaten up?
Reydale Folk Museum. It is worth a visit indeed.
There is a little photographer’s shop on the premise there which has a very good exhibit on techniques
of photographyas well as past and foregone times. The people living there, an old shop, a crofter’s home
with its tiny garden, plants to colour cloth, old agricultural tools – all very interesting.
Wonderful.
We liked that place and its people!
6. I like Tony
No, it’s not always that I write that we liked everything and everyone.
We do remember Bellingham in Northumbria where we visited a charming privately owned
camera museum . The owner showed us some of his wonderful cameras. When home we sent a
little present, a plastic camera – one of the first issues here in East Germany after the war - and
never got a reply.
We also sent some old prints on Martin Luther to that Welsh place not too far from
Betwys-y-Coed- where a Welsh man had translated the Holy Book into his mother tongue.
In the little stone house there wasn’t a real good picture of Luther, ours could have helped
and the guide , a local layman, was very happy to hear that we would be going to support him.
The place was highly interesting for us, but sadly no answer at all again.
I can’t believe the Royal Mail service to be so bad not to find the way to well known places.
There must be many more but clever postmen there. We know Tony, the postman, who is a
keen photographer and whose pics you can admire when you click on
http://www.lakelandcam.co.uk/
and the attached pages. Thanks Billy Gates for his websites and all this stuff that we can have
a look at continents of the world and small places in Yorkshire as well.
Mind you, on Google Earth you can see my car in front of the little city house here in Germany.
7. Where a pudding is no pudding at all
View to The Isle of Skye, Black Cuillins
Have a try and taste the Yorkshire Pudding or if in the Peak District the Bakewell Pudding
or even eat a Christmas Plum Pudding and in each case your tongue will be surprised. I promise
you and my English readers will confirm smilingly.
 I will leave it to the foreign visitor and explorer to find out the difference.
Then there is Haggis. But that’s another story, isn’t it?!
We had our best ever Black Pudding at Loch Snizort on
The Isle of Skye. When we had crossed the bridge at Kileakyn
on the A850 and arrived at the isle and headed up
the eastern coastline we enjoyed a serious welcome by
The Old Man of Storr ,
the stony, rocky sculpture created by nature itself.
Old Man of Storr, east side of Skye
We passed the northern point of the isle near
Rubba Hunish and turned down to Uig, the little ferry port to the Outer Hebrides.
Mrs Campbel’s home is a couple of miles more to the south, hidden behind the natural
dyke and a slope leads you down to the Snizort water. We failed three times to find the small
lane which was the entrance to the way down and when we asked an inhabitant to show us the
right way it was a German vet who informed us. He had been living there for a long time.
The world is a nutshell, indeed, it’s a small world.
The place is a paradise, quiet, you hear the wind singing,
whispering and roaring, and you see the birds flying to the Cuillins and
 back to the sea…
You know that to the west and south west you find
Talisker and Elgol and the heritage museum of the
Clan Donald with a wonderful garden. There is a gorgeous
lonely golden sand coastal walk
along the beach at Ardvasar not too far from the Clan
D. Centre, to Castle Armadale. Another famous one can
be found – Dunvegan Castle of the MacLeod’s in the
very north west, which is worth a visit as well.
Isle of Skye, North west
Talisker is the place
 where the sun shines twice a day, you know of the little but famous
distillery and you will be offered a welcome drink and a second one.
That may be the moment when the sun starts…
The isle offers superb walks. Highly demanding ones and some
which are not as taxing. But please be prepared for any weather
with proper clothes and boots, backbag with a kind of rescue
equipment,”white blankets” as to say, in case you get stranded, phone
with the right numbers , fire lighting equipment, whistle, red plastic bag…
South west of Portree, the little capital, you will find forests which
remind you of Thuringia, and you can enjoy coastal walks and some
adventurous ones to Macleod’s Maidens, in the Black Cuilins or the
Quiraign in the north which are rather demanding 5 or 6 miles
but offer a breathtaking view to the east and the sea.
There are very good books on walking. One I can highly
recommend is by Mary Welsh who is a charming writer and a very good observer of nature.
She offers more than 30 walks in her book on Skye, wonderfully illustrated.
It’s a pleasure to read it.
 
When you stand at the very north point at Duntulm Castle and the wind howls from the west
you may open your arms like the gulls and hoodies open their wings, lean against the wind and
listen to the tales of the waves which come from the far west across the ocean …
But that’s another story again.
8. Potatoes & fish and midges - my home is my bastle
Ah, I forgot to tell you where they make the best Jacket Potatoes. You can’t miss that
place when you leave the B6320 which leads north parallel to the A68 and turning off to
Kielder Water just before you reach Bellingham.
Don’t miss the street sign pointing right and in a couple of minutes you will be in Falston
village. It’s a charming dreamy little place with huge yellow rose bushes, a small shop and
a little room for charity where locals sell local produce, jam, fruit, honey mix and wonderfully
done Jacket Potatoes with some grand sauces. Yummmm!
Of course , you could even have a Cumbrian sausage with peas or a steak at the
Lake Restaurant some miles on to Kielder Water little peninsula. Or you go back to the Golden
Mill pub in Yorkshire just before the cattle grid to the A171 or Whitby and visit The Magpie where
the fresh fish, haddock and “his friends”, is directly landed opposite the restaurant, brought up
the stairs and directly lands in the pan – well, almost!
Oh, there are so many good places to stay at.
We stayed at a little farm house in Nothumbria which formerly had been a bastle. You know,
walls of two yards, door on the second floor, entry with the help of a ladder only…So the place
had kind of historic soul, telling about all the conflicts in the Borders, fights with the reivers,
mills and long lonely ways where you still today can hear the voices of the murdered.
The High Moor west of Kielder Water Lake is an interesting place for excursions and so is a
circular walk round the lake.
Of course the entrance door today is no longer three metres up !
A day tour can easily bring you to Hadrian’s Wall and happily enough you need not fear that
The Tyne Tunnel in Newcastle to the Ferry Terminal ‘will be closed due to heavy reconstruction’.
This time we will come from The North.
There is nothing too much to tell about midges: they are tiny little beasts indeed and they have
giant eyes and a hydraulic sharp pointed chisellike hammer when they start to pinpoint you. They
come in well organised groups, combat troups, bataillons , armies --- and they are really so
dangerously frightening looking as you can see them on so many picture postcards which you
can buy at every filling station in that area.
9. St Mary’s and The Mouseman
  
Thirsk. St Mary’s and ... ... Kissing Gates Pippa, Sutton Bank
Herbert was quite a character. Over eighty. He worked as a guide and warden at St Mary’s in
Thirsk. Every morning he went some five miles to work from his little village and back of course
in the afternoon.
He quickly recognised where we were from and then he told us that he had been a POW near
Leipzig. Next year we met him and he again told us how happy he was about the informative
brochures we had sent him.
We were lucky people. We saw places in the church where normally no one is allowed to go,
beyond the altar, into a small secret room, we saw the burning candle with the barbed wire of
amnesty international as well as the crest of arms over the door pointing to a Hanoverian relation.
 And he of course showed us the many little mice done by the
Mouseman at Kilburn. Another guide had previuosly explained the
wonderful combination of tones of bells and he told us
about the scars and scratches in the outer little entrance hall where
knights and servants had sharpened their swords and spears – you still
could hear them scratching and working busily
when you put your ear only near enough to the walls. Honestly!
You can have the very same feeling when you put your hand on the battlefield at Culloden in
Scotland or Glen Coe valley and you will feel the ground vibrating and you can hear the stamps of
the soldiers and their horses, the cries of the wounded …history is still alive if you
want it to be, isn’t it ?!
Today they only use more intelligent weapons, uranium in shells, computer controlled planes,
and they won’t transmit the cries of the wounded and dying on radio or TV.
But you still know: That’s another story again.
There are so many interesting places east of Thirsk.
The internet is a wonderful tool, and with a click you find places and
the next one will lead you immediately to further information.
Fly to Kilburn with Google Earth. You will have info at hand within a second,
The White Horse of Wiltshire is there as well as the White Horse of
 Kilburn just south of Sutton Bank. Though they possibly won’t tell you
that this very horse a long time ago was converted by the daughters
of our friend with white plastic sacks from mare to stallion.
Such were the jokes our children did, today they play with pump guns
and pistols at school. Sometimes at least and not all. Sorry!
You can visit Mr Mouseman’s workshop and have a look at his
wonderful products. Strange enough that the two craftsmen we met
had never ever heard about Tilman Riemenschneider, the famous
wood carver and sculptor.If you like nature and history more go back a couple of miles only to the north
and you can have a chat with finches at the TIC at Sutton Bank who are so tame that they rest
 on the mirror of your car, or you go to Rievaulx Abbey with its
romantic surrounding and listen to your friend, the Monk, on
the audio tape who takes your hand and leads you through his
moving history, a long time back into a hard life…They must
have been very educated those monks . Ours spoke Danish,
French, German, English fluently on the audio.
We will pass the kissing gates of St Mary’s next year again
and say hallo to a place we like so much.
Mouseman’s produce Whitby. Rievaulx Abbey
10. What I will tell my grandchildren
 We stood at the outskirts of Ambleside for half an hour. It was
raining cats and dogs and we had to walk very carefully when we
left, because of the slippery path.
There was a little tour only to Low Sweden Bridge where we just
had to climb a few stiles and walls and enjoyed a wonderful blue
sky and green hilly landscape with Marsh thistles at the bank of the
little River Rothay and a buzzard high up in the bright air.
The common vetch was blooming beneath the stone walls and the
grass was glittering with rain drop
diamond
Lake District High Wray Farm
 There were three crippled large trees which put up
their branches like arms ghostlike against the horizon.
It was only in the late afternoon in the tea room at
Ambleside, just opposite the TIC on the street bend,
that I read in the Dalesman that donations are needed
to plant new trees in the Dales.
Even though we were guests in The Lake District we
donated some money.
So I will tell Anna and Felix – when I am a really old grandfather – that
they should go to CrossWood north of Kettlewell and have a look at the
 plantation of trees. Our two trees came there in early 2000 or so, so they
will be tough young tree-children when they’ll visit them.
They should also go to Spean Bridge in Scotland and see the Monument
dedicated to the soldiers and command troops who fought
against the enemy.
I hope the British did not have the inscription ‘God with us’ on the buckles
of their belts as the Germans had. So God must have been a tad confused.
Anyway the red poppies in the wreaths may impress them since we
have a lot of Yorkshire Poppies in our garden, and they never knew it as
a plant of mourning. We have spread its seeds among so many friends
and even given some abroad – it could be a gesture of friendly
and peaceful understanding among people even if the reader now has to
bear my terrible German cobble- stoned English here.
And then they should have a stroll across HighGateCemetery in Hampstead Heath in London and put
down a flower to honour that man who amongst others has tried to describe where all the misery comes
from that some people can travel and some others can’t .
11. On Castles and Castles
You need not go there when you are in The Dales, you can visit the creamery at Hawes and
taste all the delicious cheese they offer there, or have a walk into Wensleydale to know where
the cheese with this famous name comes from. You could have a go to the Bronte Museum…
Or visit Semer Water and Raydale south of Bainbridge or stay two days at Aysgarth Waterfalls.
Near the Youth hostel there is a little B&B where the host, Mr Massa, will show you his collection of
old things and tools of former times. They are of the same type as described in the
Dalesman Magazine every month on the ‘ What on Earth ...could this be?-’ page.
Lovely.
You see, we love cheese and tea rooms, The Dales and their nature.
Anyway you leave Askrigg to the north , cross the shooting range in the East Bolton Moor –
Redmire Moor area towards Swaledale and have a short stop in the tea room at Reeth, a tiny place with
a large common green and a phone box at its north end..
We gave a short call on the twisted pairs to Derrick and Sandra in Kent and off we were.
Choose a day when the Rhododendron is blooming: when the little road winds down
Arkengarthdale you will be impressed by the wonders of buds and flowers. After Langsthwaite
it is not too far to the Castle in Bowes. And a bit farther only to Barnard Castle .
The view at the house is magnificent, when you stand on the open, slightly bent stairs you
have a wonderful view of the entrance with its old trees and the huge Monkey Puzzle trees.
 There is also an exhibition on China porcelain, little household ware and little sculptures.
Please go there and have a closer look. Can you see that little monk?
How hard he is working, bearing his sheaf of wheat on his back,
tightly bound with a rope. Oh, what can you see? The pair of bare
slender feet looking out at the lower end?
Should it be his father prior or another brother or layman looking for
comfortable help to be carried home? …Little monk, little monk!
Of course they house a good comfortable tea room.And have you
heard about the masterpiece of a silver smith’s craftsmanship
and about the Silver Swan? Bernard Castle
The other castle is in Castle Bolton village with is a long stretched place
and a proud cock is
standing on guard and the stony walls are planted with flowers.
The castle is dedicated to Queen Mary of the Scots. We were alone when
we climbed up the stairs to the upper room where Mary sat in a chair.
She looked a bit sad. When I wanted to step in front of the chair and bent
my knee – “Her Majesty !’ Rosemary grasped my arm.
“How will you stupid white haired man tell the security staff you only wanted
to honour her?
Can’t you see the alarm camera over there?” So Queen Mary only got a
faint welcome this afternoon. Sorry,Ma’am !
12. Salisbury Cathedral
Salisbury Cathedral on a stone plate:
" Since you stand here remember those who
have enlargened the horizons of your mind and
pray for all who teach."
Chapel of St Edmund,
Archbishop of Canterbury 1240
People should keep that in mind, shouldn’t they ?!
The Salisbury Pub in London
The very name of this pub is part of the fabric
of British History and reaches back to Robert Cecil,
 the First Earl of Salisbury who is said to have been
the wisest man in Tudor politics.
It was Cecil’s 19th Descendant, the
Third Marquis of Salisbury, Queen Victoria’s
favourite Prime Minister, from whom the site of the
Tavern as originally leased in 1892.
Prior to this at he pub had been known as the
Coach & Horses and Ben Caunt’s Head
and was famous for promoting prize fighting.
A much friendlier and welcoming atmosphere is
assured these days.
It would be very difficult to find a finer example of a late
Victorian pub today
We went the few steps down to St Martin’s in the Field and had a chat with two
Women in Black who tried to open eyes of some passengers. They had leaflets and spoke about
that dirty war in Irak on its oily and bloody ground.
What brave mothers.
13. Conniston Parish Church
This is what we found in the curch there;
A SMILE
A smile costs nothing,
But gives much.
It enriches those who receive , without
making poorer those who give.
It takes but a moment, but the memory
of it sometimes lasts forever.
None is so rich or mighty that he can
get along without it, and none is so
poor but that he can be made rich by it.
A smile creates happiness in the home,
fosters goodwill in the business,
and is the countersign of friendship.
It brings rest to the weary, cheer to the
discouraged, sunshine to the sad, and it
is nature’s best antidote for trouble.
Yet it can not be bought, begged,
borrowed or stolen, for it is something
that is of no value to anyone until it
is given away.
Some people are not too tired to give you
a smile.
Give them one of yours, as none
needs a smile as much as he
who has no more to give.
14. Appendix
What to do tomorrow...?
Will we look for Green Men in the Scarborough area or have a trip on the Yorkshire North Moor
Railway?
Do you like to find the White Rabbit in a little church in Beverly? There in the town you will also find a
giant tea pot in Monk’s Street near the Minster. In a tea room of course. Have you
ever seen it or even tasted their scones?
Or how about Canterbury Cathedral or the Canterbury Pilgrims’ Way?
 Have you had a stroll in Chiswick on the north
bank of The Thames outside of Central London
from Hogarth’s Monument to his little church and
graveyard or have you eaten a meal in the
Salisbury Pub near Leicester Square and
St Martin’s in The Field?
You could really do a Pub Tour if you like and
could begin in The Dove with its wonderful sign
with the rainbow & dove and pop in to see where even
Hemingway had sipped his drink.
Or will you find out what could be on the empty plinth near Nelson’s Column? Is it occupied by now?
There are so many , impressive and moving paintings in the London National Gallery, dramatic scenes
on decapitations and seafarers’ lives…
Or will we simply have a walk along the fells in Lakeland and admire that view when the fog and clouds
will lift and you can see all the hills up to the sky?
You could drop a coin into Virgin’s well there or go to
Wordsworth’s house…
Or let’s visit Beatrix Potter?
How about a visit to the Docklands and The Prospect of Whitby, the oldest pub there.
 All pubs are the oldest ones you will quickly find out.They don’t use
the gallow anymore.
there is a small gap between the pub and the neighbour house. Worm
your way to the stairs and you will have this grand view.
Visit the BNFL reprocessing nuclear plant at the Atlantic Ocean coast
at Sellafield combined with a breathtaking drive over the pass?
Switch on the CD player with a kind of melodious classic music and
have a drive through the Highlands
How about a fortnight at Kensington and its museums? Or look for
little wooden carved mice at Whitby’s coastal line – on fences, posts,
garden doors?
Can’t we taste a good old Black Sheep beer?
Or how about birdwatching?
Or have a walk with Mike’s 8 dogs just at Sutton Bank? How about meeting at the Great
Northern Hotel for a superb breakfast and then hurry the few steps to Kings Cross Station and
find the platform where Harry Potter left for his sorcerers’ school. Was it 7 and
three quarters or 9?
  
Peak: Loose Hill Mam Tor Wales: Caernarfon
What could we do tomorrow? You could also visit a tea room in Bakewell again with us even if
we had already been there . Do you like flowers? Then visit Chiswick Gardens with its impressive
Camelias or Helmsley little local gardens with
its roses.
How about a photo tour to take photos of brass and wooden door knockers and handles?
   
   
 Or how about having a good ice cream in Helmsley or at
any other nice place of this wonderful isle?
I will tell you all the other stories then.
Here are so many left. And they offer a very
good rich cake there, or was it a pudding?
Just a final remark: where shouldn’t we go?
 You are n o t recommended to cross a stile or a
pasture when you clearly can see a singn
Bull in field. Either you will be welcomed by it or
a pack of Yorkshire sheep dogs - in both cases
I would not test them.
By the way, he was very peaceful and we had some
other people pass before and we put our red anoraks
into the back bags ...
15. From Schwedt to the End of the World
“Kys t’ou?” - How are you?
Finally we decided to go to the Isle of Man this year. Thanks to Laura from The Steam Ferry
Company Douglas who helped us to book the vessel. It proved to be a good desicion.
A very good one indeed.
We had a great little tour crossing Germany and The Netherlands. Please don’t miss the delicious pancakes
with bacon in Tiel, just a couple of miles off the highway .
Driving there was a pleasure. Speed is reduced to 120 km an hour on the autobahn. We were again
impressed by the giant technical buildings of the port sites leading to the Dutch Euro Port,
We passed huge tanks, pipe lines, giant bridges leading in a wide bend to another junction,
“havens 7500” and then straight on to the N15 and the Euro Port pier for the Pride of Rotterdam
Ferry bound to Hull the other morning.
  
Castletown Fairy Bridge Laxey Wheel
  
Tynwald Parliament Victoria Lighthouse Douglas Capital Point of Ayre
Crossing England from Hull to Beverly, Thirsk, Helmsley Walled Garden, Sutton Bank,
Eden Camp at Malton and later The Dales with the Scottish Pines and the stocks on the green
of Bainbridge, Leyburn, Hawes with its creamery, Sedbergh filling station and Ingleton’s tiniest
roundabout and the silhouette of its fells brought back memories again.
It took the ferry boat from Heysham, west coast of Lancashire, to Victoria Pier in Douglas in
The Isle of Man about four hours but gave us a feeling of being real explorers: the sea with all
its colours, seagulls, tankers and busy little fishing boats, oil platforms...and finally one could get
a faint idea of a grey shape on the horizon - clouds or land ? The Isle of Man.
 God must have presented the old Celts there with all
gifts of
nature, small gifts only, anyway, ore, slate, sandstone,
small patches of wood and bigger ones with heath, pebbles
and sandy shores, with stunning views, cosy places to build
villages and little market towns, fish and plankton eating sharks,
glittering water with patches like diamonds, warm and stiff
winds, fog and mist and a TT race course , the Victorian
promenade and kippers later.
And not to forget those friendly people like Laura, Vicki&Nigel -
Moghrey mie again and thanks for your great company and
superb breakfast - , the fisherman at Niarbyl with his daughter in
Plymouth, the Polish shop assistant in Peel, the guide at
Laxey Wheel, the farmer’s wife at the reservoir and many,
many others...
Proud people this Manx breed. Cordial ones. You should really visit Mullen Beg Guest House
near Onchan where Vicki and Nigel care for you, where their little Black Manx cat
governs the whole Molly Quirk’s Glen. You know, she is one of those who haven’t got a tail since
they have got quite enough character and can easily do without.
There is a famous bridge on the route from Douglas to Castletown. You can’t miss it:
Fairy Bridge. When you pass it never forget to say hello to the fairies. We forgot to say hello to
themselves and immediately we had to pay the price: When I left the premises the other
morning - scraaaaatch, what an ugly sound - I hit a stone under a fern in the narrow bend and got
a thumb thick bowl in the bumper.
Never ever forget to say hello to the fairies. There is an extra department in the Douglas museum dealing
with folk tales , habits, tradition.
When we went to Niarbyl White Beach and Glen Maye the next day we had to drive behind a
bus. Empty country road. I wanted to overtake it. Suddenly I saw the red indicators, the bus made a wide
swerve to the right - but nothing to see.
Oh, on the left pavement, very narrow, two feet only or so, there was a brown hen with three little ones.
Hen with neck up, head moving nervously, looking very excited...
What a man, this bus driver! A hen and three chicken.
Everywhere you can meet signs which point you into the direction to learn more about the isle
and their peoples’ history: “The Story of Mann”. Follow that trace and you’ll be rewarded with
stories full of adventures , on heroes in fishermen’s boats as well as those commanded by
Nelson, on keen engineers and miners and hard working people..
Don’t forget to go to Tynwald Parliament Hill near Peel with the large stone cross and the little
church there. History still alive. You’ll see that very place on the Manx Pound note as well where
you ‘ll also find the ‘Triskele’, the three legs, crest of arms which is proudly shown everywhere
on the isle. It’s worth having a look at Wikipedia to find out more on it.
We had a good meal at ‘Copperfield’s’ in Douglas city with its ‘old fashioned service’ where they even
welcome smokers as extra service. They had good Manx Queenies there and well made Kippers as well.
We enjoyed the old fashioned horse tram along the Victorian promenade as well as the wide
shore in front of us opening to the sea and open to all dreams of seafaring and adventures.
No, it is no old, dreaming place that little isle. It’ humming with life and is connected with modern history
as well. The World Wars left deep traces. Don’t miss to read all the info on the internees during WW II
and stop for a moment at the memorials for the brave soldiers who lost their lives and their
bravery for a bloody and dirty war which was not theirs. We got a taste of the more remote and unique parts
of the island not always seen by the average visitor, we heard the roar of the sea and the crying seagulls,
we were offered fantastic views along the coastline,we got a faint idea of the Mountains of Mourne in
Ireland. Many sections of the Raad Ny Foillan - Seagulls’ Way - follow the cliffs around the sea...
Here I only mention the historic Cregneash Village and the Stone Crosses of Maughold Parish,
The House of Mannanan, Old House of Keys, the wonderful walk in the south along Spanish Head,
geocaching from the cairn ( we found it !)... Have y o u ever heard about the famous Ogham Stone?
...Have a look at the Internet yourself and the info will water your mouth to plan a visit yourself.
I must admit though that it is no place for the spoilt holiday maker who has to visit Morocco and
Mallorca and knows all cruising vessels and airlines of the world.
 We loved the landscape, it’s rolling hills with stony summits, the
heather and the gorgeous
stunning views from the cliffs over the sea, Sneafell summit in fog
as well as South Barrule in sunshine with the midges down and the
lousy stiff wind on top. Strange to believe that a long time ago there
had been a settlement, a fortress.
We admired the lighthouses and fog horn in the very north,
Peel Castle, and Castletown, the story of Peggy -
the old sailing ship -, Laxey Wheel and it’s Baby Wheel
down in the village and a good pot of tea and a jacket in
the port’s tea room ...
Last but not least we cropped so many blackberries we have never had before. Yummmeeee!
Time is ticking a wee slower there, so you can take a deeper breath before you’ll go back to
England.
“If you cume up the uther time, you’ll be welcume again.” I promise you.
“Hee’m oo.” I’ll see you.
If I have forgotten something, please drop me a line.
Well, it’s not the “End of the World” , this little charming Manx place.
Actually you’ll find it when you pass Knaresborough on the A59 just before York on your way
back.
It’s a nice pub.
We have done a bit of geocaching & ham radio operation in the isle and these and crossing
England from the West to the East offer another page of impressions.
But that’s another story again.
“Slane Ihiat!” Good bye!
And here you can see the end of the world:
The World’s End
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