Brighton for a Day

Brighton on the South Coast was much favoured by George IV for his gout and horse riding.  Later Queen Victoria was not so amused. The Royal Pavilion is definitely worth a visit, the Lanes are a little trendy and the pier warrants a stroll around.

Go by train from Blackfriars station and save over 100% on the day return fare.  This is a recently reconstructed station which straddles the River Thames

The Royal Pavilion

A Royal Throne N.B photography is strictly forbidden insdie the Pavilion

The Lanes - antique shops are being displaced by cafes.

 

Today was the annual London to Brighton veteran car run.

Ooops - the wrong hole.

There is an amusement park at the end of the pier.

Remarkable Findings of a Tourist in His City of Birth - Down River to Greenwich

It cost me less than £20 to catch a Virgin train to London from Cheshire and no worry about parking and bluebottles.  An oyster card allows a journey on a driverless DLR train to Greenwich nestling south of the River Thames near docklands.

Slow shutter and no driver!

Naturally there is a queue for the Cutty Sark covenience - fancy that.

The Cutty Sark tea clipper now restored and turned into a cafe.  The sleek hull is encased in glass to stop passers by looking at it.

A telephone box often traditionally used as a convenience by Public school boys in ealier times. I thought that these had all disapeared now. This couple (Mother and daughter presumably) have appeared in 3 of my photographs completely by accident - I'm sorry if I'm vicariously stalking them.

The new city - Canary Wharf

What it says on the tin

The Mary Celeste in a bottle outside the National Maritime Museum

0 degrees longitude meridian line

Fishy sun dial at the Royal Observatory

View of Greenwich from the top of the hill where the the Observatory is - to the North is Canary Wharf and immediately below is the National Maritime Museum adjoining the Royal Naval College to the right. 

The meridian again looking due south

Walking through the park we stumble across a comedian giving a guided tour. (Arthur Smith in high viz feathers!)

Not a Freddy Mercury Radio Gaga vehicle but the superb Napier Lion powered Miss Britain 2 in the revamped and rather good National Maritime Museum (admission FREE).

The entrance to the secret foot tunnel to Island Gardens - a friend of mine of old (he is now) pushed his broken down motorcycle through here.  This was naughty - some hoohah about the petrol apparently.

Under the Thames and reasonably dry.

Back on the North Bank - a new to me DLR station

To be concluded....

A City of Brick Elephants and Borgwards

This weekend I went to Bremen. Mrs N was attending a seminar and I decided to freeload on all the nice food. I therefore had some time to stroll autumally around  this city between meals.

A lunar park appeared next to the hotel.

A precession through the city was going on and in best Hanseatic tradition wind comes before electric traction

A rather nice Isabella panzer car

A fine brick elephant in the park near the hotel - I thought  this was a Buddist convenience but my attempts at locating the entrance came to nil.

Somewhere over the jagged brickwork and up the River Wese is the Beck's brewery

A rather fetching Autumn scene  by the River Wese

A duck swimming.

Mühle Am Wall - this is a smock mill according to wikipedia

I must look up the significance of this trumpeting statue

Some sort of religious building in the Domhof? 

This is the weekend that the clocks went back (and forth)

Trams here function despite leaves.

I then made a spectatularly multi-modal journey to England by BSAG tram, Ryanair aeroplane, Great Anglian train, London Transport underground train, Virgin pendolino (a train), Northern rail  wheezing "train"  and BMW motorcycle.

A Tale of Two Sunday Ride Outs in October

There is no explict reference in the Urban Dictionary to "ride out", although "sunday driver" receives quite some attention:

A motorist who engages in any number of dilatory driving techniques that recklessly slow down traffic, including but not limited to: driving below the speed limit, slowing down more than once on a city block while looking for a parking spot, waiting for a pedestrian to finish traversing the entire walkway before turning, or remaining stopped after a light turns green. Sunday drivers often claim to be driving defensively but in fact their driving is offensive and aggitates normal commuters.

Sunday Ride Out1 organised by a local BMW Motorrad dealer masquerading as a Harley franchise promised to be a scenic 149 mile ride along autumn-leaved byways in the Derbyshire Dales.  In practice over 38 motorcycles departed Chester aka Ellesmere Port  and were lead around the scenic vistas of Frodsham for an hour before picking ap another12 souls at a place bearly 7 miles from my home.  The enhanced pack started off  and such was the lack of  safe riding etiquette in its midst I peeled off at Jodrell Bank for home.

According to the write up subsequently posted the group less one had a magnificent time visiting the Manifold Valley, the Yonderman Inn and some of them got home a week later.

 Sunday Ride Out 2 was much better thank you very much. In fact is was on a Saturday.

Here we are in Yorkshire, starting at Ripon

A much smaller group of executive club bikers lead by a Harley Davidson and tail end charlied by a Honda Gold wing, departed the croquet centric Ripon spa hotel for a tour on Dorian's favourite roads.

Croquet practice starts early.

Biking starts a little later after an Ulster fry

The leader's reserve machine - the road king (?) caught fire last month due to a heated seat malfunction

Unsuitable road signs sprouting up everywhere on the Yorkshire moors

Despite the designation Free House one still pays (like Public schools)

A Yorkshire Pudding par excellence

Tail end charly gold wing

Steering tiller

A rather nice sight at the tea stop

Here we are back at the hotel for our Murder Mystery dinner

Still at it on the croquet lawn.

Sexy Mechanical Apparatus Spotted Around Knutsford

A PANAVIA Tornado Fighter-Bomber with swing wings - a  magnificent gardening (clearance) tool when reheat kicks in

A somewhat patinered Honda CB250K4 - my dream 371/2 years ago

An immaculate Porsche Speedster with an adequate amount of leg room for my needs.