Hi all,

on Saturday we went to visit the newly refurbished John Rylands Library in Manchester. It is such a wonderful building, built from the proceeds of Ryland's cotton fortune in 1888. It is very grand and gothic but not off putting and the new refurb is nicely done with a great new visitor centre whch doesn't detract from the actually library. For the first time though I got to see some of the amazing collection which is lovingly displayed, some of which is a real testament to Manchester's industrial, political, social, and scientific history. Well worth a look.

 

Here is a link:

 

Later that evening we went to see Devo at the Apollo, one of Patrick's favourite bands. They were really good, and it was a great atmosphere. Just before they came on though my leg gave way and all my knee has swollen up (once again!) so I wont be able to do some of the walks I have planned to do in the near future!

 

Swings and roundabouts eh?

love from Katie XXXXXXXXXXXXX

Last weekend we caught the train up to Hadfield.

 

Hadfield is where The League of Gentlemen was filmed, so it is otherwise known as Royston Vasey!

Here is a link:

 

We walked abit of the Longendale Trail around some of the resoviours, check out my photos, unfortunately the battery ran out so I only got afew photos.

 

Hope all is well.

love from Katie and Patrick.

XXXXXX

Now that you have seen Cornwall I thought I would include some of the photos of places I have been recently.

 

Upon returning from travelling I wanted to keep in the spirit of things and try and get out and about abit more than in the past. It hasn't always worked as the lure of the sofa is great!

 

The week before we went to Cornwall we visited my Nana and Grandad's caravan in Prestayn. As you can see the weather wasn't as good but it gives you an idea of part of the Welsh coast I suppose. I love the sea and walking on the beach, as does Smudge my mum's dog who I took pictures of playing in the sand.

Here is a link if you would like to know more about the area:

 

Another place I visited is abit more local to me, it is called Dovestones near Greenfield, East of Oldham. We go there alot because Smudge likes it! It is nice and relaxing. There are also watersports there. The photos give you an idea of the ruggedness of the area. My friends Katy and Mark have just bought a house up there so i might be doing more walking in the area soon!  

Here is a link to Dovestones with map coordinates:

 

Enjoy!

Love from Katie (and Patrick)

Hello there everyone!

 

We are back from Cornwall, travelling continues in some way!

Cornwall is at the bottom of the country, it has much nicer weather than say Manchester! There are many, many little seaside villages, harbours and coastal walks. When we went there two years ago (with the same group of friends) we went to the famous Eden project, Lands End and saw St Micheals Mount (from a distance, but is stays in my memory because I slipped down some very slippery steps there!)

 

This year we went with our friends and stayed in a lovely house in Hale which is about 5 miles from St Ives. It has been great to spend time with friends, catching up and eating and drinking too much!

 

Here are some of the highlights:

 

What a beautiful beach, very clean and lots of families were dotted round having fun building sandcastles and paddling - that is what the Great British seaside is all about! As a group we ot ourselves set up on the beach and then some of us braved the sea - very cold but exhilarating!

 

One day we went out on a drive and visited the little place called Mousehole. Very picturesque. Again a lovely harbour, picture postcard fishermans' cottages, and we saw a little domestic rabbit hopping around the streets! 

 

This is a National Trust property. The gardens were very tranquil. Some fairly exotic plants can be grown in Cornwall's clemant weather.

Here is a link to the house: 

Another thing which was so interesting was the information scattered around as part of the Hidden History season in the UK, because it is 200 years since slavery was abolished in America. Many links have been made in the UK to our part in the slave trade; for example the house and garden at Trelissick were built with monies acrued through the owners part in the slave trade. It made me sad looking at the lovely gardens and realising how many people had suffered and died to fund it.  

Here is a link about the bicentenary and abolition:

 

St Ives is lovely, a very nice harbour and full of little side streets with artists in residence, galleries and shops. It is also very popular with tourists. We caught the bus and headed down to the harbour, then Patrick and I had beer battered fish and chips with a Cornish ale to wash it down. We had a little walk long part of the coastline called The Island. After this we visited the Tate, a really interesting building and we enjoyed the special exhibiton If Everyone Had An Ocean inspired by Brian Wilson partly because we are massive Beach Boys (and Brian Wilson) fans!

Here is a link:

 

We really decided on the last minute to go to Truro and see this great band. They were brill with a very relaxed style, acoustic and electric. It was nice to get out and see some live music, I would like to hear more from them and also more of the Blues in general.   

 

Lovely food. 

We seemed to have ate loads over the week. Adam our friend baked us all a lovely chocolate and bananna cake! And we had really amazing BBQ washed down with lots of Chardonnay!

 

So that is just a brief overview of what we did. If anyone is thinking about visiting the UK then I would definately recommend including Cornwall in your itinery!

 

Enjoy my photos too!  

Bye for now,

Love from Katie and Patrick