What a weekend - 3rd to 5th May 2013

The title says it all actually, "What a weekend" we had at the local rugby club which we are long standing members of - Dinnington Rugby Union Football Club

For the last 6 months or so my wife Donna and her friend Kate have been working very hard to get a Dinner Dance off the ground. They have 'form' in that they arranged successful events on 2009 and 2010, however the following 2 years the club decided to do something different which resulted in there being no Dinner Dance and last year a big loss after the people who wanted to put the event on had committed the club to hiring a marquee and then couldn't drum up enough interest to get an event off the ground. My wife and her friend were called into get something off the ground (too late for a Dinner Dance) and at least recoup some of the money. A Hog Roast and Band were put on, ok no flowing dresses and expensive jewellery on show, but everyone loved it.

Anyway, after all the hard work covering such tasks as arranging a marquee (and bartering down the price by 13%), chairs and tables, chair dressing, balloon companies, catering, marketing the event, collection of deposits and pushing for outstanding balances, arranging for waiters....the list goes on; You wouldn't believe how many nightsthey spent at the club for meeting, and to catch people for their deposits and balances. Now was the day of the event - Friday 3rd May.

The ladies spent most of the day up at the club making sure the set-up was running smooth (as they had done all the previous day) and doing the final 'touching up', then quickly home to make becomes Belles of the Ball. We returned to the club around 6pm and not long after people started to arrive. Firstly they were ushered into the lounge bar at the club which had been dressed and had a 100+ slide presentation running on the large screen TV - done by me, and then around 7pm were allowed along the walkway into the marquee - and WOW how good it looked. I was so proud of Donna.

For the first couple of hours it was time to eat and drink, a lovely banquet put on by the caterers - and a choice of 8 Desserts, yes 8, and we had wine waiters taking orders and collecting drinks from the main bar for the guests. Always a nice extra touch. Then a short 'comfort' break before the speeches and awards started. Our guest for the night was ex-Dinnington lad and club player Steve Shortland who moved away to play for clubs such as Wasps and Harlequins, and now heads up Sport at a very well known school in Berkshire, and is also the coach of the England U16's Rugby team. He never forgets his roots and is a fantastic speaker, as witty as any well known comedian and also very humble.

After the speeches were over it was alcohol, disco and live band until well into the early hours and overall a brilliant night; And of course I took lots of photos - click here if you would like to see them. We arrived home around 3am and it certainly didn't take long before we were fast asleep.

The following day was a busy one for Donna as she was back up at the club around 9:30am and spent all day there with her friends changing over the marquee for the U14's Presentation Night that evening. I spent around 4hrs at home loading/cropping/uploading nearly 500 of the 620 photos that we'd taken on the night. We had been invited to the U14's night but were just too tired, so Fish & Chips and a night in - and early to bed for both of us.

Well on the Sunday it continued. For as many years as we've been members the club had held a May Day event. Most of the time there were games between all the age groups against Chesterfield, and the rest of the event was aimed at 'family fun'. However last year the people at the club who took over arranging the event made the decision to turn it into a rugby festival, and the success of the event meant that this year it would be the same, only bigger. And bigger it was, with around 850 players plus all there accompanying family and friends. Gazebo's and tents of all sizes adorned the fields, making temporary bases for the teams. We even had 3 coaches of players on tour from Wymondham Rugby Club all enjoying the festival.

Games took place from around 10am and predominantly the teams were from the Mini age-group, including the tiny Micro Rugby lads and lasses up to the U12's. There were also games at both U13 and U14, plus a 6-team U16's Sevens tournament. And as a bit of fun, the ladies section took on a mixed men/boys team in a game of TAG rugby - it was hilarious, check out the video below.

It was a very successful day, with long queues all day at the bar, the BBQ, and the ice-cream van. The bun stall did well as did the other stalls. The rides and bouncy castles were well used and loved by the kids- just a great day, with the sun an added bonus. Unless of course you take no notice of your wife and spend all day taking photos with the sun burning your bald head! Click here to see the photos, of the event that is, not my bald head :-)

I came home just after 5pm so that I could get all the photos online as unfortunately I would be spending all my BH Monday at work, but Donna stayed behind until close to 10pm, eating and having a few drinks as the music played all night. And the fantastic weekend was over....

Yorkshire Wildlife Park - 25th April 2013

We'd planned (more hoped) to go out for a walk into the Peak District today, but as the forecast was for rain to head down in the afternoon - ok not exactly downpours expected, plus the fact that Donna had a hospital appointment at 6:40pm we decided to go somewhere that we hadn't been before (like our last trip to Creswell Crags), so I suggested Yorkshire Wildlife Park. Not too far away, just up the M18 and east of Doncaster. Well when I say not too far away, that's if you've bothered to prepare before you go!

 As I knew it was just east of the M18 I planned to simply watch for the brown signs directing us to the park as we sauntered up the motorway, but no, there are none on the M18; Why I don't know. So, we ended up travelling another 10 or so miles north up to the MOTO services where the M18 and M180 meet. We parked up and grabbed the Sat-Nav out of the glove compartment ready to plot in the postcode that I had written down - see, some planning at least. It hadn't been used for a few months, and you guessed it - it was as flat as a pancake, and to make matters worse even with power applied it just wouldn't switch on. So we reverted to mobile phones to get to the website and check directions.

That seemed simple enough, but it tells you to go to J3 on the motorway then head west towards Doncaster, and to make matters worse that whole area is full of roadworks whilst they build a new link road. So to cut a long story short, a journey that should have taken 30 minutes ended up taking well over an hour! But eventually we got there, paid our £14.50 per person and into the park we ventured. Like a couple on a mini-safari, and armed with my camera of course.

It was certainly a popular place with school-kids, loads of parties of teachers hand in hand with mini adventurers noisily making their way around the enclosures. It's a great place to see animals, I must admit I'm not a big fan of some zoo's where the animals are cooped up in relatively small cages. Quite a few animals here have been rescued from lives far worse than they have now, all they need to think about here is when they're next getting fed, not what trick they'll have to perform for the next tourist that comes along.

The first part of the park we came across was what in the end was my favourite, the Meerkat enclosure. I'm sure that at some point in my close on 50 years that I'll have seen them in the flesh, but I can't remember it if I have. They are such intelligent little creatures, oh and the cut faces also help. After getting up close to a few more animals the next stop of note was when we entered the Wallaby enclosure through the sets of double gates - they were great little creatures, and very friendly as we found out when this little boy tried to stroke every one that he could get to. Many of them were carrying their young which was a bonus.

We spent around 3hrs walking around the park, however as often is the case many of the animals kept their distance, walked away when you went near their enclosure, or in the case of the Lions and Tigers, just slept in the distance. This mean that the photos were fully zoomed in and then cropped to fill the frame. That was apart from a couple of Lionesses that were feasting right next to the fence. The Leopard was a little more lively as he (maybe she) patrolled the boundary of the enclosure, keeping the party of noisy school-kids at bay behind the toughened glass windows.

Our favourite large animals were the Giraffes, they are just so majestic and their size is just astounding - until you are stood just feet from them you just don't realise how tall they are. The only pity was that they didn't venture out of the 'Giraffe House' into the large fenced area that they had to stretch their legs. There was a mother and baby in there, and every step that the young Giraffe made the mother would follow, never letting it out of her sight.

On route back to the exit we got up close and personal to Spider Monkey's, Capybara, Lemurs, Hogs and various other animals and birds. This really is a place worth a visit particularly if you have young children. Our route back took us via Bawtry and was a far quicker and more leisurely journey, and it gave Donna the opportunity to display 'purse lips' as she had suggested going that way in the first place! And as luck would have it, just as we were coming to the end of our visit the rains came. The weather forecasters did get it right for a change....

Lots more photos can be found here.

Bags of Crags - 27th March 2013

Walk: 11:30am to 3pm - 5.75 miles

All week we'd planned to head out somewhere for a walk today, and in my head I'd had our usual 'non holiday' destination of the Peak District as the area of choice as there are simply so many great walks within a 30 mile drive. The added attraction this time was that of snow as we'd seen some great photos of the area on the news and internet, and the countryside looked stunning. Whilst  much of it has already disappeared there was a much better chance of still finding some out in the Derbyshire hills, and with the weather forecast fairly benign today it would make a good destination with the added bonus of being great to take photos. I'd even gone to the extent of posing the 'snow question' on The Walking Forum and Sunnydale had kindly provided me with a full report on my chosen parts of the Peak. In fact Sunnydale's  report would put MWIS and the Met Office to shame: Plus AA Roadwatch :-)

Cresswell Crags Visitor Centre

But....just before we set off I had a last minute change of heart, no idea why but I decided that we'd head off somewhere that we'd never been before and save the trawl across the traffic ladened steel city. I told Donna that we'd only need one rucksack, and that we'd pack light as we wouldn't be far away from civilisation; So crampons, ice-picks and husky drawn sleighs wouldn't exactly be needed. So I boiled up some tomato soup, grabbed half a loaf of crusty bread and filled a small flask. Then a bottle of diluted Ribena to quench any thirst that we might build up on this balmy day...yeah some hope!

Mammoth Art

I didn't tell Donna where we were going, she asked if it was going to be Roche Abbey as we skirted along the  outskirts of Dinnington -" no" I said with a suspiciously childish grin on my face as if I had some secret planned, and we continued on our 15 or so mile journey into north Nottinghamshire. As we met the junction off the A60, the brown sign saying 'Cresswell Crags' gave the game away. "Yes" I said, "Cresswell Crags as a starting point and then a walk to Welbeck Abbey" Two placed that to be honest had never crossed my mind as places to visit, in fact until I had seen it on an OS map I'd never even heard of Welbeck Abbey.

We parked up at the very impressive visitor centre - if you've never been there and you're interested in prehistoric history then it's worth the drive just to visit the sleek modern centre itself, a feast of modern architecture but made with natural materials. There's also lots to do there for kids, both inside and outside of the centre with a great outdoor play area close to completion.

Some of the many gated off caves

After donning our coats and boots we headed off towards the Crags. I'd fiddled a little with the settings on my new camera which I'm still getting used to, and had it just set as I wanted it...or at least that's what I thought. I discovered half the way around the walk (and loads of wasted photos later, but hey it's digital) that the washed out photos were actually down to my doing. I'd been looking at them and couldn't figure out what the problem was. I kept moving the exposure compensation up and down but just kept seeing over-exposed photos. Until it clicked (not the camera); I'd been adjusting the flash exposure compensation via the LCD panel on top of the camera and not the 'regular' exposure compensation from the menu. Funnily enough when I realised and adjusted it all my photos returned back to how they were supposed to look....doh!

Childrens Play Area at the Crags

Anyway, after walking through the impressive Crags (there was a party of school-kids exiting one of the many caves as we passed by), we turned south-east and headed towards Holbeck. This section of the walk wasn't typical of the paths we are all used to on the hills in the Lakes, through the valleys of Snowdonia, and over the Dales of Yorkshire, but took us around and over muddy ploughed fields where you spent half of the time trying to stay balanced as you slid around on the mud; Not great when you have a 'dicky' back. Thankfully however this was only a mile or so and soon after reaching Holbeck (where I'd realised my camera error) our path became a track - much better underfoot and we were able to pick up some pace - not that we needed to as it was more of a ramble after all.

Entrance to the church grounds at Holbeck

We headed towards Woodhouse Hall and crossed the A60 into the Welbeck Estate. After entering the estate we headed in the direction of Welbeck Abbey, meandering through farming buildings and then a track towards the Abbey. It was at that point that a security van pulled up and a nice man told us that we couldn't go any further (we felt like criminals but without the handcuffs) as the Abbey is actually a private residence and the only way you can visit is by booking on a tour! Oops...wish we'd know that before we set off.

Never mind though, undeterred we turned back and headed towards the estate. I must admit that we were in awe of the estate buildings. They were absolutely beautiful, some were residential, and many being used commercially - one housing the School of Artisan Food (a lovely building surrounding a courtyard), an estate bakery and also a brewery. What was most surprising was that we never even knew that this place existed. After being amazed at all these fantastic buildings we headed back off the estate towards the A60. Just as we were about to exit the estate we discovered the Harley Gallery and the Dukeries Garden Centre. There was also a well stocked estate Farm Shop selling some lovely produce, but we managed to show restraint and just purchased some 'soda dough' bread and free-range eggs. Unfortunately for Donna, Paul Hollywood wasn't there making the bread :-)

One of the many buildings on the Welbeck Estate

After a short 20 minute walk back to the car we settled down in a lovely pagoda (well sort of) for soup and crusty bread, then shortly after our mini-break we returned to the Crags so I could take a few more photos to replace the 'wishy washy' ones from earlier, it was also nice to walk around the Crags Pond. So a change from what we had originally planned, but a great half a day or so out in the fresh air and home well before the sun sets.

More photos can be found here.

Saturday Saunter - 23rd March

Well what a wash-out of a day, ok I don't mean a wash-out as I'm referring to snow, but you get what I mean. We had a great Saturday planned with a couple of back to back rugby games - the second one being the Championship clash between Rotherham Titans and Cornish Pirates - but for obvious reasons the game was called off, and then at night a combined house-warming/18th birthday party. But, again due to the weather that event had to be cancelled which was probably for the best as the lane to the house couldn't exactly be described as safe in these conditions.

Out in the cold in my new Paramo Alta II jacket for the first time

So after a treacherous trip to take Jake into Sheffield for an exam - plus a little shopping, it was back home and then lunch; Poached eggs on toast for the third time this week, but also with mushrooms cooked in garlic butter....divine. Then shortly after that we threw our winter clothes and boots on and set off on a quick jaunt off the estate, over what used to be the tip from the days when there was a colliery in the village but is now a small park area; And then back home. Only out for about an hour but it got us out of the house.

I took the new camera with me (of course), and also a John Lewis carrier bag to keep any heavy snow off it; Classy...well you've got to protect it when you have a new toy :-) It was also the first opportunity to get out and about in my latest coat - my Paramo Alta 2. Ok not that much of a field test, but you've got to start somewhere. One things is for certain, if you hit the hills even in deep winter you wouldn't need much more than a base-layer beneath it. I had a fleece lined jumper and even though it was just a steady saunter I was very warm. How the Paramo keeps so much heat in I don't know!

A lovely row of isolated houses splitting the view to the horizon

Because the snow was more wet than icy, thankfully that made it much easier to walk in - apart from the drifted areas of course which were rather deep. But, we kept to the wind blown stretches of the hill-top most of the time so easy pickings were to be had. On the top of the hill it became quite breezy, but unfortunately never when I wanted to take a photo of the snow blowing about - typical!

Surprisingly there weren't that many people about, the odd walker with dogs, some kids on a hill sledging, but not as many as I expected taking in the delights of a snowy day. Maybe they're all tucked up in the warm at home, probably a good idea thinking about it.

Only a few kids out sledging

After about an hour we arrived back home, and I set about clearing the rest of the drive and path in front of the house to make it easier for Jake when he set off to work. Not much planned now for the evening ahead, so feet up in front of the TV and catch up on some of my recordings.

Shireoaks Basin - 19th March 2013

After yesterday's little soiree into the Peak District we'd planned a short walk on the Chesterfield canal for today, another chance to get some fresh air and to fire a few more shots of on the new camera. I didn't get out of bed until almost 10am - I'd not been in the land of nod but dropping in and out of that magical place whilst listening to talkSport. You can't beat a bit of Brazil in the morning...

We had to venture over to Worksop to pick up some parcels from ASDA, hence the plan to take in some of the Chesterfield canal as it only meant a slight detour off our route. I can't remember whether it was last year or the year before (I could easily check but can't be bothered) when we parked up near the train station in Kiveton and walked to Shireoaks and back along the canal path, much of it being a walk where there's plenty to see as there are a lot of locks along this stretch with some interesting bridges, a number of nice houses to have a nosey through the windows, and a picturesque basin along the way.

The walk was only a couple of miles but just enough to pass an hour or so, the path itself was a little muddy underfoot so by the end of the walk both of our trouser bottoms looked liked we'd been in the hills. Obviously Donna's were dirtier than mine, or at least that's my story and I shall stick to it no matter what the torture.

I managed to fire off a few camera shots along the way, playing around with the menu settings, getting to grips with all of the buttons and just generally familiarising myself with my new toy. It feels great in the hand being bigger and heavier than the 400D (which I've just sold on eBay for £110 by the way) - the magnesium alloy body gives it that feel of a real 'man's camera'

A view down just a few of the many locks on this section of the canal

By about 1:30pm we decided to head back home, it's back to work tomorrow and I had plenty of chores on the computer to keep me busy for the afternoon. A thoroughly enjoyable jaunt in the fresh air.

A Trip into the Peak District - 18th March 2013

We've not been out and about a lot recently. Mainly because we've simply not been able to find the time as there's been a lot going on, and with Donna having been in hospital for surgery we've been having to make sure that she's been ok, and it might be a while before she's up to long walks.

So we decided to go for a run out into the Peak District, heading the 30 odd miles across Sheffield out to Bakewell, not looking to do any significant walking, but just to get out and about for a stroll. Also, as Donna had surprised me with a new Canon EOS 7D last week it enabled me to fire off some test shots.

The lovely little courtyard from where we purchased a piece of furniture

The drive across took us an hour or so, and when parking up we noticed lots of white vans in the car-park, a clear sign that it was market day - an unexpected bonus. We spent about 30 minutes in and around the market - as with most markets there are a decent number of food and local goods stalls, but also some of the type that you see everywhere - toys, cheap trainers, DVD's etc. We just purchased a few speciality cheeses as we often do when we come across a market- I do like a nice cheese!

Just thought this old bicycle looked good up against the wall

We weaved around the back-streets perusing the speciality shops, both food and local wares. A few more pounds were spent on local baking, a lovely big locally made pork, chicken and stuffing pie, some rhubarb and strawberry slices, lovely scones - oh, and some Kangaroo Burgers. We were also lucky to find a shop where we dropped upon a great looking distressed old cabinet that would be perfect in our hall for a 'lamp table' - we'd been looking for something for months and just dropped on this, plus it was down from £75 to £50 so a bargain and a lot less than we'd expected to pay to get the right thing.

Lovely warm open fire in the Fox House Inn near Longshaw

After a couple of hours strolling and taking the odd photo we headed across country to the Fox House pub near Longshaw - a favourite eating place of ours. It was lovely as it was relatively quiet and we were able to sit in the comfortable leather chairs in the bar area sat close to the roaring open fire. I chose a Calamari starter and Donna had beer battered Mushrooms, then for main course Donna had a Beefburger with all the toppings, and I had a Wid Boar and Chorizo Burger....god that was nice. And as a treat we both then had a Baileys Hot Chocolate - no 'squirty' cream here, just a lovely double cream on top of the great tasting hot chocolate....a lovely end to a lovely relaxing meal with great company.

There's Snow Rugby Today - 26th January 2013

Well the overnight fall of snow meant that the 9am pitch inspection at Scarborough Rugby Club was a formality, in fact they did it early as there was no chance of the game being played and they could let Dinnington know not to travel as soon as possible. So, what should we do today?

There was little point in planning a walk on the North York Moors, mainly because the snow was very bad on the moors, and also because my recent back problem hadn't fully cleared up so I needed to stick with low level walking, and the flatter the better. We didn't want to miss the delight of seeing the sea-front and town white over so left the apartment at 08:30, heading firstly for the Watermark Cafe for tea and toast plus a bacon buttie to share. Luckily we managed to get a seat in there as it's a rare occasion that you find the cafe anything other than packed.

The apartments that we stay in on the North Bay

After loading ourselves up with food and drink to build up our energy stores for the day, we set off walking along Marine Drive. It was surprising just how many people must have already walked along there this morning as there were footprints everywhere, plus lots of paw prints as people had done their early morning stroll with the dog on the beach.

The ferris wheel at the small funfair near the harbour

We'd taken lots of photos along the way, so our walk to the resort centre had taken some time, and of course a visit to the Harbour Bar was essential - Knickerbocker Glory for Donna and a large chocolate cone filled with various flavours of ice-cream for me. Chocolate, Strawberry, Vanilla and a lovely tangy Lemon flavour....yummy.

Walking around Marine Drive around mid-day

The next section of our walk took us down to where the swimming pool used to be many years ago, down past the Spa and Esplanade. The swimming pool area is now a large star-chart, not that you could see much of the chart under the snow. Donna suggested that I do a 'snow angel' - so of course I did. Maybe it didn't have quite the same affect as we'd expected as some of the snow was mixed in with sand, and to be honest I was rubbish at doing it :- ( Whenever we walk around that part of the resort it brings memories back to Donna of when she was younger and the family spent many enjoyable summers in and around the swimming pool, housed in one of the multi-coloured beach chalets - many of which have seen much better days when you see them in their current state. What a waste that the pool is no longer there, but I'm sure there must have been good reason to fill it all in.

My poor attempt at a snow-angel

We then headed back, arriving back at the apartment at 14:30, having walked over 7 miles whilst we'd been out; Measured later on Bikehike. After chilling out for about 2hrs we togged up again and set off along Marine Drive again, back towards south-bay and with the plan to gorge on fish and chips. However, having forgotten that it's 'off-season' we could only find one chip-shop open on the sea-front, and having eaten from there a few years ago we had no intention of doing so again.

We walked around the town for a while trying to make a decision as to what to eat, but in the end returned back to the apartment as to be honest we just wanted to chill out for the evening. So, we jumped in the car and came back from Tesco Express with sandwiches and crisps....a picnic in the apartment as opposed to party in the park. Another 5 miles walked taking our daily tally to 12 miles - can't complain at that!

Tomorrow was our day to head home, the journey broken up by a visit to Thompsons on the A64, we got our fish and chips after all...