YE OLDE MERRIE ENGLANDE!!

[spydaman60]

tour?

oj, if we can find a ship to get us all over there with our spyders, will you sign on as tour guide? the pay won't be much, but i'm sure there will be many pints slipped your way. (after the rides, of course):thumbup: love that country side look!

 

[OJ UK]

Do you live near Downton Abbey (Highclere Castle)?

​

Highclere is not really a castle in the traditional meaning of a castle, which is a fortified building
to defend against and repel attacking forces. It's more like a fortified manor house, but still a lovely
building designed and built by the same man who built The Houses of Parliament.

 

[OJ UK]

Have you ever been to Retford? (The spelling may be off...)
My family emigrated from there, in 1795... :shocked:

No Bob, I haven't been to Nottinghamshire other than to do work related stuff.....but if it was as
bad then as it seemed to be 10 years ago, I can understand why they emigrated!! :roflblack:

 

[OJ UK]

oj, if we can find a ship to get us all over there with our spyders, will you sign on as tour guide? the pay won't be much, but i'm sure there will be many pints slipped your way. (after the rides, of course):thumbup: love that country side look!

Done!! When do I start??!! :doorag:hyea:
Because the UK is relatively speaking a small country, I reckon it would take me a couple of months to show just the major highlights to a visitor. In depth??
It would take months to see a county like Kent. It has to be remembered that the UK's history is almost 2000 years old and each county has it's own story to tell.
We've been invaded and and governed by the Romans, the Vikings and the Normans and of course each of those was followed up by their wannabes!!
It's the reason why the English language is comprised of ancient German, French, Saxon, Danish, Celtic, and Latin.

 

[bruiser]

You forgot Cockney :roflblack:

 

[Bob Denman]

As we say in Olde Englande: SLAP!!! (Junior!!) :lecturef_smilie:

GLADLY accepted... SIR! :bowdown:

 

[OJ UK]

GLADLY accepted... SIR! :bowdown:

LOL!!
Right back to the business in hand:
Last year a friend and I went to an old castle which guards the river Medway.
It was built in the reign of Queen Elizabeth I in about 1560.
Here is a good site to learn a little more: http://www.fortified-places.com/upnor.html

The first two pictures are from the castle's own publicity the rest are mine. As usual Click on the pics for your visual delight!

 

[OJ UK]

The last pic in the previous post shows an Inglenook fireplace and the first pic. here is the flue/chimney.
The beautiful staircase was built around a hoist where barrels of gunpowder could be lowered from the magazine to the guns below
hence all of the scuffs and general damage to the inside of the stairs and handrail.
Then we see two of the mid-level cannon and a plaque on another.

Time to cook dinner.....

 

[Bob Denman]

:clap: How long did it take to build a castle of this size? :2thumbs:
(LOVE that circular staircase!)

 

[OJ UK]

Click on that link, Bob and all will be revealed!

To continue ( ).......Onto the outside of the building again.


You can see the evidence of a mixed construction here as the use of the fort changed through the years.
Also the extent of command that the guns had over this reach of the Medway. Back inside now!
This passage connected the lower gun level with another part of the fort which has sincebeen demolished.

Here's the magazine which once held over 5,000 barrels of powder
and the outside door of the magazine which is copper clad.

Well I hope some of you enjoyed this little tour of Upnor Castle. There's a bit about it on Wikipedia too.

 

[Yazz]

Oh, the stories those walls could tell...

 

[OJ UK]

I was asked what's going on in the UK!!

MAJOR flooding! That's what!

Here's the river, where I go fishing, last year (as usual click on the pics!)


Last Sunday:


This is eight to ten feet above normal and last week it was almost over that gate.

We had heavy rain on 23 days of January and it looks the same for February
only the rain is not quite so prolonged but is coming in very heavy squalls and
short rainstorms.
Next week the forecast is for two months worth of rain in four days...I'm hoping they're wrong on that!

 

[warp10]

Hope it doesn't get any worse. ray: I don't think Spyders like water. :yikes:

 

[34fun]

Ok Guys 'n gals I though I'd put up a couple of pics (and it is only a couple at the moment!)
of life on a Spyder in England....
View attachment 82171 This picture was taken at an old coaching house, where coaches would stop to
allow passengers and horses some refreshment. It was built in 1512. (That's older than some of Bob Denmans jokes!!)
They serve excellent food and of course beer!!

View attachment 82172Here I am just about to leave the parking area of a nearby 14th century manor house where they
serve afternoon tea in the gardens.....all very quaint!
These were taken on a friend's phone. I have just bought a new Nikon camera so I hope that this year's pictures will be more plentiful
and bigger!!

When the weather is good it must be an incredible place to ride,great scenery lots of countryside etc. I am travelling to Manchester soon, have you ever heard of anywhere that rents spiders in the U.K. ?

 

[bruiser]

Been following the weather/flooding issues in the UK. The videos of the waves crashing over the sea walls is unbelievable. Saw a news video yesterday that showed a massive wave come over a sea wall and hit two and three story homes over the roofs.

 

[OJ UK]

Spyder rental in the UK....

When the weather is good it must be an incredible place to ride,great scenery lots of countryside etc. I am travelling to Manchester soon, have you ever heard of anywhere that rents spiders in the U.K. ?

Yes, it certainly is great and , believe it or not, it really doesn't rain here any more than in say New York!
Regarding Spyder hire there is a place in the south that hires but I think they're very, very expensive!:shocked:
http://www.collisonrecreation.co.uk/contact-us/
The reason that they're expensive is probably that most people have no experience riding one and I would think that
they will have had bikes returned with damage. If you've never driven over here then I wouldn't recommend
hiring any sort of bike....you will not enjoy the experience unless you stay well clear of large towns and cities.

 

[Grandpa Pete]

Have you taken it over to the Isle for the TT? I think that would be awesome. Take a run near Peel and Castletown. Not Douglas, to many tourists during the TT.hyea:


Peter Pontinen
1/2 Manx by birth
:2thumbs:

 

[OJ UK]

Have you taken it over to the Isle for the TT? I think that would be awesome. Take a run near Peel and Castletown. Not Douglas, to many tourists during the TT.hyea:


Peter Pontinen
1/2 Manx by birth
:2thumbs:

No, Peter...I have only had my Spyder for a year and IoM is not very high on my travel bucket list. There's too much to see on the mainland first!
I think if I was to go there for race week I think I'd fly there and rent a car or bike. The ferry that week is silly expensive!

 

[Fat Crip]

Hi folks, I'm new here, but also in the UK. I live in Scotland, but reading this post was interesting to me as I was educated in Sandwich in Kent and as a 16 year old I did my 50 mile canoe test paddling the length of the Medway. But also, this weekend I drove to Poole in Dorset and on the way passed both Manchester and Highclere on the way there and the way back. Saw a hell of a lot of flooding too from the New Forrest to Poole. I'm hoping to have my Spyder shortly and will be taking it to watch some road racing this year. We did Ireland's Dundrod Bike Week last year and were planning to do the Southern 100 on the Island of Dreams (Isle of Man), but accommodation for me is difficult so we may go back to Ireland for the NW200 or something.

 

[Gordy]

My mother and Father came to Canada from Scotland.Older brother and sister were born there.Two brothers spent some time over there during ww11.Mother was a Dingwall from county of Turiff