Out and about in Lowestoft

On a beautiful day in February we had a wander along our beach down to the harbour, just under a mile's walk north. A good deal of Victorian Lowestoft is still standing and was developed by Samuel Morton Peto - architect, engineer, MP, landowner and close pal of Queen Victoria - together with his accomplished designer John Thomas (who I think did most of the work, though Peto seems to get most of the credit!) This is a view of Wellington Esplanade, a great terrace with wonderfully restored gardens in front. They were built in the mid 1850s as seaside retreats and villa residences for the notable families and merchants of the region. Nowadays they are a mixture of B&Bs, flats and the odd family house and holiday home.

A bit further north and further from where we live is Marine Parade, in the background. Our doctor's is right at the end. They didn't start out having a sea view though, and had been dwarfed by grand seafront villas at the time, but these suffered bombardment and air attacks in the first and second world wars. The gaping space is known today as the Royal Plain and becomes the temporary home for the annual Lowestoft Airshow as well as a travelling fair that pitches up every so often.

Further down at the harbour is Neptune's son Triton, accredited to John Thomas! Lowestoft has just two of these grotty arcades that you can see in the background (contrasting nicely with our southern and northern neighbours Southwold and Great Yarmouth which have none and millions, respectively). Note that poor deprived Alastair is looking longingly at the Bob Builder ride there, which I never him go on unless visitors come!

Gregor loves tying things together at the moment with his special version of knot, and when he found this bit of old rope on the beach on the walk down, he was that excited you'd have thought it was a treasure chest that had been washed up. I don't know what he was trying to do...perhaps he thought it would reach as far as the fountains.

Here he was trying to see what would happen to his spade when he placed it over the sporadic jet of water from the fountain, but I missed the crucial moment.

When we finally got him away from his game the Lowestoft lifeboat pulled into harbour back from a training exercise. As usual Gregor didn't miss the opportunity to try on the tired and friendly lifeboatman's jacket.

A view from the pier looking south down the coast to Kessingland.


Oh, a footnote. On a recent trip to Great Yarmouth I noticed this bright and right on the high street one-stop-shop for getting back to employment, generously funded by the EU's European Social Fund.

Empty!

Bosworth field

Since we were in Leicester it seemed mad (for Misha - I could've just as easily strolled down Belgrave Road and had a curry!) not to visit Bosworth - the site of one of the last battles of the War of the Roses, and where Henry Tudor, newly arrived from exile in France, faced Richard III for the throne in 1485 and won it.

A little warm up in the form of the Games Workshop shop sparked Gregor's interest the previous day.

Food in the 15th century.......still pretty gamey and without spice, but not completely bland.

Gregor taking his new service as halberdier in the (losing) Duke of Norfolk's contingent very seriously.

And Misha was in his element discussing the finer details of the English civil war with the footsoldier-cum-guide.

And while daddy was busy nattering the boys were running riot...
So we shoved them into the stocks for a taster of real punishment.
Then ran down the hill where the battle took place.


And up again.

Helen and Jo & co

One of the main reasons for going to Leicester was to visit two old friends, both former residents of College Avenue. Catching up was easy. With Helen we stopped in on Milo's first birthday party in a church on Clarendon Park Road.

Helen's in the centre smiling for the camera and Milo is far more concerned where the parcel is being passed to. Can't wait to be invited to more of his parties cos the food was wonderful - Helen had got her mum up for the weekend and together they laid on a feast.

Then we made our way to Jo and Tony's house in a village 20 mins south of Leicester. They have three children and their hands full. Here is Teagan proudly showing us the iced buns she'd just made with the help of her nurse.

Out in the garden in the den Tony built for Aidan, Gregor was being shown the ropes.

Misha and Tony, who first met one another in the Lake District in 2003, found they had a lot more in common than enjoying a drink till the early hours and managed to discuss all number of subjects in the short time we were there. Tony only recently retrained to be a landscape gardener and is one of those people who just loves his work and gets such a buzz out of it, you wonder what else he could turn his hand to.

Well, he's not a bad dad by the looks of it either, and here is new addition to the family - little Alannah, enjoying the fresh air and watching the boys climb around and play pirates while the adults natter away.

And Jo looking on maternally while Alastair contemplates getting on the swing by himself.

We'll see more of the Kerrs in April as they are coming to visit us in Lowestoft at the end of the Easter holidays.