Henley on Thames

Henley on Thames - a place for the rich, boat racers and people in NSW jumpers - absolutely stunning. It was a mere 30 miles from London so I'm not quite sure how it took 2:20 to get there, but it was worth it.

Norfolk & The Broads

When the chap you hire a boat from makes a point of saying that if your boat is making waves you are probably going to fast, you can be pretty sure its not going to be the most exhilarating day out. That said, I'm pleased we didn't go to fast as it allowed plenty of time to enjoy the views of the riverside villa's and it meant that we only had to steer the boat in between swigs of beer.

The Norfolk Broads was a relaxing waterway to check out along (albeit along with half of England). We did manage to beat the speed lock and get our boat up to at least 7mph and pass a few pasty Englishmen who were out fishing and sunbathing.


Now I know there will be a few of you who will love the sight of these wind turbines - we drove by the construction zone purely by accident and I couldn't believe how massive they are. It was a beautiful sight to see them at sunset, out at sea pumping out power. Unfortunately the photos didn't turn out too well because of the mist. If Helen Clark wasn't so busy worrying about her love life maybe she could put her manly foot down and build some of these beauties at Makara:

Bury St Edmunds & Botesdale

Bury St Edmunds: Shrine of the King, Cradle of the Law

This is where I lived for a couple of years with my parents when I was about 13-14.

The town grew up around the Abbey of St Edmund in early medieval times. For five centuries it was visited by pilgrims from all over the world, coming to worship at the shrine of St Edmund - the martyred King of East Anglia. St Edmund was the patron saint of England until the dragon-slaying George took up the title in more militant times.

And for those of you paying attention in Nigel Jamieson's first year legal history lectures: It is said that at St Edmund's Altar in 1214 AD the barons reponsible for the Magna Carta met and swore an oath that they would force King John to accept the Charter of Liberties, which later became known as the Magna Carta.

We took a walk around the town and I discovered that not much has changed!! Although it was much quieter than I remembered. One of the more common developments around the world in the last 15 years has been the rise of the Starbuck - and unfortunately Bury St Edmunds is no different. Was great to have a wander around - but I'm sure that Hamish got sick of me saying "Ohh - that was where I...." We went into the shop that Mum used to work in called the Parsley Pot. They thought we were a bit freaky when we started taking photos and came out to check what was going on, so this photo's for you Mum:

At the bottom of Abbeygate Street:


A stroll through the beautiful Abbey gardens and ruins:




Botesdale
St Catherines: Our old house. Very old. I think it is about 600 years old and it used to be a monastery. When we moved in the villagers told us that it was also inhabited by a ghost, but we never saw any sign of that. Not much has changed there either, although I am sure that it used to be pink.

The village used to have three pubs in the space of about 200 metres. Hamblyn House has now closed, so now there are two within about 20 metres! This photos is taken looking down 'the street' from where Hamblyn House used to be. And yes, the street is actually named 'The Street'!

Cambridge

Welcome. I really enjoyed our brief visit to the strange and historic university town of Cambridge. Strange, in the sense that 50m from the sparkling new "Eat" cafe where we had lunch are the historic (in fact super historic) Colleges that date back to King Henry VI.

The highlight was clearly a stroll through the grounds and the Chapel of King's College:

Outside of the Colleges, the town itself was not short on character either


We visited an American war cemetary where over 3,000 soldiers lie. In WWII a few American units was based near Cambridge.