Full Metal Wheelbarrow

Busy day today - down to Fareham for a trike-related job this morning. Pleasantly, that turned out to be rather more straightforward than we'd anticipated and next we trundled off for a peer at Portchester Castle, a medieval castle built on the site of a Roman fort. Rob had wanted to visit it for some time, but never had the opportunity, so even the soggy weather didn't deter him :)

( Pictures herein )

Rob booked a week off this week and we found a reasonable deal on Late Rooms and decided to go walking around Castleton in the Peak District for a couple of days.

What we didn't realise when we booked was that Rob would get the chance to go to Germany and the Netherlands the previous weekend to test ride new velomobiles, which meant he 'd be arriving back at Derby railway station on the Monday morning, so he had to pack for two trips simultaneously and I collected him from the station and whisked him straight off to Castleton.

Castleton boasts several caves/mines around it, the closest one to village rejoicing in the name of "the Devil's Arse" apparently because of the noises which issue therefrom :) OK. I'm five, but it amused me. I found it particularly funny that there will be a Carol Concert there in the winter…

( A Several of pictures )

As well as some nonsense happening in in America, today is Rob's fortieth birthday, so we went out to Warwick Castle. Sad to say it was a bit of a disappointment - I'm really glad I gor half-price tickets or it would have been even more so. The castle itself was nice enough mind, but there was a distinct lack of tea (always gets a place a bad mark in Rob's book, that) and it was also rather lacking in atmosphere somehow - possibly just too commercialised, possibly that it seemed to be pretty much winding down for the winter.

( A few pictures anyway... )

After we'd climbed all round the turrets and battlements walk (500 steps! Phew!) we tootled off to have a look at Warwick itself, but that was fairly lacklustre too, we thought.

Although I liked the metal birds in the fountain outside the town hall and the old Post Office building

( The best bits of Warwick )

After that we came home via Ryton Organic Gardens, which is always worth a visit. And they have plenty of tea :-)