Astra trips Jan and Feb 2018

It’s the end of January 2019 as I begin my road trip blog for the whole of 2018! Worse still I have made very few notes and so am relying on my photos and Facebook postings to jog my memory. Note to self- must do better in 2019. We began the year with Dave having a bit of a set back with his knee which wasn’t bending as well as it should but with a bit of bashing about by the surgeon he soon improved and here we are a year later with a return to full health other than he can’t kneel on it.

Henley Weir

We started 2018 with a few road trips in the Astra starting on 7^th January with a lovely day out in beautiful Bucks, Oxfordshire and Berkshire along the Thames while the water was high and fast flowing.  It was a trip down memory lane for Dave seeking out his old training and canoe competition haunts in C2 with Dave Curle. We ended up with a nice lunch at Boulter's Riverside Brasserie.

Hambledon weir

We took a cheeky drive up to Cheshire on 12^th January for a Warner Breaks weekend to see an excellent “Adele” tribute and to explore the local area. We had an interesting visit to see the Anderton Boat lift, the world's oldest operational boat lift, built to allow boats to be transported from the River Weaver - raising boats 50 feet into the Trent and Mersey Canal using hydraulic power. The area was known for salt mining. We also visited The National Waterways Museum at Ellesmere Port Dock which was a fascinating couple of hours discovering the history of the canals and in particular the Manchester Ship canal and the Shropshire Union Canal.

https://canalrivertrust.org.uk/places-to-visit/national-waterways-museum

https://canalrivertrust.org.uk/anderton

Anderton Boat Lift

National Waterways Museum

OMC AGM

We were presented with this funny cartoon at Oakley Motorcycle’s AGM drawn by Derek Bye in recognition of our work to organise the curry evenings and the American Theme Nights.

 

In February we had a beautiful drive through the Purbeck Hills to the surprisingly lovely Minehead in Somerset. We had a great weekend with family at Butlin's for the Absolute 80's weekend. - Altered Images, Toyah, T'Pau, Katrina of the Waves, "Freddie Mercury," "Blondie," "Duran Duran" and best of all Doctor and the Medics. They may only have had one hit but they know how to put on an amazing show! Last but not least Del's victory over darts legend Chris Mason was awesome!

Minehead

Toyah