Tewkesbury 2026 - Let Battle Commence

After a decent breakfast and getting changed into my Monk persona, Brother Godrich,  I headed off to the Festival itself. I’d hoped to walk but in the end I’m glad I decided to scoot, I’d never have lasted the day out, nor helped by the fact that although the hotel entrance is right by the show ground it’s nearly half a mile from the hotel itself! Although I was a bit early we actually got let in a bit before official opening time so I was only waiting a few minutes. 

First order of the day was perusing the shopping stalls, one early purchase was a straw hat as I decided the Tilly Hat I’d grabbed out of the car was a bit incongruous. It was very hot so of course hydration was important, and as beer is over 90% water a couple of pints went down well (I did, of course, also drink plenty of actual water), as did the pulled pork roll. One good thing with the heat is that people had sensibly left their dogs at home. 

After trundling about a bit I went down to the field where the battle itself is reenacted, getting pointed in the direction of the disabled “viewing area“ on the way. For a while I found some shade from the commentary tower, which was good, but it didn’t last as the sun came round. We’d parked scooters at the back of the area and later it was opened up to others but everyone was very good at staying sat down in front. The first entertainment was a falconry “display” although due to the heat flying was very limited. 

All I can say of the battle itself is wow! It’s actually not too far off the original in both length, at around an hour, and numbers - around 2,000 reenactors, the battle itself is described as being “a few thousand!” The commentary was a double act of Professor Ron Hutton, who is excellent at putting across history in an interesting way, and another former participant - very very good. Photography with just the mobile wasn’t easy so I’ll need to do some sorting and editing before I publish pictures. I know they’re a bit controversial but there were some hydration breaks for the fighting men and women, and even then one or two had to be helped from field. 

After the battle finished I had another pint then trundled down into the town (with a brief interruption to swap scooter batteries) for some food, ending up with fish and chips eaten with my handy dandy medieval brass fork (a Tod Cutler product for those who know). I then continued round to the Abbey for some peace and the service of Compline. After a bit of juggling over exactly where I parked to make sure there was room for people to get out in an emergency* we awaited the arrival of the royal party followed by the ministers and the choir. It was a very traditional and very moving service, with the names of reenactors from past festivals who’ve passed away over the years being read out. 

I finished the Evening trundling back to the hotel, putting the scooter back in the boot after retrieving the flat battery for charging, and having a last pint. Overall an excellent day, going in costume made a difference engendering some conversations and I think a few sly photos, however it was also hot so I think tomorrow may just be t-shirt and shorts. 

*From long experience running fire drills it didn’t matter - they’d always leave the same way as they came in! 

Tewkesbury 2026 - Its Too Hot!

I’m in Tewkesbury for this years Medieval Festival but decided to travel over early and have some time in the town as it’s somewhere I’ve never visited before. Having left early the sat nav went into full on traffic avoidance mode so I’d struggle to say exactly where I went on the way other than that quite a bit of it was on the Fosse Way which is from the wrong era! 

Parking in the town proved remarkably easy and was free with the blue badge (it’s not overly expensive anyway) but getting round was definitely a scooter job. The first port of call was the Abbey Cafe for a much needed coffee followed by visiting the Abbey itself. It’s not huge, and is fairly understated, but very pleasant although I did have to dodge a party of primary school children. 

There was an exhibition of embroidered wall hangings illustrating the life of Jesus of which these are just a few:

Overall worth the visit and it was nice not to be mugged for an entrance fee (although I did make a donation). 

From there I trundled around the town, with a quick call in to Boots as I’d forgotten the SPF50, before ending up back at the Abbey for lunch and a quick browse around their shop - I might have bought a battle t-shirt but I’m not sure if I’m a Yorkist or a Lancastrian! 

I trundled down to the riverside for a short while on my way back to the car and came across a slightly posh ice cream place, I was just after a cone but ended up with a mint chocolate sundae - it was almost too much for me to finish! From there I picked up the car and drove round to the hotel, I was a bit early to check in but a pint of Wye Valley Butty Bach filled in the time nicely. Once in my room I chilled for a while (as much as I could - no air con but a bit of a breeze helped).

I don’t eat posh very often, and frankly it’s sometimes disappointing when I do, but that certainly doesn’t apply to this hotel. I had a delicious goats cheese tartlet with pickled beetroot to start followed by a huge ribeye pork steak in creamy peppercorn sauce and cheese and biscuits to finish - there was even an extra touch with the latter as one of the cheeses was smothered in honeycomb which provided a perfect blend of sweet and savoury. Prices weren’t that ridiculous either, I’ve paid as much for lesser meals before! 

Return to the Lakes - The Rain Came Down!

Considering Cumbria’s reputation for rain and the poor forecast I’ve been very lucky on this trip - there’s been a bit of drizzle a couple of times but the first time I actually got rained on was dashing from the hotel to the car when I left to come home. I had a choice of 3 routes, down the M6 from Penrith or go over to Scotch Corner then down the A1 or onto the M1; there were no more than a few miles or minutes between these so I decided to stick with the A1. An advantage of going across to Scotch Corner is that the Greggs there is the furthest point South I’ve found Stotties (an oven bottom bread unique to NE England) for sale so I bought a pack of 2. 

Overall it’s been a successful trip albeit with a few issues such as the scooter failing (the replacement suspension arm is on order) but nothing I couldn’t work round. It was a shame missing out on seeing Bluebird K7 at Coniston but everything I heard whilst I was there convinced me I’d made the right decision to simply avoid the area. The two hotels were very different but both good in their own way and both very friendly. 

There were a couple of days when I should have planned more activities - it’s always difficult to tell how long I’ll be at places, and how long I’ll last out; losing the scooter didn’t help, I simply ran out of steam a couple of days but equally I managed to walk further than I expected. I’m still firming up plans for my next long trip to North East England so I’ll make sure that where there are contingency plans where I might have spare time. 

Return to the Lakes - Excavator Heaven I

Ewan MacColl wrote in The Drivers Song

Come all you gallant drivers

Wherever you may be,

Whether you drive a Euclid…

Or a 54RB

Or even a 1909 Ruston and Proctor Steam Navvy!

The visit was to the Threlkeld Quarry and Mining Museum which is also home to the Vintage Excavator Trust who were having a running day. The majority of the machines there are Ruston-Bucyrus in a range of sizes from the smallest 10RB upwards. The original machines came in different versions including dragline, face cutting, cranes, etc. They were fairly ubiquitous in quarrying and civil engineering until hydraulic excavators took over when many were converted for use in demolition which apparently tended to wreck the machines themselves. 

The day started with a ride up to the top end of the quarry, another Hunslet product being the motive power, this time a diesel industrial:

The loco runs to the quarry at the top then drops back down to the workshops area where the bulk of the excavators are located and where they were operating, a bonus was Snacks on Tracks, the VET ladies providing sandwiches, cakes and hot drinks. I had a coffee and then a bit later a sausage sandwich for lunch before walking down to the museum itself. 

Although it’s a small building, and they are seeking funds for a new one, there are decent displays on local geology, quarrying and mining. 

They have a dark light area with a number of fluorescent rocks and minerals which glow in real life but really shine in a photograph:

It’s not all excavators and quarrying, on my final wander I found this relic from the canals:

From the museum I drove down to Ullswater and Glenridding, where I stayed in a statics caravan with university friends very nearly 40 years ago, before returning to the hotel via the tea shop at Aira Force (free National Trust parking, it would have cost anything up to £7 to park in Glenridding or Patterdale). 

One thing that people may be finding confusing is that the road past Patterdale over Kirkstone Pass is closed with, to quote the road sign, “No access to Troutbeck…” which seems odd as I’d just come from there - with typical British logic there is a Troutbeck at each end of the Pass. 

Return to the Lakes - A Bit of History

Today was mostly about history, with a couple of museums and an ancient monument. 

After breakfast I drove into Keswick, and ended up paying for parking - it’s free for Blue Badge holders but only for three hours and I reckoned I’d be longer. First stop was Keswick Museum and Gallery, not the best town museum I’ve visited but not the worst. The major interesting item is the Musical Stones, a giant glockenspiel but the notes are actual stone. Apparently it was built by a stone mason who gave up his day job and toured the country giving performances - apart from anything it’s not exactly an easily portable instrument! 

Musical Stones

My next visit, after a coffee and biscuit, was the Derwent Pencil Museum where your entry ticket is a pencil! You also get given a clipboard and quiz to complete (whether you want it or not), actually it’s a good way of getting you to actually read and think about the displayed information. 

I noticed this set of pencils and bottle of oil for colouring B&W photos as it reminded me of a picture of Mum that Dad had done in Hong Kong- the artist wouldn’t believe the colour of her eyes and wanted to make them blue.

After some lunch I drove down the side of Derwentwater and parked up for a while in a National Trust car park. I’ve done some walking in the past around there and spotted the path we took up from the lake around 40 years ago!

Derwentwater

Possibly slightly foolishly I carried on down past the lake and looped round back up to Keswick, which sounds simple but included Honister and Whinlatter passes! Not that the current car has any issues with 1 in 4 hills and hairpin bends but it’s not exactly relaxed driving. 

The final visit was to Castlerigg Stone Circle. The 38 standing stones are late Neolithic, about 4,500 years old, and anything they lack in size is made up for by the stunning setting. I was regretting that I’d only taken the small camera today but I’ll see how all the pictures come out when I get back. 

Tomorrow is another museum, a Mining one, which is largely why I’m stopping where I am. 

Return to the Lakes-Just Trains!

The Ravenglass and Eskdale had long been on my repeat bucket list so today I ticked it off. It was quite a diversion but well worth it. I was a bit rushed when I got there and I then found the parking machine wouldn’t work, fortunately I was able to pay the slightly exorbitant £8 when buying my ticket (they only do 2 hours, which is only just time for the train journey, or all day) - I don’t really mind as it helps the railway. I sat in one of the open coaches on the outward journey, nice when the wind dropped and the sun came out but went inside on the way back! 

Not the warmest, or most luxurious, rail journey!

The line was originally built as a 3’ gauge mineral line but soon took passengers as well, it closed in 1913 door to falling traffic. That could have been the end of the story but in 1915 WJ Bassett-Lowke and R Proctor-Mitchell acquired the line to test their 15” gauge locos, relaying the track over the next couple of years. From 1920 mineral traffic and passengers were both carried but in 1958 the line was put up for sale, being bought at auction in 1960 by the current company with money largely from two local landowners and despite some trials and tribulations has operated and expanded ever since. 

River Irt, the oldest 15” gauge loco still running, originally built as a tank engine, Muriel, in 1894 but was converted and renamed in 1927

The railway has a small, but interesting, museum with a few locos and history exhibits. 

The last of the Bassett-Lowke built coaches.

After lunch and a wander I headed up the coast then inland to my second base for the holiday, the Troutbeck Inn. It’s nothing spectacular but its friendly and serves decent food. 

That’s what I call a proper steak pie!

Return to the Lakes - Trains, Boats and a Plane

There were plenty of cars and bikes, too!

In the end the weather today wasn’t much worse than yesterday, with occasional drizzle. The first stop was at Haverthwaite for the Lakeside and Haverthwaite Railway - a fairly conventional standard gauge heritage line. The route is cut into, and sometimes through, the rock alongside the River Leven and was an important link when built with ferry and boat services direct to London and other major centres.

Our loco was a visitor from the Kent and East Sussex Railway.

The building of this stretch of line enabled larger steamers on the lake as previously they’d had to navigate a few miles up the river. If I have a criticism it’s the fact that when I alighted from the train the gift shop was closed “for 5 minutes!” I hung about but there was no sign of anyone reopening it so I gave up, hopefully they were more on the ball later in the day. 

From the railway it was only a few minutes drive to the Lakeland Motor Museum. That was well worth the visit and in the end probably a lot easier using the walker than the scooter. As you’d expect there are lots of cars and motorcycles but, as per the title of this episode, boats and a single plane. Most of the cars were old enough to avoid me having actually owned them but there were a few that have been on my possible shopping list at one time or another. 

A 1959 Scootacar Mk 1, built by the locomotive builders Hunslets of Leeds, the story is that one of the directors’ wives wanted something easier to park than her Jaguar!

The Flying Flea replica - they were a French design but after three fatal accidents they were deemed too dangerous to fly.

A collection of beautiful motorcycles.

After a very nice roast beef sandwich for lunch I finished the visit with their separate Campbell Bluebird exhibition space which also includes a small Swallows and Amazons display relating to a passage in Pigeon Post. I may have missed out on seeing the real Bluebird K7 but I did get to see the replica! 

Mrs Blackett from Pigeon Post

For the sake of it I made my way back to the hotel via the cable ferry across the lake - due the the necessary slack in the cables it does travel with a curious crab-like motion but in the days before motor transport and with poor roads it must have been invaluable. 

I do like stopping in the Inn Collection Group’s establishments, The staff are all friendly and pleasant and it’s noticeable that they take time to smile and say hello to children, plus one earlier wandered round with biscuits and sausages for the dogs in the bar.