Oct 7 – Oct 21, 2026
London, Bridlington, Cheltenham, Bristol
We walked along the south bank near Battersea as evening fell, catching Albert Bridge just as its lights came on and reflected across the Thames, with a red double-decker crossing as the tide exposed the muddy riverbank below.
We started the day in St. James's Park under a clear autumn sky, walked past Big Ben, and crossed the river to spend time at the COVID Memorial Wall before heading back to South Kensington for pie, fish and chips, and a pint at a pub Hazel approved of.
We started the day at the V&A, where Bharti Kher's striking sculpture of a female figure with antlers stopped us cold and demanded a long, slow look. That evening we walked along the Thames and took in Albert Bridge lit up over the water.
We started the day with a morning beach walk at Bridlington with Sarah and Hazel, the tide well out and plenty of open sand to cover, using the Nordic poles while Hazel tore across the beach with her tongue out. The white cliffs were visible way off in the distance, and the town stretched along the seafront behind us.
We stopped for lunch at the Millington Gait Inn, a cosy pub in the tiny village of Millington in the Yorkshire Wolds, where a cat asleep in the window box set the tone nicely. Greg, Hazel, and Sarah joined us for a good meal, and someone picked up a sign listing the "5 Deadly Terms Used by a Woman" that made the rounds at the table.
We spent a sunny October afternoon in Bridlington with Betty and Sarah, walking the promenade past the colourful beach huts and red chairs before heading down onto the wide-open sand at low tide, where the rippled pools and distant wind farm stretched out toward the horizon.
We spent the day at Forge Mill in Redditch, a working needle mill museum where we walked through the full needle-making process, taking in the period machinery, mannequin workers mid-task, and a display case of J. English & Son needles still in their original packaging — everything from sailmaking to upholstery. A swan on the millrace outside rounded off the visit nicely.
We started the day in Cheltenham with a browse at Waterstones on the Promenade — where Sarah picked up Kipper's Christmas Eve and posed with the bronze sculptures out front — before heading to Coaley for lunch with Aled and Sarah at the Old Fox, with a wander around St. Bartholomew's churchyard that included a sobering stop at a headstone for Frank Webb, killed in 1917 aged 23. We finished the day in Bristol at the docks, walking the waterfront at Anchor Square as the crescent moon came out, then dinner at the Spiny Lobster with Andy and Cheralyn followed by drinks at the New Moon
We climbed Cabot Tower in the morning, tackling the spiral staircase for panoramic views over Bristol's autumn canopy, then made our way to Clifton Observatory to look out over the Avon Gorge, with the suspension bridge spanning across and the river running muddy brown far below before we headed back for dinner with Andy and Cheralyn.
