November 2020 Archives

Dunstanbrugh Castle was built in the early 1300s by the cousin of king Edward II, a man named Thomas the Earl of Lancaster. He was the opposition to the king as he felt that he should be the king. After Thomas' supporters were executed by the king, Thomas had this castle built as a statement of his importance above the king. The castle, which is mainly just towering walls and a gatehouse, is impressive in size and can be seen from the king's castle Bamburgh. Below the far side of Dunstanbrugh Castle, there was a lake, and the lake reflected the imposing castle.

The castle is located on a coastal walkway about 1.3 miles from the village of Craster in Northumberland. There is parking in the village and visitors must walk along the coast to get to it. It is a beautiful walk with coastal and castle views.

The castle was used as a lookout point during World War II and is owned by the National Trust with management by English Heritage. The site is a special scientific interest site due to the wildlife that thrives here. The castle is the largest castle in Northumberland.

These structures were the constables quarters, and they stayed at and maintained the castle. Thomas, Earl of Lancaster, only got to visit the castle one time before he was captured in battle and executed.

Lilburn Tower, pictured above, is the highest point of the castle. 

I had a walk around the castle walls, and the views here are spectacular. The weather was warm and perfect as well.

The castle has inspired some legends and folklore. It is easy to see why with it being in such a hauntingly beautiful and remote location. I would visit this castle again on a nice day.

Valley of the Rocks is a perfect place to enjoy a loop walk with wonderful views of stacks of rocks and the sea (technically the Bristol Channel) with a visit to tearooms at the end of the walk. The Valley of the Rocks is located near Lynton in Exmoor, Devon. I visited Valley of the Rocks on a clear and warm day in mid-September. This has become one of my favourite walks.

I started my journey on this road, which has parking to visit the Valley of the Rocks. It is also the road that has Mother Meldrum's Tearoom on it. There are a couple of places for parking here, and I recommend parking on the right of the photograph below, just before the trees and with the path on the opposite side. 

After parking, walk across the road to a gradual incline that leads up the hill to the Valley of Rocks and the coastline hidden behind it. There are a couple of benches to sit on, but it's not a steep walk.

It is not a steep walk, and the walking that you will complete afterwards will all be downhill or level. But first, just turn the corner in the below photograph, and you come across a wonderful view (see the first picture on this post). The trail follows the coast, but you want to turn left here where you join the trail; turning right will lead to further trails.

Once on the trail, you will be able to admire wonderful views of the water and the rocks. Don't forget to look up at the stacks of rocks on the hills above. Apparently, there are goats that live on the rocks here, but I did not see any when I visited. Be careful to keep away from the edge because it's a steep slope and a steep drop into the Bristol Channel.

After about fifteen minutes, you will come upon the end of the trail where it stops following the coastline. There are some benches here to sit down on. The white pole pictured below marks the end of the trail.

On the other side of the trail in the Valley of Rocks are wonderful views of the rock stacks. 

The end of the walk is near Mother Meldrum's Tearoom. There is adequate seating outside on picnic benches, and I ordered a slice of cherry pie and a drink and wrote a few postcards as it was sunny and warm.  

The cherry pie was served with clotted cream, and I enjoyed the pie. 

I really enjoyed this short circular walk, and I recommend it if you are ever in the Exmoor area. 

I had to cancel my Thanksgiving Day plans this year due to the coronavirus pandemic. I had planned things for today and tomorrow two months ago, and then the country went into lockdown for the second time this year. With my plans up in the air, I decided to work through Thanksgiving and the day after (known as Black Friday), but I did manage to find a place that was cooking a Thanksgiving Meal that could be picked up and heated at home from Woodland Parks Hotel near Cobham in Surrey. All restaurants are shut for indoor dining due to the lockdown. 

It's been nearly three weeks since I got out of the house now, so I had a quick wander around Claremont Landscape Gardens. I'd wanted to get to a couple of National Trust places in mid-November to see the autumn colour, but the lockdown prevented this as well. The gardens were open here, and I booked in advance, but it was busy. I was amazed at how busy it was here on a dreary day on a Thursday afternoon. I had a walk around the lake and up the hill overlooking the ampitheatre before heading to pick up the Thanksgiving Day meal to cook from home.

Unfortunately, the colour has nearly gone now.

It's a pity that we could not eat at the hotel because it does look good, but they do serve afternoon tea and Thanksgiving meals in the restaurant on normal years. Instead, they offered a collection, and I thought this was a good idea because the meals would be prepared. But, we did end up having to cook the turkey and we couldn't enjoy the starter first because everything needed to cook and be ready at different times. It was chaotic. I ended up with a lot of leftover food, and the soup ended up getting too cold, so I will have to have that tomorrow. It is a lot of food for two people anyway.

So, the soup was a squash soup served with a bread roll and butter. There was a turkey wrapped in bacon. 

And the sides included roast potatoes, marshmallow sweet potato, creamed corn, macaroni and cheese, stuffed pumpkins, bacon wrapped in sausage (pigs and blankets), carrots, green beans with marshmallows and carmelised onions, mashed potatoes, and sprouts with bacon.

For dessert, there was a miniature pumpkin and ginger pie with whipped cream and a key lime pie.

So, it's not the Thanksgiving Day that I wanted to have, and the cooking was stressful. It's not been a very good day. I am just over this year already. So, I'll post about my previous Thanksgiving Days:

Thanksgiving Dinner at Riding House Cafe
Thanksgiving Day with Benjamin Franklin House @ Clothworker's Hall (London)
Thanksgiving Lunch @ Jackson + Rye, Chiswick
Thanksgiving at The Jones Family Project
Thanksgiving at Balthazar (Covent Garden)
Thanksgiving at Christopher's Restaurant in London (Covent Garden)

In August, I visited Tynemouth Castle and Priory on a very windy day. This site has so much history as it was a settlement during the Iron Age, then it became the site of a Benedictine monastary. When the monastaries were dissolved, it became home to soldiers who stayed until the 1960s and played its own part during both World Wars. Although it is called a "castle" because of the gatehouse into the priory, the site was never really a castle. It had to be defended against the Scottish, so the gatehouse was required and built in the late 1300s after the Scottish invaded it. Due to coronavirus, the battery and some of the interiors are shut, so I have labelled this "lockdown edition" because I was unable to visit everything.

The gatehouse is the entrance to the site, and it is moated. It used to have a drawbridge that could be raised to prevent an invasion. As it is located on a hill with excellent views, it was discovered when demolishing the soldier's structures in the 1960s that an Iron Age settlement of round houses occupied the space. These pre-date the monastery.

The priory church was built by a landowner named Mowbray, and he gave the priory church to monks. The monastery was then founded, and up to 500 monks called it home in the 11th century.

There are excellent views from Tynemouth Castle and Priory. When I visited, it was very windy and big waves were created. The site is an excellent one for defences, so after its use as a monastery, the site was home to soldiers who defended the coast until the 1960s. The buildings that they lived in were demolished then. Several hundred soldiers called it home, but the site never had a direct attack and the guns were rarely used. There were air raids during World War II. The guns were removed in the 1950s.

The big gun on site is similar to what would have been there during the wars. It was placed as an example, and it was called the six-inch gun because the bullets were 6 inches long. The gun could fire seven miles out to sea. The other platforms exist but have no guns on them today.

Apparently, three kings are buried here, and this is how Tynemouth gets its symbol of three crowns. The kings date from 651, 792, and 1093. The first two were tribes of this area of England, and the third was Malcolm III who was a king of Scotland. However, in 1065, a priest found human bones under the church. The bones were though to be Saxon saint St Oswine. Because of this, Tynemouth became a popular pilgrimage site with people visiting it from all over. Donations left by the pilgrims were used to increase the size of the priory, and a chapel for the shrine was built.

The shape of the stones on the remains of the priory buildings have been weathered into strange formations and shapes by the wind and salty sea air. On the hill over the sea, the site is very exposed and can be very windy.

Some of the details of the monastary have been discovered, and this depicts the detail of carvings and decorations found.

Of course, there are views for miles from the castle and priory; there is a higher level at the gatehouse to look from. On the day I visited, the wind created sea mist and low fog meant that the visibility was not great.

The gatehouse is pictured below, and it was designed to be a residence with the topmost floor being fit for someone of status to live in.

The village of Tynemouth itself also looked attractive with small shops and attractive-looking pubs and restaurants. Because of the pandemic, I did not visit any of the shops or restaurants, but I would love to do so and to return, once it is safe to do so. There are a few items that were shut that I will have to come back and see at Tynemouth Castle and Priory. 

Aydon Castle is a fortified manor house in Northumberland, and it dates from the 13th century. The house was originally built without defenses and without a wall, but since the Scots invaded this part of England regularly, the house was fortified. Despite this, it was still taken by the Scots and damaged and then reclaimed. In the 17th century, the castle was used as a farmouse and lived in until 1966. The castle has been in the property of English Heritage since and has been restored to its medieval appearance. I visited the property during the coronavirus pandemic, so one-way systems were in place, and part of the house was shut off due to social distancing.

Aydon Castle started its life as a timber house created by a Suffolk merchant at the end of the 1200s. The manor house is located inside a wall, and there are some picnic areas and an English Heritage shop here.

A little cellar room remains along the inside of the wall. I assume that it was just used for storage.

The house has an inner courtyard, and through this, the house can be accessed or visitors can walk through a doorway in another wall to find a small secluded orchard with a few apple trees and picnic benches.

I eplored the rooms of the house. The rooms contain original medieval carved fireplaces that date from the 13th century. Latrines can also be seen with drains in some of the room tipping outside the walls of the house.

Drains

Fireplace

Fireplace with carvings of little heads

Latrine

The Great Hall

Fireplace with shield carved in

Close-up of the shield carving

Unfortunately, the kitchen rooms were closed because of social distancing. This was a bit odd because other rooms were small and tight, and I had to wait for others and make sure to keep a distance and let people out of one-way rooms. This area was the only area closed. 

Kitchen entrance, which was closed due to coronavirus

In the ground floor, I believe the rooms were dedicated for animals and were possibly stables, though I am not sure and there weren't any information boards detailing what they were used for.

After exploring the interior of the house, I walked around the perimeter of the wall, which goes outside the fortification and then back inside again through the doorway into the other side of the orchard. The image below shows the corner of the fortified house, which shares the wall. The below opening is for the latrines, which you can see pictured above.

Here is another photograph of the fortified house and wall.

Once it is safe to do so and the castle is opened again as normal, I will return to finish exploring the castle. Until then, this is a unique castle and it's one that I recommend a visit to because it is in good condition with some original fittings and started its life as a house as opposed to being built as a defensive castle. It was built in a turbulent time and needed to be adapted in order to fulfil its purpose as a safe residence.

Northala Fields (sometimes known locally as Northolt Hills) is located in Northolt in west London, just off the A40. Since I moved to Ruislip five years ago and saw the hills while riding past on the A40, I have wanted to visit them but have never had the chance to do so until earlier this month. Northala Fields was used as playing fields until 1997 when Ealing Council purchased it and opened it up to the public in 2008. The name, "Northala", was the name of the area as recorded in the Domesday Book, now known as Northolt. The fields consists of hills, ponds that visitors can fish in, playground, and a visitor centre/cafe.

There are four hills. The hills are man-made from the rubble of the original Wembley Stadium, which was demolished in 2003, and the largest one has a pathway that winds to the top. From the top, visitors can see as far as Canary Wharf in the distance on a clear day. The hills were constructed as a noise barrier against the A40.

The playground is a popular attraction, and there is a cafe and visitor centre.

The ponds can be used for fishing in and are quite attractive on a clear day with reflections of the hills. I saw various ducks hanging out in the ponds. 

Northala Fields is located a ten-minute drive for me, but it is a little over a mile from the nearest tube station. There is parking on site, but it is limited. I enjoyed Northala Fields and will endeavor to visit it again to see if I can see central London's skyline. Although the day I visited was very clear, I had a morning visit, and the fog was still lifting.

The Whittard Tea Advent Calendar comes with 94 tea bags with over fifteen different types of tea for two and an extra gift to enjoy daily. Each window provides four sachets of tea except for the first one, which had two plus an extra gift. I actually ordered the advent calendar as we started a second lockdown for a month. With working from home and colder nights, the Whittard tea advent calendar can make the days feel a little more bearable. Continue reading to see the flavours of tea behind the twenty-four doors in the Whittard Tea Advent Calendar. 

1 Christmas Tea: This black tea has flavouring of spices added to associate with Christmas. This is a good festive tea for the holiday season, but it's not one that I'd have outside that time.

2 Mango & Bergamot: This is a green tea with mango and bergamot flavouring for a refreshing and relaxing subtle floral taste. I would drink this when I want to relax.

3 English Rose: This black tea has rose flavouring for a spring or summery drink. I found it to be a good all-purpose tea with a floral twist.

4 Earl Grey: This is the classic Earl Grey black tea, and this flavour of tea is one of my go-to flavours. Whittard did not let me down here.

5 Afternoon Tea: This is a classic black tea from Whittard with a floral hint (containing jasmine and bergamot). I found this to be a perfectly acceptable black tea and a standard one.

6 English Breakfast Tea: This is a blend of black tea, a standard black tea that tastes better with a drop of milk. This was not my favourite.

7 Darjeeling Tea: This is my favourite tea when I go out to have afternoon tea. Although Whittard does not make the tea as strong, it still makes a good cup of tea.

8 Golden Camomile Tea: Camomile helps to aid relaxation and comfort, so this tea is best enjoyed after a long day and when you want to get some sleep. It has a fruity and floral taste and is a golden colour, and this one did help me to relax so only take it if you are ready to go to bed or need a long nap.

9 English Breakfast Tea: I received more of this type of tea on day three.

10 Chelsea Garden Tea: This floral white tea was easy to drink and perfect for the spring afternoons. I am normally not too big of a fan of white tea, but this one hit the spot and is one of my favourites in the advent calendar.

11 Liquorish Lemongrass Tea: This tea includes lemongrass and liquorish root, and it is a fragrant tea. I could taste the lemongrass but not the liquorish, so do not worry if you dislike liquorish. 

12 Peppermint Tea: This tea is made from peppermint leaves for a refreshing warm minty cup of liquid. I really enjoyed this one.

13 Piccadilly Blend Tea: The Piccadilly Blend of tea uses black tea with a floral twist and includes cornflower petals, so it's a pretty tea if you have it loose leaf. This was one of my favourites that I'd originally tried in-store and purchased awhile ago.

14 Mango & Bergamot: I received more of this type of tea on day two.

15 Super Fruits Tea: This tea is infused with a long list, including apple, rosehip, 1hibiscus, lemon, acai and goji berry. It produces a fruity cup of tea that was enjoyable.

16 Peppermint Tea: I received more of this type of tea on day twelve.

17 Lemon and Ginger Tea: This tea contains lemon and ginger, which is probably best for when you are not feeling your best or have indigestion. Ginger helps the stomach.

18 Darjeeling Tea: I received more of this type of tea on day seven.

19 Sleepy Tea: The name of this tea suggests that it helps to induce sleep. It contains a variety of ingredients linked to relaxation such as camomile and lavender. It also contains marigold, elderflower, and licquorish.

20 Chelsea Garden Tea: I received more of this type of tea on day ten.

21 Very Berry Crush Tea: This is another fruity cup of tea that is perfect for a summer's day, and I believe that this one could be served with ice. Hibiscus, apple, rosehip, elderberry, raspberry, and strawberry are a few of the flavours used.

22 Earl Grey: I received more of this type of tea on day four.

23 Apple and Elderflower Tea: This is another fruity tea that would probably make a good cup served cold with ice as well as warmed. The flavour is apple and elderflower, and it is a light and fragrant tea.

24 Christmas Tea: I received more of this type of tea on day one just in time for the holidays.

The Whittard 'Tea for Two' Advent Calendar is perfect for couples or room mates who enjoy a cup of tea in the colder months. It is perfect for hibernating or sitting in front of a warm fire with a book or Netflix.

Arrival Cookies delivers home-baked cookies to your door for a much-needed fix to endure lockdown. The shop delivers throughout the UK and are based in Leeds and Manchester, and I had to buy a box when I saw the seasonal flavours box "Dark Blooms". This box contains various flavours inspired by autumn with Halloween, Guy Fawkes Day, and Thanksgiving rolled into one box. Customers will receive two of each flavour of four different flavours of cookies. The box includes Sticky Toffee, Pumpkin Spice, Carrot Cake, and Biscoff.

The instructions were to heat the cookies up for five minutes in the oven, and they came out warm and gooey. Each of the cookies had a filling with flavouring inside. 

I absolutely loved this box of cookies and every flavour was spot on. Normally, there's one flavour I am not that keen on, but I knew I had to buy a box when I saw all of these flavours as they hit my tastes perfectly. The cookies also heated up and were gooey and full of flavour. I would absolutely recommend Arrival Cookies again.

One of the advent calendars for this year is the Yankee Candle advent calendar. Okay, so this one does date from 2018, and I got it as a Christmas gift and decided that the time was right to use it. The advent calendar contains a votive tea candle holder, twelve votive candles, and twelve scented tealights. All are for you to enjoy each day in the run up to Christmas. Note that you should open the candle holder first so that you can enjoy your candles safely.

I received one of each of the following candles in the Yankee Candle Advent Calendar in the votive candle size and also the scented tealight size:

• Frosty Gingerbread: This is a warm and spicy holiday scent of baking gingerbread to evoke the Christmas feeling. 
• Icy Blue Spruce: "Icy Blue Spruce" is a cool scent to place you inside a wintery pine forest. The scent contains juniper berries, blue spruce, and spearmint leaves.
• Christmas Cookie: This is a buttery vanilla scent that reminds me of sugar cookies. 
• Christmas Eve: This candle scent is of sugared plums and candied fruit that creates a warm and festive scent.
• Winter Wonderland: This scent reminds me of walking from a warm room to the snowy outdoors in the winter, and there is also a warming hint of vanilla to the scent.
• Christmas Magic: Christmas Magic is a natural scent of birch and pine.
• All is Bright: This is an uplifting and bright citrus scent.
• Crackling Wood Fire: This is a grow-up indoor fireplace scent, and this is one of my favourite scents from Yankee Candles.
• Spiced White Cocoa: This is a "food" scent with a cocoa and vanilla and warm nutmeg tone.
• Snowflake Cookie: This is a super-sweet scent that I feel is a feminine one with sugar-sweet icing on top of cookies. This is my least favourite scent in the advent calendar.
• Glittering Star: Sugar plum, sandalwood, and ginger creates a warming scent with evoking a traditional festive feeling.
• The Perfect Tree: This is a beautiful scent of a natural Christmas tree or pine forest, evoking memories of beautiful Christmas trees.

The list of candles is a different list than what some other websites mentioned online. Have you received an advent calendar this year or have you had a Yankee Candle one? Let me know what you think. 

Just before the November lockdown at the beginning of the month, I headed out for one last time to do some exploring in the rare sunny weather. We'd had wet weather for the most of six weeks, so having a sunny afternoon to explore Donnington Castle was much-needed therapy. Donnington Castle, located in Berkshire near the town of Newbury, was founded in the 1380s. The castle's life was relatively short-lived; it did not last long as it was demolished after the Civil War (in 1646) in which the castle withstood an 18-month siege. Today, only part of the gatehouse remains, and the site is maintained by English Heritage. Visitors can see the gatehouse and the ruins of the wall that surrounded the castle. 

The castle has connections to poet Geoffrey Chaucer as his father purchased it in 1398. The castle was also visited by Henry VIII and Elizabeth I. Elizabeth I granted the castle to be looked after by Elizabeth Cooke, and she was the first woman in England to have this title.

The castle is on top of a hill with amazing views when climbed to the top.

The gatehouse was shut and locked. I am not sure if visitors are ever allowed to visit the tower; I cannot find anything on the English Heritage website for any open days or if they have done so in the past.

The castle is free to visit, and there is parking on site. The parking requires a fee to be paid unless you are an English Heritage member and is managed by English Heritage.

I know we are in autumn now, but I came across some photographs that I took at the end of the summer that I forgot to post. Losing over three months of my 2020 life to lockdown meant that I have crammed in a lot since July in an attempt to make up for lost time, so I am late in posting and will be spending this month of lockdown getting caught up. I visited Fait Maison near Gloucester Road tube station in late September and enjoyed their afternoon tea. I have been wanting to try their afternoon tea for some time as their pastries and shop always looks so pretty. Over the lockdown and since I last visited Fait Maison, the restaurant has increased in size. 

I ordered the afternoon tea for one at Fait Maison, and this comes with a choice of tea, finger sandwiches, scones with cream and jam, and a selection of assorted mini desserts. The desserts are chosen on the day, so there is not really any set menu for these as it depends on what is in the shop.

I ordered the Darjeeling tea, which came in a cute floral tea pot and was also loose-leaf tea. Darjeeling is my go-to tea when I enjoy afternoon tea, and I especially love when places serve loose leaf tea as it feels more special than just getting tea bags in a kettle.

I had a selection of cheese and cucumber sandwiches and a couple of tarts for the savoury part of the afternoon tea. It felt even more special because the weather was so nice and the floral decorations were pretty as they always are here.

I also ordered a refreshing watermelon juice. I love watermelon.

Next up, meet the scones. These were served with a rosebud on top, making them perfect to show off. Clotted cream and strawberry jam were served along with them. 

The selection of desserts included a lemon tart with raspberry, a strawberry lolly cake pop with white chocolate coating, a slice of chocolate and pistachio cake, and a coconut cake with cream. This was only on the middle tier. My favourite of these was the coconut cake. The lemon is normally my favourite, but the ratio of pastry to lemon was not correct. The cake pop is the most attractive, but I am not keen on white chocolate as I find it too waxy.

The top tier contained a rose-flavoured macaron, a mango mousse and a plastic rose for decoration. The macaron was delicious. The mango mousse had a coulis centre of mango and was made of mousse and formed into a ball. It looked like an orange.

This afternoon tea was certainly filling, and I could not finish it all. This was certainly one of the best afternoon teas that I have had in London that isn't part of a hotel, and I recommend it. The tea is presented very well and changes seasonally, so you're always guaranteed to get into the mood of whatever you are celebrating. I am hoping to visit Fait Maison for afternoon tea during a different season.

At the end of August, I visited Warkworth Castle in Northumberland. There are a couple of attractions here at the castle that I was unable to visit due to the coronavirus pandemic, but visitors could walk around the castle grounds and explore some of the keep in a one-way system. Warkworth Castle are the ruins of a castle that was built in the 12th century, replacing an earlier timber castle that could not keep the Scottish out of this part of England. The settlement here would date to the 8th century. The castle may have been built by Henry II, but it became property of the Percy family who controlled a lot of this area.

The castle is moated, and visitors enter via a bridge. English Heritage have maintained the castle since 1984. The castle has a lot of history, and it was in scenes in Shakespeare's play "Henry IV".

The emblem of the Percy family is the lion pictured above on the ruins of one of the towers.

Part of the interior of the main keep could be explored with a one-way system in place with visitors able to visit rooms in a particular order.

From the keep, I got some decent views of the grounds.

The interior of the keep includes various chambers, a cellar with various storage rooms, a kitchen, and a chapel. In the centre of the keep is a light well, an unusual feature for castles of the day. The water would collect here and run into a water tank in the cellar, and it would be used to clear the garderrobes.

After visiting the castle, I walked around the moat for views of the imposing tower.

I hope to visit Warkworth Castle in the future when it is open and safe to visit.

I visited Hinton Ampner gardens, which is located in Hampshire in southern England, at the beginning of October. As I visited during the coronavirus pandemic, the house was not open during my visit. However, I was able to explore the gardens at the start of the change of the seasons in early autumn. This was my first visit to Hinton Ampner.

Hinton Ampner was rebuilt after a fire destroyed it in 1960 and has views over the South Downs. The garden was created in the late 1800s, and the property is more well-known for the gardens instead of the house. The house was actually created to be a hunting lodge, and an earlier Tudor house was located close to the current site. The earlier Tudor house was rumoured to be haunted and demolished soon after the current one was rebuilt.

The one-way system in place ensured that visitors could observe social distancing, so the start of the visit began in the walled garden where dahlia and other late summer flowers were still in bloom. Many vegetables were also located in the garden here, such as pumpkins and squash, lettuce, leeks, onion, radishes, turnips, and much more.

The greenhouses were also growing vegetables and flowers, and I saw tomatoes and vines full of grapes.

The walled garden had wonderful views of the church and late summer flower gardens.

The church is located amongst sculpted hedge rows with fruit trees. 

The original Georgian country house was built in 1790 and remodelled in 1867.

On one side of the house is a beautiful rose garden with fountain and water feature.

The gardens have a mixture of sculpted shrubs and flower beds.

I hope to visit Hinton Ampner again once the house is open and it is safe to visit.

Street artist Camille Walala has painted on the 'Rich Mix' wall on Redchurch Street for London Mural Fest, which took place in September. The street artist has painted walls in London before with a couple of other large-scale pieces, one near King's Cross station and the other near Old Street station. The artist has painted a couple of large-scale murals this year, and this is one of them.

Camille uses bright colour and geometric patterns and often uses the architecture of the buildings to create her contrasting murals. She started out in textile design, which she studied at the University of Brighton. Since then, she has also become interested in interior design, and these interests reflect in her artwork.

This is a particularly playful mural, and it adds a lot of colour and character to this street. The wall on the right used to have street art and street art advertisements painted on it, but it had lately become dull, particularly since building work was done here a few years ago.

In Ilfracombe, Devon, a very large lady guards the harbour with a sword in the air and scales hanging at her side. The sculpture was created by London and Devon-based Damien Hirst and stands at over 20 meters and weighs over 25 tonnes, and it was gifted by him to remain in the town for twenty years. The sculpture is a symbol of truth and justice. It features the body of a heavily-pregnant woman with her muscles and body exposed on one side. The sculpture was placed at Ilfracombe in 2012.

The sculpture has been credited with bringing tourism to Ilfracombe with some coming to visit the town to see the sculpture. The harbour at Ilfracombe is also attractive and offers boat rides, plenty of pubs/restaurants/cafes, and other attractions. I will definitely return to the town to do some of what I did not have time to do or which was shut when I visited. I recommend Maddie's Fish and Chips near the harbour, which was delicious; I had chips and curry sauce.

Perhaps I will return to Ilfracombe next year and I will be able to spend a couple of days here to enjoy the seaside town.

London-based street artist Fanakapan is known for chrome-style street art, and he recently painted a new mural off Hoxton Square with Chloe and another off Brick Lane. These two new murals are his latest edition in the Halloween street art, which the street artist paints every year for Halloween.

This year, the subject is a smiling jack 'o' lantern pumpkin in Hoxton Square. Meanwhile, a smiling chrome spider appears off Brick Lane in the entrance to Star Yard.

For more Halloween street art, see:

Halloween Street Art (2018 and 2019)

More street art by Fanakapan is located here:

Fanakapan Street Art on Mornington Crescent and Star Yard
Fanakapan Paints PacMan Pizza on Brick Lane and Other Street Art
Fanakapan Star Yard MagnaDonuts Mural
"Follow the Leader" by Fanakapan
Peace for Manchester
Fanakapan Paints Shoreditch Clowns
Chrome Balloon Dog in Star Yard
Fanakapan Paints "Power Tools" on Village Underground Wall
Fanakapan Paints "Drunk Glass Elephants"
Fanakapan, Horror Crew, & Jerry Rugg
Louis Masai and Fanakapan: "Freedom?"
New Chrome Street Art Mask by Fanakapan
Balloon Animal Street Art
Cranio & Fanakapan
Fanakapan and Horror Crew
Camden Street Art Self-Guided Trail
Halloween Street Art (2018 and 2019)
Cranio Returns to London in 2020 and Paints Brick Lane

Having previously visited Mottisfont a couple times in the summer and once in the early spring, this was my first visit to the abbey in the autumn. I visited with friends, and this was the first time that I have seen my friends since the start of February, so it was great to catch up on everyone and have a walk around the Mottisfont Estate. I have only ever been to the house and the walled gardens here, but there are walks along the canal, behind the abbey house, and then through the pasture to join up at the canal again. 

Below are the photographs that I took on my most recent visit with Mottisfont Abbey looking autumnal.

I have visited Mottisfont Abbey a few times. For more photographs and information, see the following posts:

Mottisfont Abbey Walled Gardens (National Trust): Lockdown Edition
A Day at Mottisfont Abbey (Hampshire, England)

Buzzing Bee Baked Things is owned by Deborah and Marco. Deborah trained as a pastry chef thirteen years ago and met Marco; they decided to try to set up in London as they had travelled there and fell in love with it. They have visited the USA and New York City, which inspired them to try new flavours and to explore the different bakeries. They specialise in bread and cookies. The cookies can be shipped throughout the UK, and the bread is available in London.

With my order, I received a free batch of chocolate crinkle cookies. These tasted delicious with tea.

I ordered pecan snowball cookies and pistachio snowball cookies. I was less keen on the pistachio ones, but the pecan ones were the traditional ones that I was expecting. In America and other countries, they have different names, and they are traditional in America during December as a festive treat. I have heard them called Russian tea cakes, or Mexican wedding cake, or simply wedding cake cookies. These taste the best with tea. In America, they were a little bit sweeter in flavour.

I also ordered a snickerdoodle with white chocolate chips and pecan nuts. Snickerdoodles are my favourite flavour of cookie, though this was a blend and did not strike me as a snickerdoodle. I am less keen on white chocolate, but it was still tasty as a cookie.

I ordered a buttered salted carmel and peanut oak cookie, which was tasty, and the last cookie flavour that I ordered was the spiced pumpkin pie. The pumpkin pie cookie was my favourite as it encompassed the taste of pumpkin and pumpkin pie. 

I think everyone would just wish that 2020 would get better: the coronavirus pandemic, elections, politics, and life has generally been very wearing and very tiring. Here in England, we are locked down again for the second time this year. We will be locked down until at least the first week in December. This means that many businesses and restaurants have had to close their doors again, and some will probably not reopen. So far, this year has seen all of my plans thrown out and continues to throw out any other plans I make. Thanksgiving is now cancelled for me as were some of my plans, and I am waiting to hear if additional plans will be cancelled.

In addition, everyone's mental health is also taking a major toll here. This is why I have helped to organise a Halloween decoration and light trail in the community last week. The full moon this year happened on Halloween, and October's full moon this Halloween is known as the blue moon. The night itself had perfect weather for Halloween with a clear night and crisp air. 

Lockdown actually happened today on November 5th - Bonfire Night or Guy Fawkes Night. So, many plans (which were probably cancelled anyway due to the pandemic) were cancelled further due to the lockdown. However, I managed to spot several local residential fireworks displays from my house. These were not close to me at all, so they were photographed in a distance while I enjoyed a few glasses of prosecco and grapes and strawberries. There's not much else to do to fill the time, but I love Bonfire Night, so I enjoyed seeing and hearing some fireworks, even though it pales in comparison to the normal professional displays. Let's just hope that things are much better in 2021. I know they are not likely to be at the start of the year, but I have my fingers crossed for the summer.

I visited Winkworth Arboretum the Saturday before last in order to see some autumn colours. The trees are vibrant this autumn, and nature really is putting on a great show for us! With everything going on in the world right now, this was a much-needed escape in order to enjoy what nature has to offer us. Due to having to book over a week in advance, we are never able to predict the weather, and Saturday was filled with intermittent rain and clouds. Despite the poor weather, I managed to get some decent photographs, but it would have looked much better in the sunshine. I also wasn't lucky with the weather last weekend when I visited Sheffield Park and Garden (Autumn Walk at Sheffield Park and Garden (East Sussex, National Trust)).

Winkworth Arboretum, located in Surrey near Godalming, was created in the early 1900s by Dr. Wilfred Fox. Fox was a local doctor who enjoyed preserving the wooded hillside near his home, and he left it to the National Trust. The National Trust have continued to build up the collection of trees and shrubs, and some of the species are rare.

The spring and autumn are quite popular at Winkworth Arboretum, but it is said to be beautiful at any season. In the summer, outdoor productions make the arboretum a popular place to visit. Winkworth Arboretum has azaleas in bloom in the spring, so I plan to visit then. 

Because the location is popular with the autumn colour, I missed out getting a morning slot to visit so had to settle for the late afternoon. By that time, the arboretum was very busy, especially near the start of the trails. I started the trail around to the left toward "Badger's View", which is pictured above. There is a viewpoint built to look over this little valley with some beautiful colour. 

The trail led down the hill here, and there are benches for people to sit down on to enjoy nature.

Instead of heading into the wooded area, I walked to the lake with a boat house on the side of the lake. Next to it are the steps, known as "azalea steps" for the azaleas that grow here. The boat house has some information about it and the arboretum inside.

The most magical part of Winkworth Arboretum for me was the area known as "Rowe's Flashe Meadow". This is located next to the lake on the far side of the arboretum. The autumn colours are the most spectacular from here.

After I had taken enough photographs of the fall colour and the lake, I walked back past the boat house (the meadow is a circular walk back to the boat house and the azalea steps in front.)

I then proceeded along the other side of the lake, which starts to incline and then quickly ascends up the steep hill. Before the walkway turns, do not forget to look behind. There is a wonderful view of the lake and the boat house at the far end with beautiful trees.

Climbing up the hill, I could look above some of the trees on the lakeside level that I had previously walked around, and the colours are amazing.

From the ridge here, there are a couple of carved benches, a memorial to Dr. Fox, and a wonderful viewpoint.

I enjoyed my short walk around the arboretum. It's not a huge property, but it is one where you can walk around and enjoy nature without feeling too worn out. I hope to visit in the spring to see the azaleas in bloom. I can see why this place is especially popular with families; there are several areas of interests for children, including a playground. There is a tearoom here, and picnics are also encouraged.

Halloween was yesterday, but I went out for a post-Halloween Halloween afternoon tea earlier today with friends. This is the second time I have seen any of my friends since the start of February, so I was have been looking forward to it for a couple of months. The Halloween-themed afternoon tea was enjoyed at Waddesdon Manor in Buckinghamshire. Continue reading about my Halloween tea at Waddesdon.

Waddesdon Manor is a very large mansion owned by the Rothschild family, and I previously visited here in August, but my first visit was last December. I had been planning to visit the house this summer, but that did not happen for obvious reasons, and I have heard that the house takes a long time to walk through as it is so large. I hope things can be normal soon so that I can visit it.

The afternoon tea was located in a room that appeared to be the old kitchen, and various gourds, squash, and pumpkins decorated the old kitchen cabinets and worktops. These made an excellent autumn display, and my photographs of it remind me of a painting.

All of the afternoon tea was served with a glass of Prosecco. I forgot to take a photograph of the tea pots, but they were unique and of Asian style. Visitors could choose their tea, and I choose the Darjeeling.

Next up were the sandwiches. Waddesdon offers a great selection of different types of sandwiches and bread with their afternoon tea. These included a selection of rolls, croissants, tarts, and flat bread. The sandwiches included: Pumpkin, spinach and goat's cheese tart; Haddock, leek and chive tart; Egg and cress slider; Beet root cured salmon and dill cream; Smoked chicken croissant; Roast beef and horseradish. I substituted for an avocado mashed on flatbread.

After the sandwiches, we had a miniature three-tier stand with two layers of pastries and a scone with clotted cream and jam. We moved on to the scone. I forgot to photograph the scone, but it came with a little pot of clotted cream and jam, which was just enough for it.

The pastries included the following:

Death by chocolate opera gateaux. This had a dark chocolate skull and dark chocolate coffee bean on top. It had a slight hint of coffee, but thankfully it was not too much as I dislike coffee.

Toffee apple cinnamon spiced panacotta. This was served in a tall glass shot glass and was a creamy apple and cinnamon treat that I enjoyed. I didn't really taste the toffee.

 Raspberry pistachio bat-enberg. This is a batenberg cake that came with a white chocolate bat. I enjoyed it, but I didn't really taste pistachio or raspberry flavours.

Mummy macaron. This was a vanilla macaron with a strawberry or raspberry jam in the middle.

Pumpkin and pecan cake. This little cake had a pecan on top and tasted like a spiced pumpkin cake flavour. (For some reason, they gave me a millionaire's slice instead of this, and I traded it.)

My favourites were the pumpkin and pecan cake, toffee apple panacotta, and the macaron.

After the afternoon tea, we had a quick walk around the grounds and saw a new sculpture with elephants being installed. These elephant sculptures were created in India by local people out of an invasive plant, which is wrapped around a wire frame. The elephants are a part of a charity work that will take place in London's parks next spring to draw attention to the endangered animals. There will be eighty of these sculptures placed around the parks.

The winds have been high for a few days as well as last weekend, so unfortunately, this has caused many of the beautiful autumn leaves to fall off the trees earlier this year; it has also been the wettest autumn for many years. However, there was still a bit of colour at Waddesdon. I wish that we could have enjoyed the autumn colour for longer, though, particularly as every weekend has been cloudy or wet weather while the weekdays, while I have to work, have usually been bright and sunny.

For more posts about Waddesdon on this blog, see the below:

Morning at Waddesdon (National Trust, Buckinghamshire): Lockdown Edition
Christmas and Winter Light at Waddesdon Manor (Bucks, England)