Back from a holiday in England! We staye ... / 2010-06-28

Back from a holiday in England! We stayed in a house which was an old manor, complete with a kitchen which once had a coal-fired Aga stove as a modernisation. More modern things like a microwave were added too, but the Aga stove was quite something. It already had the upgrade to heating oil. We cycled from home to the IJmuiden - Newcastle ferry and wanted to cycle from Newcastle to the cottage near Wooler. But the hills of Northumbria got us and we gave up after 65 kilometers and had someone with a car pick us up. We had a great week. One of the highlights was a visit to the Farne Islands were the opportunities for bird-watching and photography were enormous.

Cycling in England was doable: marked cycle routes from Newcastle were going where we wanted to go. Some cycleways are old railway lines and not all are paved. A recumbent and gravel do not mix very well. Most cycle routes are on quiet back roads but we did ride on some A-roads. Which was no problem: cars gave us space and were patient. But hills with up to 20% ascent got us eventually. Or rather the fact that after each hill comes another which makes the average speed go down a lot.

I used the opportunity to do my bit for the Mb21 UK broadcast gallery and cycled over to the Wooler transmitter to make a few pictures to add to the gallery.