Garry McGivern September 2017 update. Well, the time just seems to be flying by, and yet another month has passed. We’re now into October! September was a good month though, with a trip to London. And I managed to get away for a weekend on my bike and a few days away camping with Julie in Oxford.
London
The beginning of the month started off with a trip to London for the “Radio 2 live“ concert in Hyde Park.
It must be about 40 years since I last went to a concert! But this one was ideal as it was aimed at our age group. Middle-aged grey-headed old people! So there was no pushing and shoving to get to the front. Most people took chairs to sit on or a blanket to sit on. And generally, they brought a picnic! All very civilised! We, however just took a groundsheet and brought some food there at extortionate prices!
The Concert
The concert itself was very good. It featured the Stereophonics, Rick Astley, James Blunt, Shania Twain, Blondie and Take That, to name a few.
It was a very enjoyable day which was wet at times with outbreaks of rain. But that didn’t dampen things, and it was still very enjoyable, albeit a rather long day!
Cycle touring
I finally managed to get a weekend away on the bike! Every weekend throughout the summer, I seem to have either been working or had something on!
Seeing as it was only the weekend I had, I headed down to the New Forest to my usual campsite at Brockenhurst.
The campsite was very quiet, as you’d expect for this time of year. But what people were there were a real pain in the proverbial!
There was a rather large party that had set up fairly close to me while I was out getting supplies! (Or rather down the pub!) They were up nearly all night playing music and starting cars! If it wasn’t for the fact that I would have had to get out of my cosy sleeping bag and get dressed, I would have said something! Also, I remembered some of those Isle of Wight trips that we used to do, and we would be sat up talking into the small hours. We, too, probably annoyed a lot of people! Although we never started any cars and the music wouldn’t have been from us either, that would have been coming from the bikers do in the next field! In the end, I just lay there thinking that surely they’re going to go to bed soon! Which they did at about 3 am!
The Isle of Wight
My second night away I went to the Isle of Wight, again at one of my regular campsites.
After just two nights away I had to go home due to work commitments once again! But it was still nice to be touring again, even if it was just local and places that I frequent on a regular basis!
Oxford
Julie was on holiday at the end of the month, so we decided to go camping for a few days and ended up in Oxford.
It was a nice few days away, wandering around the streets of Oxford, exploring a lovely old indoor market and all the old college buildings and stopping off at some of the old pubs that were hidden away down lanes and alleyways. My particular favourite was the White Horse on Broad Street, which had been featured in several films and TV series, notably Morse.
We also had a nice ride along the river Thames to Sandford Lock where we stopped off for a pint.
Is there anything better than cycling by a river? Have you been to Slad? It’s near Stroud and is the village of Laurie Lee. He walked across Spain. Have you cycled over the Pyrenees?
Your right there, rivers are always a good place to cycle along especially as I always like to be near water!
Can’t say that I have been to Slad although I may have passed through it at some point! Didn’t Laurie Lee also write Cider with Rosie?
I’ve been into the Pyrenees on my tour of Spain in 2008 but not too sure if I’ve crossed them.