2022: The Missing Months

We headed over the the Isle of Man for a month in May – June. Most of what we did was exactly the same as we’ve done in previous years, which did kill any enthusiasm for writing it all up in a blog post.

There was motorbike racing:

Mark spent quite a lot of time putting the world to rights:

As usual, there was plenty happening all around the island. This is SOK eyeing up a dolphin up at the Ayres. There were quite a few of these scattered around the island, decorated by different artists; last year it was wallabies. They all get auctioned off later in the year for charity.

The Red Arrows above Douglas Bay:

Sunset in Peel:

We did visit one tourist attraction that we hadn’t been to before, probably because it only opened for the first time in 2019. Knockaloe on the Isle of Man was the world’s largest WW1 internment camp. There’s a fantastic little museum and you can wander around outside to see the site of the camp.

The buildings themselves are all gone, but there ARE chunks of concrete from the bases of the huts incorporated into the stone walls along the lane adjoining the site.

We got home from the Isle of Man in late June, then a week or so later, Mark disappeared with his pal Brian (“man with tractor” above). They had a fantastic couple of weeks zipping around the mountains of Northern Spain on their motorbikes.

I didn’t hang around at home in Mark’s absence. Instead, I took the opportunity for a serious “museum binge”. First stop Amsterdam for the Rijksmuseum, Scheevaartsmuseum (maritime museum), Van Gogh Museum, Van Loon House, and Rembrandt House, plus lots of walking around the various sights:

On to Paris for the Musée d’Orsay, Musée Picasso, Louvre, Musée Carnavalet, Sainte Chapelle, and Musée des Arts et Métiers.

Notre Dame was looking beautifully clean. I noticed that the flying buttresses are still supported by wooden bracing. Will they really have the works finished in 2024 as planned?

The Musée d’Orsay:

The picture galleries in the Louvre were unpleasantly packed (thankfully I saw the Mona Lisa years ago before the monster queuing system they have now was introduced), but I found some really good stuff in quieter areas:

The crown above was made for the coronation of Louis XV in 1722. Blingtastic!

They also have a very cute late 12th century Norse chesspiece:

Sainte Chapelle, one of the absolute highlights of the trip:

On to London for a couple of days in the National Archives then visits to Syon House, the Gold exhibition at the British Library, the Stonehenge exhibition at the British Museum (popping in to have yet another look at the Lewis Chessmen), the Munch exhibition at the Courtauld Gallery, the church of St Mary’s Strand, Temple Church, and St Paul’s Cathedral.

I’d never been up to the top of St Paul’s before. The narrow staircases between the two domes are quite vertigo-inducing, given that neither of the walls either side of you are vertical (and they’re not even parallel to each other):

The view from the top:

Temple Church was another highlight:

Later in the summer, I had a solo week in SOK on the Caravan Club site at Mytholmroyd near Hebden Bridge.

I’d been meaning to visit Gawthorpe Hall in Lancashire for a long time, so fitted it into my journey on the way to Yorkshire:

From Mytholmroyd I could easily walk into Hebden Bridge in one direction along the canal path or towards Sowerby Bridge in the other direction:

One day was spent at Deiniol Williams Ceramics in Sowerby Bridge. A really enjoyable day of trying to stop clay going all wonky on a potter’s wheel!

Halifax Piece Hall, another place that’s been on my “to see” list for a very long time:

Shibden Hall, home of Anne Lister, the early 19th century diarist. We haven’t seen “Gentleman Jack”, but there was plenty of information available without needing to have watched the TV series:

Then on the way home I stopped at the fabulous Queen Street Mill near Burnley:

Whilst I was doing this, Mark was pedalling up hill and down dale on a mountain biking expedition in mid-Wales with the Old Gits cycling group:

Then in September, Mark headed off to Scarborough with his pal Brian to watch more motorbike racing, and I snuck off to Birmingham for a couple of days to check out some more museums: the Birmingham Back to Backs (National Trust), J.W. Evans Silver Factory (English Heritage), Coffin Works and Pen Museum.

Each museum was fabulous in a different way. Here’s a photo of the J.W. Evans Silver Factory, which was taken on lock stock & barrel by English Heritage. It’s a bit like the Marie Celeste of metalwork – you keep expecting the employees to walk back in and get straight back to work:

An old advertising display of pen nibs in the Pen Museum:

It’s now early November and almost time for us to be heading off on another SOK adventure. You can tell that we’re nearly packed and ready to go – the flippin’ bike has taken up residence in the hallway again:

He can’t have it getting cold in the garage while we’re away, can he?