This scenerio takes only nine days with three days per stop. This should put us back in Edinburgh with plenty of time to see a bit more of Scotland:
Tunbridge Wells to Bourne is 138 miles
Bourne to Hartlepool is 163 miles
Hartlepool to Edinbrough is 150 miles
Wednesday, March 5, 2008
Our favorite Action/Adventure novelist
Traveling between Salisbury and Royal Tunbridge Wells will allow us to see the birthplace of my favorite action/adventure novelist, Hammond Innes. Since we've been doing books on tape on our longer automobile trips, Concetta has grown to love his stories, too.
Ralph Hammond Innes (July 15, 1914 – June 10, 1998) was an English author who wrote over 30 novels, as well as children's and travel books. He was born in Horsham, Sussex (more or less on our route between Salisbury and Tunbridge Wells) and educated at Cranbrook School in Kent. He left in 1931 to work as a journalist, initially with the Financial Times (at the time called the Financial News). The Doppelganger, his first novel, was published in 1937. In WWII he served in the Royal Artillery, eventually rising to the rank of Major. During the war, a number of his books were published, including Wreckers Must Breathe (1940), The Trojan Horse (1941) and Attack Alarm (1941), the latter novel using Innes' experiences as an Anti-Aircraft Gunner during the Battle of Britain. After being demobbed, in 1946 he worked full-time as a writer, achieving a number of early successes. His novels are notable for a fine attention to accurate detail in descriptions of places, such as in Air Bridge (1951), set partially at RAF Gatow, RAF Membury after its closure and RAF Wunstorf during the Berlin Airlift. Innes went on to produce books in a regular sequence of six months of travel and research and then six months of writing, with many of these works featuring the sea. His rate of work was reduced from the 1960s, but was still substantial, and he became interested in ecological themes. He continued writing until just before his death. His last novel was Delta Connection (1996). Four of his earlier novels were made into films: Snowbound (1948) from The Lonely Skier (1947), Hell Below Zero (1954) from The White South (1949), Campbell's Kingdom (1957) from the book of the same name (1952) and The Wreck of the Mary Deare (1959) also from the book of the same name (1956). His 1973 novel Golden Soak was adapted into a six-part television series in 1979. His great love and experience of the sea, as an experienced yachtsman, was reflected in many of his novels. This was also reflected in his leaving the bulk of his estate on his death to the Association of Sea Training Organisations, to gain training and experience in sailing the element he loved. (The foregoing was borrowed from Wikipedia)
My favorite of his novels are The White South and The Land God Gave to Cain, but I've read nearly all the books listed here and can honestly say every one is a winner!
Ralph Hammond Innes (July 15, 1914 – June 10, 1998) was an English author who wrote over 30 novels, as well as children's and travel books. He was born in Horsham, Sussex (more or less on our route between Salisbury and Tunbridge Wells) and educated at Cranbrook School in Kent. He left in 1931 to work as a journalist, initially with the Financial Times (at the time called the Financial News). The Doppelganger, his first novel, was published in 1937. In WWII he served in the Royal Artillery, eventually rising to the rank of Major. During the war, a number of his books were published, including Wreckers Must Breathe (1940), The Trojan Horse (1941) and Attack Alarm (1941), the latter novel using Innes' experiences as an Anti-Aircraft Gunner during the Battle of Britain. After being demobbed, in 1946 he worked full-time as a writer, achieving a number of early successes. His novels are notable for a fine attention to accurate detail in descriptions of places, such as in Air Bridge (1951), set partially at RAF Gatow, RAF Membury after its closure and RAF Wunstorf during the Berlin Airlift. Innes went on to produce books in a regular sequence of six months of travel and research and then six months of writing, with many of these works featuring the sea. His rate of work was reduced from the 1960s, but was still substantial, and he became interested in ecological themes. He continued writing until just before his death. His last novel was Delta Connection (1996). Four of his earlier novels were made into films: Snowbound (1948) from The Lonely Skier (1947), Hell Below Zero (1954) from The White South (1949), Campbell's Kingdom (1957) from the book of the same name (1952) and The Wreck of the Mary Deare (1959) also from the book of the same name (1956). His 1973 novel Golden Soak was adapted into a six-part television series in 1979. His great love and experience of the sea, as an experienced yachtsman, was reflected in many of his novels. This was also reflected in his leaving the bulk of his estate on his death to the Association of Sea Training Organisations, to gain training and experience in sailing the element he loved. (The foregoing was borrowed from Wikipedia)
My favorite of his novels are The White South and The Land God Gave to Cain, but I've read nearly all the books listed here and can honestly say every one is a winner!
Things to see in Kent, England
I ran across a reference today on things to do and see in Kent, England where we will be staying in the village of Royal Tunbridge Wells. The list includes:
- Leeds Castle, Maidstone - 18 miles northeast.
- Canterbury Cathedral, Canterbury - 50 miles east.
- The Hop Farm Country Park, Tonbridge - 5 miles north.
- Dover Castle and Secret Wartime Tunnels, Dover - 63 miles east.
- Hever Castle and Gardens, Edenbridge - 13 miles northwest.
- Penshurst Place and Gardens, Tonbridge - 5 miles north.
- The Historic Chatham Dockyard, Chatham - 27 miles northeast.
- Sissinghurst Castle Garden, Cranbrook - 15 miles east.
- Chartwell, Westerham - 17 miles northwest.
- Howletts Wild Animal Park, Canterbury - 50 miles east.
Tuesday, March 4, 2008
Pick Pockets and other Denizens
Today I stumbled onto the following travel tip on the internet. It's easy to say, 'that won't happen to me,' but when we were in Rome in 2006 we encountered a couple of situations where I narrowly missed loosing my wallet. It's best to never carry more money than you need for the day, and always be aware of your surrounds when sightseeing. As the travel tip says, the 'Artful Dodgers' are alive and well in London and other poplulated areas.
Travel tip:
If you’re coming to London this summer you should take particular care with wallets and personal belongings, especially in the West End and on the Underground because the entry of Romania and Bulgaria into the European Union has brought an influx of pickpockets to London. People from those countries and Albanians are also behind a lot of the crime involving cashpoints at banks and the cloning of bankcards.
Watch out for the gypsy women beggars in central London who carry around kids that they’ve drugged to keep asleep. They carry bits of paper they push into your face asking for money and there are usually a couple of male members of their group close by, either to pick your pocket or to jump in if you forcefully tell the woman to get lost.
London is a pickpockets playground in summer, tons of people that get crammed together on the transport system and around some of the major tourist sites. Its best just to take the essentials with you when you go out for the day and spread your money and valuables around your pockets. One things for sure there’s going to be no shortage of modern day Artful Dodgers arriving from eastern Europe this year.
Travel tip:
If you’re coming to London this summer you should take particular care with wallets and personal belongings, especially in the West End and on the Underground because the entry of Romania and Bulgaria into the European Union has brought an influx of pickpockets to London. People from those countries and Albanians are also behind a lot of the crime involving cashpoints at banks and the cloning of bankcards.
Watch out for the gypsy women beggars in central London who carry around kids that they’ve drugged to keep asleep. They carry bits of paper they push into your face asking for money and there are usually a couple of male members of their group close by, either to pick your pocket or to jump in if you forcefully tell the woman to get lost.
London is a pickpockets playground in summer, tons of people that get crammed together on the transport system and around some of the major tourist sites. Its best just to take the essentials with you when you go out for the day and spread your money and valuables around your pockets. One things for sure there’s going to be no shortage of modern day Artful Dodgers arriving from eastern Europe this year.
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