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UK & Ireland S2000 CommunityDiscussions related to the S2000, its ownership and enthusiasm for it in the UK and Ireland. Including FAQs, and technical questions.
DAY ONE Saturday 17th July: Welwyn Garden City to Buckler’s Hard.
"Where on earth is Buckler’s Hard?", I hear you ask? In the New Forest is the answer. When starting an overseas trip we invariably stay near the port of embarkation the night beforehand. This enables us to do some sightseeing in our own country, and also avoid any hassle that may occur on the roads if you are driving straight to the port. In this case it gave us the opportunity to visit a close friend who lives in the area, and also to visit the National Motor Museum at Beaulieu.
We had a very good run down, and after some light refreshment, it was on to the National Motor Museum at Beaulieu.
It is two years since our last visit and it never ceases to amaze me at the high standard of the exhibits. If you have not yet visited, you must put it on your list of trips to make! Even the carpark was interesting today! There was even a Nurby S.
My wife wanted to know if it actually was a UFO, or a real car!
The museum has an excellent monorail system that goes straight through the main building.
A taster of what is on show:
I was particularly impressed by the Top Gear exhibition, which is new since our last visit, and includes virtually every vehicle they have used in their shows.
Palace House, Lord Beaulieu's home, is a very impressive building.
After a most enjoyable visit, it was time to move on to our hotel at Buckler's Hard. If you get lost on the way the locals are always willing to help!
Right. We're in the hotel carpark and admiring the view.
When looking for a hotel in the area I was surprised at how firm the prices were, and several would not take a booking for just the Saturday night. In the end I found that the Master Builder’s Hotel in Buckler’s Hard was offering a reasonable rate for DDB&B, so I went for it!
Slightly off-topic, but I organised a major function to celebrate Trafalgar 200, and Buckler’s Hard was one of the places I researched, as three of the ships in Nelson’s fleet were built here. The Agamemnon (his first command, and favourite ship), the Euryalus and Swiftsure.
Buckler’s hard is a time-warp village back to the mid 1700s. It is part of the Beaulieu Estate, and you have to pay to enter. It is completely unspoiled and, apart from the fact that the slipways have rotted away, and that the Beaulieu River now houses dozens of modern yachts, you could be back in the eighteenth century. The building, which now houses the hotel, was the home of the famous shipbuilder, Henry Adams, between 1744 and 1805, hence the name Master Builder's.
I'm not sure how long I can keep reporting as the pictures are taking about five minutes each to upload. Ah, well, so to bed. We will see what tomorrow brings. Goodnight everyone!
Bucklers Hard is beautiful, having lived and worked around there for many years it makes me smile just looking at the photos, very lovely part of the world. Dad and Jane have a boat on the river in Bealieu, very nice to spend some time watching the world go by or messing about on the Solent. Enjoy the crossing
DAY TWO Sunday 18th July: Buckler’s Hard to Combourg.
No, I haven't given up on this thread, but by the time we arrived at the hotel in Combourg and had a meal, they were locking up before I could find out what the password was for the Wi-fi. Never mind, better late than never!
As a postscript to Saturday’s entry, it was low tide this morning on the Beaulieu River, and the remains of three slipways were now visible.
If you take pride in British naval history, the Master Builder’s hotel is very evocative of the craftsmen who built these wooden ‘ships of the line’ so many years ago. Not cheap, but highly recommended for a visit.
The speed limit in the National Park is 40MPH, and should be adhered to as you never know what is round the next bend . . . .
We saw large areas of shrub and gorse which were charred and burnt, and we have never seen the ford at Brockenhurst so dry. It was an indication of the lack of rain in recent weeks.
!
It was cloudy when we awoke this morning, but by 10am we had a cloudless sky, and the hood down driving through the New Forest and on to Poole was a sheer delight!
We had chosen the Poole / St Malo crossing as it delivers us to the northwest of France close to where we wanted to start our trip. In addition, Condor ferries operate fast boats that cross in just under 5 hours, whereas the conventional ferries take just over 8 hours. They describe them as ‘high speed wave piercing catamarans, and we have not travelled on one before, so we were looking forward to the experience.
Shortly after this picture was taken we were sent into the security bay for a really detailed check over. Bonnet up; boot open; mirrors under the car; “Did you pack this yourself, Sir?”; “Are you carrying anything for someone else?” It reminded me of an occasion when we arrived back in the UK. “Passports please” said the customs officer. He then gazed down from his cabin at Jean & I sitting there, hood down, naturally. “Just the two of you?” he enquired. Luckily I resisted saying what was passing through my mind, or we might still be there being interrogated!
We had been warned by a friend that the ferry operator tends to pack the cars in, but we need not have worried as we had plenty of room.
The Brownsea Island ferry. We visited there two years ago, and were very disappointed not to see any of the red sqirrels who have a large colony on thr island.
I think (?) those men are fishing!
Boats, boats, everywhere (this is a gratuitous post for MQ!)
Then, out in the open sea, the boat really took off (for the technically informed: 40 knots at – wait for it – 0.04 MPG) as we passed our sister ship returning to the UK.
And that’s 17 tonnes of water per second we’re pushing out behind.
Approaching Peter’s Port in Guernsey the captain announced that we had slowed down so that our wake did not disturb the Ocean Princess at anchor nearby!
Peter’s port is a small harbour, and the way the boat manoeuvred to dock, let passengers off, and to pick up some replacements, was remarkable. By now the Ocean Princess was under way, but within five minutes the Condor ferry had caught her up, and left her way behind. Just like an S overtaking a chavvy Corsa!
This was our first sight of France. I could not believe how rocky the approach to St Malo was, so I’m glad the crew knew what they were doing.
We knew we would not arrive in France until19:35 CET which meant that our options were limited, so we had selected Combourg for an overnight stop at the Logis du Lac. We prefer to stop in rural areas, and, in any case, we will have time to explore St Malo before our return crossing.
We arrived at the hotel in time for a late dinner and a stroll around the town, not having seen a cloud since 10am this morning. Just what the doctor ordered. The hotel is located on the Place de Chateaubriand, an artist very famous in this part of France. When I showed my wife the statue in the centre of la Place she enquired if he was a famous butcher!!
Some people reading this might not realise that our Dennis is not in the first flush of youth, don't write us oldies off, there's plenty of life in us yet.
Nice informative blog, looking forward to reading the next installment.
DAY THREE Monday 19th July: Combourg to La Rochelle.
Hi MQ. Not only am I ‘not in the first flush of youth’, I’m ‘not in the first flush of youth plus one’! It’s my birthday today! Bonne anniversere to me!
Combourg is a pleasant small town, which is dominated by Le Chateau de Combourg, which you can see behind the hotel, which, as the name Logis du Lac implies, sits on a lake. It also has a very impressive hotel de ville.
We were pleased to find the centre of the town had been closed off for a market, so we had a good look around before we left. There must have been over 200 stalls, and the quality of the produce on display was very high. We bought some fruit for a picnic, and the cherries were just over one pound sterling for one pound in weight.
As this part of Britanny is very flat and featureless, we had planned a direct route to La Rochelle, but avoiding toll and major roads. Unfortunately, (you may want to used different wording, as I understand the weather at home has been iffy!), by midday, with a cloudless sky and the temperature well into the 30s c., we had to put the hood up and the aircon on. Sad, but otherwise we had a blast!
The hotel Residence de France in La Rochelle is one of only two city centre hotels we have booked for our trip. One of the reasons for choosing this hotel was that it had parking, and when we arrived we were so relieved that we had booked in advance. The area is full of narrow roads with no parking and the footpaths are columnaded.
Safely tucked up for the night!
The entrance to the hotel is on the right!!
To round the day off we had an excellent meal on the quayside overlooking the fortress which guards the harbour entrance.
Signing off in a hotel room which is still in the high 20s, A four star hotel without aircon. How unusual!
07-17-2010, 02:46 PM
