Richard was the bingo caller!

Tonight we were helping at the Christmas Lights Bingo to raise funds. The hall was packed and we took £720 on the door, plus whatever the bar made!

The Kelsick Centre hall was full to capacity!

The day ends with a spectacular firework display in Rothay Park. For just £2200 we get a fantastic display from a specialist firm from Lincolnshire. The display lights up the sky all around the town.

Once the crowd has dispersed, the town quickly returns to normal and we start the task of removing the various signs and other event related material before heading home for an early night!

Andy Yates spends the cruises bending balloons and making a wide variety of animals, hats etc!

Later he took to his stilts in the parade!

Before we had travelled south Rich had heard that Roy Parfrey, his son Philip and Philip's son - James were planning a train spotting trip from Warrington to Reading today. So Rich went off to meet them whilst Jill, Ben, Poppy and Daisy had a tour of Reading University where Alison is studying for her Masters in Speech Therapy.

Here, James is ready to video the departure of a brand new Cross Rail train after it had arrived from London.

Jill and Caroline at the lunch table.Not a good photo as it was shot against the light streaming in through the wide patio doors.

Below, a panoramic view of the table party (except Rich who took the photo!)

Almost there! Steve fixes one of the artificial trees with lights into the wall bracket in Market Place.

Later that day we drove down to Ben and Alison's house in Reading to help with looking after Daisy and Poppy during half term.

The business of putting up Ambleside's Christmas lights started this morning. By 10.50am we had done all of Compston Road and North Road.

Here Rich helps straighten out the wire for Steve (in the cherry picker) so that the bulbs hang downwards to keep water out!

Our stay in Bath was over and we all departed at around 10am so we headed for Evesham to see a lady who had recently moved there from Ambleside. After a cuppa and a chat we headed northwest towards Oswestry where our B&B (to break up the ride home) was located. Unlike Bache House at Leominster - this place was clean, spacious and no smell of any cats!

The place was a farm / riding school and we had a great meal at a nearby pub - The Barley Mow in the village of Trefonen, The pub was actually built across Offa's Dyke - the ancient line of defence between Wales and England!

Around lunchtime, our group did different things. Jill, Rich and Ray went to the Sally Lunn Eating house - one of (if not THE) oldest established eating houses in the UK.

Ray looks satisfied with his meal. We had to wait about 20 minutes for a table at this incredibly popular eating place"

Two pictures of the cast strutting along the Royal Crescent after the proverbial "LIGHTS - CAMERA - ACTION"

All these shots were apparently what are known as "plate shots" or in layman's terms - background shots which you would miss if you blinked!

That evening we ate at an Italian rustic restaurant just a stone's throw away from the filming area at Royal Crescent!

Today, we went up to the Royal Crescent where filming was in full swing. After watching the activity for a while we went into the No.1 Royal Crescent museum where we had the chance to dress in regency costumes!

Stuffed toy dogs and lambs were also pressed into action!

After our first full day of exploration, we ate at the Ivy in Bath city centre. A very interesting style of decor inside.

Peter does not actually have a multi-coloured mohican hair do!

Liz (right) and Ray (left) consult the menu which had a very colourful front cover.

Our Air B&B property was about 300 metres down the hill from the Royal Crescent.

It turned out to be an ideal location for exploring the city. To get a feeling for the city's layout we took an open top bus tour and at one stage we passed very close to the Royal Crescent.

Next mooning we went into the main house for breakfast which was in this room (which still had a cider press in the centre). Originally it would have been worked by a horse.

As we ate breakfast, we were aware of an overpowering smell of cat wee! When Richard later went into the kitchen to pay - there were SIX cats present. Hence the smell.

Moral - read the Booking.com reviews before booking!

Each year we go on a trip with our friends from the St.Helens area. This year we chose September to visit Bath.

We set off a couple of days earlier and drove down the country on the old roads (the A49) towards our overnight B&B near Leominster.

Lower Bache house was down a real one track lane and was best described as "rustic!"

Jill relaxes in our personal lounge area. Swinging a cat in that room would result in the cat hitting all four walls!

Poppy and Daisy had dressed their favourite toys (Shaky Bunny and Fireman Sam) as nurses!

After a short stay, they departed as lunch was served and later Ben returned at 4.45 to take Richard home!

The second day after the operation and already Rich was out of bed and using crutches!

Today, Jill went off to London to bring up Megan and Jessica tomorrow after their Cornish holiday in St.Ives. Having dropped Jill at Oxenholme station, Ben, Alison Daisy and Poppy arrived for a visit

Nothing to eat for Rich after 7 am apart from a pint of water at 1015 to keep him hydrated for the afternoon operation.

On arrival, it transpired that Rich had a six bed side ward to himself!

He went down for the operation at 3pm which was done with a local anesthetic into the spine (almost painless) and from then on he did not feel a thing (though he could hear the various machines doing their work and the hammering of the new bits into his hip and femur (enough detail!!!)

A lovely surprise today was Rich received a special message from Megan and Jessica!

Thank you girls!!

They are coming to the cottage for a holiday with Caroline and Andrew on May 25th.

Richard cannot drive for up to four weeks due to the gas bubble inserted into the repaired eye which helps keep the retina as flat as possible.

Clearly the popular button box will soon be in action!

Certain less reverent members of the family took the photo below and suitably adapted it!

Jill travelled down by train and together we returned home by train and were collected at Windermere station by Jim - a close friend.

There now follows two weeks of eye drops four times daily, a plastic eye shield at night and ensuring that he DOES NOT sleep on this back! (on alternating sides is OK.)

After rapidly been seen by various doctors, Richard was prioritised for emergency eye surgery later the same day. A new hotel room was booked as he waited for the operation (as a return to hospital the next day was required).

Here Rich takes the world's most gruesome selfie after the 80 minute operation (under local anesthetic!!!)!

With 12 stitches in the eye, the thick protective pad was probably better than seeing the eye!

Soon after seeing the optician, we were on our way to Barrow Hospital with Rich's partially detached retina.

Within an hour we were heading home so that Richard could catch the train to Manchester for a visit to Manchester Royal Eye Hospital the following day.

He stayed in a Premier Inn for the night.

This is the main hall of the hospital.

This weekend we drove to Kelso in the Scottish Borders to enjoy a get together with Richard's old work colleagues. On the Saturday night we dressed up for a Murder Mystery Dinner!

Here, Jill and our host Christina are walking around the house admiring the lawn which has a robotic mower.

On Sunday we took the new Borders Railway to Edinburgh for the afternoon. Whilst there, Richard started to see a shadow in the bottom corner of his left eye.

On Monday we drove carefully back to Ambleside and he went straight to the optician.

Today we went to Workington to collect a total of 10,000 coloured pencils for Richard's Rotary Club to send to Calcutta nd Uganda to help schools and street children there.

These are around 3000 of the 10,000 !

Somebody had fun fitting all this track into the layout of the field!

We started and finished at Millerbeck Junction station on the left.

The woods along the right side of the field were full of bluebells and a herd of alpacas were grazing in the field next to the track in the bottom left corner.

This loco would be perfect for a visit by Ben, Alison, Daisy and Poppy!

It is a replica of a slightly larger loco which worked in France in the First World War.

Richard and his "little" brother, Robert outside the Knot Inn where Robert's surprise party took place.

Little means 6'4" as opposed to Richard's 6' 6.5"

Today we travelled secretly to Macclesfield and later the Biddulph area to be there for a surprise 70th birthday party for Richard's brother - Robert.

Once he had arrived and recovered from the shock of "SURPRISE!!!" we took this family group picture outside the pub (The Knot Inn at Rushton Spencer, between Biddulph and Leek)

Robert's family:

Back (L-R) James, Helen, Robert, Katie and Charlotte)

Front (L-R) Oliver, George, Harry and Matilda

After a few days in Ambleside, it was off down south again - this time by train. Ben and Alison were going to be involved in a family party for her Auntie Pauline's 80th birthday and so they needed babysitters!

So we took a train from Oxenholme to Manchester Piccadilly and then this train to Reading.

We returned on the Monday (8th).

The tour concluded with a visit to Ypres and the Menin gate which has the names of 55,000 soldiers whose bodies have never been found! It was a sombre reminder of what they went through in the First World War.

We even found an "Attenborough" amongst the names.

From Ypres, the minibus took us back to Bruges and we enjoyed a second meal at the Pompe Bistro.

Today we decided to take a full day tour of the Flanders Fields on a minibus with a English speaking guide. We visited several war grave sites and we were even shown unexploded shells like these which farmers leave at the side of the road for the bomb disposal people to deal with. There are still millions of unexploded shells in the ground and they are found almost every day, especially at ploughing time!

These shells and a grenade were close to Passchendaele - a sleepy village now but a living hell in WW1.

Daisy wanted a teddy bear but we had not seen a shop but as soon as we told Ben this in a Whatsapp, he came straight back with a link!

After traversing the town we found the shop which was a little treasure and the man was like a small version of Herr Flick from "Allo Allo". It turned out that most bears he sold were Steiff bears and cost literally HUNDREDS of Euros each. However, we did find a reasonable one (and another for Poppy) and watched as he wrapped them in brown paper in the old fashioned way.

This one cost over 500 Euros! Note the trademark button in the ear!

Later, we had a very pleasant meal at a nearby restaurant - Le Pompe Bistro (just near an ancient water pump).

Today we lazed around a little and paid a leisurely visit to the market.

Perfect fruit and veg is available in the market during the morning. The mangoes were huge, as were most fruits and vegetables!

By now we were hungry and found a pizza restaurant. During our meal we were entertained by two girl tourists from Taiwan who are studying in Paris. They took loads of model pose photos of themselves eating. Eventually we offered to take a photo of the two of them together which they loved and then proceeded to tell us their story!

Today we explored the town/city in glorious weather. We started at the museum which featured an interactive display in various rooms telling the story of how the city became important.

Speaking of important - Jill decided to dress the part!

We started the day with Richard's birthday breakfast at Ben's with American style pancakes and then we were off back to Caroline's at Staines as we had a birthday lunch planned at the Swan Hotel (it didn't catch fire this time!).

To the amusement of other customers, this cake arrived via a waiter with all the staff singing Happy Birthday! Then it was a matter of who had an eye and who had a foot! It was lovely cake but probably broke the diet rules!

Today is Jill's "actual" birthday and Richard had arranged for us to go to Blackpool to see "The Lady Vanishes" at the Grand Theatre.

We parked near the theatre after a big police diversion away from the sea front! We eventually reached our desired car park and learned that there was a Royal visit in progress!

Here, Jill poses outside the theatre where we were to see a play which Caroline had seen in Windsor and was now on tour.

The theatre was "grand" both in name and in terms of decor. However the stalls seats were almost level and so Jill had a poor view so at the interval we moved to some empty seats a little further back.

One of the stars of the show was Juliet Mills - the daughter of Sir John Mills and sister of Hayley Mills.

As we reached the promenade after a pre-theatre lunch we met the crowds outside the Tower where Prince William and Kate were about to emerge from a meeting.

They both went around the crowds, with Prince William coming around our side. Richard, being fairly tall had a great view as the prince chatted to people just in front of him!

With just three of us left after the others departed, we set out for Beachy Head and then via the outskirts of Eastbourne to Alfriston - a beautiful Sussex village with ancient buidlings.

We found the Star Inn which really was ancient and included a ship's figurehead outside. Jill seemed keen to kiss the figure head as we departed after a very good Sunday Roast meal!

We the returned to the "House in the Woods" and relaxed and packed ready for our departure the next day.

From Portslade we took a circuitous route to fool Jill as we approached the next location...

The final surprise of the day was a meal in the very pub where Jill and Richard had their wedding reception on August 8th 1970.

Now it was called the "Garden Room" and it was quite noisy as Brighton and Hove football team had just won a game. There was also a children's birthday party in full swing but we had our own dedicated table.

The girls enjoyed the colouring books and plasticene provided by the pub as we waited for our meals.

Later, Poppy decided to use Ben as a high chair!

After a long and eventful day we headed back for the 20 mile drive to the house where we were staying.

Jill just had to show the girls the "Roman Wall" at the bottom of the garden (which Jill had tried to impress Richard with in 1969). The "Roman" wall was actually made from London Brick Company bricks and faced with flint - but the trackway was used by Romans to carry salt inland from the sea.

Here the girls seem suitably unimpressed with Jill's history lecture!

The house is pretty spectacular. It is an Eco-House with one side mainly glass to collect heat. There were six ensuite bedrooms and a large open area/garden for the family to explore.

Eventually we were all there - Jill and Rich, Caroline, Andrew, Megan and Jessica, Ben, Alison(arrived Saturday am), Poppy and Daisy and Keith.

As we were only a few miles from Statford, we made a call on Mike and Elaine Lily (relatives of Jill's father's second wife Gladys).

They live in a unique house within a house near to Ann Hathaway's house in the village of Shottery.

We met the family and Ben the autistic help dog. The black post behind Ben's neck is the older (inner) house and the second black post above his head and the horizontal balck beam are part of the outer (newer) house.

After a good night's sleep and a hearty breakfast, we were ready to visit the castle again. We arrived early so there was no queue for the archery and the girls had a quick lesson before loosing their arrows!

Later we saw another archery display and the twins (along with the all the other children watching) learned the original meaning of the "V sign" but the man made it clear not to use the sign towards their teachers when they went back to school and were asked to say what they had learned during their holiday!

Although we arrived during the afternoon, we still had time to explore and watch the birds of prey display including this bird!

Tomorrow we would have the full day in the castle....

An hour later... the meal was in full swing and it raised over £800 for Polio Eradication (to which Bill and Miranda Gates would add another £1600).

Finally they helped draw the raffle tickets before we cleared the whole room once the event was over.

A firm favourite with Megan and Jessica is Sunnybankopoly (made some years ago by Ben).

The highlight of the game is when the chance card "Nana is fined £200 for skinnydipping in Rydal Water" comes up!

Today we went to Keswick and took the girls to the Illusions Museum, which is full of optical illusions, holograms etc.

This room defies logic where you can hang off the wall or slide up the stairs!

Conditions further up the road, however, were more severe. This is the view from the main road outside the Kirkstone Pass Inn, looking down towards Sunny Bank. The road signs at the bottom said "ROAD CLOSED" but various people ignored it! Most returned a few minutes later after slipping to a halt. One car full had to be rescued by Mountain Rescue!

"Should have gone to Specsavers!"

Despite the weather, Richard travelled to Kendal Hospital for a hip X-ray, the waiting room was full and some people had been there a while! Fortunately, he was seen and out within an hour!

Due to his length, the staff had to wind the bed/table down to the floor and the actual camera up towards the roof to make sure the whole hip area fitted on the X-ray.

As Richard was hobbling around with lights, Jill was down in London taking Megan and Jessica by train to Ben's for the day. All four girls - Megan, Jessica, Poppy and Daisy love to get together. Jill had taken a Silly Milly story with her. Richard had written this to entertain the girls. Here, Jessica is reading the story on the train to Reading.

Like to read the story? Click here

The second and last Sunday morning of removing lights. We started at 7am and ended at 3pm at which point Richard returned home, had a long hot shower and went to bed for 17 hours!

Meanwhile, Jill was in London, having taken the second batch of pencils!

Today we went to the theatre in Keswick to see Beauty and the Beast. Afterwards, we went to Workington to collect 7000 pencils (not a mistake). The pencils were donated by the Derwent pencil company for use in poor areas of the world. Richard's Rotary club had recently heard about a village in Uganda which is visited each year by a local lady or her friend in London. So we collected the pencils and she then took a suitcase full to fly out to Uganda later this month. The suitcase had around 3000 pencils in it. A few days later Jill was due to go to look after Megan and Jessica so another 2000 went down with her! Jill met the lady under the clock at Waterloo to hand over the pencils! Rather like a John Le Carre film!

We still have 2000 pencils ready to go down the next time we drive down!