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  1. #1026
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    Quote Originally Posted by DrWilly View Post
    90 seconds? So what do you do with the rest of the 3 days on a passport run?
    I have a nice cup of tea!

  2. #1027
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    Quote Originally Posted by Reg Dingle View Post
    He continues on pumping his canon like one of Horatio's artillery men albeit with ladyfellas held down in a Full Nelson.
    I've said it before and I'll say it again, you seem to have some issues Reginald Dingle.

    A Half Nelson is more than sufficient.

  3. #1028
    Making people dance. :-)
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    Quote Originally Posted by The Croscombe Cannon View Post
    I've had years of practice.
    I bet!

  4. #1029
    Thailand Expat DrWilly's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Mendip View Post
    I've said it before and I'll say it again, you seem to have some issues Reginald Dingle.

    A Half Nelson is more than sufficient.

    Is that an admisison? With ladyboys.

    oh my.

  5. #1030
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    Quote Originally Posted by Mendip View Post
    My foot for scale!
    And with that foot shot, the thread feels nearly complete.

  6. #1031
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    ^^ I drank whisky last night... I didn't know what I was typing.

    ^ There is one last excursion to go that really did change it from an Oddysey to a Pilgrimage!

  7. #1032
    Thailand Expat DrWilly's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Mendip View Post
    ^^ I drank whisky last night... I didn't know what I was typing.

    ^ There is one last excursion to go that really did change it from an Oddysey to a Pilgrimage!
    So your do ladyboys while drunk? I think I'm going to avoid that invitation to join your on your next passport run, no offence.

  8. #1033
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    ^ No offence taken!

    I have a small admission to make here... there was no invitation coming. My passport runs are strictly private affairs.


    We completed our pilgrimage, of course, with a trip to Glastonbury Abbey. Real Pilgrims have been making their pilgrimages to Glastonbury for centuries and the cradle of English Christianity seemed to be the perfect end to ours. Even Jesus with his uncle, Joseph of Arimathea are reputed to have visited Glastonbury.

    I picked up my niece from Wells and we arrived at Glastonbury on a beautiful sunny morning. The parking was very reasonable as well. In Dorset you had to enter the car registration number for your ticket but there were no such rules in Somerset. This meant that on leaving I could offer my unused hours to another poor motorist to reduce the money grabbing car park keeper's income.



    And the church on Glastonbury High Street that gave the car park it's name.



    Glastonbury used to be a lovely place but now it's been taken over by a load of up themselves twats. My 19 year-old London music college student niece told me that Glastonbury isn't a place but a way of life. This must be one of the most cringe worthy comments I have ever heard but I resisted causing a family argument and just grunted in response.

    Even the pet food shop seems to have gone vegan... although at least Reg Dingle could pick up some more peanut butter for his poor mutt, I guess.



    It was a shame this shop was closed as I could have done with some Aromatics!



    What even is a 'Sound Healer'?



    I didn't see one normal shop on the High Street. Mind you, it was noticeable that they were all bereft of customers.



    I found a bakery but the pastry was all brown and whole-mealy... and there were no steak and kidney pies.



    A Yin Yang shop.



    I don't know why all this stuff gets up my nose so much, but it just does. To me it's all pretentious bollocks, but each to their own I guess.



    Not often I hope for rain...



    But anyway, after spending precisely nothing on Glastonbury High Street we finally reached the entrance to the famous Glastonbury Abbey and the completion of our Pilgrimage. There's my daughter and her cousin going on ahead although I knew they wouldn't be going far as you have to pay to get in.


  9. #1034
    Thailand Expat armstrong's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by DrWilly View Post
    So your do ladyboys while drunk? I think I'm going to avoid that invitation to join your on your next passport run, no offence.
    Sounds like you're the drunk one to me.

  10. #1035
    Isle of discombobulation Joe 90's Avatar
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    That car park is actually pretty cheap.

    Feeling the peace and looove man

  11. #1036
    Isle of discombobulation Joe 90's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Mendip View Post
    Nelson liked to lead by example... he lost his right arm leading a small boat action in Teneriffe
    That's what happens when foreplay gets out of hand in Tenerife, still goes on till this day according to Dills travel thread.

    I'll raise you a Wellington Mendip and a proper pint..



    A pilgrimage across southern England-20220819_175711-jpg

    I've always thought Nelson overrated. Nelson fought a poor French and Spanish navy whereas Wellington fought an extremely good French army. He didn't fight anywhere like as many battles as Wellington, Wellington was heavily outnumbered in his early battles more so than Nelson at Trafalgar and as at Trafalgar he overwhelming crushed his opponent on several occasions. Nelson already had a superb navy, well trained men, skilled officers to work with, Wellington had to build everything himself.
    Shalom

  12. #1037
    Making people dance. :-)
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    Quote Originally Posted by Joe 90 View Post
    I've always thought Nelson overrated. Nelson fought a poor French and Spanish navy whereas Wellington fought an extremely good French army. He didn't fight anywhere like as many battles as Wellington, Wellington was heavily outnumbered in his early battles more so than Nelson at Trafalgar and as at Trafalgar he overwhelming crushed his opponent on several occasions. Nelson already had a superb navy, well trained men, skilled officers to work with, Wellington had to build everything himself.
    Nelson vs. Wellington | History Forum

    "I've always thought Nelson overrated. Nelson fought a poor French and Spanish navy whereas Wellington fought an extremely good French army. He didn't fight anywhere like as many battles as Wellington, Wellington was heavily outnumbered in his early battles more so than Nelson at Trafalgar and as at Trafalgar he overwhelming crushed his opponent on several occasions. Nelson already had a superb navy, well trained men, skilled officers to work with, Wellington had to build everything himself."

    Toltec 2013.


  13. #1038
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    ^ It's almost as if they weren't in fact Joe's words!

    But you'll get no argument from me... Wellington was also a great leader and tactician. It was rate of Red Coat musket fire that won the day, much as rate of cannon fire won for Nelson... all down to relentless training. That, and configuring his troops into lines rather than the columns the French used.

    But without Nelson's navy, how would Wellington have even crossed the Channel? He'd still be waiting at Portsmouth for a lift. Not to mention the French navy that would have controlled the seas.

    And Nelson won Trafalgar all on his own... Wellington woUld have lost Waterloo had the Prussians not turned up at the end of the day to turn the battle.

  14. #1039
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    Pilgrimage

    Noun: a journey to a sacred place


    You could of course argue that the HMS Victory is a sacred place, or anywhere in Somerset, Dorset or Wiltshire that takes you back to your youth. But the word pilgrimage does have religious connotations and despite not having a religious bone in my body it seemed only fitting that the climax of our pilgrimage was at Glastonbury Abbey, reputably the cradle of English Christianity, the burial place of King Alfred and Guinevere and the destination of thousands, maybe even millions of pilgrimages over the last couple of thousand years.

    Glastonbury Abbey | Visitor Attraction | Somerset UK

    Glastonbury Abbey - Wikipedia



    Considering the history it was cheap as well. The daughter got in for free (the first place of our pilgrimage that didn't charge for kids) and as luck would have it the niece had her student card with her, saving me another pound.



    This is how they reckon Glastonbury Abbey looked in it's heyday back in the 14th Century before Henry VIII's dissolution of the Monasteries, culminating in the arrest of the last Abbot of Glastonbury Abbey, Richard Whyting on trumped up charges. He was hung, drawn and quartered on Glastonbury Tor in 1539, not a nice way to go. This was all so Henry could get his end away and I now wish that my daughter hadn't been quite so keen to show him her rat.

    Anyway, we visited on a hot, still, cloudless August morning which really lent some reverence to the occasion.



    The ruins really are splendid and even for a non-religious person like myself it was hard not to be moved.







    How they reckon the interior of the Lady Chapel looked, back in it's day.



    The crypt under the Lady Chapel.



    Part of the exterior...



    Girls talk. I hate to see my daughter growing up so fast. She asked me if I was transsexual the other day.



    Looking east at the abbey ruins.



    And back west towards the Lady Chapel.







    An old grave...



    The sense of history here was breathtaking.



    Another grisly medieval tale...





    When I lived in the part of the world I didn't appreciate the history much at all but now I'm absolutely fascinated by it. I really miss having 800 year-old buildings to walk around in Thailand... they are two a penny in the UK. I know there are a few Khmer ruins and stuff in Isaan but they just don't grab me in the same way as European history.



    Maybe these two will be more interested in years to come... bloody kids. I lost them after around an hour.



    It was interesting to see how higgledy-piggledy the stonework was beneath the dressing stones.



    From the extreme east end of the abbey... looking through the abbey ruins towards the Lady Chapel.



    Everything was so magnificent and spiritual I was almost tempted to sit cross-legged and start chanting... but nah...



    The south exterior.





    Some stonework just waiting to fall out of this archway. I reckon they would have 'just come off in my hand' quite easily. There was no obvious security and much as I would have liked a large chunk of Glastonbury Abbey for my rock collection it just didn't seem right to start pulling apart 12th Century stonework, and it may well be illegal as well. I did however find a few small pieces in the borders that had fallen out of the walls... fair enough I reckon and easy using the 'pretending to tie my shoelaces' trick.



    A small building at the southwest corner set apart...



    Maybe Joe90 could pick up some tips?







    It was hot work and eventually we finished up for a cold drink and ice cream. There was no whippy icecream or 99s here of course... as was befitting for Glastonbury it was little tubs of expensive ice cream with posh flavours. The girls were still deep in conversation although I very much doubt they were discussing Henry VIII's 16th Century dissolution of the monasteries.



    Not a bad way to finish a pilgrimage. There was no time to walk up Glastonbury Tor, but it was as hot as hell anyway. The Somerset Levels were swampy marshland/sea in King Alfred's day, hence Glastonbury was/is known as the 'Isle of Avalon'.



    Another lovely Somerset day. The mead was a significant step up from the gardener's Ya Dong although wasps found a combination of honey and apple smell irresistible. I didn't drink the mead for long.








































  15. #1040
    Thailand Expat OhOh's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Mendip View Post
    much as rate of cannon fire won for Nelson
    Where would the gunpowder and shot be stored?

    One always sees a lot of paintings of battleships fighting, but presumably there would be a fleet of cargo ships required to carry supplies, or not.

    If not, any journey back to base must have left the fleet ripe for an attack.
    A tray full of GOLD is not worth a moment in time.

  16. #1041
    Thailand Expat DrWilly's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by OhOh View Post
    but presumably there would be a fleet of cargo ships required to carry supplies, or not.
    Nope, the ships had to be self sufficient.

    Powder was stored in a powder room, under the waterline, with copper sheets for protection.

    The balls are heavy and are stored next to the cannons. (and they are no danger of exploding)

  17. #1042
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    ^ Thanks Doc.

    I think that the powder room was guarded by marines at all time to prevent unauthorised access.

  18. #1043
    Thailand Expat DrWilly's Avatar
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    Additionally, no lights were allowed in the powder room (lanterns hung outside small windows), heavy felt curtains for the doorways and anyone inside the powder room carried no metal on them and wore felt shoes to reduce the risk of a spark.

  19. #1044
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    I'd never really thought about that but as Mendip will attest, the biggest fear by far on ships is fire. So here we are in the middle of the ocean on a wooden ship with none of the fire suppressing/fighting systems found on modern steel vessels and throwing buckets of water being your only defence should fire break out, so let's store tons of highly flammable gunpowder deep in her belly. No thank you!

  20. #1045
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    I want to finish off this thread... and it annoys me immensely that I feel this need on an anonymous internet forum, but that's just the way I am.

    If I start something I want to finish it. Maybe it's all just for my own pleasure and something for the daughter to read in a few years time if the forum survives. I have to go to Bangkok next week and then start work the week after, I've been away from home way too much this year already so if I can wrap () this up it's one less thing to think about. Besides, I want to concentrate on my dog and cock threads anyway.

    First up, a few weeks ago I put up a competition for a owed Green... all these self professed football experts on here and not a single entry...


    Quote Originally Posted by Mendip View Post
    But first, a football trivia question. What is the connection between Ubley and Liverpool FC?

    Bruce Grobbelaar's wife Debbie came from Ubley and they had a horse drawn carriage down to Ubley church for the wedding. I thought that was easy.

    Anyway, some other mystery from the start of our trip... a few weeks later they did indeed harvest the corn but not the surrounding barley from the field down from my mum's house. I have no idea why?



    I spent a lot of time trying to get a decent picture of a combine harvester... not only in Somerset but also in Wiltshire and Hampshire when we went down to Portsmouth. I saw a few out there in the fields but there was never anywhere to park to take a pic... so anyway, my favourite song.



    Something I really miss about living in Thailand is the compassion shown in the west, whether imagined or real. These kind of signs really cheered me up. Amazingly enough, hedgehogs are in real trouble. What a shame if they went the way of the dodo.



    We saw that sign north of Weston-Super-Mare... having the time alone with my daughter and now that she's 11, I talked a bit about the future. I still have property out that way which will hopefully end up with my girl, and as we took a look I showed her the Crematorium just down the road. I was going to put up a competition as to who's resting at this place but after my football failure I didn't bother.

    Anyway, Jill Dando was cremated here... a local girl made good and still a murder mystery.

    Last edited by Mendip; 20-08-2022 at 06:23 PM.

  21. #1046
    Thailand Expat DrWilly's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Headworx View Post
    I'd never really thought about that but as Mendip will attest, the biggest fear by far on ships is fire. So here we are in the middle of the ocean on a wooden ship with none of the fire suppressing/fighting systems found on modern steel vessels and throwing buckets of water being your only defence should fire break out, so let's store tons of highly flammable gunpowder deep in her belly. No thank you!
    A wooden boat painted in tar for water proofing!

  22. #1047
    Isle of discombobulation Joe 90's Avatar
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    You should have had a lovely day trip to Bangor Mendy!

    50p to get on the Pier,, no ice cream sales or arcade machines.
    Just free crab fishing..

  23. #1048
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    Anyway, now that's all cleared up...

    I have three main regrets about my pilgrimage. The first was that I never tried the rhubarb cider. Sorry Shutree, it was there to try but as it was I hid my cider in a cold box in the RAV4's boot so my mum didn't have a go at me. I didn't want to start taking flagons of scrumpy back home.



    The second was, that I never got a chance to wear my Captain's hat... unfinished business there Reg Dingle.

    And the third was that my mum only served up steak and kidney pie once, in nearly five weeks. OK, so she's 86, but even so...

    We left Somerset last Monday, took the car back on Sunday, so Saturday was our last proper day.

    My mum finally offered up steak and kidney pie for Saturday lunchtime. The pastry was a bit broken but the taste was superb. My daughter's favourite meal in the whole, wide world.

    [IMG]https://teakdoor.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=91902&d=1660969986[/.IMG]

    Can you believe that my mu hadn't served up lamb for our entire trip? That last weekend we had some serious catching up to do.

    What I'd give to have this choice in Korat!



    And get this... there was no suitable lamb shoulder for me, so Walter took out more and butchered it in front of us. Bet ya don't get that in Patters, HW?



    But anyway, the last day of having a car we had a final task.

    Across the Mendips to Cheddar for our last ice cream. On the way a lovely Mendip late summer scene... no combine harvester of course.



    The final ice creams of the pilgrimage. A Raspberry Ripple underlying a Lemon Curd for me and a Cookies and Cream under a Vanilla Honeycombe for the daughter. Lovely... with fudge sticks. It don't get better than that.



    But anyway, before Sunday lamb lunch I had to continue my daughter's education to all things British so we popped into a local curry house.

    While we were waiting...



    And back home... a chicken tikka masala to ease the daughter into traditional English fare... and a lamb jalfrezi for meself.

    Her education complete!



    Our last day... Sunday roast lamb...



    And after lunch, while the daughter spent the afternoon cooking up tiffin with her Grandmother...



    I could relax...



    Luvvly Jubbly!

    The next day we were off, the end of our pilgrimage.

    After being fleeced by Arrow Taixis... I truly had a couple of surreal experiences which really made me think this had been a pilgrimage...

    The first was that someone had left their discarded trolley by the trolley rank outside BRS Terminal... thus saving me £2 that the thieving b@stards claim... to use a trolley to take your luggage to their gates...



    The second was that, after sitting on the plane for a few minutes, it started spitting with rain... the first for weeks. How freaky is that... 5 minutes after boarding? We'd had clear blue skies for almost our entire pilgrimage... and it starts raining when we leave. Wow!!!



    And the third... a hated Lufthansa plane on the tarmac... they have now agreed to partially recompense me for my disaster journey getting home a couple of months ago. Freaky stuff, but i still won't fly with them again.

    Goodbye Somerset until next time. I love to visit you but it will never be home again.



    The mum's house, the big oak tree and the river we failed to catch trout in, all visible in this pic.

    The end!
    Last edited by Mendip; 20-08-2022 at 08:58 PM.

  24. #1049
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    A great ending to an epic tale. Thanks.

  25. #1050
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    Quote Originally Posted by Mendip View Post
    And get this... there was no suitable lamb shoulder for me, so Walter took out more and butchered it in front of us. Bet ya don't get that in Patters, HW?
    I wouldn't know mate because there's always lamb shoulder available here including one that's suitable for me

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