England Trip

Snags

Sounds familiar. In my case if I was a different person I could have got the real arse-ache with him - there were certain things that we explicitly arranged, and confirmed, then when I turned up (by arrangement) having driven up from darn sarf there was a brief moment where he thought absolutely none of the guitars I'd come to try were actually there. I nearly had a sense of humour failure at that point.  In the end one of them was, and I tried it against some others I hadn't been considering. And bought it.

On the plus side, I sat in his shop for about four hours just playing guitars and chatting, whilst chaos unfolded around me. He even skipped closing for lunch, partly because he had too much to do, but partly so I could keep playing and amusing myself. And once we got to doing a deal he was fair, and everything happened as advertised.

Fundamentally he's a passionate bloke, and he really, really wants people to be happy. To the extent that he over-promises on things he can't control, and then gets flustered by it and probably doesn't handle it well when dealing with less relaxed customers when reality doesn't match aspiration. He's so much in the moment what's been arranged in the previous moment seems to slide away, somewhat

If I'm ever up that way again with money burning a hole in my pocket I'll be dropping in to look at some of the Eastman kit he has, and to blag a coffee

Jalapeno

Drive - you have no limits then !

And space for World Guitars swag !

munckee

I'm off to Scarborough and Whitby at the weekend, love that part of the country, its a 5 hour drive from where I am and I've done it in winter many times.  Not been to the lakes but a have to visit at some point place.  I really like the norfolk broads, not sure what its like in November but Coltishall, Wroxham, Potter Heigham etc are great.

If you get really south Cornwall is the best part of the country that I've seen, especially off season, a million great places.

If you get down to southern hampshire let me know and I will show you around.

Snap

@munckee have you ever been to Hayburn Wyke? If not, you should go when you are up there. Its about mid way between  Whitby and S'rbo. Near Ravenscarr. Its ace - park up in the Hayburn Wyke inn car park, walk through the woods to the pebble beach that has 2 water falls running onto it. Its a magical place. When we went last, no-one else was there. A nice walk, lovely, and you can have a drink in the pub afterwards. Happy days. Hope you don't get stuck behind a caravan on the A64!!

Hole of Horcum - mental.

munckee

Snap said:

@munckee have you ever been to Hayburn Wyke? If not, you should go when you are up there. Its about mid way between  Whitby and S'rbo. Near Ravenscarr. Its ace - park up in the Hayburn Wyke inn car park, walk through the woods to the pebble beach that has 2 water falls running onto it. Its a magical place. When we went last, no-one else was there. A nice walk, lovely, and you can have a drink in the pub afterwards. Happy days. Hope you don't get stuck behind a caravan on the A64!!

Hole of Horcum - mental.

Nope its a new one on me @snap I am at a family wedding at the weekend so won't get time for sightseeing, I'll put it on my list for my next trip.

ToneControl

thomasross20 said:

Few folk have messaged me asking if I like driving lots in rainy November so I'm half-thinking now of getting a flight down for the jam and using my week's holiday for a week away ..

would you take a guitar on a plane?

It's a crap month, but it should not be constant rain surely?

anyway, where can you fly for a week that's warm?
only africa, canaries and Cyprus innit?

thomasross20

I've got 8 days holiday left after a trip with the girls which their mum always wanted to do with them (but I'm doing it). 
Knock off 2 for this or that is 6 days left. Gmaps tells me there is approximately 20 hours worth of driving in the trip I planned - if I sleep for 12 hours (untrue..!) that's nearly two days worth of travelling, leaving just 4 to see places and go to the jam. I think the England trip may have to wait another year, unfortunately (though this has not been for waste - I particularly fancy Cotswold and Stratford Upon Avon now). 

So I think for the Leicester jam I'll just book a flight and hotel for one night, should be about £120 all-in. And then look for a 5-night stay somewhere warm (my back feels like it's on fire after work these days lol!! Defo need to rest - maybe long drives wasn't a good idea) flying direct from Edinburgh.

I'm really crap at choosing holidays - Sheena always had the best ideas when it came to this (I'd be happy to sit and play guitar - but even I want to get away for a bit now).

Snap

November for warmth, within reasonable travel? Canaries if you are lucky, Cyprus and Israel. Israel is usually pretty warm and dry then, 5 hour flight (ish), lot to see too.

Cape Verde - but there's only really beach stuff to do.

Southern Turkey might be still warm, especially if its early in the month. And you will get a lot for your money as the lira is on it's knees. Perfectly safe too mate. Beautiful too

duotone

I came here to borrow some ideas for later on this year.

Cheers all!

viz

ronnyb said:

Morecambe?

wise choice

ToneControl

viz said:

ronnyb said:

Morecambe?

wise choice

does anyone remember Frontierland?  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frontierland,_Morecambe ;
I can remember, as a long haired youth, seeing a wild-west saloon with middle aged rough looking men and their women emerging into the daylight in full cowboy and rancher's daughter outfits, like an amateur stage show of Westworld run by a social club on a rough inner city estate. It was some kind of cosplay before cosplay event.
I took care to not look amused (or frightened).

ronnyb

I used to work on the air rifle stall at Frontierland when I was young ‘un. The previous attendant had been shot by a drunken punter

Nitefly

viz said:

ronnyb said:

Morecambe?

wise choice

I see what you did there...

thomasross20

So now I'm doing the big trip down South.... I have a good 6-7 days with which to play. 
I'm skinning myself a bit but we're going to Disney Orlando at end of September for two weeks - Sheena always wanted to go with the girls but never made it - so we're going to go (tell you what, though - the Disney Paris holiday we went on thanks to you all on here... Sheena said it was one of the top two holidays of her life). 

I could go somewhere hot, do some sort of "alternate holiday" (blacktomato.com) or ... I could work a 4-day week for 5-6 weeks  

ToneControl

How about a Northern lights holiday?
https://www.discover-the-world.com/experiences/northern-lights-holidays/?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIlbml4e2M3QIVC53tCh3WdQ49EAAYASAAEgINTPD_BwE

thomasross20

Something like that (you know, a bit different) , trip to Gran Canaria for heat... or just a 4-day week for the next 2 months... all sound good

hungrymark

Moominpapa said:

What about Northumberland? Has some spectacular coastline, Housestead's Roman fort up on Hadrian's Wall, Kielder Forest Park, historic Durham. Probably less rammed with tourists than the Lake District, too.

Lakes are fine in November. It's only really bad in August, and even then if you steer clear of Windermere/Ambleside and possibly Keswick you can avoid the crowds.

grungebob

TTony said:

Really depends on what your idea of a good time is ...

Being realistic, Cornwall is a hell of a long way away - and Oxford/Cambridge are about as car unfriendly as it's possible to be, so  my personal choice would be to avoid those.

On the few occasions that I've travelled down the East Coast mainline, I've always had an urge to get off the train and just sit and enjoy some of the scenery where the line follows the coast.  It's stunning.  November might be a bit dull, or you might get lucky with the weather.  That takes you down through Berwick with perhaps a trip out to Holy Island.

Divert inland to the Norh Pennine moors.  Scenery again - it's bleak and huge.  I'd be looking for a decent pub, b&b, and maybe an acoustic slot in the bar in the evenings ...

Back out to the coast for Whitby/Scarborough.    Fish & chips in Whitby, followed by fish & chips in Whitby.  And then chips & fish in Whitby - just for something different.

Decent hotel with sea views ... 

Harrogate is "nice" if you want a bit of posh Yorkshire.  I believe that they say "please" with the insults.

I still think that the Humber bridge is a sight to see.  The downside is that Hull is at one end and Grimsby & Scunthorpe are a bit difficult to avoid the other end.  

Peak District is fine, but - tbh - if you've been through the  North Pennines and/or Yorkshire Dales - would probably just look a bit same-y but with more tourists, more expensive parking, and more souvenir shops.

But, depends what you're looking to do / see / experience!

You can do York, Humber bridge and Lincoln and you’ll only have to see the outskirts of Hull and avoid Grimsby altogether. Bridge is an hour from York same for Lincoln from the bridge. 

Jalapeno

thomasross20 said:

So now I'm doing the big trip down South.... I have a good 6-7 days with which to play. 
I'm skinning myself a bit but we're going to Disney Orlando at end of September for two weeks - Sheena always wanted to go with the girls but never made it - so we're going to go (tell you what, though - the Disney Paris holiday we went on thanks to you all on here... Sheena said it was one of the top two holidays of her life). 

I could go somewhere hot, do some sort of "alternate holiday" (blacktomato.com) or ... I could work a 4-day week for 5-6 weeks  

Please go to Cape Canaveral to see NASA while in Florida - it is a good day out.

EricTheWeary

Morecambe has been in the news as it’s getting the new Eden Project. So, leave it until that’s built.