Going to Dunham Massey was my opportunity to see the Fallow deer at one of the National Trust properties, where the deer are in a sanctuary, so kept as wild as possible within the grounds of the Estate.
Although they are relatively close to the families visiting, the deer are out of bounds, as are any activities that might encourage the deer to seek human food or be fed leaves. So there are areas within the park that are for picnics and of course several options for something yummy, like Rum & Raisin ice-cream cone.
The house stands proudly looking over the deer park with a long driveway to herald guests arrivals. The house is available to go into, but today, we were concentrating on the grounds so that Alex could stretch his legs.
I would like to return to visit the house, which also served as a hospital during WWI and also call into the town of Dunham, in which all the buildings have been owned by the same family for 500 years, which allows the village to be kept as untouched by modern life as possible.
The red dots are the route we walked in clockwise direction
Leaving the carpark, we passed through the visitor centre and headed alongside the canal that passes alongside the house. It would be lovely to have a lake alongside the house.
I thought the weather was not going to clear up for our visit. However, despite the sky being pretty cloudy, it stayed dry while we were there. Which was good, as there wasn’t any shelter once we started the walk. Alongside the canal was a very old tree, believed to be over 500 years old, still alive and growing.
We walked past the house and then started our hike. It is all pretty flat paths around the property, which is good. It isn’t as grand looking as the house at Lyme Park, from the outside.
It didn’t take long to find some of the deer, who were resting under the trees alongside the path. They are beautiful young male Fallow deer and Alex was interested in seeing them.
Although there was a fair amount of dead leaves on the ground, the trees are still green. I can imagine how pretty it will look as Autumn comes around. Nat has booked us in to visit at Christmas time, when hopefully there might be some snow, but also the park will be lit with Christmas lights. It looks like it will be beautiful. Here’s the link if you are interested.
The female deer were quite a bit harder to spot as they lay in the long grass. It was generally their twitching ears or tails that caught our attention.
Alex liked that there were several animals carved out of tree stumps that were all about his height.
As we walked around the meadows we saw more of the deer and also where the effort to control the bracken was being undertaken by bruising it, allowing other plants to grow. I didn’t know what that meant, but it appears it is a process that is done regularly to damage the stalks of the bracken, making them weaker and also weakening the system of roots and rhizomes underground. They even have small machines that can be pulled by a tractor that will apply the pressure needed. Bracken is very hard to control, because the strength of the plant is underground, so just chopping off the leaves won’t stop it. It looks like they are doing a pretty good job here in the deer park.
It was pretty walking around the perimeter of the park. We passed a lot of other families out for the afternoon. Lots of people with their dogs, on leads, which was a requirement to protect the deer.
As we started to head back towards the house, the suggestion of an ice-cream was a really welcome one. The stables had been converted into an upstairs restaurant and a very busy ice-cream shop.
My Rum & Raisin single scoop ice-cream was very nice and the Dutch chocolate one was enjoyed by Alex with help from Nat. It was a lovely treat for our littlest hiker who had done so well on our long walk.
Our little champion (blurred on purpose) with Dunham Massey in the background
I’ve never been much of a cook, although I did like getting into the kitchen to make a nice meal. I think the most satisfying part was sitting down to dinner with John and having him really enjoy what I had cooked.
John liked simple meals. He liked to feel like he had eaten a proper meal and that he wasn’t going to feel hungry later. He loved eating the typical “meat and two veggies” type meal, especially if there was gravy and he could mop it up with a slice of bread. He didn’t like spicy food, so no Indian or Asian, other than Chinese food, but then that was really only meat and veg in a different kind of gravy.
When Nat invited me to come and live with her, Mark and Alex after John passed away, she said she would help broaden my range of tastes for food and I am happy to say between her and Mark, the process has begun. So I thought I would share one of the recipes that Nat makes, that I liked the first time I tried it.
Israeli Lamb & Orzo ( Risoni in Australia) one pan meal.
I had never heard of Orzo or Risoni pasta before. It is a wheat pasta that looks very much like rice. The body of the meal is a lovely mix of lamb mince, tomato sauce, carrot, herbs and topped with feta cheese. It smells amazing when it is cooking and tastes really nice. I think even John would like it, although he might have passed on the crumbled feta cheese.
Here we go:
Time to make it is approx 40 minutes of you are cooking for 2 and 45 if for 4
Use a large wide based frying pan with lid for cooking
Ingredient list (for 2) – double the quantities if making this for 4
250g lamb mince – or can be pork mince
1 large carrot
1 sachet of concentrated tomato paste (32g)
500ml of chicken stock – using stock cubes dissolved in boiling water or heat to boiling pre-made stock prior to adding
1 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
5g finely chopped parsley
30g Greek feta cheese crumbled
150g Orzo (Risoni) pasta
1 garlic clove – peeled and finely chopped
1 onion
30g pine nuts
Olive Oil for cooking
salt and pepper to taste
Method:
Peel and finely chop the onion. Peel and finely chop the carrot. Heat the dry pan over a medium heat. Note don’t use oil yet. Once hot, add the pine nuts to the pan and cook for 2 -3 mins or until toasted and golden. Keep a careful eye on them so they don’t burn. Once cooked, remove them from the pan and put them aside for later.
Put the pan back on the medium heat and add a small amount of Olive Oil. Once hot, add the chopped carrot and onion with a pinch of salt and cook for 3-4 mins until they begin to soften.
Add the lamb (or pork) mince and the cinnamon to the pan and cook for 4 minutes or until cooked, breaking it up with a wooden spoon as it cooks. Add the chopped garlic, tomato paste and dried oregano and cook for about 1 minute stirring.
Add in the boiling chicken stock, Orzo/Risoni Pasta and a pinch of salt and pepper. Increase the head to medium-high and cook, covered for 12-14 minutes or until the Orzo/Risoni pasta is tender. Stir half way through cook to prevent the Orzo/Risoni pasta from sticking. That’s your one pan Lamb/Pork and Orzo done.
Serve in bowls, garnished with the chopped parsley, toasted pine nuts and crumbled fetta.
On Sunday 19th September, my Marshmallow insurance policy commenced on my car, so it was time for me to take her out for a drive and start exploring my new homeland. The weather forecast had changed and the rain we were expecting was pretty much done by dawn with the sun now expected to make a show. As my family had another commitment in the afternoon, I went alone.
I chose the National Trust owned Lyme Park, House and Gardens in Cheshire as my first outing, because it isn’t too far from home. Nat and Mark have been there before and enjoyed it. So, I decided to bring Snow and Fin to enjoy the adventure with me.
I arrived just before 11am, very pleased with my efforts at driving down the narrow roads to get there. They were the type of roads where it is almost too narrow for two cars to pass each other. So, I decided to be patient and move as close as I could to the edge of the road and let other cars coming towards me, pass. I didn’t mind, it wasn’t busy and all of them acknowledged my efforts. My car has built in GPS/Sat Nav, which looked for the quickest way to get to Lyme Park, selecting mostly back roads rather than the main arterial roads.
It seemed that before 11am was a good time to arrive, as it was just before the house opened for visitors, although the gardens opened from 9.30am. The carpark was not too busy, so it was easy to find a park. From there I got my first view of the house.
The walk up to the house from the carpark is quite a steep path. So I took advantage of the free shuttle buggy cart ride up to the gates, as I didn’t want to upset my knee with walking up hill. Anne, the driver, seemed very happy to have Snow, Fin and I as passengers. She said if I needed a ride back down from the house to let a staff member know and they would radio her to come and get me. That was nice of her.
Welcome to Lyme Park House.
Snow and Fin looked forward to seeing inside
I could just imagine the horses and carriages entering the gates and driving around the cobblestone drive to the entrance. This is the house that was used in the 1995 film “Pride and Prejudice” as the exterior of Mr Darcy’s Estate of Pemberley.
I borrowed Nat’s National Trust membership card to be allowed to go in through the entrance archway. I am waiting to be able to sign up for a membership of my own. It will give me a good excuse to explore. Tickets to get into Lyme Park House and gardens is £8 for an adult who doesn’t have a membership, but walking in the mooreland hills and forests around the house is free.
Time to venture through the entrance.
Welcome to the ancestral home of the Legh Family
Through the archway is the dedication that explains that the Estate has been in the Legh family for 600 years before it was presented to the National Trust in 1946 for the Health, Education and Delight of the People.
One of the walls set out the time line for the history of the family and the house.
Through the archway, I reached the central courtyard and my first close look at this imposing house from the inside. Fin and Snow liked the wishing well in the middle. I was glad that it was sealed at the bottom, so if they got too adventurous, they wouldn’t have fallen far.
The steps lead up to the entrance for the house tour.
The house didn’t open until 11am for touring, so I crossed the courtyard and took time to visit the gardens. On the way through there was a ladder which was a fire escape, designed to be able to reach each of the windows in the courtyard. Because the kitchens are on the lower level, William John Legh (1800s) was worried about the risk of fires and had the ladder made, as well as placing fire buckets around the house and building a pump to bring water up from the lake to the house for fire fighting.
Through the archway, the garden beckoned to be explored. The weather was perfect for it, with the sun shining, a light breeze and fluffy white clouds. The National Trust was taking very good care of the grounds as you can see from the impressive lawn.
We discovered there was a beautiful garden laid out to be viewed from above. Fin and Snow enjoyed having a look at it and so did I. This was situated to the side of the house and the wall I had seen from the carpark was the wall of this garden.
The paved area needed a table and chairs for sitting outside and admiring the view
At the back of the house is The Reflection Lake. A beautiful lake would have been visible from all the rooms on that side of the house. I walk around to the lake and was treated to a sight that was lovely to photograph.
It was very peaceful on this side of the lake under the canopy of the trees.
After I had walked around the lake back to the side with the house, I reached more of the created gardens, including a rose garden and the garden in front of the Orangery. An orangery is a building designed to grow plants that need the warmth. The Lyme Park one used to house camellias. I could imagine that would have been stunning and also very fragrant when they were all in flower.
The Orangery has the windows across the front of it.
We went inside the Orangery and it was warm in there. The camellias had been replaced with a tropical plant collection. It reminded me of the exotic plants we had in our pergola back in Adelaide. I had hoped it would be bigger inside. I suspect that there was more of the building, but it was blocked off to visitors.
After a wander amongst the hot house plants, I suggested to Fin and Snow that it was getting close to lunch time. They asked if they could slide down the handrail on the way back to the house. Of course I let them.
We went back into the courtyard and across to the café, which was situated in the Servant’s Hall. Time for a wrap and cup of tea before going to join the line for a tour inside the house.
Due to COVID-19, groups going into the house were restricted to a maximum of 15 at a time. In my group, there were less than that, as it was still early. We entered via the steps into a large room. This was the Entrance hall, where guests would have been welcomed. There we watched a film about the history of the estate and the Legh family. The hall certainly was grand with its tapestries (created between 1623 and 1636).
If you look carefully at the painting on the wall in the photo below, you can see it stands out from the wall. I didn’t notice this at the time, but later on the tour, we saw the reason for it being like that. It is called a Squint and it allows the goings on in the Entrance Hall to be seen from the Drawing Room on the upper floor.
We left the grand Entrance Hall and went upstairs to access other rooms within the house. We turned off into a room, which could have been a ball room, and inside a sealed glass cabinet was a very old book, The Caxton Missal, that had been with the family since at least 1508. This copy has been altered by the family over the years and their markings can be seen on the pages. It is a book containing the liturgy of Mass (religious service). I thought it was fascinating to be looking at a book that is so old. The carvings on the walls were amazing too.
The next room we went into was the Library. The walls were filled with books. Unfortunately, I wasn’t allowed to touch them or take one out of the shelves to have a closer look at it, as there is too much risk that it could be damaged. That was a shame, as I have always been fascinated by books in historic libraries.
The Library has been carefully restored, with an exact copy of the original wall paper being obtained for renovating the walls. The wall paper was manufactured especially for the house and the pattern is now known as Lyme Park. The velvet upholstery on the seats was reproduced and even the carpet was replicated. It is hand woven and amazing that we were allowed to walk on it. The renovations have returned this room back to how it looked during the 1800s and were timed to fit in the returning of the Caxton Missal back into the house after it had spent time in a museum.
The renovations had been done really carefully and they bring the room back to life. However, it was the ceiling that really caught my eye. It thought it was carved wood. The guide explained that it wasn’t , it was painted plaster. So much timber had been used during the war (not sure which one during the 500 years), it was not readily available and plaster was much cheaper to use. The painting work really made it look like wood.
Other interesting things in the Library were a newspaper from 1906 and an Inventory book with a hand written listing of all the items in each room of the house.
Two of the books I discovered on one of the shelves (I didn’t touch them) were written by one of the ladies of the house, Lady Newton. To protect the books (and probably to make them easier to dust), a cover was placed over the top of them. It was a shame that there wasn’t the chance to spend longer in the house exploring and taking a closer look at the things in each room.
The next room on the tour was the Wyatt’s Dining Room. They had the table set up as it would have looked for a Christmas feast. The table could seat 20 around it, although there were less chairs at the table now, the rest of the chairs were stacked along the walls. There is so much intricate carving into the ceiling and walls, stemming from the 1600s. It certainly would have been a grand place for dinner.
The next room was the Drawing room, where the guests could move to after dinner. It has a very ornate ceiling and fireplace with Elizabeth 1 crest above it. There was a lovely corner with stained glass windows that were originally in a church set up to appear that it was used to play a harp to entertain the guests. From this room, the painting in the Entrance Hall could be moved aside so that the goings on could be seen. I missed getting a photo of that.
This is the Stag Parlour with deer hunting scenes depicted and more of the painted ceiling to look like wood.
The last room we were allowed to go into was the “Yellow Room”, with its four post bed. The guide said that this could have been a guest room, as it was close to the Drawing and Dining room and there was also a smaller room next to it which they believed could have been a dressing room. The walls again were covered in tapestries.
Although there were a lot more rooms above this floor, we weren’t permitted to go upstairs and see them. But I think it was easy to see that this would have been a beautiful house for the family. The Trust had tried to keep each room as authentic as they could and having the handwritten inventory, stored in the library would have helped.
Time to go back downstairs. These stairs were pretty narrow, so I expect they were probably a back entrance/exit and returned us back down into the courtyard area.
There are a few buildings around the property, so it was time for Snow, Fin and I to stretch our legs and enjoy the fresh air as we went exploring. So we left the house behind and started climbing the hill.
We walked up to the Stables, but unfortunately we weren’t able to go in for a look as it is a working part of the estate.
We continued up the hill and could see the Cage in the distance. I wasn’t sure if I could walk directly up to it, as the way was quite steep, so we side tracked along the Stables wall, which gave Fin and Snow time to have a play on old gate.
Time to tackle the walk to the building in the distance and I managed it ok. Unfortunately we weren’t able to go inside The Cage, as it was being used for an Escape Room experience. It seems The Cage was used as a hunting lodge, a place for the ladies to watch the hunt and may also have been used as a prison to hold poachers who were caught with the estate’s deer. There are red deer on the estate, but I didn’t go in the right direction to see them as they are up beyond the house.
The view from up on the hill is of Manchester. So I sat on the grass alongside the tower to see if I could pick any landmarks. I think it is a bit soon to recognize any, but it nice being up high. There were quite a few family groups up by The Cage also sitting on the grass and others setting off on to hike further afield.
I decided it was time to walk down hill and beyond the house and the carpark to see The Timber Yard, which is tucked down in the valley. The map indicated there was a café there in what was the carpenters workshop. Walking down hill was much easier than up hill. I didn’t need Anne and her buggy to help.
Beyond the carpark was the area alongside The Timber Yard, which was a nice setting for a picnic.
The Timber Yard was quite busy, especially the café, so I didn’t stay long in the courtyard and headed back to the carpark.
It was a lovely outing. A nice drive in my car to a lovely historic location to see so much history that is close to where I now live. I am looking forward to being able to discover more gems with the National Trust. I have signed up and my welcome pack will hopefully arrive in the next few days. I am going to try to get my £72 worth of entrances and car parking over the next 12 months (the membership).
Today was a big day for me, here in Manchester. We picked up my car, a Skoda Karoq from the dealer. I have wheels.
I can sit in the driver’s seat, but can’t drive her.
Introducing my car. She is a 2019 Karoq Sportsline with only 9000 miles or 14,400 km on the clock. She has only had one owner and so is in very good condition. She is automatic transmission, which will be great for not having to change gear in traffic. Because of COVID lockdowns in 2020, she wasn’t driven much and she is very comfortable.
I have the keys
BUT, I can’t drive her until 12.01am on Sunday 19th!
What??? I know that sounds crazy doesn’t it.
I have been driving in Australia, since I was 18. John taught me to drive 41 years ago and I’ve been driving ever since. I have a clean driving record. I’ve never been in an accident – my fault or anyone else’s. I have also have a rating 1 for insurance with a no-claims-bonus.
My Australian driving licence is good for me to drive internationally., although I have moved here permanently, I don’t have to change my licence to a UK one for up to 12 months.
However, for the car insurance, that is required to be had, many of the insurance companies, including the one Stockport Skoda deal with, won’t provide insurance to anyone to doesn’t hold either a Full or Provisional UK/EU (European Union) licence.
So, I couldn’t take my car for a test drive, under the insurance for test drives. Today, I couldn’t drive my car off the dealer lot and I couldn’t drive it back home to Gorton. Thank goodness, my daughter, Nat has a full UK licence and was here help me.
Nat happily took us for a test drive on Thursday last week and she again drove the car today for the journey home. Nat was able to tell me how lovely the car was to drive. How comfortable the sporty bucket seats are and how the seat has a warmer in it. For me, it was about how easy it is to get in and out of the seats, leg room, and how big the boot is.
As an experienced driver, I felt confident that Nat would look after me and my need for a good car. I was able to organise insurance for me to drive my car from Sunday 19th with a company that is comfortable insuring holders of non-British licences. The insurer is called Marshmellow. Sounds dodgy doesn’t it. Well, unusual names for insurers isn’t rare. There was another company who quoted for me called Elephant.
I elected to get insurance from 19th September, because if I had said I wanted insurance straight away, the premium would be higher. The dealer said try getting a quote for after 4 days of having the car, as they can provide complimentary insurance for 4 days for Nat driving the car. I did and also put Nat onto the insurance, so she will be able to drive the car too if she needs.
Now I have wheels I will be able to build my confidence in the Manchester traffic and with a car seat in the back, soon will be able to have Alex with me. Here he is giving her the stamp of approval.
So this is my beautiful car.
Keith who sold me my car
Plenty of boot space with electronic open and close
If you live in a first-world country, there is a pretty good chance that at least once a week you venture into a shop to buy groceries.
If you live in Australia, your major chain stores Coles, Woolworths or Aldi. If you have a social conscience, you might elect to snub the big chains and head over to your local independent Foodland or IGA store.
Over here in the England there are a number of different supermarkets, some of which I have visited previously on holidays to England. Locally here in Gorton, there is an Aldi store and it is just like the one in Noarlunga where I used to shop. The range on offer is pretty much the same, their own branded items and the weekly Special Buys in the middle of the store.
Closer to us is a big Tesco Express. It is an everything store – from clothing, homewares, toys, alcohol, a pharmacy, petrol station and food. So although there are a number of small convenience shops around as well as a small market centre, a pharmacy, and some discount shops, I would guess most people in Gorton very likely head into Tesco to shop.
There are also quite a few of the convenience stores that are also “Off-Licence”, meaning they sell booze for consumption away from the shop. I guess they replace the drive through bottle shops that you can find next to pubs in Australia.
My home guide, Nat, says there isn’t any need to shop anywhere else, as Tesco has everything and I think she is right.
I thought it would be interesting to share a quick comparison between the prices at Tesco of some everyday items and how their price converts to Aussie dollars. At the moment, I am still doing the maths in my head to try and convert and see whether it is worth buying something I don’t really need.
So, when I took myself for a walk to Tesco, which is a pleasant 15 minute walk along Hyde Road. I thought it might be interesting to blog about it. Google Maps helped with picking the quickest route, although it is not difficult to find with out a map. I am leaving from Tannery Way, which is where I am living now. and Hyde Road is the major road I will be walking along.
Along the way to Hyde Road I crossed over the Gore Brook, which runs from the reservoir behind the lovely open area of Debdale Park (more about the Park in another blog to come). Once on Hyde Road, I passed the Gorton Butterfly Garden, where plants are grown specifically to attract butterflies (although I didn’t see any visiting).
The Gore Brook. The Butterfly Garden is behind the grey fence on the right
I continued along Hyde Road, a busy road carrying traffic through the suburbs of Manchester, seeing the Wagon & Horses Pub and the historic Brookfield Church. In a brief lull in the traffic, I managed to get clear photos of the pub and church.
Nat told me that the reason that pubs have unusual names and a picture for their logo, is that in times past, when not many could read, they could identify the pub by the picture. So the Wagon & Horses has a picture of a wagon cart being drawn by large horses.
On my side of Hyde Road are The Lord Nelson Pub and The Plough Pub. No one needs to go thirsty here in Gorton, as pubs seem to be everywhere and not always on main roads, and alcohol is available at the Off License shops and Tesco. I am not much of a drinker, so I am not sure how many of them I will go inside of. But they are interesting to look at and find out about.
Past the drinking holes, is the Tesco petrol station. Here the price of petrol was £1.34 per litre. Currently the exchange rate from English Pounds to Australian Dollar is £1 = $1.87, so a litre of petrol would be $2.51 Australian – ouch!
The houses along this area of Hyde Road are called Terraced. They are a set of homes all connected. Most have little garden area out the front and some are above shops. Unlike Adelaide, there are very few single storey homes or bungalows. Most have at least two levels and these ones have three. They may also contain rooms or flats that people live in, rather than being a single family home.
Terraced houses across from Tesco
In the carpark is the market building which has a variety shops in it. There is also a Subway cafe and a 2nd hand goods store. I thought I would have a look into the Gorton Market as Nat wasn’t sure what was in there. Outside small stalls of second hand clothes and goods were set up. They were attracting some interest.
inside the market were a variety of stores, a couple of cafés and fresh produce stalls.
At the butcher shop, the meat was priced per pound (lb) weight or per kilogram, which I found interesting. 1 pound weight is just under 500g or half a kilogram.
For a conversion – the diced chicken would be $12.34 per kilogram and the Best Back Bacon would be $18.68 per kilogram.
Apart from selling raw meat, they also sold hot food, like roasted chicken. I bought some nuggets and found a seat in their small eating area to eat them. I was opposite a shoe shop.
After my snack, I headed over to Tesco to look at some of the items and their costs. Here’s my list and what they would cost in Australian dollars.
Box of 50 Earl Grey Tea bags £1.50 or $2.81
Packet of Chocolate Cup Cake mix £1.50 or $2.81
Packet of Chicken Gravy granules £0.70 or $1.31
1kg Plain flour £0.60 or $1.12
2L milk £1.09 or $2.04
Tin of milo £2.00 or $3.74
Small bottle honey in squeeze bottle £1.80 or $3.37
Tin tuna small £0.79 or $1.48
Tin sweetcorn £0.45 or $0.84
Packet of breadcrumbs £0.80 or $1.50
Tub sour cream £1.15 or $2.15
1kg Pack of chicken breast fillets £5.03 or $9.41
Bulk pack of pork belly steaks £2.19 or $4.10
Pork loin steaks £4.50 or $8.42
Packet 8 pork sausages £2.30 or $4.30
Family pack lasagna £3.50 or $6.55
500gm tub Flora Margarine £3.30 or $6.17
10 eggs £1.75 or $3.27. Interestingly you can’t buy a dozen eggs in Tesco, unless you buy two small 6 packs. Eggs as standard come in 10 or 15 packs. What happened to dozens?
1kg Sweet potatoes £0.89 or $1.66
Stick of garlic bread £0.32 or $0.60
1kg onions £0.85 or $1.59
0.63kg bananas @ 0.73/kg £0.44 or $0.82
Cucumber £0.43 or $0.80
I packed my shopping into my Tesco carrier bag using a cashier, rather than the self serve machines. I showed my receipt to the door security man, who was briefly checking whether the receipt matched the type of items bought. Nat said that it was due to people shop lifting expensive items and scanning and paying for an apple instead of their 60 inch tv.
Here in Gorton, Manchester the temperature today is going to be 28 degrees, which is uncomfortably warm because the house is designed for cold weather. No air-conditioning and double paned windows means the air movement is hardly happening.
Nat is ready to start her exam for her Law degree. She is doing it online, so I want to keep the house quiet for her and decided that a morning walk would be nice.
I wanted to check out the old church across Hyde Road and have a look in the church yard. The church appears to be closed up and not in use.
According to the website for the Gorton Unitarians, this is their Brookfield Church and due to Covid-19, there are no services happening there at the moment. Possibly in December they may recommence.
The Gorton (the suburb of Manchester I now live in) Heritage Trail states that the current church was built in 1871 and replaced another church which was built in 1703. A stone from the original church can still be seen, in the lower meadow behind the current church, although I didn’t see it.
Once inside the gate, I wandered through the grounds, looking at family histories marked on the headstones. Most were surrounded by tall grass and weeds and in need of care. Only the large mausoleum was standing proudly away from the weeds.
Here is the resting place of the church’s benefactor and Gorton’s first member of parliament, Richard Peacock.
I came across a circular stone in the grass marking the location of Gorton Schools 1865. Which would make it on the grounds of the original church prior to Bloomfield being built.
The dappled light on this beautiful morning made the graveyard more serene. A quiet resting place.
There is also a memorial to those in the church congregation who served during World War 1 and 2.
A tiny old building stands in the corner of the church yard. Perhaps it was a Sunday school or the home of the minister. Its roof is in need of repair and ivy has taken over the brickwork. But you can see that it had character.
There are many more historical sites around where I now live. From pretty old pubs to a monastery. I am hoping to get out and explore when I can and share with you what is around my new home in Gorton, Manchester and the UK.
Some of you will be unlucky enough to be afflicted with snoring or live with someone who is. Sound asleep, you don’t have any idea you are shaking the roof beams and keeping others awake during the night.
It doesn’t seem to matter what sleeping position you have, on your side, on your back or sitting up. If you fall into a deep sleep, you often snore. Even the nudge from your partner to partially wake you will only result in a temporary sound check and you may quieten down a little, but once you are back to deeper sleep, it is likely your snoring will resume.
I unfortunately am a snorer. Poor John had to put up with it and I became very self conscious of dozing in public – eg on a long haul flight or bus trip, because I might snore.
But hidden within those snores could be a medical condition that is not good for you – Sleep Apnoea. And that’s what I have too.
So what is Sleep Apnoea and how do you know if you have it? Sleep apnoea is when you stop breathing, hold your breath and then restart. That may be common when changing positions during sleep, temporarily holding your breath. But for those of us who suffer from obstructive sleep apnoea, the most common type, our airways relax and become narrow and we stopping breathing. We snore loudly and make gasping or choking sounds. We can also wake frequently. That can lead to us being tired all the time and places stress on our hearts and makes us at a higher risk for strokes. They say it is linked to age and weight (oh no not another thing to have to lose weight for).
Your partner might be able to tell you if you stop breathing during the night, if you have one. If you live alone, then you can’t tell, but could suspect something is going on. The real diagnosis can be made by a sleep specialist, who will monitor you during the night and be able to determine how often you stop breathing. Or if you are lucky, that you don’t stop breathing.
I had that test done. Not the most pleasant thing, to be wired up with monitors that check exactly what happens when I fall asleep. My results said I had Severe Obstructive Sleep Apnoea and the monitors recorded that on average I stopped breathing 39 times an hour. Wow!
That’s how I came to having a CPAP machine beside my bed for the last 7 years. My CPAP – Continuous Positive Airway Pressure – machine delivers a constant and steady air pressure through a mask that sits under my nostrils. The air delivered through the mask holds my airways open stopping it collapsing and narrowing. The sleep clinic set it up for me so it delivers exactly the amount of air pressure I need, the air is warmed as it passes through the tube to the mask to 27 degrees and a water reservoir keeps the air at 4% humidity. The machine is quiet and not much bigger than an alarm clock.
So why this post, it sounds like everything is working out for me? With my mask on, I don’t snore and I don’t stop breathing.
It is because it ticks me off to see tv shows and movies poke fun at people who use a CPAP machine. In a sitcom, if you want to have a gawky or obese character generate even more laughs, it seems adding in that they wear a CPAP mask – a big one, when going to bed is the way to do it.
In tv land, dorky Pjs, a stuffed toy and a CPAP mask don’t make for a sexy bed mate more a loser at love and relationships. If you google CPAP machines in tv and movies you can find a listing of where they make a cameo appearance. For example Leonard Hofstadter in the massively popular Big Bang Theory has one and his lines indicated his acknowledgment that sleep apnoea can kill.
Spreading negatives about a medical device that can help, that implies something about you if you need one, is cruel and crazy. People get so much of their information about the world through popular media and we know how damaging that can be, especially for body image. Each time I see the use of a CPAP machine and mask come up in a show, my heckles go up. (most recently in Last Man On Earth show). Please don’t poke fun and possibly turn people away from having their sleep a healthier one.
And if you or your partner snore and you are feeling tired all the time, please talk to your doctor and see if it could be possible you have sleep apnoea.
On a side note – with COVID-19, it has been found that a CPAP machine can be effective in managing the effects the virus has on a person. Where as previously they may have been struggling to breath alone and they needed care in an ICU in hospital where they would be sedated, have a tube placed down their throat straight into their lungs (intubation) and a ventilator would take over their breathing function, now it has been trialed to use a CPAP machine instead, as it is not invasive, doesn’t require sedation and is able to be used at home. So much better than intubation and using a ventilator which can have very poor outcomes for the patient.
So don’t knock the CPAP machine or its user, please. It is a tool that can be used to save lives and doesn’t say anything about the person who is using it, other than they care about their health.
As you know, I love being around nature, especially in the garden. Our garden in Adelaide gave us so much joy. It didn’t matter whether it was sitting out in it with John and Angel, or if I was digging or planting in it, I found the garden as a place of peace. I would feed the birds and give them a fresh bath water to play in. I would talk to the plants and look for signs they needed help or were doing well. I loved seeing the shadows cast by our big Lemon Myrtle tree making dappled light. I loved to see the rainbows in the water spray when I hand watered. I loved to create new spaces in the garden with John.
It was very tough to say goodbye to the garden that I had loved for 40 years, since moving into John’s house on 3rd March 1981 and making it our Harmony House. Now that garden belongs with another couple.
Here in Manchester, I don’t have my own garden, yet. I hope that I will get another home I can make into my garden haven. But in the mean time Natasha and Mark are ok with me spending time in their garden.
Living busy lives, they aren’t able to spend as much time as John and I did in ours. But it is a lovely space. Big patch of grass for Alex to run around in. Two different types of apple trees and some pots with roses or small buses in them.
Their garden gets English Magpies, small birds and grey squirrels visiting. There are also a few cats who come into the garden. Jessie, who is the family tuxedo cat, is an indoors only cat, watches the visitors to the garden through the windows.
I started my UK gardening experience by pulling out weeds. Nat and Mark lay down week mat and it works really well, except that opportunistic weeds will grow wherever they can and aren’t too fussy if all there is available is stones or bark mulch. They were very easy to pull out because the roots were all very shallow.
Unfortunately, I my knees didn’t like me either squatting down or kneeling to weed. So I couldn’t get it finished. But I told myself, I don’t have to finish it in a day. The patches I had done looked ok. I also trimmed back a couple of the roses, to neaten them up. It is hanging on to still be like summer here, so too early to prune the roses or move the pretty bulbs that Nat would like to see in a raised garden bed. Mark mowed the lawn the next day, so it looked nice.
I asked if I could get some flowers to put in the garden, just something that was bright and colourful. Mark took Alex and I to the stores that have a garden centre – B&M and B&Q. B&M is a bit like an everything shop. You can pretty get most items you need for the home from them. So a bit like Australia’s Big W or KMart without the clothing. B&Q is the DIY centre, perhaps like a Mitre 10 store as the range is not as extensive as the big hardware store Bunnings is.
Mark said that it was not unusual to go to one store and then to the other one, as often you can’t get everything you need. Luckily, the homemaker centre had both stores there. I hoped to find some simple to grow plants and some pots. I managed to find pansies, yellow and mixed, some Dianthus in mixed colours and some Chrysanthemums that were going out cheaper because they were in need of TLC. I also found some potted flowers that are ideal for bees and butterflies. There is a purple Verbena, a bright yellow Coreopsis and a Rudbeckia daisy. The three pots were 3 for £15 or £6 per pot and the punnets were multipacks. I also bought potting mix, two small rectangular pots, a set of secateurs. I was quite happy with my collection of colourful things.
Once home, (that sounds lovely), I happily planted the seedlings into the rectangle pots, in the existing pots with the roses and little bush and also in the garden where I had weeded. I had to make holes in the weed mat to put them into soil, so hopefully they will grow ok. I also I placed the new bee and butterfly plants between the existing pots.
The plants in the pots I want to grow so I can teach Alex how to look after plants and watch them grow. So they are down at Alex height on a wall.
I like looking out the kitchen window and seeing the sweet and welcoming little flowers.
Since arriving in Manchester on Wednesday, we have been blessed with warm weather, very much like Spring or Autumn temperatures in Adelaide. It has been a bit cloudy in the morning but mostly clearing up to be blue sky and a gentle breeze. My type of weather, and what is lovely is it is late summer here. So much nicer than the late summer last year in Adelaide where the temperature reached 36 degrees and then did not get below 27 overnight. I never like the summer heat in the 40 years I lived in Adelaide.
With the good weather and Natasha taking a break from her exam studies, Mark drove us out to Heaton Park. It is about a 20 minute drive from my new home in Gorton and is on the northern side of Manchester city.
I remember the ice-cream vans from when I was a child in the UK
If you are interested in finding out about Heaton Park, here is the link to information from Manchester City Council, Heaton Park | Manchester City Council
The park is massive. It is filled with open fields, woodlands, tree climb walks, walking paths, an adventure playground, a boating lake, a golf course and historical buildings. There was even a small pop-up fun fair and an animal visiting centre. I loved how there is so much open space here. We went after lunch for a few hours, joining a lot of families. Alex spent some time in the big pusher, nicknamed “The Beast”. It is the type of pusher that can handle rough paths, across the grass and even through the stream (creek).
According to the mobile phone health App, I managed over 10,000 steps and that included uphill and downhill. So lots of exercise at a nice pace. I left Mark to chase after Alex. He loves to run. He puts his little hands out in the direction he wants to go and then he runs. He can reach a good pace too, so he has to be accompanied all the time. He doesn’t understand about waiting for Nanna to catch up, sorry kid I can’t run. He also doesn’t turn and run back when asked – if he is following his hands, he just keeps going.
We parked in the South Carpark and walked into the woodlands, to be greeted by tram tracks. They have a small trolleybus type of Tram that travels along taking families for a ride.
This is next to the lake, where people can hire a Swan boat for self-propelling around the water. On the banks there are geese, lots of them. They know exactly where to be for people to feed them. Many of them are Canada Goose – they are the ones with the black necks and some are Greylag Goose, the more uniform coloured ones.
Our next stop was the adventure playground, where Alex spent most of his time crossing the wooden bridge – our little Indiana Jones. The Beast was occupied by my bear Snow, who preferred it to being in the luggage carrier under the seat. Alex sort of wanted to go down the slide, but as there were bigger kids on there, he preferred to be away from them on the bridge.
One of my “Tick the list” items to see is a squirrel. I only just found out that the grey ones are the dominant ones. They are considered pests, as they were introduced and have taken over the habitat and food supply from the Red squirrel. Mark remembered where he had seen a lot of squirrels, so we headed up and sure enough, there they were.
We discovered that there were carvings of animals in fallen tree trunks, which was pretty clever. There were lovely wooded areas and streams. This park is a treasure for Manchester families.
Our next stop was the Animal Centre. It was free to enter, which was good, as there weren’t a lot of animals, mostly birds. There were some pigs, a couple of goats and an alpaca (or maybe it was a llama). There were runner ducks, chickens on a tractor and a few peacocks. So pretty much a walk through and out the other side.
The Animal Centre is in the courtyard of the administration centre in The Stables, which also houses a café.
We headed over to one of the fields where a fair had been set up with rides for kids. There were a couple of food stalls, so we decided to get sausage hotdogs and sit under a tree for a picnic. It was a lovely spot for people watching both at the fairgrounds, but also walking around. What was really lovely was to see that there were a lot of multigenerational family groups with kids, their parents and also at least one grandparent. It was lovely that Alex now has that and love that I have it too.
Once lunch was over, we walked to Heaton Hall and its Orangery. Along the front of this is a wall with a drop down one side. The wall is called a Ha Ha, and it is designed to keep the landowner’s cows from coming up onto the manicured lawns. Now it is a very cool wall to walk along, especially if you are 2.
The garden outside the Orangery was filled with beautiful bright Begonias. So much colour and large flowers. It was stunning.
The Temple was our next stop. It isn’t actually a temple, more a lookout from the highest point in Manchester. While Alex and Mark walked around the building structure, I took in the view. From up here, Nat pointed out Manchester city – the cranes on the buildings being the clearest landmark.
Back down the hill and Alex decided that he wanted to reclimb the hill and it was Nat’s turn to accompany him. I thought he might turn around and run back down the hill, but luckily he took it at a much safer pace.
We continued our walk, starting to make our way back to the carpark via the boating lake and the tram stop. We fed our bread to the Canada Goose on the bank of the lake and then as it was almost 4.30 pm, time for the last tram ride of the day, we walked along the path that was beside the track. We were able to see the tram as it made its way through the trees.
It had been a fantastic afternoon. I really enjoyed being with Alex, Nat and Mark. So it was suggested that we get a pub tea on the way home. We stopped in at the Premier Inn Brewers Fayre Stable Gate restaurant. That was nice too, although, I suspect we were actually at the end of the lunch service, rather than the start of dinner, as they were running out of soft drinks from the help yourself dispenser and the carvery was pretty low on options.
It was however a nice way to end a fantastic afternoon.
This one could also be entitled “The Truly Extravagant Business Class”.
Time slowly ticked around in the Changi Airport Terminal 3 for me and my fellow transit passengers. I did end up getting a snack from the cart in the big transit lounge and got to spend some of the Singaporean money I was carrying with me.
The “other” transit lounge
Healthy food wasn’t available – so a Snickers Bar and a small Cadbury’s Milk Chocolate bar was taken back to the correct Transit lounge. I didn’t end up ordering food from the Hudson’s stand, which would have come from the open and inaccessible restaurants in the airport. Instead I ordered two tiny serves of the chicken pasta again. At least in the box there was a couple of tiny pieces of broccoli, so I had some veggies (the closest thing to healthy on offer).
Dinner the same as lunch in the transit lounge
The loudspeaker was very busy calling for passengers for each of the flights leaving for other parts of the world. Flights were off to Moscow, Berlin, Tokyo and Los Angeles. They also called out for the missing passenger with the warning that they flight was preparing for departure. In the restricted world of international travel, you really wouldn’t want to miss your flight.
Just before 1 am, they called for passengers on my flight SQ052 to Manchester. They insisted on providing me with some more of the VIP service, by taking me via wheelchair to the gate. I have no idea what the gate number was or any details of the flight as I didn’t see any information boards on the way. I just had to trust that my helper knew where I was supposed to be and I wasn’t going to end up in Moscow.
There were about 8 other guests who must have had VIP service too, as they were already at the gate. I suspect they have may have been in the other transit lounge. While I waited quite a few more passengers arrived.
The departure gate. The other walking passengers are yet to arrive.
I asked one of the cabin crew later how many of us there were and there are 11 in Business and 63 in Economy – so by today’s numbers, quite a few of us.
I was boarded pretty quickly and had a separate entrance to the people in Economy. Once inside, I could see that this plane was a step up from the business class for the Adelaide to Singapore flight. The seating pods are as big as 2 economy seats and they have a fold-down bed, complete with linen.
We are all aboard. But plenty of seats available.
Again the cabin crew were amazing and they fell in love with Fin straight away. It is lovely that stuffed toys are so universal. One of the hostesses said she has a Build-a-Bear Monkey that she loves. They were very keen to take our photo, which was fine by Fin and me.
No shortage of space for Fin and me.
It didn’t take long to get everyone on board and then to start the back out from the gate. The flight left on time at 1.30 am. There wasn’t much to see out of the window because it was dark as soon as we reached up into the sky. My seat is almost opposite the right engine. Please carry us safely.
Fin made sure he wore his mask for the flight.
I checked out the map for our journey and was a bit worried that it appeared we were going to be flying over Afghanistan and Kabul. For history, with the moving of US and other international troops out of the country, the Taliban has taken over again. The airport is currently a war zone.
We appear to be going to fly over Kabul Afghanistan.
Luckily, during a chat with one of the hostesses, I learned that the flight path had been changed and we would not be going anywhere near there. It would mean the flight is a little longer but really won’t make that much difference.
Supper came about pretty quickly and for airline food, it was very nicely presented and my crusted fish was nicely cooked. The white table cloth was placed over my tray table and again I had proper crockery and cutlery. The fish was accompanied by julienne carrots, broccoli and potatoes with a white sauce on it. There was a slice of garlic bread and a warm bread roll. For entrée was a small prawn cocktail with a very thin slice of cucumber, some Edamame (soy beans) and red quinoa. The dessert was a lemon butter cate with lavender cream. Very nice.
Food is enjoyable and nicely presented.
I sat up for a while with the map slowly scrolling through the journey. The 3D map had a setting so you can see where you are going, where you are, the view from above and the view as if from the front of the plane. It is a shame that it doesn’t have the real view.
When one of the hostesses wanted to know if I would like to have the bed made up, that sounded like a good idea. It is pretty early in the morning Australian and Singapore time and somehow I need to be able to turn my hours around. That’s when things got extravagant!
If I liked, I could have a bed made up in the seating pod behind me. That sounded good. The back of the chair folds down and out, filling the seating space with a mattress of sorts, on which a fitted sheet is placed, two pillows and a quilted blanket.
It was a little like sleeping on a Japanese mattress, a bit hard under the shoulder and hips, but I slept for about 3 hours before my knees started to ache and woke me up. With osteoarthritis in both knees, I get quite still and uncomfortable if I sit for a while or lay with my knees bent. I needed to get up and stretch. So I visited the galley where two of the cabin crew were on duty. Such nice young people.
They said that having 11 of us was quite good, as previously they have had 1 passenger and even none. I asked them what they do if they don’t have anyone to look after and they said they talk to each other. By the end of the flight they know all about each other’s families, likes and dislikes. One of the hostesses said she is married and her husband is in Singapore. She has 3 or 4 flights per month and returns to Malaysia where she can stay with her parents. If she was to return to Singapore to be with her husband, she would need to quarantine for 14 days at her own expense. But she said she is very thankful that she still has her job as so many other airlines have stopped flying and the cabin crews lost their jobs. Because Singapore Airlines is part of the Star Alliance Group of airline companies, they are carrying passengers for the other airlines, so along with freight, the airline is still able to fly.
I asked her about breaks during the flights for the crew, she said that she had just come back from her break. I asked her about where their break area is, she said near the back of the plane, upstairs. It is a very small area with a tiny bunk in it. I complimented on how lovely she looked considering she had just got up. She said, powder and lots of practice. The female cabin crew are beautifully dressed and look after themselves, while most of the passengers on long haul flights look like tired bedraggled hobos by the time they reach their destination. I am hoping that having a bed to sleep in and room to stretch out, I will be presentable.
As a more senior looking member of the crew came into the galley she turned her attention to him and I wandered back to my bed. Peeping out the window, were appeared to be over land as I could see sections of lit up roads which appeared to be leading to street grids, perhaps housing. I didn’t turn on the map to see where we were, as the cabin was dark and I didn’t want to disturb the other passengers. I settled down for some more sleep.
The sharp right turn takes us back on the flight path, up long side the Red Sea (minus a visit to Afghanistan airspace).Flying above Greece
Once I awoke again, it was 5 am Manchester time. I actually felt quite refreshed and not tired anymore. So with a couple of hours to go, the offer of a glass of apple juice sounded good and an early breakfast. Again the food was pretty good and nicely presented. This morning scrambled eggs with cheese, cubed potatoes, mushrooms and small breakfast sausages. There was a small croissant, cupcake, sliced fruit and a yoghurt. I opened the window blind to reveal the morning sunshine.
Mmmm breakfast
Because my laptop is Wi-Fi enabled, I was able to access Facebook and send a message of Good Morning. So many kilometers above the earth and I can connect with friends. The world might be separated by closed boarders, but the internet, email, Facebook, messenger keep us all connected.
So there is only an hour until we reach Manchester. The next phase of my life journey awaits. Thanks Singapore Airlines for making the journey a good one.
Fin likes to see where we are travelling over too.
Fin loved cloud watching
We are nearly there
With almost no planes or passengers, ground staff are not at all busy. So I went through my own version of International Border Security (minus the camera crew). I was taken aside and all my bags and cases were opened, emptied and checked. Not a single bad thing in sights, except the bags of Jaffas, Tiny Teddy biscuits, Twisties and Cheese and Bacon Snack biscuits. But as they are gifts for my family to munch on (the things they can’t buy in Manchester), I was allowed to keep them. The security staff were lovely and friendly and very apologetic for having to empty my bags and attempt to re-stuff them.
Once released. This gorgeous girl, my daughter Natasha was here to meet me.
The International Arrivals hall and my wonderful daughter Natasha. I am here
Life is a Journey 