HUNGARIANS VISIT BRIDGWATER FAIR

Sarvar is the Hungarian  twin town of Uherske Hradiste which is the Czech twin town of Bridgwater. Which has an annual Fair second only in bigness to the very very big Nottingham Goose Fair. But only geese are allowed to go to that one. So the Hungarians came to Bridgwater. 

September is quite a busy time for schools in the UK -seeing as they're just starting back, and also in Hungary, so the Sebastian Tinodi school gave their intrepid adventurers just 4 days to explore the UK (in it's approximate entirety), civilise Bridgwater and be back in time for supper.

So we had a go at helping them.

Kérem

Arriving just before midnight on a Sunday night at Gatwick after flying from Vienna, we met them by minibus and whisked them into the centre of London, narrowly missing a limping urban fox on Brixton High street. Staying overnight at the Holland Park hostel, I suspect they went straight to sleep.

Which would have been a good idea. Because in the morning we carefully parked the bus in a residents parking zone in Islington (where we got booked but let off  by pulling sad faces) and handed out tube passes to the eager Magyars. Starting pistol fired and off we went. Emerging at St James park we saw Westminster Abbey, Houses of Parliament, Downing street, Lifeguards, Trafalgar square, China town, Piccadilly circus and Leicester square. Most of this in the pouring rain. Several thought this might be the time to go on the London Eye.

Köszönöm

Jetting across London we re-emerged at Tower of London and walked the river walk past City hall, London Bridge, Southwark cathedral, the Globe theatre, Tate, Millenium Bridge and St Pauls.

Still time left? Yep, so we did Baker street, Madame Tussauds and Oxford street.

Leaving London for Somerset they wanted to take in Stonehenge. Probably not the best idea as by now it was dark. I don't have a picture, but to recreate the view simply turn off your light, your computer, close your eyes and put your jumper over your head. Oh, and then get out of the minibus.

                                                            Bocsánatot

Reaching Bridgwater a meal was waiting them courtesy  of the lovely Jana and her jacket potato recipe. Largely 'potatoes'. And a quick quiz to see what they'd learnt from their day in London. Quite a lot it seemed. They could recognise Boris Johnson but not Ed Milliband and they thought Ben Nevis was Mount Everest. However, the girls team won and got the chocolates.

The next day their expedition proper started. Visiting Bridgwater College they met the Media students who were planning to come with us to Hungary next year and took part in a series of front of camera interviews. 

Lunch with the Mayor Cllr Graham Granter and his Mayoress Kay saw them experience not just the finest British cuisine-sausage rolls, scotch eggs , iced buns etc, but also the chance to dress up as a Mayor themselves. 

That afternoon we took them on a drive around Somerset and a visit to Weston Super Mare where the rain had finally stopped and they could actually see Wales. So not everything worked out..

For the evening we invited them to a meal at the Green Olive with Bridgwater Internationalists. "The Turks are our traditional enemies" they smiled. 'Get over it' we thought. With no sign of a revival of the Ottoman Incursions on the horizon we assumed another great leap forward in International bonding. The waitresses turned out to be Bulgarian.

                                                          Jóéjszakát

Wednesday morning was Bridgwater fair. They saw the animals. The buying and selling of the horses, the happy rain sodden ponies,the cages full of puppies (not sure that was so popular..) and something that looked like a llama, but might just have been the 'country fashions' stall. Then of course they had to have a go on the most dangerous and vomit inducing ride 'the megabastard wheel of certain unpleasantness' and presumably immediately threw up their Welsh cakes.

Having had their fill of the fair and running out of time before the school bell rang and they all turned back into pumpkins they decided to fit in Bristol, Oxford and Stow on the Wold. Where they stayed overnight. In the rain. And floods. And darkness. Still, this is what they expected from Britain and we were only dissapointed not to have brought gale force winds and hail into the equasion.

The next morning we whisked them back to Gatwick through the painful yet typical rush hour traffic and then they were gone.

CZECH CIVIL ENGINEERS SURVEY LONDON

If the Ceske Budejovice School for Civil Engineers had asked us to organise a programme in Somerset we could have shown them the collapsed wall at West Quay in Bridgwater and explained exactly why it has still not been  rebuilt after almost a year and they could have witnessed 4 different agencies fighting desperately to deny their own responsibility for the collapse in the first place. But they didn't. They wanted to see London. 

But we'll rise to any challenge and several weeks of emailing people who might know people who might know civil engineers eventually bore fruit and a full and absorbing programme was built , Brunel like , piece by piece,  from one end of the capital to the other, suspended over a massive gap, filled by pie and mash shops.

impressive

Outside Buck House

Honza Muzik is a well travelled History and English teacher who came to our attention several years back at the Czech English High School in Ceske Budejovice but who has since moved into the world of Civil Engineering. Where he remains an English and History teacher. This time he wanted to inspire the 25 teenagers with the impressive array of civil engineering and wealth of modern new build in London. 

Arriving by plane mid morning to Gatwick  we were in the centre of London within 30 minutes courtesy  of the non stop Gatwick Express. Which stopped at Victoria. Thankfully contradicting it's own advertising. Then straight into the madness of the London underground , out through the Jubilee line and into open air round about Canada Water we had a little rumble alongside the Rotherhithe landscaped canals and suddenly we were in our rooms at the Thameside youth hostel and it wasn't even 1pm. And it was sunny. The sunlight rippling off the nearby Thames like a rippling shiny thing.

amazing

With our amazing travel anywhere (but not on the busses) passes we jetted up to the heart of the city, crocodiling through the throngs of  what we could only assume were millions of other civil engineers on similar exchange projects. Trafalgar Square, Leicester Square, Piccadily Circus, Soho and Chinatown. Well, that's a taster. As indeed was the wealth of 'all you can eat for £5.50' cafes, prawn crackers, noodles, chicken legs, table legs, serviettes, waitresses, all were scoffed down at rapid speed. Except for those who went to the £6.50 one next door, which clearly had a better class of plastic plumbing pipe and shelving unit.

The I.C.E in Great George Street

Next morning it was down to business and a great introduction to British civil engineering  thanks to the Institute of Civil Engineers who gave us a tour of their Parliament Square headquarters - walls bulging with  portraits of the big names of the trade-Telford, Brunel, Stephenson, Molesworth, and splendidly designed chambers bulging with guest organization hiring out the facilities.  Invited into their library and then into their private canteen and even offered free student membership, the ICE really was as welcoming as it was unwelcome on the decks of the Titanic back in 1912. Another feat of civil engineering.

elastic

The afternoon took us on a terrific skyride through East London via the Docklands Light Railway, by passing the Olympic Park and turning up at the University of East London, next to Cyprus station and just across the water from City Airport. It was freshers week and marketing guy Prince 'I'm not actually a Prince' Zoiku took us on a tour of facilities -all  to the raucous backdrop of drum and bass, hip hop and other generally loud and ear tweaking rhythms . The students especially liked the elastic bouncy thing which catapulted them backwards when they tried to run forward. It's exactly the kind of thing  Thomas Telford considered for his early designs of the Menai Bridge.

'I am genuinely NOT a Prince.' say's Prince Zoiku

Down to Canary Wharf and the Jan Kaplicky bridge which spanned the West India dock and then a general staring upwards at the majestic towers of glass and opulence that surrounded the smart suited bankers below. And then it was off to the East End to find some ethnic food. So we did Brick Lane. Just by Aldgate East tube (which they want to rename Brick lane) every shop you pass has a bloke inviting you in with the same line 'i tell you what guys, I give you starter, free drink, any curry you want  £10' - '£5!', ' £9 I can't go lower'. '£6!!' , ''Ok so £8.'. And it was done. Banglatown special.

Day 3 and it was UCL - Gower street was also awash with freshers - so generally a good time to visit. Kim Morgan took the students on a tour of the Civil Engineering department of London University and then a visit to the Norman Foster roof at the British Museum. And then it was time for lunch - so a couple of lost hours in Camden did the trick.

enterprising

Kings Cross station..@ Harry Potter

Of course, something Civil Engineering students just had to see was the recent makeover of Kings Cross station..but..ah, in fact they all wanted to see the Harry Potter themed  platform 9 and 3/4 where some enterprising bod has half inserted a trolley into a brickwall and people pose  for photos trying to dissappear up JK Rowlings head .

That afternoon we finally went in search of the Shard. we had seen it from everywhere in London, but when we actually got to London Bridge we couldn't see it at all...largely because it was directly above us. So we had a stroll along the back streets of the London Bridge quarter, along by Shakespeare's Globe, Herzog's Tate Modern and across Arup's Millenium Bridge to Wren's St Pauls, then off to Bishopsgate in search of giant Gherkins posing as office blocks.

widely

Muzik and student below toppling building

Final day we visited Greenwich. Home of the Equestrian olympic events, or 'horse torture' as it's more widely known, the Royal Naval College and the famous Observatory, the restored Cutty Sark and the Friday market where the choice of ethnic food  sent heads and Czechs spinning as we tried to choose between Brazilian, Thai, Korean, Mediterranean  or pie and mash. Well, give me a ladyboy anytime I thought. So I had the pie and mash.

So mission accomplished I think. The civil engineers I mean...not Greenwich market...er..yes.

PRAGUE STUDENTS TOUR WALES

Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch is one of our  less popular travel locations. Not just because half the holiday is spent driving past the signpost , but because there's so many other things to do in Wales that groups often don't get round to it. But on a rainy day on Anglesey what else is there to do - when the Electric mountain is fully booked, the National Slate museum is oversubscribed and the Holyhead to Dublin ferry has just left. 

Overlooking Rhossili beach (It's behind you..)

In fact Wales is the nearest foreign country to Bridgwater. So who needs France or Spain when you've got a few days spare and want to have a brief jaunt around another Nation just on your doorstep. 

Wales 

The Arabska Gymnasium in Prague have been visiting Bridgwater annually for many years and since the pioneering Dr Soucek gave up his job there to spend more time with his long suppressed interest in Polar bear wrestling in the Algarve, his replacement Pavla Pracnova has taken up the mantle. And this year chose Wales as the onward leg of their trip. 

 In Bridgwater they stayed at the picturesque Street youth hostel with it's views of Glastonbury Tor and Glastonbury. And Street. Well, mainly Street. 

Walking the Brecon Beacons

Touring Somerset with the help of glamorous Bridgwater Czech Slovak Friendship Society Vice Chairman, Nigel Carter and his glamorous minibus, they visited Bridgwater College where they were interviewed by media Students, were received by the Mayor and Mayoress of Bridgwater and even went for some Cricket training in the nets at Weston Super Mare. Helping the stricken businesses of wall-collapsed West Quay, we social consciously took them for a meal at the Green Olive restaurant to round off their day. 

Welsh

 And then off we went over the Severn bridge to discover Wales. Before the Welsh themselves got round to it. A sunny day in Cardiff saw the group having a stroll around Tiger Bay and an amble within and without the Welsh Assembly followed by a wander in the city centre. That evening they ended up on the Gower peninsula at the curious location of the Port Eynon lifeboat house. Now a youth hostel with a slipway. Ideal for spectacular views of Mumbles Bay, but not so good if a klaxon goes off in the middle of the night and everyone rushes down the half removed ramp and into the seaweed swamp beyond. Which didn't happen. The Gower peninsula is a nicely hidden away bit of rural Wales. Well, you have to get past Swansea to notice it. And as Dylan Thomas said "Abertawe yn cachu mewn gwirionedd ychydig yn". Which is Welsh. 

mid Wales

'Waking the dead' on Anglesey

Back to Cardiff for a Friday night on the town, the group topped up on civilisation before heading northwards. The Rhondda valleys give way to the Brecon Beacons which give way to miles of mid Wales which give way to the Snowdonia mountains. So you can break that journey by taking the coastal route after Dolgellau. Stopping at Barmouth with it's seaside facade and genteel air of Brummie accents, you could be forgiven for thinking the final scene of Planet of the Apes had been shot in Droitwich. Or wishing. A lovely sandy beach hiding a frightening scenario of monkeys on the rampage and Charlton Heston declaring 'my God they actually did it, they blew it up, it's the end of the world' (or words to that effect). On the positive side the coastline past Harlech castle is a joy to behold as Cardigan Bay sweeps northwards and the Snowdonia peaks rise ahead of you. 

 the Welsh

Welsh council estate in the rain

Reaching Idwal Cottage in the middle of those peaks we looked forward to a weekend of climbing to the top of Ar Wyddfa or as the Welsh call it 'the big mountainy thing' . But that didn't happen because it started raining. Not only couldn't you see Ar Wyddfa, it was quite difficult to see Bethesda. Which even on a good day isn't a bad thing. But when you want to climb every mountain and ford every prefect it's a bad start to the day. So instead of heading up a rockface we went off to the flat as southern beer isle of Anglesey where Pavla thought it would be a good idea to visit some neolithic remains. With the Tory party all but wiped out in Wales, we decided instead to crawl inside the Bryn Celli Ddu burial mound and then, because it was raining even harder by now, opted next for the roofless circular stone huts at Lligwy. Moelfre beach holds a special resonance for the secretary, not just because he was brought up there, well, on the council estate next to it, but also because the weather conditions were coming pretty close to those of the great storm of 1859 when the ship Royal Charter was sunk in the bay with the loss of 450 lives. So a potted history of the bravery of the villagers was given extra atmosphere as the entire group was swept out to sea . Well, had a nice cup of coffee in a little beachside cafe. But they MIGHT have been! 

North Wales

Nige 'on the job'

 A welcome visit to Bangor university and a guided tour on the next day saw the sun inevitably come out again. So the group headed for the ancient walled town of Conwy- scene of some of the best fish and chips in North Wales. And quite a nice castle. Or as the Welsh say "Quite a nice Castle" (but in a Welsh accent). Shrewsbury is a nice little border town to stop in . So we stopped in Chester. Not to mention Liverpool. 

 Leominster

That final night we camped down at Leominster and the secretary headed off to London leaving Nigel in charge of the whole group. After a night in the pubs of Leominster the Czechs were filled to the brim with Anglo-Welsh culture and all set for their final trek home through the border marches, down the river Wye, up the river Who and over the river Not Now Colin to the usually rainy city of Bath - within striking distance of Bristol airport. Within flying distance of Prague.

20th Anniversary Celebrated in Prague & U.H

Twenty years ago this year we started the Bridgwater Czech Slovak link with an official twinning between Bridgwater and Uherske Hradiste. Ten years ago we  celebrated a decade of links and now it's twenty. Oh how time flies.

So in September 2012 we took a small group over to the Czech Republic. Only the  secretary ('for life' it seems)  was on the original trip. Which is  a good thing - as it means time hasn't quite stood still. Well, of course in Uherske Hradiste it has because that's where the other original member of our 1992 pioneering jaunt has cemented himself for these past twenty years. Andrew 'call me Trolleyman' Napthine has been a fixture on the UH scene ever since. As the man who taught the Czechs to call their own town 'UH' and the man who invented 'walking into traffic without your glasses on in order to improve your eyesight', he has been sadly missed, not only in Bridgwater but by numerous oncoming juggernauts.

Ondrej put's in some pre match training with the team

Anyway, he's still there. So get your motors running and head out on the highway.

This time we had a daft mix of footballers, and Labour party members plus a few general tourists. So the programme was complicated enough as the events didn't always quite match up.

In Prague the footballers played against Partisan Prague- a team of multinational emigres - and lost 13-3 while the socialists went to visit the offices of the CSSD (Czech Labour party). Playing in floodlights ,on astroturf and with a black ball, we not only were outclassed but outgunned as our star sweeper Jon Moore was carried off injured after only a small portion of a kickabout. 

plonkers

Ondrej appreciates a 'slim fit' suit when he sees one

Everyone met up however later that night for a rollicking good evening with our lovely Prague friends  at a bar in Holesovice where the famous 'Ctirad and his musical assassins' pounded away through a mix of Czech and Brit ditties . The Czechs sang along, the Brits locked themselves in an anti social cupboard.

Taking a train to Uherske Hradiste through hitherto unheard of sunny weather, we arrived in Moravia in time for the wine festival. Only the Moravians could come up with the idea of a 'wine and open monuments' festival....what better time to open up all the museums with their precious artefacts than in the middle of a wine festival when everyones off their heads.

20 years of twinning commemorated in UH town hall

Our twenty years also  coincided with UH company Altechs 20th anniversary and so superboss Antonin Machala threw a party for his workers. And us. cimbal music clashed with the heavy rock of Argema and wine, beer and slivovice collided with the thinly lined stomachs of the Brits. Some of whom consequently collided with each other .

bonkers

As for the football it was a bit more evenly balanced with a hard fought game against Altech ending only 6-4 to the Czechs. This time we had some Spanish people to help us. Sergio and Consuela were excellent -despite Sergios ominous email name 'i am the fat man' and Consuela wearing a dress. The game was close and it was only because the Czechs were better that they won. Another year, another goal for the fat councillor. This time with a flying banana kick from 30 yards. Well, whose  writing this thing anyway....

Granter and Tichavsky-20th Anniversary Mayors

Mayor of Bridgwater Graham Granter had flown in specially to Bratislava for the 20th anniversary and joined the parade on the saturday along with the other twin towns-many of whom we now also have good links with - Priverno in Italy and Sarvar in Hungary. 

4 good value Bridgwater town councillors all making the journey to UH (at their own expense we add) to support the 20th anniversary - Cllr Mick Lerry, Cllr Ian Tucker (who carried the flag throughout, a bit like he did during his naval days, just before he gave that famously innapropriate signal at the battle of Jutland 'all back to my place for the box set of Eastenders'), Cllr Granter -the Mayor with his Mayoress Kay and Cllr Smedley , to add a bit of glamour to the occaision, were accompanied by a near complete set of pseudo dignatories , or maybe dignified pseuds, from the central committee of the Czech Slovak Friendship Society -Chairman 'Nice but Tim 'Mander, treasurer & third and least known chuckle brother Simon 'not mental in the slightest' Hann. 

conkers

Bridgwater leads the way (well, we were in front)

Sitting in the main square within axe murdering distance of Czech PM Necas, the Bridgwater delegation sat back and enjoyed the display of early morning folk costumes and dancing and singing instead. The wine and cheese festival is a bit similar to the Bridgwater carnival, except they hold it a sensible time of the year when there's good weather  and they don't black up as Mexicans. 

Essentially  every village in the region turns up in their traditional folk costumes (pretty much all the same, knee length leather boots and sequinned blouses- so a bit like carnivoo) and start drinking at 7 in the morning. Swings and roundabouts really.

20 years of twinning between the 2 towns . It only seems like yesterday. But that's insomnia for you. 

KLADNO TEACHERS 'ROUND WESSEX BY MINIBUS' ADVENTURE

This has not been the best summer here in the UK. However, for climate change enthusiasts it's been perfect, clearly demonstrating that even world famous weatherman Michael Fish would be absolutely no use at all in knowing which way the wind was likely to blow in the next Five hours. So , for a group of intrepid teachers , students , concrete inspectors, radiologists and lawyers including at least Two children, from the Bohemian town of Kladno, what better time to take a trip in a minibus around the South West of England!

Zdena Biggsova has been bringing Czechs to Britain for many years now and was instrumental in our original contacts with Prague 6 district. Retiring from her school in Prague to continue working in the nearby town of Kladno she has in the past continued her trip organising including jaunts to Ireland, Scotland and London in recent years. This year her merry band of chums flew in to Bristol on a lovely sunny August evening and were whisked away by us to the Swiss Chalet style  youth hostel on the Polden ridge near the shoe town of Street and overlooking Glastonbury Tor.

Jolly

The next morning it rained. At least the jolly cyclists who also stayed over that night on their way from John O Bonkers to Lands End would get totally soaked. Or at least blown off their bikes.

We took the Czechs to Glastonbury Tor. 'Walk up there and then walk down quickly before it rains' we advised. That didn't work. Dripping wet they had a little wander round the hippy shops and then rinsed themselves out in the minibus.

cheered up

Would it brighten up at Wells? Well, not that you'd notice. Still, the Cathedral was indoors. And Cheddar? Right, enough of this , let's get some fish and chips. So that cheered everyone up.

So the trick is-eating fish and chips makes the sun come out -and don't let anyone tell you otherwise. Getting back into the minibus in now glorious sunshine we went off to Weston Super Mare, teeming with tourists, brandishing ice creams,candy floss, wearing 'kiss me I'm a scrubber' hats and with a not unpleasant view of Cardiff from 20 miles away the day had brightened up.

So we took them to Bridgwater where a little party was waiting for them in the Green Olive restaurant on West Quay and after that we all popped along to the Fountain inn where they mingled with the locals, trying out the Guiness, the Cider,the Whiskey , the accent, not for one minute expecting the weather would go mental again.

nutcases

The next day we brought them back into town to do some shopping and explain why the West Quay wall had fallen into the river. For a full report see www.westoverward.co.uk. And to dispel any notion that all Brits weren't nutcases we left them in the capable hands of Wildman Napthine, a Bridgwater exile to Moravia currently back home on a succesful curry seeking mission.

And then off to Minehead- still sunny. Then Dunster - not only sunny but Medieval AND with a shop boasting a  chocolate fountain which you could dip your strawberries and marshmellows in.

What better time to drive through the Exmoor hills and down the Exe Valley, by passing Tiverton and calling in at Exeter then on to Dartmoor. Where it rained. And then got misty. And then flooded.

laughter

Still, we weren't detered from treating them to a typical Moorland banquet. After the  Tortillas , Enchilladas and Guacamole dips, they were contented enough to contemplate the next days trek across the Baskerville landscapes to Laughter Tor, Gigglesome Brook and Daftarse Gully as promised.

Not only did it rain, flood, got misty then rained some more, but we couldn't even see the Dartmoor prison two feet in front of us. So we gave up and drove down into Plymouth instead....fish and chips...that's the solution.

How does this work?? Nice bag of fish and chips and the sun comes out again...this will wreak havoc upon my diet. Never mind. It's a great British tradition. So it was off to Tintagel.

The best thing about Tintagel is that the hostel is situated halfway down a sheer drop along a cliff face and to hear the screams from the back of the bus always brings to mind Bob Monkhouse when he said 'I'd like to die peacefully in my sleep like my father, not screaming in fear like his passengers'.

alcohol

So after a meal of jacket potatoes out came the vodka and on came the singing. Always a feature of Czech groups with or without (but mainly with) alcohol. Shame I'd forgotten my guitar. Still, Jaroslav on saucepan bodhran seemed to do the trick.

The next day the weather was tormenting us...would it ..wouldn't it....yes!! It was a nice one. So we managed to catch the open causeway to the St Michaels Mount before it closed in on everyone and drowned them and stopping in Penzance for some extra re-assuring fish and chips we continued to Lands End itself where the sun shine like it was meant to. And there too were the John O Groatesque cyclists supping from their champagne. So sunny was it , so blue the sea , the sky and the mosquito bites, that Jana decided to walk half the group around the coastal path what she guessed was six kilometres. Six miles later they reached the hostel.

A beautiful sunset at Cape Cornwall helped everyone enjoy their Cornish Pasties and Old Dogvomit cider.

Next day , naturally, it rained. You could hardly see the impressive coast between St Just and St Ives. But we tried. And then we went to the Eden project. Good plan. The sun came out and people started to suffocate amongst the tropical biomes and collapsing tourists. Helpful tip - don't go in the tropical biome - stick to the more pleasant Mediterranean one.

So we headed off through more pleasant sunshine back across the Tamar and down along the South Devon coast to Salcombe. For anyone who doesn't know, the Salcombe youth hostel isn't actually in Salcombe, it's at the head of an outcrop of rock which takes you up ,down, round, over and through numerous hills and narrowly winding country lanes in which you take your life in your hands. Oh how the people screamed.

pleasant

Totnes is a nice place where the independently minded shopkeepers have fought off  the multinationals and have even introduced a Totnes pound. Sadly, it's a shit place for traffic, so we were stuck for a while and got to Torbay later than we hoped. On the positive side the sun came out and the Czechs could have a pleasant wander around the harbour. Then we headed east and stopped at a very sunny Lyme Regis where going in the sea was even an option. They didn't however.

Along the Dorset coast to Weymouth is a wonderful coastline  as you drop down to Chesil Beach with the rabbit-phobic Portland peninsula on the horizon and ending the day in the thatched cottage haven of Lulworth Cove with a special treat of ginger beer (45p a bottle in Aldis) .

No visit to the south west would be complete without a flight home. But before that we stopped in Bath. Where, luckily, it didn't start the raining until they all got on the bus to the airport.

And off they went.

JOLLY BOATING WEATHER

It's the 4th time we've taken people on a jolly canal trip . Same canal, mainly different people. For Katka and Zdenek from Prague this was their first time. 

There was a bit of a worry with the English weather. Mainly whether it would stop raining.  And after the first day it did. Only to start again on the last day. Thus making an entire year to date of every trip to Bath being in the bloody rain.

genuinely lovely

Canal boats can be quite expensive but it you fill them to capacity with 8 people it doesn't work out so dear. We had 4.

"Looking a bit floody...."

Leaving late Saturday afternoon from Bath (in the pouring rain) we dredged our way as far as the Dundas Aquaduct - a genuinely lovely spot where the canal crosses a river and a railway line. Battening down the hatches we settled in for a night on the ocean waves, storms and tornadoes (one had just hit Somerset by chance causing £2.50 worth of damages when a photographer dropped his tub of raspberry ripple ice cream in order to find his camera to fail to film it).

abandon ship!!!!

sparkled

But day 2 was lovely. Against all odds the Kennet & Avon canal decided to buck the trend of the rest of rainswept England and sparkled like a Bank Executives buttocks on the way to the dry cleaners.

Traveling at the speed of an asthmatic monkey in a balaclava we bobbed along  crashing into absolutely no-one, stopping at the Cross Guns canal side pub on yet another aquaduct -this time Avoncliffe- where we had lunch and watched the rising waters of the River Avon wash away the lower levels of the beer garden.

locks and swing bridges

the captain's table-yo ho ho and a bottle of pop

Not far around the bend was Bradford on Avon. Now there's a nice place. A lovely Marina  with real toilets and another canal-side pub with live music and quiz evenings where hardy Matelots could mix with locals telling tales of far off lands. Largely Trowbridge and Devizes.

Venturing into the unknown on day 3 - a bit like Shackleton or that bloke who got lost in the Caribbean as a tax dodge- we managed a lock and a few swing bridges. And headed east. Towards the Hilperton marshes. Where dwelt the fearsome legendary creatures of terrifying scariness. Mainly ducks. And the odd heron.

swing bridges and roundabouts really

bouncy

And then we met up with a nice family from Surrey who had got the balance about right sitting on the drivey bit (I would say 'bridge' but I think i basically mean the bit at the back where the tiller is) while their kids leapt about straining and stressing with the lock gates, whirling windlasses and generally popeing and toting. Now you can get along quite quickly on a canal if you twin up with another boat. Go through the locks together, overlap at swing bridges while the other crew opens and closes them. So we fair hammered it through North Wiltshire . But all well made plans come to a fork in the road...and ours was where our sailing partners nicked the last remaining mooring space for the night. Just beside a charming pub too.....with some bouncy music going down.

Never mind, we said (not meaning it) and ploughed onwards towards the dread engine shutting down time of 8pm...and could we find anywhere?? Well, no we couldn't...so we reached the foot of the mightily unpleasant Caen hill locks..24 of them..all upwards...and thought, well that's it for the night..hammering our metal stakes into the muddy, reedy bank and collapsing in an overworked heap. Sustained....as it happens...by a nice bottle of Korycany slivovice.

The Barge Inn

rufty tufty

The next day we contemplated doing the locks.....and decided against it. So we walked up them instead and helped the other boats that were rufty tuftier than us. We convinced ourselves that the prize would only be Devizes anyway.

So we turned around and headed back west - this time finding a space at the Barge Inn....that nice music pub from the previous night...a place where the wifi trickles across the lock to the moorings and the beer garden sits amidst trees lining the canal.

Next day it was back to Bradford , taking on water and fuelling up with goods neccessary  for the last part of our arduous trek  to where man had seldom ventured..... Limpley Stoke.

rugged seafarers

But that was rubbish and it had started raining again so we continued to Bath. Mooring up just outside the Sydney gardens we found we could walk into the city from there and with no more lock gates or swing bridges to worry about we figured this would do us for the last 2 nights.

Katka on the ropes

And Bath's a lovely city. The sun came out a bit and the Georgian finery welcomed the rugged seafarers into it's hostelries .

calm

Then of course it bloody rained again. this time catching the entire population unawares...and you often wonder how Brits can be so thick.....shirt sleeved, tee shirted, sun tan lotioned, bewildered, all running for shelter and pretending to be interested in stationery , the people awaited the calm after the storm.

Which came. As it does.

72 foot monster

And then it was home. Carrying out a waterways three point turn...that involves driving head first into a windy hole and accelerating forward so your arse overtakes your nose-we got the 72 foot monster back in it's cage. Well, I mean we parked it.

So canal boats.....a lovely way to spend a week....you can't legislate for the weather but you;re very unlikely to hit an iceberg. And that's true.

CESKE BUDEJOVICE SCHOOLS 20TH ANNIVERSARY VISIT TO BRIDGWATER

Eva Kordova explains why there are no rabbits on Portland Bill

The Bridgwater Czech Slovak Friendship Society was formed in 1991 and in June 1992 the formal twinning with Uherske Hradiste took place. 1992 also saw the foundation of Antonin Machala's 'Altech' company which has been the backbone of our links with UH now for 20 years. However, it was a close run thing that we didn't twin with the South Bohemian town of Ceske Budejovice-home of Budweiser beer  and (slightly) nearer to Prague. On the occasion of the annual visit by Eva Kordova and her 'Buddies' we recall those early days.

Brian Smedley takes up the story . "We started the link with UH basically because that's where Antonin Machala came from and it was Antonin who first invited us to get together. That was Summer 1991. We spent the Autumn founding our 2 friendship  groups -but twinning wasn't neccesarily our aim. We mainly wanted to find ways to bring people together in whatever way possible. So we set up a pen pals network, home hosting, and planned exchange visits. As soon as word of this pioneering work got out other Czech towns started to get in touch with us. One of the first was Ceske Budejovice. The method for the rapid spreading of the good news was Antonin's network of Social Democrat contacts -and one lifelong Czech Labourist was the elderly but spritely Alena Tragrova from Ceske Budejovice who had been imprisomed by Fascists and Communists throughout her long and active life, and who wanted us in her town to help build international links in the immediate years after the collapse of communism"..

Eva trying to spot Chesil Beach...

 " I first visited there on April 17 1992. One idea Alena spoke of was 'twinning'-but by now we'd pretty much agreed to twin with Uherske Hradiste-which happened on June 18th  that year. Undeterred by this Alena then introduced us to her contacts in the town hall - notably the ODS personality Jan Zahradnik who had just started up the first Private school in the town the  Cesko Anglicky Gymnasium (CAG) and who would later go on to become Regional Governor of South Bohemia, and his left hand man (sic) Eva Kordova . In 1993 the CAGGER'S visited Bridgwater and thereafter every year since and Eva and Jan have co-operated with us in projects innumerable in what Eva refers to , cold war style, as 'the conspiracy'."

Conspiracy

So this year's conspiracy saw a group of 14 (13 Czechs plus a German ski instructor) join us for a tour of the west country in a circumnavigational mode from Bridgwater (an ideal touring base for such operations by the way).

Arriving as late as Easyjet could possibly manage to Bristol ('Bridgwater International') Airport , their first night was essentially straight to sleep at Cheddar YHA. however, this left them fresh and bright the next day when we took them up the Gorge and then (a long way) on to Oxford. And after that Blenheim Palace. 

The Taylors garden in Lechlade

Eva has a thing about the British aristocracy and so the Churchill ancestral estates are always on her list of places to impress her group with. This time we had an extra treat when, with her own 20th Anniversary in mind, she directed us to Letchlade where we were invited in for afternoon tea and cake with the Rotarians Ian and Jan Taylor-who had been early contacts for their school and who, although in the middle of preparing for a choral evening, nevertheless took time off for us. Jan was a bit of a Royalist, so Eva thought it would be good to get a discussion going. "So Jan, you are a Royalist and you love everything about the Queen. Brian, what must you think when we talk about the 'bloody royal family' all the time?" Explaining tactfully that he didn't actually want to shoot all of them, the tolerant chauffeur extricated the group gently whilst agreeing 'they did a good job concerning tourism..' Just up the road was Burford where the Stalinist Cromwell had crushed the Trotskyist Levellers...but we didn't want to discuss that  lest we be strung up by the bunting.

Of which there was LOTS.

Staying overnight at the Ridgeway hostel the group had a traditional English evening meal. Mexican tortillas, jalapenos and three kinds of chilli. Caramba.

ridiculous

One of the pleasantest drives through David Camerons Oxfordshire constituency takes you along the old Saxon ridgeway where everyone lives in a thatched cottage, village greens and duckponds abound and large shiny vehicles narrowly force you into them. Taking in the White Horse of Uffington and all points west to the stone circles of Avebury you could be mistaken for thinking that all of England is like this. Luckily at Avebury there were blackfaced Morris dancers doing something ridiculously inappropriate but making people think that everyone English probably did this in their spare times. At least it rained.

people who should be shot on sight

Bath is a wonderful place to spend a few hours and Glastonbury a good way to finish up an afternoon in Somerset. So that worked out.

talented

That evening we had some traditional entertainment. From Poland. the talented accordionist and singer Darianna turned up with her band Megarat (a bloke called Jack who did most of the singing due to Darianna's ashthma attacks) and a rainy clammy night outside turned into a welcoming Monsoon style cabaret session where Czechs and other users of the Street youth Hostel relaxed, joined in, or in Evas case, fell asleep.

Darianna and MegaJack

Sunday saw a visit to Wells, where the Vicars close cat welcomed them, or possibly  cursed them to eternity, who can tell. Then a drive down to the Cerne Abbas giant. That's a chalk drawing of a man with a big cock. 

smashing

A couple of other Dorset towns played host for the afternoon - Sherborne, public schools, a monks open air washing room and an abbey then onto Dorchester-Thomas Hardy's Casterbridge and where the Tolpuddle Martyrs were sentenced . The day ended up at Lulworth cove - another unfeasibly thatched village- but an ideal place to watch England go out of the Euros on penalties to the outstandingly better Italy. Extra hilarity was provided by the driver smashing his head on a radiator whilst trying to emulate Wayne Rooney's failed overhead kick.

The vicars close cat causes great excitement as an ear twitches

The Jurassic coast drive is also one of the countries most spectacular. From Lulworth, through Weymouth and along Chesil Beach, up the heights past Abborsbury and along to Lyme Regis.  A final stop at Sidmouth and then a 2 hour drive directly north and following the river Exe till we reached Minehead YHA, where we had a delightful spagetti bolognese....maintaining the Cuisine Inglesi theme.

thick

The next day was a treat for all. Thick fog-broken only by downpours of rain along the Atlantic Highway- and a manic drive through Exmoor country lanes to Barnstaple and then to Tintagel.

A break in the clouds at Plymouth meant a few hours of glorious sunshine before Eva pointed us in the direction of Dartmoor...and even thicker fog.  Hardly seeing 2 sheep and a pony in front of us we made it across the wasteland. Although actually Tavistock isn't that bad really....and finally as moorland became sheerdropland the sun again decided to come out.

Dartmoor (or less)

So we did actually manage to get back to Bridgwater for the evening where a meal of traditional English Turkish meze was laid on at the Green Olive restaurant  on west quay. 

Finally the group had a day trip to Bristol before heading home.

20 years of links with Ceske Budejovice and still going strong.