Yorkshire Dales, TV Soap Country with Netty and Gary

 Yorkshire Dales, TV Soap Country 

Travelling through the luscious rolling hills of the Dales, we made our way to Holmfirth for our "Last of The Summer Wine" bus tour. We took our seats in the vintage bus as Colin, our guide wowed us with his amazing knowledge of the show. We had lunch in Sid’s Cafe which included a life size Nora Batty cut. It bought back some great memories of this iconic tv show.  

                           

                              

A fantastic morning was spent exploring Goathland, home of the popular TV series Heartbeat. We took a tour of the village and recognised some of the iconic buildings and shops featured in the tv show. We did our best policeman impersonations as we stood by the old police cars.

     

Off to Embsay train station for our ride on the beautifully restored Victorian and Edwardian carriages, enjoying a ride through some unique views of Yorkshire’s finest countryside. The evocative smells of a real steam railway and the puffing and hissing of the steam engine as it pulled into the station made us really excited for our journey.      

                                                    

    

We spent the afternoon in the town of Skipton, enjoying the afternoon sun where we walked along the peaceful canal. We admired all the boats as they sailed alongside us. We couldn’t resist popping into some of the local shops to buy some more souvenirs! 

       

    

Today's adventure was a farm safari at Thornton Hall Country Park. On the safari we saw sheep, goats, cattle and deer including the buck "Bruce”. We bought some animal feed and had great fun feeding the animals on the way round. We couldn't resist treating ourselves to a delicious ice cream or a mega milkshake as well! 

                          

   

We loved visiting the cheese factory where we watched how the famous Wensleydale cheese is made and the history of the factory.After sampling some of the delicious produce we met the cheeky cheese loving characters Wallace and Gromit. 

The Wonders of The Isle of Wight with Darren & Netty

 The Wonders of The Isle of Wight 

Off to Alum Bay where the famous tourist hot spot The Needles are. The 3 stacks of chalk rise above the sea and we spent a long time looking as this natural beauty. 

A great morning was spent at the sweet making factory, where we of course had to sample some of the delicious treats! Luckily for us we also managed to watch a glass blowing demonstration inside the factory. The skilled craftsmen made a vase, from scratch. 

 

We drove around the beautiful coastal roads to Haverset station, home to the Isle of Wight Steam Railway. The highlight of the afternoon came as we boarded the old steam train and went on a wonderful ride through the spectacular countryside. The old train carriages made us feel like we were in a Harry Potter film. Back at the station we had a walk around the platform admiring some of the other old engines and learnt a lot of train facts in the museum. 

 

We love a birthday on a JollyDays holiday. We had arranged a surprise birthday cake for Royston. We sang at the tops of our voices and cheered as he blew his candles out. 

Every night we looked forward to the evening entertainment and quiz. One of our favourite shows was a tribute to Neil Diamond. We sang along to his well-known hits and some of us even managed a little boggie! 

A wonderful day was spent at Godshill Model Village which is a 1/10^th scale version of the village itself with all the real houses, churches and pubs in their exact position. There are over 3000 ornamental conifers and shrubs. 

It was so lifelike. We loved looking at the different scenes. Our favourite being the wedding! 

At Norton Grange we loved walking around the beautiful grounds and stopped to take in the Avery which had lots of brightly coloured birds to admire.

   

The beach at Freshwater Bay was huge and the views were breath-taking. We couldn’t visit the seaside without indulging in an ice cream, could we?! We sat in the sunshine, watching the world go by. 

Germany & The Moselle River with Darren, Phillip & Tracey

 Germany & The Moselle River 

The sun was shining off of the Moselle river as our tour boat glided through the water. The region is the most significant wine growing area in Germany where there are vineyards setback for miles and miles. The views were breath taking.

We strolled through the beautiful cobbled streets full of gingerbread looking houses, adorned with flowers of all colours which was truly beautiful. We stumbled across the narrow house called the Spitzhausen, dating back to the 1416. 

 The competitive side soon came out as we hit the bowling alley. We tired our hardest to knock the pins down. Wayne’s team won by 94 points! We all cheered with excitement.

  

Every evening we looked forward to the live entertainment. ‘Chapeau Bas’ had our hearts racing as they performed daring tricks from fire throwing to fire juggling on a unicycle. The stunts were truly incredible and had us on the edge of our seats. 

 

Like intrepid explorers, we went around the dinosaur park trying to name each dinosaur. 

We were taken back through time to see how life would have been like in the Jurassic era. It was just like being in the film Jurassic Park as some of the dinosaurs looked quite freighting and lifelike! 

A day was spent in Saarland, which is the largest forested state situated along the French boarder. We took a leisurely stroll visiting the Basilica Saarbrucken which is a stunning Catholic Church. The church had been destroyed and restored several times and the interior had been redesigned between 1972 and 1975. The chapel was beautiful with such stunning stained-glass windows and intricate interior. It was truly amazing. 

We loved splashing around and practising our swimming when we weren't out sightseeing. It was the perfect way to relax. 

We were an active bunch and loved mastering the traditional German game Sjoelbak, which is known as shuffleboard in English. We laughed our way round the challenging but fun Crazy Golf course. Pauline once again was a natural and got a hole in one on a par 3! 

   

It wouldn't be a Jolly Holiday without treating ourselves to an ice cream or two!