The Wonders of the Isle of Wight with Phil & Isobel

 The Wonders of the Isle of Wight 

 Our evening were packed full of amazing entertainment from funny comedian, line-dancing classes and outstanding shows.

At the Needles we had a great time making ornaments with all the different coloured sands to take back home. We watched a lovely vase and some bespoke door knobs being crafted by the glass blowers then visited the sweet factory and watched the confectioners make some strawberry & cream sweets.

We had super games of ten pin bowling, which was great fun! Everyone achieved smashing scores!

 We went to Cowes for a boat trip around the Isle and then to Portsmouth.  We saw various landmarks on our journey including the lovely Osborne house and some of the large war ships docked in the harbour one which was still in active service.

 At Godshill, we took a lovely stroll around the model village then had our lunch sitting outside enjoying the beautiful weather.

Lake District Activity Centre with Midi & Faye

   Lake District Activity Centre   

We got our water-proofs, life jackets and loaded the canoes and we set off for the canals. We had a lot of fun working together to compete in a number of challenges set by our instructor. And in the end, we even had a little fun by splashing each other till everyone was soaking wet. 

At the ‘bendy bar’ activity everyone had go and some even made it to the top of the log with little support. 

The cave was dark, narrow, low, and very wet but everyone did so well to make our way through in high spirits. Our wet suits and wellies helped us avoid getting wet for the most part but during the end of the cave, we all found ourselves tackling fast flowing water that came as high as our waist. 

On our last evening our instructor took us to a local pub for a drink and we had a great time playing pool.

After dinner, we made our way to the yurt at the bottom of the grounds. We learned how to light a fire using methods our ancestors and own natives still use. Our instructor showed us two very beautifully crafted shepherds hooks and we also got the chance to play a didgeridoo.

Our Art instructor showed us how to do some felting. Everyone designed different things using the different coloured wool. Everyone concentrated and worked hard to complete some very good pieces of art.

At the wall climbing we all worked really hard to make it to the top of the rock while others did phenomenally well to work together to ensure the climber was safe by holding on to the safety rope. 

What fun we had cycling in the outdoors. Everyone enjoyed trying out all the different two and three wheeler bikes which included tricycles and go carts.

Yorkshire Dales, TV Soap Country with Darren & Candy

  Yorkshire Dales, TV Soap Country  

 At the Wensleydale Creamery we took a tour and lesson in making cheese, which proved both entertaining and informative.  Thanks to Wallace and Gromit for keeping the creamery a thriving business!

 

The National Railway Museum was our next stop, where we visited the royal carriages and steam trains and viewed the Japanese bullet train. We took a bus tour around the excellent city of York taking in the Roman and Viking history. Then a visit to the famous Betty’s Tea Room was a necessity!

In Goathland we saw the fantastic Scripps Funeral Service and Garage. We also saw the old police cars that were used in the TV series!

At the village of Holmfirth we enjoyed visiting Nora Batty house before stopping for lunch at Sid’s Cafe. Then we went on a very entertaining drive in the old Holmfirth bus allowed us to view and chat about the different locations where the series was filmed. The famous Woolpack from Emmerdale was our next stop.

We headed off to the coast and Whitby, where we drove to the abbey and saw the harbour area and the whalebone arch that commemorates Whitby's historic link with the whaling industry.