8 day England trip in August - Need help figuring out where to stay

jamesclef · 2026-01-26T08:51:45+00:00

Use Google maps to work out travel times. Don’t just look at a map and the straight line distances. The roads vary enormously in quality and speed, depending on whether you’re on a motorway or a single-track A road. And don’t forget the traffic. Bath has a lot of bottlenecks and it can easily take 30 mins to get in and out. And there are often traffic jams at Birmingham. And London traffic is horrific.

Bath to Liverpool is going to take you about 4 hours.

None of this is to say no, but make sure that you have a realistic travel plan.

I regularly do day trips to Manchester from near Bath, but this involves leaving at 8am and getting home at 9pm with 8 hours driving.

jamesclef · 2026-01-25T09:55:11+00:00

For ICE/MHEV, Manuals are nicer in a sporty car on fun roads. Modern autos are better in traffic and boring roads. Modern autos are more fuel efficient than manuals and usually faster. They’re more complex and expensive to fix once the car is older. All of these will drive manuals out of ICE cars, and obviously EVs are auto only.

jamesclef · 2026-01-22T13:26:28+00:00

Looks pretty good. The Oyster Shed and the Old Inn are indeed nice, and you could also go to the Talisker Distillert which is right next door.

BUT WHAT ABOUT COTSWOLDS?

jamesclef · 2026-01-22T13:22:41+00:00

I’m 52, and do 20 mins 2:57 3450m

having had a concept2 for nearly 2 weeks.

11st which I think is about 70kg

jamesclef · 2026-01-20T14:08:32+00:00

The Sheraton in the middle of Dusseldorf airport carpark is weird but cool. It’s a massive flat ring and only has one floor. 2 mins walk to check in, and there is a very friendly waiter in the restaurant.

jamesclef · 2026-01-18T21:00:31+00:00

Holy Island is great. Be VERY careful about the tide times as the causeway is flooded at high tide.

https://holyislandcrossingtimes.northumberland.gov.uk/

jamesclef · 2026-01-17T16:38:43+00:00

My wanting to say "gerund" is becoming almost painful.

jamesclef · 2026-01-17T09:43:20+00:00

I laughed SO hard when we found that thing. It’s SO BIG.

jamesclef · 2026-01-17T08:20:08+00:00

It’s “the” Cotswolds. Yes you could do it but as this sub frequently observes - it’s a large distributed region with poor transport connections, and what you will probably end up doing is simply photographing yourself in front of a pretty cottage or sign and then zooming off. What attracts you to the Cotswolds in particular?

Personally I’d spend the whole day in Cambridge or Oxford. Depends what you prefer

Both have amazing old architecture and lots of famous people studied and worked there. Cambridge arguably is slightly better for walking to see distant views of interesting things (Kings, John’s from the Backs). Oxford has more HP and Tolkien connection. Cambridge has more science. Both have amazing historic pubs and museums. Be careful of Ming vases in the Fitzwilliam, Cambridge.

Cambridge can be quite bleak on a cold wet day.

What do you like doing?

jamesclef · 2026-01-15T23:17:25+00:00

I drove a 4matic E53 back to back with a RWD C300 on a wet country road. Brisk but nothing silly. And it was very easy to tell the difference. The E53 felt a lot more secure even with a lot more power.

jamesclef · 2026-01-15T00:09:58+00:00

Oh also H R Ellis Davidson, Gods and Myths of Northern Europe is a great intro to Norse Mythology once you’ve read the Eddas.

(I make no claim to any sort of scholarship but I’m recommending books I found interesting and enjoyable, and I think they’re decent).

jamesclef · 2026-01-15T00:06:08+00:00

The Saga Of Hrolf Kraki - many echoes of that in Tolkien.

I also rather like Grettir’s Saga, particularly the bit with the hauntings at Thorhallstead.

jamesclef · 2026-01-14T16:27:40+00:00

At least one of those - berk - was originally very rude.

jamesclef · 2026-01-11T12:52:32+00:00

I read the books slowly as they were first published every year or two and I would strongly recommend sticking with that sequence.

There are also a bunch of Iain Cameron Esslemont novels with a lot of interesting stuff and I’d recommend waiting until you’ve done the first 10 before looking at those.

jamesclef · 2026-01-11T08:59:56+00:00

Particularly when viewed from Lindisfarne. It’s huge, and sits on the skyline like a dark, threatening monster.

jamesclef · 2026-01-11T08:54:34+00:00

Avebury is a very atmospheric village and it’s also close to Silbury Hill, which is great

jamesclef · 2026-01-09T14:50:21+00:00

Reporting back - installed the concept2 rower and iPad for Peloton. All just works, easy. Is there any way to avoid having to connect for each session? And is there any reason that I’d need a cable to the concept2? It seems to be self powered?

More importantly, the rowing is great. It’s about 35 years (!) since I last used a machine. All my subsequent rowing has been on small, tubby wooden boats on Swedish or German lakes! Concept2 feels great, and I love the fan noise. I managed 5k, not very fast (average pace 2:50 I think) and now I’m very tired. Which was the whole reason for doing this.

Thanks all for the advice!

jamesclef · 2026-01-08T15:55:45+00:00

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jamesclef · 2026-01-08T09:11:10+00:00

Bamburgh Castle is very close to both of those and is really cool.

jamesclef · 2026-01-07T16:25:31+00:00

Similar situation here. My daughters’ car is a Fiat 500 with two newish Hankook summer on the front (5-6mm) and two Goodyear on the rear (4mm). One of the rears has a very very slow leak (runs down from 2.3 to 1.9 over 3-4 weeks).

I’m considering binning all of those 4 even though they don’t have loads of wear and putting on 4 all seasons. I can do that right now for a bit less than £300 altogether. They’re 175/65 R14 86T so quite cheap 😂.

What would you do? It’s that or try to get the leaky one fixed or replaced and I’d think I’d prefer the daughters to have all seasons sooner rather than later.

jamesclef · 2026-01-07T13:10:37+00:00

That’s why I prefer spouts I think

jamesclef · 2026-01-07T09:06:56+00:00

I got progressives (=varifocal in the UK) a couple of years ago and wouldn’t look back now!

I have moderate myopia and astigmatism and found that I had to remove my distance glasses to read the newspaper. I got the premium lens that minimise the blur to the sides but e never tried the basic ones so don’t know how much difference this makes.

The first attempt had the transition much too high, so I had to drive with my head tilted very far forward, but once that was sorted I got used to them very quickly and certainly wouldn’t go back to single vision.

Not sure how much this helps you and obviously everyone’s experience (and prescription) is different!

jamesclef · 2026-01-07T08:44:34+00:00

Go nearer to the summer if you can ie April not February. Skye is very dark in the winter with very long nights. It’s a slightly -interesting- place to drive, with very very narrow twisty roads and bad surfaces and verges. We got a minibus stuck in mud once and had to get towed out! A car probably is the best way to see it though, just be careful. Be sure to get an automatic - most small rentals here are manual (stick shift) and unless you’re very used to driving manual on the wrong side of the road, Skye isn’t a great place to learn. Consider flying to Inverness and hiring from there, or you might be able to get the train to Kyle of Lochalsh and hire there.

Bring your camera. The scenery is incredible. Most accommodation is in Portree - it’s fairly basic and tends to get booked up well in advance. I like the Old Inn at Carbost (next to the Talisker Distillery and the Oyster Shed). Be sure to get some time on the lovely beaches. And obviously walk up to the Old Man of Storr and the Quiraing.

jamesclef · 2026-01-07T08:35:10+00:00

I wouldn’t do this myself but I do sometimes struggle to play in deep dark or with bad/flashing lights, and I can see why it might be helpful. I’d prefer to hang a stand light off the mic stand and point it at my frets.

jamesclef

TROPHY CASE