Another step closer.

After a disastrous first attempt at obtaining a class C1 driving licence to be able to drive our motorhome, yesterday turned out to be quite the opposite. I changed driving schools to 1st Approach who use a late model Mercedes Sprinter 5 tonne van which was much easier to drive. This fact alone was a great bonus as it meant I could concentrate more on my driving technique and not driving the van. The instructor, Bryan, was very professional and informative and can be thoroughly recommended to anybody wishing to upgrade their driving licence.

Now I have passed the driving test, which seems absurd after 30 years of professional driving, we can now plan what we want to see and do between now and August. It’s a case of back on the move again.

Peterborough Cathedral on a quiet day.

Peeping Tom!

The Peeping Tom Toad which we found sitting on our doorstep after arriving home from Peterborough on Thursday.

Ely Revisited

The home of Oliver Cromwell in Ely with suitably dressed mannequins.

The old Fire Station and house in Ely. Now a restaurant.

A view of Ely Cathedral taken from the side.

The main doors of Ely cathedral.

Ship of the Fens.

Ship of the Fens.  Ely Cathedral

It was too nice a day to stay home in the apartment so we caught the X9 bus to Ely. We got off the bus at Ely Tesco’s where we bought a very cheap lunch of 2 packs of sandwiches, bag of crisps and a Kit Kat with 2 bottles of fruit juice for £4. Then we walked down to the river where we have moored many times in the past. Opposite the marina we found a sunny park bench overlooking the river and had a very nice picnic lunch.

Ely in Winter. Plenty of moorings available here.

The only boat on the move in Ely.

After this we wandered up into town to have a look to see what we may have missed on previous visits.With the councils all talking about cutting bus subsidies we could find ourselves stuck at home more often with the bus companies threatening to cut unprofitable bus routes. So make hay while the sun shines as the old saying goes.

Derek doing some horse whispering.

Snow Drops in Ely 2011.

Businessmen? Yeah Right

Now for another rant. Ringing up or emailing businesses about purchasing their products and services and not receiving any reply. If they are not going to answer their emails why have website advertising? I have been trying to contact Insurance companies for Motorhome insurance and driving schools about my driving licence. After waiting 5 days five insurance companies have failed to respond and likewise 1 driving school. These people or companies don’t deserve to be in business. They are all s**t out of luck now anyway as I have resolved both problems.

On the subject of insurance I had received 2 quotes of £860 and £933 before I decided to Google search for insurance for the over Fifties. This bought up Insurance Choice who have quoted me a mere £320, for exactly the same cover, what a difference!

Photo Rustlers.

After reading Sue’s blog on Nb No Problem this morning about somebody putting one of her photo’s on their blog without her permission we got curious. Searching through Google Images we found a lot of our photo’s, some going back four years, which according to the script attached had been accredited to other blogs. However when you check the source of the photo our name came up. Funnily enough alongside the photo’s on Google Images it states quite clearly that these images may be copyrighted. Originally we had nothing on our photos but now we have ‘© Gypsy Rover’ on them all. Obviously a lot of people ignore this. We actually found quite a lot of our photo’s that had been stolen, some we recall had requested use of the photo and accredited it to us, thank you, but many hadn’t. Unfortunately there were too many to do what Sue did, placing a Raspberry on their site, however we will say, IF YOU WANT TO BORROW OUR PICTURES IT’S ONLY POLITE TO ASK!

Here’s the Answer!

Think about it, ER in 1936? The answer is of course King Edward VIII. Despite his accession to the throne on 20th January 1936 after the death of King George V he was never crowned and this public building is reputedly the only building ever to receive the insignia of Edward VIII.

Due to his relationship with the American Socialite Wallis Simpson, who was a divorcee, the king signed the abdication document on 10 December 1936, after a reign of only 325 days, handing the throne over to his brother Albert who became King George VI, whose story has now been made into the latest movie “The King’s Speech”.