2017's harvest

Here it is, our garden harvest for 2017.

One red apple....Just the one. Our next door neighbour has done rather better, judging by the tree we can see over the hedge.

Still, I'm sure my apple will taste a lot better than any of his (I'm not jealous. I'm not).

Visit to Pendennis Castle

After flying back from Jersey to England we spent a few days in the South-West. This included a visit to Pendennis Castle, an artillery fort built during the reign of Henry VIII in 1539.

The photo above is the front of the visitor guide that shows the original drum tower.

This is the back of the visitor guide with a map of Cornwall.

1597 - the castle is extended to become a bastioned fort

Lovely classical style gatehouse

A few artillery pieces

Noon - day gun firing

Originally built for a disappearing gun, now has a 6inch piece

Across the bay, another of Henry's forts, St. Mawes

Displays inside the drum tower

Enceinte between bastions

Artillery barracks built during the Edwardian period, c.1901

B leading me out of the castle

Bye - a lovely fort, well maintained, worth a visit if you are in Falmouth

Visiting Jersey : the final day

Our final day was taken up with B's wish to visit Durrell Wildlife Park, run by Durrell Conservation Trust. Photos below.

We enjoyed our holiday and liked Jersey very much. Three full days was not sufficient time to see everything on our lists so we will be returning. Still to see - Mont Orgueil Castle, Fort Regent, the tunnels, St Ouens Bay, Noirmont Point and more.

Spectacled bear

Ring tailed coti

Pied Tamarin

Gorillas

Bali Starling

Very young Orangutan, seemed to love this sack

Spectacled bear - post lunch nap (which is what I needed)

Otters

Black winged stilts

Chough

Normandy beach hut for sale

On Facebook this morning, on one of the French Fortification sites, between Arromanches and Courseulles sur Mer, a beach side property for sale. 75 square metres, with a terrace, terrific views, constructed to a German design, circa 1943, all for 214K euros.

A Sunny Sunday in Yorkshire

A very nice day here in Yorkshire so we went for a walk up Beamsley Beacon, just outside Ilkley on the edge of the Yorkshire Dales, and about an hour from our house. The air was very clear so the views were very good, very far.

The car park

Beamsley Beacon

Our Skoda Yeti, nice bright red so easy to spot

Local, hefted sheep, Swaledales I think

Looking back and down towards our car

Across Ilkley Moor

Visiting Jersey : Les Landes Observation Tower

About 500 metres from Batterie Moltke is MP3 (Marinepeilstanden und Messtellungen - naval direction finding and signalling position) at Les Landes. This was the building I wanted most to see and it did not disappoint. What a magnificent structure but its location makes it unknown and unvisited. We saw a small group of local dog walkers but no other tourists.

The roof was used for a very large Freya radar aerial. Inside is in the form of a spiral. Charles Stephenson writes in "The Channel Islands 1941 - 45" in the Osprey Fortress series

"(the towers) were originally created to realize the concept of range finding via triangulation with other (never-built) towers, each floor  controlling the fire of an individual battery. The concept was found to be flawed however, and they were the utilized as general observation posts and for mounting radar and anti-aircraft  guns."

The Germans planned to build eight towers around the island, but only completed three.