taking the waters

what a weekend! spent the first night in blackpool at a wonderful b and b called butlers. friday night we went to see the show 'funny girls', wonderful! evidently the cast have performed twice at the royal variety performance, i'm pretty sure their majesties would have enjoyed the show almost as much as i did.

crufts was great ... i would never have guessed there were so many breeds in the world! we watched the otter hounds being judged, well, of course we would, the animal doctor is an otter hound fanatic!

there is a section called "discover dogs", especially interesting for me as my latest grandson is a llasa apso who goes by the name of oscar amadeus. i am not familiar with the breed and whilst oscar is ... naturally... the most beautiful and intelligent pup to ever romp the green ayrshire acres ...
well, i had never come across a full grown example of the breed and pictures of llasa apso show dogs tend to show them as a long haired creature, with very much the look of a well brushed broom!
to my gratification and delight, thanks to crufts i have now seen a llasa apso with a decent, dog type haircut, very fetching!

saturday evening we decided to skip spending the evening in a central birmingham hotel, the animal doctor surprised me by taking us off to buxton to stay in the old hall hotel, reputed to be england's oldest hotel.

"Warm hospitality in what may be the oldest hotel in England. Built to house the doomed Mary Queen of Scots, this hotel has connections with another 16th century superstar Bess of Hardwick, and a history of hospitality that may even predate the Romans in Britain."

so, like ... wow! the lift had to be seen to be believed, floors that strayed a long way from the straight, corridors, higgledy, piggledy, up two stairs, along a way and then three down. plus - fleur-de-lis embossed toilet paper... no really!!!
needless to say, i had a wonderful time. i also discovered magners irish cider - yeehah!

having partaken of an excellent english breakfast of embarrassing proportions we mustered the strength to take a stroll around the town where we drank from st. anne's well and then powered through the park, taking in the duck pond, the pavilion, the opera house and an enclosed garden whilst enjoying a short spell of sunshine.

on leaving buxton we took a detour to the 'middle of great britain', a place called dunsop bridge. there was no sign but our sat nav assured us we were in the correct spot even though it appeared to be a car park with recycling bins and a (very nice and clean) public toilet. it seems that there is some argument as to exactly where the middle of great britain actually is. for me, dunsop bridge will do very nicely thank you, it means i have now travelled to john o'groats (northern most point), land's end, the lizard in cornwall (southern most point) and "the centre of GB".

so yeah ... i had a great weekend :-)