THANK YOU ALL FOR MY BIRTHDAY WISHES

First of all may I say thank you for my(and Carols) birthday wishes and I would like to explain why its taken me a few days to do this. So grab a coffee and enjoy.

We have had many presents from each other over the years and it is getting harder to think of new ones. So when I asked her what she wanted for her present expecting to be told something for the garden or jewelry. But surprise surprise Carol asked to visit the Hartlepool Royal Navy Museum. So I looked it up on line found it to be interesting booked flights and here’s what happened.

21st October 2019 – Trafalgar Day – and our birthdays.

Morning everyone right a ramble through our adventures and believe me a small cultural shock was involved. So – oh explanation of why so late with thanks – we dont tell anyone where we are until we’re back a result of the robbery. Anyway Monday morning at 4am we were up and ready for the off to Barcelona airport. Thought we would give ourselves plenty of time as with the riots you never knew. But as always when we do the ‘just in case,’ things went ok so we arrived at the parking in plenty of time. Once on board the shuttle bus we were on our way to the airport via Terminal 1 very posh there then to Terminal two. Here we had quite a walk as the parking busses have a space next to Easyjet which is at the other end of the airport from terminals A & B. So off we trecked up through check in on to passport control and finally the walk through the duty free to reach a cafe and that much needed cuppa.

Now we were flying with Jet2 never done this before and believe me it was a very nice experience they have excellent hot chocolate. But I digress now when Michael looked on line you could get from Leeds/Bradford airport via the ‘flyer bus’.. well we could have walked quicker (a point for Bristol) Finally we arrived in Leeds headed for the train station (contrary to Googles info the only bus to Hartlepool was at 9pm arriving at 11pm). It was now 4pm and here came the cultural shock THE RUSH HOUR… after so many years away the platforms were scary, so many people add to this delayed/cancelled trains and you get the picture. One thing that did strike us was how helpful and cheerful the staff were, people talked to us on the journey Michael and others putting the world to rights. Then came the eyeopener one stop before Middlesbrough the train terminated and we ended up taking a taxi to Hartlepool. Now as is our want we hadn’t booked anywhere to stay as on line as we had had a bad experience with Booking.com (same again here) they had said the Premier Inn at the marina was FULL…lying gits our taxi driver phoned Premier and asked yes they said we have rooms…now you know why we dont trust Booking.com. We booked in had a good sized room with a comfy bed went next door for a meal and so to bed. So that was how we spent our birthday welcome years 76 and 73.

View of Navy Museum from Hotel

Next day: From the breakfast room we looked across the dock at the museum the ship looked spectacular tall masts against the skyline. So we did a ‘look round the area’ walk – yes walked – never done so much in my life lol my poor little leggies were wearing away until – that is – we got to the mall. Well come on shopping who could resist it – Michael for one he headed back to the hotel and a rest – me I put a big smile on took a deep breath and headed in. Boots, M&S, Primark and others were all there. I spent so much time getting the few bits we needed that hours had passed by the time I had finished – it was nearly 5pm – I had walked miles but because I was looking at things and shopping I didn’t notice – so I finally got a taxi – really good service and cheap – arriving back exhausted but happy. After a rest we decided to head to the museum only to find we were too late it was closed but it opened at 10am guess who was there waiting to go in……

Last day: The Museum.

After Breakfast we walked round the dock to the museum. Now this has a lot going for it firstly as O.A.P’s we had a concession fee of 8pounds – 10 pounds for adults – which I might add gives you access for a year – really good value. Then they are actively interested in teaching children about our history and what it was like in the days of sail. The picture above shows a young visitor from Australia firing one of the guns. The gentleman explained how everything would have worked then handed him a replica ‘slow match’ which he applied to the area where powder would have been if it were real, and there was a bang which made all of us jump as you can see he enjoyed the experience.

Then we wandered along to where Michael would have been at home the Captains cabin. Here you could see his cot, washstand, wine cabinet, and table whilst in the corner covered in papers was his clerks desk (where most of the work was done) Over 3 hours spent there and Michael enjoyed every minuet of it, he had found someone to talk sailing ships with and lots of info and ideas for another book. He was in his element Sailing ship, sea and History a happy chappie birthday pressie. So I will let the pictures tell the story.

Life on board was something else side cabins were arranged along the stern, with dining areas for various messes. Everything was copper plated on lower decks/bilge as the amo was stored there.

There is lots to see and children are especially catered for events, and interactive things plus play area all to get them interested in history and this era. There are also buildings depicting life as it would have been and the one place Michael loved was the chandlers as it would have been when James Blackstock was alive. We were walking along looking in the buildings when I heard ‘Carol come here look what I’ve found’ and there he was in the middle of the store everything you could need for a sailing ship, he was in his element.

So that’s how we spent this year just wondering what to do for next birthday???

Michael and Carol Bosc