For my other photographs visit Webshots, where I am websplorer. For lovers of traditional painting, Bridlington Harbour Museum (telephone 01262 670148) was selling some rather nice harbour views. Bridlington is home to the traditional sailing boat the Coble, the last of which, The Three Brothers, was built in the Sidall workshop in 1912, and which enjoys its own enthusiast club or Sailing Coble Preservation Society (telephone 01262 605494). Bridlington was beautiful this year. Incidentally you can use BBC webcams to check the weather of some cities and coastal areas.

The festival season in The Chilterns opens with Ricky week and the traditional working boats tug-of war around the third week in May. The IWA have a phoneline on 01923 711114 and email on iwa@waterways.org.uk for details of anything planned. The Wendover Arm festival takes place over the Bank Holiday weekend and raises more money for their ambitious restoration project. The festival, with traction engines, craft stalls and beer tent, raises much need cash over the two days (Sunday and Monday), which all helps towards the restoration work - the bridge at the pumping station cost £250,000 and helps people enter the site (and the canal) at the bottom end, as well as reopening the road. Two more bridges are envisioned by the year 2010. Marsworth BWB area office is now in Milton Keynes, telephone 01442 825938, should you require boating information. Moorings south of Rickmansworth are managed by the BWB London office, which moved from Marsworth to Little Venice. Boating regions have been amalgamated and all of the site details have changed. For an update of contact details for mooring permits see my revised contact page. See also Waterscape for details of boating events further north. My author's page for Chilternrambler is here, and introduces you to walks and events in the Chilterns. Anywhere else of interest is in Time Out.

The Chiltern area as a whole is lovely for rambles and picnic, but it's such a pity motorists tend to speed through National Trust areas where there are no towpaths. We enjoyed a walk through the wood east of Berkhamstead one June, heading for Aldbury via the Ashridge but couldn't wait to get off the very minor road from Tring which passes through here, as the motorists tend to treat it as a motorway. I think the Government should impose a maximum speed limit on roads through areas of natural interest, as apparently deer are killed here regularly. We have since found a path through here by walking up from Dudswell just north of Berkhamstead. Eventually you come to a pair of cottages and upon enquiry we found there is a path following the telegraph line, which is a bit obscured but marked by a yellow arrow. Deer may be seen in the bushes. The path leads down a steep slope at the end to the village centre with stocks, pond, and Greyhound pub, as well as a village stores. Further down to the east there is a lovely old pub called the Valiant Trooper, which, like the Anglers Retreat in Marsworth, and the Grand Junction at Bulbourne, sells Tring Brewery real ale, and is just a short walk up from Tring Station. The station road may be avoided by cutting across country, walking part of the "gallops" to emerge near a bridge over the canal just north of Cowroast Marina and BWB moorings. The pub here serves Thai food.

Another treat we picked up at Marsworth (six or so locks further north from Bulbourne) was the steam rally at Startops Farm which was a sort of mini Prestwood with steam rollers and other vintage vehicles aplenty. The last rally took place on the third Sunday in June and steam engines were very much in evidence. The traction engine rally at Prestwood took place on 5th and 6th July.
Further afield the Dorset Steam Fair is accessible by bus from Weymouth at the end of August. See Organs and Dancers for some photos from two years ago.
Get steam rally information from the enthusiasts' magazine online Old Glory.

I could not bear wading through thousands of blogs about various topics so decided to start my own grievance page. Blog this. After I became injured jumping off the boat I decided to tell the whole story in a 360 degree blog.

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