Monday 2nd January, 2012
12 Things
We lost 2010. Sure, we got married – that was a biggie. And, following that we had a great two weeks in Ireland. But the rest of the year pretty much dashed by unnoticed.
So before 2011 began, we made a list of twelve things (an average of one per month) that we had to do by the end of the year. The list was flexible, so items could be removed/cancelled as long something else was put on the list as a substitute. The final list was completed on Wednesday 28th of December with a visit to the Northampton Lift Tower. It looks like this:
- Docklands Light Railway & Greenwich
- Severn Valley Railway
- Go for a walk based around the Great Central Railway
- Centre Point (the point furthest from the sea)
- Southern Tour & HenryTheThirst’s Geocache
- Cropredy Festival
- Go on a real Stag Do (and a real Hen Do for Helen)
- Northampton Lift Tower
- Suffolk County Top
- Make Your Own Tofu
- Visit Cinema with a voucher we had
- Go to Leicester by train as a tourist (& have curry at The Curry House)
Items which were moved/cancelled were:
- Fitzpatrick’s Temperance Bar – we realised, come the end of the year, that we weren’t planning to pass by the North-West, and 300 miles round is a long way to go for a glass of dandelion and burdock. It is postponed to the 2012 list, which has a few North-West items.
- HenryTheThirst’s Cache – although we got close, on the Southern Tour, we didn’t do the cache. More on the report itself.
- Seahenge – apparantly, there’s nothing to see.
Over the next few blogs, I’ll tell you about our experiences with these things. I notice there are quite a lot of railways involved. It was well worth doing, and on New Years Eve, we finalised our 2012 list, which is as follows:
- Watch a Bollywood Film
- Visit Every Pub in Loughborough
- Do a Wainwright Walk
- Fix Utility Room
- Fitzpatrick’s Temperance Bar (bumped from 2011 list)
- Mersey Tunnel
- Wymeswold Auction House
- A Big Group Walk
- Eglantine Vinyard, East Leake
- National Railway Museum
- Centre of Britain (there’s a new one we’ve become aware of!)
- Take a Random Journey on Buses
We’ve been to Meriden, which claims to be the centre of England.
Jan
2 Jan 12 at 2:40 pm
I don’t know where the centre of Britain is, though. It must be a lot further north – unless it’s done by distance from the sea and not the ‘balancing point’.
Jan
2 Jan 12 at 2:42 pm
The centre we did last time was furthest from the high-tide line. Somewhere near Burton-on-Trent.
The one we’re doing next time is the point that the mainland would balance on if you cut it out of carboard and balanced it on a pin.
Stu
2 Jan 12 at 2:46 pm
Would that be a flat cardboard cut-out or one including hills? I suspect you’d get two rather different centre points.
Louise
2 Jan 12 at 3:25 pm
The centre of Englandseems to have been moved from Meriden (much to their annoyance!), first to Fenny Drayton, then to Coton in the Elms, Derbyshire.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meriden,_West_Midlands#Traditional_centre_of_England
Jan
2 Jan 12 at 4:31 pm
More information!
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/2271914.stm
Jan
2 Jan 12 at 4:33 pm
Coton in Elms… that’s the one we did.
And Louise… I don’t know about that – the OS did it with a big computer, so I will trust them!
Stu
2 Jan 12 at 4:52 pm
I didn’t even know there was a vineyard in East Leake!
Great idea, I might pinch your idea. I’ve always fancied watching a Bollywood film (Bride & Prejudice is as near as I’ve got) and I’ve been told Rajinikanth is the man to watch.
Done the Mersey Tunnel – it seemed very long to me but then I do have a fear of tunnels!!
Rozelle
2 Jan 12 at 7:04 pm
Bollywood fillums are simply awesome – you ought to watch while wearing traditional dress too, makes it all the more authentic! You should watch Dil Se – a personal favourite with my favourite song in it too, Chaiya Chaiya
Maddison-Star
2 Jan 12 at 10:11 pm
(low tide, it seems)
The GPS coordinates of the new one are given in More Balloons to Alton Towers
.
Stu
3 Jan 12 at 2:22 am