Watson Family Photos
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18th January 2020 - Petersfield Heath Pond A lovely walk around the lake in the winter sunshine Lots of water birds to see |
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31st December 2019 - New Year's Eve All dressed up for New Year's Eve and another excellent feast |
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31st December 2019 - Southsea Seafront A brisk walk along the seafront....the wind was strong and very, very cold so we only went as far as the pier then back to the coffee shop for hot chocolate and cookies! |
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30th December 2019 - The Gang's All Here All pile into our house for New Year, Eve and Sam and Jack and Arty are staying for New Year, Anna and Brandon are here for the afternoon Peter also popped in |
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28th December 2019 - Mottisfont House This lovely house and gardens near Romsey was beautifully decorated for Christmas with each room based on a Flower Fairy theme Despite it being Winter, you could see how nice the gardens will be in the Spring and Summer |
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27th December 2019 - At Mum's Visiting Mum on the way home from Eve and Sam's Nigel, Alison and Lewis were there too |
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26th December 2019 - Boxing Day A day relaxing with more food and drink! |
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25th December 2019 - Christmas Day A wonderful feast, well done Eve and Sam (and Lou helped a bit) and lots of presents Granny joined us for dinner and stayed to see Jack Jack came over for the evening after work All had a good time |
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24th December 2019 - Christmas Eve To Eve and Sam's for Christmas and a lovely evening with Kermit the hamster |
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21st December 2019 - Christmas Tree |
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17th December 2019 - Arlington Christmas Dinner Arlington Directors, Management Team and invited guests enjoy Christmas Dinner |
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17th December 2019 - Lou's Birthday Lou opens her presents and then we head off for a birthday breakfast at the loco Harvester, Happy Birthday Lou |
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4th December 2019 - Amy's Birthday Amy opens her presents, Happy Birthday Amy |
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1st November 2019 - Helen & Alan's Wedding Congratulations to both of you and thank you for the invite The candy floss was amazing! |
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6th October 2019 - Twyford Waterworks Museum Back again for their final open day of 2019, even more to see with vintage cars and traction engines in addition to the working steam engine and diesel engines that used to power the water pumps etc. Definitely worth a visit...check out their webpage for 2020 dates once they've announced them....here |
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29th September 2019 - Happy Birthday Mum Eve and Sam meet us at Mum's for dinner, presents and cake! |
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13th September 2019 - Brixham Visiting the lovely fishing harbour with the replica Golden Hind |
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12th September 2019 - Agatha Christie's Greenway Ferry across the River Dart to Kingswear then steam train to Churston and finally a bus trip to Agatha Christie's holiday home on the River Dart This time we concentrated on walking the gardens and grounds to see the Boat House and Battery as well as many other features throughout the grounds, including a go at croquet! |
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11th September 2019 - South Devon Railway Dodging the showers whilst visiting the lovely South Devon Railway |
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1st September 2019 - Twyford Waterworks Museum What a wonderful place! Steeped in industrial history and working examples of steam and diesel engines for pumping the water up from the wells and a water softening plant The guided tour was fascinating and really explained how everything worked Well worth a visit, check out their website for the next Open Day here |
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25th August 2019 - Day Trip to Lymington By train to Lymington then a walk around the coast to the west and a late lunch followed by a walk up the Lymington River |
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28th July 2019 - The Vyne This lovely house with beautiful gardens and a lake is just outside Basingstoke |
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27th July 2019 - Railtour 'The Return of Thunder Vac' from Derby to Carlisle and return thanks to Jason at Hanson and Hall Rail Services Solutions and also to Kevin and his team at the Branch Line Society for a fantastic day |
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21st July 2019 - Brighton Day trip by train to this bustling seaside place Lou meets Herbie and tries to bring a pirate home! Watch out for the seagulls....too late! Someone lost their fish and chip lunch! |
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14th July 2019 - Steam Trains Firstly to Midsomer Norton for the small but very interesting Somerset and Dorset Railway Heritage Trust and a ride on their 1 mile line Then to Cranmore for a ride on the East Somerset Railway |
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13th July 2019 - Axbridge Lots of very old buildings in this small, quiet town |
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13th July 2019 - Cheddar Gorge Back for a proper look at this stunning natural feature...including Lion Rock which really does look like a lion! We started with a cheddar cheese ploughmans in the pub! |
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13th July 2019 - The Strawberry Line A walk along the old Cheddar Valley line between Winscombe and Sandford where there is a heritage centre with a steam loco, some wagons and a coach, all available to sit and eat and drink from the little tea shop on site There's also a museum in the beautifully restored station building This is run by volunteers who were very friendly and helpful so if you're passing, pop in for a cuppa! |
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12th July 2019 - Cheddar Gorge A quick stop on the drive through this spectacular gorge |
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12th July 2019 - Alfred's Tower Just around the corner from Stourhead, this strange tower hidden away in the trees wasn't open but you could still walk around it |
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12th July 2019 - Stourhead What a beautiful place! So much to see and do and lots of space to walk through fields and woods and around the lake Many small buildings spread around the grounds including a lakeside grotto |
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6th July 2019 - Uppark Re-opened in 1995 after a devastating fire in 1989 this is a wonderful place with lots of history and details of the painstaking restoration work that was undertaken to rebuild the house The tunnels are an interesting feature as well as the stunning views of the surrounding countryside |
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23rd June 2019 - Spa Valley Railway A day on this lovely line, not running to Eridge today due to Network Rail engineering works but still an enjoyable day |
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22nd June 2019 - Out Walking A day out walking in the woods around Pembury then Afternoon Tea back at the hotel |
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21st June 2019 - Bluebell Railway A ride on the beautiful Bluebell Railway to East Grinstead, opened since our last visit, then off to our hotel in Royal Tunbridge Wells |
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8th June 2019 - D-Day 75 Celebrations, Southsea The tail end of a week celebrating those who we owe so much to A great display of military vehicles and period acts on the stage The stars of the show, as always, were the Red Arrows Makes you feel proud to be British! |
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2nd June 2019 - Blenheim Palace A charity Triathlon was in progress so it was pretty busy but the main parts of the Palace and gardens were accessible In between the showers we explored this beautiful place including an interactive history of the Palace and its occupants, the birth of Sir Winston Churchill and the lovely lake and gardens |
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1st June 2019 - River Thames Walk A walk along the beautiful Thames on a gorgeous sunny day from Dorchester on Thames to Clifton Hampden then back across country stopping at the Earth Trust's Neptune Wood along the way |
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12th May 2019 - Swanage Railway The final day of the gala and a last few photos |
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11th May 2019 - Corfe Castle Model Village A magnificent model of what the castle looked like before it was demolished and the village too....well worth a look |
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11th May 2019 - Swanage Railway Riding the trains again but plenty of time for eating and drinking and meeting the local wildlife |
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10th May 2019 - Swanage Railway A busy afternoon on the trains and a bottle of wine to finish followed by dinner at a lovely Indian restaurant in Swanage |
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10th May 2019 - Corfe Castle A look around the ruins of this magnificent castle in the morning sunshine |
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9th May 2019 - Swanage Railway Riding the trains and visiting the exhibits on the Preview Day of the Diesel Gala and a nice glass of wine...or two! |
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22nd April 2019 - Walking the Test Way Our second walk along this scenic route following the old 'Sprat and Winkle Line' from Romsey to Andover, this time between Horsebridge and Stockbridge |
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13th April 2019 - Southsea Visiting South Parade Pier and Southsea Castle with Sophie and Jack |
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30th March 2019 - Happy Birthday Jack Visiting Granny with Jack, Eve and Sophie |
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23rd March 2019 - Flying Scotsman A ride behind the Flying Scotsman at the Swanage Railway, Lou practices her 'Royal Wave' and visits a much smaller engine, 'BERYL', at Corfe Castle As you'd expect, there were lots of people everywhere but the Swanage Railway had everything organised like clockwork - well done to all involved |
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8th March 2019 - Pigalle, Paris A short walk to Place Vendome then a Metro ride to Pigalle to see the famous Moulin Rouge |
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8th March 2019 - The Opera, Paris Back to The Opera for a look inside this spectacular building |
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7th March 2019 - The Opera, Paris A short Metro ride to Opera but, alas, too late to go inside today so we went to Galeries Lafayette, an amazing Department Store full of very expensive goods! |
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7th March 2019 - The Islands, Paris A short walk across the Seine to the Jardin des Plantes and along the Seine to the Islands and Notre Dame Across Pont Neuf (the oldest bridge over the Seine) onto Ile de la Cite and then Isle St-Louis |
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7th March 2019 - Bastille, Paris To the Place de la Bastille then along the old railway viaduct now a lovely garden, the Promenade Plantee above and Viaduc des Arts in the arches below where we had coffee |
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6th March 2019 - Louvre Museum, Paris Lunch first in the restaurant, then off to view literally thousands of paintings, statues and other artifacts We saw the Mona Lisa, the Venus de Milo and the Winged Victory of Samothrace The pyramid and the inverse pyramid were quite spectacular too |
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6th March 2019 - Avenue des Champs-Élysées, Paris Coffee on the Champs-Élysées and it didn't cost an arm and a leg! Walked from the Arc de Triomphe to the Louvre via a detour to Pont Alexandre III to see the wonderful golden statues, across Place de la Concorde with its gold tipped obelisk and through the Jardin des Tuileries |
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6th March 2019 - Arc de Triomphe, Paris Visiting this iconic monument with memorials to many battles and the tomb of the unknown soldier The view from the top was good, not as high as the Eiffel Tower, thankfully! |
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5th March 2019 - Eiffel Tower, Paris A very long queue to go up the tower but it was well worth it We went to the second stage which is 115 metres up....more than enough for me thank you! We saw the sun set over Paris from the tower I was glad to get my feet back on firm ground! |
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5th March 2019 - Sacré-Cœur, Paris Off to Montmartre via the Paris Metro and Montmartre Funicular to see the magnificent Sacré-Cœur church The weather improved enough for reasonable views over Paris and of the Eiffel Tower |
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5th March 2019 - Arriving in Paris On time but the rain arrived too! Time for coffee on the way to our hotel, 5 minutes from Gare du Nord |
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5th March 2019 - Departing London 07:55 from St Pancras, achieving 300 km/h (186 mph) going through Kent on High Speed 1 |
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23rd February 2019 - Visiting Portsmouth A walk along the seafront to Southsea, with much better weather this time! Amy wanted to see the Hovercraft and we had a coffee |
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9th February 2019 - Fort Nelson A re-enactment of a war that never happened... We are a group of civilians taking shelter in the fort from the invading French army. We are escorted into the fort by soldiers after proving we're not French spies! and shown a mortar being fired and volleys of rifle fire from the ramparts....winding up in the Commander's office An excellent experience, well worth doing if you get the chance! |
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9th February 2019 - Southsea A brisk walk along Southsea Seafront to Old Portmouth, stopping at the recently re-opened South Parade Pier and enduring the high winds and waves along the way! |
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12th January 2019 - Visiting Mum Jack met us there and more presents were opened! |
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5th January 2019 - The British Motor Museum I've passed here many times and always said I'd pop in one day! Lou found a couple of cars she liked but I think Lady Penelope's FAB1 just edged it........mind you Shaun the Sheep's Land Rover was close! No sign of a Morris Marina 1.8 Special in Tahiti Blue but they did have a Rover P6 like the car I learnt to drive in and my first car a Vauxhall HA Viva along with many others I've owned or driven over the years |