Travel Archives - Page 6 of 7 - Conversations through the middle

Jubilee Cafe – a review

May 9, 2012

Following on the Jublilee theme but nothing to do with the Diamond Jubilee is my favourite local café, The Jubilee at Ardleigh. It used to be a greasy spoon I’m told, but since heavy lorries are no longer allowed on the road that runs past it, it looks for its customers elsewhere. And we are a varied bunch I can tell you: pensioners, couples, families and us horsey gals.

The food it offers is lovely – I recommend the Quorn lasagne and everybody I know who has tried the fried potatoes loves them. The food ranges from breakfasts (served all day) to Sunday lunch, veggie specials to fish and meat. I don’t know anywhere else that offers so many breakfast variations and there’s no cut off point so you can have it at lunch if you wish.

All of the food is cooked fresh and prices are good. The owners don’t mind if you just have a cup of tea – a very reasonable 75p – without eating, which is great news when funds are low (which in my case is more often than I like). I think it’s the best kept secret in Colchester. I don’t know if they advertise, I’ve never seen any ads, but they are always busy. I think it’s the combination of home cooking, quality and prices that don’t rip you off that keeps customers coming back for more. And no, I don’t work for them in any way, I’ve never received a free meal there but have always paid for my food; I’ve just been meaning to post about the café for a while and the Jubilee seems as good a time to do so as any.

Nothing stays still – updates and changes

April 27, 2012

A bit of housekeeping is what’s needed here

Okay, I made a big decision (for me) yesterday. I decided to amalgamate all three of my blogs into this one, which means there is now only one blog for me to procrastinate over or wish I could be more disciplined with. However, I didn’t want to lose all of my nuggets of wisdom from Canter Capers (should that just be nuggets here?) or my fledgling travel site Send Us A Quick Postcard, so I’ve transferred all of the entries over to 40s Chic.

This of course makes for a bit of a disjointed chronology for anyone reading from the beginning – but who would do that anyway (sometimes I wonder if anyone reads the blog at all, yes the page views are there but rarely any comments). If you do decide to start at the beginning (a very good place to start) then now you know why it seems a little out of sync. Or if you’re reading some of the latest entries why I suddenly turned into a presenter for Wish You Were Here.

From now on, anything and everything will be discussed, whinged about, whooped about, loved or cried over in these pages. Life doesn’t have separate threads to it, they all intermingle, so it makes sense that the other two blogs find a home in this one.

I’m a bit of a hoarder and perfectionist, so I have tried to keep the dates and times as they were originally on the transferred posts, but for some reason, although the site accepted the dates, it would not accept some of the times, instead defaulting to the actual time of input. It’s a shame but not the end of the world.

I feel so much better now I’ve done a bit of blog housekeeping. I’ve also updated the ‘about me’ bit and the standfirst, which was a bit rubbish.

Onwards and upwards!

Back to school – ban on term-time holidays?

March 13, 2012

I read in the news that the Government is thinking of making it illegal to take your child out of school for a holiday during term time. What? Have politicians got nothing better to do with their time? What about the state of the economy, the problems with the NHS, the financial climate and global warming for goodness sake.

Is it a case of ‘we can’t control the important things so we’ll control the little things instead, so we still feel like we’re in, er, control’? It beggars belief.

Whether or not a family takes a term-time holiday is down to the family, the school and lets face it, how much money they have. Obviously it’s not ideal, but have you seen the cost of holidays at peak times?

At my daughter’s school for example any parent who wants to take their child out of school during term time has to discuss the situation with the head master. He takes into consideration attendance and the school schedule – whether there are exams coming up. If attendance is deemed satisfactory and there are no exams looming, then chances are the request will be granted. He is a sensible and reasonable man with a family of his own who is well aware of the financial pressures on parents, especially at this time.

Parents were informed at the beginning of the year that no time off for holidays would be granted in May for year 6 pupils as that’s when they have their SATs, which is only common sense, and I haven’t heard of any parent arguing against that.

Politicians should take note that parents do not take their children out of school to be disruptive, rather they take kids out of school so the whole family can enjoy a holiday together, quality time together so they can relax and enjoy each other’s company without the daily stresses and pressures we are all under, all of the time. The alternative for many would be no holiday – going away during school holidays is just too expensive.

Banning families from taking term-time holidays would be counterproductive – part of being a kid is behaving like a kid and where better to do that than on holiday? It’s where families bond, create memories the children take into adulthood, enjoy new experiences, laugh and play.

The lucky ones will continue to do that during official school holidays; the rest of us will have to go without. I wonder which group the politicians fall into…

Drinking up life in London town

September 30, 2011

I am sitting outside a cafe opposite Liberty in London and it’s a glorious day. The department store with its Elizabethan-style facade and leaded windows is an impressive sight to anybody viewing it for the first time. It’s not bad for shopping either.

It has a character not often seen in retail buildings – Fenwicks in Newcastle had it at one time, but it has been modernised in the last few years and I’m not sure if they have killed off its individuality in the character stakes – which suits its location as it’s just around the corner from 60s mecca Carnaby Street. That style icon is still one of the most fashionable places to shop in the capital and a must visit, if only to try and understand what everybody was going mad about in the Swinging Sixties.

Sitting here sipping my coke, I can see changes since I left London that have enhanced it – more pedestrianisation for a start, which makes walking around less of a battle (though you still take your life in your hands if you try to cross Regent Street against the lights). There’s also more dining and drinking opportunities outside, so you can soak up the atmosphere of the place and people watch – something that has been the norm in continental Europe for years but was sadly missing here for the most part. A welcome change as far as I’m concerned, especially on a warm, sunny day like today. And it’s almost October!