The lock at Albert Island

Albert Island is part of London's Docklands and as yet it's not been developed as much as other parts of the area. It's at the eastern tip of the area, and close to London's City airport - perhaps that's why. We cycled here back in March and our visit formed part of our hunt for the Woolwich Foot Tunnel on the north side of the Thames. 

I was quite taken with the lock, so I thought I'd share some more photos with you today. And if you're wondering, we did cross the lock over this path, but no we didn't cycle over it!

And once we were safely over the lock, I went back to make the most of this photo opportunity.

With my pictures captured we picked up our bikes and carried them up over the steps and onto this less than inspiring part of the Thames Path. It was about here that we ran out of flats and developments and we started to think we'd gone too far.

At the next opportunity we headed inland and found ourselves faced with a left or right decision. We chose to turn right, which was in fact wrong and cycled over the Sir Steve Redgrave bridge. Once we realised we'd gone wrong, it was a quick turnaround and back the other way over the bridge, with a short pause to take a shot of the view down the runway at London's City airport.

Not a bad view at all, and well worth the diversion.

Cerne Abbas and its Giant

When we were in Dorset at the start of the year one of the things on my list to see was the Cerne Giant, an ancient naked figure sculpted into the chalk hillside above the village of Cerne Abbas. I'd worked out it was about thirty minutes from where we were staying and as I'd not seen a chalk hill figure close up (seeing one from the car as we drove past doesn't count in my book) one chilly day we made our way to Cerne Abbas.

We drove through the town, and although it's most likely a lively hubbub of tourists during the warmer months, it seemed pretty sleepy on the day we visited so we headed on towards the Giant.

VISITOR INFO LOCATOR MAP

I'd read that the best view was from the car park, not the one shown on the map - although we did go there first and realised it was the wrong one so drove on - there's one directly opposite the giant too. And that information is right we did get the best view from there.

The Cerne Giant is Britain's largest chalk hill figure, The Times says it's quite possibly the most authentic and the National Trust says it's their most controversial. And as with any controversy there's plenty of theories about its identity and purpose. These include a classical image of the Greco-Roman hero Hercules, a mockery or up-yours to Oliver Cromwell or as local folklore says an aid to fertility.

Whichever it's an amazing sight and the earliest recorded mention of it dates to the 17th century. And the National Trust have quite a job keeping him tidy - on their website they say that involves a giant haircut using a streamer as well as re-edging the online using spades in a similar way we'd keep the edges of our grass tidy. The chalk is also cleaned and vegetation removed and is done annually, plus there's the repairs to the rabbit proof fence which surrounds the Giant. That's quite a beauty routine!

We knew we wouldn't be able to get up close to the Giant (because of that rabbit proof fence) but we headed off down the green dotted line you can see on the map above and towards Giant Hill and for a closer look at the surrounding area.

It was a pretty chilly day and Giant hill was pretty steep. It was a bracing countryside walk (read very cold!) and we didn't hang around for long. Had it been warmer we'd have been tempted to take the river walk towards the village but instead we headed back to the car park for a last view of the Giant.

It's definitely worth stopping the car and having a look!

The Old Post Office at Tintagel

Yes, I'm taking you back to Tintagel as promised at the end of my second post from our visit to Tintagel Castle, this time though we're in the village and visiting the Old Post Office which is one of the National Trust's properties. It's tiny - or as the Trust more diplomatically says "unusual and atmospheric" and it's appeal - and wavy roof - is immediately visible as you approach it.

It dates back to the 14th century and is a yeoman's farmhouse which the National Trust acquired in 1903 and the first room you visit is the Parlour. As well as this beautiful vista with the light streaming in on the day we visited there's plenty of samplers to admire, some of them worked on by girls as young as nine.

Each of the samplers on display are intricate and neatly sewn - and more importantly finished.  The cross stitch I rediscovered last year, still isn't finished... ahem!

We headed upstairs - thankfully just a spiral staircase and not like those above, which I'm sure would be problematic for many visitors - and into the South Bedroom. There were more samplers here but it was the bedspread that really was the star of the show, well alongside the wooden beams and oak bed.

Then we headed back down the stairs, yeap these ones and into the cottage garden. And despite just being off the busy high street, it felt a world away. There was a large noughts and crosses set and a dressing up box and plenty of "garden rooms" to explore.

We stood back to admire the wavy roof and the typically cottage garden type plants and after a while we felt as if we were being watched. We turned and discovered we were!

So we popped over and said hello!

I said before that the Old Post Office is tiny, the same's true for its garden, but both pack a lot in and for such small spaces there's lots to see. Even a model in the garden...

And if you're wondering about the Post Office part - the name comes from the Victorian period when it briefly held a licence. Today though, there's still a post box.

And all in all another fantastic National Trust property to explore.