A veritable treasure trove!

Keep clear ye scurvey dogs or you will a feel me belayin' pin!

Christmas jollities started with the unwrappin of presents. 'A' got this bejewelled scent bottle and the silver casket ---wonder who the Cap'n Morgan rum belongs to?

Out and about

Shiver me timbers me hearties!

Nearly as tall as a mainmast!

Went for a stroll with 'G' up to Chalkney Woods. The wood I rested upon may have made some fine spars but cut far too short to make decent mast out of. When we were a below the electickery pylon we could a hear a crackilin' sound -rather like that St Elmos fire methinks.

A down by the river Colne

Above a ragin torrent!

All a bit misty and dark mateys!

Me cold? I be Tough Ted not some landlubber!

Today went a explorin with G down along the river Colne and surrounding parts. It was a bit foggy and cold -but a course mateys 'avin sailed within both the arctic and antarctic circles this was quite a mild day only around 32 degrees Fahrenheit certainly not brass monkeys weather I can tell 'ee. (A bit more on brass monkeys here.)

Har! I fine lookin' tavern! Just the place for a thirsty sailor to be a refreshin' imself with a glass of dark rum! Sad to say mateys we were a moorin up here so that our fine shipmate B could embark as he a be workin in there. I must ask him sometime to provide some of that lovely dark nectar from the West Indies.

Went a walkin with 'G' & 'A' today and came across this here small craft a lyin in the ditch. How the devil it get there I'll be blowed, probably pulled up there by the village lads for a 'bit of a lark'. A fine little boat like that should be a plyin down the river not a lurkin in the trees like that!

These ere craft be a tad small but good for coastal waters

A fine look out -Bateman's Tower!

I thought I would take a rest on this ere anchor

Arh! a short break on the beach!

Today went with 'G' to a fair little place a called 'Brightlingsea'. It was good to have that briny smell a waftin across me nostrils I can tell ye! The craft were mainly pretty little dinghies and so on.

'G' and 'A' enjoyed a hearty lunch of fish and chips on the harbour front delicious!

More piccies be a here.

More voyages -this time we went to the British Racing School near Newmarket. The horseys on the gate give a clue as it is a place for youngsters to learn how to race horses and all that.

"It was established in 1983 and the principle objectives of the school are to provide and promote training and education for people employed in racing to a high standard of excellence".

Of course I prefer to be on a poop deck than a saddle -but each to their own!

Ahoy thar mateys! Just back from voyage with Gebeth to Paris. It was good to feel the swell of the sea and that briney air to be sure! We did a fair bit of travellin' in that city -Eiffel Tower, Montmartre, Louvre all sorts of fancy places! It was hot as down at the equator I can tell 'ee! 

Milton Keynes last Sunday was our port o' call! Voyaged across as young T was 'avin some kind of guitar gradin' exam -arr! He thinks that he did well -we will wait and see when the results arrive

In the afternoon we a went to see a film "Pirates of the Caribbean" -it was very excitin' with monsters, Davy Jones and all manner of pirates and sailin vessels -I would like to be aboard the 'Black Pearl' old Captain Jack Sparrows vessel (perhaps not when it gets sunk by the Kraken though!)

Web site thingy be a here!

Ahoy! Travelled to Cambridge again today, this time for an 'e-fair'. When G said this I swore that he was a sayin' eeeh fare -I could not work out what he was a goin on about I can tell ye.

Turns out it was to do with usin them thar computter thingies and other stuff which as you know is way beyond an old sea bear like me I can tell ee. Seems that the people who went had a grand old time anyway and that's all that matters.

Ahoy thar mateys! Ere I be with them thar stout fellows of the band 4 Ft-7! Ah Haaar!
I a voyaged to a place called Clophill to help them out with a 'Battle of the Bands' to be sure.

It was a battle between various rock bands with judgin an all. The fine crew won second prize and both I and G were extremely proud of 'em I can tell ye.

There I be perched up on the drum kit -not as high as a main mast but by all the seasons it got fair loud I can tell 'ee.

G did a bit of filmin so if you would like to see the lads of 4 Ft-7 with a couple of their pieces then click your mousey thingy here. Or see it here.

My heartiest congratulations to 4 Ft-7 -now where is that bottle of rum that ye promised me?

Cambridge again mateys! This time by the river Cam with all them thar funny punts! We also went to part of University of Cambridge -behind me is a skeleleton of a whale! Arr I love whales and their ilk -such intelligent creatures -whenever we came across a whalin' ship I was always tempted the blow the scurvy lot out o the water!

G is busy a workin' on me next video -so keep a lookout mateys!

Voyaged to Clophill to support T as 'is band were a playin' in somethin' a called 'Battle of the Bands'. G said that I did not need me trusty belayin pin and to stow away the black powder as it was not that type of battle.

Anyways this battle was between various 'rock' bands -not a tin whistle, squeeze box or fiddle to be heard -instead a mighty noise louder than a cannonade comin' a from electric guitars and loud singers! at times I ad to cover up me good ear but then I started to get to like it especially when T's band "Four Foot Seven" started up. You can be a spyin me up there on the drum kit and with the band after.

They sang various things like God Save The Queen (different words though but they did keep sayin that they loved the Queen) 13 stitches, Monster Mash and I really liked one when we could all chorus Hey Ho Lets Go!

A grand day and Four Foot Seven got second prize -£150 luvverly pounds of vouchers from a music shoppe! I know that G was extremely proud of T and I say well done too matey!

St Ives today mateys! No not unfortunately the one in Cornwall -ah the smell of brine in the air how I be missin' it!

Here I be by the River Great Ouse
That bridge ye can see is very old, G says that it is mideevil. See more about it 'ere.
That scurvy dog Oliver Cromwell has a statue of him in the town centre. Want to know more about this fair town? Then have a look see 'ere.

Cardiff this Thursday an' Wednesday wi' G. He be meetin' wi' his fellow captains from around th' country, England, Ireland, Scotland an' Wales t' talk about usin' these here computers an' things t' help swabbies wi' the'r learnin'.

't be certainly hot! I wished fer a good glass o' ale at times I can tell ye!

London wi' G. He be doin' somethin' wi' new college buildings or whatere. Now if 't had been on shipbuildin' then that would ben a different story!

Ye can be seein' me wi' th' BT Tower behind me -that would make a fine crows nest.

Across th' street be th' Chinese embassy wi' 'tis red flag flyin'. Ahh I rememeber Shangai 'ere one o' me many beauties Tiger Lily could be found!

Ahoy! See my video on the internet here! Ha arrh!

Sometimes it takes time for it to load -I'm also on BlipTV as well here.

Make sure you go for the one on the right!

Well I must tell you mateys a shiver ran down my spine yesterday! I heard G's crew saying mmm what a delicious bear -must eat it straight away- with lots of laughter.

I searched for me belayin pin - they weren't going take me without a struggle! When I realised to my relief that it was a chocolate covered biscuit thingy in the shape of a bear.

So there he is before being eaten up! From what I could hear he was very tasty too!

Ahoy thar mateys! Here I be outside of the Michael Ashcroft building in Chelmsford.

I voyaged there with G as he was doing one of them thar conference thingies. A chappie gave what was called a keynote speech (no idea what that is -surely keys go in locks like on my sea chest?)

He was also going on about digital natives. Well the only natives I ever came across were either friendly (arh Hawaii!) or like the day when we went ashore to fill our casks with fresh water and the next we knew spears and poisoned darts were whizzin past our ears!

On the return leg of our voyagin' from Luton we briefly stopped to admire the countryside just outside Baldock.
We often pass through Baldock -especially with B&T so it was interesting to see that the town was founded by the Knights Templar (they did a fair bit of voyagin' too, ooh aarh ) Also in 1904 there was the Baldock beer disaster! Many a wave I have seen but never a wave of beer, knockin' down houses an all!

Today our voyages took us to Letchworth. I did not know much about this place but discovered that it is the only place in England where there is a colony of Black Squirels. B&T would not be best pleased to learn that one of the schools is vegetarian! Give me salt pork with me hard tack any day mateys!

Tough Ted Log Monday ye fifteenth o' te month o' May -ha harr!
Cambridge again -this time at the Smart Life Centre - a brand spankin' new buildin' where hard working construction students will be a learnin' how to build houses and things. Maybe not as good as shipbuildin of course but they could always work their way up! Reminded G of his dear old Pa saying that a naval warship was almost a floating town as all was there aboard -electrickery, steam , doctors and all !

Thursday visited Norwich as G had to visit the college to help with a training event on disabled students. Many of my crew mates were as such. Old pegleg Davey, One Eye Jack and the captain who had a hook for a hand. There was a fancy galley there where the microwave and measuring scales talk to ya!

Admiral Nelson came from Norfolk and went to school in Norwich. Now there was a sailor if there ever was one. His lady love Emma Hamilton was a real beauty.

Today voyaged with Gebeth to one of them thar fancy learnin' places -'The University of Hertfordshire'. He told me that it used to be called a 'Polytechnic' which sounds even fancier to me! Apparently its history includes something called the aerospace industry -aeroplanes hah! give me a trusty seagoing vessel any day -if you ever catch me up in one of them thar things then keel haul me!

I also learnt that Hatfield is twinned with the small port of Zierikzee That's more like it mateys!

Voyaged to Ware again -this time we were at the Priory.
The site of the Priory is quite old it was founded in 1338. That would have been during the reign of Edward III, I know that he must have done a bit of sailing as he had to cross the English Channel for his battles with the French.

I did not come across any ghosts at the Priory -but if I had then my trusty belaying pin would have had to come into action -oh arr! Of course at sea we would often talk about The Flying Dutchman whilst in the mess, quaffing grog and hard biscuit. That ghost ship doomed to wander the seas foerever!

Ipswich with G. He was meeting some folk called 'Techies'-apparently they take care of those there computer thingies and all the wires and boxes that connect them up. Being an old sea bear I don't know much about this World Wide Web he keeps going on about. In all my travels across the seven seas I never saw any such thing!

Picture of me outside the Suffolk Institute of Technology. It used to be the building for the Ipswich School of Art - Brian Eno and Maggie Hambling were arty students there. I bet that they couldn't tar a ship as well as I could!

The other is this guy I met outside. No not an art student but some poor unfortunate soul who kept babbling that he was a Professor Gangrene (obviously I recoiled in horror -many a shipmate has lost a limb or life to it) and that some one called 'Action Man' had foiled his plans for world domination! I left him there in the street as he raved about neutron atomics or whatever. He reminds me of that castaway we found in the Pacific -he had been marooned for 20 years after refusing to share his chocolate digestives with his crew.

Visited Ware in Hertfordshire with G today. That's me telling G (the coxswain) to steer us safely back to our home harbour. Wikkipedia on Ware here.

Looking over the Wikkipedia entry I found:

"The modern name of the town dates from the Anglo-Saxon period when 'weirs' were built to stop the invading Vikings from escaping in their longships after defeat by Alfred the Great in a battle near Ware"

Ah yes Vikings! Were they a form of pirate perhaps? They were certainly stout sailors in their 'dragon boats' and I would have like to have accompanied them on their wide ranging sea faring.