Sloten, in Friesland, is another of the eleven “cities” of the Elfstedentocht and the last one we visited on our day trip last June when we were in the Netherlands.

Canal at Sloten, with bridge:-

In the other direction is this bridge and a windmill:-

The windmill:-

The canal beyond the windmill:-

The Protestant Church, Sloten:-

Sloten’s Elfstedentocht fountain is a small pillar of containers of various sorts surmounted by two figures. It’s apparently called the ‘Peewit’:-

Hindeloopen is a town/village on the IJselmeer (formerly known as the Zuiderzee) in The Netherlands. It is one of the eleven “cities” of the Elfstedentocht.

IJselmeer from seadyke at Hindeloopen:-

A Hindeloopen Street to left of above:-

Going round to the right leads to the harbour and this Lifeboat House. KNRM is the Dutch eqivalent of the RNLI:-

Old lifeboat on slipway down to harbour:-

Moving on round the road is this canal bridge and bell tower:-

View along canal from bridge above:-

In June last year we visited The Netherlands again. One of the day trips we took was to Dokkum, in Friesland.

On the way in to the town fom the car park, along the canal, I spotted this house (in that Dutch fashion known as De Stijl?) which is so Art Deco looking:-

Further on was this scene which is so Dutch it’s almost a cliché, canal and windmill – with lovely bridge added in:-

The Town House in Dokkum has a carillon tower:-

Town House:-

A sculpture in the twon:-

Side view:-

Another almost deco building:-

Dokkum is one of Friesland’s eleven cities between which an ice-skating race known as the Elfstedentocht used to take place when there was ice on the canals. I suspect it’s extremely unlikely ever to be held again as the winters are no longer cold enough long enough for any ice to be safe to skate on. In honour of that history, though, the canal side benches in Dokkum are in the shape of an ice skate:-

In 2018 eleven artists designed a fountain each for the eleven cities. Dokkum’s is known as the Ice Fountain:-

Ice Fountain information:-

Just below Old Pulteney Bridge in Bath there is a weir in the shape of a part-ellipse:-

Weir from above, Old Pulteney Bridge to left:-

Video of weir:-

Bath in Somerset was our main destination for our trip down south last year. Its architecture is mainly Georgian and reminded me a lot of Edinburgh.

This is Old Pulteney Street:-

To get to there from the city centre you must cross Old Pulteney Bridge:-

Though Bath’s most famous Georgian feature is the Royal Crescent (stitch of two photos):-

I must say that area of grass in front of the Crescent looked rather scruffy and unkempt.

Gable end of The Crescent:-

Bridge over the River Avon at Bradford-on-Avon:-

The peculiarly shaped building to the left was once the town’s lockup, where prisoners were kept overnight (presumably till they sobered up.)

Bridge, reverse view:-

Reflections:-

Rivert Avon:-

Ashford in the Water is a village in Derbyshire just under two miles from Bakewell. We stopped to see it because it featured in a book of British villages worth visiting.

Its main attraction for me was the lovely old bridge over the River Wye:-

View from bridge:-

Bridge close to:-

Reverse view:-

Blackness Castle sticks out into the River Forth a few miles west of the Forth Bridges. (See photograph in the link.) Because of its situation and prominence it is sometimes known as ‘the ship that never sailed’. It has had several uses over the years since it was built in the 1440s including as an ammunition store. As with most Scottish castles it has featured in the TV series Outlander.

Infiormation board:-

From approach road:-

Closer view and modern entrance:-

Side view and old entrance:-

Old entrance: now blocked off. The notice warns you not to climb on it:-

As you can see in the photo in the link a pier pokes from the castlefurther out into the river.

Castle from pier. (Stitch of two photos.):-

Pier, part of Castle and Blackness village beyond:-

View west from pier:-

View east: three bridges across the Forth:-

Close-up:-

From Huntingdon we travelled up to Buxton for an overnight stop.  We stayed at the Palace Hotel. My photo of the facade did not come out well.

The room they gave us was well appointed and we had a good stay. Unfortunately we returned later in the year and that room was looking extremely tired and in need of refurbishment, which kind of put us off going back.

Nevertheless, the hotel has an imposing staircase:-

And the dining room ceiling is quite fancy:-

I took another photo of the Opera House and adjacent Pavilion Gardens:-

Pagoda in Pavilion Gardens:-

Pond and bridge:-

Bridge parapet, pond and trees:-

A different bridge:-

15 goslings with parents in the Gardens:-

Incarcerated train. It was late in the evening; the miniature railway was shut for the night :-

John Frostbrug in Dutch, this is the famous bridge too far, except it’s a replacement for the original Rhine Bridge fought over in the Second World War during Operation Market Garden. It’s somewhere in The Netherlands I’ve always wanted to visit.

I must say the River Rhine looks not very wide here – not as wide as the Clyde at Dumbarton certainly. Still an obstacle to an army though:-

Eastern guard post. Slight Deco styling.  I assume this is original:-

Western guard post. Note groove up the middle of steps, for wheeling bicycles up and down.:-

Reverse view of bridge:-

Roadway:-

Commemorative plaque with inscription to John Frost by roadway on north side of bridge:-