Sheffield - Oakham - Saint Albans

 Sheffield - Oakham - Saint Albans 17th to the 22nd of July

We stayed in Netheredge Sheffield at a couple's house on Monday night who also had young children. The bnb was great, but they texted me in the morning saying we could have our money back because of all the noise during the nights with other guests. Funny, we didn't hear a thing. Needless to say, we didn't take the refund as we were satisfied customers. I think they were horrified though. 

From Sheffield, we drove through Nottingham and went to Wollaton Hall and Deer Park, a random point of interest we found on Google Maps. The house built in the 1500s is now Nottingham's Natural History Museum, with Nottingham Industrial Museum in the outbuildings. The surrounding parkland has two herds of deer, red and fallow. The museum had a real mix of stuff, from a T Rex dinosaur skeleton to firearms, to a special exhibit of tiny miniature sculptures, each tiny enough to fit in the eye of a needle, there were 25 on exhibit.

On down to Oakham to stay with Steve and Nicky, we went out for a pub dinner with their neighbors Mike and Clare. The next day we went down to the Duxford Aeroplane Museum with Steve, about an hour's drive, a great place to spend a day with 8 different themed hangers. Lots of exhibits and some of the older planes were flying.

The next day we went on down to Luton to see Nana Mary. She made an excellent lunch, and we spent the afternoon with her and had a good yarn. On to Saint Alban's that afternoon to stay with Erin and Kasy for a few days. They have been great hosts, and we appreciated the relaxing days in their lovely home.   Had a wee wander around Saint Albans with Erin - another pretty wee town.

Maree walking up to Wollaton Hall

Our route from Sheffield to St Albans

We stayed with Steve and Nicky (front) and went out for dinner with Mike and Clare, their neighbors.

A fan of flintlock rifles on the wall at Wollaton Hall - a bit of a random exhibit.

One of the miniature sculptures on display - this is inside the eye of a needle - Robin Hood in Nottingham

One of the Red Deer stags in the park.

Part of the Fallow deer herd.

One of the Fallow bucks.

The Red Deer spikers.

One of the many planes at the Duxford Aeroplane Museum 
B17 Flying Fortress.

Handley Page Victor
a bomber later used as fuel transport and for mid-air refueling.

Lightning in the big main hanger,

 Vulcan Bomber.

One of the Concord - this one was used for testing.

The Concord flight deck.

 Lancaster 
view of the rear turret.

  Hawker Hurricane fighter is being towed back to the hangar.

McDonnell Douglas F-15 Eagle

The cockpit of a Boeing B-52 Stratofortress

The WW1 ground display.

The two-seater Spitfire landing
available for rides

Single-seater Spitfire landing

The passenger aircraft display. They were all British-made and operated.

de Havilland Dragon Rapide. This plane was also flying and offering rides.

Hawker Sea Fury

One of the houses with a thatch roof in Oakham

Nicky, Maree and Luna.