Tuesday 30 April 2019

Wallace & Gromit's Musical Marvels




We are really looking forward to seeing Wallace & Gromit's Musical Marvels when it visits Blackpool in May as part of the UK tour. 

In Wallace & Gromit's Musical Marvels Wallace prepares to perform his musical masterpiece "My Concerto in Ee Lad" with help from his faithful canine companion Gromit…what could possibly go wrong?! This interactive experience features specially created animations as well as live orchestral accompaniment and escapades from the Picture House Orchestra and presenter Matthew Sharp. And if that wasn’t enough, for the first time ever, you can also enjoy the Academy Award® winning Wallace & Gromit film The Wrong Trousers with live orchestral accompaniment.


It sounds fantastic and I am sure we will have a great time. The tour starts on the 15th May in Beaconsfield and the final show is in Glasgow on the 9th June. Have a look at the full tour dates on the Wallace & Gromit Musical Marvels website where you can click on the venue to take you to the booking page. Tickets are selling fast so it is worth booking soon.

I went to the same school as Nick Park and it was always said that Wallace was based on one of the English teachers. Whether this is true or not I don't know but this particular teacher always wore a tank top and was quite a character!


Monday 22 April 2019

Simply Swim

William is going to the World Scout Jamboree in America this summer and with less than 100 days to go we have started thinking about the kit he will need to take with him. The site in West Virginia looks amazing with and there will be lots of water activities on the various lakes on the site so when I was offered the chance to review some swimwear from the Simply Swim website I looked at swimming shorts for William straight away. 

Simply Swim have a great choice of swimwear and the website is really easy to use. There is a lot of choice but you can easily filter by department, brand, size, colour etc making your final decision much easier. There is a handy size guide which I found useful as sizes do tend to vary on different brands. I knew better than to choose shorts for William, gone are the days when I could buy his clothes and he would wear them! He had a look on the website and chose two pairs of Speedo swimming shorts which will be really practical for camp. The shorts arrived quickly and were well packaged in a plastic bag that easily fitted through the letterbox.

The first pair he chose were the Speedo Gingham Check Leisure 16 inch watershort which have a tailored finish and look quite stylish. They have two front pockets and a button down back pocket and are made from polyester. The fabric uses an environmentally friendly dying method that results in less water, energy and chemical usage, as well as colour that is more resistant to fading. I hate faded swimming costumes/shorts and end up replacing them frequently so I will be keen to see how well these last.


William has tried them on and said they fit well and feel very comfortable. I have had a look at the stitching and they are very well made with no loose threads (another pet hate of mine!) and they will be perfect for the Jamboree.

The second pair he chose were the Speedo Solid Leisure navy shorts. These are a comfortable loose fitting swimming short, ideal for leisure swimming which will be perfect for the water activities on the Jamboree.



These shorts have an elasticated waist with drawstring and again have two front pockets and a rear one. The rear pocket is secured with velcro and again they are very well made.
William wore these to go swimming this weekend and said they are comfortable to wear and dried quickly.

William already has goggles but when I was looking at Simply Swim's website I noticed they have a good range of Speedo Goggles and with prices starting at £11 there is something to suit every budget.

If you are looking for swimwear then the Simply Swim website is a great place to start, there is a huge choice and something for everyone whether it is swimwear for holidays or swimwear for keener swimmers.

Disclaimer - This is a collaborative post with Simply Swim, I was gifted the swimming shorts in order to give an honest review. All words and opinions are our own.


The Monsal Trail

We spent a lovely few days in Derbyshire at the start of the Easter holidays. The weather was glorious and we did lots of walking and cycling. We were staying close to the Monsal Trail which is a cycling/walking route along the former Midland Railway line. The trail is 8.5 miles between Blackwell Mill, Chee Dale and Coombs Road at Bakewell.


The route takes you through the original railway tunnels and it is a really spectacular ride, the scenery is beautiful and the tunnels add to the fun.


As it is a disused railway line it is relatively flat so is perfect for children and there were plenty on the trail on the day we went. I do suspect that in the height of the season it does get very busy, we went mid week and there were lots of people walking and cycling.




There are a number of information boards dotted along the route which were interesting to read and told you a little of the history of the route.



When we reached Bakewell we rode into the town to find a nice spot to have lunch and also take the opportunity to try one of the famous Bakewell puddings! We found a nice bench by the river and sat watching the ducks whilst we ate our picnic.

On the way back we stopped for a well deserved ice cream before tackling the steep climb back up to the main road and our caravan site.