The Children's Off Topic Thread

[Manoverboard]

On www BBC News it says : " The National Weather Service (NWS) said temperatures could reach 50C (122F) in southern California on Saturday " .... just saying

[Mervyn and Trish]

It never rains in Southern California. Just singing.....

[Stephen]

No please...anything but the singing

[Happydays]

If it's the BBC the forecast will be wrong

[Stephen]

Time for a

[Manoverboard]

Is Merv going to do a ' Cruise Report ' on his recent holiday, does anybody know ... ?

[Stephen]

Is Merv going to do a ' Cruise Report ' on his recent holiday, does anybody know ... ?

Does Wales have a boating lake

[Manoverboard]

Is Merv going to do a ' Cruise Report ' on his recent holiday, does anybody know ... ?

Does Wales have a boating lake

Bala is the biggest that I can think of right now but that isn't the point

Merv is the only person I know of who has had a holiday of any sort .... how did it work out I was wondering.

What happened if a lunch break or a comfort stop was required, did they cook their own food, did they go shopping ... were the shops and facilities all open and did they go in them. Did they stay in a rented home, a B&B, in a caravan or a tent and what precautions had to be followed during their holiday to keep one another safe.

You may not be interested in his holiday memoires but I certainly am

[Stephen]

I heard he brought Onelifes tin box.

[Mervyn and Trish]

Merv is the only person I know of who has had a holiday of any sort .... how did it work out I was wondering.

What happened if a lunch break or a comfort stop was required.

En route services were open on the M6/M56/A55 but toilets were variable. Some open some not. The latter on the A55 where services are not really up to motorway spec. More a Starbucks and a garage for example. Once there no problem with toilets or cafes doing takeways

Did they cook their own food, did they go shopping

Some own cooking, some takeways

Supermarkets operating as at home, but no masks required as this was Wales. I wore mine anyway.

... were the shops and facilities all open and did they go in them.

Yes, mostly.

Did they stay in a rented home, a B&B, in a caravan or a tent

We are members of Holiday Property Bond (search for it in Google!) and stayed in a cottage on their site at Henllys in Anglesey, with our social bubble of us, our daughter and our granddaughters. We had a double room with en-suite and they had two twins rooms with their own bathroom on the ground floor. On the first floor we had a large open plan living/dining/kitchen with a huge window with views of Snowdonia across the Menai Straits. Also a balcony with table and chairs and the same view. Although there are nearly a hundred properties on the site and they were all occupied it never felt busy and social distancing was easy. Henllys Hall has variously been an ancestral family home, a Francisan Friary and a three times failed hotel before HPB acquired it and converted the hall to include public rooms and apartments and built cottages in the grounds. It also has a golf course, clubhouse/bar, on site bistro and facilities including tennis courts, a woodland with walks and red squirrels, bowling green, kids playground, snooker room, indoor swimming pool and small gym. Under Welsh Regs the pool and gym were closed. They'll reopen next week but with a requirement for users to change on their own properties as the changing rooms will remain closed. The bar and bistro were similarly closed. The latter was offering excellent takeaway meals and opens in a limited way for eat in this week. Everything else was open.


What precautions had to be followed during their holiday to keep one another safe.

HPB's cleaning regime is excellent anyway but they have stepped it up a gear. Some items have been removed from the properties to reduce touch points. Site information, instead of being in a folder, was accessed on line by scanning a QR code on a laminated sheet in the cottage. We were asked to strip beds and place linen and towels in supplied bags to go directly to the laundry, reducing staff contact and giving them more time for the enhanced cleaning. Before arrival there was a health declaration to complete and of course they know who we are if we subsequently test positive. We were only allowed to have occupants from our social "bubble" and were asked not to admit others to the property. There were some one way systems and limits on numbers within the communal areas. It all felt very safe.

Out and about was generally good. We avoided crowded places. Because the pools were closed we did a number of beach trips but those who know Anglesey will know it has some very large beaches where it was easy to stay away from others. We did one National Trust visit, to Plas Newydd, where the house was closed and we had to prebook a timeslot and tickets to visit the gardens and grounds. Again very easy and safe.


You may not be interested in his holiday memoires but I certainly am

Overall it was great to get away with the family and share some time and hugs after the last few months.

I would recommend HPB to anyone. Joining was one of our best decisions ever. If anyone wants to know more, message me. I can get them to send you bumph. They are not pushy and if you're not interested won't hassle you. But they do send me a present for the referral!

[Manoverboard]

Thanks Merv ...

We are familiar with the Island, even thought about buying a new build property nr Red Wharf Bay many moons ago.

Doing a mini holiday through a reputable outfit like HPB makes excellent sense to me. It seems to be a far better plan than taking pot luck in such-a-bodies Pub / B&B Hotel / Caravan Park. Out of interest there is a requirement in France for the ' patron ' to change mattress covers between each let, did yours do that or was it just the change of sheets ?

The food aspect was interesting too and a decent takeaway on site would be a real bonus. I did wonder if you would have done a Convenience / Ready Meals type Click ‘n’ Collect at Waitrose en route cos I suspect that would have been our way of trying to do things in a risk free way.

In all honesty I am a tad doubtful that we are quite ready to use garage type facilities, except in an emergency, so any trip that we may wish to consider would have to be shorter than yours albeit we can be in Cornwall in a couple of hours.

Thanks for taking the time to post your holiday experience, they are of course in short supply during these times.

[Mervyn and Trish]

Thanks Merv ...

We are familiar with the Island, even thought about buying a new build property nr Red Wharf Bay many moons ago.

Doing a mini holiday through a reputable outfit like HPB makes excellent sense to me. It seems to be a far better plan than taking pot luck in such-a-bodies Pub / B&B Hotel / Caravan Park. Out of interest there is a requirement in France for the ' patron ' to change mattress covers between each let, did yours do that or was it just the change of sheets ?

The food aspect was interesting too and a decent takeaway on site would be a real bonus. I did wonder if you would have done a Convenience / Ready Meals type Click ‘n’ Collect at Waitrose en route cos I suspect that would have been our way of trying to do things in a risk free way.

In all honesty I am a tad doubtful that we are quite ready to use garage type facilities, except in an emergency, so any trip that we may wish to consider would have to be shorter than yours albeit we can be in Cornwall in a couple of hours.

Thanks for taking the time to post your holiday experience, they are of course in short supply during these times.

Yes they have mattress and pillow protectors. I've never asked but I believe they change them as they are always immaculate.

We didn't shop en-route as the car was full with the five of us plus luggage. Had it been the two of us we'd have taken most of it with us. On this occasion I did a shop after we arrived at Tesco in Bangor, which didn't seem very well organised but wasn't very busy. We did a subsequent small top up at Waitrose in Menai Bridge, that was very well sorted. And an even smaller top up at the Spar in Beaumaris, that was also okay. Smallish convenience store/supermarket with a one way system and good customer spacing.

[Stephen]

A feel like temp of 36deg here this afternoon

Take care out there today everyone

[Mervyn and Trish]

I blame metrication. It was never this hot in Fahrenheit.

[Manoverboard]

If it gets any hotter we'll all be decimalised ... I blame Boris Global warning

[Stephen]

I blame metrication. It was never this hot in Fahrenheit.

I can't understand why we still us German words when we are no longer in the EU

[Mervyn and Trish]

If it gets any hotter we'll all be decimalised ... I blame Boris Global warning

No need to be confused. Global warming is Boris's fault.

[Mervyn and Trish]

I blame metrication. It was never this hot in Fahrenheit.

I can't understand why we still us German words when we are no longer in the EU

We can still use it until the end of the transition period. Then it's illegal and we have to go back to groats and rods, poles and perches.

[Stephen]

And rightly so. Pounds, ounces, feet and inches should also be the norm.

[Mervyn and Trish]

And pints, quarts and ferkins.

Have you tried to get a couple of cubits of two by one in B&Q recently?

Or 8 ounces of 4 inch nails?

[Stephen]

No, but I got a good deal on four-candles the other day

[Happydays]

No, but I got a good deal on four-candles the other day

The old ones are the best

[Mervyn and Trish]

We know we are!

[Stephen]

No, but I got a good deal on four-candles the other day

The old ones are the best

Like an old wine, well aged with a full round body

[Happydays]

Now now Stephen don't talk like that about yourself