Back to Britain – May 2026 (Month 14)

Welcome to May 2026.

A visit to Scotland

Klaus had a couple of visits near Glasgow for work and he arranged these for the end of a week so we could have the weekend in Glasgow.

He drove up on the Wednesday and I bought a train ticket to Glasgow for the Friday. I headed to Bury St Edmunds Railway Station at 8:30am for my train to Peterborough.

From Peterborough I got the train to Edinburgh and then took another train to Glasgow.

Klaus had finished his meeting and checked in at the hotel so he walked to the station to pick me up.

We went out that evening to a curry house round the corner from the hotel. We were staying in the Radisson Hotel which is in the SEC area and it was a very good hotel at a fair price.

We had already planned what we would do the next morning – our first tourist Parkrun! We checked out information about several different Parkruns near Glasgow, most of which were rather hilly but we found one that was an out-and-back run along a riverside park at Erskine and decided to go for that.

We both did very good times, I got a very good PB (for me) which I will struggle to better in Bury St Edmunds in future as the Bury course is quite hilly compared to this one.

As a bit of a cool down we walked along the Clyde afterwards.

We drove back to our hotel and then went out walking in Glasgow. We stopped for lunch in the centre of Glasgow and Klaus chose the right sort of drink.

We had seen a huge march with lots of people in uniform and lots of drums and fifes playing – I couldn’t work out what it was and asked a bystander who said it was some sort of memorial to the Battle of the Somme.

We wandered in and out of a few shops and then stopped for a scone to fortify ourselves.

There is a statue of the Duke of Wellington https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Equestrian_statue_of_the_Duke_of_Wellington,_Glasgow which almost always has a cone on its head – this time the horse also had a cone!

We had a lovely meal at Sticks ‘n Sushi in Glasgow that evening and then walked back to the hotel, although we had to wait for about twenty minutes under a bridge due to a huge rainstorm.

The next morning we headed off on our return journey, stopping first at the great farm shop and café near Barnard Castle for lunch.

We planned to stop at a National Trust place along the route and chose a place near Wakefield called Nostell Priory. Although it was a rather wet day it we enjoyed a short walk from the car park to the house and then a good look over the house.

And of course we had some tea and scones in the café.

We arrived safely home having really enjoyed our short trip. I was also impressed by my train journey to Glasgow as all the trains were on time and very comfortable.

Walks with Aggie and Lottie

During May I had several walks with Aggie and Lottie, the two dogs that I borrow.

Aggie is extremely happy to see me and relaxed about walking with me and then chilling out at our house, which we often do. it’s lovely to have a dog around the place again.

Lottie previously seemed less keen on going out for walks with me but on a walk this month I seemed to finally have gained her trust and she was happy to trot off to the park with me, leaving her owners behind. Lottie is still always on the lead as I don’t entirely trust that she won’t run home, whereas Aggie is completely happy to be with me.

When we dropped Aggie off after a long walk we were invited in for a cup of tea with Nigel and Debbie, which we were happy to do. Klaus took his baseball cap off and had it on his lap but at some point it slipped off and Aggie stole it, without us noticing. Some time later Nigel noticed Aggie had something in her mouth – which turned out to be Klaus’s baseball cap which had been rather shredded. We found this quite funny as she had done it so quietly – and then three days later when we got home there was a new hat on the doorstep and also the most fantastic card!

The interesting thing was that Nigel and Debbie already had the card in stock – they had seen it at some point and thought it might come in useful as apparently she has form for running off with socks and things.

She looks like butter wouldn’t melt in her mouth though!

A visit to Battlesbridge

My sister has now reduced her work to four days per week so she now has Fridays off. We decided we would meet up for some time together at Battlesbridge which is an antique centre in Essex, about an hour’s drive for me and fifteen minutes for Anna.

We originally thought we would lunch together at the Perrywood Garden Centre but they had had a fire in their café and were only partially opened so we decided to look for somewhere else at Battlesbridge and I discovered that there is a converted bus which is now a tea room.

It was a warm day so we sat outside and enjoyed cake and scones (after having had a panini each).

We had a really good chinwag and then went to Battlesbridge Antique Centre where I once again found a super value evening dress by Joseph Ribkoff (I got one there about four years ago) at a super bargain price, plus a bolero to go with it. (In next month’s blog there will probably be a photograph of me wearing it on Queen Mary 2…)

Some Rambles

I did a lot of rambling this month, as did Klaus.

Helmingham Hall

This is a very posh house still in private ownership.

There is a very impressive deer park and we saw loads of ’em.

Denston, near Newmarket

Another beautiful house.

The village also had a lot of characterful properties.

Hargrave

We managed to almost beat the rain on this visit, but when the rain finally came we were able to dodge into a pretty little church to wait out the rain shower.

Walk leading

This month I also did my Walk Leader training (online) so that I can in future lead walks for the Ramblers. I have scheduled my first walk for 5 June at Rougham and have walked it three times to check it out – each time with Aggie the cockapoo.

Five days before the actual walk I went round with some secateurs to cut away the worst of the brambles that were encroaching on the path, and to do a risk assessment for my route. All looks good and ready for the Friday walk.

Wyken Vineyard

Klaus had got a bit of a painful back after the last Friday ramble (they are shorter but slower) so I went on my own to one at Wyken Vineyard.

We walked to an ice age furrow in the earth called the Grundle (don’t google this as I discovered it’s also slang for part of a person’s undercarriage).

Along the walk we came across this piano which was unplayable as most of the keys and hammers were no longer functional.

Bury St Edmunds

There is a wonderful new piece of street art between the Arc shopping centre and the Buttermarket in Bury.

We have done a few cultural things in Bury this month, including the first of a series of Prom Concerts where there is a bar at the front of the cathedral where you can buy drinks and snacks during the concert, plus you are encouraged to walk around and experience the sound from different angles.

We sat right opposite the organ pipes for maximum effect and I was actually sitting in the Director of Music’s spot. I knew this was OK as it was she playing the organ!

I also went to a concert which was a recital by a soprano.

And another organ concert which took place at lunchtime on a day when there was a Martin Kemp Disco that evening so almost all the chairs had been removed.

u3a Suffolk Churches

We visited another lovely church this month with the u3a Suffolk Churches visit. This was St John’s Church in Elmswell which had a bit of a trendy vicar who did the tour. He was clearly more evangelical than most vicars of such churches and they had guitars playing music in the services, for example. The church had some really excellent reordering at the back where a tea and coffee area had been created and above it was a large balcony. It was done very well and the visit was interesting.

German Stammtisch

Our monthly Stammtisch at the end of May had a record number of people – ten of us in total! Matt and Michael, who we had met after Christmas when Lara was visiting, also came along for the first time. Michael seemed to enjoy having Germans to chat to again. This time we sat out in the garden of the pub as it was a lovely day and it turns out they have a huge Beer Garden with plenty of space for us to park our bikes in future.

Tea and Cake with Andrew and Christiane

On our rambles we have got to know a really lovely couple called Andrew and Christiane who live 5 minutes’ walk away from us. Christiane is German, from Hamburg, and Andrew is a former professional musician (now retired). They invited us over for tea and cake and Christiane had made two different German cakes – we enjoyed a slice of each! I didn’t photograph the first cake but I did the second.

We had a really great time chatting with them and had a tour of their lovely new house – they are good at stairs as they have four storeys. And a wonderful Steinway Grand Piano on the first floor…

Klaus’s birthday

Klaus has his birthday in May and he took the day off work to celebrate it. We started the day with coffee and cake at Caffè Nero in BSE.

We then decided to head to Aldeburgh for some time by the seaside.

We wandered around a bit and then stopped for a scone.

We had planned to have fish and chips in Aldeburgh but the famous chippie was shut on Mondays so we drove home and had fish and chips from our local delivery company instead.

Cycling again!

This blog used to be all about cycling (and cake). Since the COVID pandemic our cycling had significantly reduced and then moving to the UK also made a difference – new, bumpier and hillier roads, Klaus working so much and having little spare time… so he didn’t ride at all in 2025 and I only rode about 8km.

Anyway, as Klaus had had time off work through illness and was doing a phased return to work (working initially 2 days per week, then 3, then 4 during the month of May) he had some spare time and so decided to have a go on the trike.

Ickworth

We cleaned them up a bit after nearly 2 years of non-use and then Klaus plotted a route to Ickworth (the local National Trust place) and off we went.

The ride there was nice and the traffic wasn’t too bad. We were using some of the cycle paths around Bury town which we have occasionally walked but it’s always a bit different on the trike, particularly with the offset barriers at the beginning/end of paths. The trikes got through them all but we would have no chance with the velomobiles.

We parked our bikes and went for cake (we shared one piece).

We rode home down a different route which was very nice but ended up going down a private road. We realised we were arriving at someone’s house and driveway and I saw a chap walking with his dogs and apologised for being in the wrong place but he was really pleasant and let us carry on.

When we got home we discovered that one of the dowel pins which attaches my rear luggage/battery rack to the bike frame was missing (see the yellow circle in the photo below, it should have a metal pin flush to the surface).

On the other side the pin was halfway out (see below, you can just see the pin within the hole).

For an initial repair I cable tied the piece in place.

I contacted ICE to ask for spares but as it’s such an old trike (15 years) they don’t have the part any more. I was able to find dowel pins on eBay and bought a couple of sizes to make sure I had the right one as it was so tricky to measure. I ended up needing an M6 pin. I had bought 20mm lengths but this was a bit short, 22mm or maybe 25mm would have been better, but I will keep an eye on them now and make sure they don’t fall out. I hugely tightened the grub screws that were supposed to keep them in. If they do start being awkward again I might just wrap a cable tie around them which ought to do the trick.

Rougham Airfield

Klaus planned a cycle route out to the east of Bury St Edmunds through the Moreton Hall area (which has a lot of new build houses and so decent cycle paths) and we also went to the gate of Rougham Tower.

It was closed but we see there is an open day at the end of June which we will try to get to.

On the way back we cycled along our usual early morning jogging route, where the blossom/fluff from the trees looked like snow.

Risby Barns

Klaus plotted another trike route to Risby Barns, which is a small antiques centre with a tea room.

We had morning cake.

It was a really hot day and we enjoyed our 19km round route, this time going out to the west. Klaus is doing an excellent job of planning routes as we start to learn the best roads for our bikes.

Back in the Velomobiles

Klaus then decided it was time to get back into his Velomobile. He had to pump up all four tyres (and I had to pump all 3 of mine) and he then had to fix a slow puncture in one of his tyres but eventually we set off for a ride around Moreton Hall. Which went well.

On the way back after a long downhill, just as we were arriving into the centre of Bury, Klaus got a puncture. His first UK puncture, which he was able to fix soon enough.

We had a pub evening with the tenors and cycled there by Velomobile too – it was fun riding through Bury St Edmunds with people we passed staring at us in incomprehension. Plus the dogs – labradors always have a wonderfully quizzical expression.

Klaus took himself out on a long ride on his own when I was doing a Ramble but rather overcooked the distance due to a diversion and felt a bit pooped after. It takes a while to get the cycling muscles back again, so he had to take it easy for a few days. He also managed to injure his heel on our garden gate and so decided not to do the Parkrun at the end of May but instead to volunteer there. He had to go earlier than me as a marshal so he went by velomobile.

Although I had originally planned to go by car, I thought it was a bit poor to drive when Klaus had ridden (the grand distance of 1.4km to Nowton Park) so I cycled too.

Lot of people talked to me about the Velomobiles, they just aren’t seen very often in the UK.

Klaus was doing an excellent job as Marshal as I did my two laps of the course.

He also took this photo of me where I appear to be walking but I was actually running!

He was marshalling near a big fallen tree and noticed blue tits flying around whilst runners went past. He heard them cheeping and saw that there was a nest – the baby blue tits were fledging during the Parkrun!

He enjoyed doing his marshalling and I had a better run than some of my more recent ones – partly because I enjoy the warm weather.

So as you can see, this month has been lots of outdoorsy stuff. Klaus is really paying attention to his health with cycling, running, walking and doing exercises at home. He is really excited to be back to cycling and we are looking forward to finding new routes that we can ride. Obviously the road surfaces and cycling infrastructure are much worse than Germany, and of course it is fairly hilly round and about, but it’s still great fun cycling here and the landscape is just beautiful.

Next month (June) sees my 55th birthday plus another holiday – cruising to New York and back on Queen Mary 2. We are really looking forward to this holiday, it will be wonderfully relaxing again. Klaus returned to full time working for June so he is now on 5 days per week and getting back into the swing of things.

See you next month!