Annual trip to Germany. Leipzig, Erfurt and the Harz mountains.

Mr Veitch and I travelled across the USA by rail stopping at various locations for beer, food and the sights,
Seattle-Chicago-New York

The Sound Mirrors at Lade, near Dungeness.
On a few occasions the site is open for organised tours. Sunday 14th Sept was the last for this year. There must of been in excess of 300 people for this free tour.
The history of these strange structures ,one of which is over 80 years old, is a sad story of a man's belief in the idea that the acoustic sounds of approaching enemy aircraft could be detected. However the range of these listening mirrors was very limited. Perhaps only giving a few minutes warning. The design was rendered almost obsolete overnight after the invention or Radar in 1935.
Today the area is owned by a quarry company. The site has received cash from English Heritage in order to preserve it for the future.

Three days in Krakow, Poland. This was essentially a birthday gift for my father.
We visited the concentration camps at Auschwitz and Auschwitz Birkenau. Also the Wieliczka Salt Mine. These were visited on Friday 27th June. The scale of the death camps is staggering. Having visited Dachau in Germany last year I thought I was prepared. However nothing can ever prepare you for the scale of human suffering at these camps. To see tons of human hair behind glass screens, to see luggage with the names of the dead written upon them and to see the faces of the prisoners is a very humble and sobering experience. If you've never been to place like this. I can say you don't enjoy the day out. But you need to see it. Its nothing like you can ever appreciate from books or TV programes.
The 28th June was dad's birthday and we toured around the city of Krakow. Visiting the location oh Oskar Schindler's factory. Also we walked around the site of the Jewish Ghetto of Krakow.
The people of Poland are very friendly. The food is very good and the prices have to be seen to belived.
A very worthwhile all be it brief visit to Poland. A return visit will be arranged.

I was lucky to get a flight on a Dakota Douglas DC3. As part of the Dakota farewell tour. These planes must come out of passenger traffic in July 2008 due to crippling new safety regulations. A fantastic day and what a sound from those engines.. 14 cylinder Pratt & Whitney. 1200 HP
DOUGLAS DC3 DAKOTA G-AMPY

TMS' annual drinkies tour.
This time we went to the surroundings of Bristol on a Bristol.. Four pubs, lots of beer and good company.. Cheers Tony..

Four night break to the Isle Of Islay. Scotland. Stayed at the Port Charlotte Hotel. Toured around 4 of the island's distillieries. Cracking time with Mr Avey in company. Cheers Col :-)

Fourth year running for the Guv's German tour. Another great 7 days with lots of beer, food and railways.

Seven days sailing down the Nile. From Luxor to Aswan. Taking in temples and the odd drinkie. With Teddy, James, Colin , Peter and Clive.

Ten days in Japan with Hitachi and South Eastern Trains. This was a train handling course with the new HS1 train. We did however get a little down time to visit Hiroshima and Tsuwano. To visit the Atom Bomb site and a steam train ride to a temple in the mountains.

Pictures taken of Unit 395002 in Hitachi's Kasado Works, Japan. Also included are units 395003 and 395004 in various stages of construction

Afternoon's walk along the 'White Cliffs' of Dover. Towards the South Foreland Lighthouse. Which is maintained by The National Trust

As part of the South Eastern Test team, I was lucky enough to get on the special Eurostar trip to Westernhanger. This was to carry out simulated train evacuations in the new HS1 tunnels. Also forming the first High Speed One passenger train into London St Pancras International.

Just general pics from my travels about the place..

Short trip along the coast of Dover. Showing my mate from Slovenia how good our coastline looks in decent weather