RoaminRascal

Saturday, 9 May 2015

Welcome to Randwick Wap

Amongst a number of festivals of pagan origin, later adopted by the orthodox church, held in Gloucestershire to herald in spring is the Wap - one of the country's oldest surviving festivals.Dating from around the C12 this rowdy affair was banned for a short period in the 1800's due to riotous and drunken behaviour 8~p

The Randwick Wap, held atop of the Stroud Valley, was revived by the late Rev Nial Morrison. It starts with the blessing of the Wap Cheeses before they are rolled three times around the church widdershins anti-clockwise. One cheese is shared out and the other two kept for the cheese rolling.

The years elected Village Mayor, Wap Queen and elected entourage process down the narrow main street from the War Memorial to the Mayor Pool.

The crowd are kept at bay by the Mop Man and his Apprentice wafting their very wet mops around :)

At the Mayors Pool the Mayor and Wap Queen are doused with (buckets) of spring water followed by short speeches by both and a rendition of the Wap song.

Held shoulder high on wooden sled seats, by members of the local football team, they are paraded back through the main street to the head of the well race.

At the head of the well race we return to the remaining two cheeses. These heavy roundels are rolled down the steep hill three times alternately by the Mayor and Queen,

and, alternately retrieved and returned up the hill, at a trot, by two of the younger flower maidens.

Then on to the main field for the fayre and entertainment. T'would not, of course, be complete without the Morris Dancers:

Welly Wagging:

and birds of prey:

Then off to the WI tent for tea n cakes :-p

Eastcombe, Bussage and Brownshill Gardens

Set in a hilltop location in the Stroud Valley These are a collection of medium and small gardens spread across three adjoining villages. The village hall providing a focal point complete with tea, cakes and plant stalls.

stunning views over the valley

Tuesday, 5 May 2015

Tenerife Travels

The occasion was Sis's birthday the destination Los Cristianos, Tenerife. 28C on arrival and it stayed there all week :) We rented an apartment in Cristamar which had an amazing pool

Los Cristianos has a wonderful promenade with a wide array of eateries. One of it's most striking features is its accessibility, not just a token gesture but incorporated in its built environment. Even the complex pool had an access chair lift built in and like Feurta it is very laid back and inclusive.

Trip 1 Botanic Gardens @ Puerto de la Cruz

Soon got the hang of the local bus service, modern coaches at reasonable prices, the 343 took us round the coast road, south to north, and into Puerto. Whilst developed for tourism it maintains an amount of its original small port tradition.

It also has an interesting line in street art:

The Botanic Garden is compact but well worth a visit.

Its centre piece is an enormous tree with a peculiar growth technique, its branches drop down roots that then become additional trunks to help support the tree in the shallow earth surface of the volcanic rock:

Trip 2 Whale Tail

A visit to this part of the Canaries is not complete without a whale watch boat trip. We had intended to sail with the Lady Shelley catamaran but it seemed to be out of commission so we went with the smaller Travelin Lady and can well recommend it - great crew, great trip, great price!

Mainly saw pods of pilot whales which swam v close to the boat. Chased after a pod of dolphins but they were too far n too fast.

Also ran along part of the impressive volcanic coastline.

Trip 3 Loro Park

This has to be an absolute must for anyone visiting Tenerife. A little pricey but well worth it. It's large, has amazing shows, is a conservation centre, spotlessly clean and the relationship between handlers and animals is one of real respect - they talk of the animals being ambassadors for their species and are treat accordingly.

The orca's were truly magnificent a spectacular sight:

Weren't sure why regular visitors were wearing plastic capes but it soon became obvious as the orcas had a habit of swimming close to the edge and whacking bucket loads of water at the audience with their tails !!

The dolphins were just magic:

they made this little girls day with
a trip round the pool

but this was the most spectacular, tossing a handler
high in the air and over a high wire

Closely followed by the sea lions:

Perhaps the most unusual, and the hardest to photograph, was the unique wild bird show. All manor and colour of exotic bird flew around the auditorium, amongst the crowd, fed from bowls, performed memory games with amazing accuracy - stunning: