Ely and Silverstone Weekend

Thursday 7^th July to Tuesday 12^th July

Geoff and Kev enjoying the sunshine

We are off to Ely today to stay with our friends Geoff and Sue so we left the boat in Mercia Marina and caught the bus to Willington Train Station and got the train to Ely.  We had to change at Nottingham.

Geoff met us at the train station and took us to their house at Isleham Marina.  They have a lodge there on the lake, it is really nice.  It was lovely to see Geoff, Sue and Roxy their dog again and catch up.  We are staying here until Tuesday.

Kestrel

Barn Owl

On Friday they took us to a craft centre where there was an Owl Sanctuary so we had a look around there, it was a great place.  We then had lunch in the café.  We went back to their house and just chilled out for the rest of the day as Geoff and Kev are off to Silverstone tomorrow so an early start.

 

Saturday morning Sue took Geoff and Kev to Newmarket to get the coach for 7am while I stayed with Roxy.  They were picking up a couple of other people and then heading to the circuit.  They got there mid-morning and caught the end of third practice and the other gp races then watched the qualifying which was very exciting and they had a roving seat ticket for today so they could try out a few different areas. They were staying at a hotel in Tamworth so they left the circuit at 6pm and the coach took them to the hotel.  

Lewis in the Driver's Parade

Following safety car at start

The coach was leaving at 6.30am from the hotel on Sunday so they had an early start but disaster struck as the coach wouldn’t go in gear but fortunately after a short while it got going and they set off.  Apparently he wasn’t a very experienced driver and the journey was quite eventful going to and from the circuit!

Lewis roaring by

They got there about 10am which was good so they had plenty of time before the race starting at 1pm.  They had seats for Stowe Corner which gave them a good view of the cars flying down the Hanger Straight and then braking hard for the corner.  They also saw the Driver’s parade before the race.

They got back to Newmarket about 9.30pm and there was only three couples left on board but there was a mix up with the bags and Kev ended up with someone else’s ruck sack!!.  Unfortunately he didn’t notice until the coach had driven away.  Needless to say Kev was somewhat stressed (Fuming), we all kept our distance from him until the morning!

River Lark

In the morning after a few phone calls, it was all sorted and his bag was at Ipswich so we had a trip to there to pick up his bag and drop the other bag off and then we found a lovely pub nearby and had lunch.  It was a Vintage Inn and the food was really good.  We then headed back to Sue and Geoffs and had a relaxing evening now all the stress was gone.

The Captain and his Mate!

Enjoying the boat trip

We are going back today (Tuesday) but not until this afternoon so in the morning Geoff took us out for a trip on his boat along the River Lark.  It was lovely and we really enjoyed it, he has a cruiser and it is a really nice comfy boat.  

Geoff and Sue's Boat

Roxy

We then said goodbye to Sue and Roxy and Sue asked Kev if he had the right bag this time before we left, he told Geoff to drive on and ignore her!!  We got to the station and said bye to Geoff and got our train back to Willington, then caught the bus back to the marina.

View from their garden

We put our bags on board then went for a meal in the bar on the marina.

We had a lovely stay with Geoff and Sue, they looked after us so well and it was lovely to spend time with them and Kev really enjoyed going to Silverstone with Geoff.  We look forward to our next stay with them if they can put up with us again. 

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