Roseberry and Teesside

Early December 2006

In 2006 we had skied in Val d'Isere, sunned in St Tropez, taken on live volcanos in Sicily and golfed in the exploding city of Dubai but nothing photographically exceeded the location where we took these three shots from virtually the same position. In front of us a blowing steel furnace, to one side a heavy but empty freighter makes its way into port and on the other side unbelievably in a developed country in the 21st Century a gaggle of identical fishermans's huts. The location - the estuary of the Tees just outside Middlesbrough in North Yorkshire, Jacky's home town.

A few miles from the industry of Teesside is one of the most attractive parts of the UK, the North Yorkshire Moors seen here in typical winter light. In August and September these hillsides are a wall to wall blaze of purple heather. _

This pheasant (look carefully at top bar of gate!!) is so used to humans it doesn't move even though we are only a few feet away.

Little does it know!

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And to conclude as we are in North Yorkshire for those (if any) who have ever wondered where 'Roseberry' in our company name, e mail address, coded Swiss bank accounts!! etc came from it is this shapely hill in the North Yorkshire Moors a few miles from where Jacky was born and where we used to walk when we first met!!!!

The chataux of Bordeaux

For the week over New Year the 'bridge gang went down to Bordeaux in south west France home of chateaux and great wine. In fact there seemed to be more chateaux than ordinary dwellings. We stayed in a small private Chateau called Bouffereille seen here from above and full frontal!

Mein host (standing by the car) welcomes

part of the arriving group of twelve bridge

playing heavy boozers including the tall

chap in blue for whom he used to work.

But he got fed up with that and went off

to buy a castle in France!!

A trip to Bordeaux means serious wine and where better to take it seriously than in the village bearing the name of one of the great Bordeaux appelations - St Emilion (left below). There we had a wine tasting lesson (how to taste it not just a glugging session!) and were rudely awakened as to how many common tastes we coudn't identify if just in an anonymous liquid or powder.

Between gourmet eating and elegant drinking we had a poke around at the local countryside Some places are just pretty as the market place (left) and river in Villneuve (right) our nearest substantial town and below the bridge and elegant old houses in Nerac

Somethings are slightly unusual - a train (there has to be a train!) selling marrons (chestnuts)

in front of a MacDonalds in old Bordeaux and carrying water over water (canal over river) at Agen

The French seemed to have a fear that ones goods and chattles were at permanent risk of being nicked (stolen!) and so put ramparts round everything from oneself as in a chateau like Bonaguil (below left) one's flour as at the mill at Barbaste (below right) .................

even one's books in the library as at Nerac (below left) and perhaps more understandably one's very good local sweet wine in the chateau at Mombazillac (below right)

It was a colourful area in which to see 2006 out

Bonne Annee

For the "last supper" we poshed up for a black tie do in the chateau's dining room. The opening proceedings were reasonably sedate

But a seven course banquet with a different wine with each course followed, in fact I counted ten!! This did not include champagne at the outset nor brandy with coffee at the end. After this things did get a little less sedate (below)and 2007 roared in in great humour.