Weekly Chat (Non-Osprey), 3 December 2023

Thank you, bjane and everyone who enjoyed it.  We are indeed very lucky to have such friends on here, as Pat says - you're a great crowd.

My health is a mystery to even the medics. I strongly suspect now that I had some sort of virus (not covid) which affected my immune system. I was very weak for months two years ago and then made a long slow recovery. But its left me tired - just going out shopping means I have to sit down for an hour or two to recover. My children don't know and think I'm just slightly incapacitated by the arthritis I have. I don't want to worry then, & don't think anything can be done.

Some sad news for those of you who knew Quiet Woman , Pat Souter
I received a card from her daughter Carol telling me that Quiet Woman passed over quietly in her sleep on 20th November . Her funeral was yesterday, so not receiving the card until this morning I was unable to attend actually, gratefully so because of the weather here.
I met Quite Woman at least a couple of times over the years at the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust , Slimbridge. 25 miles from Bristol which is where I live. Please pass the news on to any you feel may like to know

I looked back to see where I'd left off in my travelogue & was shocked at how long ago I stopped. Sorry.

I see I left at the point when we finished our first day After a good night's sleep in our comfortable cabin, we got an early breakfast as we had arrived overnight in Belfast. It was grey and cloudy and we'd booked for a tour of the city.

We were taken right around the city in a coach, covering most of the major landmarks. We stopped outside the main buildings including those we had walked around 18 months ago! Needless to say, we didn't get out to look as it was drizzling. Then we were taken to the famous Wall which divides the city, even today. Some of the paint was fresh as our guide explained that feelings still run high, there. Very sobering and rather sad.

The highlight after that was to be taken to tour The Titanic Experience. This is a modern museum facility explaining the building and maiden voyage of the fateful ship. This is the 1st thing you see. The guide explained that it took about 3,000 men to build and fit out the ship, and they are remembered by all of the tiles fixed to the outside - there are no two the same.

It's a dramatic  shape, too, from the outside. Once inside we were given earphones to listen to an explanation of what we were seeing. Plenty of rooms to wander through. My only bugbear was that eventually, I had to take the earphones off as there were speeches and sound effects in many of the exhibits, and I couldn't listen to both!!

At the top of the building there are some clear glass windows, looking down at what is adjacent to the building. It's where the Titanic was launched and is marked by several large poles which are the size of the original scaffolding. You may have seen concerts broadcast from this Titanic Slipway, such as The Last Night of the Proms. It looked very big and was sobering as we know now what a fateful life the ship would have  

Cirrus. Sad news about Pat Souter. Thank you for letting us know.