Family day out

Yesterday I took the day off work, we planned to take a train somewhere for a pub lunch. Our intentions had initially been quite adventurous, we'd hoped to take a train out of London to find a nice pub in a country town somewhere. We thought we'd give Godalming in Surrey a go.

However when we got to the train station and saw how much the tickets were going to be we quickly reassessed and settled on Teddington. A suburb within Greater London, but far enough out that we would feel like we'd been on a trip.

Teddington is a nice suburb which sits along the River Thames, we love that river.

We headed straight for the Anglers pub which is on the river. We recieved a very friendly welcome and got a nice table. Theo got his own menu. Pork belly for me, chicken breast for Jackie and fish and chips for Theo. While we waited for our meals I took Theo for a walk in the garden and a play in the playground they had. He was a bit unsure about the slide but got used to it.

Back to the table our drinks had been delivered (ale, wine and milk), we all enjoyed our drinks.

Meals turned up, all were good. Theo's favourite bit was the chips although he did have some of the peas and fish as well. Theo had gone for a meal deal which included pudding so we got that while he carried on eating his chips. His juice in his fresh fruit salad proved ideal for dunking his remaining chips. His also ate a few of the grapes.

Theo likes mandarins and oranges, perhaps he thought lemons would be nice too. After one bite he wasn't deterred and carried on to eat quite a bit of his lemon wedge. Was great entertainment for us and other diners

Mmmm chips

Big glass of milk to wash it all down

After lunch we went for a walk to find somewhere for coffee and cake. As we walked along the high street we walked past an old man struggling to get on to a bus with his walker. Just after we'd gone past him we heard a thud, the old man had fallen backwards out of the bus, with his head hitting the pavement very hard. Jackie was the first person on the scene making sure he was alright. The old guy was big so a few of us hoisted him up while Jackie grappled his walker.The old guy was convinced he was ok and was determined to get on the bus so we got him to a seat and let him go on his way.

We carried on our way. Theo was getting a few funny looks, so we checked him out. He was slumped forward in his pram, fast asleep. That gave Jackie a chance to do a little shopping picking up some more depression glass from a charity shop.

From there we were very pleased to see our first gold letterbox. Following the Olympics last year for every gold medal winner the UK Post Office painted a letter box gold in the home town of the winner. Mo Farah was our favourite Olympian so we were very pleased to see his gold letterbox. Also, the Fara charity shop which is next to the letter box took the opportunity to cash in as well.

Jackie doing the Mobot

Mo Fara, very clever

We found our coffee and cake, both were good.

We headed home, letting Theo walk some of the way. He had a little tumble which turned out to be worse than his other falls. A lot of tears and a pretty bad blood nose ensued.

This photo captures the moment pretty well

 He eventually came right and it didn't spoil a great family day out.

Cold Water Swimming Champs

In the UK they have these things called "Lidos", a lido is essentially a public swimming pool. Tooting has a massive one, it's the biggest outdoor swimming pool in the UK and has quite a history.

The Tooting Bec Lido is home to the South London Cold Water Swimming Championships which were on January 26.

It was a beautifully sunny day so after going for a jog I headed down to see what it's all about.

There was a £2 entry fee which was just the right amount. It was busy, although there wasn't much space so it didn't take too many people to make it busy, a few hundred at least. Many were competitors but plenty of supporters and nosy locals as well.

When I arrived there was a break between races so I scoped out the place before making a bee line for the hog roast tent. I love a hog roast in a bun!

Hog roast, yum

Not long after lunch  the relay races began. The pool is so big they just do widths. Many of the teams wore fancy dress, this wasn't serious racing for most, just a fun day out. Although with the water temp at 2 degrees, and snow still sitting on the side of the pool I'm not quite sure how much fun it would have been.

The races were generally quite low key, the swimmers get a hot cup of something and a hot bath after their race.

I'm not sure if the videos on this page will display in other countries, it's some footage from ITV news

A nice day for a swim

The sun bouncing off the 2 degrees water almost makes you want to jump in!