This seems to be a bit of a tradition now, making a handful of resolutions on this blog for the coming year. I try not to put too much pressure on myself to achieve these things, because twelve months is a long time and who knows where we’ll all be at the end of it? But sometimes it’s nice to have some guidance, so I’ve got some more for 2020.

I’ve seen a lot of debate recently about the usefulness of new year’s resolutions - are we putting too much pressure on ourselves? Are we pushing for hard to achieve activities when we should be revelling more in what we have and who we are? I think there can be an element of this and I can respect those who don’t care for a resolution one way or the other. I personally think, however, that it’s a great time of year to consider what you’ve done and what you might like to do in the coming months. Self-reflection can be useful.

Here’s a piece of advice for anyone starting a new project or challenge or adventure that requires a little bit of structure: DON’T FOLLOW THE ALPHABET. It seems like such an obvious and fun choice. I’m going to set myself a baking challenge, why not a cake for every letter of the alphabet? I’m going to write a book of short stories, why not start each title with the next letter in the alphabet? I’m going to visit various attractions around the UK, why not do it in alphabetical order?

I know what you’re thinking. Bletchley Park doesn’t begin with an X. Thankfully, it’s a destination that is also known as Station X so I can sort of get away with it (mostly because it’s my challenge and I make up the rules). Turns out it’s quite hard to find places to go that begin with an X, but thankfully I’ve been wanting to go to Bletchley for a while anyway.

I knew it had been a while since I last went on an Alphabet Adventure visit, but looking back now, I’m horrified to find it’s been over three years. Ridiculous. So, I stopped putting it off, and dashed to the Lake District to have a gander at that body of water known as Windermere. It’s famous, apparently, for being the longest lake in the UK, and it’s very pretty, but I have to admit, I was expecting a little more.

It’s the last day of the year, and this is the time when people start making New Year’s Resolutions. I don’t tend to do that anymore, instead working from a broader Life List instead. When I set about thinking of this annual round-up, I felt a little disappointed about how much (or how little) I’ve achieved this year. Looking back can be useful though, as I hadn’t quite realised I’d been to so many places!

The Valley of the Rocks is in North Devon, accessible from the nearby village of Lynton. It’s steeped in history, all sorts of Ice Age glacier references and rocky bits and pieces. The Wikipedia entry has what is now my new favourite word – fossiliferous – included in the description. Apparently parts of the book Lorna Doone were set there, although I can’t really picture that in my head, despite having read it relatively recently.

I had a few options for the letter U in my alphabet adventure, but I opted for the Uffington White Horse as it was something a little bit different. I’ve done castles, gardens, museums and attractions, but I had not, as yet, done a chalk drawing on the side of a hill. Naturally, October isn’t the ideal time to get out and about in the British Countryside, and it was a breezy morning when I clambered up the hill. Located on some rolling hills in Oxfordshire, the horse is a National Trust destination. There’s a car park across a field from the hill that hosts the horse, and as you head towards the hill you get some brilliant views. Or you would, in slightly better conditions.

When I was a kid, I remember being driven across Salisbury Plain, and spotting a pristine but empty looking village tucked away in the fields. My parents told me this was an army village, not for living in, but for exercises and drills. My imagination was absolutely caught by this and whenever I travelled around, across or anywhere near Salisbury Plain, I would always be on the lookout for this exceptional village.

As mentioned in my Snowdon post, I had four hours to while away before going up the mountain. Ordinarily, I think I would have gone on to another location, I had plenty of options of places to visit, but I was a bit worried about getting back in time. Somehow, I’d managed to time my mountain trip on the same day as the Snowdon International Race – a crazy event where athletes actually run up a mountain. They were putting up the required barriers and cones as I arrived, and I knew it might be tricky to get back and/or park, and having spent what I did on the train tickets, I didn’t want to miss it.

There were a few options for the S of my Alphabet Adventure, but when I thought of Snowdon, there could be no other contender. The point of the adventure is to go to new places, visit different things and get a view of the country I haven’t had before. Going up a mountain fits into all those categories and then some. I opted for the Snowdon Mountain Railway, because I thought climbing a mountain on my first go would be a bit much and… well, it was so hot.

There were a range of options available to me for the R stop on my Alphabet Adventure, but when I realised it coincided with a trip I was taking to Brighton, it seemed to make sense that I visited the Royal Pavilion. To make things slightly more interesting, my parents were joining me for the visit too, so I got to enjoy the wonders of the pavilion with company. The Royal Pavilion was built by King George IV as something of a play home, showing off and trying to outdo everyone else in terms of style and decoration. There’s an odd visual straight away because the outside is very Indian in style, whilst the inside is all the reds, blacks, bamboos and dragons of China.

Q turned out to be a tricky letter in my Alphabet Adventure. I was expecting it to be hard to find something beginning with the required letter, but I wasn’t necessarily anticipating it taking so long for me to get there too. I gave up waiting for the weather and made my way to Quarry Bank Mill, somewhere near Manchester Airport. Along the way, I passed Jodrell Bank Observatory which would have been a good stop for J! I would have stopped off and had a look around but just as I pulled into the drive, it started hailing good and proper. So, I settled for a photo from a distance.

I’ve been busy compiling my own A-Z of attractions in the UK, something that came to a bit of an abrupt halt last year due to one thing and another, but is high on my priorities to complete. What I hadn’t realised is that the Royal Mail have already done it, releasing a set of stamps to celebrate the UK - 26 different stamps with a highlight of the British Isles for each one. I have only gotten so far as P, and two of my choices match theirs. The rest are intriguing, this would have been very useful when I was making plans, and still could be!

Instead of making New Year’s Resolutions each January, I have a long-running Life List that does the same job, only is a constant reminder of the things I want to, and am trying to, achieve. It’s time to have a quick recap of what has been happening on my Life List over the last twelve months. The Amazing A-Z Adventure I’ve only managed two more visits this year, and now we’re getting to the trickier half of the alphabet. Qs, Xs, Zs, that kind of thing. In 2012, I went for a bit of a walk around a park, and a bit of a walk around a gin distillery. I had a plan for Q that did not come to pass, so that will require some rethinking. 2012 involved a bit of saving money, but 2013 may involve more travel.

It’s been a while since I last went somewhere for the alphabet adventure, but I had this trip in my mind for a while - it was just a matter of getting the logistics together. My P plan was either going to be in Portsmouth or Plymouth. I had wanted to go to the Historic Dockyard, but the Mary Rose still isn’t ready, and I want to go when it’s all ready. So, instead, I headed towards Plymouth and took a tour around the Plymouth Gin distillery.

It seems that O is a letter that is destined to cause me trouble. After the thwarted attempt to visit a previous O-shaped destination, I selected another. This did not go completely smoothly either, but I’m going with it, because I am running out of Os (and I want to get to P!). During our recent heatwave in the UK, I took a day off work and opted to head outside. It was somewhat impromptu, because I wanted to make the most of the nice weather and the free time. I’d only discovered Osterley Park a week or so before, and realised it would make a good replacement O. The house and park is a National Trust property, situated just off the M4, right by Heathrow.

My Life List is now something like two years old, and rather than the whole New Year’s Resolution thing, I like to have a quick look back at the things achieved this year, and then a quick look forward at what I hope the year ahead will bring. It’s fair to say that this year has not been as full of Life List success as I would have hoped, mostly because it was full of months of soul-searching, making life-changing decisions, and forging ahead with book-writing.

Today I was supposed to go to the next destination for my A-Z Alphabet Adventure. I have reached the letter O, and I had intended to visit Osborne House on the Isle of Wight. My adventures had come to something of a standstill until recently, as it’s been a busy and thrifty latter half of the year. However, I was aware that Osborne House closed over winter, and that if I didn’t get there, I wouldn’t be able to do anything on the adventure until March at the earliest. That wouldn’t necessarily be a problem, I don’t know if I’ll get through any more of the alphabet before then anyway, but it’s always nice to have the option.

The final stop on my Alphabet mini-tour (way back in May, how did that happen?) was the National Space Centre, just outside of Leicester. I’m developing an interest in all things space travel, and I was surprised that we have a space centre, given that we have very little in the way of a space programme. The website makes it clear that this is a destination designed for kids. At the moment, on the homepage, there’s a lego space shuttle, and three pictures of kids enjoying their day out at the centre. I was anticipating this when I went, and given my lack of any real space knowledge, I figured I’d do well to start with something aimed at the children. I was to be disappointed.

Whilst on my trip around the Merrivale Model Village, I spotted the zoo with added baby pandas! Fantastic! There doesn’t seem to be an awful lot of bamboo for so many pandas living in one space, and I’m surprised they are housed between the monkeys and the llamas.

I’ve wanted to see a model village for a long time, and although I’m not sure there’s anything special about this one, it coincided with my trip to Great Yarmouth. When I told people that I was visiting a model village for the letter M, they assumed that was because M stands for Model. I went one step further and found a model village that begins with M as well. Double win!

I only had a vague idea of a potential place to visit for this letter. I knew what K was, and I knew what M would be, so I needed to find something in between. My one idea seemed less appealing by the time I was ready to go, so I did a quick bit of googling and found this option instead - Landguard Fort in Felixstowe. I was curious to see Felixstowe anyway, as I worked for a logistics company a long while ago and saw the place on many documents, without ever having been there. In reality, you’ve seen one port city, you’ve seen them all, but it was still interesting. The Fort is at the end of a really long hideous road full of speed bumps - I mean, at least five minute’s of bouncing around. It was worth it though.

I’ve been to Oxford a couple of times, and it seems only fair that, as a Boat Race fan, I visit the other half of the rivalry as well. Cambridge was the first stop on my Alphabet Minibreak, in which I visited three other letters as well. King’s College was first, and to avoid having to drive into the centre, I took the Park & Ride. Now, me and Park & Ride’s don’t get on too well, but this time it worked out okay. If you don’t count the bit where I waited at the bus station for twenty minutes, only to find the return bus stop was just around the corner.

At last! The return of my alphabet adventures! I struggled with where to go for J, and then winter appeared, and then I quit my job and things got manic. However, it’s been a beautiful week and I’ve finally found some free time, so I decided to man up and go outside. The Judge’s Lodgings is a museum situated in a tiny village on the England/Wales border, and it would never have crossed my attention except for one tiny thing. The website is so encouraging and open, I thought I had to give it a look.

I’ve made lots and lots of New Year’s Resolutions before, both on the blog and in my head, and very few of them have worked out. This year, I changed the concept around completely and debuted the Life List - a long-term set of goals and things to aim at. Some are crazy, some are impossible, some are easy and most will take time. I figured a quick review for the year would be appropriate, with some thoughts on what is next.

The Ironbridge Gorge Museums are actually a collection of ten separate attractions spread out over a small area in Telford. There are all kinds of things there, including tile and china museums, pipeworks and a tar tunnel. I didn’t really fancy visiting all ten of these. In fact, there were only two bits that I was really interested in - the Ironbridge itself, and Blists Hill Victorian Town. The bridge is really just a bridge. The site says:

I completed the next letter of the A-Z Adventure yesterday, and it was great fun! I will blog it soon. Before I left in the morning, though, I had a bit of a panic. I have lots of plans and not enough time and why did I ever think this was a good idea in the first place? After a bit of thought and contemplation, I came to some conclusions. Let’s get straight to the point. When I said I was going to do the entire alphabet over the course of a year, I might have wildly over-estimated my abilities to go outside. Therefore, I’m adjusting the rules and regulations slightly, so that I hope to complete it as soon as possible, but it might take more like two years.

Hadrian’s Wall is quite confusing. It’s a big long wall, obviously, but I wasn’t sure if just seeing it counted as part of the alphabet, as most of the visitor spots are Roman forts that come under another name. To combat this, I chose the Housesteads Roman Fort. Win-win! To get there, I had to travel along the amazing Roman roads. You know, you drive along a straight road and you joke about it being one of them Roman roads. They’re nothing like the roads running parallel with Hadrian’s wall. They are as straight as an arrow, and so incredibly bumpy, up and down, just like Postman Pat in the opening sequence. Anyway, suffice to say, it was so much fun that I almost missed the Housesteads Fort. From the road, it is just a carpark with a little hut selling ice creams.

Yesterday, I posted the results of my Alphabet Adventure when it comes to the letter G. As you may have gathered from the posts of Edinburgh, Falkirk and Gretna, I took a quick trip to Scotland to take in some of the scenery. I must say, for some reason, I really like things like this: Because I drove past it, and just around the corner was the sign saying ‘Welcome to England.’ I was so impressed that I turned around to take the above picture, and on the way back I noticed a sign had a message on the reverse. It was pointing out it was the First House in Scotland.

Gretna Green was a tricky one. I wasn’t 100% sure it counted - given that the rules of the alphabet challenge say it should be attractions rather than places that are worthy of a visit. I thought I could spin it that the anvil thing was an attraction, but that is technically called the World Famous Blacksmith’s Shop. None of those letters are a G. In the end, I went for it because there is something called the Gretna Green Group Ltd, which makes me think it is an attraction rather than a place. Plus it was on my route home.

I was just browsing through some photos and uncovered one from the Didcot Adventure that didn’t make it into the post. If you remember, I briefly mentioned that my mother and I did like the section that may or may not have been aimed at children. The bit where you can press buttons and play games, and make things light up. There was also a section where you were confronted with a lot of pieces of wood, and had to construct the bridge according to the instructions in front of you. I dismantled the bridge and challenged my mother to put it back together.

A few miles to the west of Edinburgh is a hidden gem - the Falkirk Wheel. It’s an incredible one-of-a-kind feat of engineering that lifts a narrowboat from one canal up over 100ft to another one. It also looks like something out of Doctor Who. A bit more about the wheel, then. It replaces 11 locks which joined the Forth & Clyde Canal with the Union Canal. The locks were dismantled, and so they came up with this wheel to take place of nine of the locks, with the remaining two through a short tunnel at the top. The wheel itself is a unique rotating lift, and I can tell you, it is fascinating to watch.

I headed to Edinburgh and decided to make use of the Park & Ride. I’m not a big fan of buses, or any kind of public transport for that matter, but it seemed like a good way to get in to the centre of a city I know nothing about. I couldn’t have been more wrong. The Park & Ride took me three leaflets to figure out, and when I got to the centre, the road I was meant to get off on was closed so I ended up somewhere else. That meant I was the wrong side of the castle, and I walked all the way round the entire thing before I found the door. Gate. Drawbridge. Whatever.

When I first introduced the concept of the A-Z Adventure to my parents, they instantly knew where I should go for D. They had recently been to the Didcot Railway Centre and suggested it as a potential candidate. My mother is a particular fan of steam trains, so when I decided I would go there, they felt a second visit would be worthwhile. The Didcot Railway Centre is essentially a small stretch of land between two railway lines. They use the existing lines to run steam trains (and Thomas trains!) a short distance, and preserve the memory of such feats of engineering.

It was a beautiful, hot day in May when I decided to head towards Cheddar Gorge - the third stop on my alphabet tour. As it turns out, I arrived at Cheddar from the Gorge end, meaning I drove through it to get to the car parks and tourist stops. It was really quite scary, like driving into the centre of the earth. The cliffs either side started getting higher and higher, until eventually they blocked out the sun. Spooky.

Blenheim Palace is just above Oxford and claims to be: Britain’s Greatest Palace. I don’t know whether there’s an award that goes along with such a thing, but so says the pamphlet. I bought the ticket without access to the palace itself, because photography is not allowed inside and I don’t want to support that kind of restriction. I accidentally went past the main parking area and ended up just outside the pleasure gardens. There wasn’t much going on there, it’s mostly an area to entertain the kids. There was a butterfly garden, which I went into but didn’t really like. I only saw one butterfly and as is the way with climates that support such winged creatures, it was much too humid to take the camera out.

The 1st May - a Saturday - and my challenge has begun. I had a couple of options to go with for the first letter of the alphabet but I thought I would start with something simple. Aberdulais Falls is a National Trust location, just off the M4 in South Wales. The blurb reads: Set in a steep gorge, this property demonstrates the power of water and its impact on industry… Today the waters of the River Dulais are used to make Aberdulais Falls self-sufficient in environmentally friendly energy, with its waterwheel – the largest in Europe generating electricity.

Way back at the beginning of the year, when I made those five silly little resolutions, one of them was to go outside more. This is not a very achievable goal, as there is no attainable target, no specific timeframe and no real sense of achievement. (My resolution next year will be to stop over-thinking things!) Now that I have a bit more time on my hands, I have given this outside business some consideration and come up with this: The Amazing A-Z Adventure.