Sunday Times Where Was I? Holiday Competition

Near as I can figure it, through the possibly flawed perceptual filters of my own reality tunnel, the most likely answers this week, seem to me to be:


Q1. Lord's Seat


Q2. Petty France or possibly Little Britain (aka little Brittany) 


внимание друзья! for question 2, things get more than a little tricky, the poet John Milton lived at several addresses in London, ie Bread Street, Fleet Street, Aldersgate Street, Jewin Street, Artillery Walk (now Bunhill Row), Duck Lane, Little Britain and Little Britain. The Eastender is taking a punt on the answer being Little Britain, as it is listed as a street and was named after the dukes of Brittany or Robert le Bretoun and may fit with the clue about a small sounding version of France. There appears to be a Duck Lane in Soho, right next to one of the studios where the Beatle's 'White Album' was recorded, so would be too close for a distance of five miles from the studios. Things may be further complicated because some of the streets may also have been destroyed in the great fire of London. From some of the comments, Petty France (York Street) looks like a very good candidate also.

Very tricky this week, many false leads to follow regarding the poet's address but the initial clues seem to place us at Drum Castle, in Royal Deeside, Aberdeenshire. The fortress appears to be part medieval in origin, looks like it has a square tower, with subsequent modifications carried out by Jacobites and Victorians. It does have a historic rose garden, which the National Trust for Scotland's web site claims, was opened circa 1991.

Next to Ealing, where a novelist called Nevil Shute Norway was born, circa 17th January 1899. To call this guy a novelist, is to seriously understate his skillset. From reading some of his biographies, he appears to have been a polymath and entrepreneur, who designed and built aircraft and airships, as well as serving in various branches of the armed forces. Shute Norway published a novel called 'Pied Piper' c 1942, which is about an English teacher trying to smuggle a group of children out of Nazi occupied France, he is assisted in this endeavour, by a German officer who wanted to keep his niece out of the clutches of the Gestapo.

At five hundred and fifty two metres or one thousand, eight hundred and eleven feet in height, a fell called, 'Lord's Seat' lies next to the Whinlatter pass, in the lake district. Thence south east back to London and the Bank of England, which is allegedly known as 'The Old Lady of Threadneedle Street', due to being haunted by the ghost of Sarah Whithead, the Black Nun (who was said to be almost as 'orrible as the 'Blue Nun' from back in the seventies). The Bank of England was opened for business circa 1694 and has been operating from Threadneedle street since 1734. The ghost was scared off by the fierce Morlocks who run the place now.

South east of that position, would likely bring us to Maidstone, the county town of Kent and travelling west from there, on roughly the same lattitude, would bring us to the Bishop's palace at Wells, in Somerset. Apparently, the swans there, have been trained to pull a rope attached to a bell, which summons forth the staff to give them some bread. "Contes de ma mère l’Oye" translates to "Tales of Mother Goose" and Mother Goose, according to some sources, is buried in the church of St Olave's, Hart Street in London. The city of Sheffield's assay office once had the crown as it's mark but now has a rose.

This is where things become a little tricky. The song 'Blackbird' is from the Beatle's 'White Album' and the White Album was according to some of the references I checked, recorded at Abbey Road studios and Trident Studios, 17 St Anne's Court in SOHO (right next to Duck Lane). The poet John Milton was known as the 'Lady of Christ's' and seems to have lived in several addresses in London, ie, Bread Street, Fleet Street, Aldersgate Street, Jewin Street, Artillery Walk (now Bunhill Row), Duck Lane, Little Britain and Little Britain.  None of these look like they are five miles south east of Abbey road or Trident Studios but the one which could fit with a French connection and smaller version of France clue, is Little Britain (allegedly named after the dukes of Brittany or Robert le Bretoun and is described as a street in some sources). From reading some of the comments, Milton seems to have lived in an area called Petty France(York Street), which is a road in London and a much better fit for a very tricky question two...

The poet William Wordsworth (born c 1770) lived in Dove Cottage, Grasmere, in the Lake District for a time and one of the Designers of Tower Bridge in London (famed for its bascules and opened c 1894) was solicitor's son, Sir Horace Jones (born c 1819) 

Sunday Times Safari and Beach Holiday In Tanzania Competition

There does not seem to be a Where Was I? puzzle in the Times today, so the Eastender has had a go at the safari and beach holiday in Tanzania competition. Near as I can figure it, through the possibly flawed perceptual filters of my own reality tunnel, the most likely answers in this competition, seem to me to be:


внимание друзья! for round one, question 1, these seem to be currencies but the Eastender is not convinced that this is the common thread that links them (two of the words are also places in Croatia (Pula and Kip) ) and will do some more digging on this one....

Round One Answers

Q1. Ngultrum (Bhutan), Pula (Botswana), Kip (Laos) and Birr (Ethiopia) are all currencies but not convinced this is the common thread the puzzle setters are looking for on this one, seems a bit too obvious.


Q2. 300, 310, 318, 319, 320, 321, 330, 340, 350 and 380 appear to be types of aircraft, ie variants of the European Airbus.

Q3. The river Rhine passes through or close to Basel, Worms and meets the sea at Rotterdam (Rhine cycle route is also a possible answer, as pointed out by Flonska in the comments).

Q4. The Eastender was suspicious about the order these countries were placed in (why not alphabetical?) and thought it might be locations where ASDA were putting new stores (the initial letters of Azerbaijan, Sweden, Denmark and Austria form the word ASDA but on digging a little deeper, it turns out to be the order in which they won the Eurovision song contest.

Azerbaijan 2011
Sweden 2012
Denmark 2013
Austria 2014


Round Two Answers

Q1 South Dakota

Q2. Sea of Okhotsk

Q3. Brunei

Q4. Santiago (capital of Chile). Initially thought that this might be Beirut but the shape of the border more     closely resembles that between Chile and Argentina.

Sunday Times Where Was I? Holiday Competition

Near as I can figure it, through the possibly flawed perceptual filters of my own reality tunnel, the most likely answers this week, seem to me to be


Q1. Sandwich


Q2. At Sunwich Port by W.W.Jacobs (William Wymark Jacobs)

The initial clues seem to place us in the town of Sandwich, in the county of Kent. There have been many naval battles there, the one in 1460 appears to have been between a force led by Yorkists Sir John Denholm and Richard Neville (16th earl of Warwick born c 1428) and the Lancastrian fleet, which was defeated in the engagement. The battle fought at Sandwich c ad 851, was according to some of the sources I checked, fought between the Saxons, led by Aethelstan and the Danes, with the Saxons victorious in that encounter. The battle in ad 991, was a result of an attack by the Vikings, in which Sandwich and Ipswich were pillaged before another battle at Maldon, around 10th August that same year. Eustace the Monk (Born c 1170) lost his head c 24th August 1217, following the defeat of the French armada, by a Plantagenet fleet at another naval engagement off the port of Sandwich.

The hospital of St Bartholomew's seems to have been founded c 1217, as a result of the battle. A kings chancellor between 1145 and 1162, who landed at Sandwich c 1170, is probably Thomas Becket and the king who landed there c 13th March, 1194, was Richard the Lionheart. The author Thomas Paine is reputed to have had a shop in Sandwich. He published a work called 'Common Sense'.


A novel inspired by the port and published c 1902, is likely to be 'At Sunwich Port', by William Wymark Jacobs. The novel does seem to feature a character called 'Captain Nugent' and the inventor of the Sandwich (born c 1718), was of course, John Montagu, the fourth earl of Sandwich. The motto of the Montagu family seems to be "Post lot naufragia portum' (After so many shipwrecks, I find a port).

Sunday Times Where Was I? Holiday Competition

Near as I can figure it, through the possibly flawed perceptual filters of my own reality tunnel, the most likely answers this week, seem to me to be:



Q1. Ailsa Craig


Q2. Turnberry

внимание друзья! For question 1: Ailsa Craig, is also known as 'Paddy's Milestone'. For question 2: The puzzle author could possibly be in Maidens but the sources I looked at, state that Robert the Bruce was born in Turnberry Castle and the lighthouse is also known as Turnberry Lighthouse, so the Eastender is taking a punt on the answer being Turnberry.

The initial clues seem to place us in Ballantrae, in South Ayrshire. Robert Louis Stevenson published a novel called 'The Master of Ballantrae' c 1889, which featured characters called Ephraim MacKellar and Henry Durie. The second town, is most likely Girvan. The OS map shows a river there called the 'Water of Girvan' and a viewpoint where the island of Ailsa Craig, which inspired the poet John Keats to write the line 'Hearken thou craggy ocean pyramid!' in his work 'To Ailsa Rock', can be observed. Die insel does appear to be ten miles or so from Girvan and some of the maps claim that it is three hundred and thirty eight metres (or one thousand one hundred and nine feet high). Area is according to some of the sources I checked around two hundred and forty five acres. It is also a designated site of special scientific interest. 

The Scottish Women's curling team won their gold medals in the 2002 winter olympics, using stones which were hewn from the quarry on Ailsa Craig and the lighthouse (eleven metres or thirty six feet high) was built c 1886, with the castle being restored by Thomas Hamilton c 16th century.

Six miles north of Girvan brings us into Donald Trump country and the village of Turnberry, where in 1274 King Robert The Bruce, who was inspired by a persistent spider, to re-evaluate his situation, come up with new plans and try, try, try again until he succeeded, was born. The castle is thought to be 13th century in origin and not much remains of it now. Turnberry lighthouse (built c 1873 and ninety five feet high) is built in the remains of the castle's moat. The writer is probably walking along the Ayr coastal path, which is around one hundred miles long.