WORLD'S OLDEST RAILWAY BRIDGE

This beautiful historical English bridge known as Causey Arch looks lost in the overgrown bushes and trees near Stanley in County Durham. But it's in pretty good condition seeing as it was built between 1725-1726.

A stonemason called Ralph Wood made it and the project was founded by some coal owners known as The Grand Allies at a total cost of £12,000.

At the time nothing like this had even been attempted to be built since Roman times and no one really had any knowledge or experience of building a bridge apart from referring to the 'Roman Way', so this was a challenge for Ralph. So much so that his first attempt collapsed and he had to rebuild it.

This former busy mining town had two railway tracks that crossed the bridge for taking coal to the River Tyne and for bringing back the empty wagons and 900 horse drawn wagons crossed over each day.

The builder was that panicked by the prospect of the bridge collapsing for a second time he took his own life by jumping off his own creation. A sundial at the site still reads Ra Wood, mason 1727 to show the work he did.

If only he would have known at the time it would become the world's oldest surviving railway bridge.

Sadly the archway became disused when the Tanfield Colliery was struck by fire in 1739. The bridge was eventually restored again in the 1980's and has survived for a further 30 years as we know it today and hopefully many more years to come too.

ENJOYING CAMPING HOLIDAYS

If you love the outdoors camping is one of the most exciting things you can do whether your looking to do it with family or friends.

Some of our best holiday memories as a family have been from camping. If you haven't been before and are a bit cautious about camping in an empty field or forest for the first time, there are plenty of caravan and camping parks you can go to for the first few times.

These are good for beginners as you have everything you need like shops nearby, local entertainment, communal shower rooms and toilets and are surrounding by other people too in case you get scared!

We did that a few times but then after a while I felt like we were camping in our back garden as it was just a little too commercial. Now me, I love to get all my camping gear together and do things the traditional way.

From pitching our own camping tents , collecting wood for the fire and participating in the usual ghost story tales and sing alongs.

Although it may seem expensive at first if you literally have no equipment. I mean not even the basics like a tent, torch, pots and pans, sleeping bag etc.

But just think once you have all this you can go camping whenever you want. You have the stuff there to keep and use for as long as they will last.

Before the kids were born me and my husband just used to pick a point on the map and do road trip with all our camping gear and equipment in tow. Now we like to do it as a family holiday and the kids do love it.

Just to get them away from the TV and the computer for a while is beneficial and allowing them to see the great outdoors.

STRANGE BUILDINGS

Wooden Gagster House, Russia

There are many architects who like to put a mark on their creativity. I love unusual designs and are fascinated by some of the ideas these guys come up with. Here are 5 of my favourite strange buildings from around the world.

The Basket Building, USA

Wonderworks, Pigeon Forge, USA

Eden Project, UK

House Attack, Austria

And how spooky does the Gagster House look? That is my favourite one from this collection. Which one is yours?

USA MOVING TIPS, SAVINGS, AREA ADVICE & MORE

Everyone knows moving can be stressful but knowing the right things to look out for when organising it will put you at an advantage.

Things like who are the best local movers and what kind of service can they offer you? When is the best time to move? And what can the place your moving to offer you and how will it change your life?

Then there is finding suitable quotes, choosing your provider, packing everything up and possibly organising transportation for your pets too. Especially if you have larger animals like horses etc.

Some people move for job reasons, some for their love of travel if they like to be somewhere different every 6 months or so and others because they want to start a new life.

I saw you can get some great factual information about USA cities, tips, savings, a recommended Tucson moving company as well as other ones over at Billy.com.

From here you can get instant quotes and save up to 55%, see an A-Z of moving tips and guides, read moving check lists and much more.

If you and your family are Phoenix movers for instance or another city a simple 4 step process can get you instant quotations regarding that area for you to browse through at your own leisure.

AVOID A TWISTED NECK WHEN SLEEPING: TravelRest Pillow

Do you ever find your kids falling asleep in the back of the car? or maybe you have felt like a nap yourself in the past as a car passenger or whilst travelling on an aeroplane?

The TravelRest pillow allows you to have a sleep without waking up with your neck all twisted.
After inflating it you simply attach it to the headrest and seat belt areas.
You can use the pillow on the left or right hand side, and when your done you can just deflate and it folds up into a handy carrying size that would fit in your handbag.

DISNEYLAND TRAVEL OFFERS

If you're thinking of going to Disneyland Paris it's probably not as far as you think and it makes a special family day out.

Really it's just a train journey away. You can get low cost luxury travel tickets for many cities in the UK and across Europe including popular cities like London, Amsterdam and the Netherlands.

Website Euro Disney Offers have some great deals for train travel, hotels and events where you can make huge savings on quality travel options.

Currently several offers are free night and day stays, up to 40% savings on Disney hotel and ticket packages amongst others.

THE SUBWAY HIDDEN AWAY FOR YEARS: City Hall Station, New York

This beautiful subway station had been shut down for 65 years, but you wouldn't think it looking at the stunning architecture that still remains in quite good order.

Named The City Hall Subway station it has remained hidden under the streets of New York since it was shut down in 1945, and only in recent years has it opened up again as part of a Transit Museum.
The station was first built by Interborough Rapid Transit Company in 1904 under the City Hall that was created for the purpose of serving local trains and had about 600 passengers a day to carry.

Some of the lovely features include brass chandeliers, coloured glass tiles and skylights. Sadly the skylights were tarred over during the war for aid raid protection.

How the station was when it first opened

When it was closed down the entrances out to the street were blocked off and only transit workers had access to the site.

It was thought that the station could open up again but after modern technology taking over, the lengthy train journeys potentially causing problems with the traditional equipment and a large gap in the platform it was decided to be made into a train excursion and tour site only in 1998.

An artists impression of how the working station would have looked

The tours ended for a while due to security issues but now that's been resolved it's a popular tourist spot as we know it today as part of the Transit Museum.

SCENIC DRIVE PLANNER

Sometimes I just love being able to jump in my car and go out somewhere for a couple of hours.

Website myscenic drives is a great resource that shows you journeys for various places of interest such us mountains, forests lakes, beaches, caves etc for a few different states across the USA.

OLDEST BREWERY IN THE WORLD: Weihenstephan In Germany

The Weihenstephan Brewery in Freising, Bavaria Germany history goes back as far as 725 when it was founded by Saint Corbinian who also founded the art of brewing in Weihenstephan

Himself and twelve others brewed beer in the gardens of the Benedictine Monastery.

The earliest historical documents that relate to the brewery start from 768 and suggest that the owner of the brewery had to pay the Monastery a fee to run his business from there.

Then in 955 the Monastery was destroyed by war, but this did not phase the Germans and they re-built it.
The official founding date began in 1040 when an actual licence was given by the City of Freising to be able to brew and sell beer from the property.

Yet again the brewery was destroyed by war in 1336 but this wasn't to get the better of the owners who just kept rebuilding it over and over again.

Many years later the brewery dissolved and all of it's assets etc were taken over by the Bavarian State. Since then it has been used as a brewers academy in 1895 turned University for brewers in 1921. Then onto finally getting it's official name in 1921 as we know it today and staking their claim as The Oldest Brewery In The World.
Weihenstephan Brewery is known to have has some of the best state of the art brewing equipment in the world, and combines them with the more traditional methods also.

It's such a shame the original building was destroyed all those years ago. But the question is would it have still been standing today if it was?

TRAVEL SITE: Shares Interesting Tourist Spots & Buildings

If you're a lover of travel and are trying to find something new and different each time you could take a look at tripideas.org

The blog author shows his readers what he finds interesting along with a description of each tourist attraction and pictures to make the details really come alive.

As you read through each post some segments are in bold to catch your eye to draw your attention to the most interesting parts, which is great if you want to see what the main attraction(s) to the place or building are.

You can find out about tourist spots from all over the world, see recommended travel adventures and seek the best days out.

OLDEST HOSPITAL IN THE WORLD: Minintale Hospital In Sri Lanka

I am always intrigued to learn about the Worlds oldest buildings and places and imagine what life would have been like all those years ago.

The ruins of an ancient hospital built by King Sena II have been uncovered that are dated back from between 852 and 887 A.C. These remains are officially known as the Oldest Hospital In The World.
It was found that the patients of the hospital were soaked in a sloping hot water bath that was in the shape of a human body with buttock impressions and also known as a stone canoe/trough, that were filled with medicine oil. One of the baths can still be found amongst the remains and a old medical instruments and tools were found in the excavation.
Also part of the remains include some stairs that lead to the 27 patient rooms and 4 other larger rooms that were probably used as treatment, medicine making or waiting rooms that are erected around a courtyard. In the middle of this is a shrine.

Hospitals of this kind were usually not open to the general public and were to cater for monks and monastery staff only.
Nowadays the site is surrounded by mango trees and is often visited by squirrels and butterflies. So as well as a place of interest it also makes a peaceful retreat for visitors to the area.

If It weren't for the remains being uncovered we wouldn't have known this to be the Worlds Oldest Hospital, so it makes me wonder if there are more undiscovered hospitals buried underground that are even older.

3-14 DAY WEATHER FORECAST IN SPAIN

If your looking to book yourself a last minute break in Spain or you just want to check the weather for a holiday you have got coming up, you would be much better off looking at a weather forecast site that is actually based in Spain.

If you think about it a British site for instance sometimes have problems getting their weather right, so what makes it any different for them or any other non Spanish country trying to deliver the weather in spain?

There is a website called spanishweather.net that can give you up to date readings on the different and popular tourist resorts of Spain such as Benidorm, Gran Canaria, Barcelona and Majorca.

You can read a full day forecast in Spanish or it's also translated into English.

Full day forecasts give you different times throughout the day and what weather you can expect as it changes for example: 7am could be raining and 2pm could be sunny. So it also makes it a good source to use whilst you are actually in Spain so you know the best times to be out and about.

You can get forecasts for 3,5,7,10 and 14 days ahead that enables you to plan ahead too.