I've always loved history and the great feats of engineering in the Victorian age like the building of railways is something I'm particularly interested in. I've become a bit of a railway geek over the past few years so I knew that when I headed to London on a recent trip with Martyn that the Transport Museum would be on my list of things to visit.
The Museum explores the powerful link between transport and the growth of modern London, its culture and society since 1800. Highlights included the iconic red London bus and the world’s first Underground steam train. The galleries are full of interactive exhibits for people to explore - including real buses and trains, my ideal way to spend an afternoon.





The train above is one of the only remaining underground steam trains in existence. Steam trains were used from 1863-1905 on the London Underground Metropolitan Railway line. The first underground railway was designed to transport passengers arriving at London’s main line stations into the City. Paddington, Euston and King’s Cross were all some distance from London’s central business district.

An underground line built below the main road to the City avoided most of the property demolition needed to build a railway at ground level. It also relieved the growing traffic congestion on the roads which were full of horses and trams. The tunnels built for this railway were all dug out by hand by thousands of navvies and are still in use today because they were of such a high standard.


In the 1920s buses were the most popular mode of transport in London. By 1930 Londoners were making 1,958 million bus journeys annually. The museum is currently celebrating 'The Year of the Bus', I love the iconic red buses but would have loved more train focused content(or even a museum solely dedicated to the Underground) but that didn't stop me from loving every moment in this museum. I really enjoyed Goodbye Piccadilly: From Home Front to Western Front which revealed the story of London’s Home Front during the First World War. I think Martyn's highlight was seeing all the different tube carriages and seeing how they have changed over time. It's there until March and has some interesting sections about how the war accelerated social change including women working in the transport sector for the first time. 


If you want to visit the museum yourself (which I highly recommend) the details are below.

London Transport Museum
Address: The Piazza, Covent Garden, London WC2E 7BB
Phone: 020 7379 6344
Opening hours: Monday-Thursday, Saturday and Sunday 10:00-18:00  Friday 11:00-18:00 Admission: Adults £15.00 Concessions £11.50
If you travel to London on a First Great Western train like I did you can get 2 for 1 entry if you print the voucher from their website.

Come and join us for a fun and friendly meetup over a lovely cream tea at the beautiful Pettigrew Tea Rooms in Cardiff City Centre. The event with be taking place on Sunday 26th October at 11:30am. Your ticket includes an enhanced cream team (full details still to be confirmed) but will include some scrummy cakes, scones with cream and jam and accompanied by a selection of hot drinks. (Plus a lovely little goodie bag). Gluten free cream tea is available - please let us know. I've been to Pettigrew's a handful of time (post here) and love the place, they bake everything on site and are super friendly so it's going to be a great event.

This event is open to all bloggers, you don't have to be from Cardiff or Wales. If you're coming from the South West and don't know your way around Cardiff I will be happy to meet you at the train station.

After the cream tea we plan to have a little mosey around the Cardiff Fashion Quarter which is filled with independent and vintage stores and the perfect place to take some photos and shop.


All ticket money goes to Pettigrew Tea Rooms for refreshments and they promise to be something tasty and special so I hope the fact that it is a ticketed event doesn't put you off. The other organisers are the very friendly Laura and Chantelle who is was the mastermind behind the last big Cardiff Meetup I planned a couple of years ago.

Who else am I going to see there? I can't wait!

I've been absent for a couple of weeks on Fat Frocks because I've had a little annual leave and been out exploring some of my favourite parts of the UK. I headed back to West Wales where I had been earlier in the Summer with Martyn but this time we took the bikes. Martyn bought me a bike for my birthday but I had only really had a chance to ride it close to my house so I was looking forward to taking it further afield and trying out some new routes.


Last time we camped was during the super hot weather and it was around 28-30 degrees but it was a much chillier 18 this time which meant nice cosy nights in with lots of blankets and hot drinks.


We rode through the high street and down behind the Bishop's Palace. If you ride (or push) your bike up a steep hill behind the ruined palace you will see some cycle route signs which you can follow to Whitesands beach like we did. The path was pretty much traffic free, had some wonderful countryside views and loads of butterflies. I highly recommend this route.

This ride was relatively short at only about 3/4 miles so I wanted to take my bike to a disused airfield to get a bit more cycling in and burn off the ice cream I scoffed in St David's. It is one of several small airfields along the Pembrokeshire coast, and was opened in 1943. Today the runways are gone, and the area has been restored to native heathland. It has some lovely wildlife, good flat paths and a huge runway to go wild on. 

We only saw one other cyclist and a dog walker so we pretty much had the place to ourselves. I felt like I didn't have to worry about traffic or bumping into other people which is just what I need as I build my confidence up. I want to do a lot more road cycling in the future and cycle around cities too so becoming more confident it key. I wore my maroon lace up Vans whilst cycling but I'm thinking I would like something a bit more waterproof like these boots because my Vans will be super soggy if I cycle in the rain. 


If you don't have a bike and want to explore West Wales like I did there are some amazing coastal paths for walkers too, head to this site for more information.

Afternoon tea can mean many different things to many different people. It can be an extravagant day out to a chic hotel eating miniature sugary delights, it can be a  party for all your friends, the perfect idea for a hen party or a great way to catch up with a special friend.  I'm going to share some of my tips, cheap decorating ideas and recipes which I hope will inspire you to host your own tea party like I do for birthdays and other special occasions.

I think what really elevates afternoon tea to a grand occasion is the setting and attention to detail. A coffee and slice of cake with a friend is just fine but I love spending time planning what I'm going to bake and really going to town with the table setting. The cost of hosting a tea party could really run away from you but I always make everything myself and on a tight budget.

Setting the scene

Get your best table cloth out, if you own a tiered cake stand, dust it off and use it as the centerpiece of your table. Otherwise, use your best china and make it a little more special with  doilies, folded napkins and homemade name place settings. I've been collecting tea cups and cake stands from charity shops for years and you could mix second hand things in with more modern pieces. I really like the mismatched look and I've never payed more than a couple of pounds for any of the items featured below.  Finally, string up some bunting and you're feeling ambitious, make your own. You can get some great free printable bunting online and I even found cute cake bunting which you can print at home.

I made bunting with doilies and the materials cost under £2. The doilies came in a pack of 60 from Poundland and the embroidery string cost about 35p each. Bargain!


You can customise your buting by drawing on it, stamping words on it like I did or just leave it plain.


I would say the most important element of hosting a tea party is your guests. Invite your friends over, hold a birthday tea party for your loved ones and show someone you care with a cup of tea and a huge slice of cake. I'm more than happy to sit around eating cake on my own but it's much more fun with company.



I hope this post has inspired you to host a little get together. If you have any afternoon tea tips for me please do let me know. I would love some savoury food ideas for my next one so links to recipes would be much appreciated.