Hotel and training centre, Melksham, Wiltshire
High quality accommodation for course delegates, business travellers and the leisure visitor too.

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For 2023 (and 2024 ...) - we are now fully retired from IT training.
We have made many, many friends over 25 years of teaching about Python, Tcl, Perl, PHP, Lua, Java, C and C++ - and MySQL, Linux and Solaris/SunOS too. Our training notes are now very much out of date, but due to upward compatability most of our examples remain operational and even relevant ad you are welcome to make us if them "as seen" and at your own risk.

Lisa and I (Graham) now live in what was our training centre in Melksham - happy to meet with former delegates here - but do check ahead before coming round. We are far from inactive - rather, enjoying the times that we are retired but still healthy enough in mind and body to be active!

I am also active in many other area and still look after a lot of web sites - you can find an index ((here))
Further North - long summer days and lovely countryside

I live further north than the city of Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan at 50°37' [Latitude]. And much further north than Ottawa, where I was cautioned against walking 400 yards to a restaurant in deep winter because of the bitter cold. Ottawa is at 45°24'. Where I live is 51°32' North.

Living so far north, the days in winter are short, and in summer are long - the seasons here are much more extreme that they are in Washington DC, or Florida or Los Angeles ... a fact I was reminded of today when I got an email commenting on something I had said about "shorter days" - in fact, in summer I can awaken at 4 a.m. and it'll be light outside, and it will still be light at 9 O'clock in the evening. And in winter, the clocks have fallen back by an hour to let the school children get to school in the light ... to spring forward about six months later, with the purpose of giving those same children, on holiday in July and August so that they can help their parents with the harvest, extra time to do their chores in the fields.

The seasons, long nights and short days then short nights and long days, have always been a part of my life - so I don't really think about them. It's commonplace in some seasons to be going to sleep in the light, and common in other seasons to drag yourself out of bed before ever the first glimmer of light is visible over the horizon. And it always been such a part of my life that I'll often overlook the fact that our part of the work is unusual in having so much developed activity so far north. Tokyo is "deep south" at 35°40' and Beijing also quite southern at 39°55' ; looking north to where Russia meets the Pacific at Vladivostok, and you're still only at 43°10'.

Where do I live - perhaps surprisingly after this build up, I live in Southern England - on the same parallel as London, and in a temperate climate that I would compare more to somewhere like Sacramento at 38°35' ; the 'trick' of living so far North, and yet in such a climate suitable for human habitation, comes from the Gulf Stream - that flow of warm water which flows across the Atlantic from the Sargasso Sea (vaguely in the Caribbean, I recall from school lessons many years ago), up past Ireland and Scotland and on up to Scandinavia, which is perhaps why the major cities that I found further north of us were the Norsk ones - Oslo, Stockholm, Helsinki and Reykjavik.


Our long and short days, and at the same time our mild climate, are both blessings. You can tell when you fly into a British airport that you're arriving in the United Kingdom before you even touch down - bases on how green everything is. And it's a great spot for a vacation too. The "Old Country" with so much history, and all packed into such a small space too. A day's driving will get you from the South of England to the North of Scotland but for one problem - you'll want to stop and see so many things along the way!


The images I've added into this article are taken at our hotel - "Well House Manor" - or within a very few miles; it's a lovely part of the UK and although our main market is business visitors to the town, we're also delighted to welcome guests who are in England to see places like Lacock - a village dating from the 13th Century, and where the positive / negative photographic process was invented (5 miles), the world heritage site of Bath just 12 miles away, and with a direct bus running there from right outside our front door, and Longleat, Stonehenge, Salisbury and many more places of interest.

With our business connections, our hotel is especially well set up to welcome early checkins by visitors arriving through London's airports as early as 7 O'Clock, and as Lisa is American we're also very well tailored to helping with things that first time visitors to Europe may find a little new. Graham and Chris have lived most of their lives in Wiltshire, but are well travelled - it all leads to a winning combination.

Here's hoping that, dear readers, I may have tempted a few of you to add Wiltshire, England to you "I want to go there sometime" list. And if I have done so, I hope you'll stop by to say "hi" ... or if the accommodation that we offer suits you, that you'll stop with us. If you'll be stopping, it's best to book in advance though - the combination of a mild northern climate, a lovely heritage, and a hotel that's run with the guests to the fore is a winning combination, and we can get full. I'm checking guests in tonight - 4 rooms already arrived, and the fifth set due any minute. In fact, I think that might be a car I hear now on the gravel path.
(written 2009-09-19, updated 2009-09-21)

 
Associated topics are indexed as below, or enter http://melksh.am/nnnn for individual articles
Z200 - Places
  [66] A Taste of Ireland - (2004-09-28)
  [70] Red Luas - early life and times - (2004-10-02)
  [92] Hard work, Hard sell - (2004-10-18)
  [186] Lull - (2005-01-22)
  [218] Golden Nugget - (2005-02-17)
  [403] Full circle - made it back to an old haunt - (2005-08-05)
  [670] Architectural Heritage - Devizes - (2006-04-04)
  [685] A couple of days away - (2006-04-15)
  [713] Pictures from my travels - (2006-05-07)
  [727] A journey, an arrival, a people - (2006-05-21)
  [730] Reading the newspaper and working with other restrictions - (2006-05-23)
  [740] Finishing up in Dhahran - (2006-06-01)
  [778] Weekend in Ireland - (2006-06-26)
  [886] Signs of Leek - (2006-10-04)
  [1147] A picture (mostly in words) of Helsinki - (2007-04-14)
  [1204] Spot the difference - (2007-05-25)
  [1229] Where am I? - (2007-06-11)
  [1244] FolksFest Bristol - German beer, Bratwurst and music - (2007-06-24)
  [1298] From Leeds - (2007-08-10)
  [1307] Troy, up state New York - (2007-08-17)
  [1425] Melksham v Ely - (2007-11-09)
  [1456] Right up to the top of the City - (2007-12-03)
  [1457] A day in Ljubljana - (2007-12-04)
  [1460] Christmas fare in Ljubljana - (2007-12-05)
  [1524] Nottingham - just text! - (2008-01-30)
  [1536] A Weekend in Liverpool - (2008-02-10)
  [1537] To Wales - where theres still a toll on the bridge - (2008-02-11)
  [1590] All Change, Portsmouth Harbour - (2008-03-23)
  [1617] Steam Engines at Bressingham - (2008-04-20)
  [1624] From Freddie the fallow - (2008-04-27)
  [1638] Pictures far apart - (2008-05-10)
  [1639] Minehead Marauder - (2008-05-11)
  [1652] Old Sarum airfield brings back fond memories - (2008-05-24)
  [1714] Hillier Gardens, Hampshire - (2008-07-20)
  [1715] Pictures from South Hampshire - (2008-07-21)
  [1730] Punting on the Cam - (2008-07-31)
  [1755] Istanbul - (2008-08-15)
  [1804] Colvin and Carlisle - (2008-09-20)
  [1807] A sad town in the sunlight - (2008-09-22)
  [1837] Alfred the Great - (2008-10-13)
  [2205] An evening walk in Carrickfergus - (2009-05-29)
  [2207] North Antrim Coast - a jewel thats well worth a visit - (2009-05-29)
  [2316] Guadalajara - a special tour of a lovely city - (2009-08-01)
  [2387] to Clifton Down and Avonmouth - (2009-08-30)
  [2392] Lymington, New Forest - some pictures - (2009-09-03)
  [2624] Skyline and looking up in London - (2010-02-04)
  [2733] Travel Troubles and Jesus again - (2010-04-21)
  [2754] At Arlington and the Pentagon - (2010-05-07)
  [2799] Nuremberg - some pictures - (2010-06-08)
  [2802] After the Perl course in Nurnberg - (2010-06-11)
  [2808] From home to Nurnberg - journey pictures - (2010-06-13)
  [2809] Frankfurt in 90 minutes - (2010-06-13)
  [2897] The Land of the Black Labrador - (2010-08-01)
  [2907] Dartmouth, Kingswear and Torbay - (2010-08-07)
  [2985] Right place, right season - (2010-10-04)
  [3064] On the way to the course this week - (2010-11-22)
  [3070] Belfast, on a cold November evening - (2010-11-25)
  [3175] The Rhine in winter - (2011-02-19)
  [3185] Day Trip to Hereford, in pictures - (2011-02-26)
  [3204] Two views of a war memorial - (2011-03-17)
  [3297] A long day, a long journey, and families and similarities the world over - (2011-05-22)
  [3330] A lot of exercise this week - (2011-06-21)
  [3353] Off the beaten track - non-quite-so-tourist spots - (2011-07-10)
  [3393] Rodwell Trail, Weymouth - (2011-08-15)
  [3529] Sharpness, Gloucestershire - a place in transport history - (2011-11-25)
  [3595] Looking up - (2012-01-27)
  [3603] Another cold night - (2012-02-03)
  [3631] Getting around Dublin by public transport - some observations - (2012-03-01)
  [3654] On a sunny afternoon in London - (2012-03-15)
  [3667] A modern area of Cambridge - some thoughts provoked? - (2012-03-22)
  [3803] A Walk on the South Bank - (2012-07-13)
  [3854] Busmans Holiday - I like being a busman - (2012-09-02)
  [4011] From Salford - (2013-02-19)
  [4052] The PHP course this week is in... Salford - (2013-03-26)
  [4125] The first Luas of the morning - (2013-06-29)
  [4182] Welcome to Salford and Oldham - (2013-09-30)
  [4184] A fond memory - (2013-10-02)
  [4203] A weekend away - Four in a Bed returns to Happy Donkey Hill - (2013-11-09)
  [4214] A busy week, and a long flight - (2013-11-24)
  [4220] Thun, Switzerland - (2013-12-14)
  [4331] Musings on a Welsh town - (2014-11-28)
  [4348] Taking my life in my hands in Swansea - (2014-12-11)
  [4411] Location, location location. And a chance of a giggle! - (2015-02-01)
  [4477] Yesterday - off on leg one of our holiday - (2015-04-29)
  [4479] Pictures from around Rekjavik - (2015-04-29)
  [4480] Crossing between continents - (2015-04-30)
  [4486] Newark to New York - the PATH suburban railway - (2015-05-05)
  [4488] Election day, 2015 - (2015-05-07)
  [4490] What and where are the Azores? - (2015-05-09)
  [4497] Around the world from Melksham - (2015-05-25)
  [4643] From last July (2015) - (2016-02-08)
  [4671] Ruby training, half a world away - (2016-05-14)
  [4683] Saudi Arabia or Weymouth? - (2016-05-22)
  [4729] The oldest part of Los Angeles - (2016-11-23)
  [4730] San Juan Capistrano - (2016-11-23)

M200 - Well House Manor - Wiltshire
  [829] Where to go within 30 minutes of Melksham - (2006-08-11)
  [942] Index of Pictures - (2006-11-24)
  [946] Look around this mouth. - (2006-11-26)
  [971] Wiltshire letterboxes - (2006-12-07)
  [1106] Spring Pictures - (2007-03-11)
  [1112] Bank Holiday country breaks in Melksham, Wiltshire - (2007-03-17)
  [1129] Golfing, Wiltshire (near Melksham) - (2007-04-01)
  [1156] Two by One by Wiltshire - (2007-04-20)
  [1399] Pictures Framed - (2007-10-21)
  [1428] Travel Across Wiltshire - the game - (2007-11-11)
  [1521] Evening drive across the roof of Wiltshire - (2008-01-27)
  [1859] Wiltshire at dawn - the tourist trail - (2008-10-29)
  [1981] Bitter cold - (2009-01-07)
  [2128] Wiltshire - where everybody matters - (2009-04-13)
  [2176] Balloon Journey in Wiltshire - (2009-05-12)
  [2279] Understanding the new local government structure in Wiltshire - (2009-07-11)
  [2288] Wiltshire Community Area Partnerships - (2009-07-15)
  [2594] Melksham Area - your community view is sought - (2010-01-23)
  [2713] History is all around us - (2010-04-09)
  [2750] Views of Wessex - (2010-05-03)
  [2882] Seeing Wiltshire - from a Melksham base - (2010-07-21)
  [2888] Recent Pictures - (2010-07-27)
  [2923] Fresh air and beautiful places in Wiltshire - (2010-08-15)
  [3513] Olympic Torch - dates and places in Wiltshire in 2012 - (2011-11-08)
  [3723] Bank Holiday Monday, so it was pouring with rain. - (2012-05-07)
  [3729] Then and now pictures of Melksham - on show through the summer - (2012-05-11)
  [3800] Fancy a weekend away? Try Well House Manor in Melksham, Wiltshire - (2012-07-09)
  [3806] 2011 Census results - initial figures for Wiltshire. - (2012-07-17)
  [3989] Plenty to see and do - even in Winter - on a Well House Manor weekend - (2013-01-24)
  [4084] New Pictures - Melksham Pack Horse Bridge - (2013-05-12)
  [4702] Up and down TransWilts - some pictures off the rails! - (2016-07-07)


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Autumn Fruits and Bristol Old Station
Some other Articles
Variable names like i and j - why?
Hello World - a good traditional start to a Java course
Sanity checking the price, and selling up to increase income
Autumn Fruits and Bristol Old Station
Further North - long summer days and lovely countryside
Removal of technical resources from this site
TypeError: super() argument 1 must be type, not classobj (Python)
Robust user input (exception handling) example in Python
Testing code in Python - doctest, unittest and others
Pound Sign in Python Program
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This is a page archived from The Horse's Mouth at http://www.wellho.net/horse/ - the diary and writings of Graham Ellis. Every attempt was made to provide current information at the time the page was written, but things do move forward in our business - new software releases, price changes, new techniques. Please check back via our main site for current courses, prices, versions, etc - any mention of a price in "The Horse's Mouth" cannot be taken as an offer to supply at that price.

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