The Grand Tour, days 7 and 8

Down in Cornwall at last, this is the far point of the tour. I'm with my friend Angie and her partner: and I'm here a day earlier than originally planned because of changes to the schedule due to my inadequate communications! So on Saturday I was able to have a quiet day, helping with the shopping and then going for a very enjoyable walk in rhe local woods in the sunshine

On Sunday I had the delight of going to Come-to-Good Meeting. This is in a very special Meeting House, Grade I listed and dating from 1710. I'd wanted to go for ages, but this was the first time I'd been in Cornwall with the car, which was necessary. My trusty SatNav Daisy found the way without difficulty, and I arrived in very good time. The benches were a little rigorous, but there were also chairs and cushions to put on them, and that was a good compromise. It was a lovely meeting, all about simplicity, and I enjoyed chatting with Friends (two of whom I knew) afterwards.

After Sunday Lunch with relatives of my hosts, I was able to have a pleasant and lazy afternoon nap before going to take photographs of a church parade that happened to be that day. We ended the day with a scratch supper and a bout of television watching: definitely a day of resting from our labours!

So on the whole an uneventful two days: but the next two were planned to be much more active. Watch this space!

The Grand Tour, days 5 and 6

One reason for stopping overnight in Ross on Wye was its proximity to Slimbridge. I've been a member of the Wildfowl and Wetlands trust for some years now, mainly to go round the Washington wildfowl park, and had not visited any of their other places. So I made a relatively early start, and headed for the Slimbridge wetlands area.
It's quite a big place, with pond, riverside and estuary areas, and I walked round most of it. Birds were in abundance, including three different kinds of flamingo! Nothing much of the rarer birds, though: a man clearly much more expert than me told me there were three Ruffs on the far side of the pond I could see, but my little binoculars couldn't pick them out. However, even on a dull morning it was an enjoyable experience, and I spent a couple of hours there before heading southwards to my next port of call, Glastonbury.
I arrived there mid-afternoon, and spent the best part of two more hours walking round the square of the town and looking at shops (so much New Age, so much tourist tat). Arriving at the far corner, I passed the Chalice Well - a lovely garden, as I know from a previous visit - but decided instead to take the exercise of climbing the Tor. It took me twenty minutes of hard climb, but such good exercise: just a pity the still misty day meant that the view was not all it might have been. And here's the photographic evidence that I made it!
My hotel was about three miles out, a charming place once the summer home of the Abbot of Glastonbury. The room was more luxurious than the one in Ross, but had less putting place and was in fact somewhat smaller, though with a bigger bathroom. I unpacked, snoozed and then drove back into Glastonbury for an Indian meal - as ever in Indian restaurants, there was enough for two, but I was good and didn't over-eat.
It had been a busy day, and I slept well.
Next morning the weather was still dull, and after breakfast I decided that rather than going back to visit the Chalice Well garden, I'd get on and get down to Cornwall. I made good time and arrived at Mike and Sue's in time for a bite of lunch. We always fall almost into the conversation we had last time we met, it's a delightfully easy relationship. After a bit I went for a snooze: Mike and Sue had their Home Group at someone else's house in the early evening, so I was able to do very little and watch the news before enjoying Sue's tasty echilladas and watching Dad's Army (recorded) and New Tricks (live). A pleasant end to the day!

The Grand Tour, days 3 and 4

On Tuesday, Christine (my hostess) was back at work, so I had the day to myself. I'd originally thought of taking the train into Liverpool: being very much a city woman, I could see myself enjoying just wandering around, looking at one or two of the many museums and art galleries, finding a nice bite to eat and coming home early enough for a relaxing nap. However, the day dawned rather dull, and I was feeling a little tired after the exertions of yesterday: so instead I had a very quiet and lazy morning, doing not very much, and then taking the local bus into Chester. Christine had mentioned a tour at the Grosvenor Museum starting at 2, and I thought it might be interesting to go on this. So I found a place for a light(ish) lunch - jacket potato and something or other - and then went up to the museum, arriving in good time. I checked at the desk that there was indeed a tour at 2, and the man said yes: and sure enough, a tour guide appeared - and started checking names on a list! So I asked her if I could come as well, and she said that it was fully booked. Neither Christine nor the man at the desk had said anything about booking. The guide said that not everyone had turned up, so there might still be a space, so I waited. In the end, she took all 25 who had booked and five more 'hopefuls' like me who hadn't. Now I'd thought it was a tour of the museum: but in fact it was a walk around the town, looking at evidence of viking occupation. In fact there is very little of this, and most of it not now visible: excavations have found post-holes and odd bits of wattle and daub, but not much more. But there have been three finds of silver hordes, mostly coins: and apparently both DNA and name evidence makes it pretty clear that vikings did settle in this part of the world, around 700 - 950 or so. The walk ended with bits I'd see with Christine the previous day, so I left it then and went back home after a fruitless search for cheap headphones, having left mine at home by mistake.
This was my last evening in Chester, and Christine - happy birthday, it was indeed hers that day - took me to her film club to see a fascinating Belgian film about a Belgian girl going to work for a big Japanese corporation. She finds a major clash of culture, and the Japanese staff do nothing to help her adjust to their ways. She sticks it out to the end of her one year contract, and then goes home and becomes a successful writer. 'Fear and Trembling' (the way one is supposed to approach the Emperor) was well worth seeing, though there were problems with what it was trying to say and how far it was a Belgian view of Japanese corporate life rather than a real one. Worth a try should you see it on offer, though.

Next day I took Christine to work in Wrexham on my way south. I'd intended to call in at the Nightingales factory shop in Craven Arms, but sadly this is no more: this lovely clothing company is now part of the J D Williams group, and is in my view likely to decline as a result. So I pressed on to Ludlow, a place I'd visited a few years ago and enjoyed, and this time I had time to go round the castle. Edward V and his brother Richard both lived here as young boys: a lovely place to live, I should think, with comfortable quarters (lots of fireplaces in evidence!) and beautiful countryside to explore.
I had lunch in the same wholefood cafe as before, the Olive Branch (highly recommended if you're in Ludlow), and then drove on, guided by Daisy (my satnav, called Daisy because she goes with my little yellow car which is called Buttercup) to Ross on Wye, my overnight stop. I went into the town centre first and had a brief walk round, enjoying a riverside walk and a look at a few possible eating places. Then I (or rather Daisy) found my B & B, and very comfortable it was too, and in walking distance of town. I had a snooze, then followed the landlady's recommendation and ate at the Kings Arms. Christine is a vegetarian, and I'm not, so I settled for a locally produced Cotswold Steak with a superb blue cheese sauce, beautifully cooked vegetables - four of them - and new potatoes rather than chips. All in all an excellent feast, and a good way to end day four of the tour.

The Grand Tour - first two days

At last! my long planned tour of various friends in various parts of the UK has finally got under way. Not without incident: alas, the Open Golf in Wales meant that the dates I'd hoped to make a visit there coincided with a postponed start of the University term, so my lovely friend Tracey couldn't have me to stay on those dates: and due to my own stupidity in not confirming a rather informal suggestion that I visit in Bristol, my relative there found that this was the busiest week of her year and it really wasn't a good time for me to go! However, such things can also be opportunities, and so I'm going to be able to have some time in Ross on Wye, a place I've not been to since I was about 15, and Glastonbury where I've not been for 15 years (this is the town, not the festival). So I'm looking forward to some quiet, peaceful times in both those places.
So here I am, at the first port of call in Chester. I arrived on Sunday evening, and before even unpacking the car much I started work in the kitchen. Christine, my hostess, had herself only just got home from a working weekend, so I'd said I would bring the wherewithal to make stuffed peppers for supper (she's a vegetarian), and another mutual friend joined us. I always enjoy cooking for people and this was no exception: and we had a very pleasant meal with good conversation and a totally quaffable bottle of Sauvignon Blanc.

Next day dawned a superb, cloudless sight, and it seemed a shame to follow Plan A and do some computer education and book Christine a coach journey on line. So we went into Chester, on foot as we had, it turned out, missed the local bus due to the timetable having been altered, and looked at the ruins of St. John's church which was founded in Saxon times. It's a fascinating building: it was once the Cathedral in Chester, and King Edgar, having been actually crowned at Bath Abbey, came there for his Lords to pay homage to him. Then we went on past what you can see of the amphitheatre, which would be the largest Roman amphitheatre in Britain if it were not half under buildings, one of which is Grade II listed despite having little architectural merit, in my eyes at least. We had time to walk part of the walls before going home to lunch.

After lunch we went to pick up Christine's friend Irene and then drove up to Studley Hall, once home of the Holt family (the Holt shipping line was in existence until some time after the war). Here there was a fascinating collection of paintings, the personal collection of George Holt, and very impressive: it included Turners, Burne Jones, Rosetti and other pre-Raphaelite artists as well as earlier ones such as Reynolds and Gainsborough. What a feast! We had a thoroughly enjoyable time looking at many rooms full of pictures before having tea outside and then taking a walk in the park before going home.