Today we tried to break a record for the most English Heritage/National Trust properties visited in one day! After we settled up for breakfast – same breakfast, third different price in three days (at least the price was going down not up!) – we packed up all of our gear and programmed the SatNav for Edlingham Castle which is administered by English Heritage. Edlingham Castle was built in about 1300 by Sir William Felton at a time when Northumberland was relatively peaceful. The best-preserved part of the castle that remains today is the solar tower that was added in 1340-50 by William’s son. With the advent of Anglo-Scottish hostilities William (junior) also strengthened the defences with a gate tower and stone curtain wall. After passing to the Hastings and Swinburne families the castle was abandoned in ... read more

What is it with English pillows … and showers? Actually, the pillow thing is not just English, it’s European. Everywhere that we have stayed while we have been away the pillows look lofty but, as soon as you put your head on them, they squish down to nothing. Haven’t they heard of memory foam in Europe?! So, after yet another night on a flat pillow I was looking forward to a decent shower this morning. Um, no, that was not to be. In addition to the smallest room award The Plough earns the distinction of offering the absolute WORST SHOWER OF THE HOLIDAY!! Honestly, we could have got wetter being spat on by a butterfly. And, of course, I needed to wash my hair today. Should have done it yesterday! Breakfast is not included in the ... read more

We had another very lazy day today. We slept in … again, well, it was a very late night/early morning after our epic card playing session last night! After a late breakfast we drove down to the bridge to pick up some supplies for a BBQ tonight. Aargh, it took us ages to find things in a strange supermarket. I’m sure we circumnavigated the store several times before we found all the items on our list. Just when we thought we had everything we needed, we decided we should buy some dips for starters/nibbles tonight but … could we find them?? Around and around the store we went trying to find some dips. Eventually we asked and we were directed to the fruit and veg area where we found the dips … right beside the prepared ... read more

Today we didn’t set and alarm! We had nothing in particular planned for the day and we could make our own breakfast whenever we wanted it so … no need to be woken by an alarm. Lovely! After a sleep-in and a late breakfast, we had a very lazy day. A VERY lazy day. After lunch we drove Kath and Albert over to Morrison’s (supermarket) in Dukinfield. They don’t drive over there much these days finding it easier to shop at the Tesco or the Aldi in Stalybridge. They were able to buy a few supplies that they prefer to get from Morrison’s and we purchased some ingredients to make dinner tonight. I spotted the Festival Gateaux and picked one up and placed it in the trolley. Kath and Albert couldn’t believe it, they say they ... read more

Today we decided that we would spend some time having a look around Cirencester. It was probably good that we had already made this decision as the weather was a bit gloomy when we woke this morning. We had to break out our umbrellas to walk into the centre of town to arrive at the Parish Church of St John the Baptist in time for the 10.30am tour. St John’s is often mistaken for a cathedral because it is a particularly large and beautiful parish church. In fact, it is one of the largest parish churches in the country, built, repaired, renovated and extended with wool money as Cirencester was renowned for its successful and lucrative wool trade. There has been a church on this site since the earliest years of the Christian era, with the ... read more