Europe. United Kingdom. England. Greater London. Heathrow Terminal 4. Holiday Inn Express. Undoubtedly comfortable and surprisingly well equipped room here but it has that ubiquitous familiarity that hotel room near airports have. It’s sort of cheap and will provide all services we require but it’s soulless and really the antithesis of so many of the pubs and BnB’s I’ve seen and stayed in recently. Drove from Newton Abbot to Heathrow today and with Lee as navigator the process was seamless and easy. Not having strict time constraints makes everything easier and the little stops we had were fine (except for the food which reminded us of the ’bad old days’ of English cuisine. The pub made zero concessions environmentally, serving several components of our meal in sealed plastic containers despite us eating at the table and ... read more

Tourist time again and we are in Warwickshire. Managing to stay out of Stratford during the day and then visit in the late afternoon and evening for the performances. Last night we saw Richard III. It was excellent. The Royal Shakespeare Company do things so well. The theatre was packed and I’d estimate about 750 would attend and every time we have been you’d be lucky to find a dozen spare seats. Some of those seats are in fact standing ’seats’ as the theatre is modelled on the ‘old globe’ used in Shakespeare’s time. There are some obstructed viewing seats (but they are clearly marked on the booking site) but the theatre is very atmospheric and very appropriate for the productions. Seats are expensive but it’s certainly a case of ‘the price is forgotten while the ... read more

Sitting in sunny Simonsbath in Somerset. No walking planned today and probably none wanted! Almost 600 km over the last month or so is about enough or according to Julie probably a few days too many! So today is washing, reflecting, blackberry picking, writing and catching up with emails and travel stuff before I collect a car and head off to Stratford for some ‘real’ tourist stuff and some Shakespeare. Lee is still asleep but after a long flight and train trip that’s no surprise. Hopefully having me around to sort of look after her will help her and she’ll be OK. I think the Queen is to be buried today so the mood even among guests here is a little somber. If it’s not today it’s tomorrow which has been declared a public holiday here. ... read more

Knowstone. I know, you know but the blog doesn’t. Too small to register. Understandable as there is only 1 accommodation address and only 1 pub and no post office, off licence or any other kind of shop or store. We managed to squeeze into the pub which wasn’t easy as it’s the Mason’s Arms, a 1 Michelin star restaurant, and it’s Friday night. We were told people come from near and far to eat there so getting a table (even in the corner of the bar) is quite a coup. Just over 25 km today but surprisingly easy. Without the ups and downs of the Coast Path each km is significantly easier and although about 20 km may be our preferred distance the bit extra wasn’t a concern and in fact we probably finished an hour ... read more

I know we are in Crediton but we walked to the middle of nowhere and were taxied here. The Contours people (the company we walk with had the directions mixed up, very unusual for them) and when I double checked with a local even she said ‘you’re in the middle of nowhere’ so it‘s been officially confirmed. We waited 35 minutes and only saw 3 people in that time so it certainly wasn’t Trafalgar Square! Delightful day walking along streams and rivers, through fields and meadows, up hills and gorges, down lanes and paths and generally just enjoying ourselves. The moors are ancient history really (sorry to say) and it’s just pleasant Devonshire countryside. We are becoming so accustomed to the farms around here that I’m pretty sure that Julie even missed taking a couple of ... read more