Blogs from Somerset, England, United Kingdom, Europe - page 7

This is written a bit later - but in all honesty a bit of a desperate day. It started off very well woke up in the B&B and after cooked breakfast - off on the road again. A nice day weather wise and cycling through vaguely familiar territory (since this was where my dad was from). A few hills as I left Crediton but all served to slow the pace down and the silence after a car passed was amazing - i.e. the lack of noise after the rush of the car accentuated all the animal and bird noises etc. Up a valley by a river to Tiverton, a short rest by a main road, then 8 miles or so on the busiest road so far - not much fun but got me closer to where ... read more

Thanks to our signing on with www.trustedhousesitters.com we were able to have a wonderful time in Bath, about 100 miles west of London. Fortunately for us 2 cats, Winston and Ellie needed someone to take care of them from December 16 – 27th so we also got a much needed “cat fix”. With train travel in the UK being so prevalent we hopped on in London at 9:30AM and we were in Bath by 11AM. After having a nice visit with Hazel, the home owner and meeting Ellie & Winston, the cats, we decided to take advantage of the nice weather and head into town. The Kennett & Avon Canal is very close by and the path along it ran right into the town of Bath – a nice way to start our explorations. After picking ... read more

The weather has been very unpredictable recently with lots of rain and wind, so when Sue Winter, Jane Gurney and myself planned to climb Crook Peak, we were expecting bad weather! When we woke on the morning of our walk, the sun was shining and the skies were blue, but you never can count on weather like that sticking around for even a couple of hours, so in our backpacks went waterproof trousers, extra coats, hats etc - just in case! We all had heard several reports of an accident on the M5 that had shut the motorway, so we made the decision to go across country and follow the A38 all the way down to Cross. Jane drove as Freddie (her dog) was coming along and he was very excited to be going out. I ... read more

Monday, August 19 Off to Bath today by train. It was a 2 1/2 hour ride through beautiful countryside and past quaint, and some ancient, towns and villages. Arriving in Bath was like going back in time about 500 years. Little in this city has changed since then! We are in Bath to visit Kelsey Strass and Mark Parsons and also for the historical sightseeing within Bath and for a tour to Stonehenge. The city was first established as a spa with the Latin name, Aquae Sulis ("the waters of Sulis") by the Romans sometime in the AD 60s about 20 years after they had arrived in Britain. They built baths and a temple on the surrounding hills of Bath in the valley of the River Avon around hot springs. Edgar was crowned king of England ... read more

IN ENGLISH London to Cheddar, Somerset, UK: 143 miles one way - 6 - 7 July 2013 I had heard before that Cheddar Gorge provides an interesting winding road for riders to enjoy. Natuarally, we took the trip on two bikes so I can practice the bends too. The journey to Cheddar was uneventful. John had booked in advance a hotel in the town centre for one night. We arrived mid afternoon, and after settling in the room, we lazied around by the swimming pool until dinner time. It proved difficult to find a decent restaurant in the village, the most attractive one being unfortunately fully booked that evening. We ended up at a pizzeria; not very nice and most disappointing. The next day, on Sunday, in the morning we followed a url=http://www.cheddargorge.co.... read more