Blogs from Warwickshire, England, United Kingdom, Europe - page 3

Started the day looking for breakfast...not easy early in the morning, as they open late here. Drove past a pub that showed promise, so we stopped. They were not open, but they were willing to make a cup of coffee, omg, best cup ever! We walked around back to a gorgeous patio overlooking the river. The mill was originally called Gibbeclive Mill in the 12th century. It was the property of St Mary's Abbey, Kenilworth and the Augustinian canons until the Dissolution of the Monasteries. It was rebuilt in 1822. It was a working mill until 1938, and it was converted into a restaurant and bar in 1952. There was a bridge across the river, so we investigated. It lead to a pathway around what looked like a big pasture. After a short distance we came ... read more

Photos of Charlecote Park...... read more

A goods night sleep always helps, so feeling refreshed and having repacked and recharged the batteries Aunty Carys dropped us at the car rental place. Woolly says – I was ready for anything, well I have to be when it comes to travelling with Jo! While Aunty Carys waited we trotted into the office and handed over the confirmation, the man looked carefully at the document and then looked at us. Jo’s bottom lip started to quiver so I thrust my still soggy bandana into her hand and glared at the gentleman. ‘We don’t appear to have your booking’ NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOoo, I felt my bottom lip start to shake as Jo flopped into a chair ‘bear with me I will sort something out’ he told us. I helped Jo outside and encouraged her to breath, forty five ... read more

Day 10 - The Royal Road Today we have another long trip planned. It would normally take us about 3 hours to get from Wychnor to Salisbury. On the way, we planned to spend a couple of hours at Warwick Castle and maybe stop at a few other locations. Just before Warwick we stopped at a ruined castle complex called Kenilworth Castle. The original buildings were built in the 1100s and addtions were made until the 1600s. After the English Civil War the castle wall was torn down so that it couldn't be used as a stonghold again. Many of the buildings had areas that were still accessible. Michelle enjoyed climbing through the halls and finding small dark nooks to explore. The Castle was one of the English Heritage sites. We bought a pass that lets ... read more

0 locks, 425 in total. A short but picturesque run today finishing with a loop around the edge of Rugby. The North Oxford canal was originally a contour canal, like the South Oxford that we took after the R. Thames. However 50 years after construction it was losing out to the railways so it was decided to straighten out some of the loops and raise the canal on embankments and aqueducts (like the Shropshire Union), avoiding building locks and saving 13½ miles in the process. Some of the obsolete bits of loop are still there but inaccessible from the new route. This has caused an anomaly with the bridge numbering, with almost half the numbers missing! Generally the canal is quite high up and provides good views. Initially this was rolling farmland and groups of farm ... read more