Terrific Time in Tyneham

A few months ago, Dean and Jenny went to a cool place we'd never heard of, on the south coast, with history and a beautiful cove; it sounded like the perfect family day trip, and it was!

We went out on Sunday to Tyneham, a tiny village that was taken over by the British government during WWII because of its strategic position on the Channel. Even now, the military uses the area around the ghost town for tank exercises. 

There were plaques to read in every destroyed cottage.

The church had lots of informative displays as well. 

This photo shows the row of cottages before the war, with their upper stories and roofs intact.

This was inside the schoolhouse, where I found the framed photos of Queen Elizabeth and King George V interesting. 

There was so much to learn and see, and the only charge was a suggested two pound donation to park the car! 

We then took a lovely 20 minute walk on a path near the woods to the bay. 

It felt like a private beach, and it practically was. If only it had been warmer, I think we all would have been in there.

Violet asked me to go with her up a nearby path up the hill, and I'm so glad I agreed.

The views were gorgeous!

On the other side, away from where our family played, we spotted a sea cave.

It felt like we were a million miles away!

There's my girl, on the narrow path.

Our family was resting on the white rocks near the edge of the green hill.

Such a great day out together! 
 

Fun with the Family

On Saturday, we braved the rain and went to Burrow Hill, for a weekend Cider Bus event, with food trucks and entertainment. Oh, and cider, yes, we also had cider.

Later, we went to Auntie Doreen's and Uncle Pete's house to relax and enjoy the day with the whole famly. 

Check out that dessert spread!

Cora and Violet played with Olivia and Bethany, which included a bit of abuse for poor Cora. Ha!

Spending time with family, after three years, was the highlight of our trip.

Stace and I went out with Karen for a drink at the Drayton Crown, while Martin was away for a stag do.
 

We also stopped by Auntie Pauline's to say hello, for the first time since the loss of Uncle Brian. We enjoyed meeting her new puppy, the black dog Stace is petting.

On Friday night, we met up with Dean, Euan and Livi to have a go on their little motorbike. Violet had quite an adventure on her very first time riding a geared motorbike. She didn't know the layout of the fields, and didn't see the single wire strand of fencing separating the fields. She zoomed toward it, and didn't see it until too late - wham! She went straight through it!

The fields, owned by Dean's friend, were full of old cars and equipment, including this dozer the girls were climbing on.

Sue made a lovely roast dinner, and I wanted to remember this sweet moment of Cora helping Pop with the dishes.

Up the Bell Tower

When we returned from our trip north, Sue had some great news for us. The girls had expressed interest in climbing the bell tower at Kingsbury's St. Martin's Church, and Sue was able to arrange it! Yes, it pays to know people who know people!

We were all able to go, led by a friendly man named Dave, who has the keys to the tower. Up 130-plus steps we climbed, up the circular stairwell. We stopped and peeked in at a room with the bells themselves, one of which was 700 years old!

The views from the top were beautiful, of course!

I love this photo Violet took.
 

Here's Dave, with the bells.

This is the door at the top of the stairwell that led to the top of the bell tower.

Stairs going down

John White, in 1733, wanted to be remembered!

English Road Trippin': Stratford

 We loved our day in Stratford upon Avon, the ancient town full of Shakespeare and gorgeous buildings and a river to boot.

We toured Shakespeare's childhood home, making our way through with a busload of schoolchildren on a field trip.

Here's the back of the museum, in the gorgeous garden.

Cora was eager to check out the Royal Shakespeare Company, since she was in a Shakespeare-adjacent show in the spring.

Stratford is just so photogenic! It was great, all over England seeing the bunting and Union Jacks still flying high, in honor of the Queen's Jubilee.

We also enjoyed the Tudor World museum, where Cora was able to lie in an old bed with a straw mattress. This *might* have been influenced by my story of grabbing a quick pic of me lying on Shakespeare's mother's bed, on our first trip to Stratford, in 2001, on a tour of her cottage.

The girls were able to try writing with a quill and ink, one of the numerous interactive features of this jam-packed museum. 

Here's a good example of one of the exhibits, this one focusing on maritime life for sailors in Tudor times.

Later, we had a memorable encounter: we were walking down a quiet side street when a small tour group came toward us. 

Stace said, "John?!?"

John said, "Stace?!?"

Five-thousand-something miles from home, these two co-workers, who live two miles apart, ran into each other on a tiny back street! Unbelievable. 

Stace knew that John was on a British Isles cruise, but had no idea where he'd be going. 

The tour guide invited us to join, but we politely declined. But he gave us a great tip when  he noticed Stace's motoring enthusiast's t-shirt: not far away was Caffeine and Machine, a car-focused restaurant/hotel, with frequent events. Kind of a permanent Cars and Coffee location. 

So after leaving Stratford, we stopped in for a drink!

Later, on our way home, we drove through Castle Coombe, one of England's prettiest villages. It lived up to its hype!

We were grateful our rental car had GPS! Even though some of the suggested routes were...questionable.

And, for posterity, a photo of our lovely Seat. It was roomy and easy to drive, and the mileage! Incredibly, on our long drive we averaged 60 mpg! Even around town, we got over 50 mpg. 

English Road Trippin': Part 3

One of Cora's goals for our trip was getting a nice set of D&D dice, so she had looked up various stores that might sell them. None really worked out, though. Still, we found a cafe that focuses on board games and nerdy things in Leaminster Spa, not far from Warwick. We had some cake and drinks, and played a game together.

Then we drove on to our pub inn for the night, The College Arms in Lower Quinton, not to far from Statford upon Avon. This was a classic old pub, full of locals who packed the little bar area; our room was the window on the bottom left.

Violet was really tired, so she stayed in, while Stace, Cora and I had a meal at the Indian restaurant attached to the pub, and then Stace and Cora played pool.

Here was the part of the pub where we enjoyed a fantastic breakfast Wednesday before taking off for Stratford.