Days 26 to 28

Headed upward to Cumbria, which was about a 3 ½ drive from Warwick. Staying at a B & B in Windermere, which is next to one of a string of lakes in the region. On our first fall day we travelled to a town of Ingleton as they had a walk that included a number of falls. It was fairly rigorous for us and took us well over 3 hours to complete.


After a short coffee break we decided to soldier on and tackle the White Scar caves before they closed. We travelled about a ½ mile inside the caves, sometimes having to almost double over to get through. Monny was a bit claustrophobic and was glad to get out of there in the end.


The next day we decided to take it easy and take a couple of cruises over Lake Windermere to nearby towns.

Day 25

Headed off to Warwick Castle today, which is a more touristy type of castle than we have seen in the past. We spent about 5 hours there in total and saw a trebuchet fired, a falconry show, chatted to a long bowman, Grace went to the Princess Tower and got a princess make-over. Lots of walking as you would expect.

Day 24

After another full English breakfast, we headed out to Stratford-upon-Avon leaving behind Gillian and her Mum and Dad. We did a tour of Shakespeare’s birthplace, which was quite good and then headed to the butterfly farm.

Days 22 & 23

We left Cornwall today, with Gillian and her Mum and Dad and headed to the Cotswolds (about 3 hours drive). We are staying in a beautiful country town called Bourton-on-the-water. It is a beautiful place with fantastic old buildings. Monny is looking to buy an old antique ring to remind her of our trip…so I am guessing that she will get her way.


Headed out to Stow-on-the-Wold today as it is another quaint town full of shops and fantastic architecture. Took the back roads through upper and lower Slaughter, which contained some great farm cottages and certainly a place to go if you need to unwind. Monny got her ring. It is an Irish Claddagh ring, that is quite nice.

Day 21

Out on our own today as Gillian and Adrian are both working. Headed out to Penzance, which is heading towards the south west bottom of the UK. We stopped and had some lunch here in a café overlooking the bay. After this we drove around to St Michael's Mount, which is an impressive castle that sits out in the middle of the bay. By low tide, which it was when we got there, you could walk over to it. Our Heritage pass gave us access to the castle itself so after some steep cobblestoned steps and paths we made it to the top for a fantastic view.

Day 17 to 20

Managed to locate Gillian and Adrian’s place though I am not sure how as it is trickily placed around a few blind corners. Roads are much thinner as you get into the smaller country towns so that is interesting coming to grips with that. We are actually staying with Gillians mum and dad who live just down the lane as they have a bit more room. Have been on a few morning walks with Gillian and her Mum….a beautiful part of the world down here and people are very hospitable.

Gillian has taken us out all over the place since we have been here. From Port Isaac, where the series Doc Martin is filmed, to St Austall, St Mawes, Padstow. We went out on Adrians boat from Wadebridge one day and Larissa out did everone by catching several mackerel. That meant though that she had to fillet them and cook them for us that night.

We saw some tall ships down at Charlestown on what happened to be "international talk like a pirate day" so there were several pirates around and many "arrr me hearty" and "shiver me timbers".

Day 16

A lazy day in Bath today as everything is within walking distance. Walked into the Roman Baths and walked around for a couple of hours looking at how these were built and used. Had a quick look through the Pump Room on the way out but looked a bit too up-market for the Hamlyn’s. After we left the Roman Baths we walked to the beautiful Parade Gardens beside the River Avon and had a nice relaxing lunch while Monny got to have her customary tea and scones. Browsed some shops in the high street before heading back to the apartment.