Orta is a bear we rescued in Italy in 2002. He had been trapped in a glacier for thousands of years and was eventually disgorged into Lake Orta. We found him floating head down and rescued him. He orta have been more careful. Orta joined us for this holliday because Buddy couldn't come. Today he wished he hadn't. The guide books and maps for the walk from Chipping Campden to the Broadway Tower said it was a 1 hour and 5min walk. The first three hundred me...

Saturday morning, Drew and Keith drove up to Bradford on Avon to join us on a tour of the town, then Malmesbury, and then on to Chipping Campden for the weekend. Ches had seen The Bridge Tea Room in a 1502 building earlier in the morning so we arranged to meet there. Drew had to park out of town, so Ches, Keith and I went in to get a table. When Drew arrived, he asked the Manager (she of the photograph), "is there anything I should know?". He'd some 6 months ...

My GGrandfather (my father's mothers father) was George Duck. He was born in Calne in 1836 and emigrated to Victoria in the early 1860's. He was a piano teacher, and through the church in Ballarat, met my GGGrandfather, George Coleman Robinson. He married his granddaughter Mary Jane Robinson. I have traced his family back to 1560 when Thomas Ducke was born and married Jane Taylor (born 1564). This was a Norman family and the guy at the Calne museum was amaze...

Now, where was I, oh that's right. I posted a couple of fillers over the last 4 days, as we seemed to be on the go most of the time. Last Friday morning we left Southampton, planning on visiting around six or so villages on our way to Bradford on Avon. Ches and Tom had a disagreement around 45 minutes out of Southampton. I listened to Ches and then after a number of U turns we found ourselves on the wrong motorway and then spat out into the countryside somewh...

We awoke to rain. Rain and more rain and almost gave up on any plans for sightseeing. Drew convinced us that over Petworth House (an hour east into West Sussex), the rain was due to stop at 2.00pm. Very precise. He suggested that our plan to visit Petworth should proceed. We decided that we would go to Midhurst first (it's on the way). Hey Kent, to cut a long story short. It's a very pretty town, lots of ancient buildings, most noticeable because of terrac...