I have been using a 40+ year old AA Guide to GB travel guide. It covers pretty well every corner of the UK in double page spreads with small maps and highlights and brief descriptions such as: Crawley One of Hampshire's most charming villages built almost entirely in the 16th century. A large pond flanks the manor house and a pink thatched cottage stands at the foot of a long hill of houses. Halfway up is an inn with bowed and latticed windows. The village is...

We decided to take a chance on being able to get in to Highclere Castle today. D&K had come across a reference to there being a limited number of unbooked tickets available on the day. We therefore drove up early and were around the fourth car there at 9.20 with the house opening at 10.00. We actually walked the Capability Brown gardens for an hour. Last year was the 300th anniversary of his birth, and a lot of work was put into "tidying-up" the gardens, a...

Whodathought it, we didn't go anywhere today. Not due to tiredness from yesterday, just Ches wanting a break … and to do some shopping. We had a leisurely breakfast …. Drew eats in stages. A smoothie followed an hour or so later by Hot Cakes His smoothie is addictive. Breakfast smoothieHandful of ice cubes1 cup of milkHeaped tablespoon of ground almondsHeaped tablespoon of cocoaHalf an avocado3 Medjool datesOne third of a cup porridge oatsBlend till comp...

Half way through writing this blog I realised that we didn't see much today. We "did" a lot, but not "see" a lot. As a consequence, I'm milking as much as I can get out of it. Keith had taken the day off to join us in a trip to Highclere Castle (Downton Abbey). Apparently you have to book and the castle is closed on Fridays anyway. In fact, it is almost fully booked for weeks and weeks ahead. Methinks American tourists in their droves. K&D had also flagg...

Not a great night's sleep last night. In bed and asleep by 9.45 however they were doing roadwork on the street out front till around 4.00 am. Unbelievable, D&K's street is a suburban one with only enough room for a car to travel in either direction. No on street parking. The intersection 150m down the street can take around 3 or 4 minutes to turn green and often you have to wait for the second change of lights to get through. Gotta be the worst intersectio...