Monday 17th - day 386
We are leaving Wales today, for the penultimate destination of our tour. The end of our gap year is beginning to loom large on our horizon and the thought of trying to settle down or trying to
We are leaving Wales today, for the penultimate destination of our tour. The end of our gap year is beginning to loom large on our horizon and the thought of trying to settle down or trying to
find jobs in the present financial climate is a little disconcerting, but we are trying not to think about it! There are some things that we are looking forward to - like having our own flushing loo, and free use of our own shower. Also it will be good to be still for a while, but other than that we still have the desire and energy to keep on going! We would like to be able to plan another trip, but I suspect that we will have to see what our earning potential is over the next few years!Anyway, back to today, we had an easy journey from our lovely little spot at Letterston (the only concern being getting out of the narrow gate way, which was executed brilliantly, thanks to a careful driver and a calm camp site owner) and Hereford, and we were all settled in before it went dark which is always a bonus.
Tuesday 18th - day 387
We needed to attend to business today, so spent the day in Hereford, looking for printers and launderettes, followed by a trip round Morrison’s.
That should have kept us busy enough but we were side tracked for a while by the delights of
the town and cathedral. We decided to pop into the Tourist Information centre for a town map, only to discover it was right by the cathedral. Our inquisitive natures at once needed satisfying, and no amount of reasoning that we could revisit another day, stopped us from going in to 
explore further. The cathedral itself was not so exciting as many others that we have visited, but it housed the Mappa Mundi and the Chained library. We quibbled outside for a while pretending that we were not willing to pay £4.50 each to view one of the worlds oldest surviving maps, but 
sense prevailed and once inside we were thrilled by what we saw. The map was not a geographic interpretation of the medieval view of the world but a religious one. It had been put together around 1300 by Richard de Belle of Haldingham (Holdingham in Lincolnshire) with Jerusalem as the centre of the world! It was fascinating to try and interpret as it was written in a mix of Latin 
and French, but fortunately some clever person had translated the names into English so we could understand what we were looking at.The next room held the chained library, which was literally that. A room full of three tiered columns of books of Christian learning and church law that were attached to the bookcase by chains just long enough for the reader to be able to lift the book onto the desk and read it there. Obviously no-one was going to take these books from the library!
After such an invigorating visit, we needed(!) to make use of the services of the Cathedral refectory, so we stopped to enjoy a little tiffin before heading back to our duties.
We had enjoyed mixing pleasure with business until we arrived back at the caravan just before the Archers, with bags of shopping to be emptied and three washing machines full of clean wet clothes to hang out.
It was a while before we had completed all our chores!
Wednesday 19th - day 388
We again spent most of the day catching up with admin, and starting to put together the Christmas card ideas, but by 3.30 we needed to get out and feel the fresh air, so we drove down to Bodenham, a little village a few miles away, for our constitutional. We parked in the local
RSPB nature reserve, and having walked to the lakeside to check out the ducks and pink sky, we set off to the check out the lovely little church, and once there we discovered a circular walk created for the locals to celebrate the millennium. Of course we had to follow the signs, and ended up walking across some really squelchy clay rich soil, and our boots got heavier and heavier until we got back to the road, but we were treated to a fabulous evening sky. We walked 
back to the car, as a very soft evening settled in, and the smells of quietly decaying autumnal leaves rose around us.Thursday 20th - day 389
We had great plans today to make a quick recce of Hay on Wye, and then make our way into the 
Brecons to do a bit of walking. But we never got any further than this glorious little town, famous for selling books, but we discovered that it had much more besides. We spent too long browsing in antique, crafts and gift shops that we could not afford to purchase anything in! But still we enjoyed very much exploring everything on offer here. Actually we did make a purchase there was an old man standing by a little table selling bread that his son had been making overnight. 
We bought three loaves – two sour dough rye and one tapenade loaf, I wish that I could say that they would last all week, but the tapenade was nearly all gone by the end of our picnic (it was only little though!)
Which we had overlooking the valley late in the afternoon before going on a little walk down the quiet country lanes before heading back into town for one more look at it lit up.
Whilst we were waking we were passed by a couple of young idiots driving down the lane with no lights – in fact they did not appear to be using anything other than gravity to propel them forward and we caught them up at one point pushing their fiesta up the hill, just in front of a very irate fully functioning motor!
Even as we were leaving we were planning to return, so lets hope that we have time!
Friday 21st - day 390
We must be coming to the end of our holiday, because we seem to have a lot of business to attend to, but repairing a deflated caravan tyre was not part of the plan! So a little (!) later than
planned we set off to explore Leominster and Ludlow. We mixed business with pleasure at the first place, as we dropped off the tyre to be repaired before we went for a wander round Leominster. After the joys of Hereford and Hay, we found it a shabby and charmless little town, 
although it did have a lovely square, and there was evidence of the old black and white timber framed houses that are in abundance in this area. We just could not find its charms, so we only stayed long enough to grab a sandwich and pick up the tyre before moving on to Ludlow. Good move, it was beautiful here, bursting with fabulous timber framed building towering out over narrow and colourful streets. The shops were again very expensive and stylish, filled with 
beautiful gifts and crafts, and once again there was a lot of dribbling over a firmly closed wallet!
We visited St Lawrence church, which was worth a visit, but we had the dubious pleasure of meeting the grumpiest verger in Christendom, who would rather keep the pews gleaming than provide a warm welcome sinners! Needless to say that after an attempt at discussion, we smiled and agreed to disagree (actually I don’t think he noticed that we had an opinion!)
We had a jolly good wander round this beautiful town, with its imposing castle and pretty bridges, and tried to make sure that we had left no small street or shop window unexplored before making our way back to the campsite for a luscious steak and kidney pie bought at the local butchers for £2.99 – excellent in every way.
Saturday 22nd - day 391
We were supposed to be spending the day in Shrewsbury, but it has been a day of surprises – all lovely.
We were heading first to Church Stretton, and had seen Stokesay Castle on the map, but had not paid it much attention. However as we were driving by we were stopped in our tracks, it was a lovely old medieval castle with a yellow timber framed gate house, and a little church. We were only going to stop for a few photos but 60 minutes and two audio tours later, we left with no corner unexplored, particularly the large medieval barn with its crux beams, blackened from all 
the fires lit to keep the revellers warm in its hey day. The guide for our tour had been Janet Suzman, and my husband was nearly a jibbering wreck by the time she had finished whispering in his ears, so I had to help him back to the car to recover!
He was back to his old self by the time we got to Church Stretton, a lovely little village which was celebrating the switching on of its Christmas lights later in the day, and had organised a street
Fayre selling local goodies, including a glass of Champagne at £6 a glass. You can imagine which one of us was definitely not going to be putting his hands in his pocket at that price!
After a little while we moved on to Much Wenlock, and as we arrived it was obvious that we
wouldn’t be leaving this colourful, creative and very smart town, with its own Priory and Abbey, in a rush. So we parked up and went for a slow wander along the characterful old lanes, past some very lovely old houses, and into some delightful shops. The highlight was this little wool shop (called Ippikin) which looked so inviting it was impossible to stay outside, so we didn’t. There was a really friendly buzz and the whole family were working in the shop, serving or knitting, (not sue where they had disappeared to in this photo!!) and we stayed long enough for a 
little chat and a lovely purchase – a teapot cosy covered in colourful buttons. As you have probably guessed it was nearly dark by the time we left to head for Shrewsbury, no surprise there, but we still had energy to go for a look round town. We discovered that it too was a grand old historic town, with yet more stunning shop windows, but I am glad that we had spent our 
time the way we did. We were feeling a bit Saturdayish though, and had packed our tea, so we decided to stay in town and go to the cinema (Icesave must surely be on its way soon!) So we tried to look invisible in the corner of the parking complex whilst we ate our tea, before going in to watch the latest Bond film “Quantum of Solace”. I am not sure what the critics had been complaining about, the film was over in 5 minutes – at least that’s what it felt like and I think we may need to watch it again.
Sunday 23rd - day 392
There was absolutely no fun had today. I have seen a job that looks appealing, so foolishly decided to apply, rather than wait until January! So I spent all day squeezing any revivable grey cell into working life – and tried to remember what I did 18 months ago, and after 6 hours of wiping blood off the brow I had managed to complete the job history, made double sure that it was saved and closed everything down before supper. The real fun started when I tried to find it again – it was absolutely no where to be found, not even my technical expert could find it, so after a little hissy fit I started again. In the mean time Chris finished his book!
Brecons to do a bit of walking. But we never got any further than this glorious little town, famous for selling books, but we discovered that it had much more besides. We spent too long browsing in antique, crafts and gift shops that we could not afford to purchase anything in! But still we enjoyed very much exploring everything on offer here. Actually we did make a purchase there was an old man standing by a little table selling bread that his son had been making overnight. We bought three loaves – two sour dough rye and one tapenade loaf, I wish that I could say that they would last all week, but the tapenade was nearly all gone by the end of our picnic (it was only little though!)Which we had overlooking the valley late in the afternoon before going on a little walk down the quiet country lanes before heading back into town for one more look at it lit up.
Whilst we were waking we were passed by a couple of young idiots driving down the lane with no lights – in fact they did not appear to be using anything other than gravity to propel them forward and we caught them up at one point pushing their fiesta up the hill, just in front of a very irate fully functioning motor!
Even as we were leaving we were planning to return, so lets hope that we have time!
Friday 21st - day 390
We must be coming to the end of our holiday, because we seem to have a lot of business to attend to, but repairing a deflated caravan tyre was not part of the plan! So a little (!) later than
planned we set off to explore Leominster and Ludlow. We mixed business with pleasure at the first place, as we dropped off the tyre to be repaired before we went for a wander round Leominster. After the joys of Hereford and Hay, we found it a shabby and charmless little town, although it did have a lovely square, and there was evidence of the old black and white timber framed houses that are in abundance in this area. We just could not find its charms, so we only stayed long enough to grab a sandwich and pick up the tyre before moving on to Ludlow. Good move, it was beautiful here, bursting with fabulous timber framed building towering out over narrow and colourful streets. The shops were again very expensive and stylish, filled with beautiful gifts and crafts, and once again there was a lot of dribbling over a firmly closed wallet!We visited St Lawrence church, which was worth a visit, but we had the dubious pleasure of meeting the grumpiest verger in Christendom, who would rather keep the pews gleaming than provide a warm welcome sinners! Needless to say that after an attempt at discussion, we smiled and agreed to disagree (actually I don’t think he noticed that we had an opinion!)
We had a jolly good wander round this beautiful town, with its imposing castle and pretty bridges, and tried to make sure that we had left no small street or shop window unexplored before making our way back to the campsite for a luscious steak and kidney pie bought at the local butchers for £2.99 – excellent in every way.
Saturday 22nd - day 391
We were supposed to be spending the day in Shrewsbury, but it has been a day of surprises – all lovely.
We were heading first to Church Stretton, and had seen Stokesay Castle on the map, but had not paid it much attention. However as we were driving by we were stopped in our tracks, it was a lovely old medieval castle with a yellow timber framed gate house, and a little church. We were only going to stop for a few photos but 60 minutes and two audio tours later, we left with no corner unexplored, particularly the large medieval barn with its crux beams, blackened from all the fires lit to keep the revellers warm in its hey day. The guide for our tour had been Janet Suzman, and my husband was nearly a jibbering wreck by the time she had finished whispering in his ears, so I had to help him back to the car to recover!He was back to his old self by the time we got to Church Stretton, a lovely little village which was celebrating the switching on of its Christmas lights later in the day, and had organised a street
Fayre selling local goodies, including a glass of Champagne at £6 a glass. You can imagine which one of us was definitely not going to be putting his hands in his pocket at that price!After a little while we moved on to Much Wenlock, and as we arrived it was obvious that we
wouldn’t be leaving this colourful, creative and very smart town, with its own Priory and Abbey, in a rush. So we parked up and went for a slow wander along the characterful old lanes, past some very lovely old houses, and into some delightful shops. The highlight was this little wool shop (called Ippikin) which looked so inviting it was impossible to stay outside, so we didn’t. There was a really friendly buzz and the whole family were working in the shop, serving or knitting, (not sue where they had disappeared to in this photo!!) and we stayed long enough for a little chat and a lovely purchase – a teapot cosy covered in colourful buttons. As you have probably guessed it was nearly dark by the time we left to head for Shrewsbury, no surprise there, but we still had energy to go for a look round town. We discovered that it too was a grand old historic town, with yet more stunning shop windows, but I am glad that we had spent our time the way we did. We were feeling a bit Saturdayish though, and had packed our tea, so we decided to stay in town and go to the cinema (Icesave must surely be on its way soon!) So we tried to look invisible in the corner of the parking complex whilst we ate our tea, before going in to watch the latest Bond film “Quantum of Solace”. I am not sure what the critics had been complaining about, the film was over in 5 minutes – at least that’s what it felt like and I think we may need to watch it again.Sunday 23rd - day 392
There was absolutely no fun had today. I have seen a job that looks appealing, so foolishly decided to apply, rather than wait until January! So I spent all day squeezing any revivable grey cell into working life – and tried to remember what I did 18 months ago, and after 6 hours of wiping blood off the brow I had managed to complete the job history, made double sure that it was saved and closed everything down before supper. The real fun started when I tried to find it again – it was absolutely no where to be found, not even my technical expert could find it, so after a little hissy fit I started again. In the mean time Chris finished his book!
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