Neil and Vickys Trip to Ebbor Gorge

Neil,Vicky and Holly met up at 10 and made our way to Ebbor gorge which was as beautiful as ever. We stopped on the way at the castle of comfort where we had a lovely meal and Neil of course had to encourage everybody with a chocolate fudge cake. Holly made friends with a little 4 year old boy called Rory which involved chasing him with a wooden spoon!

At ebbor gorge we walked through the gorge past the wicker man and

From Longwell to Keynsham - Crocodile Dundee

G'day folks,

today we set off on our adventure from Daniels house to brave the interior of the bush around by Wiilbridge Mill with Graham and Liz and family. We set off for a nice walk along the railway past the empty cottages at Syston and saw the railway complete with engines. I particularly (Im very much into Banksy at the moment) liked some graffiti on an old engine which bore the legend ' RUST in peace. At bitton station we sat in the full Bush heat -Martin and I protected by our Bush head gear. We all had an ice cream - everybody saying how nice the heat was although I think I was hoping for an icy blast from Siberia.

A little way along in some fields we came to a small chapel like building which was derelict and had an open door. Well my architectural nose got the better of me and we piled through the nettles into the building which had the remains of a fire place and an archway. A closer look at the photos of the building showed it to be of a date c1860-70. I came to the conclusion that it must have been an estate managers office of some kind which is quite probable given its proximity to several large houses and also the river. Still unusual though. Some one must of re-roofed fairly recently too for use as a byre.

After a walk along by the river we ended up at Keynsham and had a beer in the pub. I also ordered some tucker - a goats cheese and asparags which I did duly get. It was very tasty - all two mouthfulls of it. A small peice of goast chese with three asparagis sticks and four tomatoe qauters. We were down to starvation tucker at this point.

Anyway duly fed and watered we made our way past the bridge at Keynsham where everybody along the river shouted out g'day to me and Martin. We walked along the river where thankflly there were no sharks resident ( I dreamed I was in a car being chased by a shark the other night) and saw a very cute little terrier dog who wanted to follow us and whom I would have dognapped if his owners weren't looking!

We then walked up the hill towards Daniels house thankful that for once we didn't get lost in the bush or eaten by wild tigers or elephants.

All in all a really nice afternoon out - thankyou to Daniel for leading the way!

Climbing the Blorenge

Today I decided to climb the massive Blorenge - which turned out to be quite a climb. In the morning I attended morning worship at St Mary's priory in Chepstow - an ancient norman building with an almost as ancient congregation. They were very friendly although a lot of the service was inaudible due to the acoustics of this ancient norman church - they could do with a central altar and pulpit. Afterwards I had a go on the large organ which rang around the priory church. I then headed off to Abergavenny via Llanover near where the famos Lady Llanover lived who was a harpist and brought Welsh culture and language back to south Wales.

Then off to Abergavenny for a nice quiet walk up the Blorenge. I had a look in the antique shop there where there was a creepy Victorian family album. Somebody next to me said how sad it was that the family were probably long forgotten. I popped in Tesco's for some food and then made my way up the Blorenge. I had to pass a cemetary ( I don't like cemetaries much) with stones with pictures on which was creepy. Then a walk under the main road into Llanfoist and past the old church. Then a strange tunnel which went under the canal with the sound of water above. I then has a climb through some woods which was gruelling. However half way up my legs were killing me. A family walked past and the dad said - it's a long way up don't tkae our route. 'Yes' his wife replied,'don't listen or take advice from him -he got us lost!' Well it really was steep - a whole lot steeper than Sugar Loaf mountain. Once on top fine views over to the Severn. It was well worth it and a bit like walking on the moon. The walk down was quite ardous.

Neil Vicky and Hollies Trip to Slimbridge

Vicky and Holly called on Saturday for lunch and we all went off to Slimbridge. It was a day full of showers but we had a great time. Holly made some badges downstairs and went outside and fed the birds in two seconds flat. Holly then borrowed my camera and learnt to use it with the zoom in two seconds flat at age 7. Talk kids being technology conscious! At that age I was playing with a commodore 64! Anyway we had a good walk around and saw lots of chicks including those pictured - the ones above were perched high up on a beam in the roof like the Osmond family! In the evening we had a meal in the chineese in Thornbury.

A trip to Santiago Compestella

Some places are full of atmosphere - others have the atmosphere of Slough Bus station. However the ancient place of Pennalt is one of those special places and takes a bit of getting to. I had driven to Monmouth to check out the Hawkeshead shop which was actually full of nice shirts e.t.c. Had a look around the small county town with its small individual shops and then set off on the Treleck road back to Bristol. As you climb the hill out of Monmouth and reach the summit you see a sign for Pennalt. It's quite a journey and you branch off on a turning for the old church. The road is very narrow - hardly a cars width and goes through woods and valleys for about two miles. Eventually you come to the church which is situated on top of the hillside overlooking the whole of the Wye Valley. This is where medieval pilgrims came on the journey to Santiago in Galithia in Spain. Just imagine what an amazing trip that must have been for medieval poeple. The church has an air of pilgrimage about it with its strange tunnel in the south aisle and a modern pilgrim tapestry. The church was run-down for a bit because the Victorians had built a gothic church in the village of Pennalt which recently has been closed down and is now a small house. The Old church is now back in use for regular worship even though it is several miles from Modern Pennalt.

On the way back I saw the Harold Stones (Neolithic) situated in a small field just outside the village of Trelleck. Why are they called Harold Stones? No idea! Trelleck is a fairly ancient kind of place.

A Day out in Somerset

Today dad and me set out for Wells in Somerset. However in a bid to take as much time as possible and see as many places we called in at quite a few places. First on the list was St Edwards at Barrow Gurney near Robs woodworking rooms. Lots of good art work here by Woodyer and situated next to a lovely jacobean house.

Our next port of call was Nempnett Thrubwell but we called in at tiny St James Regill which had some unusual plaster casts presumably for bronze work. This tiny 1860 church is not listed anywhere and I didn't know it even existed! After this we negotiated some very narrow roads until we came to Nempnett Thrubwell church - prettily sited next to a farm. A now not well known church and quite isolated but with views over to Blagdon. An ancient church at Butcombe proved interesting with a rood screen which was found in a local farmyard.

We then stopped at Blagdon to view the magnificent perp. work there before moving on to the low norman church at Compton Martin with one of those barley stick pillars which can be seen at Durham cathedral.

We then stopped off at an unusuall settlement. A village of new houses and then a massive Victorian church with octoganal tower with venetian bridges leading to some fine houses all in a square. This turned out to be the former mendip hospial and the huge church is now three houses as is the hospital - all designed by Sir Gilbert Scott.

We then travelled into Wells where I nearly had my wing mirror taken off by an arrogant motorist! We then had lunch in the refectory a nice veggie mushroom thingy and some lemonade which turned out to be alcoholic. We saw the cathedral ginger cat in the cloisters and then a lady who told her daughter that there was nothing but 'crap' written on the monuments. We thought it very funny to see a monument to a Norman Lamont 172o something!

After wells we headed for Priddy a medieval church in a exposed mendip village. Another small medieval church with lots of medieval fittings. We then headed off to Charterhouse to see Caroes 1908 st Hughes which was built as a miners hut but given some magnificent carving inside. Nearby lots of mine shafts and exposed country.

We then called in Mr Topladies church (Burrington Combe) and took photos of gargoyles and then onto Wrington where there was a creepy monument with a hand pointing to a vault.

All in all a nice trip out!