Ted has returned from his adventure to Norwich and Windsor. Ted was travelling with a new friend, Jemima.

Amongst other things, Ted and Jemima visited two Cathedrals, a palace, a tower, The Long Walk at Windsor and an ancient stone circle.

They are now back home relaxing after their adventure.

Dale Carnegie

Breakfast, cooked to order was excellent. Unfortunately, two of our party were under the weather for different reasons but despite this we visited Lincoln Cathedral. It was mum’s birthday and a treat for her but her legs were a little wobbly so she only made it part way around the cathedral, having to sit down whilst the rest of us completed the tour of the Cathedral.

We had elevenses in the Cathedral Café which turned out to be rather cold due to drafts. It didn’t help that the staff kept leaving the outside door open when they served customers in the outside eating area. No matter how many times I shut the outside door, it was open again a couple of minutes later…

After our morning refreshments we walked the short distance into town where mum picked up some items from the chemist. The ladies had a mooch around EWM clothes shop where mum found a lovely gilet which she just had to buy, a birthday gift to herself. We then had a wander around the cathedral square and mum managed to walk to the castle grounds where I showed her the dragons!

At lunch time the party split into two, Mr C, mum and I had lunch in a lovely café Grayz that Mr C and I had enjoyed on a previous visit. It didn’t disappoint.

Mum, on her wobbly legs, enjoyed browsing around antique and bric-a-brac stores and craft stalls. She had become tired so we took her back to her room to relax, then we walked down steep hill.

At the bottom of steep hill, we remembered why we prefer the upper part of the town. The upper town is calm in contrast to the busy and boisterous nature of the lower town.

Rather than walk up the steepest part of ‘Steep Hill’ we took a detour through Temple Gardens with its slow winding pathway upwards.

Mum’s birthday dinner was in The Old Bakery, which is operated as a training ground for students from Lincoln College. We had a lovely evening and the food was delicious.

Mr C drove back to Cathedral View guesthouse where all but Mr C and I retired for the evening. The two of us visited the Wig & Mitre for a nightcap. It was a bit boisterous in the bar area but calm & chilled in front of the fireplace where we chose to sit. Just what the doctor ordered.

For our last breakfast in Stratford, we were seated in a beautiful sunny window where we lingered a while soaking up the sunshine.

After leaving the hotel I photographed the garden and our room windows from outside. Our room was on the same side as the room we stayed in previously but high at the front rather than ground floor at the rear. Overall, I preferred the room of our first visit but I preferred the views from the room on our second visit.

We were grateful for the hotel holding our booking when we had to cancel at the last minute but we found that the hotel had deteriorated in service quality since our previous visit. All that is needed is a bit more attention to detail or, as our friends who are in the hospitality business would say, ‘consistency’.

On our way home we decided to visit Avoncroft Museum, a childhood memory for Mr C, stopping briefly at the Jinney Ring Craft Centre in Hanbury. It is a delightful place with a lovely café and water gardens. I took the opportunity to walk the loop of the pools and enjoy the wildlife whilst Mr C sat on a bench overlooking the nature area.

In Avoncroft Museum of Historic Buildings Mr C revisited his childhood memories of a school trip, in particular the windmill. The museum also houses the National Collection of Telephone Kiosks and a mobile telephone exchange. The phones in the boxes and the exchange are fully functional and we were treated to a display of how the technology worked by a volunteer in the telephone exchange. This also brought up memories for Mr C, his father was a telephone engineer. Sometimes he would take Mr C into his exchange so there was much that Mr C found familiar in the Avoncraft example.

We took the opportunity to have lunch in the café before continuing our homeward journey. I couldn’t resist the opportunity of lime and passionfruit cake. Yum Yum.

We detoured to a farm shop to purchase items for our weekend meal requirements. Lasagne on Saturday and chicken on Sunday.

Breakfast was lovely but just as quirky as I remembered it. The continental breakfast options were even more limited than they were on our previous visit where meats and cheese were available but no bread. This time there was no bread, cheese or meats, just fruit and cereals and a token croissant and cake. However, I was able to select items from the full cooked breakfast; the food was delicious and presented in an appealing way.

After breakfast, we drove to Stoneleigh Abbey which started life as a Cistercian monastic house before being converted to a family home after the Dissolution of the Monasteries. We were guided around the house by Hugo who is a fount of knowledge regarding the history of the house and its former owners. Afterwards, we walked around the Humphrey Repton styled grounds before having lunch in the Abbey tearoom. The food was excellent but the menu led to some things having to be ordered in ‘sets’ rather than individually. I was could only have have tea with my cheese scone and had to pay extra for my drink of choice.

It was a bit late to venture further afield so we returned to Stratford and mooched around some different shops including the Shakespeare House bookshop. I was hoping to find a book that I had seen advertised in the programme for ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’ but I had forgotten to write down the book title before leaving on our travels. I knew I would recognize the book when I saw it but it was not immediately visible.

Now to plan B; visit the RSC shop. I had a little chuckle as we entered the RSC, I knew that our bags would be searched. We were carrying a couple of shopping bags with items that we had picked up in town. This led to a lot of amusement as our bags were inspected before we entered the shop.

Once inside, I asked one of the assistants to help me by looking in the Midsummer Night’s Dream programme where we found the advert for the book I was looking for, after which she soon located the book, ‘Shakespeare’s House’ within the shop.

Whilst I was making my purchase, I chatted with the lady who was serving me. She asked if I was local because the author was due in Stratford soon to discuss this book. We also discussed the current ‘Midsummer Night’s Dream’ production. Mr C and I had seen the understudy perform Puck whilst she had seen the main actor perform Puck. She told me that her friend had seen performances by both actors and thought that the main actor provided a darker version of the fairy rather than the more mischievous version displayed by the understudy.

Before we left the shop the assistant gave me a RSC production schedule and enthused over the best productions that we should come and see, including a shortened version of As You Like It that was being performed in the Garden Theatre.

Back at the hotel we had champagne and chocolates in our room, using champagne glasses that had been checked in the RSC shop’s bag search. The champagne and chocolate were Christmas gifts which we intended to enjoy on Valentines Day but saved the indulgent treat to enjoy on our rescheduled holiday. We had forgotten to bring some suitable glasses. The room only had tumblers which are not quite the thing for drinking champagne.

The expected ‘bed turn down service’ that we had requested did not arrive…

Later we dined in Loxley’s where I couldn’t resist ordering the Dried Tomato Arancini. I didn’t regret my choice and Mr C chose the curiously named ‘Rose Blood wine’ to accompany our meals.

Unusually Mr C wasn’t in the mood for a pub nightcap so we returned to the hotel to find that the bar was closed! Mr C spoke to Hotel Reception who tracked down the night porter, it was barely 10pm.

A young man arrived to help us and, as he served us, he poured out all his woes. We opted to have our nightcap in our cosy comfort of our room rather than sit in the bar area on our own!

Robert M Pirsing