After breakfast we checked out and Mum got chatting to the receptionist.  The topic of her broken leg cropped up and it turned out that the receptionist who was from Brisbane had been working as a physiotherapist before taking time off to go travelling. Her travelling has currently paused whilst she is working in Salisbury.

We said our goodbyes and set off on out return journey.  On the way we stopped at Snowshill Manor where we had lunch.  Mum was astounded by the number of pieces in Charles Paget Wades collection.  She also thought the use of space was a waste of a house.  I am not so sure… His love of collecting has ensured that some very interesting objects have not been lost.  Everything he chose for collection had to incluce colour, design and craftsmanship.

When we had finished enjoying the house, its collections and the garden we continued on our journey back home.  After unpacking and freshening up after the journey, the three of us went to a local pub for an evening meal.  We chose with care, it is one of the places that serves a Sunday roast in the evening as well as at lunch time.  The place was buzzing and it turned out the reason for this was that the landlord was throwing a party for his daughter’s 16th birthday.

The landlord was worried that they were being too noisy (they weren’t) and offered us a glass of champagne after our meal. A perfect end to a perfect weekend away

We set off in good time and when the time came we stopped at a tea shop for elevenses at a place we tried to stop at a few years ago on another visit to Wiltshire. On that occasion we aborted the attempt, some sort of event was going on which meant parking in a muddy field and my shoes weren’t suitable for trekking back across the field to the tea shop.

After a refreshing cup of tea we resumed our journey, stopping along the way for lunch at Bourton on the Water.  After lunch we did a bit of window shopping before continuing on our journey to Salisbury. When we arrived at the hotel ‘The White Hart’ we realised that it did not have a lift!!  This is very unusual for a Mercure hotel and I wondered how Mum would cope with her leg up and down the stairs.  You might recall that she broke her leg last October and we had to abort a family holiday.  This Salisbury trip was the long awaited rescheduled weekend away.

When we had unpacked and settled in we strolled across the road to have dinner in a pub right next to the hotel.   Afterwards we returned to the hotel for a nightcap before retiring for a good nights sleep.