For our final morning in St Albans, sampled the hotel breakfast. I was tempted by the idea of a continental breakfast. Apart from meat and cheese, everything was there but the bread, pastries and fruits were more English in style. Turning back to the main menu I chose a pancake stack which was beautifully presented. And delicious.

There were limited options for places to visit on our journey home. Some we decided not to do because we had been there recently and others were fully booked. We settled on a National Trust property, Canons Ashby House. We arrived at the property to light drizzle which was supposed to clear up by noon.

As we arrived in Canons Ashby the place looked very familiar even though I knew we had never visited the property…

As soon as we arrived at the National Trust property, we had a lovely cup of tea in the café where, upon presentation of my Volunteer Discount card, we were asked where we came from. The lady serving us had not heard of Shropshire.

Next, we visited the house which Mr C found especially interesting due to the heraldry that was displayed, he was able to share some of his knowledge with a couple of the room guides. Somehow, we managed to miss some rooms on our circuit of the house and had to detour back to see them before crossing the short distance to Canons Ashby church of St Mary which is all that remains of the Augustinian Priory founded in 1150.

The weather had not been listening to the weather forecast and was raining heavier rather than lighter. We visited the garden but didn’t explore it to its full as we would have done without the downpour.

We were hoping to have lunch in the café but it was full. We returned to the shop which we had browsed before entering the house where I purchased the guidebook and the National Trust Book of Pies. The man who served me knew of Attingham Park and had visited many times when he lived on the Cheshire border. It was refreshing to talk to someone who knew where Shropshire is.

As we drove through the village after leaving the property we realised why the place looked familiar. We had been to a family wedding in the church, Morton Pinkney just around corner and the groom’s family home was almost opposite that church.

As we drove out of the village I consulted ‘The Extra Mile’ book for lunch options. We arrived at our chosen place, Revills Farm Shop, for a late lunch. I had a small tuna maya sandwich followed by a picnic slice. The picnic slice consisted of cherries and coconut with a chocolate base. It reminded me of one of my childhood treats although the ingredient ratio was different.

Whilst there we purchased a chicken for fine dining at home, along with some other essential items. As we made our grocery purchase the proprietor asked Mr C how Battlefield Farm Shop was fairing. Mr C had randomly picked up a bag, a Battlefield Farm Shop bag, from the boot of his car. The proprietor had visited the Battlefield shop for ideas before he extended his own Revills Farm Shop.

Then we headed homeward for a delicious chicken dinner and later indulged ourselves by watching the latest Dr Who episode.

Helen Thomson

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.

Once again, I chose some pick and mix options from the full English breakfast. It was interesting to see that the items were presented differently by the chef of that morning.

We drove the short distance to Evesham hoping to visit St Lawrence’s Church. After picking up leaflets from the Tourist Information office, we arrived to find the church firmly shut despite the sign on the door clearly stating that is open in the mornings. Later we found out from the Tourist Information Office that opening times were flexible. It depended upon whether the grounds keeper was available to open up and it was likely to be open more often as we move into the spring and summer months.

Next Mr C browsed the military model shop. He was overwhelmed by what was on offer so he left without making a purchase. We started out on the river walk which was next on our list of things to do. However, we aborted the walk; I found the traffic noise from the nearby road unpleasant and Mr C wasn’t enjoying the views. It was lovely to get back to the tranquillity of the former Abbey grounds.

We drove to Worcester where we enjoyed lunch in the Cathedral’s Cloister Café. My brie and cranberry toastie didn’t disappoint. We had a look around the Cathedral before walking to the nearby Commandery museum which was used by King Charles II’s forces during the battle of Worcester.

The museum has displays on the building’s former uses dating from the Medieval period right through to the 1950’s. As we made our way there, the heavens opened making the walk rather unpleasant. Thankfully it was only a spring shower and the sun emerged so that we could enjoy the museum without getting wet.

We arrived back at the hotel to find that our room had not been fully serviced, in particular we were lacking in milk for our cup of tea. Mr C went to hotel reception to request some. It took some while for the milk to arrive leaving us no time for a pre-dinner aperitif. Instead, we arrived at our restaurant of the evening, Edward Moon, so that we could enjoy one whilst perusing the menu. I chose seabass with ratatouille and sautéed new potatoes followed by black cherry crème brulee. The food was every bit as good as I remembered it on our previous visit and the restaurant were kind enough to honour the deposit we had left for our cancelled Valentines Day visit.

Before returning to the hotel, we stopped off at the nearby Woodsman to have a nightcap in one of its cosy snugs.

All Saints is the parish church of Evesham and, together with its bell tower and St Lawrence church, represent the last complete structures from the foundation of Evesham Abbey. Evesham Abbey was founded on the site of a vision of the Blessed Virgin Mary by the swineherd Eof, subsequently endorsed by Egwin, the third Bishop of Worcester (639 – 717). The Abbey was founded circa 709 and dissolved by Henry VIII in 1540. *

The two churches of All Saints and St Lawrence share the same churchyard. Both were founded in the late 12^th century as parish churches for the growing medieval town. When they were built these two churches stood in the shadow of the Abbey Church of St Mary and St Egwin (comparable in size with Gloucester Cathedral). **

*Information from a signboard next to All Saints church

**Information from A guide to the Parish Church of All Saints Evesham (Stan Brotherton)

Witley Court, Great Witley, Worcestershire, England is a ruined Italianate mansion. Built for the Foleys in the seventeenth century on the site of a former manor house, it was enormously expanded in the early nineteenth century by the architect John Nash for Thomas Foley, 3rd Baron Foley. The estate was later sold to the Earls of Dudley, who undertook a second massive reconstruction in the mid-19th century, employing the architect Samuel Daukes to create one of the great palaces of Victorian and Edwardian England.

The declining fortune of the Dudleys saw the sale of the court after the First World War to a Kidderminster carpet manufacturer. In 1937 a major fire caused great damage to the court, the estate was broken up and sold and the house was subsequently stripped of its fittings and furnishings. Forty years of decay followed before the house and grounds were taken into the care of The Department of the Environment in 1972. Since that point, significant restoration and stabilisation have secured the house as a spectacular ruin.

Witley Court, and the attached Church of St Michael and All Angels, are both Grade I listed buildings

The two immense fountains survived the fire and subsequent despoliation of the house. They were designed by Nesfield and executed by James Forsyth^[14] and William Forsyth,^[15] who were carrying out sculpture in the house and the church. The largest, the Perseus and Andromeda Fountain, has been restored to working order by English Heritage.^[16] For working times, see the Witley Court English Heritage website (link below). The remnants of Nesfield’s parterres can also be seen. James Forsyth also made the large triumphal arch style drinking fountain in Dudley market place, adorned with sea horses and dolphins, presented in 1867 to the town by the Earl of Dudley.^[17]

In more recent times, the original plans and designs for the formal gardens have been discovered, and they are in the process of being restored. The main area of the gardens, the South Parterre, between the house and the Perseus and Andromeda fountain, has already been completed. Meanwhile, work on the East Parterre region is ongoing.

After almost three weeks without a computer I am back, my new laptop arrived yesterday. There was a bit of a drama getting Microsoft Office to download but thanks to Tech Support (who were also flummoxed) we eventually got it sorted.

I have few more things to fix including purchasing the latest version of Photoshop Elements and (hopefully) retrieving the data off my poorly computer. Once this is done I will be fully up and running again.

I am looking forward to blogging about my Easter adventures.

We had a trip to Bromyard to visit the ‘Time Machine  Museum of Science Fiction’. We arrived in Bromyard in time for lunch only to find that due to the bank holiday most places were shut. We also noticed that some places had closed permanently due to the lockdowns affecting business. We retraced our steps to the Brockhampton Estate for lunch in a teashop that we enjoyed on previous visits to Brockhampton.

When we arrived we found that the teashop had also been a victim of Covid 19 and had not reopened after the 2020/21 lockdowns. We made our way to the National Trust Granary Kiosk and purchased sandwiches which we enjoyed sitting outside in the courtyard surrounded by birds hoping for a tasty crumb or two.

After lunch we returned to Bromyard  and took a leisurely walk around the town until the museum opened after lunch. The museum is eclectic and fun. I can confirm that after stepping through the police box door ‘it is’ bigger on the inside

On the way home we called in at Burford House gardens for a ‘naughty cake’, we both chose lemon drizzle cake which was extremely lemony and delicious.