Bath’s Georgian architecture, honey coloured stone buildings and famous Roman remains are a magnet for tourists. But hordes of summer visitors are not my cup of tea. Fortunately the National Trust have created an escape route, the Bath Skyline Walk.
Continue reading Walking the Bath skyline with children, Somerset
Weston-super-Mare may not be the most fashionable or upmarket of resorts but whenever we visit we have a great day out. This time we did something a little different. The kids are too old for donkey rides and building sandcastles (sob) so we explored Uphill, a village on the outskirts of Weston-super-Mare.
Continue reading Exploring Uphill, the quiet end of Weston-super-Mare, Somerset
After our last backpack along the Lambourn Valley Way I was keen to attempt another overnight trip with the family. This time I was under strict instructions to make the walk shorter. Fortunately I had such a trip up my sleeve. A walk from Oxford along the Thames Path to a small campsite near Eynsham, returning by a different route the next day; a total of around 10 miles.
Continue reading Backpacking the Thames Path trail, Oxfordshire
For many years I’d planned to visit one of the archaeological dig open days at Roman Silchester, just north of Basingstoke. The dig that Reading University organised every summer for the last 18 years. Until 2014. The archaeologists have evidently discovered all they need to know about Silchester and the dig is no more.
As we took our seats in the Pen-y-Ghent cafe it was hard to ignore the bright red arms and necks of the two men on the table beside us. The Yorkshire Dales aren’t usually known for their sunny climes but we had somehow managed to coincide our holiday with a week of good weather.
I’ve become obsessed with orchids lately. In May we visited the orchid slope at Hartslock nature reserve to see rare monkey orchids. Last weekend we headed to Warburg nature reserve, one of BBOWT’s flagship reserves near Henley-on-Thames.
Continue reading Orchid hunt at Warburg nature reserve, Oxfordshire
