Home via Snowshill Manor

We left Worcester via Victoria Avenue where my dad lived for the first two years. We travelled via Pershore and Evesham towards Snowshill Manor just outside Broadway. There’s beautiful littleRead more
May 4, 2021, 12:08pm · ⛅ 7 °C Altitude: 216 m
We left Worcester via Victoria Avenue where my dad lived for the first two years. We travelled via Pershore and Evesham towards Snowshill Manor just outside Broadway. There’s beautiful little gardens and orchards attached to the house, which was closed naturally. The owner bought and restored it after seeing it in a Country Life magazine while serving in France during WW1. Everywhere there were cowslips, ram sons and the garden flowers were in pristine condition.
Altogether a very enjoyable weekend away with many remembered and some unknown places visited.Read more
May 3, 2021 · 🌧 10 °C Altitude: 24 m
EnglandWychavon DistrictBesfordRAF Defford52°6’18” N 2°9’60” W
The weather forecast was awful but we had booked to visit Croome Park NT, extensive landscape garden by Capability Brown. At the entrance is an old RAF base with secret past and now home to cafe and a Gloster Meteor. The wind was getting up but we just had time for a quick circuit before the rain set in. Coffee under a temporary shelter concluded our visit.
We returned via Hanley Castle for a look at the outside of the Three Kings which a previous visit had revealed as a true step back in time.
Lunch at base, then a brief afternoon foray to Waterworks Road, where my great grandparents lived when they were first married.Read more
May 2, 2021 · ⛅ 11 °C Altitude: 32 m
On Sunday we had booked to attend the sung service at the Cathedral a short walk over the river. It was very well organised and the first live singing we had heard for over a year. It was a beautiful sunny day for a wander round the city centre afterwards, including Sidbury where great grandmother Flo lived when she met her husband Joe, before returning for lunch, via Bute Villa where my great grandparents moved to from Bolston Rd.
In the afternoon we took a drive to Fladbury, beyond Pershore on the Avon, where we found the path to the spot where I had painted Cropthorne Mill with my granddad in the early 70s. There was time to do a slightly different view.
On the way back we stopped in Bath Road by no 9 where great aunt Pat & Bill lived, and walk by The Limes, 14 Bolston Road where my granddad grew up and 109 Bath Road where his friend Chris Walters lived ( they had consecutive army numbers); Chris Walters was killed on the Somme in November 1916.Read more
May 1, 2021 · ⛅ 9 °C Altitude: 63 m
Saturday we set off for Droitwich and Mass in the church which is decorated with amazing mosaics worthy of Ravenna. On the way we stopped by Southall Avenue where my grandparents lived, then Perdiswell, where the airfield was used extensively during WW2 for training and delivery stopovers. There was a Gloster Javelin gate guardian for many years. We missed a heavy shower in church and after headed to Hanbury Hall, with formal gardens and country walks with views of the BBC long wave transmitter masts and Malvern hills. We were just in time for an ice cream!
On the way back we stopped at Claines where two of my 64 great x 5 grandparents are buried. Luckily the gravestone is pinned to the church wall! My dad used to walk there and call in at the Mug (pub in a churchyard) for a quick one on the way home. Sadly it was not open.
We tried to find my grandparents grave in Astwood Cemetery on the way back but could not be sure exactly where to look.Read more
Apr 30, 2021 · 🌧 5 °C Altitude: 406 m
We had arranged to meet cousin Julia and Chris near where they live in Great Malvern for a chat in the park by the buzzard statue. It was a long overdue chance to catch up. Then we visited Elgar’s grave Nr Little Malvern, a very peaceful spot. We then parked where we could walk up British Camp. Great views all round. After lunch we visited Old Colwall where there’s a memorial to Cpt. John Millard Lett who was killed in action on 22 March 1918 fighting alongside my granddad. Turned out the memorial is handwritten and in the vestry.
We drove back along the Jubilee drive to park near the Wyche cutting and walk up the Worcestershire Beacon, 1395 feet. Again the views were stunning and could see as far as the Bristol Channel. Our journey back took in Castlemorton Common where some cousins had a rustic farm, Upton-upon-Severn and Stanbrook Abbey, now a hotel, where my grandparents met seemingly.
We got back in time for an evening stroll past the cricket ground (Essex had been playing) and view of the Cathedral in the evening sun.Read more
Apr 29, 2021 · ⛅ 9 °C Altitude: 18 m
We drove to Worcester from the dentist via M40 jn 15 and route round Stratford arriving before 19.00. One bedroom air b’n’b apartment on Bromyard Rd. We brought all provisions with us so no shopping required.Read more
Mar 18, 2020, 8:30pm · ☁️ 10 °C Altitude: 25 m
EnglandHillingdonHeathrowHeathrow Terminal 451°27’44” N 0°26’0” W
Never seen the airport so quiet. Good to be back but not sure what to expect.
Mar 18, 2020, 12:07pm · ⛅ 26 °C Altitude: 10 m
Baladīyat ad DawḩahKulaybHamad International Airport25°16’4” N 51°36’32” E
Mar 18, 2020, 9:16am · ⛅ 27 °C Altitude: 29 m
Western ProvinceKatunayakaBandaranaike International Airport7°10’27” N 79°53’7” E
We made it to a quiet airport, little traffic. Another beautiful day in paradise. SL closes its borders at midnight amid the crisis measures to deal with the virus. Our journey looks to be ok but who knows what we will find when we land at Heathrow?Read more
Mar 17, 2020, 4:22pm · 🌧 29 °C Altitude: 8 m
Another beautiful sunny day! The air clear after yesterday’s storms.
Last proper breakfast as we have to leave 06.30 tomorrow. We will miss the fresh tropical fruits.
We are checked in for the flight home despite all the uncertainty. We hear all incoming international flights stop at midnight tomorrow!
At breakfast we learned of the need to register our presence in Sri Lanka. First we walked a half mile to Selyn an excellent craft and clothing shop run by a friend of Savi. We had some difficulty finding a tuktuk on the way back which is unusual but seems to be part of the wariness.
Dropped off our purchases and then got a driver to take us to the police station. Turned out he is the chef at Ceilao Villas! It was a fun ride as they generally are. He was very helpful and eventually found the right place and we duly sat under a tree with two policemen who filled in a register. Midway he asked why we had come, to which I replied we were told to. At the end he asked how we were. Duty done we returned to the house and had a spot of lunch which the driver/chef prepared.
A little pool time followed before Chris & Savi picked us up for afternoon tea at the Galle Face Hotel. Hugo was in his element. Very special and followed by cocktails at sunset.
A fitting end to our trip. Wish we could stay as the virus continues to wreak havoc in the uk by all accounts.Read more