Barlaston

Today was an epic day of travelling. Our drive from Birmingham to Yorkshire took us 3.5 hours last Sunday, and today was meant to be the reverse of that, 4 hours to Gloucester. 2 hours would get us halfway to Stoke-on-Trent where I wanted to check out the china shop. Alas that took 4 hours to SoT 😵‍💫. Partly because Murgatroyd (our satnav lady) thought we'd prefer a scenic detour, and partly because the M6 was very congested in places.

On the bright side, I found a lovely Royal Albert mug for £12 (less than half price). I love a bargain! It was from a set of 5 mugs which they reproduced as part of a centenary celebration. Mine is Spring Meadow from the 1920s. I presume the set got broken up for some reason. If I bought the single mug with a box it would have cost me £37. Hopefully it gets home in one piece.

The trip to Gloucestershire from there was driven mostly at 20 mph for the first hour. We arrived at 5:30pm having been on the road sine 9:30am. Admittedly we had a couple of stops, but we could have got to Melbourne in that time! Ian's leg is tired from hovering over the accelerator and brake. He's a trooper!

Our accommodation feels very luxurious. It is pretty modern inside. Their place is an old barn from the late 1700s. Our place was originally old dairy milking sheds. They were rebuilt in the 70s and used as garages for vintage cars. I think only some of the original building was able to be reused. The bricks out the front are modern. They bought the place a couple of years ago and renovated into a bnb. It has a dishwasher and a washing machine, which is currently in use. Some things don't change on holidays!Read more