Golden Valley

A travelling day - we woke up to thick mist, minus 4 temperatures and a heavy frost on the ground. We gingerly moved westwards to pick up the M6 southbound - arriving in Cheltenham mid afternoon. Temperature picked up as we travelled to a high of 4 deg C and as we came off the high ground the mist cleared.
We took the bus to Gloucester, a city that we had been to before, for a brief visit. It is a place that reminded us of Middlesbrough but this one has a very grand Cathedral. We stumbled across the Tailors Shop which was the inspiration for a Beatrix Potter story.
The docks have been re-purposed to provide an outlet shopping and general recreation/eating centre. We didn't linger and took the bus back all the way into Cheltenham which showed itself to be a very elegant Regency town. We walked into
the town the following day to enjoy a light lunch with Clive at the SoHo cafe. It was great to catch up with ha news. He had arrived in England 2 days before, and is spending Christmas over here - very much hoping that our next grandchild will arrive whilst he is here.
On Friday we travelled 2 miles across town to stay with James and Clair, old friends from Chandlers Ford, at their house in Charlton Kings. We enjoyed a brilliant afternoon and evening in their company with a lot of family catching up. Many thanks to J and C for their hospitality. The Pig Cheek casserole was delicious and the breakfast a treat.Read more