Day 51 - London

It was a magnificent day in London today - sunny, warm and not a cloud in the sky!!!  After we checked out of our accommodation, and discovered, to our relief, that we could leave our luggage there, we walked to Whitehall where we met up with Jillian and visited the Churchill Warm Rooms, which we found to be very interesting.

Then it was a quick dash down the road to watch the changing of the guard at the Horse Guards.

We then headed off to the Victoria and Albert Museum, which I've never been to before.  We met up with Penny and John, (who are in London for a couple of nights) for lunch, and then spent some time browsing the museum - costumes, jewellery, stained glass to name a few.

We walked back to our accommodation (lots of walking again today) and collected our belongings before heading out to Heathrow and our trip home. 

Day 50 - London

Daylight savings ended here this morning and with the extra hour we had a bit of a sleep in and then walked to Waterloo Station to meet up with Jillian for morning tea before going to church with her.

Oasis Church, Waterloo

We then walked along south bank and stopped at a food market to get some lunch before walking across the Millenium Bridge and on to the London Museum where we spent an interesting couple of hours.

The interior of a lift installed in Selfridges in the 1920s 

London City Wall - discovered after the blitz

We then wandered on to have a drink at the cafe/bar where Jillian works before a bit more walking to Holborn underground to catch the tube back to Chelsea.  So lots of walking today - 16 km in all.  

Look Mum No Hands - where Jillian works

Day 49 - London

We walked from Chelsea to meet up with Jillian at Leicester Square this morning and we spent the next couple of hours doing an on-off bus tour of central London, which we really enjoyed.  It was a little chilly sitting out on top but the views were good!!

We went on to visit St Paul's Cathedral and climbed the 528 steps to the golden gallery, 85 metres from the Cathedral floor.

We then walked on to the Tower of London to see the sea of ceramic poppies being put in the moat to commemorate those who died in WW1.  We were surprised how many people were there!!

We then did a boat trip back to Westminster and wandered up to Soho where we had dinner before heading back to Chelsea - by tube this time.

Day 48 - Wendover - London

We used our National Trust membership again this morning and went with Julie to visit Hughenden, the home of Benjamin Disraeli from 1848 to 1881.  We were there in time for an early guided tour and we were given lots of interesting information and anecdotes.  Hughenden was taken over by the Air Ministry in 1941 and used as a top secret map-making base and there is a most interesting display on that in the basement
.

Disraeli's study

Library

This afternoon we drove to Heathrow, where we dropped our hire car, and then caught the tube to our accommodation in Chelsea.   Jillian came over and met up with us, and it was lovely to see her and have dinner together.

Day 47 - Cusop - Wendover

We said our goodbyes to Penny and John this morning and set off across country to Chedworth Roman Villa, which had its heydey in the 4th century.  We joined a guided tour that commenced just after we arrived and enjoyed learning the history of the place, as well as seeing the lovely mosaic floors.

View from our bedroom window on sun shining on Hay-on-Wye this morning

Then it was onward through the lovely cotswolds, where we saw an amazing number of pheasants, to Wendover where we have spent a delightful evening catching up with the Marshalls.

Day 46 - Cusop

We had a great walk in the Brecon Beacons this morning and this afternoon Alan and I walked into Hay-on-Wye.  We also spent some time repacking to move on tomorrow.

Day 45 - Cusop

Alan and I spent today at St Fagans National History Museum on the outskirts of Cardiff.  The Museum opened in 1948 in the grounds of St Fagans Castle and Gardens which was donated to the people of Wales in 1948.   Since 1948 more land has been added and over forty original buildings from different historical periods and from different parts of Wales have been re-erected in the grounds, including farm houses, miner's houses and shops.  The buildings were so interesting, particularly St Teilo's Church, and walking in the grounds was like walking in a forest, which was so enjoyable.

St Fagans Castle

St Telio's Church - reconstructed and refurbished as it might have appeared around 1530

Kennixton Farmhouse - the oldest part built in 1610 

Interior of Aluminium Prefab - designed to ease housing shortage after WW2

It was a lovely drive to Cardiff through the beautiful Brecon Beacons.

Day 44 - Tenby - Cusop

Our first point of call today was Three Cliffs Bay on the Gower Peninsula near Swansea, where we enjoyed a walk and lunch.

We then visited the Aberdulais Tin Works and waterfall where there was a water-powered tin works last century.  It was then a 90 minute drive back to Cusop.

Ready for anything

Day 43 - Tenby

St Davids was our destination today and we enjoyed spending time in the ruins of the Bishop's Palace and also visited the stunning St Davids Cathedral.  There's been a church on this site since the 6th century, and the current church was built in the 12th century.  The cathedral floor has subsided over time and there is a 14 ft drop from the front to the back, which is very noticeable.

Bishop's Palace

St David Cathedral

There were so many different roof styles.

We called in to Manorbier on our way back to Tenby.  There is a quite impressive castle which was closed as it was late afternoon, and we also walked to the beach and admired the intrepid surfers on a rocky beach with a very strong wind blowing.