Ducking around Dorset and Devon.

Back in England it was time to see some really ancient monuments and we left Royal Wooton Bassett slightly surprised that despite the chilling wind it actually wasn't bucketing down.  Along our way we passed through the fascinating Avebury Henge.  The stone circle there is so big there is a village on the inside! 

Our next stop was the better known circle, Stonehenge.  Despite the huge numbers of visitors you can still see the awe inspiring site without loads of people in your sight-lines and you really don't feel overwhelmed by the number of others there (that said we were SO glad we had our "English Heritage Members Overseas Visitors " card and got to skip the long long lines!).

Glastonbury Tor.  The hill doesn't look so steep from here but is very.

The next monument I really wanted to see was Glastonbury Tor, which is supposed to be the site of the Isle of Avalon from the Arthur myths.  Parking on the mound was impossible so we parked near the Abbey and caught a bus most of the way leaving just the summit to achieve.

View through the tower

Needed: one old box for sliding.

(darn it, this concert is coming up and we'll miss it)

There are many Grail Legends surrounding the Abbey and the Holy Well. 
I could entertain myself for hours retelling them

We took a brief look at Glastonbury Abbey and town before continuing on to the coast for the night.  There were some cool shops in Glastonbury too - like Milton but even more so.  If I could have fitted this doll house in my bag I would have - but it was nearly as tall as me.

We stayed in a lovely B&B in Uplyme.  Unfortunately it was quite late in the evening when my friend Tig and I realised we were visiting within a mile of each other, however, she did give Matt a tip for a spot to visit while I did the obligatory book site spotting on The Cob, the breakwater at Lyme Regis made famous in The French Lieutenant's Woman and Persuasion.  

The Cobb

Tig's suggestion - the Lyme Regis Brewery

We had an important lunch date the next day with Matt's favourite TV chef, Hugh Fearlessly Eats-it-all.  I think we've seen every episode he's ever made (even the dreadfully boring Christmas Specials) [Oh No We Haven't - ed] so lunch at the River Cottage Canteen was a definite date!

 Local Charcuterie from River Cottage.  Mostly very nice.  Dripping Vile

You guessed it, local beer too!

Crab Salad was Di's favourite.

Our final stop for the day was one we couldn't miss.  A beach called Beer.  Not one we were in a hurry to swim at even though it was very pretty - it was cold, and the beach was rocks.

Pretty clinker built boats with inboard motors for hire.

 We ended the day in Exeter in The White Hart, a coaching inn that parts of dated back to the turn of the century - the 14th century!!  We asked to see a room before checking in and although we enjoyed being shown over the original part of the building complete with odd staircases, sloping floors, wonky doors, and wavery window glass we wimped out and stayed in the new bit (with a lift).

After a morning of boring but necessary jobs we headed off to Plymouth via Dartmouth.  We knew there was a car ferry if we went that way.  We also found another contender for England's Oldest Public House.   Dartmouth was small enough that we could walk around in an hour or so and admire the shops.  We then continued on to the castle at the mouth of the river.

I've been trying to teach people right across the country
how to make a lemon lime and bitters.  Still unsuccessful,
who knew that perfect combo was so hard!

Sound and vision as they added a light show and battle noises to the static displays

The main defence was a chain across the river which was raised
to prevent unwanted ships from entering.

We were nearly stopped from getting to our next port of call by out of date maps on the tomtom and an MTV party!  It was a bit of a shocker to have directions for going around a roundabout while you're driving over a flyover.  [However, after a series of errors from obviously out of date maps we complained to Europcar when we returned the car and they cheerfully refunded its cost.  Excellent customer service there!]  Meanwhile, MTV had taken over all the interesting places we wanted to visit so we only stayed long enough to see Plymouth Rock where the puritan pilgrims set off for America and departed the next morning to try and meet up with a Pirate King!