Week 3; Newnham, Gloucestershire.

Week 3; Newnham, Gloucestershire.

On late Friday afternoon we arrived in Newnham to be met by Bev and Phil, who are now good friends after their two visits to us on the coast.  They had made a few changes to their lovely home since we were there two years ago.  We also went down to the church to peruse the 50's exhibition raised for the Queen's Jubilee.  It was fabulous, ranging from books to kitchenalia, and had the coronation playing on a large screen.

Saturday 2 June 2012:  After a lovely breakfast served on Bev's lovely china, we set off for Hay-on-Wye to the world famous literature festival.  Hay is filled with beautiful second hand books and antique shops and is a mecca for book enthusiasts.  Here is a beautiful book store, with Bev looking around.

As you can see below, it was a bit chilly!

This flower stall was fabulous and doing a roaring business.

A lovely touch outside a shop in Hay.

On our way home we had dinner at this lovely pub.

Steak and Ale pie!!!! Ahhhhhh!!!

On Sunday we watched the River Pageant on TV, then some friends of Bev and Phil's came to dinner.  Best sausages I have ever tasted.  Unlike anything we get in Australia.  Utterly superb.

Monday 4 June 2012:  Two other couples came to join us for Pimms and a light lunch before the street fare at 2pm.  It was rather cold, but we soldiered on.  Phil's paintings were on display in the village hall along with other's, but his really were up there with the best.

Following this, we drove to Upton-on-Severn and had a look around the town, before moving on to Tewkesbury.  We had afternoon tea (with scones of course), then went on to dinner at a pub.  Afterwards we went to the Roses Theatre to watch the Jubilee Concert on the big screen there.  Despite some of the big names being somewhat beyond their prime, it was a great experience.

Tuesday 5 June:  Stephen E J Holmes's birthday.  We drove to Gloucester where Marc had a swim and I looked around the shops.  From there we drove to Cheltenham, a beautiful city full of Georgian buildings and elegant streetscapes.  We had lunch at Tiffens cafe and looked around the up-market shops.

Wednesday 6 June 2012: We drove to Cirencester, which is south of Gloucester to see the Corinium Museum from 3500BC to Saxon times.  It was very interesting and the cafe was exceptional.  We went back to Cheltenham to check out some more shops and returned to Newnham.  We then went out to the Queen's Head at Longford for dinner.  Another great pub.

Thursday 7 June 2012:  We got up a little earlier than usual and drove to Northam, near Bidewell in Devon.  It took us about 2 and a half hours.  We met up with Hannah and Chris who are coming to visit us in October 2012, then we are spending a month there in 2014!.  We had a great time with them and are sure we will get on famously!

We returned to Newnham where Bev and Phil's daughter had arrived.  We met Hannah, Grant, Olivia and Grace and had a delightful meal together.  Now we have met all the family!

Friday 8 June 2012:  We got up early and after farewelling Bev and Phil, were on our way at 6:40am.  We really enjoying our stay.  Fabulous as always!

We arrived well ahead of our flight, and eventually found it was delayed for an hour and a half.  We had a good second (English) breakfast, and are glad we did with all the delays.  We spent the time catching up with Words With Friends, and finally took off for Berlin where we were met by an very excited Allison!!!