Boringdon Hall Hotel 2

When we arrived at Boringdon Hall Hotel the receptionist was very apologetic and explained that they were very busy as they had guests from two weddings staying there. This unfortunately meant that we had to be upgraded from a standard room to an executive suite. I thought about asking for a refund but decided against it. As you can see the room was excellent and had a small balcony which provided a suitable place to enjoy a glass (or two) of wine in the late afternoon sunshine.
I thought I had found a good deal on t'internet and had expected to pay £167 for the two of us for our room only - breakfast being £10 each extra. When we checked out, the executive suite would have cost us £390 but we paid the expected £167 which did, in fact, include breakfasts - bargain!

Boringdon Hall Hotel

From the Eden Project we travelled to Plymouth to attend a wedding on the Saturday. Boringdon Hall Hotel is a spectacular place as you can see.














In the entrance hall.














The bar, with the Gallery Restaurant above.














Looking down from the Gallery Restaurant.

Eden Project

Right, I think we are now back in chronological order!
From the Royal Hotel in Par we went to the Eden Project which is only a couple of miles away.
We were glad we had left it until now to visit as the plants in 'the quarry site' are now much more established.














I hope they are not breeding these giant wasps here.














In the Mediterranean biome.














In the tropical biome.

Rosemoor - a bit out of order!

After leaving Great Torrington we visited the Royal Horticultural Society's garden at Rosemoor. This was on our way to The Royal at Par - so apologies for getting this a bit out of order. As I've said before, that's the trouble with taking two cameras!

This is the lake - obviously!














Vegetable garden














The Hot Garden














Dahlia "Chat Noir" - perhaps one for next year?

From Devon to Cornwall

On our way we stopped at Roadford Lake.














We stayed at The Royal Inn in Par which was also very good with 'all the facilities' in the room, a nice bar and very good restaurant.














As it was such a nice day, we went to Polkerris to see the sea.
The white building on the quay is the Rashleigh Inn, where we had one drink on the terrace and then had to shelter from the hot sun inside the pub - phew!

Further West

Our first overnight stop was at Great Torrington.
Good meal and beer at The Black Horse.














Market Hall.




















We were very lucky to find an excellent B&B - Higher Darracott Farm
Very comfortable room (The oak room) and very nice people too.
Their cat likes sitting in cars - until you start the engine!

West country

We have just returned from a wedding in Plymouth.
Rather than rushing to and from the west country, we made a long weekend of it and left on Wednesday, returning on Monday.
Naturally, we had the usual 'trouble' with Poppy.














We broke our journey in Chippenham.
This is the park by the River Avon.














We mysteriously found ourselves in the oldest pub in Chippenham which dates back to around 1390 - The Rose & Crown in the market place.
They sold Moles beer from Melksham - very good.














Around the church in the meerkat, sorry market place.

Lavenham

SWMBO and I recently took a group of 47 from Redbourn Museum to Lavenham for this year's annual coach outing.
We had excellent weather and received some very kind comments about the outing and the arrangements for the day which we had made.
We started out with a talk in the Guildhall tearoom by the manager, and then had a guided walking tour of Lavenham by two excellent guides.
We were then free for lunch (The Swan was expensive - but good) and afterwards we all explored the town.
Luckily, there was time for a final 'shandy' at The Cock Inn before the coach returned us to Redbourn.
The Guildhall.















Little Hall.















One of the main streets.















Church of St.Peter and St.Paul.

London 3

I get the feeling that 'they' see me coming when I go to London. On a previous occasion I was given change for £10 when I gave a £20 note to a barman in a pub overlooking the Thames. On Saturday I was charged for two pints of beer rather than one and a half pints. I almost felt guilty about complaining and felt like apologising for the fact that SWMBO doesn't drink pints - often.
Nevertheless, I forgave all, as Mabel's Tavern sells Shepherd Neame beer!














This is the way to get a very central hotel room in London - on board the Silver Cloud. Very nice.














We then went to the Blueprint Cafe at the Design Museum (that first floor glass bit) for a meal courtesy of our good friends P & C. It was a birthday present which we thoroughly enjoyed.
The cafe (restaurant actually) overlooks the Thames and there are binoculars provided on the tables by the window - they weren't very good, but it was a nice touch.














Another nice night photo - no, I didn't remember my little tripod, again.

London 2

After Clarence House we went to the British Library to see the Henry VIII exhibition. Although the tickets were 'timed entry' there weren't enough audio guides to go round so we had to wait a while for some to be returned. As it was at the British Library there were an awful lot of manuscripts and books - too many! I wouldn't say it was an exhibition for the general public, but more for scholars of Henry VIII perhaps? Anyway, SWMBO enjoyed it as there was lots of information panels for her to read, and read, and read, and read.














Newton.















St.Pancras - only just, from the piazza.

London

Had a day in London yesterday and started off by visiting Clarence House. Unfortunately no photography is allowed in the house (understandable?) or in the grounds (strange?). It seems it's only Clarence House where photography is not allowed in the grounds.
So, you'll have to make do with this photo from the brochure. It is subject to copyright but as it's advertising the house, perhaps I won't be sent to the tower?

It was an excellent, well organised tour with very knowledgable staff. A party left the entrance every 15 minutes and followed a route which ensured no two parties ever crossed one another. There was an 'airport-style' security scanner at the entrance before you were marshalled into the correct line for the next scheduled departure. One nice touch was a registration system for free unlimited admission for the next year (during open months obviously). Naturally, there was a very tasteful shop which you were encouraged to visit.