Friday 10th Dyrham Park to Tuesday 14th London

Today we set off for Dyrham Park, a 17th century mansion and garden not far from Bath, as there was a ranger walk scheduled to view the fallow deer in the park.

We set off with ranger Chris and very shortly came across a herd of deer not far from the car park and entrance.  The deer are a wild herd so don't have any human contact.  There are about 180 in the herd and a cull is done annually to keep the numbers at that level, which is all the park can sustain. Because of the chalky soil, the grass is not very nutritious and while it is enough to sustain them in summer, in winter they are supplemented with sheep nuts.

Just outside of the park boundary are the remains of a hill fort and the area where the West Saxons fought the Romans of Bath in the battle of Dyrham in 577AD.

We walked around the park for about an hour, finding 2 herds of deer, as well as the cattle that graze in the park in the summer.

chainsaw carving

 Chris delivered us back to the stately home which has just undergone extension restoration of it's roof and has not yet been restored to it's previous glory.
The gardens are also under rennovation.

The trees are kept neatly trimmed all to the same height, by the deer.

special ramp in the cattle grid for hedgehogs who tumble in

Afterwards, we continued on to Chipping Sodbury for a late lunch, but the sudden rain put paid to exploring the town.

Saturday 11^th

Stayed home and watched Trooping the Colour on the TV, made some train bookings for later in the year. Walked Rufus and went to Andy & Barbora’s for a BBQ

Sunday 12^th

Dropped everyone off at Bristol Temple Meads to catch 10am train down to Torbay for the airshow.

Drove to the ASDA supercentre and stocked up on some grocery supplies for our week in London as we won’t be using the car for supermarket runs.  Then braved the road and drove down the Bath for a wander and a coffee on the Pulteney Bridge.  Crap coffee, lovely view watching the seagull wash the narrowboats come up and turn around before the weir.

Back home again to pack up our gear and get organised to move on from our first stop and set off for London in the morning.

Meanwhile Aaron and the kids went to Torbay to see the airshow.  

Monday 13th

Spent the morning packing up and doing the last of the cleaning and washing before we leave.

Got away at about 11.30 and headed up the M4 towards London.

Stopped for an around the lanes adventure to get some lunch, then back on the motorway for the disastrous journey into East Ham. Hadn’t thought to program the sat nav for increments around the the London ring roads, so before we knew it we were on our way into central London. With no other map to follow we were at the mercy of the sat nav, so 2 hours later we had crawled the 8 miles via Hyde Park, Trafalgar Square and the Tower of London to finally reach our destination at the Docklands Travelodge at 4pm.

Thank goodness smooth sailing from there and after a quick check-in we caught a bus just across the road for the 20 minute trip to our new house sit.  A warm welcome and thorough show around from our hosts and we were all sorted. On their recommendation we walked down the road to the Millers Well pub pub for a well earned drink and meal.  Being Mexican Monday, we all opted for the well priced special including a drink.  Started with a ½ pint of cider, then discovered that a full pint came along with my burrito, so was well and truly relaxed and recuperated when the meal arrived.  Will definitely be returning her for the 3.85 eggs benedict one morning during the week!

When we were done we caught a bus back towards the hotel, while around us police cars darted up and down the street with their sirens blaring and the police helicopter hovered overhead.

Discovered that everyone is a child at heart and loves the front  seat of the double decker bus. Always the first ones taken.

On the way back our bus broke down in the middle lane, luckily for us just metres before our stop, so we were able to hop off. 

Finally got the kids settled to sleep just before 10.

Tuesday 14th
Aidan managed to keep quiet enough for everyone to stay in bed until nearly 8am, then we were down to the buffet breakfast, which (as hoped) lasted us right through the day.
No directional disasters today as we drove the short distance from the hotel to our new house sit in East Ham, in a lovely semi right opposite Central Park. Luck was with us today and there was a free park right outside the door, so we unloaded and then Aaron took advance of a lull in the rain to find a park where we can leave the car for the week.

The house is very light and spacious, with even a neat little garden out the back (and an outdoor loo!)
Cat no. 1 was not pleased by our presence, and cat no. 2 remained in hiding.
We settled all our gear and then put on the rain coats and headed out the door.
A bus and a tube took us to Grants Museum of Zoology. Fascinating but slightly freakish, filled with anatomy specimens in jars and skeletons and organs of many and varied animals.  The partially dissected cat finally got the better of Holly.

Of course the rain was belting down when we were ready to leave, but being England it didn't last long and we ventured out and made our way to the British Museum.

to check out some mummies. Holly was flagging by now, so it was back to the tube for the journey home, a stop at the supermarket and another day done.