Martin's Mag.

There is food festival around the marina in Portishead, which seems to have attracted passing shipping!

The Piercefield Estate, near Chepstow racecourse is, or was, an impressive Georgian estate, with a depressing past of caribean sugar plantations, cronyism and links with slavery. The story continues, with current ownership linked, via a Virgin Islands registered company to billionaire Newcastle United FC owners and Swiss residents. A once-fine house is now overgrown and in ruins, surrounded by security fences and Keep Out signs (which, I like to think, would have been no problem for my ten-year-old self and friends). We followed the Wye Valley walkway through some pleasant (steep) woodland paths above the river.

Bristol (home of Banksy) is well known for its Street Art. What used to be called graffiti is now often commissioned by city councils, community groups and commercial bodies. One popular area is Dove Street and Kingsdown, close to the old city centre. This is a small sample, one of which (the first) was created by our nephew, Rob, and Sophie.

On the banks of the Severn.

…being at the school before the children come out.

Our yearly visit to Dunster in West Somerset. This time we walked, via the station, to Minehead.

Frome has an interesting industrial history dating back to Saxon times. It was listed in the Domesday Book, and became famous for woollen products and later paper making and printing. The central cobbled streets are very attractive and the town is now home to tourism and food outlets.

But we like a walk, so we took a tour of Victorian industrialisation in the wider area of the town and surrounding countryside. We hadn’t realised, though, that almost all the points of interest mentioned were where the location had been, not where it is today. So our exercise was spent viewing, mostly, modern housing estates which had once been the sites of manufacturing glory.

But Frome centre still retains its charm.

With a tag line like that, how can you resist? And it’s “grandparents-go-free” day! There’s no escape…

We squeezed in a few days in East Devon. Including time on the spectacular beach and cliffs at Exmouth, the lively little town of Budleigh Salterton and the lower reaches and estuary of the River Otter.

…was busy today, and I happened to have a camera with me.