We are now at the beginning of June and we have just had a bank holiday weekend and are in half-term week for the schoolchildren. Thi
s has resulted in long traffic jams on the Friday night before the long weekend as people take to the roads again.
s has resulted in long traffic jams on the Friday night before the long weekend as people take to the roads again. We have reached Stage 3 of lockdown easing and now you can eat indoors at restaurants and pubs in groups of up to 6 with table service. Cinemas, museums, hotels, theatres and gyms have also opened. At last! Those suppers in chilly pub gardens huddling under a blanket are a thing of the past - we hope.
The new crocheted item on a bollard at the end of our High Street inspired me to set forth.
You can "Read More" about Kate's interesting touring story, Click below
First of all l drove 5 hours West to St. David’s in Pembrokeshire, Wales. The weather was awful. Our April was unseasonably frosty and dry. But May has been one of the wettest on record and Wales had 129% of its average rainfall by the 15th of May. No wonder it is so green. The Stumble lighthouse flashing at night was very helpful in the storms, At least l had fun with my friends.
Then l drove back through wind, rain, sun and arrived home in a hail storm.
Not to be daunted l drove the next day to Suffolk on the East coast, a mere 2 hours, and was delighted that the weather had begun to change. We are now able to visit inside National Trust houses and we went to Melford Hall. Everything has to be booked ahead which does take away spontaneity. It is a small hall, originally built by the abbots of Bury St. Edmunds, which became a royal property belonging to Henry VIII during the dissolution of the monasteries in 1539. Some of the fine stained glass survived. It has been rebuilt twice after being vandalised in the Civil War in the 1600’s and then burnt almost to the ground in 1942. Beatrix Potter was a cousin of the lady of the house and visited often with her animal menagerie which included rabbits, hedgehogs, frogs, mice and a porcupine! They all stayed in an area off the guest bedroom.
Holy Trinity Church,Long Melford is enormous and has the longest nave of a parish church in England. It has a beautiful collection of medieval stained glass said to be in the top 5 of the country. The area was very wealthy due to the wool and cloth industry in the Middle Ages and later to an iron foundry , horsehair weaving and coconut matting manufacture.
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These Medieval wool towns are very beautiful and we went on to Lavenham which was strangely quiet. Usually the streets are full but as the weather warmed up people must have been going to the beach.
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The drive home took 4 hrs, instead of 2, as the bank holiday traffic on the M25 orbital around London was almost at a standstill. Everyone being desperate to move around the country at last and mingle with friends and family.
Happily even Wales got some fine weather on the 1st June. This is Porthcawl.
Next week is back to school. We will have further easing of lockdown with step 4 on June 21st but this depends on the Government data. The so called “ Indian variant” of the Covid virus is spreading and there are quite a few hot spots. However as l write on 1st June we have no reported deaths from Covid today. This is the first time since March 2020. Perhaps there reason to hope at last.
Kate Picton