Bedwyns, Great and Little.

After dinner last evening we felt the need to stretch our legs so we set off for a stroll around Great Bedwyn.

We were saddened to find that the old stone masons yard is shut and only a few bits and pieces remain of the intriguing miscellany of stonework that used to grace the yard.

Good old John Higgs, fame at last.

The good news is that The Three Tuns is once again open and dispensing refreshments. I sampled a pint of the local Ramsbury Brewery bitter, excellent.

Not every day you come across cars of this vintage parked outside the local car showroom.

Delightful back lanes abound around the village.
Then it was a pint in The Cross Keys, mustn't show bias and leave a pub out, and back to the boat and

an impressive sunset.
Today we partook of a brisk walk to Little Bedwyn and as usual in English villages it was the church that caught the eye.

Like most villages this one has lost all its facilities, even the pub is now an upmarket restaurant.

But the flint built church still dominates. Inside the porch the local swallows have set up home,

and to avoid the attached mess staining the floor tiles

the locals have provided a hirundinidae poop catcher.

The patterns made by the lichen on this gravestone caught my eye, as did

this rather wonky cast iron memorial. These were not uncommon in the 19thC. but this one was dated 1938 and still showed traces of the silver paint that once enlivened it.
We had another visit from the eldest this afternoon with one of the boys, Jonah, the other one, Noah, is off on a school trip to Bude.

Here is Jill, enthralled by the intricacies of uckers, at this point we were struggling but we then sank to abysmal defeat.

Watch this space........