The End is Nigh ....

We ended our last day with a meal out in Axbridge - a small but attractive town nearby.

King John's Hunting Lodge - he seems t have had hunting lodges all over the country!

Return to Berrow Beach

We went dog walking on Berrow Beach again.  This time the tide was out and I mean seriously OUT!

There's a beach patrol during daylight hours because of the quicksands at low tide

 At low tide at Berrow, the bones of a long dead ship stick out of the sands as a stark reminder of a savage gale and a gallant rescue at the end of the 19^th century.  It’s the wreck of the SS Nornen from early 1897.  On 2 March, a howling south-westerly gale swept up the Bristol Channel, bringing with it high seas, driving snow and sleet.

Many ships soon found themselves in distress, among them the Norwegian barque SS Nornen which had tried out to ride out the storm in the lee of the Lundy Roads but had found her anchors dragging. She was being driven towards Berrow mud flats. The crew desperately tried to save her, but it was all in vain.  When the mists cleared on the morning of March 3, the crippled ship was spotted just off Gore Sands, her sails blown to rags by the gale.

The Burnham lifeboat with its crew of ten oarsmen battled through high seas and winds to the SS Nornen. Despite the gale, the lifeboat managed to get alongside the helpless ship, just as she was being driven onto the sands.  The ship's crew of ten, together with their dog, were taken off by the lifeboat and landed safely at Burnham.

After the rescue, the sea pounded and smashed the ship and although attempts were made to lighten and refloat her, she was finally sold as a wreck.

Wreck of the SS Nornen

This is a seriously big beach!

Oh dear, where's the dog?!

Another jigsaw under their belts!

Day 6 - Thursday - Cheddar Reservoir and Wells and Cheddar Gorge

We split into two groups today - Elizabeth, Catherine, Andrew and Graeme went walking round Cheddar Reservoir with Harris while Sarah and Chris went to a designer outlet with Pepper and also visited Wells, driving back through Cheddar Gorge ....

Bubbles at Night

Day 5 - Wednesday - Bristol and Bath

We split into 3 groups - one group going to Bristol, another to Bath and Andrew had a rest day with Harris at the farm.

The Bath group started off at the Royal Crescent ....

Hollywood-style bandstand opposite the Royal Crescent

We saw this and thought of Chris .....!

Then we moved on into the city centre ....

Jane Austen spent a number of years in Bath, but actually had no connection with this house ....

Roman Baths

Pump Room

Outside Bath Abbey

Not "Les Parapluies de Cherbourg", but les parapluies de Bath!

A number of areas in the city centre have fake grass / astroturf - seems a rather nice idea.

In Parade Gardens alongside the River Avon (entrance fee applies)

We left Bath and headed for the Clifton suspension bridge over the River Avon ....

Sarah and Chris went to Bristol ....

"The well hung lover" by Banksy (aka Robin Gunningham?)

Jaws is alive and well and living in Bristol?

Banksy's "The girl with the pierced eardrum" after Vermeer's "Girl with a Pearl Earring"

Wallace and Gromit live here?

Brunel's SS Great Britain

Looks like lunchtime!