Blaise

By shendyNo Comments
Considering we've been in our current house for 6 years or so, it's amazing that we've never been to Blaise - it's about 5 minutes away. Anyway, on Friday afternoon we went for a wander with our neighbour to see what elderberries and blackberries there were - quite a lot as it turned out. There's a whole lot more of the estate that we'll have to go back and look at as we only really touched on one corner, including St Mary's Church. ...
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Au naturel

By shendyNo Comments
Back in July I went on my first naturist holiday - a week's camping down in Cornwall. Each year British Naturism organise "Nudefest", taking over a decent sized campsite (Newperran, near Perranporth) and making it naturist for the week. I've only ever camped for a night or two so was a little apprehensive about it - until it transpired that it would be in the middle of a heatwave. Over the course of the week, we had complete wall-to-wall sunshine from dawn to dusk, every day - just a bit of fog on the last morning. Of course, that meant it was damn hot - so hot that a bottle of wine I had in the tent spontaneously popped it's cork after a couple of days. Fortunately it was stood upright so there wasn't any spillage. It was a write-off though. And yes, that much sun did mean a serious risk of sunburn - you needed protection from about 7:30 in the...
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Devon

By shendyNo Comments
After wading my way through a bit of a backlog, I can finally get round to posting some photos from a trip to Devon in June. We spent a few days staying in the luxurious glory that is the M5 Travelodge in Exeter, and got around a bit. The photos are of: A La Ronde in Exmouth - a rather odd 16-sided house Dawlish Warren, some long exposures Some bits from around Exmouth, including a rather nice tea room/cafe, Bumble and Bee The last bits aren't Devon, but are Montacute House in Somerset. ...
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South Lodge Garden

By shendyNo Comments
On Sunday we visited South Lodge Garden in Clearwell, Gloucestershire - they are part of the National Gardens Scheme but opened specially for a clothes-optional visit organised by a local naturist group. And what a lovely garden it was, helped of course by it being a warm sunny day. Keep an eye out for their open days - well worth a visit, clothed or not....
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Old Sarum

By shendyNo Comments
On Friday, I had a day off and we headed out to Old Sarum, just outside Salisbury - site of an Iron Age fort/castle. I'd seen it on TV a couple of years ago and it looked fascinating. It was actually pretty interesting, and an absolute bargain at £3.90 to get in - free if you're an English Heritage member. Having been National Trust members for a few years, we are considering jumping ship to EH for a change. ...
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