At breakfast this morning I crashed into the table leg, spilling milk and orange juice all over the table cloth. I had my mouth full when the waitress asked me if I wanted a cooked breakfast, so I just indicate with a nod. I then realised that baked beans were being served, so I had to make a  quick change to my order now I had swallowed my bran flakes.

 Then I left for home, but forgetting to enable my GPS for the first few miles. My route took me past Stonehenge, on Summer solstice day. The crowds had dispersed by the time I drove by. I had a further hold up later due to the annual London to Brighton bike ride.

My plan today was to stop at the Holnicote National Trust places near Minehead.  Problem was I had nothing programmed into the SatNav, and I hoped to see a sign. Reader, I did not see a sign, but I seemed to have picked up Charlotte Brontes writing style.

I ended up in Selworthy village, location of the estate office and the postcode I had. Unfortunately, I did not know what I was supposed to be looking at.  Anyway, I went for a brief walk through the woods, took a few photos and cleaned the bird droppings from my windscreen. After I left, Kerry wanted me to go down a road marked “Unsuitable for vehicles”, so I disobeyed her.

Next stop was Dunster castle. I was a bit confused at first as I couldn’t place its time period, later finding it was mainly a Victorian rebuild.  I commented to the NT room staff that the billard room was actually set up for a game of snooker, and how much I enjoyed their collection of stuffed endangered species.

Arrived at my B&B in Taunton in the early evening. I was led to my room, which was reached via a door under the stairs, and down a flight of stairs into the basement. “Ah, into the oubliette” I said. That great joke was met with silence!

Dinner at the KFC in Taunton, followed by a trip to the theatre.

Just to kill a bit of time, I stopped at Clovelly hoping to take some pictures. I found that the price to get into the village was £5.75 so I did not bother.

Arrived in Barnstaple, discovered the SatNav gets a bit confused in towns when there are lots of turns and you are in a queue of traffic.  She says turn left, but does she mean the road immediately on the left, or has she assumed you have just driven by that one and preparing you for the next?  Found myself going up a narrow road, with only enough width for one car, but everyone else was coming towards me. They were all glaring at me, but I am sure it wasn’t a one way.I eventually stopped in a side road, and looked for the hotel on foot.

Once found, I discovered the car park was unsigned and perched on the edge of a river.Went into town for dinner, fish & chips and ate it properly with fork and knife inside the restaurant. Spotted Dick for pudding. After dinner, I went to the theatre.

I struggled to reverse my car out of the driveway, mainly due to paranoia because I mentioned the drop last night. I over compensated and was saved from crashing into the wall by my reversing sensor screaming “Oh my god”.

I spent the day at the National Seal Sanctuary at Gweek.I found my plaque, and they have spelt my name right.  Found myself telling one of the animal care team about Rays history. I had not intended to, but I did stay the day there, watching all the talks. Had an expensive beef burger and a Cornish Cream tea.

I managed to get away on time, despite staying up until 1am. First part of the journey went well, apart from when I followed a lorry, instead of listening to the SatNav. Kerry handled it well and took me on a little tour of the village, before finally putting back on course.

The Little Chef breakfast was uneventful apart from spraying coffee everywhere when I depressed the plunger on the cafetiere.

Compton castle,  if you remember, I last visited on  23rd May 2001. That time it was shut, I had not checked the opening times. Wise from my experience, it was open when I arrived, although the car park was full, so I had to use the overflow car park nearby.

Compton castle, built by the Sir Humphrey Gilbert, half brother of Sir Walter Raleigh. Amongst their armorial collection was one shield with three shovellers (ducks) – that is my ancestors shield. It was a struggle, but I eventually got it back.

Onwards, stopping at another Little Chef at Saltash, where I ordered another cafetiere. Obviously, word had got around at the waiter bought me a mug of coffee instead.

Found the B&B without any difficulty, I had been here before. I had to squeeze my car onto the driveway, and I am parked inches from a two foot drop – so watch this space!

Spent the rest of the evening trying to get Internet access. My new toy is a USB Vodafone GPRS modem, unfortunately there is no Vodafone signal.  As I am a skilled networking specialist, I also bought a T-Mobile stick. That one works, although I had to wait until after midnight before the signal improved.

Spent the morning in my back garden. I had to hack away with my scythe before I could get to the back gate. The back path was too overgrown to get the green wheelie bin around to the garden. People have been dumping stuff there too! I am not sure how I am going to get rid of the stuff I chopped down.

Luckily, it was time to pick my car up, so thats my gardening done for another year.

Hacked my hedge back a bit, and strimmed my front lawn. I found a couple of bottles and the handle of a bicycle amongst the grass!

I had hoped to look for another nearby ancestral village but my SatNav could not get a mobile signal anywhere in the Welsh hills. Eventually, I gave up and went back to civilisation.

Todays adventure was to visit Weston Rhyn, which was once part of the ecclesiastical parish known as the Lodge. This is an ancestral area which took me years to locate. I spent my time wandering around the village, studying the architecture, bumping into a couple of residents to whom I gave a lecture on the history of their village. I think they were glad to get away.

This was followed by a photographing session in the Woodlands Trust Olivers wood.

The next adventure for the day was wandering around Oswestry. It took me ages to find “The quadrant”, another ancestral home. Again its not on a modern map, but I managed to locate a butcher who still quoted it in his address.

Finally back to the B&B, where I fund a note “Couldn’t clean your room, we have lost the spare key”. Near the B&B was a road sign pointing to a waterfall. As it was early evening, I thought I would go for a walk to see if I could find it. I had to turn back after an hour, it was a bit further than I had assumed.