Salisbury

Susan finds a barista from an American coffee house even here in England.  Look at the contrast between the old world gazebo and the new world Starbucks.

Steeple Ashton

This is the Church of St. Mary the Virgin in the little village of Steeple Ashton.  It was built during the 20 years between 1480 and 1500.  

The Boot Inn, Berwick St. James

This is a great little pub called the Boot Inn.  Berwick St. James is less than 15 minutes from our home and it makes for a nice lunch or dinner location.

We both enjoyed the beautiful flowers in the garden area that can be seen while eating your lunch on a Sunday afternoon.

On the way out of the garden to get to your car you must pass through another series of hundreds of flowers that are a pleasure to the eyes and the nose.

Horton

Yes we know that is really a Townsend there but there is some Horton there too.  We thought that some of the family would enjoy knowing that we live about 30 minutes south of Horton, England.  Also please remember to drive carefully in Horton.

This is the lovely pub called the Bridge Inn located in right down the road from the village of Horton.  On the far side of the pub is a bridge over the River Avon.

Here is the garden where we enjoyed the great seafood and drinks served at the Bridge Inn.  On the right you can see the long boats that people live on and float down the river, then dock and eat at the pub.

This is Corsham Court in (you guessed it) Corsham.  This Elizabethan manor was built in 1582 and it currently has a wonderful collection of paintings and sculptures.

The gardens around Corsham court are very royal looking too and have lots of flowers.  You can also quite easily spot one of the many peacocks strolling around (because they own the place).

Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst

Ian took an administration run to a couple of the military posts inside two hours from the house, one happened to be Sandhurst in Camberly.  Here is the officers mess (steeple) and the cadets quarters.

During our visit to Oxford we took time out for lunch at The Grand Cafe which claims to be on the site of the oldest coffee house in England.  It is inside the old exam building where the coffee house was for students in the 15th century.

Ian stands in front of the Radcliffe Camera.  This is a reading room that was built in 1748.

Next to the Radcliffe Camera is the Church of St. Mary - beatutiful.

The Sheldonian theater is a location that was built for public meetings in 1669.  It is still used for this purpose.

Ian stands in front of the tower of the Magdalen College

About eight miles from Oxford is the village of Woodstock.  We stayed in a nice hotel called The Feathers.

Our room in The Feathers was quite royal and had some wonderful old furniture.

After visiting Oxford we spent part of a day at the Blenheim Palace, the birthplace of Winston S. Churchill.  It was given to the 1st Duke of Marlborough by Queen Anne the first decade of the 1700s. 

As can be the case in England after a beautiful sunny day in Oxford we woke the next day to rain.  We visited Blenheim Palace in spite of the rain, just so you could see these photos...right?