Woke in the middle of the night to hear hail on the roof – lightening lit up the room a couple of times, and heard thunder in the distance. Storms are much easier to deal with in a nice snug house instead of a small thin tent!

Took off for another ride led by Neil – went west this time under very grey skies. Got rained on for the first few minutes, then just hit by the wind at every turn. Visited several big burial mounds from pre-Roman times – each having huge stones in various formations and on its own hill. Very lovely views from the top of the first one.

Rode for just under two hours – not as many km as yesterday, but we did stop more often and it was a lot more windy. The only time I had to stop this time (other than for sight-seeing) was to take off my rain jacket as I was so hot, despite the wind.

After lunch Colin and I took the dogs for their daily walk – they were very focused on where they wanted to go and I was surprised when they passed the bar that gives them treats. They led us instead down to the hippodrome where they get off the leash to run. Today there was a cricket game in progress so the dogs only got to run free for a bit – we arrived at ‘half time’ and chatted with one of the home-town batters that Colin had met before. The second half of the game was about to start, so the batter went off to do his bit, and we visited for awhile with a couple of other British men talking about the game, etc before we left for the rest of our walk.

Stopped at the usual bar on the way home and had a quick drink – doggies finally got their treats.

Colin booked the train from Bristol to Worcester for me so I wouldn’t be stuck for some reason – neither my debit card nor my visa card worked so he had to use his paypal. All I need to do is put any card in the machine at the train station and punch in my confirmation number and it’ll spit out my ticket.

Had a wonderful roast-beef dinner complete with oven-roasted potatoes and carrots, Yorkshire pudding and gravy – all very delicious.

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