Our run of dry weather seems to have ended. We said goodbye to Cardiff in light rain, which got slowly heavier as we drove East towards England. We're returning to Oxford today but our immediate goal was Chepstow. The rain was still light when we arrived at the castle, which is a sprawling ruin which was first erected one year after the conquest and then added to by various Marshalls right through until the Tudor period. The result is an interesting mismash of styles and functions.
The castle overlooks a tributary of the Severn annd when we arrived the tide was out, leaving boats stranded on the wide mud flats. While we were wandering around the tide turned and began rushing back in at an impressive rate.
Thomas used his new sonic screwdriver to date the stones and detect danger, before falling apart briefly due to a combination of rain, cold and lack of cake.
We remedied this by retreating to the Lime Tree, a rambling wood panelled bar / cafe in the town which served decent Welsh cakes (not as good as Dad's) and nice tea. As we walked back to the car, the rain got heavier.
We drove on to Uffington hoping to stop to view the White Horse which we all know from Terry Pratchett's Tiffany Aching books, and eat our sandwiches but the rain steadily increased. At one point we found a spot where we could see the horse from a distance, so we cut our losses and abandoned Uffington. We made sandwiches in the car in a nearby village and then headed straight for Oxford.
We were very pleased to arrive at Francis and Mike's place. Like returning to Moor End, it felt a lot like coming home.
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