Mawle Family

A sunny, frosty Monday morning (the last frost we saw was in August at “Three Waters” in Queensland).  Sara and John were off to work early, and James left for college shortly afterwards.  We packed up our things, scraped the ice off the car and headed south.

We stopped at Sherston in the Cotswolds which is where Charlotte was born.  We had a quick look around – we showed the children the church where Charlotte was christened and where her father used to be the vicar – before having lunch in the Rattlebone pub.  The girl in charge at the pub was less than welcoming – customers seemed to bother her – but, thankfully, her two colleagues understood the need for them.  And the lunch was good.

We had a quick drive around some of the nearby villages then made our way back to Bristol to stay with Richard’s sister Sarah and hubby, Steve.

Much excitement later that afternoon; Steve took the children for a ride on his Harley Davidson.  Big grins followed (they were talking about it for days afterwards).

Ollie can’t wait to get on.

Sarah fed us another magnificent dinner (just to ensure that we didn’t waste away) then we nattered late into the evening.

On Tuesday we went in to Bristol for a few hours before heading east up the M4 towards Crawley where we spent the night before flying back to Nice, France on Wednesday.

On Friday we drove north to Manchester to see Charlotte’s sister Sara, husband John and their son James.  We hadn’t seen them since their trip to Western Australia in 2012.  The drive up the M5 and M6 was horrible – traffic Jams and rain!  We were very glad to get there and sample some of Sara’s cakes, flapjacks, cakes, scones, more cakes… splendid!

With Sara, John and James at Dovestones

Saturday morning was blustery but dry so we drove up to Dovestone reservoir for a walk.  The weather stayed mostly dry and it was well worth the effort – the views from the top were grand.

Oliver with uncle John

We had lunch back at the house then spent the afternoon in front of the fire watching the Rugby on TV.  Sara ensured that we didn’t starve by serving more cakes, scones, flapjacks, cakes etc.

The evening was dominated by “Strictly Come Dancing” – Sara is as addicted to it as Emily and Oliver!  James was not impressed.  Still, he perked up after the Indian Takeaway.

Dad, will I grow as big as these two? Ollie with his big cousins, Matthew and James

On Sunday Matthew, Sara and John’s eldest son, drove over from Sheffield where he is studying at the University.  It was great to see him and, to Emily and Oliver’s delight, he brought his two Dachshunds, Duke and Marmy.  They took them for a walk along the Canal towpath.  Well, for Duke it was more of a walk and swim… he fell into the Canal!

Sara and John prepared an excellent Sunday lunch – four Michelin Stars!  Then it was time to play Cluedo before Matt had to head back over the Pennines to Sheffield.  It was a lovely relaxing weekend and great to see everyone again.

We arrived at Sarah and Steve’s in the early evening.  After all the greetings Sarah and Katie dressed Ems and Ollie up and Katie took them Trick or Treating around the street, they came back armed with large bags of high-octane sugar.  Brilliant!

Scary monsters!

Sarah had cooked a huge amount of food (four Michelin stars!) and we all tucked in whilst catching up on all their news and having a few giggles.

On Wednesday we went to the City of Bath to see the Roman Baths.

Visiting Bath, that’s the Cathedral in the background.

Richard worked in Bath for a few years and the city still has a very nice atmosphere.

Emily at the Roman Baths

The Roman Baths museum is amazing – the self guided tour with headset is fascinating.

Charlotte and Oliver looking and listening at the Roman Baths

Thursday was spent in Bristol doing a bit of shopping and showing the children some of the sights.

Clifton Suspension Bridge, Bristol

We walked across the Clifton Suspension Bridge and had an afternoon stroll around Clifton village before joining Sarah and Steve for dinner at the local pub.

After being away for over six years it’s been lovely to see Sarah, Steve, James and Katie again.

Monday morning we said goodbye to Pips and the children and drove north to Somerset to see our old friend Tina and her partner Steve.

On the way we went to Burtle, the village where we last lived before emigrating to Australia.  We showed the children our old house and the church where Emily was christened.  It was nice to see the old place but we agreed that we had no regrets about leaving.

We arrived at Steve’s house just as Tina was arriving home from work.  It was lovely to see Tina again and to meet Steve.  They made us feel very welcome an fed us tonnes of wonderful food (four Michelin stars).  It was a lovely evening and great to catch up on all their news.

We got some not-so-good news when Charlotte’s mum, Janet telephoned from France to tell us that Geoffrey had been taken into hospital again.  Janet  assured Charlotte that we didn’t need to rush back to France and that she will keep us updated.

Wells Cathedral

On Tuesday we drove to the city of Wells.  It was great to see the place again.  We visited the Cathedral which is absolutely magnificent; it has a beautiful and interesting clock – the second oldest clock in the world!

We drove through the Cheddar Gorge and over the Mendip Hills into Compton Martin for lunch at the Ring ‘O’ Bells pub – somewhere that Charlotte and I used to walk to from our home in West Harptree on warm summer evenings.  It hasn’t changed much and the food is still pretty good. And they serve Butcomb Bitter!

West Harptree

After lunch we drove to West Harptree to show the children where we got married and to see our old home.

The church where we got married

Then it was off to Bristol to see Richard’s sister Sarah, hubby Steve and their (now grown up) children James and Katie.

Friday and time for school!  Yes, Emily and Oliver went to school with Annabelle and Thomas; it was the last day of term so there was lots of fun including experiments with bubble-making and dropping eggs to see if they would break (they were in in bags filled with plaster of Paris).

On Saturday we did some odd jobs around Philippa’s house then, after lunch, we took the children for a swim at Sidmouth pool followed by a stroll along the sea front.  The wind was blowing and the forecast was for a once-in-ten-year storm to hit the coast later in the evening.  Unfortunately this resulted in the cancellation of the Ottery St Mary carnival, which we were planning to watch that evening.

With Pips, Annabelle and Thomas

Up early for breakfast on Sunday then drove to Wellington for tag Rugby.

Emily and Annabelle just before their match

Tom and Annabelle play for Sidmouth Rugby club who kindly allowed Emily and Oliver to join in.

Ollie and Tommy, the fearsome forwards, practicing

It was exciting stuff, all four played really well – Emily and Oliver were even mentioned in the Sidmouth Herald:

The Girls: “The girls, wearing their new Rosetta sponsored tops, were full of spirit following their success over Exmouth and the fact that they also had ‘Aussie Rules’ Emily in their ranks!

The first game started with early scores for Sidmouth and they held a one point lead at the interval.

Parity was restored in the second half, but all that changed when Daisy Grove scored a perfect scrum half sniping try from five-metres out, beating a brace of opponents at close range with superb footwork.

A couple of slick tries from Ellie Wood then saw the side to an 8-5 victory.

The team’ second game was a tougher proposition as Wellington boys team looked determined to improve on the defeat they had just suffered to the Sidmouth boys.

However it was a try from ‘Aussie Rules; Emily that gave Sidmouth the lead, a score cancelled out by half-time by the home side.

After the break the Sidmouth lead was restored with a try from Ellie Monro-Higgs and other scores followed. The home side also got on the score sheet and it was the hosts who won it late on with a well worked training ground move that secured them an 8-7 success.”

The Boys: “Our guest team member Oliver Mawle lost the toss, but that only made the boys want to play harder. Starting without the ball they quickly tagged the Wellington team and got the turnover.

Ollie and Tommy discussing tactics

A replica of the first game Luca Manning came through to score the first try and would add another shortly after to take his tally up to five for the day. Oliver Marsh scored another great try bursting through for a straight run, which brought his total for the day to three and Sidmouth went into the break with a 3-0 lead.

A quick refreshment break and the boys were ready to go again, this time Zac Arver with a darting run, then Charlie Brock went over for one and then would powerfully break the line to score a second and his third of the day.

Not to be outdone by his brother, Luca went over the try line. Some great tagging by Oliver Mawle kept Wellington at bay and the boys finished with a convincing 7-0 winners.”

Back at the house the children played – it was great to see them catching up after such a long time apart.

West Sussex: After a fantastic time in London it was time to move on.  Our next stop was West Marden in West Sussex to stay with Emily’s godparents, Phil and Tony Hughes and their lovely Springer Spaniel, Redd.

With Phil and Tony

We arrived early afternoon, had a lovely lunch and then went for a walk down by the sea to build up our appetite for Phil’s supersized afternoon tea which consisted of lots of delicious cakes.  Shortly afterwards  we were straight onto the early evening drinks and nibbles around the fire.

The next day we were determined to beat the weather and headed out to the Weald and Downland Open Air Museum.

Weald and Downland Museum.

We were extremely lucky to stay dry as we wandered around the fantastic historical buildings.

Emily tries on a costume

Nice hat!

Emily and Oliver tried on clothing from Tudor and Victorian times.

Ollie was not to be outdone by his sister!

Dad, can I have a pair of these?

This place is definitely worth a visit if you are in the area.

Back at the house it was afternoon tea along with a competition to see who could build the tallest structure using dried spaghetti and marshmallows.  Tony was the judge and awarded Richard and Oliver the prize for the tallest, Emily for the most levels and Charlotte for the most creative.

All that creative effort had given us healthy appetites which Phil satiated  with her excellent cooking (four Michelin stars!).

It was  a very blustery night with torrential rain but this did not deter Oliver from going with Tony in the morning to walk Redd.

After breakfast we drove to Stansted Park.  Phil was lucky not to hit a magnificent stag which jumped across the road right in front of her.

With Phil and Tony.

With all the excitement we had to stop at the Pavilion cafe for coffee and snacks before our and ride on the miniature railway – woohoo!

All aboard!

In the Engines Shed

The children loved it… OK we all loved it.

“What does this lever do?”

We thoroughly enjoyed seeing Phil and Tony again and it was great to catch up on all their news, they seem busier than ever now that they’re retired.

Dorset: We said our goodbyes mid afternoon and drove to Lyme Regis, Dorset where we were planning to spend the night.  In our usual manner we had not booked any accommodation thinking that we should not have a problem as it was mid-week.  All the bed and breakfast places we contacted were full so we popped into a couple of the hotels and managed to get a lovely family room in the Royal Lion hotel.

After dropping off our luggage we quickly went for a walk along the Cobb, made famous by the film, “The French Lieutenants Woman” starring Meryl Streep.

Me and my Auntie Kay

The next morning we had a quick swim in the hotel pool followed by a huge breakfast.  Then we visited Richard’s Auntie Kay and Uncle Bill.  They were in good form and had looked out some photographs from the 1940’s showing Richards’ mum Eileen and other members of his family.  Kay had baked a delicious chocolate cake which we quickly demolished along with coffee.

Mawles and Smiffs

Richard’s cousin, Julian and his wife Allison soon arrived with their two Jack Russell dogs and we all set off in the rain for a walk.  It was lovely to see all the Smiths again after so long.

After a quick lunch we left Lyme Regis and drove to Devon to stay with Charlotte’s sister, Philippa.

London, 17 – 21/10/2013

Phew!  It’s been a busy few days.

Landed at Gatwick Airport on the 17th and drove to our hotel in Docklands.  Quick showers then drove into the West End for dinner and to see Les Miserables at the Queens Theatre, Shaftsbury Avenue.  We had told the children the Victor Hugo story so they could follow the show.  We thoroughly enjoyed it.

Charlotte, Emily and Oliver near Tower Bridge, the Tower of London is on the far bank of the Thames.

Friday 18th: Caught the train to Westminster to see Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament.  We went to the House of Commons and watched a debate on reforms to the House of Lords (gripping stuff!).  Then it was off to the Jubilee Cafe for lunch.  Just as we were entering we heard the Division Bell, Oliver thought it was the fire alarm (we all did actually but he was the only one to admit it).

The children at the foot of Nelson’s Column.

After lunch we rode on a double-decker bus (very excited children) to Trafalgar Square.  We visited the National Gallery which was brilliant, there are so many famous artists exhibited – Emily was particularly interested in the paintings by Rembrandt, Oliver was fascinated by the battle scenes, and the painting by Cornelis van Haarlem of the two followers of Cadmus being devoured by a dragon.  Lovely!

How does he do that?

OK we’ve done the culture, now for the important stuff – Hamleys!  According to Oliver, Hamleys is the best toy shop in the world.  Ever!  “There was so much to see and not enough time!”

Drama at the Tower of London

On Saturday 19th we went to the Tower of London.  It was very busy but we managed to see the Crown Jewels (“awesome!”) and the Bloody Tower (“gruesome!”).

Little girl in mid 17th century costime

But perhaps more interesting were the re-enactments by people wearing 17th century Royalist costumes.

Time travellers

Oliver and I had a nice chat to one of the soldiers who told us about some of the battle and showed us how his musket rifle worked – he even lit some gunpowder in the palm of his hand (we’re glad he had a glove on!).

Ollie wants the gun

We left after a few hours and walked across Tower Bridge to a marquee which was the centrepiece of a Ukrainian expo.  Lots of music, dancing and… stock whip cracking!  Ems and Ollie were so excited to have a go again, they hadn’t had a chance since El Questro in the Kimberley.

We had Afternoon Tea in the Hays Galleria Arcade then took the underground back to the hotel (we were bushed!).

Natural History Museum

On Sunday the 20th we went to the Natural History Museum (fantastic!) and Buckingham Palace (not so good… it was raining and the Queen had forgotten to inform the guards that we were expected for Tea).  Hey ho, never mind.  We strolled back across St James Park to the Ritz for Tea.  OK it wasn’t the Ritz, it was the cafe across the road from the Ritz.

Did a little bit of shopping then returned to the hotel for dinner.