UK visit

The Wedding
I've recently returned from the UK where I had a great three weeks with my family and friends. The weather was awesome nearly every day; blue skies, sunshine and temperatures in the late 20ºc's and even reaching 30ºc on the day of the wedding.
Here are a few pictures of the wedding;






Lincoln

The day after the wedding I drove, with Taras, to take Martin's two children, Callum and Lois, back to Lincoln. On the journey there I was involved in a minor car accident (car drove into the back of me - not my fault!) which brought on a bout of sciatica, which I'm still suffering from a month later!
While in Lincoln I arranged to meet my best friend, Jonathan, for lunch there before staying overnight nearby.
The earliest origins of Lincoln have been dated back to the Iron age. In 48 AD the Romans conquered this part of Britain and named it Colonia Domitiana Lindum, this was later changed to 'Lincoln' by the Anglo-Saxons.
Below are pictures of a local street and the magnificent Cathedral.





The Eden Project

After staying the night in Lincoln, and paying Taras' relatives in Loughborough a visit, we headed down to Torquay which was our base for the remainder of our visit.
For my Mum's birthday we visited the Eden Project in St Austell, Cornwall. The project is built in an old china clay quarry and was as one of the landmark millenium projects for the year 2000. Today, the project is a charity aimed at educating us on our dependence on the natural world. It shows how we are slowly destroying our planet and, with minor changes, we can each make a huge difference. If that sounds boring, and I assure you it isn't, go along just for the sheer beauty of the place and see why we must change our habits.
There are two huge interconnecting biomes (conservatories), one housing a tropical rainforest with fauna and flora from Malaysia, West Africa and South America. In different parts of the biome the temperature ranges from 18ºc to 35ºc with humidity of 90%. To give you some idea of the size of the biome the tallest tree inside it is 30 metres tall and was grown from seed!! The other biome houses a mediterranean collection of plants and is a more comfortable 25ºc.









A great day was had by all and we finished the day off by going out for a meal overlooking the harbour in Torquay

Torquay

We had many trips out during our few weeks in the UK. Here are just a few pictures of places we visited around Torquay.



Above is a thatched cottage in Cockington Village and below is the Manor House in the Village, Cockington Court.



Parts of the current Manor date back to 1375 although a manor has existed on this site since 1130. The village is set in 460 acres of beautiful park and woodland. Today, the Manor is home to several craft shops and the restaurant here does amazing Devonshire cream teas!

Below is a pictures of Thatcher's Rock, one of several rocks or islands off this part of the coast. Stunningly beautiful!



Dartmoor

Dartmoor is one of my favourite places to visit while in Devon. Dartmoor is a National Park covering some 954 square kilometres (368sq miles). The moorland is topped with many exposed granite hilltops, or tors, as they are known. It is a beautiful place to go for a walk and the area is rich in archeology.
We found a new part of the moor to discover this visit, the area is known as Fingle's Bridge. As it was so warm and sunny children and dogs were happily splashing around in the stream by the bridge while parents were content to enjoy a pint of proper ale and a pub lunch or cream tea.