Britain Trip 2003

In September & October 2003 we decided to mark our 25th wedding anniversary by taking a long overdue 6 week trip to Britain. We decided to travel extensively and to see as much of the country (and countryside) as possible, and to visit places associated with our family history:

the Benton family in East London (Plaistow and West Ham);
the Beer family in Cardiff, Wales
the Goldsworthy family in the South-West of England and London;
the Froggatt family in Derbyshire and Nottingham city.

We present the trip here as a travel diary, with notes about each day and selected photographs. The diary is divided into 6 weekly files so you can read through the week, or go directly to the record for that day. Happy reading.

WEEK 1 Click on the week to see all 7 days or click on the day number to see a day at a time
Day 1	Mon 8 Sept	Arrived Heathrow 0720. Hertz Rental car pickup. Drove SW via Stonehenge, Amesbury, Exeter to timeshare at Newton Abbott.
Day 2	Tues 9 Sept	A tour of Dartmoor, Lydford Castle, then the Goldsworthy graves at Clyst St George.
Day 3	Wed 10 Sept	Torbay & Torre Abbey Sands, Buckfastleigh, north to Exmoor and Lynton, Lynmouth, Oare Valley, then back to Newton Abbott.
Day 4	Thurs 11 Sept	East to Sidbury then Lyme Regis for the day
Day 5	Fri 12 Sept	Southwest to Looe, Polperro, Kynton Cove, Cornish mines than back through Plymouth.
Day 6	Sat 13 Sept	Depart Newton Abbott for Cheddar Gorge, Mendip Hills, Tucking Mill (Home of William Smith) and Bath. Farm stay overnight at Hinton Blewett
Day 7	Sun 14 Sept	West to Clevedon, Bristol, over the bridge to Wales and Cardiff, Cogan, Penarth, then north to Brecon Nat Park. B&B in Brecon. 147mi
WEEK 2
Day 8	Mon 15 Sept	From Wales to Hay-on-Wye (bookshops), Herefordshire via Hidden Highway and Black & White Highway, Shrewsbury, Iron Bridge Gorge. Hotel in Derby.
Day 9	Tues 16 Sept	Return to Iron Bridge Gorge museums, then on to The Potteries (Wedgwood), Bakewell, Glossop, Snake Pass (High Peak); Lady Bower Reservoir; Castleton, Froggatt Village. Accommodation at Chequers Inn at Froggatt Edge.
Day 10	Wed 17 Sept	Castleton, Blue John Cavern, walk along Froggatt Edge and White Edge in afternoon.
Day 11	Thurs 18 Sept	Froggatt Wood, Wind in Willows Museum; Heights of Abraham at Matlock Bath, Fenny Bentley, Clifton, Ashbourne
Day 12	Fri 19 Sept	Sandiacre and Froggatt family graves at St Giles, then Nottingham Castle, Brewhouse Yard and surroundings.
Day 13	Sat 20 Sept	Nottingham City centre; Nottingham General Cemetery.
Day 14	21 Sept	Sherwood Forest, Major Oak; Ruddington Frame Work Knitting Museum
WEEK 3
Day 15	Mon 22 Sept	North through the Yorkshire moors to Bronte country, then out to the coast at Scarborough, Captain Cook's home at Whitby, then on to Darlington.
Day 16	Tues 23 Sept	Darlington and Frederick Hope’s house, 18 Langholm Cres. North to Newcastle on Tyne, over the border to Scotland, Hadrian’s Wall and Edinburgh. Travel Inn hotel.
Day 17	Wed 24 Sept	A long drive north through Perth, Inverness, Tain, then B&B in Wick.
Day 18	Thurs 25 Sept	John O Groats, Thurso, Durness, Ullapool 225mi. Nice B&B in Ullapool.
Day 19	Fri 26 Sept	Gairloch, Kinlochewe, Inverness, Oban. 237mi. Pleasant B&B in Oban.
Day 20	Sat 27 Sept	Early ferry from Oban to Craignure on Mull, drive across Mull to Fionnphort and passenger ferry to Iona. Wonderful B&B at Iona. Afternoon boat trip to Staffa on mirror-calm water.
Day 21	Sun 28 Sept	Quiet day on Iona.
WEEK 4
Day 22	Mon 29 Sept	Ferry back to Mull, then ferry to Oban. Drive to Glasgow and explore family locations. Take M64 south and overnight in Travel Inn at Annandale Water
Day 23	Tues 30 Sept	Early start and travel south to Stratford on Avon. Explore Shakespeare country. B&B in Stratford.
Day 24	Wed 1 Oct	South to London via Oxford. Drop off rental car at Marble Arch (eventually) and transfer to hotel. 317 mi. Red Bus tour of London.
Day 25	Thurs 2 Oct	More bus tour, river cruise, evening performance of "Noises Off"
Day 26	Fri 3 Oct	Morning trip to All Saints Church, West Ham. Afternoon on London Eye
Day 27	Sat 4 Oct	Science & technology Museum in morning then underground to watch an afternoon performance at The Globe Theatre. Train to Heathrow and return.
Day 28	Sun 5 Oct	Train to Victoria Station, transfer to Coach Station for trip to Paris. Depart 0800 Victoria Coach Stn. Arr Paris 1645. Metro to Pigale, and Hotel in Montmartre.
WEEKS 5&6
Days 29&30	Mon, Tues 6&7 Oct	Bus tour of Paris, including Arc de Triomphe, Eiffel Tower, Montmartre, Sacre Coeur
Day 31	Wed 8 Oct	Metro to coach station and coach back to London; depart 1030, arr 1740. Coach London – Nottingham depart Victoria Stn 1830, arr Notts 2130. Transfer to Travel Inn.
Day 32	Thurs 9 Oct	Meet Curator at Brewhouse Yard. Afternoon at Nottingham Archives.
Day 33-39	Sat-Thurs 11-16 Oct	Canal Cruising: Trent & Mersey canal; Erewash Canal, then 2 days in Nottingham archives
Day 40	Fri 17 Oct	Boat check-out before 9.30am. 0930 Coach to London Victoria Stn. Heathrow Express to Heathrow Arr Wellington, New Zealand Sunday 19/10 (Phew!)

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