We arrived at our holiday cottage which we found by travelling up a little lane, it was an interesting place to find. The views once we found it were fantastic and it was a very nice place to stay.
our visit to The Steam Festival
Today we went to the Northleach Vintage Steam Festival. We began by looking at all the minature steam engines. We were amazed they could pull up to 5 tons of weight! Then we looked at the tractors and watched a commercial truck show. After our picnic lunch we looked around all the vintage cars and military vehicles. Jonathan liked the big American trucks the most. After looking around the stalls at the show we had done lots of walking and so we made our way back to our holiday cottage.
Today we went to Swindon to visit The Steam Museum there. We had a coffee at the cafe inside the HQ for the National Trust before looking at the exhibits in the Steam Museum near by. The museum had lots of trains on display and information about the history of steam railways. There was also a model railway display, which we all enjoyed looking at. Jonathan enjoyed seeing what it was like to drive a train. We all enjoyed walking under the train and looking inside the engines. Everyone helped to "change the signal" in the signal box.
We visited The British Waterways Museum in the Gloucester docks today. It was very interesting to see all the history of the canals and all the different types of boats. While there we took a boat trip which took us from the museum to travel along The Gloucester and Sharpness Canal. Although the weather was a bit dismal we all enjoyed our boat trip.
After breakfast we headed to Toddington for a ride on a steam train. Gloucestershire Warwickshire Steam Railway (GWSR) is a heritage railway with a station at Toddington. We boarded the train and travelled to the station at Cheltenham race course first and then on to Broadway where we saw them swap the train for a diesel engine which we took back to Toddington. In the evening we went to play Tenpin bowling and while there we ate our evening meal. Duncan was the winner with a massive score of 114. We all really enjoyed ourselves and had a great evening.
Today we visited Berkeley Castle which was a very lovely castle with lots of original features. The Great Hall was certainly very grand. We looked in the dungeon and saw where King Edward II was murdered long ago! There was lots to see and it was interesting hearing about all the history of the castle.
We decided to have a "chill out" day and relax a little as we have been very busy so far. Some really enjoyed a lie in today with one person sleeping until 11:30am. We relaxed in the garden and there was a chance to do some painting. It was nice to sit in the garden with tea and cake. It is a beautiful garden in our holiday home. Chris and Duncan went to the barbers for a wet shave. They looked very smart for our dinner this evening at The George where we were joined by Allison.
It was time to say our good byes. We have all enjoyed ourselves. Keith enjoyed the steam train most and Chris said he enjoyed the boat trip at Gloucester most. Jonathan and Duncan enjoyed it all!
the diesel train from Tuesday
