Sunshine in Somerset

I thought I should test this concept, and have a practice run at writing a blog - something which I hope to get a lot more practice of over the coming few months!

The idea of moving abroad is slowly making me realise that everything I know will be left behind, for now anyway.
So it's been lovely to have time to spend with my mum and dad, to visit some old familiar places and to take Eric to visit one of my favourite places - Stourhead, National Trust.
However, not one to do things by half, I wanted to make up for not being around this year for the traditional Boxing Day Walk - a picturesque route along an old coach path from Redlynch to Stourhead.
The coach road is believed to be a driveway built from Redlynch Mansion to meet the London coach road near Stourhead. These days it is followed by the Macmillan Way (coast to coast from Lincolnshire to Dorset) and the Leland Trail (a county council route following the itinerary of John Leland who travelled this way in the 16th century).

Stourhead is a Palladian mansion with world-famous landscape gardens that often feature in the national newspapers when showing off their autumn colours.
When Stourhead first opened in the 1740s, a magazine described it as ‘a living work of art’. The world-famous landscape garden has at its centrepiece a magnificent lake reflecting classical temples, mystical grottoes, and rare and exotic trees, and offers a day of fresh air and discovery.

Despite the drizzle on the way, we were rewarded by glorious sunshine at the optimum view point giving Eric the chance to take these amazing photos.