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While in England there were a number of places we wanted to visit if we had the time, some we had been to in the past and others would be new to us. One of these was Stonehenge which I had seen years back with my parents, however Jan and the lads had never been there. Other places we wanted to visit were the Cheddar Caves and Wooky Hole. Jan's parents were also interested in visiting these places so we booked a caravan at Weston-Super- Mare as it was conveniently situated and also meant that the lads would have a beach holiday rather than just a sight-seeing one. We travelled overnight to Weston-Super-Mare and arrived at about 07.00, went to the caravan site to check in, only to find we were too early. We could not book in until 10.30 which left us quite a time to fill in. We parked the cars in the high Street and then found a cafe to have breakfast, after that we spent some time on the beach which the lads enjoyed. The following day we went to Stonehenge which is situated on Salisbury Plain and dates from about 2800BC, it is one of the oldest Prehistoric Megalith's known to man. On our arrival at Stonehenge, I was dismayed to find the site fenced in with car parks, gift shops and of course the inevitable entrance fee to pay. When we visited the site years earlier there was nothing, we parked at the side of the road and walked a short distance across the Plain. Now the site has been turned into a tourist attraction, nothing like my memories from the past. Stonehenge is constructed with granite pillars some vertical and others laid horizontal across the vertical ones, to build it at the time must have been a mammoth task. Even today I am amazed at the building of the circle, how did they get the pillars to the site and once the stones were there how did they manage to lift them and put them in place. There have been a number of theories mentioned over the years but it is still a bit of a mystery. In the 1960's and 1970's it was used as a gathering place for groups of people, this is why I suspect there was a need to fence it in. However I am glad that I had the opportunity to see it as it was before the changes took place.

We next went to the Cheddar Gorge, we had heard much about the caves over the years and were keen to see them for ourselves. While driving from Weston-Super-Mare to the Cheddar Gorge we saw a large rock at the roadside. We stopped and walked across to the rock, it was hollow on the inside, much like an archway. We then saw a small plaque inside, set in the rock. It appears that during a violent storm a priest had taken shelter, and while waiting for the storm to abate had the idea of writing a hymn. The hymn was written and because the idea came to him while sheltering in the rock he called the hymn "Rock of Ages", I am sure many people have heard of the hymn and also sung it at times during their lives. As we continued on our way to the Cheddar Gorge, the weather was all that one could ask, bright, sunny and hot. Driving through the hills and then down through the Gorge was both pleasant and interesting. The Gorge is about 2 miles long and drops about 300 feet from top to bottom, the sides are rugged and vey steep, the lads had great fun trying to climb them which of course they couldn't do. Jacob's Ladder is another attraction and from the tower at the top, there is a marvellous view across the countryside, especially if like today the weather is bright and clear. The Ladder was built by Roland Pavey and reaches from the bottom of the Gorge to a tower at the top. I can't remember in what order we went through the caves but I am reasonably sure that we started in Gough's Cave. There were many stalagmites and stalactites and all of the formations were impressive. From the Cheddar Gorge we drove on to Wooky Hole where we watched paper being made by hand in the Mill, and also Lady Bangor's Fairground Collection. We did visit other places around that part of the Country but none were as interesting as those I have mentioned.

Having left Weston-Super-Mare we returned to Great Yarmouth, we felt that we should spend some time here as our parents had not seen a lot of the boys since we arrived in England. The next week or two we spent going out around the broads and to other local beauty spots with our parents, who could now enjoy the company of their grandchildren. It was at this time we decided to drive to Yorkshire and see some of the places we had not visited for some years and which the children had never seen. We knew that if the weather was good, the boys would enjoy spending time on the moors and enjoy seeing some of the towns and villages. Often in the past we described places to the boys and when returning years later, these places had changed through the years and were completely different to the way in which we remembered them.