Lovely Ludlow

Its officially the first day of Spring today, and Spring has definitely Sprung! It was a gorgeous day, so after the gardening session we grabbed the cameras, put the roof down on the car and headed off to Ludlow for the afternoon.

There is nothing finer than to be in a car, whooshing through the English countryside with the top down, savouring the lovely freshness of the Spring air. Unfortunately there were times when the air became less fresh and I truly wished that we weren't whooshing along with the top down. In fact I was was wishing we were whooshing along with the top up, the windows sealed tight and the air con on "circulate". You appreciate these things when you pass the fields where the farmers have been out muck spreading! There is nothing quite like the smell of freshly spread poo to make you wish for breathing apparatus! Ah...the smell of the country!!

Ludlow was as picturesque as ever! There was an antique fair and flea market going on in Market Square, so we had a little wander round before walking over the road to the castle. We had a good wander about and took loads of photos. Its an impressive place with plenty of history. Parts of it date back to Norman times, and it became a Royal palace in the 15th Century (it was where Prince Arthur (the elder brother of Henry VIII) died whilst on his honeymoon with Catherine of Aragon), before being abandoned in the late 17th century and falling into disrepair. We had a good wander about, although Stephen was more adventurous than me in climbing all the staircases. Some were better than others, but several hundreds of years of use had worn the stone steps quite badly in some cases and I wasn't too keen on landing at the bottom of them in a heap!!

Sunday opening hours really caught us out today! We headed back to the car at just after 4pm and had planned on calling in at the grocery store we had passed earlier. We were doing the whole "give me the camera, the keys, the bag...no take the camera back I can't carry it all" thing in preparation for Stephen ducking into the store...when we realised that the store wasn't actually open!! D'oh! Of course, we had NO FOOD in the fridge at home!! Thankfully we were able to scrabble together a meal from the freezer, but I think that was the last of the proper food that was in there! Its all ice cream now!!