Travelling through England to visit our son Day 1

 

St Mary's Church, Haseley

This was the longest day imaginable.  Living in the UK, I am no longer used to driving long distances and  to go over 400 miles in a day is a lot!  However, we have ended up at a darling pub and hotel in Warwickshire and it now seems all worthwhile. 

We left Scotland at 9am, had hoped for earlier, but that is just the way it goes.  We drove south, with a darling Boxer puppy (22 weeks old now) and stopped 3 hours after leaving for a break.  Our puppy simply sleeps while we drive, could not ask for more! 

I got a coffee at Costa and then took the wheel for 2 hours.  So far, nothing exciting to report.

When Alan took over, we did the M6 toll road.  That cost £7 and was delightful, no traffic, no traffic jams and it must have saved a whole lot of time.

We finally arrived at a little stopover place for 2 nights. this might seem excessive but our son had plans until Saturday and we just wanted to get out of town for a few days anyway. 

We are at the The Falcon at Hatton, it is a pub with dog friendly rooms. And it is wonderful! The food is fabulous and our room is gorgeous, spacious and comfortable.  Ground floor so no issue if Skye needs out early in the morning.

There is also a lovely walk along a field to St Mary's Church to take her out on.   There are 3 distinct styles on this tiny church!  The nave is Norman, the chancel is 13 century and the tower was added in the 15th century.  There is also the Haseley Coach House across the street from the church.  

St Mary's Church

We took Skye on a short walk before dinner and then enjoyed the fabulous food at The Falcon. Alan got gammon steak and I got Sea Bream with Gnocchi.  

In the beer garden, under the marquee with 
the camera club meeting on zoom!

It is also our camera club night so we moved to the outdoor seating, which is covered with a marquee so  we had the benefit of sitting outside without getting soaked as the rain poured down. We also were able to "attend" our camera club night while enjoying a few alcoholic tipples.  

To make the evening even better, Alan won the traditional, friendly competition held on our opening nights.  

What a great way to begin a week's holiday!