Express By Holiday Inn Banbury M40, Jct. 11

With time rapidly dwindling I went down to Banbury way this afternoon to visit my brother et famille before I leave, taking the opportunity to say goobye to two young nephews - one of whom was able to appreciate some of the implications of what I am doing, "But what if you get sick?" he asked. :-)

Back up to Stoke in the late evening. Last day of preparations tomorrow.

... mind. But luckily, I have no time to think - just to do what’s necessary.

But we settled in just the same and it was one of the comfiest nights yet with the long grass grown for he sheep to eat. It’s a beautiful panoramic view towards the east. Brian (the sheep farmer) gave us lots of little stories about what we were seeing and some history of the area. We heard about the famous people who had gone to ...

No question - I was heading back to Oxford to see Christo - even better was the happy coincidence was that we would enjoy some great music and fine food. Melvyn Tan was to play at the inaugural Springboard concert at the Jacqueline du Pre Music Building at St Hilda's College. Brian and I had been at the Wellington International Arts Festival in March and what luck that I could be in Oxford the night Melvyn was playing, to ...

... hello to the porter and down a set of stone stairs) where I had a beer with Chris (who, as head barkeep has the right to a lovely private residence and garden within the college) and another fellow working that night. I went off for dinner to a sort of funky place called Meltz, where I had, predictably, a tomato cheese Panini melt. Then back to Jesus College and to St. Michaels for a rest if not a sleep. There was a night club somewhere with ...

... Earl of Leicester, transformed Kenilworth from a medieval fortress into one of the greatest Tudor palaces so he could entertain Queen Elizabeth I in style for 19 days in 1575, costing millions of pounds. The Keep was breeched during the Civil War in the 1600s. The Great Hall where they dined was huge. It was so cold ...

... and we had a great view of course over fields and little villages.













We did heaps of mud and stiles and Stephen entertained us with two face plants. We eventually found our way to the village of Weston-sub-Edge. It had a 13th ...

... ticket to London on the National Express Coach for 13 pound 50 for both of us. Got it heaps cheaper because booking 3 days in advance ($31). Went for a hot chocolate at Costa’s in a lovely Tudor building. Changed $200 Aus to 79 pounds, bought a vegetable pastie and then went through Shakespeare’s birthplace 9 pounds ($21). Lovely home from the 1500s ...

... we were quite damp. It was fun though and pretty walking across fields with stone walls and through forests.













Of course, there was a lot of slippery mud. Stephen's shoes didn’t have a lot of grip so there were always expletives coming from ...

... br>






We then went out to the Front Arena Area and watched a man use and tell us about the longbow and crossbow. The longbow changed warfare in medieval England as it could shoot off 15 arrows a minute, but as it was difficult to use it was compulsory for all boys from the age of 7 to practise every Sunday after church in ...

... Stow-on-the-Wold and saw the Royalist pub 976AD – oldest pub in England and then to Upper Slaughter and Lower Slaughter – 2 lovely little villages around a stream and then on to Broadway.










Went out to dinner at Margaret’s in the village of Radway. She lives in the old school house next to the church