Glastonbury Glee

As some of you may know, dad changed our route in Somerset to circumnavigate the Levels, due to all the floods and this has turned out to be an excellent decision. Where we have been off road it has been very wet and muddy, so we have kept to Tarmac as much as possible. This has meant that we have missed out on all the 'zoys', although we did pass through Chedzoy yesterday. We have now found out that 'zoy' is an old English word for 'Island' and it is therefore not surprising that when we saw the pictures of the floods, the older parts of the zoy villages were free of water. Those old folks knew a thing or two!

It was a bit wet this morning, so not much chance to take photographs, and heads were down. Mum met a man taking his baby in his carrycot, to his car, looked at it, went all gooey eyed and said 'I wish I was in there with you'. It's OK she's not getting broody (good job really - bit late!) she just meant it looked nice and warm and dry in there. The man turned, looked her up and down, and said ' I don't think I could carry you" ......harsh, very harsh!!

As we travel along, they have got into the habit of taking pictures of village signs, church signs, or anything else which, when they are in their dotage in a couple of years time, will enable them to identify where they were at any given point in the series of photos. Today, going through a village, the only identifiable place was the local garage. Mum hadn't seen the multitudinous blue and white tape all the way round it but when the SCO (that's Scenes of Crime Officer for a anyone not in the know) asked her to delete the photo, she didn't argue!!

Ever since we started, we have kept coming across Cycle Route 3. This runs from Lands End to Bristol, and we have kept meeting and losing it as we go along. It popped up again today. It's like an old friend who keeps confirming that we are on the right route. Long may it continue to guide us.

Dad had a lot of trouble with his map in the rain. Mum's got some great shots of him - in a church porch (where we enjoyed a late elevenses), in a bus shelter, and best of all in a Sainsburys trolley bay (he still swears blind we weren't lost!) - where for some reason no shoppers would return their trolleys - must have been the 2 sodden vagrants and their dog skulking around.

There was one very very loud clap of thunder - I was very frightened, but mum and dad looked after me.

This afternoon we walked into Glastonbury, ready for a good start on the far outskirts of town tomorrow. It was crazy man. The town was full of 70+ (age) hippies and foreign voices! a rich mix of culture and custom.

So we're off to Chilcompton tomorrow and will soon be turning north at long last.

Keep spreading the word.

M
xx