20 Degrees

20 June – Wednesday

At last, we reached the magical 20 degrees! A frustrating day, traffic wise, with the final 30 miles taking 2 hours. First stop today was at Sherwood Forest, home of Robin Hood, although he decided to stay hidden. However, we did see an old, big oak tree. Sherwood Forest seemed to be mainly composed of birch trees, not the oaks as expected.

Next, it was to Bosnover (or something like that) Castle, which was really interesting despite being partly in ruins. The inside of the castle was decorated with painted ceilings and wall panels – really beautiful, and a fountain in the grounds, whilst innocent looking above ground, was rather rude below ground. Les went away with his ego rather deflated! In fact, we spent over 2 hours there. We passed a number of large coal-fired electricity plants, at one time we could see 3 at once. Following the castle, it was a slow drive to Chester, via Chesterfield, with its twisted, leaning church spire, and the Peak District – wooded hills on one side and moors on the other.

We arrived at Chester about 6.00pm, much later than planned and couldn’t find a B & B on any of the main roads. So, as soon as we spotted a couple of Best Western hotels, decided to treat ourselves. The first, at 65 pounds, was full and they sent us across the road to their sister hotel. Being 4 star, they wanted 89 pounds but when I asked if they could give us a better rate, it dropped to 75 including full English breakfasts. Internet was also included! Chester city centre is all half-timbered (black and white buildings) surrounded by a city wall. Very pretty, but felt a bit uncomfortable at 7.00pm, with beggars about.