Leicester - Long Eaton

Staying with the lovely Fiona and Dave Brown in Long Eaton

Have to admit the motel I stayed in last night wasn't the best in all the world. Smelt a bit of stale cigarette smoke and in the morning, in the breakfast room, the cutlery was not clean and it was just generally not up to standard of my stays in the UK so far.

The quickest way to get to my next destination was via the M1, but once again I followed Jo's advice and went via Loughborough, where again we had connections with TB Hunt, who lived there at one stage. It looked like a lovely town, but I couldn't really find a park to get out and walk, so I just did a lap in the car.

But tonight I'm in the best B&B for 2 days - staying with Fiona and Dave Brown. For those of you who don't know Fiona, she is my much loved colleague from former St Clare's days, but sadly she and her husband had to return to England. However we have kept in touch by Skype and when she knew I was coming to England, we immediately booked a date when I could come and stay. So Long Eaton was on the itinerary from early days.

Forgot the map yesterday so here's 2 days worth...

So, I arrived safely and little GMaps behaved herself beautifully today. It must've been the low battery last night that caused the chaos.

So, after we settled in and got the bags upstairs (!!) and had  nice cup of coffee, Fiona offered
to take me to one of her favourite places - Mount St Bernard's Abbey in Leicestershire. This is a beautiful Cistercian Abbey set amongst rolling hills and the glorious blue sky was just an added bonus.

Mount St Bernard's Abbey

Mount St Bernard's Abbey

Mount St Bernard's Abbey

Mount St Bernard's Abbey

We had to make sure we left by about 3.30pm in order to avoid the chaos on the M1, where there are major roadworks happening. Even so it was quite crowded and could see how it would be very busy later on. Another bonus for the day was that Fiona offered to drive, to give me a break, and that was just lovely. No wondering which lane I should be in on the roundabout, as she just knew where to go.... what a blessing!!!!

Hard earned coffee at the end of our Monastery visit.

As you can see by our shirt sleeves, the weather has been amazing.... It was 28 degrees today apparently. I didn't really come prepared for the hot weather!!! And a few more days of this are in store .... might have to go and buy some summer clothes!!!

Then, tonight, Dave has offered to walk us up to the local pub called Trent Lock which is situated on the river Trent and the Erewash Canal, where canal barges go up and down, along with houseboats. I'm really looking forward to that!

I might have a  few more pics later - this is being done before my lovely dinner of Shepherd's Pie and Vegies....

There's always more of the story to tell..