Weddings

In and around Broadway for the weekend of 12 & 13th July for niece's wedding. Great time and good to catch up with remaining members of family.

An outdoor service was held at the Roccoco Gardens near Painswick, and luckily the day was one of uniterrupted sun which brought out the Brit in all present. It's too hot and too bright for good photos etc. What would we talk about if we didn't have the weather?

Whilst the photographer swung into action taking pictures of the bridal party there was plenty of time for us peripheral players to look around the gardens, particularly the nice pond which gave up the usual Damsels plus Black Tailed Skimmers and Four Spotted Chasers.

Reception was in a Marquee in eldest nieces garden near Broadway and next morning we saw a few Ravens and enjoyed an overflight by a beautiful Red Kite, which was a first for me. Graham also insisted he could hear a Turtle Dove but I suspect it was the voices in his head again!

Debbie and I decided to tag a couple of extra days onto the wedding weekend and stopped off in Ilfracombe at a great little hotel on the outskirts of the town which ensured we got a bit of exercise when we walked into town for dinner.

We spent the days walking the cliffs and surrounding areas and it reminded me why it is such a great part of Devon. The only snag being the roads which are all narow and if you get stuck behind a tractor or elderly sunday driver you are going to be there for a while.

Stopped off at Knighthayes, near Tiverton on the way home and again, superb gardens with a variety of walks and even better - shade! Picked up my first Southern Hawker of the year in a dappled glade which was good and got bitten all over by varios flies which wasn't!