Straight after work last Wednesday, Lynda and I headed off to Hampshire for a long weekend break. We were staying with Lynda’s aunt and uncle and the plan had been to join them on a walk on Thursday morning. As it was, my feet were not up to walking more than a mile or so at the very most (still recovering from my BHF walk!) so Lynda went on the walk whilst I had a look around the village of Hurstbourne Priors, where the walk started and finished.

Although very nice, the village turned out to be also rather small. Walking at a very slow pace, I managed to walk from one end of the village to the other, and back, in little over an hour, that included photo stops and time stood just watching the river flow by.

The River Test - Hurstbourne Priors.

Mistletoe growing in the village.

St. Andrew's Church - Hurstbourne Priors.

Cross in the grounds of St. Andrew's Church.

Carving on the stone cross.

By 11:45AM, I was sat in The Hurstbourne Inn enjoying a pint of Strongbow. By the time the walkers arrived back for lunch, I had enjoyed a second pint. Having badly blistered feet can have its good points! Lunch was rather good too… sausage with mashed potato and onion gravy.

The bar at The Hurstbourne Inn.

On Friday, I sat and read for much of the day while everyone else visited the National Trust’s new Head Office in Swindon. I’m still not sure whether the reason for the trip really was the NT building or the designer outlet shopping centre next door!

Saturday and Sunday were both relaxing family days - much of the time being spent catching up on news and also eating and drinking! Having a Chinese take-away just up the road is always very handy.