Glastonbury & Wells {Country Kids}

Last week I took the kiddos to Greenacres Camping in Somerset for four peaceful nights under 'canvas'. The location of the site, from which you can see the famous Glastonbury Tor, is clearly well placed for exploring Glastonbury. We did this two years ago but loved it so much wanted to do it again.

Last time we ventured in to Glastonbury I took the children to the tor via the town's bus service - this year though, with legs two years older, we decided to walk from the town centre. We parked up at St Dunstan's pay and display on Magdalene St - £4 for 4 hours - and retraced the A361 back out of town following the clear pedestrian signs for the tor. We took the turning up Wellhouse Lane, where we walked past the most beautifully decorated cottage, then across a field to pick up the footpath to the top of the tor. It took us just 30 minutes and I'm not sure why we bothered with the bus two years ago!

The weather was glorious with clear blue skies and sunshine and the views from the top, where the 15th century tower of St. Michael's sits imposingly, were fantastic. We tried in vain to find Greenacres and the pyramid stage at Worthy Farm, the latter of which I have been assured you can spot. The spot is very calming with many taking the time to sit, or stand,  and meditate. If I were alone I would have joined them and switched of completely but this was impossible to even attempt with a seven year old boy asking for food every 30 seconds. It does look like I caught a few seconds of peaceful time though!

We picnicked and relaxed for an hour and a half then made the descent back down the tor and retraced our steps back to the town. We passed a row of characterful cottages with quirky additions to the pavement outside and since our last visit there has been some fantastic graffiti additions to the walls around the town.

Back home I was on Facebook when a similar image to the last one above randomly popped up on my feed; it turns out it is a famous piece of graffiti by Stik. There are many more around Hackney and Shoreditch so will definitely go and find them next time we go and stay with the brother in law. Anyway, back to Glastonbury town.

Glastonbury has a lovely collection of shops to browse and I found one full of lovely yoga gear which I regretfully left empty handed. I did however purchase incense sticks from a beautifully stocked shop, whose name now alludes me, and we fell in love with the three floors of wonderful light shades, figurines, furniture, rugs, cushions and door handles.

By the time we had finished with the shops the car park ticket was nearing its end so we headed on back to the car. Rather than going back to the campsite we drove up the road to Wells, England's smallest city, where we parked up for free in the Tesco car park - we popped in at the end for sausages and marshmallows! - and wandered through town past quirky shops to grab a chai latte, spend my Waterstone's voucher and eat an ice cream in front of the magnificent cathedral. This was a flying visit today but Wells has a lot to offer families with pleasant walks around the Bishop's Palace, lots of cafes and eateries and a huge green space in front of the cathedral. The cathedral is open to look inside via a voluntary donation.

Once drinks had been drunk and ice creams consumed it was back to the car, picking up sausages and marshmallows on the way, then off to the campsite for our last night BBQ and campfire.

 

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