Final day in England

Today is our last day in England.  Tomorrow new horizons await as we board a cruise ship in Southampton and travel the Baltic Sea as far as St. Petersburg, Russia.
Our English travels have exceeded all expectations and have been very memorable.  Wayne and Nancy have been excellent travel companions and we look forward to the cruise with them and 4 other couples.
We are now at Nick and Jan Ostafew's in Swanage, a coastal holiday town in the south of England - a beautiful spot with so much history and so many walks.  Yesterday, we walked along the Jurassic Coast trail for about 8 miles ( about 13 km) - called Jurassic coast as the limestone, purbeck stone cliffs reveal many dinosaur fossils.

Dinosaur feet

 We ended in one of many local stone cottage villages, Worth Matravers, and ate outside at the Square and Compass pub - a favourite of Shon's from previous visits.

 The place was packed with families and dogs enjoying music and sunshine on the stone benches and tables.

Turns out the band was The Fugitives from Vancouver, BC, Canada!!!!  After lunch, the girls took a taxi home and the boys walked the 3 mile inland trail back home - Shon and Wayne were tired cowboys by the time they got home.
Jan is an excellent cook and we are being spoiled rotten by their wonderful hospitality!  Both are excellent tour guides and thoughtful hosts.  Uncle Morris lives with them here - they moved in with Morris and Daphne (since deceased) 14 years ago and it works great for everyone.  Uncle Morris will be 95 next month and is slowing down but doing well.  Today we visited two or three local destinations (Lulworth Cove, Corfe and Corfe Castle) and he came with us, sitting in the car and reading while we walked trails then joining us for a picnic and allowing us to push him in his wheelchair around Corfe.  Such a sweetie!!

corfe castle has been a ruin since Oliver Cromwell and his roundheads laid seige to it then blew it apart in the mid 1600s.

I am now going to try to load 2 or 3 photos of this area.  Wish me luck - I am using Google Chrome today instead of Explorer and that worked in the past so fingers crossed!

I realize I have not mentioned our time with cousins Jo, Rosemary and Rachael in Swindon so will add a photo or two from there.

Wayne, Nancy, Joanna, Rosemary, Rachael, Shon 

Entrance to West Kennett Longbarrow, a bronze age communal burial mound

Shon at Avebury stone circle which surrounds the village of Avebury. The circle is about 2600 years old.