All aboard the Earl of Pembroke!

Another busy day. After a late breakfast, we went down the to the wooded valley area known as the Heavens, behind our house, so that the girls and Natty could play on the rope swing. Natty and Jimi lived here for a while when they were eight and ten, and used to go to the 'ropey' on their own every day, so got very good at stunt-swinging. Natty is much bigger now, and was able to 'tow' the girls up to impressive heights and then let go so that they flew screaming towards the sky, trying to touch a branch with their foot three times. Other families were there, too, and a group was having a party a little further upstream. Natty taught the girls how to build a dam in the stream, and Zina found a fern-fossil in the other branch of the stream.

Later, we went out for Sunday lunch at a busy pub near Cranham, which I'd chosen for its proximity to Painswick beacon, an iron age hill fort with a view over seven counties. I've blipped it many times, but this time we walked around the edge, as well as walking up to the trig post. The views were great, but the skies rather flat for photography.

Later still (I thought it was about four, but it was actually nearer to six o'clock) we drove down to Gloucester docks, as I wanted to show Kate around the new developments. Until recently, she had not visited for many years, because she was carless. To our surprise, on parking we saw the masts of yet another tall ship! This one, the Earl of Pembroke, was in dock and we were allowed to board her and scramble around up and down stairs. She had also been used in the forthcoming Alice Through the Looking Glass film. Unlike the other ships, she is staying at the docks for some repairs (there is a boatbuilders' yard and dry dock at Gloucester) rather than following the others down to Falmouth in Cornwall for the event next weekend.

We scrimbled and scrambled around the ship, until the girls got bored, and then set off in search of a coffee, only to find all the shops closed or closing! Eventually we found a place near Llanthony bridge, which has a lifting mechanism. Zina and Jezreel liked that, but whatever was in their babyccinos had made them completely high, so they screeched Disney songs in the car all the way home!

Kate had wanted to visit the cathedral, but in view of the time, we decided to return the following day, for a day of urban exploration. Back at me, Zina got a sudden fit of homesickness, so we all snuggled up on the sofa and watched The Tailor of Gloucester film on youtube, with the promise of being able to visit the Tailor's house and museum in the morning.