A Day out in Totnes

My four year old son is just getting into castles and he wanted to see a real one, so we decided to have a day out in the late summer sun that put in an appearance this weekend. I have never been to Totnes castle despite it being fairly easy to get to from here so it was our first choice, especially as the entry fee was published as just £3, and the return train is just £5. Its a steep climb up to the little motte and bailey castle but well worth the view when we got there. They were having some kind of reenactment day so we got in free of charge, but my son wasn't too impressed with the guys dressed up as tommies. We had our picnic in the sunny bailey and then wandered back down the high street looking at all the shops and the stalls in the market. The kids spotted some polished stones and insisted on buying one each...chips off the old block indeed it seems. It was still early afternoon by the time we got back to the train station so for something else to do we wandered along the path to the river and over the footbridge to the old steam train station. The kids loved the old carriages and engines and were delighted when one of the drivers invited them up onto the footplate to see the fire and all the dials. We looked at another engine which soon blew out masses of steam and chugged off down the track. On the other side of the rails is a lovely little petting farm with red squirrels, fat guinea pigs and some rather intimidating goats which ate all the food we were given and cheekily tried to get out of the pen with us. Back along the path to the main station we found some hazelnuts which my son, once I had explained to him were, cracked open with his teeth and munched down with much satisfaction. Kids are full of surprises.

Thornborough Henges

One of the big reasons I love researching family history is that I find out all sorts of other interesting things along the way. One afternoon I was GoogleEarthing a little farm in North Yorkshire which at one time belonged to my BOLTON ancestors who farmed there for at least five successive generations. I noticed not far away a prominent henge. In fact there is a formation of 3 massive henges known as the Thornborough Henges. They are aligned to Orion and are even older than the pyramids.

The University of Newcastle have done an excellent study of the site which can be found at
http://thornborough.ncl.ac.uk/project_design/project_design_contents.htm
but it still leaves so many questions open. I'd like to say I have time to investigate further but I don't.