As our location is some distance from any major business centre we tend to have a fairly quiet winter season.  This however gives me a chance to catch up on the otherwise neglected parts of my life and I’m able to dive into catching up with family and friends, reading, playing bridge and visits to both the theatre and cinema.  

We’re lucky in being within striking distance of Bath with its brilliant Theatre Royal.  Since the beginning of this year we’ve seen the much acclaimed Quartermain’s Terms starring Rowan Atkinson prior to it going to the West End; The Mousetrap  first  ever tour to celebrate 60 years at the West End; Lenny Henry in August Wilson’s Fences.  

Our nearest cinema is the delightfully shabby Westway Cinema in Frome where we caught up with whatever might be featuring at the BAFTAs/Oscars.  

Peter and I are just back from a much needed holiday in Kerala, India.  After my charity bike ride in Rajasthan in 2010 and further ten days travelling we were both keen to go back and visit another part of the country.  Our break was spent with a week travelling and then five days at the beach before returning to Fort Cochin.  The weather was melting hot which made the return home to freezing temperatures rather a shock.  However we are now rested and ready to enjoy a busy summer here at Castleton House.  

If you like a good read now the nights are drawing in then our local Literary Festivals might be of interest

I’ve rather been neglecting my blog this summer despite all my resolutions in January not to do so.  Perhaps it’s because we’re always so busy during the summer both with having guests to stay and Peter’s wedding filming business, not to mention what the garden and allotment through at us and seeing friends.

However the nights are now really beginning to draw in and autumn is here.  Stourhead will of course be looking wonderful in about a fortnight but there are a couple of other attractions which are also worth mentioning.  The first is the very understated annual Mere Literary Festival which takes place between the 8^th – 14^th October in various public buildings in Mere.  I’m looking forward to the talk given by Tom Fort who recently wrote A303, Highway to the Sun which was BBC Radio 4’s book of the week earlier in the year.  What a treat for a small town like Mere to host such a good event.  Further details can be found at http://www.merelitfest.co.uk/2012/2012prog.html.  Later in October another local town, Sherborne, is hosting it’s first Literary Festival from the 19^th – 21^st October with a wide range of speakers including Kate Aide, further details are at http://www.sherborneliterarysociety.com/sherborne-literary-festival.html .  I need to prioritise what I want to see and order my tickets now.

On a more personal note Peter and I are very much looking forward to seeing our son who returns from a six month tour of Afghanistan in early November.  April, when he left seem a very long time ago, it will be quite wonderful to have him home again and I know we’ll both be bursting with pride at the Medal Parade in December.

Please do feel free to forward this e-mail onto any friends who you think it might be of interest.

With best wishes – Gail

With all this lovely warm weather we’ve been enjoying and with summer just around the corner I thought I’d write a short e-mail to keep you up to date with the news here from Mere in Wiltshire.   As many of you know I was busy last year training and then participating in the British Heart Foundation’s Vietnam/Cambodia charity bike ride, it really was a wonderful experience and somehow I managed to bike every bit of the way despite temperatures of up to 37.5 degrees.  So a big thank you to everyone who sponsored me or bought my homemade jams and marmalades, it all helped me to raise the £3,500 I needed to partake in the challenge.

 Since then I’ve not been doing anything so energetic but I have put a lot of effort into the new website – www.castletonhouse.com which provides much more information than the last site.  This includes details of walks and cycle rides along with details of the beautiful gardens around us including Stourhead which as you can see from the photograph below is as lovely in April and May as it is in the autumn.

There are several major events in the area that we’re looking forward to, the Olympic torch is travelling through Wiltshire and nearby Shaftesbury is one of the towns on the route.  The Olympic sailing events take place at Weymouth and we’re certainly planning on going down to the coast for a couple of days.  The Queens Jubilee Celebrations are being marked in many ways at a local level, including some lovely concerts in Sherborne Abbey and Salisbury Cathedral.   Along with these events I’ve mentioned there are the annual ones which we try to find the time to go to for a day or so: The Salisbury Festival 25^th May – 9^th June http://www.salisburyfestival.co.uk/home.aspx, The Bath and West Show, 30^th May – 2^nd June http://www.bathandwest.com/, The Larmer Tree Festival is on the 11^th-15^th July http://www.larmertreegardens.co.uk/events.html, and

Bush Farm Bison Centre has it’s annual Pow Wow on the 7^th and 8^th July and is hosting an Wilderness Skills Gathering on the 17^th & 18^th August http://www.bisonfarm.co.uk/index.htm.

We particularly enjoy see people who’ve stayed before and having the chance to catch with your lives and do hope the events I’ve mentioned might be of interest to you.  Please also forward this newsletter to any family or friends who might be interested in coming to stay with us here at Castleton House.  In the meantime have a Happy Easter.

With best wishes – Gail

Firstly if you’re just going for one day then it’s important to get there in good time and my advice is to do your visit in slightly reverse order leaving the safari until later in the day.  If you arrive half and hour or so before the gates open you should be towards the front of the queue and then you could start with the boat trip (the Jungle Cruise), then train ride (the Jungle Express), followed by the Motion Simulator and then to visit the house.  After seeing these attractions you should have found your bearings and will be able to judge the crowd sizes and decide whether to have an early lunch – the grounds are a lovely place to enjoy a picnic, or to head off for to the Safari or one of the Ranger Shows.  I’m not sure what to suggest for the maize, I reached the centre and the got lost trying to find my way out!

Peter and I went for a lovely walk around Longleat and the village of Horninghsam earlier this month.  We started at Heaven’s Gate which has spectacular views over Longleat House and grounds, walked down through the village and into Longleat through one of the pretty gatehouses.  I know Longleat House is famous for it’s ceilings and so too should be gatehouse.  We noticed a couple of lovely statues in the lake just to the left of the bridge, and then at about 5.00 p.m. climbing up the hill returning to Heaven’s Gate we listened to the lions roaring and the wolves howling at what we assumed must be feeding time – a quite unique experience.

I keep saying this is my last bike ride, they are addictive, but I do need to thank all those people who have stayed here and bought jams or just donated to the BHF and helped me on my way.