Taxus baccata

Mr DawnAgain's birthday today and we went over to have a look at Waverley Abbey this morning, somewhere neither of us had ever been before despite it being just up the road and very close to where Mr DA grew up. It was Britain's first Cistercian monastery and is well worth a visit. A nice surprise for me was the ancient yew tree there which has grown over the ruined walls of the abbey church. No-one's sure quite how old it is but it's certainly very old and has the most amazing roots.

Afterwards we had a really good lunch at the Barley Mow in Tilford, as suggested by a woman I was talking to at the Abbey whose two young sons like visiting there specifically to climb up the tree. When we got home we took the dogs over the common with Son1 and when Son2 got home from college Mr DA opened his presents, one of which was a game of Star Wars Monopoly, which we then played prior to a takeaway. Then, because it was his special day, Mr DA had control of the remote control.