We went walking on Chesil Beach this morning. Not very much of it, as walking on pebbles is hard work, but enough to feel the awe of being on that extraordinary 18-mile ridge with water on both sides. It's a fascinating bit of sculpture by sea currents, continually added to by the erosion further west. I was intrigued by some patches of stones being different colours from others. How does than happen? It made me want to know an awful lot more about geology.

Then another day of spontaneous stops on our slow route back to Bristol. Dorchester was a disappointment: an uninspiring place (and my coffee was insipid). The Cerne Abbas giant, on the other hand! A whole bunch of bikers around my age rolled up on noisy British motorbikes while we were there which added to the charm.

It's decades since I was last in Wells and I'm really glad we decided to stop there. On the cathedral green was a vintage car rally, to complement the earlier motorbikes. The cathedral felt more welcoming than any I've been into for a long time, and I was entranced by the stained glass windows in the Lady Chapel that were repaired as an 'abstract' after they were smashed by Puritan soldiers in 1685 for being too BVM. They also tore lead from the roof to make bullets, smashed the organ and for a time stabled their horses in the nave. It seems a bit of a miracle that the 1325 astronomical clock survived (it's still working, but in the Science Museum in London and the one in the cathedral is a 19th century copy).

I loved the street of medieval houses opposite the cathedral too. We happened to bump into an acquaintance of Firstborn's so gave her a lift back to Bristol.