
M was working today. Somewhere miles away. He did tell me where, but, you know, I either forgot or didn’t listen. You can decide which.
I recalled seeing something, somewhere advertising the fact that the Tall Ships Festival was back on at the Gloucester Docks, so B and I hopped in the car and drove off. Made even better by the fact that it was a gorgeously hot day, which always helps when you’re going to be hanging around docks.
Today though was amazing. B and I both had a wonderful time. We did loads. When we first arrived at the Docks, we looked over the railings and saw three little boats in the water. In two of the boats were “convicts” rowing for their lives, and in the final boat were “guards” who were rowing like nutters trying to catch up with the convicts. It was so funny to watch.

For the past couple of weeks there has also been a kind of “Gloucester Eye” type thing there. Last time we were there it was a horrid windly overcast kind of day and I promised B that we’d go on it when the weather was a little better. Today, the weather was perfect, so off we went for a spin around the Gloucester Eye.

It was actually better than I had expected and we went around three times, the first time was really slow and gave you a really good chance of looking all around and taking in the view. Including the Cathedral which looked lovely with the gorgeous blue sky behind.









We then went into the city centre where the festival spirit continued. There were peasants wandering all over the place, as well as people dressed up as Tudors (we saw Henry VIII and one of his wives) and soldiers in their Red Coats marching all over the place as well as other soldiers.

Ever since I was a little girl, there has been a huge glass viewing platform “thing” outside Boots. You look down through the glass to some Roman Ruins that were excavated in the 1970’s. Just to the right hand side of Boots, there is a little door which leads down into the actual ruins. But I’ve never seen it open to the public. But today, B spotted a Roman Centurian standing guard outside the door. The door, which was open!
B and I couldn’t get across to it fast enough. We went down the stairs, which was fantastic as it was lovely to be out of the scorching heat, and took a seat and listened to a lady, who was dressed up in olden days clothes, tell us olde worlde stories and tales. This in itself was wonderful, but once the lady had finished telling her stories (we heard three) a man who had been sat at the back, stood up and announced that he was about to give a guided tour of Roman Gloucester.
There were 5 of us who took up this man’s very kind offer and he took us around the 2 “gate” streets of Gloucester, telling us stories, facts and pointing out all kinds of things that I must have walked past hundreds of times and never given a second thought to. The tour lasted about 45 minutes and was fascinating. Even B, who hasn’t the greatest attention span in the world, was rivetted and hung on the guide’s every word. After the tour, I decided to treat B to a Happy Meal which we took to the Cathedral grounds to eat, picnic stylee.
This was an event in itself as loads of soldiers and civilians had set up camp in the grounds. There were campfires burning, a blacksmith giving a demonstration on how to make swords and daggers and B and I sat in the middle of both camps, keeping it real by munching on a McDonalds. Honestly, this was a fantastic day and I can’t wait for the Tall Ships Festival next year.