My primary goal for the trip was to take the girls to see my Grandma. In her 90’s, she was still sharp and feisty, but had certainly slowed down a lot. We rented a cottage near her apartment, and had a great time. Each day we’d stop and see her in the morning, then normally go off and explore on our own for most of the day, then back to her place to visit for a bit in the afternoon or evening, though we did also get her out for a few meals too.

One day we had ice cream from a little cart, sitting eating ice cream cones on the edge of the water not far from her apartment. When I showed her the photo of Kim and the girls eating ice cream in the rain, she laughed and laughed and said “Well, now you’ve had a proper English holiday, with ice cream in the rain at the seaside!”

We didn’t know it at the time, but this would be the last time we saw my Grandma. We had a trip all arranged for April 2020, but Covid cancelled that and she passed away before we were over there again.

Kingsbridge