I have spent the past 2 days investigating some of our family history.(The Shipton family). I hired a car from Bristol and drove to Gloucester where the history archives are. There was a very helpful lady there, Liz, who knew where to look for information. Grandpa Wright's mother was a Shipton so Pat wanted to see if I could find out about her Grandfather, Isaac. I found the church yard where the family are buried but it is quite overgrown with nettles and holly bushes so I wasn't able to identify any grave sites. A few had headstones, mostly illegible. The country side is quite pretty, open country with hills and trees. The town where Isaac and family lived is on a plateau of sorts and is hilly. They would have kept fit walking up and down hills all day. The roads are very narrow, lots only 1 car width - a bit harrowing to drive! It's also difficult to stop and look around. I also visited a quaint village called Tewkesbury (because I liked the sound of the name). The street was built of old style black and white timber homes. The shops had lots of flags flying out the front - like you see in pictures of medieval times - very pretty. Today I am returning the car, and travelling to Wales to stay with a friend for a few days.