Forde Abbey and gardens

After going to Beer we decided to head back home and see if we could stop off somewhere else on the way.  I suggested that if we were heading past Axminster that we could go to the River Cottage canteen and  enjoy the buzz that the day before had provided.  It was a totally silly suggestion as it was a Sunday and if that wasn't the reason it would be packed out, the fact that people had travelled to the event the day before and thought the exact same thing as me did.  

Instead we bought a couple of bottles of Stinger (we shared a bottle I work in road safety after all) and two amazingly chunky leek and potato pies and decided to head somewhere for a picnic.

We drove a bit further and then followed some signs to Forde Abbey and gardens in the hope it would provide a nice setting on such a beautiful day.  It was a pretty pricey decision but since we still had the rest of the day we figured we could spend a while there, do some reading and wander around as the photos show.