Starting with a jolly train journey to Worcester and a delicious coffee in a small Italian café, we made our way to the historic Commandery.  Packed into historic rooms extended over several architectural eras, the museum’s many varied exhibits brought alive the history of this once ancient, monastic hospital, Civil War Command post, school for the blind, private residence and later print works.  Our group was delighted to see the beautiful carvings in the Great Hall and Tudor rooms, along with the medieval religious wall paintings once hidden from view for centuries.  There were still a few flowers to be seen in the gardens.

For those of us whose knowledge of the English civil war was sketchy, this was a most enlightening visit.

We rounded off our tour with a very welcome sit-down for a light lunch in the Commandery's café, where Malcolm got his long-awaited bacon butty.

In all, we had a very enjoyable experience to the attractive city of Worcester.