Henry Moore Foundation, Hertfordshire

We've just returned from a 850 mile tour of Hertfordshire and Yorkshire during which we met up with 18 friends and relatives. In Hertfordshire we stayed with our friends Wendy and Keith who took us to the Henry Moore Foundation's centre at Perry Green, near Much Hadham. Moore set up the Foundation as a charity to promote the arts and it now does much good work both in the UK and internationally. We had a tour of Moore's house and some of his workshops and saw much of his prolific output, from small drawings up to massive sculptures weighing several tons. Whilst all of these sculptures were very cleverly thought out and brilliantly executed in all kinds of materials we still had difficulty reconciling the titles of some of them with the finished work of art. No doubt I was missing something but my favourite, perhaps because it looks like its title, was the family group on the bench. If you want to see them for yourself you will have to hurry as the centre close to the public for the season on 30 August. (Top photo shows Wendy comparing sculpture to its title in the guide - can you tell what it is?)

Center Parcs

The Center Parcs brand started in The Netherlands and the De Kempervennen Center Parc is almost identical in every way to the Longleat Center Parc in Wiltshire, UK, which we know quite well. However our luxurious VIP villa at Kempervennen was new this season and included a dishwasher, home cinema outfit, whirlpool bath and sauna. See photos of Sophie and Thomas pretending to enjoy a sauna and Ben almost lost in foam in the whirlpool bath. Both these facilities brought much needed relief to aching muscles, scrapes and bruises after a day of cycling, swimming and sports. Our VIP villa also had fresh rolls and croissants delivered before breakfast each morning and a free daily newspaper - in English of course. It really was excellent, well equipped in every area and spotlessly clean.

Happy Birthday

Jenny and I recently celebrated my significant birthday with a week at Center Parcs de Kempervennen in the Netherlands. Ben, Clare, Thomas and Sophie were with us and on the morning of my birthday they got up early and decorated our villa with balloons and signs they had made themselves and got out a lovely cake and a bottle of champagne they had brought out from England. I got some lovely cards and presents too - an interesting armorial (for the garden) from Jenny, a tasteful heron from Ben and family (also for the garden) and, all the way from Olly and family in Togo, West Africa, a Phillips PhotoFrame complete with lovely family photos and a charming locally painted picture entitled "Family Transport - visit to parents". In the evening we had a meal at the Center Parcs grill where I was presented with a free drink by the management! Altogether a day to remember! I've attached a few of my own photos but if you would like to see about 20 of Ben's excellent photos of the week log on to http://www.flickr.com/photos/benpeet/sets/72157624506428965/ for the photo set.