Medieval mayhem

It's that time of year when Ashburton 'goes medieval'. The Ancient Ale Tasting and Bread Weighing ceremony goes back hundreds of years - and this year is the 750th anniversary. It is the solemn duty of the dignitaries of the town to visit all the pubs and check the quality of the beer. A special anniversary message of congratulation from the Queen was read out, before general merry making in the streets, including the sinister Grimspound Morris Men.

The Scottish Play

For weeks excitement has been building in Ashburton about a performance of Macbeth featuring local painter and decorater Chris in the title role, and, among others, Charlie the chimney sweep as the porter. The show was put on in the atmospheric St Lawrence Chapel, and directed by former actress Cathryn Harrison, grand-daughter of Rex. It was intriguing to see people you see every day in the street, transformed into Shakespeare's characters on stage, and showing another side to themselves.

Whiteout

The Big Freeze continues. There was more snow today. We walked from Ashburton to the top of Dartmoor - about three hundred metres climbing. Well, it's a good way of saving on the heating - no need to put it on if you're out sweating all day. At the top there were lots of lovely snow drifts - about two feet thick.

Let it snow

As I write, the snow is falling and Ashburton is eerily quiet. No cars, just the muffled squeaks of boots on snow, and the shouts of children playing. There are snowball fights in the middle of the main street which is usually clogged with cars. It's rather lovely.