CESKE BUDEJOVICE STUDENTS TOUR WESSEX

It's been an annual tour since the mid 90's. Eva Kordova from the Czech-English high School in the South Bohemian city of Ceske Budejovice brings over a group of students, they spend a few days in Bridgwater and then take a trip around the West country.

This year the group spent their first three nights at Huntstile Organic Farm in the foothills of the Quantocks whilst visiting Glastonbury ,Wells & Cheddar and having a social night at the Bridgwater Arts Centre. During this time they also did some orienteering on the Quantocks, had a Coleridge themed tour of Watchet with Ben Manning and had a look at Dunster on their way through Exmoor to Dartmoor.

Experiencing a misty couple of days on the Devonshire moors they then headed off to Cornwall where they saw Tintagel, the Eden project and Mount St Michael, spending the night at Golant hostel neat st Austell.

Leaving Cornwall the group crossed the Tamar to a hot and sunny Plymouth and then speedily up to Bath where they spent a night and the next morning before heading off to Wiltshire .

Taking in the ancient sites of Avebury stone circle and the Uffington White Horse the group spent their last night at Ridgeway Youth Hostel and the final morning having a walk around Bristol before catching their flight home.

SLOVENIANS EXPLORE WALES

Two Slovenian schools joined together with Bridgwater International for a short tour of Wales which took them from the Snowdonian peaks to Tiger Bay before finally popping over the Severn bridge to Somerset.

The schools, from Koper on the Adriatic Coast and Jesenice up in the Julian Alps, landed at Birmingham Airport from Trieste , visited Shrewsbury and stayed for 2 nights at Betws y Coed.

On the Friday they were guided around the University of Bangor, had a tour of Caernarvon Castle and walked up Mount Snowdon, then on the Saturday visited Harlech castle, the seaside town of Barmouth and took in a festival at Builth Wells before spending the night in the Brecon Beacons.

Sunday saw them at Cyfarthfa Castle, in Merthyr Tydfil before having a look around Cardiff and then onto Tiger Bay and a tour of the Welsh Assembly curtesy of Welsh AM Mick Antoniw.

Spending their last night at Cheddar YHA the group were treated to a social evening at the Bridgwater Arts Centre with a quiz and some singing plus food laid on by Kath Pearce , much of it donated by local Grocer Lance Duddridge.

Before travelling to Stansted to fly home the Slovenians visited Richard Huish College in Taunton and spent some time with the students there.