Mere is a small town in Wiltshire next to the A303, on its south side, and because Castle Hill sits between the village and the road it blocks all the traffic noise from that road. It is also near the borders of Dorset and Somerset. We were here for three days during autumn in 2011.

This shows Mere from the top of Castle Hill. There is no castle here now having been demolished some hundreds of years ago although the Motte survives (the earthen mound upon which it was built).

Salisbury Street is part of the main route through the town and, as you can probably see, it isn't very wide. Salisbury Street runs through to, and continues the main route as, Castle Street.

Some of the buildings here may have been built using stone from the old castle.

This is the Clock Tower in the old market square although markets are no longer held here. Just beyond, on the right, is part of the half-timbered George Inn and, on the left is the War Memorial.

The building with the half-timbered appearance is the George Inn and beyond it is the Old Ship Hotel with the obvious rounded stone archway. The 16th century George is actually stone built but has a facing to give it the appearance of being timber-framed.

It was once known as the Talbot Hotel, the black talbot dog being part of the coat of arms of the Chafyn Grove family of Zeals House, and King Charles II apparently stayed here in 1651 when he was fleeing after his defeat at the Battle of Worcester.

A short distance from Mere is Stourhead Gardens owned by the National Trust and open to the public. This shows the Palladian Bridge with the lake beyond.

It is possible to walk from Mere to Stourhead and back, which is what we did, and is about 2.75 miles each way. If you walk around the lake, yes we did that too, it will add another 1.5 - 2 miles.