GETTING THE ABBEY HABIT: Ponthir Retired People's Club visited Lacock Abbey, on Wednesday, June 27.

The abbey was founded in 1232 as a nunnery, and dissolved by Henry VIII and sold to a courtier, William Sharington, in 1536, and turned into a private house with lovely gardens.

Some of the scenes from the movie Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone were filmed there.

There is also an exhibition of photography by William Henry Fox Talbot, who owned the Abbey later, and a small museum.

The charming rural village, which dates back to the 13th-century, is owned by the National Trust, and has remained largely unchanged over the centuries.

This was the first Lottery-funded trip by the club, and all who travelled to Wiltshire had a very interesting day out wandering around everything. They also missed the rain!

Rae Connolly