We will fight them ...

Squirrel in St Jame's Park

This is our last post to the blog while we are overseas as we come to the end of our holiday. There are certainly mixed emotions as on one hand we have been dreading this time but on the other we are looking forward to getting home. Yet another of the paradoxes which we all have in our lives. We certainly have an appreciation for what a wonderful country we have the privilege to call home but also an appreciation for the cultures of this amazing world.

Map room in the War Cabinet Rooms -
there were even 3 cubes of sugar from
a person's rations left in a drawer. 

We started our final day with the obligatory visit to Buckingham Palace. Unfortunately the area outside the front gates smelt like a sewer and so fairly quickly we headed off for a fascinating visit to the Churchill Museum and War Cabinet Rooms near Westminster. The War Cabinet Rooms were developed in a basement under offices and then reinforced to hopefully withstand bomb attacks from the Germans. As it was not a purpose built bunker there was doubt that the War Cabinet Rooms would actually withstand a direct hit and so the greatest protection was that the fact that the location was kept secret. The Rooms were made ready 2 weeks before the declaration of the WWII and continued to operate 24 hours a day until the day after Victory in the Pacific was declared. At that time the doors were closed up and locked and it remained that way until Mr George Rance the custodian of the Rooms started to show people around on tours. The dedication and commitment of the people in the War Rooms were quite amazing from all the heads of the armed forces, cabinet members, advisors and office staff who would work in excess of 18 hours each day and then sleep in the basement. Some of the people virtually never left the basement for the duration of the war. The Rooms are basically as they were left at the end of the war.

Guard at Horse Guard Museum -
the horse is just beautiful!

A change of pace as we headed to Westminster Abbey. It started as a Benedictine Abbey which happened to be the closest church to the Royal Palace so effectively became the Royal church until the time when Henry VIII closed all the monasteries. The Benedictines left and fortunately the abbey was not destroyed. Similarly to St Patrick’s in Dublin, Westminster Abbey almost seemed to be a museum rather than a place of worship. They did try to keep the sense of reflection in the abbey by asking people to stop each hour as they prayed a reflection but it didn’t seem terribly effective. The most interesting part were two old paintings that had been discovered behind memorials which were damaged and were part of the original decoration in the abbey from the time of the Benedictine monks. To us they were much more impressive than all the tombs of the various kings and queens. In actual fact we are probably returning to Australia more republican than when we left given all the history we have covered during the last few months.

Big Ben Clock Tower with bus in front

To complete our tourist time we headed to the Charles Dickens Museum in a house in Doughty Street where he lived between 1837 and 1839. Again it was quite fascinating and I didn’t realise that Dicken’s father ended up in debtor’s prison when Charles was a child. His father had a good job as a clerk but was not good with money and it meant that Charles had to leave school and work at Warren’s Blacking Warehouse as a 12 year old to pay for his board and help the family. These experiences contributed to his writing and he was a champion of social justice.

Tomorrow we have a final day in London before making the long flight home. That will give us just enough time to use up the spare pounds still in the wallet to save changing them back to Australian dollars. Not surprisingly Elizabeth has volunteered to look after than for us.

See you all soon.

Love to all

S&E

Ashes to ashes, if Lillee doesn't get you ...

The famous 'urn'

View of the members pavilion at Lord's -
waiting time is up to 29 years.

 Well in heaven this morning at the ‘home’ of cricket – Lord’s. To tour the dressing rooms and the Long Room and walk where the greats of the game have gone out to battle was amazing. So many tremendous performances, so much history, so many amazing cricketers – wow. It was fascinating to see the famous slope in real life, along with the tiny little urn that has been the object of desire, the catalyst for superstar performances and the ultimate reward for victory and the ‘horrible’ media centre that seems so out of place in TV coverage of Lord’s Test matches. The rationale for the media centre (spaceship) is that at one end is the tradition of the pavilion while the other (nursery) end is the future. Can understand the theory behind it but can’t say that I am a fan – it looks as horrible in real life as it does on the TV. Of course given the fact it looks so horrible (to me) means that it has won numerous architecture awards. There was plenty of good natured banter regarding the ashes which I am sure may have left the Indian members of the tour slightly bemused but in a few more weeks it is all on the line again. The covers were out due to the drizzle and the ground staff were out with spray bottles walking up and down spraying weeds in the outfield. Fairly labour intensive but good to see they are taking good care of the hallowed turf. We also got a glimpse of the wicket for the ashes test to be played in July. I’m sure by the end of that the Aussies will be 2-0 up!

Narrow boats on the Regent canal

A couple of the ‘old foe’ gave us a lift to Little Venice where we caught a narrow boat (don't call them barges) to Camden Lock and the markets along Regents Canal. It may have been called Little Venice but these canals aren’t a patch on those of Venice. To be fair they were made for completely different purposes. The canal was dug along with the others in England by hand to enable the transport of materials for industrial processing. In fact the Regent Canal was dug through the second position for Lord’s Cricket Ground meaning the ground had to move to its current location in 1814. The use of canals was amazing in the days before engines and trains and trucks. Goods were transported all over the country by horse power. The tow path (where the horse would pull the boat) beside the canal is still in place and is now used as a pedestrian and cycle path through the centre of London. The canals were still used up to the 1960s when they fell into disrepair and many were filled in. Over the last few years people have worked to reopen many of them and they are now used for leisure and tourist purposes. Unfortunately people seem to use the canals as a dump point and so they don’t have exactly the nicest outlook. A houseboat on the Noosa River would be a much better cruise.

Bridge over the canal - known as
Blow up Bridge. The original was
destroyed when a cargo of
gunpowder on the narrow boat exploded.

The Camden markets were crazy with people everywhere. It would take a week to get through all the stalls so we barely touched the surface. Some shopping, lunch and browsing and it was time to head off for some more sightseeing. We headed back on the tube to Kensington Palace and gardens. The Palace is now fully open to the public (seeing the Royal family is not using it) and part of it is set up telling the story of Queen Victoria. Most people think of Victoria as the little old monarch dressed in black, however this was in her later life after Albert her husband of 21 years had died. Given the details and the way Victoria wrote it seems that she really was besotted by Alfred and they were very much in love. After all the stories we have read and seen of the arranged marriages it was refreshing to see what seemed like genuine love.

Tomorrow is the final day of our London Pass so we will continue to ‘tourist cram’ with some more of the central London sights before we hit the shops before we head home.

Love to all

S&E

Once upon a Monopoly board

Beefeater at the Tower of London

 Kings Cross, Trafalgar Square, Euston Road, Pentonville Road, Northumberland Avenue, Piccadilly, Fenchurch Station (to name a few) – all places we walked down, travelled through or saw signs to so it seemed like we were in a real life game of Monopoly as we made our way around London today. Fortunately we did not end up in jail (even visiting) and unfortunately we did not find free parking to earn any money (although we did get in to lots of places for free thanks to the London Pass – yes I know we have already paid for it but it feels like it is free).

Elizabeth's gun salute with
gunpowder flash

It has been a whirlwind time in London so far since our arrival. No sooner had we got back to London and returned the camper than after finding our little apartment in Notting Hill (doesn’t look anywhere near as attractive as the apartment in the movie) on Friday night we headed off to West End to see ’Matilda’. It was absolutely brilliant with so much evidence of Tim Minchin’s influence throughout – it was such that you kept expecting to see him make an appearance from the wings (he is exceptionally talented and creative and he managed to keep it clean seeing the majority of the cast were children). The kids were amazing not just for their talent but also their stamina and being able to fit this in their lives as kids. We did check the website and a rotating cast of children cover the parts (there are 4 Matildas) but it still an amazing effort given that there are 8 shows a week. Hats off to all involved – the writing, directing, choreography, performers and musicians – we just loved the whole thing. Thanks to our wonderful children for the Christmas present also – great idea. It also doubled as an early birthday present for Elizabeth so bonus.

Tower Bridge

The Saturday was Elizabeth’s birthday so a 62 gun salute (not sure how they got the wrong number – must have been a mix up in the emails) was fired outside the Tower of London at 1:00pm to celebrate the event. The lengths I go to ensuring that these special days are memorable! I also made sure we were busy sightseeing today – Tower of London, Tower Bridge, Trafalgar Square, Greenwich, Big Ben and Westminster, cruise up the Thames so that we did not get a chance to go anywhere near Harrods or the like. I am sure that will come later so the credit card may not yet escape. Apart from finding that they close some of the underground stations (Tower Hill), meaning you have to walk to the next one (Aldgate) which we fortunately managed to find without too much fuss and was not that far away, the day went very smoothly and was yet another fascinating day. When you look over the Tower of London it really is quite a ‘hotchpotch’ of different buildings and fortifications that have been added from the days of William the Conqueror when in 1078 he started construction of the original Norman Keep known as the White Tower. Various rulers have added more walls, moats, towers and buildings and used it various purposes – many of them gruesome. While it is most infamous as a prison and place of execution it has also been the Royal Armoury, Mint, treasury, menagerie and public records office at various times. Most of the executions were not actually carried out in the Tower but rather out in a public venue on Tower Hill – great ‘entertainment’. It was only if you were a ‘friend’ or soon to be ex-wife of the King that you had the privilege of being executed inside the Tower. It is also quite amazing that the Tower was still used as a prison up to 1952.

Fountain in Trafalgar Square

After lunch at the ‘Hung Drawn and Quartered’ – don’t you just love that throughout history humanity has come up with supposedly more and more barbaric and gruesome ways of killing people to try and prolong the pain of death and create a spectacle. With some of the things happening in the world today it is almost as though nothing has really changed. On to more pleasant topics we headed off to Tower Bridge to get a look at one of the most famous bridges in the world. It was certainly a great view with some great engineering to ensure the two bascules raise safely in about 5 minutes about three times a day. It is about three times a day now, previously it was much more often. Even the glass part of the walkway was not too scary so it was a great time.

A cruise further down the Thames with some very entertaining commentary from a local ‘east-ender’ took us to Greenwich. Checking our calendars and watches we took a look around the maritime museum area. We certainly packed in our sightseeing and got a day’s worth from the London Pass before returning up the Thames and then back to the Notting Hill apartment.

Tomorrow we continue our tourist time in London with a visit to Lord’s and some time at Camden Markets.

Love to all

S&E

O'er hill 'n down ....

Aysgarth falls on River Ure

Yorkshire has been a great revelation in England (probably helped by the best weather of our trip) and we have thoroughly enjoyed our time. The Yorkshire Dales National Park (we are still struggling with the English interpretation of National Park in comparison to Australia) was a great day as we visited Aysgarth Falls and then the town of Hawes. Aysgarth Falls is a series of three waterfalls (not exactly what we think of as waterfalls as there is only a fall of a couple of metres each time) on the River Ure but quite spectacular. Apparently it is quite dry at the moment (for England) and so the falls were not exactly thundering. Picturesque scenery which was utilised for a scene in a Robin Hood movie with Kevin Costner – I seem to recall that the movie was an absolute lemon (can’t say I have seen it) so not even the great scenery could save it.

Old tourist bus in Hawes

Bridge across stream in
Yorkshire Dales

Heading further in to the National Park we arrived at the village of Hawes. This village was just so ‘cute’ and quite busy as markets were on as well as the sheep sales so all the whole district seemed to be in town. Time spent ‘rambling’ over the hills and dales of Yorkshire was wonderful and capped off with visiting the Rope Works for an education and Wensleydale Creamery for beautiful cheeses. We did balk at having to pay the equivalent of $A10 to go to the waterfall (Hardraw Force) through the pub on our walk. A good revenue raiser – the only access to the waterfall is through the door of the pub. Given our previous experience with the falls at Aysgarth we decided to give it a miss and have a look on Google. We did find out that Hardraw Force is the longest single drop waterfall in England with an estimated 100 feet drop so we are pleased we didn’t spend the money. The tranquillity of our rambling through the dales was interrupted by a couple of low flying jets from the RAF. Not sure which base they came from but they were certainly close to the ground. As they headed west they rolled on their side to head down the valley between the hills.

Clifford's Tower York

The following day was spent in the city of York which was quite amazing. We utilised the Park & Ride – weren’t going to take the motorhome to those narrow roads of York and went to the York Castle museum. This was one of the best museums we have visited on our trip – it was exceptionally well done with lots of recreations (a Victorian street of York, the prison cells of the debtors prison, WWI experiences of York people). Time really did fly because of how well it was organised and the fact that it was so engaging. Next to the York Castle was Clifford’s Tower which was the sight of a Jewish massacre in 1190.  

Tomorrow we continue to head back down south – we know we have reached the midlands because we were again caught in gridlock. It has been so pleasant to not have standstill for time we have been in the north. We head off to see Sherwood Forrest – continuing to relive our childhood stories.
We then return to London and get to go to the Theatre on Friday night to see 'Matilda'.

Love to all
S&E

Have a Captain Cook at Yorkshire

Summit of Roseberry Topping -
escarpment the result of a collapse
in 1912.

 In a ‘heartbeat’ we were immersed in the North Yorkshire countryside and felt right at home. The connection with James Cook and then our love of ‘All Creatures Great and Small’ and ‘Heartbeat’ meant we seemed to be in a familiar environment.

Roseberry Topping taken from the inside
of a shooting hut (interesting addition
for a National Park)

Every place in North Yorkshire seems to want to claim a piece of Captain Cook – Ayton, Whitby, Roseberry Topping to name just a few that we visited. We started our visit to the North York Moors National Park at Roseberry Topping which is a mountain rising from the surrounding plains near Middlesborough. It is claimed that James Cook drew inspiration for travel from his visits to the summit of Roseberry Topping. He apparently made regular trips to the top so we thought we had to do the same. It was a little like heading up Mt Coolum and rewarded us with great 360 degree views to the coast, the Yorkshire Dales and the Captain Cook memorial on an adjoining ridge. While we think it seemed a bit of a stretch to go from Roseberry Topping to sailing the world, it certainly was a wonderful place to spend some time walking through the National Park. It was good to get back to some walking through nature again (in the dry) and we had a great time. Walking in the National Park in England is very different to Australia – apart from birds and insects we say no other wildlife and most people were walking with their dogs (yes in the National Park). Not sure if the two things are related – the lack of wildlife and the presence of dogs. Apparently early in the morning there are sometimes some deer around but that is about the extent of the wildlife around. Again it is very different to all the reptiles, small mammals etc that we see in our Australian National Parks.

Swing bridge in Whitby

After some significant walking we headed for a drive along the North Yorkshire coast passing names we’ve heard from television and also some from Stephen’s heritage. Thomas Harrison and Richard Harrison (Great, great, great grandfather and his son) were from the towns of Ugthorpe and Newton Mulgrave and we found the directions to both. Unfortunately the small lanes heading to the villages meant we were not going to follow them in our motorhome. We did see Ugthorpe Lodge (a very impressive building) which was obviously Richard Harrison’s place and then due to some quirk of history is no longer in the family. Oh well – nice to dream! It was interesting to see that the north coast of Yorkshire has previously been a very industrial area with Ironstone mining and also jet mining (a minor gemstone). To have mining right next to the amazing coast lines was certainly quite astounding.

Whitby abbey - St Hilda established
it and another place which just went
to ruin when Henry VIII closed them
all. 

We headed to Whitby and had a wonderful time exploring such a special little town. Whitby also claims James Cook as the Endeavour was built at Whitby and Cook lived there as an apprentice. So many little lanes and terraces giving the appearance of a jigsaw puzzle again. While it was so cute and delightful now you wonder about its past as it would have been a very rough and tumble place as a port. Some of the small lanes would not have been places to walk if you wanted a quiet night. Whitby itself seems to be stuck in the 1970s – as the stereotypical English seaside resort. Coloured beach huts next to a tiny sandy area, entertainment parlours, merry-go-rounds and fish and chip shops everywhere. It was just so delightful!

Our time with the motorhome is drawing to an end with only a few days to return to Luton. Tomorrow we head off to explore the Yorkshire Dales National Park before heading south.

Love to all

S&E

What a stirling castle

Kings Knot and Queens Knot seen
from Sterling Castle

Flowers growing at the top of the
castle wall

He who holds Stirling, holds Scotland – so the legend went and today we had the chance to have a quick tour of Scottish history. Of course things all interweave in this part of the world with a very convoluted history. We first came across Robert of Bruce the famous Scottish leader who defeated the English at the Battle of Bannockburn (Stirling) when in Ireland near the Giant’s Causeway. He was in exile on the island of Rathlin off the Irish coast supposedly watching a spider weave its web. It had the web blown down 6 times but kept persisting. Robert had decided that if the spider managed to get the web built he would return and try again in Scotland otherwise he would go to the Holy Land. Needless to say the spider succeeded on the seventh attempt and Robert returned to Scotland. He followed on from William Wallace in the quest for Scottish independence from England. Stirling castle was in the midst of all this and changed hands between the Scots and English numerous times from 1296 to 1314. After the Battle of Bannockburn Robert of Bruce destroyed the castle so that the English could not reoccupy it. It was not until the start of the Stewarts that current castle was built in stone. James IV started to build up the castle for his royal court and to establish himself as genuine King in Europe. He was allied with both the English and French through marriage and agreements (that obviously took some doing and caused some issues). He was married to Margaret Tudor (Henry VIII’s elder sister) and then his son James V continued the building program and figured he was really important because he could trace his lineage through both Scotland and England. The Royal Palace at Stirling Castle was built by James V with the Stirling Heads – to remind everyone in the palace of his lineage and his importance. A bit of self-promotion and propaganda never went astray! Once the Stewarts come along you start to throw in William of Orange and James V of Scotland (II of England) and the Battle of the Boyne (an earlier post), Louis XIV, Henry VIII, Mary Queen of Scots and so our heads were awash with history. It wasn’t the only thing awash as we had typical Scottish weather – cold and wet. Our tour guide did explain that the sun would be out shortly and indeed in the afternoon the sun did come out although it still remained bitterly cold.

Royal Castle

William Wallace memorial from
Stirling Castle

During the visit to Stirling Castle as we added in attempts to track through the royal lineage of the Stewarts (Stuarts), Tudors and the rest we decided that you could write whole volumes. To save this we will skip over the whole convoluted mess but needless to say the marriages of convenience were all about looking after their own skin and trying to protect the continued dynasty. Given the number of the kings and queens who were crowned at 9 months or 13 months the regents really ran the country and made the decisions.

Another of the displays at Stirling Castle were the Unicorn tapestries. The tapestries were reproduced over a period of 13 years by a team of weavers at the castle and the final tapestry was only completed this year. Such an amazing project just emphasises the skill and industry of medieval times. Historic Scotland commissioned the Unicorn tapestries to furnish the Royal Castle with period art, the Unicorn was a symbol of the Stewarts and it is believed a similar series of tapestries hung in the Royal Castle.

Stephen walking in Dales Woods

Time managed to get away from us and it was time to head back to our lovely little campsite. Given that the sun doesn’t set until after 10:00pm we took a walk through Dales Woods in the sunlight – just near the campgrounds. Thought we had to walk through the namesake place – wasn’t a very big woods so no need to get excited that we may have some claim on a large country estate! We now start to make our way back down south to spend some time in the Yorkshire Dales.

Love to all

S&E

You take the high road ...

Belsay Hall

 Greetings from bonny Scotland – on a bright and clear however still chilly evening. We made it to Scotland this afternoon and for the first time on entering a new country actually came across a designated entry to the country. Obviously despite not voting for independence last year they still want everyone to know where their country is.

Part of the Quarry garden

The last couple of days have been great days exploring parts of northern England. Yesterday we started off at Belsay Hall and Castle which was in the hands of the Middleton (not sure if they were related to Kate) family for over 700 years until about 1980. It started off with the defensive tower built about 1370 which then had a manor house attached to it in the 17^th century when life became not quite so violent. Later still a new manor house (Belsay Hall) was built on the estate a short distance from the original castle. At the same time Sir Charles built a whole new village and relocated everyone off the estate (obviously not short of a quid). To build the Hall they quarried stone from the estate and later it was turned into an amazing quarry garden. Belsay Hall was requisitioned by the government during WWII and eventually in the 1960’s it became impossible for the estate to maintain. The family moved to another house on the estate and handed over the castle and Hall to the state in 1980. This must have been such a difficult decision for something that had been in the family for so long – however it was probably a case of doing that or losing everything.  All the furniture and fittings were sold to pay the tax man and as part of the agreement the Middleton family wanted Belsay Hall to remain unfurnished as that is part of the building’s history. The Middleton family still own the estate so it was not a case of losing it all. It was certainly a great way to spend the morning before we headed to the north eastern coast and the delightful village of Beadnell. The coastal part of Northumberland is obviously a popular part of the country and it was great to have a walk along the beach.

Lindisfarne priory ruins

Lindisfarne castle

This morning we headed up to Holy Island and Lindisfarne castle and priory. We journeyed across the causeway at low tide with no dramas and then spend some time exploring the island. It was so peaceful and quiet – despite all the tourists and you can understand why it was chosen as a spot for a monastery. St Aidan was invited to Nothumbria by King Oswald to establish Christianity in his kingdom from the Scottish monastery at Iona. The monastery continued until the monks fled due to attacks from the Vikings. St Cuthbert was the most celebrated of the monks – he reluctantly became Bishop but then retired and moved over to his own little island to be a hermit. The conditions were extremely austere so either he was extremely tough or ‘a little mad’! They are famous for the Lindisfarne Gospels produced in the late 7^th or early 8^th century. It was also amazing to see some of the name stones that were made on the island and to find out that they were actually coloured. We certainly just thought of stone work as engraved sandstone but they were brightly coloured and would have been quite stunning. Benedictine monks returned in about 1150 and built the priority and set up a thriving community until it was suppressed by Henry VIII. We also had a look at the castle which was remodelled into a summer holiday home in 1901 for Edward Hudson who owned the magazine ‘Country Life’. The whole island was magnificent and it was such a privilege to spend some time there. We even managed to see some seals (albeit through telescopes) and plenty of bird life.

Being in Scotland we have the chance to explore some of the conflicts between Scotland and England tomorrow with the William Wallace Memorial.

Love to all

S&E

One wall slightly weathered

Derwentwater lake at Keswick

 The day dawned cold and windy but at least without the driving rain of the night before. We survived the night in the camper with the strong winds and being bombarded with small pinecones. The people from the caravan park were out early with the tractors and such cleaning up – we did notice that a couple of tenters had bailed out the previous night and I can’t say that I blame them.

Hadrian's wall from Birdoswald
Roman Fort

We headed to Keswick and Derwent Waters lake while the sun was shining. We did take the opportunity to rug up with thermals, scarves, beanies, vests  and overcoats and thank goodness we did because we were still cold. This was the same get up as we had on Mt Snowdon and is the most layers that we have had on at any stage during our trip. We managed through autumn everywhere else, even in the French Alps but summer in England takes the cake. We managed to stay dry as the rain only came in after we had retired to have a morning tea break. The lake was beautiful with stunning views. One of the islands used to be owned by an eccentric Englishman Joseph Pocklington. He had built a castle on the island and used to invite the locals from Keswick to attack his island while he would retaliate by firing his cannons at them. I love how the English label him eccentric when everyone in the world would call him stark raving mad. The English seem to love oddbods. We didn’t take the chance to go to the pencil museum – not sure how they can make a whole museum about pencils – even if they are Derwents. Little did we realise that due to the pure graphite deposits near Keswick there were 4 pencil factories in Keswick. 

Sheep poking around Roman ruins

After Keswick it was off to see Hadrian’s wall and the Birdoswald Roman Fort. Hadrian’s wall is quite fascinating – they only took 7 years to build it and it was certainly much more impressive than what remains now. Some of our builders now could learn a thing or two – but it does go to show what can be achieved with a huge workforce. Hadrian had decided that the Roman Empire could no longer keep expanding so he wanted to secure the borders. To think that 2000 years later parts of it are still in place is quite phenomenal. You also wonder how many of the local fences and buildings have parts of Hadrian’s Wall holding them up!

We made our way to camp behind a pub at Wall tonight and the weather is supposed to become much better tomorrow. They are even predicting that it may get into the 20s with sunny weather by the end of the week – we can hope.

Love to all

S&E

We're all dreaming of a summer holiday!

Panorama of Conwy from the top of the castle - you can
see some of the wall around the city.

 Summer has arrived in the UK with cold, wet and windy conditions – just what you would expect. On the bright side according to the news 40 years ago there was widespread snow so at least that hasn’t been the case to date this year.

Exterior of Conwy Castle

We ventured into northern Wales spending time in Conwy – the walled city which was Edward1’s solution to the pesky Welsh. He couldn’t conquer the land so he figured he would build a series of forts and castles around the border of Wales and keep them all in. Conwy was one of the few castles that he actually managed to get finished as his own version of the GFC beset him. The shell of the castle including all the towers is intact and it was great to wander around it. CADW (Welsh Heritage) have restored one of the towers – the Chapel tower by reinstalling the floors. King Edward apparently spent a Christmas at Conwy besieged by the Welsh but he had all the creature comforts installed – he even had it arranged that he didn’t have to mix with everyone else for Chapel services by having his own special viewing room with adjoining Garderobe (toilet with a long drop outside the castle). Some great views from the tops of the towers and we took the time to walk around the walls of Conwy – it was interesting that some of the guard towers are now peoples’ back fences so have been turned into BBQ areas, tool sheds and the like.

We also took the time to look at Plas Mawr the Elizabethan house of Robert Wynn which has remained almost the same as it was in the 16^th century. It was quite astounding with lots of plaster work and obviously he was one of the well to do around town. Again CADW have done a great job presenting it and providing the information. We headed out of Conwy to a delightful caravan park on a farm and then did some ‘rambling’ around Rowen in the Welsh countryside as the weather was actually fine.

Some sheep about to go over the edge
on Mt Snowdon

The next day we had an appointment with the Snowdon Mountain Railway to go to the top of Mt Snowdon. The morning started clear and bright and when we arrived for the train we were told we may only go part way up because of the danger of high winds. Fortunately things stayed relatively fine on the way up and we were able to go all the way to the visitor centre at the top. The weather had by now closed in with sleet and horrendous winds. The temperature according to the train driver as we came back down was 3 degrees and -4 with wind chill (no wonder we were freezing). Elizabeth climbed the last few steps to the top (wet and slippery although all you could only see about 5 metres in front of you). Edmund Hillary and team apparently trained on Mt Snowdon before the successful attempt climbing Mt Everest – not nearly as high but certainly has adverse weather conditions and this was the first day of summer!

Stephen near the summit of Mt Snowdon -
yes it was as cold as it looks!

The weather did not improve as we headed back down the mountain – indeed they closed up the centre and sent everyone down the mountain. The train had to rescue some walkers on the way back down who were wet and bedraggled. There were plenty of others walking down so assume they just had to sort themselves out.

View from summit of Mt Snowdon -
the edge is there somewhere.

As we drove towards the Lakes District the weather continued to deteriorate and we were not assisted by the fact that we managed to travel 4 miles in 1 and a half hours on the Motorway because of an accident where three lanes had to converge into 1. We arrived at the caravan park near Ullswater Lake which had whitecaps on it due to the winds. The night was a bit wild and woolly in the camper as it rocked back and forth in the strong winds. (According to the news the following morning - gusts in northern Wales of 75mph - we weren't that far away)

Depending on the weather tomorrow we will head to Keswick and then some of Hadrian’s wall.

Love to all

S&E

Footsteps in Freddy's history

HMS Warrior in Portsmouth Harbour

The blog has had a break for a few days as we came into England – we actually had to post the remaining Ireland posts which is why there were a number of posts on the same day. The other reason for the hiatus is that there has just been so little time for blogging during our time in the UK.

Our impressions of England (and today a very brief entry into Wales) are that it is very expensive, very busy with far too many people and frustrating to drive around. We are hoping this will improve. Having said this we probably have to say that we were spoilt in Ireland.  

On arriving at the airport in London it cost the equivalent of $100 Australian to get the train out to collect the motorhome – a journey which was not even all that far (we will not complain about the Brisbane Airtrain again). We collected the motorhome and then headed out of town to prepare for our next adventure.

The Australian flag flying on the highest
pole in Portsmouth Harbour - not
even sure what building it is.

Portsmouth was the first port of call the following morning for Elizabeth to check out Freddy’s birthplace. We eventually found a place to park the motorhome where we could get the appropriate photos and get a sense of the city. We headed to the historic part of the city and found the HMS Warrior from 1690 and the old port where the children used to wallow in the mud finding coins that people would throw for them. As times were tough the spare change would help out the family budget. On departing Portsmouth it was time to head to Highclere Castle to check out setting for Downtown Abbey. This was the start of our jinx – we found it quite easily which we thought was an accomplishment only to discover that it was closed to the public for the day. We weren’t the only ones caught out as a steady procession of people arrived only to turn around and journey on. We decided to overcome the disappointment by heading off to Stonehenge which was just amazing once we eventually arrived. Our trip to Stonehenge was our first real experience of gridlock England style. We crawled our way to Stonehenge and were rewarded with sunny weather although it was blowing a gale which ensured it was cold. Stonehenge was just amazing and another example of creating your own explanation of what it is all about. The strong wind created amazing wave like patterns across all the surrounding pasture. After Stonehenge we headed to our accommodation to find that a diversion was in place so again we sat in gridlock with everyone else. This was the first of a number of diversions so far – some where they just close the road and send everyone a different direction for 35 weeks or with one to start in June for 65 weeks! Beats dropping everyone down to 40km/hr like they do in Australia I suppose, although the roads that you get diverted to are generally narrow and winding.

Thermal water entering the pool at
Bath

Thermal spring at Bath

We ventured to Bath and again dealt with horrendous traffic to be rewarded with the amazing ruins of the Roman Baths. The whole experience is so well done to give you the whole sense of what the baths would be like during the time of the Romans. The curse notes which they have found were great – complaints to the Goddess Minerva mainly about things that have been stolen. It really is quite interesting that it is not necessarily the ‘famous’ people of history that you hear about – it is the ordinary people from history whose notes have been found and recorded. The traffic out of Bath was not quite as bad and we thought we would escape gridlock only to find that even their Motorways can’t cope with the congestion. Travelling along the M5 we were reduced to a crawl not because of accidents or roadwork – just because of traffic – something that happens all the time apparently. It would do our head in – we can only hope that as we get further north things thin out a little.

Bath street scene complete with
telephone boxes

Today we were again beset by the vagaries of roadwork as we were trying to head to Stokesay Castle. Again we found the castle only to be diverted off the road 2 miles short of the destination. Our diversion of some 12 miles brought us back on to A49 (the road Stokestay Castle was on) would you believe 1 mile north of the castle. All these castles in England and we could actually get to the ones we wanted to see. To make up for it we headed to Wales and managed to walk through Powis Castle which was fantastic. The castle was left to the National Trust with all the furniture in 1957. It basically was like walking through Downtown Abbey and the gardens were again amazing. It was just amazing the ‘social’ aspect of the estate – where the privileged guests would arrive for a weekend of hunting and banqueting. Quite mindboggling actually.

Tomorrow we head up to Snowdonia National Park.

Love to all

S&E

Farewell to old Ireland

Lower lake at Glendalough

 Our final full day in Ireland involved visiting Kilkenny before passing through the Wicklow mountains to reach Glendalough and returning to Dublin.

Entrance gate to Glendalough

Kilkenny is such a pretty city with cute little lanes, the obligatory castle, great pubs and all the rest. It was only a brief stop and a place to which we would love to return. The Wicklow mountains which we heard about when we first started at Newgrange were simply stunning. The quartz and some of the other huge stones used in the Newgrange passage tomb was transported from the Wicklow mountains which was an amazing achievement. The Wicklow mountains and the Wicklow Gap were beautiful as we passed through them but we believe they would be simply breathtaking at the time when the heather was in full bloom. This happens in late August apparently.

Stream at Glendalough -
the serenity!

Glendalough was the site that St Kevin set up a monastic settlement in the 6^th century. He certainly picked a wonderful spot to ‘get away from it all’ and commune with nature to get close to God. Little wonder that other people were attracted to him and the area and wanted to join him. The community continued to develop around the Abbey and the church for hundreds of years. We had always thought of the monasteries as full of reclusive monks copying manuscripts and certainly some were like that, however in many cases it was a complete community/village. The position of the Abbot was often passed down from father to son and acted a little like the ‘mayor’. Along with the Bishop to provide spiritual guidance and the CEO to manage the affairs, the community was more like a corporation providing safety, education and support for all. Many of these monasteries thrived in Ireland really emphasising the idea of Ireland as the place of ‘Saints and Scholars’.

St Kevin's church Glendalough - all
intact with the stone roof.

Our tour concluded with an amazing Irish cabaret in Dublin full of comedy, dancing, music and singing. Rob Vickers was the headline act fresh from having time on West End playing the part of Jean Valjean in Les Miserables. The comedian was hilarious having us in hysterics – although many of the gags have been around for a while he just had such a presence and sense of delivery that you couldn’t help but enjoy yourself. Add to this some amazing musicians and spectacular Irish dancing (including a young boy and girl) and it was a wonderful way to conclude the tour – of course the Irish Coffee didn’t hurt either.

The following morning we flew out of Ireland and headed to London. It was quite sad as the plane left Irish land, however we will return because it has just been such a magical and beautiful time in the Emerald Isle.

After spending the equivalent of $100 Australian dollars on train tickets (only to get from the airport around London) we picked up the motor home and got ourselves fitted out and settled for the night at a delightful little place on the Salisbury Plains. Now the UK adventure begins.

Elizabeth’s Addition:

As we flew away from Ireland yesterday, I was genuinely sad to be leaving and already planning a much longer return some time in the future. It is a truly magical place, despite it’s dark and tumultuous past, and there is so much left for us to explore. There is so much I want to learn about  all things Irish!  We met some really lovely people, especially those we shared the Globus Tour with  ( Cheers to Robert and Barbara Smith and our tour director Angela) and the whole experience has been wonderful. Cannot wait to return! It is however nice to be back in our comfort zone of a very nice motor home exploring at our pace. 5 star hotels are OK for a week or so but this is more our style!

Love to all

S&E

Moher spectacular cliffs

Lamb wanting a feed at Rathbaun

Old pots outside turf shed

 Upon departing Galway, the tour headed off the beaten track to a little farm to get the experience of rural life in Ireland. A visit to the lovely little Rathbaun Farm of about 120 sheep, a dozen cattle, 2 horses and 1 dog with an income supplemented by hosting tourist coaches provided the entertainment for the morning. It was interesting to compare the experience and challenges to those of farmers in Australia – farmers the world over are struggling with some of the same issues – global markets, restriction of trade, increasing costs and diminishing returns. After some of the rich farming lands we headed to the Burrens in Connaught which in comparison were a moonscape almost with huge areas of exposed limestone covering the countryside. The area is some of the worst in Ireland for farming and is the place where Oliver Cromwell resettled Catholic farmers as he gave their farmlands in Northern Ireland to Protestant farmers after the Reformation. His catchcry to Irish Catholic farmers was apparently “To Hell or to Connaught” meaning they would either die or relocate. If they could have found a huge close by market for limestone they would have made a fortune. Unfortunately such a market was not at hand and so they had to drag seaweed up from the ocean over years and years to create pasture land. The people of the Burrens were almost as tough as those of the Aran Islands.

Stephen and Elizabeth at Cliffs of Moher

After lunch it was time to head to the Cliffs of Moher which has just been voted as the top cliff experience in Europe. Apparently the English are not happy and can’t believe that anything tops the Cliffs of Dover. We will be able to compare them for ourselves when we visit Dover next month but for Dover to be better they would have to be absolutely amazing. The sun wasn’t shining on the cliffs (we did manage to have a sunny minute at one stage later in the day) but at least it wasn’t raining. There was however a wee breeze blowing (something akin to a gale) and we thought that at one point even if you did fall the howling gale would hold you up and prevent you from reaching the water. We didn’t get to see any puffins (we really have not had a good run with Irish wildlife (no puffins, badgers, stoats, deers) much to Elizabeth’s disappointment but the views were simply breathtaking – well the views and the bitterly cold gale! Given the ‘call Lifeline equivalent posters in the toilets’ the Cliffs of Moher must be a popular place to end it all. Interesting that the assumption is that people will take time to go to the toilet before they head up to jump.

Cliffs of Moher

The evening meal at Bunratty Castle was a great fun medieval banquet with plenty of entertainment. It was a quick turn around time to get ready for the dinner which did cause some issues on our return to the hotel. Some advice for people who are on a tour staying in different hotels each night – photograph or record the room number somewhere because the numbers can start to blur. Either that or try your key in each room in the wing to find the right room. It does work when the little green light shows.

Love to all

S&E