Tewkesbury and Gloucester

My final day in the Cotswolds consisted of a trip through Tewkesbury and Gloucester. The former has an abbey which greeted my arrival with all bells ringing. There are 13 bells - proper ones, not pre-recorded like so many places these days - and they sounded very impressive. Inside was just as musical as the organist was practising on the big pipe organ. The ladies in the gift shop weren't impressed but I thought it was fine. A very majestic sound.



I had a pleasant stroll around the town - lots of Tudor style buildings - and then headed over to Gloucester. This is a much bigger place and, naturally, more populated. I wanted to have a look at Gloucester Cathedral as it was used as a film location for the Harry Potter films - the cloisters in particular.



Unfortunately there was an art show of sorts inside so it was pretty damn crowded. There were sculptures all over the place, most of which didn't impress me - too much pain and suffering for me. Along one wall of the cloisters were a series of outstretched hands, sticking out from the wall, all holding something: a packet of chips, a sandwich, etc.
The cathedral itself is not as big as something like Canterbury but it does have some very nice stained glass.
I wandered onto the main street of town and decided to have lunch at The Pig Inn In The City (I think that's its name). Nice enough pub but 45 minutes is a bit long to wait for lunch, especially the roast of the day.
Anyway, after lunch I strolled around the dock area.



It's much more aesthetically pleasing than Salford Quays in Manchester but I think Liverpool's Albert Dock is still the best I've seen.

On Sunday I'd planned to take the long way home to Liverpool but ended up on the motorway anyway. The day is over by 4.30 - 5pm now and I don't like driving in the dark. I got back just in time to see Liverpool beat Chelsea 2-0.

Got a birthday dinner to go to tomorrow night but not much else is happening this week. I got a large print of one of my photos, framed, to give as a present.



Looks good, even if I do say so myself :)

Later.....

The Cotswolds and beyond.....

I've seen a lot over the last few days and I've only scratched the surface of what this area has to offer.
Tuesday: Stratford-upon-Avon and Warwick Castle.
Wednesday: Chipping Campden and other local spots
Thursday: Avebury and Stonehenge
Friday: Tolkien and Blenheim Palace.

Stratford, of course, is all things Shakespeare. I came across Anne Hathaway's cottage first. 7 pounds 50 to get in plus a pound for parking. The cottage is quite big - thatched roof, interior beams, fully furnished, etc. Photography not allowed inside. The beds look particularly uncomfortable!



The town itself is very pretty. There's the Avon River of course, plus a canal. The narrow boats moored there all seemed to be cafes and ice cream vendors. There's a signpost on the canal: 199 miles, 154 locks and 99 hours to Liverpool by canal. :)



Shakespeare's birthplace is right on the main street. I didn't go in for the tour but wandered randomly round the town instead.



There's an interesting, very old, Tudor style building next to a church not far from the town centre. Like Canterbury, it turned out to be a school so I couldn't get in. Pub names mostly refer to Shakespeare or his plays in one way or another. The one place I forgot all about was the Globe Theatre. Unforgivable, I know. Maybe I'll get back there some other time.

From Stratford I headed into Warwick and checked out the castle there. 18 pounds to get in plus 5 pounds to park! Expensive day out. It's a bit Disney inside but interesting nonetheless. The falconer was doing his thing when I got there so I stopped to have a look. I'd missed the first bird, it was just being put away, but I was just in time for the Sacred Falcon. Apparently he's a youngster, still in training. Probably explains why, when his hood was finally removed, he flew away and didn't come back. I saw him later over the other side of the castle, so he hadn't gone far.
The Great Hall is amazing. Not huge but big enough and it's full of medieval weapons and armour. There are two full sized, fully armoured knights on horseback in the centre area of the hall. Swords, spears, pikes and various pieces of armour grace the walls. It would have been the perfect place to take Yr 8 history classes for an excursion!
I've got some reasonable photos but haven't uploaded them yet for some reason.

The next day I was treated to a 2 hour tour of the local area by Barry, the owner of the B&B where I'm staying. It's part of the package if you stay 3 or more nights. Me being me I didn't really want to go, thinking it'd be a waste of time. But now I'm glad I went. He showed me a lot of places I probably would have missed on my own. The Cotswolds is a beautiful region. The trees, well the leaves, are all yellow, gold, red, rusty brown. Just gorgeous. There were a lot of cars parked along one stretch of road and Barry got all excited. "Hunt followers", he cried. So we stopped and waited. Sure enough, a whole lot of people on horses accompanied by hounds appeared. I thought fox hunting was outlawed here now but it still goes on. Barry said I was privileged to see it but I'm not so sure. Thankfully, the hounds didn't flush a fox - that would have been distressing I think.



One of the places we went through was Chipping Campden, the nearest town. I went back for a closer look in the afternoon. Apparently Johnny Depp stayed there a few years ago while filming something or other. Very nice place.
Being in The Cotswolds is like being in The Shire.



Yesterday I went further afield - to Avebury and Stonehenge. Avebury is about an hour and a half's drive from here. It's a small village but is surrounded by one of the biggest stone circles in Europe and England's largest. The circle has a diameter of about 1000 feet. It is, in turn, surrounded by a huge ditch and earth rampart. The only way to photograph the whole thing would be from the air. The circle is spread over a number of fields, many of which have sheep grazing in them as well. It pays to watch where you walk!
Stonehenge is about 30 kms further south so I thought I might as well wander on down, seeing as I was so close. Absolutely awesome. I was impressed by the scale of Avebury but its size means, for me, it lacks the impact of Stonehenge. It truly is a magical place. You have to be quick though as they close it up at 4pm at this time of year. 6 pounds 90 to get inside the huge chicken wire fence that stops people just wandering in from the road. It's worth it though. It's easy to see why it's such a magnet for alternative culture types.



There's a rope barrier around the henge to stop people wandering through the stones - a result of too much damage done in the past. The good thing about that is that it's possible to get a decent, people-free photograph. :) The sun was going down as I was there. I would have loved to have stayed longer but they were ushering people away by then.



The drive back to Mickleton - two hours in the dark and drizzling rain - was not so good.

Today I thought I'd go to Oxford, just over an hour from here. First off I went to Wolvercote cemetery to pay my respects to my favourite author: JRR Tolkien. I found the town of Wolvercote (sort of north Oxford) and stopped at the pub for directions to the cemetery. A bloke there said "Oh, that's at the other end of town, five mile drive." So I got directions and off I went. Hahahaha, 'five mile drive' is not an indication of distance but it is the name of the road the cemetery's on. Three minutes away.



He's buried there with his wife, Edith. The headstone refers to them as Luthien and Beren. Very touching.

I decided to bypass Oxford as traffic is horrendous there. I went to Blenheim Palace instead. It's the home of the Duke of Marlborough and the birthplace of Sir Winston Churchill. Huge place with even huger grounds and gardens. Photographs are not allowed inside but I snuck some anyway. Photos of the grounds are limited as it was raining constantly. Bleah! I wandered around for a while though - determined to get my money's worth. Another 18 pound entry fee. However, I was able to trade my ticket in for an annual pass so I can go back at any time for free - weather permitting.

Today is November 5th: Bonfire night. Guy Fawkes night. I went to Chipping Campden to see the fireworks but it was still raining, and getting heavier. I was fed up with being wet, and especially fed up with my camera getting wet, so decided that I'd give it a miss. There will be more displays tomorrow in the area so, weather permitting, I might get some fireworks pics.

I have one more day here. As I type, the plan is to go to Gloucester. That might change though.

Later.....

Went for a bit of a drive today

And ended up in Mickleton, Gloucesterhire (Glosst'sher). From Liverpool it's straight down the M6 for a couple of hours, bypass Birmingham and take the Stratford exit. It's about 20 minutes south of Stratford-upon-Avon and west of Oxford if that helps :) It took me an hour less than I thought to get here because I forgot to turn the car's clock back an hour. Duh.
However, now that Samhain (Summer's end) has been and gone, 5pm ticks over and it's dark. That can only mean one thing.....early starts.
I wish the motorways had stopping zones. So many photographic opportunities on the way down - mostly trees. It's Autumn here and the trees are just gorgeous. Hopefully I'll take a few decent snaps while I'm here.
Tomorrow's agenda is to go to Stratford and explore all things Shakespeare. I've never been a fan of The Bard but I have a sister who is. I passed through a bit of the town on the way here and it looks beautiful. Caught a glimpse of an old bridge across the river - definitely going to photograph that.
Also on the agenda for this week is Oxford, Warwick (it has a castle; have to go!), Blenheim Palace, Bath, the countryside. Who knows what else? The Cotswolds area is known as the Heart of England and not without cause. The little bit I've seen already is stunning.
Meon Hill is another photographic possibility - it's supposed to be the inspiration for Weathertop. Must go have a look.
I got to the B&B (brymbo.co.uk), home for the week, at about 5. Too dark, sadly, to start exploring so I settled for a welcoming cuppa then showered (in a proper shower, not a shower-in-a-bath) and headed off to the village, Mickleton, in search of dinner. Two minutes down the road is The King's Arms. Had a very tasty (although a tad overpriced) burger with "proper chips". The publican reminded me of Imran Khan so I might go back before the week's out :)
I'm back at the B&B now, got the place to myself tonight. Comfy :) It'll get more populated as the week progresses apparently. Hopefully that'll be a good thing.
For now I'm going to kick back and read.... got The Gathering Storm (Robert Jordan) on the mac's pretend kindle. The next volume (volume 13!!!!) of the series is due out tomorrow. Hopefully there's a bookshop in Stratford.....

Later....

Hereford and Wales

From Rushock I headed a bit south to Hereford to spend the night. I'd heard that the Magna Carta (1215) was on display in the cathedral so I had to go look. Also there is the Hereford mappa mundi. Both were in a darkened room, behind glass. No photos allowed but I did sneak one of the Magna Carta while the official guard, I mean guide, wasn't looking. Terrible photo though. The document itself is quite small. Nevertheless, it's probably the most important document in the history of constitutional government.
There's a lot of renovation work going on at this cathedral: scaffolding everywhere. While that's inconvenient for photography it's excellent to know that the old places are being cared for.
From Hereford I headed into Wales for a couple of days. Cymru to the locals. I think that translates as "cold." ;) Beautiful countryside though.
I based myself at Aberystwyth on the central coast for a couple of days.
There are plenty of castles in Wales - built mostly by Edward I during his campaigns to subdue the Welsh princes and add Wales to his empire. I checked out three of them: Aberystwyth, Harlech and Caenarfon. The first is little more than a ruin, just a few broken towers and such like. Lovely setting though, overlooking the Irish Sea. I must say though, it's a very chilly wind that comes in off that sea!



The remains of Harlech are more substantial. It's a concentric castle, ie., it has two sets of defensive walls. The inner walls in such castles are always much higher than the outer walls so that defenders can shoot from both walls without fear of the outer guys getting an arrow in the back from the inner wall guys. I climbed the spiral staircase in one tower and the view from the top was pretty nice. Between the castle and the sea is now a golf course.



Harlech itself is a smallish village/town. Most buildings are built out of dark grey stone - that seems to be the standard material in the Welsh areas I saw. I found it a bit depressing to be honest. Houses in Irish towns are often painted in different colours which is much more cheery to look at.



I stopped in at the pub in Harlech for a coffee to try to warm up. There was a real coal fire burning away. I haven't seen a proper coal fire in decades. Like everyone else I've spoken to in the UK and Ireland, the publican knew someone in Australia so we had a bit of a chat. One interesting thing she said was that it was cheaper for her to buy her lamb from Australia than to buy the local produce. Bit sad for Welsh farmers.

I also had a quick look at Caenarfon castle, further north. This is where the Prince of Wales is invested. I mainly wanted to have a look because I have vague memories of a family holiday there way back in the Dark Ages. I know there's an old photograph somewhere of either Peter or Paula, or maybe both, sitting on the cannon in the castle grounds. So, of course, I took a pic of the cannon.



One of the main reasons for going to Wales was to try to find the cottage of Bron Yr Aur - where Jimmy Page and Robert Plant stayed (1970 I think) to write most of the material for Led Zeppelin III. I got as far as the bottom of the road that leads to the cottage. There's a sign at the bottom saying "Road not suitable for motors". I thought about trying to drive up anyway but decided against it - what if I got the car stuck and couldn't get down, etc etc. I also thought about walking up but it's a very very steep hill. Eventually I decided it wasn't worth risking a heart attack for the sake of a photograph. Bummer.

So, instead, I went for a drive up though Snowdonia National Park to Yr Wyddfa, Mt Snowdon, the highest peak in Wales. It was bloody cold up there (average temp at the top is 2.5C) but the views were worth it.



I think Snowdon might be the inspiration for Misty Mountain Hop.



So, from Wales I headed back to Liverpool, where I am now. I've had a yucky cold all this week so have done bugger all. On Monday, however, I'm heading south to the Cotswolds - got 6 nights booked in a B&B in Chipping Campden. I plan on doing several day trips - Oxford, Stratford-upon-Avon, Blenheim Palace, Bath, etc. Should be good!

Right then, I think I'm finally caught up.

Later.....

Canterbury

I forgot to mention that I also visited Canterbury, specifically the cathedral, while I was down in Kent. Another huge, impressive piece of architecture.



Inside is a wonder of vaults, arches, buttresses, stained glass, etc. Unlike the pretentious (mercenary?) lot at Durham, photography is allowed inside.



Canterbury is the spiritual home of the Church of England. The Archbishop of Canterbury is the most senior cleric in the Anglican church. While Durham has the Venerable Bede, Canterbury has Thomas Beckett. Not many archbishops have been murdered and fewer have been murdered in their own cathedral. He may be the only one but I'm not sure of that. It occurred because of a power struggle between Church and State - Henry II, the king of England, frustrated by Beckett's attempts to increase the power of the church, and said some words he probably shouldn't have. The actual words are debatable but the result was that four of his knights took off and, when Beckett refused to go to the king, murdered him at the altar. (1170)
Canterbury, of course, then became a shrine to Beckett and a place of pilgrimage. The shrine in the centre of the cathedral and the altar where the murder happened were both destroyed, sometime in the 1500s, on the orders of Henry VIII during his own power struggles with the church. (That struggle led, of course, to the formation of the Church of England.)
A new, small, altar has been placed at the scene of the crime with a quite dramatic sculpture above it - four swords, to symbolise the killing and Beckett's martyrdom.



In place of the shrine there's now just an empty space with one candle perpetually burning.
There's also another perpetually burning candle, in another part of the cathedral, dedicated to prisoners of conscience. The sign says: "All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good people do nothing." And also: "as a reminder of prisoners of conscience and all those who suffer unjustly for their beliefs and actions".



I thought it was good to see a church recognising such injustice. It makes a change from most (all?) religious organisations with their "there's only one way and it's our way" approach.

Anyway...... after the cathedral I tried to get into what I thought was the castle. Haha, got stopped at the barrier by a uniformed bloke telling me I couldn't go in. Turns out it's not a castle but a school. The King's School. One of the most elite in the country apparently. I was there as kids were getting out and being picked up by parents - never seen so many expensive cars in one place. Tory Central. When the revolution comes......

From Canterbury I did a quick jaunt down to Dover to have a look at the White Cliffs.



I could just make out France across the Channel. Might be all I see of France if the strikes and protests don't get sorted out soon. You have to admire the French for standing up to their government but really.... their timing is terrible!

Update #2: Pilgrimage

From Kent I decided to go back to Liverpool via Wales. But first I headed to a little church (St Michael's) in a tiny village (Rushock) in Worcestershire to pay my respects.



I'm not ashamed to admit to shedding a few tears.

Update

Been longer than I thought. Sorry folks.
Since I left Sweden I've been in the UK, where it's getting colder by the day.
I didn't do much for a week or so once I got back to Liverpool. After a month on the road I was in need of some rest. I did have a day out in Chester. I really like Chester - it's an old Roman town and there are still some Roman ruins there. Plenty of medieval stuff too. Lots of history wherever you look - just what I like :)
Too many people though!



Next stop was Blackburn to stay with my uncle Brian (and Ann) for a week. Blackburn itself isn't much to look at: a north-western industrial town. I was taken to a club one night - one of the local haunts. The band was okay but the so-called comedian was atrocious. Apparently there are no laws against racial vilification up there.
The surrounding countryside is lovely though. We did a couple of day trips around the area: Ribchester, Whalley, Chipping, etc.



We also had a day in Manchester. Nothing to write home about there. The refurbished docks looked plain and boring compared to Liverpool's. The old buildings have been torn down whereas in Liverpool they've been cleaned up and turned into shops, restaurants, galleries, etc. The Albert Dock area in Liverpool really is a nice place to spend the day. I did think about looking for The Hacienda and Factory Records but we didn't know where they are, or even if they still exist. Maybe some other day I'll go do that pilgrimage.
Brian and Ann then took me up to their daughter's place near Durham. We had a look at the Angel of the North - another Antony Gormley structure. It overlooks the motorway at Gateshead and is huge! It's an industrial angel sort of thing and is meant to remind us to keep imagining angels. I like the idea of that. The angel itself is very imposing. Lots of people don't like it but I think it's interesting.



We also went to Durham Cathedral. The cathedral was originally founded in 1093 and is regarded as the finest example of Norman architecture in England. It's very impressive inside but, sadly, they don't allow photography. The reason I was given is a load of bollocks really. I was told it's because it's a place of worship and cameras distract the worshippers. I looked around and saw hundreds of people - all tourists, nobody was praying. The clerics and volunteers were all busy shepherding tour groups around. Really what they mean is "no photos because we want you to buy our merchandise". Pfftt!
From there we headed north towards the Scottish border to check out Hadrian's Wall. I only saw bits of the wall but we did have a lengthy look at the remains of a Roman fort at Chesters (not to be confused with Chester). I wandered around taking lots of photos of grey stones :)



The fort is 2000 years old, give or take a few years, and was originally built by the Romans to protect Hadrian's Wall where it crosses the Tyne river. Clever people those Romans.

On the way home from Blackburn I decided to pay the Iron Men at Crosby another visit:



Next stop was Kent to visit Joan and Jim, another aunty/uncle. I drove down from Liverpool - motorway driving is pretty damn boring. Kent is lovely though - they call it "The Garden of England" and not without cause.
I spent an excellent day with Bridie, a friend from Melbourne. We drove around the countryside and had a look at Hastings and Brighton. Brighton is a big seaside town which used to be "THE" place for the rich and famous to go. It's also home to fearless doughnut thieves too. After wandering up and down the pier, we decided to get some doughnuts. Next thing you know, a seagull swoops over my head from behind (actually hitting my head on the way through) and stole Bridie's doughnut right out of her hand.
While in Kent I also visited Chartwell (home of Winston Churchill), Hever Castle (home of Anne Boleyn and, later, William Waldorf Astor), and Knole (home of the Sackville family - important royal cousins in Tudor times).



The grounds at Chartwell and Hever are spectacular. Chartwell is traditional English with rose gardens and sweeping lawns. Hever has that too but also has an immense Roman garden, established by WW Astor. Impressive.



To be continued........