Trip to England - Week One
Oct. 15th, 2019 05:05 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
gilda_eliseIt’s been three years, so it was that time again, time for my two-week trip to England.
It’s lucky that how well a trip is going to go isn’t determined by how well your flight is. If it was, I would have been in a world of hurt.
It began with my flight to Chicago, which was held up for almost two hours because of bad weather there. But since I always book flights that are several hours apart, I wasn’t concerned. I got to Chicago with plenty of time to spare. My flight out of Chicago was late getting out, too, because there was such a backup.
Finally in the air, I settled in for a long flight. After dinner I watched Rocketman, and then tried to sleep. My luck, that’s when we started having turbulence. So we landed in London at 9:05a, their time, without my having had a wink of sleep.
Anne was waiting, and after a short bus ride we reached her house. I ended up taking a nap later on. Add a long night’s sleep, and by the next morning I was raring to go.
I get emails from “Historic England,” and the week before the email had mentioned that items from the Franklin Expedition were on display at the National Maritime Museum at the Royal Museums Greenwich. So a trip to the museum was on order. We took a bus to the docks in order to board one of the Thames River cruises.
It’s a wonderful way to see the city, as you pass by many of the famous landmarks.
There’s the Eye.
And the Tower and Tower Bridge.
We met up with our friend, Chris, and then headed for the museum.
The display, which included items from many of the Arctic and Antarctic expeditions, was really interesting. From there we walked up to the Royal Observatory. The view from there is great!
We also visited the Cutty Sark, the last of the clipper ships. She was built in 1869 to bring tea from China to London. Her name comes from the Robert Burns’ poem, Tam O’Shanter, published in 1791. A man peers into a church where warlocks and witches are dancing. One in particular catches his eye. Nannie, a young beauty who wears a ‘cutty sark,’ a short shift.
The ship has been berthed in the Royal Borough of Greenwich since 1954. Though there was a fire during a conservation project, most of the ship’s hull planks had been removed for conservation, so only 5% of the ship’s original fabric was lost.
Inside the Cutty Sark.
On the deck
It was a lovely day, but it was time to return home. We said our goodbyes to Chris and returned to the boat for our ride back. While the pilot on the way out mostly pointed out sites, the pilot on our way back had us cracking up with his sly and pointed remarks about those sites. Such as that the middle name, not the first name, of the maker of the Big Ben bell was used to name the bell. His first name was Richard, but then they would have had to call it Big…Rich.
Now it was off to Wales. Since it was only a three hour drive, and because it worked out better for Liz, Anne’s friend and at whose house we would be staying, we took a slight detour to Cardiff Castle.
Cardiff has been, in turn, a Roman fort, a Norman castle, and a Victorian palace. One can see the remains of the Roman wall still built into the Norman one. And that’s because the Welsh tend to restore their castles, not just try to stop things from getting worse…which tends to happen if you don’t restore the place. Anyway, I approve. *g* And lucky for the people of the city, for, during World War II, the galleries built into the Roman walls by the then owner were used as shelters during enemy action.
The Norman part of the castle is the Keep. In complete ruins by the 18th century, it’s mostly a shell now, but work is ongoing.
Last is the Victorian Palace, which was originally the Beauchamp Tower and built around 1430 by Richard Beauchamp, Earl of Warwick. Bought by the Bute family in the 1600s, much of the castle was either pulled down or remodeled. That part that is now considered the Palace, is a gaudy, over-decorated clutter. But at least there is a Richard III connection. In the entry to the Palace is a stained glass window of Richard and his wife, Anne. Just past there, a picture of Richard hangs high on the wall.
Still, the grounds are lovely, and there’s even a dragon who sits on the remains of the curtain wall pulled down by the Buses.
Leaving Cardiff, we set off for Anne’s friend, Liz’s, house. Liz had graciously offered lodging for us on my next trip over, so we had graciously accepted. It’s a lovely house, and each of us got our own room! We spent the afternoon in the sunroom, Anne and Liz catching up, me getting to know our host. Alas, there was one huge problem. Liz’s husband, Derek, had a horrendous cold. It was going to be a harrowing two days.
We were off the next day to Caerphilly Castle.
Building started on the castle in 1268 by Gilbert de Clare, the Marcher lord of Glamorgan. It would stay in his family until it passed by marriage to Hugh Despenser, a favorite of Edward II, in 1317.
In the 1590s the then owner of the castle allowed its stones to be used to build a nearby castle. Thus started the castle’s destruction. More of the castle was destroyed during the Civil War.
Fortunately, the castle was acquired by the third marquess of Bute, who had the Great Hall reroofed. The castle would be extensively restored by his son. Today it is maintained by the Welsh Government’s Historic Environment Service.
Outside Caerphilly.
Caerphilly, too, has its dragons.
There is still work being done, as can be seen in the Great Hall.
Next was a short stop at Castell Cochleae
The castle is actually a romantic folly, built in the 1870s for the third Marquess of Bute (the man did get around!) on the remains of a 13th century castle. As the drawing room was closed, we decided to pass on the tour. Besides, we were running out of time as we were going to meet Andrea, a friend of Liz’s, in the town of Cowbridge.
For such a small town, Cowbridge has plenty to see, so once we’d had lunch, we toured the Cowbridge Physic Garden. Originally created in the 18th century, it had fallen into disrepair until brought back to life by volunteers. Though small, it contains a wide array of medicinal plants and herbs.
Nearby is the Holy Cross Church. It was closed at the time, but the rector let us in for a quick look. My interest was because of this:
In 1473, the South Llanquian aisle was built, reputedly as a gift of Lady Anne Neville, wife of Richard, Duke of Gloucester and Lord of Glamorgan. In 1484, as king, Richard granted a chaplaincy to Holy Cross Church. The documents are preserved in the Glamorgan Record Office.
From there, we drove to St Quentin’s Castle.
Probably built by English nobleman and military commander Gilbert de Clare in the early 14th century, the most notable remnants of this castle are its huge, twin-towered gatehouse and high stretch of curtain wall on the north of the site.
Leaving Andrea in Cowbridge, we returned to Liz’s for dinner at a nearby restaurant and then an early night as Anne and I would be setting off in the morning.
Our drive to our next stop in Oswestry would only take three hours, so we decided to take a detour to Tintern Abbey.
Tintern Abbey was founded in 1131 by Richard of Clare and colonized by a small group of monks from the abbey of l'Aumône in France. The Gothic church was begun in 1269 and consecrated in 1301.
Monastic life at Tintern continued until surrendered in 1536 to Henry VIII’s agents during the first round of the suppression of the monasteries.
It’s a lovely place, which we spent a couple of hours exploring. Then it was off to Oswestry.
Oswestry turned out to not exactly be the garden spot of Shropshire. it seems to be in decline, at least the part we saw. But the place where we stayed, the Everglades, was truly lovely and I can’t recommend it more highly.
Next morning we actually drove back into Wales to visit Chirk Castle.
Building began on the castle in 1295 by Roger Mortimer. He acted as surrogate Prince of Wales until ambition got the better of him. Taking the queen’s side over Edward II, he was caught and thrown into the Tower where he died in 1326. The castle would pass through many hands before finally being given to the Myddelton family in 1595. It would be they who would turn the fortress into a family home.
The castle is small, and is done in a scatter-shot of designs: Medieval, Victorian, Classical. The four connecting ranges around the courtyard all date from different periods. What really makes the place is its gardens. It was raining, but that didn’t lessen our enjoyment. There’s the Rose garden and the Topiary garden to name just two.
There are also statues scattered around the gardens. This one didn’t just catch my eye!
Doubling back, the rain stopped as we crossed back over into England to visit Whittington Castle. A spring flows by, giving the place a park-like setting.
The castle has straddled the border between the two countries for centuries, being Welsh, then English. Today it stands on the English side. Still complete in the 1760s, there’s now very little left. The outer gatehouse, and the eastern tower of the inner gatehouse,is really all that remains.
This was the morning we would be driving to Middleham, and, wouldn’t you know it, I woke with a scratchy throat (thanks, Derek.) Luckily, it didn’t get any worse than that, and I was feeling relatively well by the time we reached our destination, the Priory in Middleham.
We had decided ahead of time that, since we would be staying in Middleham for four nights, that at least one day would be spent just hanging around the town, taking in the local sites. As Anne had also started to have symptoms of a cold, too, we decided that today would be the day. Of course, that tour would have to start at the castle.
Middleham Castle
We stayed until around lunch, when we went to the Castle Keep Tea Room to have my mandatory cream tea. We turn a short walk to the Church of St Mary and Alkelda. In 1477 Richard, as Duke of Gloucester, founded and incorporated a college there for a Dean and six secular priests. Returning to the Priory, we spent the rest of the afternoon in its lovely garden.
On to Part 2
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Date: 2019-10-16 06:39 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2019-10-16 12:18 pm (UTC)It does a bit a time, especially since we always do so much, but I have all the guidebooks to jog my memory when it falls short. They really take me back.
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Date: 2019-10-16 11:52 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2019-10-16 12:19 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2019-10-16 03:42 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2019-10-17 11:54 am (UTC)Unfortunately, I did catch a cold. Luckily, it wasn't too bad of one. I think the worst of it was on my plane ride back.
no subject
Date: 2019-10-17 01:42 pm (UTC)You sure packed a lot in! I tend to slack off during vacations.
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Date: 2019-10-18 11:50 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2019-10-18 12:04 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2019-10-16 11:07 pm (UTC)Such lovely pictures and descriptions!
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Date: 2019-10-17 12:00 pm (UTC)Thanks, I'm glad you enjoyed the tour!
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Date: 2019-10-18 10:35 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2019-10-19 11:59 am (UTC)I do so love exploring the castles, but some of the stained glass windows we saw were truly gorgeous. I hate to think that I won't see them again for three years.