Trip to England - Week Two
Oct. 15th, 2019 05:06 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
gilda_eliseAfter breakfast we started out for Haworth. Because of where it is, we did have to drive through a little bit of the Moors, but it wasn’t too bad. Still, we were glad to finally reach the town.
There was still a lot of up and down through the streets, but we finally found the car park for the Bronte Parsonage Museum.
I love Wuthering Heights, and I found the museum quite interesting. They’ve redone many of the rooms to look as they did when the Brontes lived there. I found the dining room and Mr Bronte’s study to be especially interesting.
Near the house is the All Angels Church, where the Brontes attended service. There was even a gate that allowed them to walk directly into the church yard.
It is also the church where Emily and Charlotte are buried.
Deciding that we had had enough excitement, we took the long route back to Middleham, bypassing the moors.
This day our destination was Barnard Castle. We set out and, once again, ended up on a backroad. But there was a lucky happenstance because of it. As we drove down an unnamed road, about a mile north of Marske in North Yorkshire, I saw a flash of brown and cream run across the road. At the same time Anne exclaimed, “It’s a pine marten!”
Now, the night before I had read an article about the return of the pine marten in the Autumn, 2019 edition of Dales Life, a real coincidence.
Scarce since the Middle Ages when they were hunted for their pelts, their numbers declined even further during the 1800s because of loss of woodland and because of their persecution by farmers. by the early 20th century, they were all but extinct. They are now protected, and their numbers have gradually started to recover. They may even help the fortunes of the endangered red squirrel, as pine martens prey on grey squirrels.
There was a link in the article where a person could input their information as to where they’d seen the pine marten. So I did. :-)
Once to town, we parked and walked to the castle.
Sitting next to the River Tees, Barnard Castle has a strong link to Richard III. He held the castle as Duke of Gloucester and then as king from 1474 to 1485. There is evidence that he had the Great Hall heightened and reroofed to enhance its proportions. There is also a carving of a boar on the underside of the lintel of the oriel window in the outer wall of the chamber block, though it’s now difficult to make out.
From the castle we walked to St Mary’s Parish Church. The church has been in existence since William II, son of William the Conqueror. Starting out as little more than an oblong structure, the church was enlarged and improved over the years. In the late fifteenth century the town passed into the hands of Richard, Duke of Gloucester. He was lord of Barnard Castle (which is also the name of the town,) from about 1471 until his death in 1485.
He is generally credited with the improvements during that time. The height of the nave was raised, and a row of windows was inserted high on the walls on both sides. A new chancel arch was erected, with a wooden cross placed on a gallery which extended from one side to the other. A large porch was added to the north entrance.
The south transept was widened and given extra height, with a new window provided in its eastern wall. On the left hand side of the moulding round the outside is a carving of a boar, Richard’s emblem.
He also provided a grant for work on the church, and the face on the right hand terminal of the chancel is considered to be his portrait.
By the time we returned to Middleham, Anne wasn’t feeling well. So while she took a nap, I took another turn around the castle.
The next morning we had a leisurely breakfast before preparing to set off to our next destination, Peterborough. I would miss the Priory and Middleham.
I had fit in a detour to Leicester, and we reached the park-and-ride around noon. There was a bus stop very close to the Cathedral, so our walk was a short one. Being a weekday, the cathedral had very few visitors, which was fine with me. I was able to enjoy the peace and serenity of the place.
We had lunch in a restaurant near the cathedral, did a bit of window shopping, and then were on our way.
Most of my picks where we stay have worked out, with a few exceptions. This was one of them.
The Dog In a Doublet is a bar/restaurant/b&b. I think they’ve taken on too much. Even though I had asked for two beds, there was only one in the room so they had to wheel in a second. There was no place in the bathroom to hang anything, no towel racks or shelf in the shower. The food ranged from so-so to pretty bad. But we would be there only two nights, and our visit into town the next day more than made up for it.
Not knowing how crowded the town would be, we took a taxi in and were dropped off near the cathedral.
Peterborough Cathedral was a very pleasant surprise. It’s larger than I was expecting and quite beautiful. Its arcaded west front has three stone gables with ancient wheel windows. that are studded with carvings and niche-framed figured. At the top of the center arch is St Peter.
Inside, one is amazed by the painted ceiling in the nave. There are lions and other beasts, pagan gods, saints and monsters within its colorful panels.
In the north presbytery aisle is the gravesite of Katherine of Aragon.
We visited a nearby church before finding our way to the Peterborough Museum and City Gallery. They have found settlements going back to the Bronze Age in and around Peterborough, so visiting the museum is very much like going on a trip through time. There are also the remains of prehistoric life in the region. It’s an interesting place, and was well worth the visit.
Though glad to be on our way from the Dog In a Doublet, we decided to visit Flag Fen, a Bronze Age Archaeology Park less than a mile away. The park’s focus is a Bronze Age causeway, built around 1300 BC. Its remains are kept in a Preserving Hall, where they are kept wet in order to slow their decay.
The rest of the park has been managed to keep the water table high, so that those timbers still in the ground will decay slower. There’s a Bronze Age roundhouse, and the grounds have been landscaped with native trees and shrubs that would have been growing during that time. Even the Soay sheep that graze the site are similar to those that had been farmed in the Bronze Age.
The weather turned bad, so we weren’t able to stay as long as we would have liked. Our journey back to London was a wet one.
I’d kept a day set aside to just relax and unwind before my flight, so most of the day we did just that. We watched a lot of tv, and I ended up getting hooked on the Great British Bake Off. Luckily, it’s showing on Netflix! We did take the time to go to the theatre to see It: Chapter Two. It was pretty good. And though I did like it and Chapter One, I still prefer the 1990 mini-series.
The next morning I prepared for my flight home. Saying good-by to Anne’s cat, Maisie, we boarded the Uber and headed for the airport. There, I said my goodbyes to Anne. A sad time, though I know I’ll be seeing her again next year.
My flights home were pretty uneventful, though my cold decided to make a comeback during my flight to Chicago. Once landed, I found that they had changed my flight home from there with no warning. But I made it to the gate in plenty of time. The flight to Grand Rapids was short, and once home I was greeted with wild celebration by my two boys. And Dan, too, of course. :-)
