August 2020 – A Traveling Fool

August 30, 2020

Heart of England & Wales

I had signed up for a five day tour with Rabbie’s to the Heart of England & Wales. Although this tour schedule would take me back to three places I had been before – Stratford-Upon-Avon, Llanglollen (pronounced something like “Clan-glock-glen”) in Wales, and York – for the most part it was all new territory for me.

I needed to meet up with Rabbie’s at the Victoria Bus Terminal, which is across the street from the Victoria Train Station. Since luggage was involved, I took a taxi. We had nine people for the tour on the van that could handle sixteen. I was the only American with people from Canada, Australia and New Zealand. Our Tour Director/Driver was named Jamie.

Our first stop on the tour was Stratford-Upon-Avon. Jamie drove us around and showed us some of the sites before he parked the van. Then he led us to Shakespeare’s Birthplace on Henley Street, where he set us free for several hours with a time to return to the van.

Since I was already there, I started with the birthplace. I had been to Stratford back in 1983 when I had encountered an articulated lorry (a semi) a little too close for anyone’s comfort. That had been my first ever trip to the UK. I was much better versed regarding where to look for oncoming traffic by 2017. It had become second nature.

I remembered the birthplace as being small and cramped. I also remembered being schmushed into the tiny rooms to listen to a guide tell us about the place. This time, we could walk around on our own and chat with the costumed interpreters who were in the various rooms to answer questions. I could see everything so much better and even take photos.

Downstairs in what would have been Shakespeare’s father’s glove-makers shop, they had a woman who demonstrated what the gloves for men and women would have been like and how they were made. We could feel the gloves and even try some on. John Shakespeare was also a wool dealer.

There were costumed interpreters not only in the house, but tending the garden as well. Some actors were giving mini performances in the garden area. After touring the house and garden, I had some lunch in a patisserie across the street.

There must be something about Stratford. First visit, I had a near death experience with a huge truck. This visit, I turned down the second turn on the right from Henley Street as I had been instructed only to discover much later that, as it was a pedestrian only street, the person giving me directions hadn’t counted it. I turned one street too soon. It took several blocks before I realized I was not heading for the church in which Shakespeare had been buried. What did I learn? Make sure I have my own map – even if it is printed off of the internet or hand drawn.

Coming out to a fairly busy street, I asked someone I saw there where I could find Trinity Church. Because the street I was on had angled away from where I wanted to go, it was a bit of a hike from where I was. When I reached the intersection with Hall’s Croft (the home of Shakespeare’s daughter, Susannah, and her husband, Doctor John Hall), I sighed with relief. If I turned left, I would return to Henley Street eventually and, if I turned right, I would end up at the church. I checked my watch and turned right.

I had lost quite a bit of time with my detour. So, I figured I could spend time at the church, but didn’t have time to visit Hall’s Croft again or the site of New Place or pop on over to the Royal Shakespeare Company’s theatre. On my way back up the road towards the birthplace, I found that the school was now open to the public. Pooh! I didn’t have the time to wait in line to go inside. So I vowed to return on another trip when I had more time and a map. I made it back to our rendezvous point on time.

Our next stop was Ironbridge Gorge, which was a deep gorge containing the Severn River in Shropshire, England. It is a World Heritage Site because in 1779 the first ever iron bridge was built there. It is still there – pedestrian only now. Jamie drove us through town and dropped us off at the other end, so we could walk out onto the bridge and then back through town. Actually it was a village and a small one at that.

There was some time to stop off and get an afternoon snack or tea or a pint or something. I joined some of the others in the group who had gathered in a tea house and had some tea with a pastry. Then we headed down to the rendezvous point at the bottom of the village.

For accommodations, Rabbie’s gives choices regarding whether you want to stay in a hostel, a B&B, or a hotel. They book whatever you choose and drop you off and pick you up there. But you are on your own to pay for it. I chose B&Bs for this trip. Rabbie’s informed me when I made the reservations that most B&Bs take only cash. They gave me an approximate amount per night with the idea that I would make certain I had enough cash on me (in British pounds, of course) to cover the cost of the rooms. I would be two nights in Shrewsbury and two in York.

The rest of the group had chosen hotels. They were all dropped off in Shrewsbury, mostly along the main road. I was dropped off last at a big Victorian house on a more residential street. Jamie was staying at another B&B next door to the one I was in. So he parked the van for the night, helped me into my B&B with my luggage and introduced me to the couple who owned it. They were friends. The couple apologized for having run out of rooms and putting him up with their neighbor. But he was an easy-going type and was fine with that.

After hauling my cases up the stairs for me (which was really kind of him) and letting me know what time we would be leaving in the morning, he was off. The couple showed me what was what, gave me the key to my room (and the house) and left me to settle in. I decided to head for the nice looking pub across the road. The food and the cocktail I had with it tasted great. There were some local women on a “girl’s night out” at the next table who invited me to join them. After spending an enjoyable time with them, I headed back “home” to the B&B to turn in.

There was a shower, sink and toilet in a little room in a corner of my room. I had specifically asked for an en suite room when I booked since I didn’t really want to go down the hall in the middle of the night. However, I couldn’t get the toilet to flush. The man of the house showed me how he did it and it worked for him. However, he exerted quite a bit of force on the downward movement of the handle. It took me two hands and a little bit of a jump to give it as much force as he had. But then it worked for me too.

In the morning, all of the guests had breakfast together at a large table in the dining room. We could have whatever we wanted. It would be cooked for us. I went for an almost full English breakfast with eggs, sausage, beans, and toast with orange juice and tea. Good thing as it would be a while before lunch. I met Jamie out at the van and we set off to pick up everybody else.

We had just entered Wales when we were diverted by the police from the route we were on. Because Wales is so mountainous, it can be quite an adventure to get from one place to another in the best of times. But a diversion (detour) can complicate matters – especially when there are no signs to direct anybody to the alternate route. The GPS kept trying to get us to go back to the route from which we had been diverted.

We ended up a tad lost for a bit. We were in an area that was sparsely populated, which made asking for directions difficult as well. I was the only person on the tour who spoke any Welsh. But my two phrases (that I had learned from my Welsh grandmother): “Siarad Cumraeg?” (meaning “Speak Welsh?”) and “Cau eich ceg” (meaning “shut your mouth”) just weren’t going to cut it. Yes, I am kidding. Pretty much all Welsh people speak English.

He had a compass, so Jamie just continued to head north and west as best as he could until he finally found a fella working on repairs to his barn. We had just come up a steep road that a full-sized tour bus would never have been able to manage. The fellow directed us around a tight bend and another narrow, steep road and said we would find a village when we came down on the other side.

We did find the village and it was one with which Jamie was familiar. We took a rest stop, a group photo, and piled back onto our intrepid van. Jamie had found out that we were only four miles from Llanglollen and had just one more mountain to climb before we got there.

Since we were behind time, we ended up zipping through Llanglollen, giving it a little wave as we went. We headed straight for Betws-y-Coed – a much smaller place that seems to be good for tours to stop for lunch. When Mom and I had been on the tour that took us to Caernarfon, we had stopped for lunch in Betwys-y-Coed (which is in Caernarfonshire and means “Prayer House in the Woods”). So this ended up being another place I had been to before.

As we were running a little late, some places had stopped serving. Despite the later time, I wasn’t overly hungry, so I stopped off at a place that had homemade food at the counter. I got some cauliflower cheese soup with Welsh cakes and hot chocolate. Welsh Cakes are a cross between a pancake and a scone. They are made on a griddle, not baked. These particular Welsh Cakes had red currants in them and were sprinkled with sugar.

After lunch I visited the village church. It was not long after Easter, so they had banners up by the altar. The English one said, “Christ is Risen”. The Welsh banner said, “Atgyfododd Crist”. “Atgyfododd” means “He Rose Again”, the banner literally said, “He Rose Again Christ”.

We had a shorter time at Betwys-y-Coed to try to make up some of the time and still have plenty of time at Conwy Castle, our main excursion of the day. To reach Conwy, we needed to travel through Snowdonia National Park – a beautiful, very mountainous area. Fortunately we had no detours or anything else to slow us down and arrived at Conwy with plenty of time to spend at the castle.

Next time – Conwy Castle, the Peak District and Chatsworth House.

August 23, 2020

The Tower of London & Scotland Yard

Since my hotel was next to the Thames, it was a short walk along the river to Westminster Pier. I set out right after breakfast and was surprised to see several police officers in front of my hotel and all along the way to the pier. They smiled at me, so I wasn’t too concerned. I didn’t seem to concern them either. Maybe there was someone famous or royal in the area. From what I learned later, it might have been different if I had headed towards Whitehall instead of staying along the Embankment.

At Westminster Pier, I bought a round-trip boat trip ticket to the Tower of London along with the admission ticket to the Tower. It was a savings to get the package. Also, I wouldn’t have to stand in line to buy a ticket once I got to the Tower. I just needed to exchange the voucher I was given, which was a much shorter line.

Along the way, I took a few photos – especially of the places I couldn’t take photos of the previous year due to the heavy rain when I was on the river. The Globe Theatre was one of them. This time I sat on the open upper deck of the boat where I could see both sides of the river quite well.

There were really large crowds at the Tower when I arrived, including all of us that had been on the super crowded boat. I guess I picked the same day to go to the Tower as everybody else in London. This was my first time back to the Tower since 2003 – fourteen years.

The White Tower was built in 1078 and the general layout of the entire complex has been in existence since the 13^th century, renovated during the reign of Henry III (the same guy who rebuilt so much of Westminster Abbey). In the years that I have visited the Tower, there have been different towers open and different exhibits and changes in location of some of the items they keep there. I was given a map to the Tower complex along with my ticket and noticed that there were several more changes from when I was last there.

To enter the Tower, it was necessary to open my nylon bag in which I carried my camera, map and other items for inspection by one of the Yeoman Warders (aka Beefeaters). Since being a Yeoman Warder is a reward for retired service members who had excellent records and some retired service people are now women, I experienced some female Yeoman Warders on this trip for the first time. The one who looked through my bag, jokingly tried to pocket the Cadbury hazlenut chocolate bar I had in there (along with a granola bar).

I think I have mentioned before that I am not a huge fan of large crowds and tend to do whatever I can to avoid them when possible. So, when I saw the masses grouped around a Yeoman Warder who had his back to Traitor’s Gate, I decided to forego the Yeoman Warder tour this time (as wonderfully entertaining as it is) and went up the stairs to the St Thomas Tower. The photo I have of the crowd was taken from the top of the stairs just before I entered that tower.

St Thomas Tower, which is the half-timbered structure over the Traitor’s Gate, had never been open any of the other times I had been there from 1983 to 2003. By 2017, the bedchamber had been restored to what they believed it looked like under Edward I (who built that tower). There was also a display showing how the walls were constructed in the Hall (a large room where the King could dine and entertain).

I crossed a small arch connecting the St Thomas Tower with the Wakefield Tower (built by Henry III) while allowing people to pass underneath down on the pavement between the outer wall and inner wall. An audience chamber from the time of Edward I had been recreated in the Wakefield Tower. This too was new. The throne was based on the Coronation Chair in Westminster Abbey and was painted to look like it might have looked in the 13^th century. In the private chapel just off of the audience chamber, King Henry VI was murdered in 1471. When the Wakefield Tower had been open on prior visits, it had been stark and empty.

The St Thomas, Wakefield and Lanthorn Towers are all that is left of the Royal Apartments. From the Wakefield Tower I came out onto the walls between the outer ward and inner ward for the wall walk. Some of the remaining ruins of the rest of the Royal Apartments could be seen on the grounds of the innermost ward.

On the wall walk, I passed through the Lanthorn, Salt, Broad Arrow, Constable, Martin, Brick, Bowyer, and Flint Towers. The walk ended at the Devereux Tower near the Chapel. When I was there before, it had ended at the Martin Tower. Back in 1983, the wall walk had consisted of coming out of the Bloody Tower and down the stairs.

As I walked along the walls, down below, I could see medieval tents, costumed interpreters from several eras, and sculptures of some of the animals that had lived there when the Tower had a zoo. They didn’t have all that when I was last there. They also didn’t have any place to eat or any gift shops within the Tower precincts before.

Between the Martin Tower and the Brick Tower, I could look down at the fronts of some of the Yeoman Warder houses built against the outer wall in the outer ward. One thing about living at the Tower, they are there at night when all of the tourists are gone and the ghosts remain. Some of them have related some pretty scary stories over the years.

When I came down from the wall at the Devereux Tower, I walked out to the Tower Green. This was where the executions of people who they wanted to keep out of public view took place. They were beheadings. More public executions of prisoners at the Tower (beheadings or hangings) took place outside of the walls on Tower Hill. These were still royal or noble persons, not regular people.

Beauchamp Tower had much more of it open and contained displays. It is known for its graffiti by the many prisoners it had housed over the centuries, especially the 15^th and 16^th centuries. The one that I have always found poignant was Lady Jane Grey’s name scratched into the wall by her husband, Lord Guilford Dudley, shortly before they were both executed. She was only 17 and he was not that much older. The Beauchamp Tower was also where Lady Rochford, Henry VIII’s 5^th wife Catherine Howard’s Lady in Waiting, was imprisoned. Lady Jane Grey and Lady Rochford were both buried in the Chapel.

After visiting the Beauchamp Tower, I went for some lunch at a spot between the Wakefield and Lanthorn Towers facing the innermost ward and the White Tower. I had an enormous smoked bratwurst with mustard and onions. There were a couple other lunch spots to sit down indoors and have more of a sit down meal. But it was a lovely day and I thought sitting outside would be preferable.

After lunch, I visited a display of torture devices in the lower part of Wakefield Tower. Other times when I had been there, they had exhibited the rack in the lower part of the Martin Tower. The lower portion of Wakefield Tower had not been open to the public then. Afterwards, I climbed the steps to the Bloody Tower.

Before entering the Bloody Tower, I took a photo of Traitor’s Gate with the St Thomas Tower above it through the arch of the Bloody Tower. The portcullis of the Bloody Tower can also be seen in the photo. Once inside, I took a shot of the rest of the portcullis.

The Bloody Tower is famous partly for housing Sir Walter Raleigh for several years (1603 – 1616). His room was still furnished as it had been every other time I had been there.

The Bloody Tower’s other claim to fame is the mystery of the Princes in the Tower. The room where the two children had supposedly been imprisoned was no longer furnished. It was just bare this time. I think it is because they really don’t know for certain where the princes were kept.

The bones of two children were discovered beneath the stairs leading to the White Tower back in 1647 and were reburied at Westminster Abbey in the chapel where Elizabeth I was also buried. They had gone missing, while under their Uncle Richard III’s care, in 1483.

On my way to climb the stairs to the White Tower, I encountered a female Yeoman Warder chatting with a knight in chainmail. The Yeoman Warders have been in existence since the time of Henry VIII, but the knight was definitely from a much earlier era.

The White Tower was chock full of stuff. Before, much of it had been sparsely decorated with a few suits of armor – notably one owned by Henry VIII – and a few scattered others. The Line of Kings (dating from the 17^th century) had been refurbished. This consists of carved wooden horses accompanied by the armors of numerous kings. I had never seen them all before.

The Chapel of St John, which had always been bare, was decorated and furnished, but no photos were allowed. Every floor had loads of items, including an amazing amount of armor, and weapons (swords, daggers, bows, guns, spears, axes, mace, cannons).

After a parting photo of Traitor’s Gate, I headed for the boat to return to Westminster Pier. At the boat I was told that Westminster Pier was closed due to high tide and rough waves. They suggested that I go to Greenwich instead. The boat would be there for about a half hour, by which time it would be okay to go to Westminster Pier. By the time we got to Greenwich, it was raining heavily, so I just stayed on the boat and went through the photos I had taken that day on both my camera and my phone.

Roughly a block from my hotel, along the river, is Scotland Yard. As I went by to return to my hotel, I could see loads of police officers with automatic weapons drawn. There were also loads of television cameras. I didn’t think it would be a good idea to whip out my camera or phone, so I just walked on by as unobtrusively as possible.

It turned out that the real reason the boats weren’t going to Westminster Pier earlier was because Scotland Yard was involved in the take down of a terror suspect on Whitehall close to 10 Downing (the Prime Minister’s residence and offices). He was then taken to that particular building where he was being held. Both Whitehall and the Embankment had been shut down and were just reopened shortly before they let the boats return to the pier. It was all on the BBC that night.

Next time – first part of a Heart of England & Wales tour with Rabbie’s

August 16, 2020

London: Don Juan in Soho, Verger’s Tour at Westminster Abbey & Hail

As soon as I returned home from my 2016 trip to NYC, Edinburgh & London, I went online to Rabbie’s Tours site to see what they offered in addition to day trips out of Edinburgh and Glasgow. I found numerous short trips (for a few days) and long trips (for a couple of weeks) out of Edinburgh, Glasgow, London, and Dublin. All of them were small group tours for 16 people max. Perfect. I printed out the ones in which I was especially interested and began to think seriously of returning the following year to take part in them.

So when, in November of 2016, I discovered that David Tennant would be starring in a comedy, Don Juan in Soho, in London’s West End in April, May & June of 2017, I already had planned everything else I wanted to do. With a few calendars from MSWord printed out and the dates of the play plus the available dates of the tours I wanted scribbled on them, I went online to the theatre site for the play and bought tickets for two performances. Then I booked the Rabbie’s tours — one for five days out of London and another for four days out of Edinburgh. I planned the remaining days and booked the day trips, air, hotels, airport transfers, and round trip train to and from Edinburgh. All set. Just needed to wait until April.

This time I had enough frequent flyer miles to get a free round trip flight. Yay! That saved a good amount of money. Enough that I decided to splurge a little on my first hotel in London, which was next to the river, and get a room overlooking the river. Since I didn’t want to go back to the hotel I used to use in London, I was experimenting with other hotels.

For the first three nights (before taking off on one of Rabbie’s tours) I had booked the Royal Horseguards. This was the one on the river. Built in 1884 as a luxury apartment building, it was located close to the Horse Guards Parade and Banqueting Hall just off Whitehall.

After my plane landed at Heathrow, I was supposed to meet the transfer I had booked to get me to my hotel. They were late. I called the company (I always keep the information about my bookings with me just in case) and asked where he was. They said he should be there. I said he wasn’t. Eventually he showed up. He didn’t speak much English and left me to deal with my own bags while I followed him to where he had parked. Then he drove like a maniac all the way to the hotel. I had been in some taxis with some wild drivers before, but this guy won the prize. I closed my eyes and prayed like crazy.

I was there too early for the hotel to be ready for me (checkin was 3pm). So I checked my bags into their baggage room and set off to get some lunch. One of my favorite pubs – the Sherlock Holmes – was nearby. So I walked over there and ordered some fish & chips with a half pint of cider (hard cider). In pubs it is necessary to place your order at the bar, and then sit down. They bring it to you once it’s ready.

While waiting, I received an email asking me to give feedback on my airport transfer. I kept it clean and civilized, but really let them have it regarding the driver they had sent.

When outside of the US, I turn my cellular data off so I can only receive and send data via WiFi. I always get hotels with WiFi included. Sometimes pubs and other places have WiFi available to customers. The cellular data bill would be astronomical. Once it is late enough in the day so I am not waking anybody up, I send a quick text message to the family letting them know I am safely at my destination. Otherwise I mainly use the hotel WiFi at night to post a few photos on Facebook and send any emails that need sending. Since free hotel WiFi is not secure, I am very careful about what I do on my phone — no banking or anything else dangerous should someone else be able to see what I am doing.

After lunch, I walked to Wyndhams Theatre to pick up my tickets and vouchers (I had a voucher for a program, another for a glass of wine, and one for an ice cream at the interval – intermission). I also took a few photos of the theatre and scouted out where the back stage entrance was located. I had decided to do something I had never done before and wait at the backstage door to ask for an autograph.

The play was both very funny and very tragic all at once. Things didn’t end any better for Don Juan than in any other version of the story. The cast was very talented. Both David Tennant and Adrian Scarborough were especially wonderful.

The mistake that I made was getting my ticket for that first night in the first row center of the Royal Circle (one level up from the main floor). I couldn’t get out of there and down the stairs fast enough to get to the backstage door and be anywhere near the barricade. No autograph for me that night. It was also cold.

I headed back to the hotel and discovered my second mistake. The last block from Whitehall to the hotel was deserted. Never a good idea to be on a street completely alone – especially at night. I stepped up my pace to a very brisk walk.

The next morning, I arrived at Westminster Abbey at 9:35am. I then bought the Verger Tour ticket for £5 on top of the regular admittance. It had taken a while to get through the line. I had until 10:30am to wander around the abbey on my own before meeting up with the rest of my group and the Verger (who is a caretaker of the abbey). That ended up being about twenty minutes from the time I got the tickets.

The Verger was a young woman and was absolutely delightful. She was very knowledgeable about the history of the abbey. She didn’t sound like she was reciting what she had memorized, but like she actually knew all of the information she was giving us. We could ask questions and she knew the answers. She started us off at the Coronation Chair and the portrait of Richard II, followed by the memorial to Sir Isaac Newton. Then came the quire.

We are able to sit in the stalls. This was where she gave us the history. Henry III built the abbey from the quire back to just before Henry VII’s chapel (demolishing much of what Edward the Confessor had built in the process). Richard II built the part from the quire forward to the front door (where his portrait was). Henry III had also created Edward the Confessor’s Shrine, which is between the High Altar and the Henry VII Chapel.

When we left the quire to take a look at the altar and the floor in front of it, she pointed out where Anne of Cleves (fourth of Henry VIII’s six wives) was buried. Of all of the times I had been to Westminster Abbey, I had never seen her grave before. It is very unassuming, just a plaque in the wall.

The big reason why I wanted the Verger tour came next. This was Edward the Confessor’s Shrine. They only allow ten people at a time up there. So we needed to wait for some of the clergy of the abbey and some special guests of theirs to vacate the space before we could go up.

In addition to Edward the Confessor and his queen Edith of Wessex, the shrine platform contained the tombs of Edward I and his queen Eleanor of Castile, Henry III, Edward III and his consort Philippa of Hainault, Henry V, and Richard II and his queen Anne of Bohemia. Most had the effigies of whoever was in the particular tomb. But Edward I had no effigy at all on his very plain tomb. He hadn’t planned to stay there long. He expected that his son, Edward II, would conquer the Scots and that he would be buried up there in the country he had tried so hard to conquer and control. His queen and Edward the Confessor’s queen were not buried in the same tomb with them, but in separate tombs nearby.

Although we couldn’t take photos and we weren’t allowed to touch any of the tombs or effigies, we could kneel in one of the niches of Edward the Confessor’s actual tomb and pray if we wished. I wished. It was a place where people have knelt and prayed since 1269, when Henry III had the new shrine built.

Once we finished our tour and I explored the rest of what I wanted to explore, I headed over to the Westminster Arms, where Mom and I had usually eaten lunch on our prior visits to Westminster Abbey. I had bangers and mash (sausage and mashed potatoes) with a half pint of their special ale.

After lunch I took a walk, first over to the Horse Guards Parade on the St James Park side. It decided to rain, so I put my cap on, pulled my jacket hood up and tied it on over the cap. A few seconds later, it stopped raining. I pulled the hood back down and the cap off and it started to rain again. It went back and forth like that for the rest of my walk through the park to Buckingham Palace.

From the palace I walked over to The Mall and then Green Park. From Green Park, I could pass through a gate to go by Clarence House (though I could get a better photo from The Mall). This used to be the home of Elizabeth II’s mom, the Queen Mother, and is now the home of Prince Charles and Camilla. It is right next door to St James Palace.

St James Palace was commissioned by Henry VIII in 1530 and was the secondary palace after Whitehall for the Tudor and Stuart monarchs. After Whitehall burned down, the Hanover monarchs used St James, then Clarence House, and then Buckingham Palace as their main residence. When I was there in 2017, Prince Harry was living there as were Princess Anne, Princess Beatrice of York, and Princess Alexandria.

I went around the side of St James Palace along Marlborough Road to get back over to The Mall. I had just crossed The Mall over to the park side when the heavens opened up again. This time, though, it was hail – about marble size. Since there wasn’t any thunder and lightning involved, I took refuge under a tree, on a bench. I sort of went into a seated fetal position until it was over, trying to make myself a smaller target.

Although I will carry a small, lightweight umbrella in my case when I travel, I have it along for the possibility of rain when going out to a play or dinner at night. During the day when sightseeing, I leave it behind. It isn’t possible to take photos when trying to hold an umbrella over my head. I wear an all-weather jacket and a baseball cap. If the weather is warm, I’ll take the lining out of the jacket, roll the jacket up, and stuff it into the lightweight nylon bag I carry with me. It has various pockets to keep my camera, maps, water bottle, extra camera batteries, purchases I might make in a gift shop, etcetera, and it packs easily in my luggage.

Once the hail ended, I headed back to the hotel through the Admiralty Arch. The central arch is only used by the queen, so the gate is closed and locked unless she is using it.

On the other side of the arch, I took a photo of the Statue of King Charles I. He has stood at this location, which was the original location of the Eleanor Cross (a copy of which now stands in front of the Charing Cross Rail Station) from the 1290s until it was destroyed in 1647, since 1675. He faces down Whitehall in the direction of where he was executed in 1649.

The Statue of Charles I had been created in 1633. During the English Civil War, the statue was sold to a metalsmith to be melted down. But he hid it instead. Once Charles II was asked to return to England from exile and crowned king, the statue of his father was brought out of hiding and set up where it stands now.

This time at the play, I had a seat at the end of the second row in the stalls on the main floor. This time, although I didn’t make it to the first row behind the barricades (Did those people even see the play? Or did they just line up outside at the stage door?) I found a couple of short women who seemed friendly and chatted with them before David Tennant came out. It wasn’t terribly long before he flew out of the door, waved at everyone and dashed down the line to the end so he could work his way back down to the stage door.

I managed to get my ticket autographed (photo included here), but I couldn’t get a selfie taken with him since I wasn’t close enough. However, I did manage to take a few photos of him after he signed my ticket. We also exchanged a few words when he handed my ticket back to me and I thanked him for having signed it.

Next time – the Tower of London and an experience with Scotland Yard

August 9, 2020

Three Mystic Locations: Stonehenge, Glastonbury & Avebury

Stonehenge is the most famous henge in the UK, but not the oldest or the largest. It was believed to have been built from 3000 to 2000 BC. But nobody is entirely certain of its purpose.

A henge is a circular or oval earthwork with a ditch inside. It may or may not have a stone circle involved. Pretty much all of the stone circles are inside of henges, but not all henges have stone circles. The UK has several of each. I have been to about six of them. Expedition Unknown did a very interesting program on them, including a search for the origins of the henge concept.

When there in 1983, Mom and I were unable to get very close to Stonehenge at all. We needed to take our photos from quite a distance and were restricted from circling the monument. The first photo I have included with this post is from about the same distance we were in 1984. This time I could get closer, but still not get into the circle of stones itself. I have since discovered that there are special tours that do allow small groups of people to get into the circle and touch the stones. I had one booked for later in 2020 as part of a London visit, but ended up having to cancel the trip.

Another change from 1984 to 2016 was that there were a couple of roads that went fairly close and a carpark from which people could walk to the site. The roads no longer get close and the carpark is gone. There is a visitor center some distance away with trams that take people to the site.

I was with another small group tour of just five. We were dropped off at the visitor center and told what time to be back to our little coach. I jumped on the tram and immediately went out to Stonehenge itself. I would check out the visitor center when I came back.

I took my time circling the henge, photographing and filming from every angle. As I circled, I was able to move in closer in parts until I got back to where I started. At one point I was able to cross into the henge, though not among the stones.

Upon returning to the visitor center, I explored the exhibits there and the gift shop. It is interesting what the various hypothesis’ have been as to the purpose of the henge and the stones. There have been human remains discovered within the henge. Was it a graveyard? Was it a site for ancestor worship? Was it a healing site? Was it for ritual sacrifice? Did people live there? They aren’t really sure who even built it. Whoever did left no records.

At Glastonbury, we visited the Abbey first. Of Anglo Saxon origins, Glastonbury Abbey was founded in the 7^th century and enlarged in the 10^th century. The Abbey has been connected to the Arthurian legend since the 12^th century when the monks claimed that it was Avalon and that Arthur was buried there. Joseph of Arimathea has also been associated with the abbey and was said to have visited and been the actual founder in the 1^st century.

There is no archaeological evidence of any visit by Joseph. He was said to have brought the Holy Grail with him and to have thrust his staff into the ground, which then turned into a thorn tree that miraculously bloomed twice a year. The tree has had a rough time through the centuries. The tree I photographed while there was from a cutting from earlier trees that were in turn from cuttings that were said to go all the way back to the original.

Then there is the Holy Grail. At Glastonbury is the Chalice Garden. It is said that the grail is buried under Glastonbury Tor and that makes the water flow red through the garden. Not that I want to put a damper on the beliefs of others, but when looking closely, it seems to me that the reddish color is on the rocks over which the water flows. The water itself appears to be quite normal in color. There is a high iron content in the water, however, that is said to be responsible for the rusty color of the rocks.

The Abbey has strong Arthurian connections. After an enormous fire in 1184, during a major rebuilding campaign, the graves of King Arthur and Queen Guinevere were reportedly discovered at Glastonbury Abbey. The location of those graves (which were moved to near the high altar) has since been lost. The monks claimed that Glastonbury was Avalon and pilgrimages to the Abbey increased as did the money to refurbish the buildings.

After the Abbey was ruined again in the early 18^th century, the kitchen was the only building left intact. It is also been referred to as the most intact medieval kitchen in existence.

We had the opportunity to climb Glastonbury Tor before heading into town for lunch. The Tor was once an island in the fens, which are a type of wetland, back in prehistoric times. There is evidence of an Iron Age settlement and of Dark Age occupation. The terracing of the hill hasn’t fully been explained although it is thought to be natural and not man made.

There was a wooden church built on the Tor which was destroyed in an earthquake in 1275. A new church, also dedicated to St Michael, was built in the 14^th century. Only the tower of that church remains since the dissolution of the monasteries in the 16^th century.

Although not the location of the graves that the monks of Glastonbury Abbey found and claimed as Arthur’s, it is the Tor that is mainly thought to be Avalon, the mystical island of King Arthur. The ancient Britons (the Celts who predated the Romans) supposedly called the Tor Ynys yr Afalon (meaning “The Isle of Avalon”). This was long before the legend of King Arthur existed. So was Arthur’s Avalon named after the Celts’ Afalon?

After a very good lunch in the town of Glastonbury, we set off for Avebury. On the way, we encountered a chalk horse on a hill and several burial mounds. One mound in particular was quite large. It is called Silbury Hill (roughly 2700 – 2340 BC) and is considered to be the largest prehistoric man made mound in Europe and one of the largest in the world.

There are loads of burial mounds (or barrows) throughout the UK with a very large number of them located in and around Wiltshire. These are called the Wessex Barrows.

The chalk horse was called the Westbury White Horse. It was created in the late 1600s (so not prehistoric like most of the other chalk figures in the area) supposedly to commemorate King Alfred’s victory in 878 AD at the Battle of Eoandun, which was fought there. The horse is just below the site of the Bratton Camp Iron Age hillfort.

A Neolithic henge, constructed in the third millennium BC, Avebury is an incredible site, although it is difficult to comprehend while on the ground in the midst of it. This is partially because of its size and partially because there is a village running through the middle of it. It is an enormous henge containing one huge outer stone circle (considered the largest in the world) and two smaller inner stone circles.

The henge was pretty much ignored for centuries until a village began just outside of it that eventually spread inside in the later medieval period. In the 14^th century some of the villagers decided that the stones should be pulled down and buried as the monument had been built by non-Christians.

One of the men involved ended up being crushed under a toppling 13 ton stone and was left where he was as the stone was too heavy for the others to get it off of him. In the 1930s, when the stone was being excavated to stand it back up again, the man’s skeleton was found. He had objects in his pockets that identified him as a barber/surgeon, so the stone was named The Barber’s Stone.

The stones were left alone for a few centuries after that until the rise of Puritanism in the area in the late 17^th century and early 18^th. This time, the emphasis was on completely destroying the stones. They would set them on fire and then pour cold water over them to create weaknesses in the stones that would allow them to break them apart with sledgehammers. Just makes you want to cry, doesn’t it?

Stonehenge is the only stone circle that I have been to where I could not walk amongst the stones and touch them. It is also the most famous and most visited of the sites, so they do what they do to protect it.

We had a fair amount of time at Avebury to explore the henge and the circles, say “hi” to the sheep, and even get a pint in the Red Lion Pub. Then we headed back to London. I needed to get ready to fly home the next day.

Next time – the start of another trip to the UK where I went on my own again and had some great adventures.

August 2, 2020

London: Banqueting House, Westminster Abbey & Temple Church

Banqueting House is the last remaining portion of Whitehall Palace. King Charles I stepped from one of the windows to a scaffold to be beheaded in 1649. His son, Charles II returned from exile and took up residence in 1660. Westminster Abbey is over 1,000 years old – the scene of every coronation since William the Conqueror, and the last resting place of over 3,300 people, including 17 monarchs. Temple Church was built by the Knights Templar in 1185 and is the burial place of several knights, including three of my ancestors.

Originally I was to go on a day tour to Stonehenge and Salisbury on this particular Thursday and just hang out in London to visit these locations the following day. But I received an email from the tour company the day before saying that the Stonehenge & Salisbury tour had been canceled. Did I want to go to Stonehenge, Avebury and Glastonbury on the Friday? I just switched plans for the two days (fortunately I didn’t have another tour booked for Friday and hadn’t booked ahead for the Abbey).

After breakfast, I sauntered down the Strand to Whitehall and Banqueting House. I was slightly ahead of schedule and so had to wait just outside the door until they opened. Designed by Inigo Jones and completed in 1622 at the behest of King James I/VI as an addition to Whitehall Palace, Banqueting House was part of another palace that Henry VIII took from Cardinal Wolsey (called York Place) and greatly enlarged.

The rest of Whitehall Palace burned down in 1698, by which time the king was the widowed William III, whose heart just wasn’t in having it rebuilt. His wife, Mary II, had been the granddaughter of Charles I (and daughter of James II/VII). Had she still been alive, it would have been rebuilt.

The ceiling of Banqueting House was commissioned by Charles I and painted by Peter Paul Rubens. The paintings were done in Rubens’ studio and installed in the specially designed frames on the ceiling in 1636.

Charles I was disappointed when Rubens went back to Antwerp when he was done and left Anthony van Dyck behind in his place to be the court painter. He wasn’t disappointed for long as van Dyck quickly proved his own talents. The artist was knighted by Charles and preceded him in death by eight years. He was buried at Westminster Abbey.

The glorious ceiling paintings, pretty much deifying his father, most likely would have been the last things Charles would have seen before stepping out of the window from that room to the scaffold. Actually, they used to say that he stepped from one of the windows from the room itself (the far right window in the photo I have included here). Now they say he stepped from a window that used to be above what is now the entrance to the building. Either way, it is said that he wore two shirts because it was cold and he didn’t want people to think he was shivering with fear.

Shortly after leaving Banqueting House, when heading south on Whitehall, the street becomes Parliament Street, which then empties into Parliament Square. Once in Parliament Square, facing east is a great view of the Palace of Westminster, aka Parliament. Several statues of mostly Prime Ministers stand around the square. But there are a couple of non-Prime Ministers there too. Looking west across the street, you will find Abraham Lincoln and, just before crossing the street to go to Saint Margaret’s Church, you can see Nelson Mandella.

Originally built in the 12^th century and rebuilt in the early 16^th century, St Margaret’s has been the site of several wedding over the centuries, including John Milton, Samuel Pepys, and Winston Churchill. This St Margaret is not the one from Scotland, but a 4^th century martyr from Antioch. There is also a St Margaret of York and a St Margaret of Cortona.

In the church is a window commemorating Henry VIII’s marriage to Catherine of Aragon. Sir Walter Raleigh, executed across the street in Old Palace Yard, is among those buried here. Another window shows him in happier times with Queen Elizabeth I and Edmund Spenser, the poet who wrote The Faerie Queen.

Next to St Margaret’s is the visitor’s entrance to Westminster Abbey. I had to stand in line for a bit, but it wasn’t really too bad. I have experienced longer lines before and since. I was buying my ticket there instead of in advance online. With the online advance ticket, there is a special “skip the line” entrance. To get the advance ticket, it is necessary to specify a particular time slot. I didn’t want to do that on this trip to stay a little more flexible. So I took my chances with the line.

Westminster Abbey is one of my favorite places. I visit pretty much every time I am in London. It is amazing and overwhelming at the same time. Some people have asked in the past why I go to see a place I have been to before. I’ve already seen it; why would I want to see it again?

One answer is that it might have been a very long time ago that I saw it and my memories are fuzzy (not the case with Westminster, but it had been 13 years since I saw it last). Another answer is that, with a place that I find fascinating, I can see things and experience things that I have never seen or experienced before. Then there is that fact that things change. How can an over 1,000 year old church change? You’d be surprised.

The coronation throne used to sit behind the Shrine of Edward the Confessor. It could be easily missed there unless one knew to look for it or had a guide point it out. By 2016, it was up in the front of the abbey in its own special room. The portrait of King Richard II (the fella I had seen David Tennant portray onstage in NYC at the beginning of this trip), was now just outside of where the throne sat. Richard is seated in that throne in the portrait, which used to be just inside of the entrance to the Royal Chapels. There, loads of people missed out on seeing him. The portrait is pretty cool. It was painted in 1390 at Richard’s request and therefore should be a pretty accurate portrayal.

Unfortunately, photography is not allowed inside of the abbey, so I can’t include a photo that I took of the painting However, I have included an official photo of it from the abbey’s website. He was only ten years old when crowned King of England. His father had died a year earlier, so he succeeded his grandfather, Edward III in 1377. He was deposed in 1399 by Henry Bolingbrooke (King Henry IV) and subsequently murdered while in captivity. He was 33.

Another change was that Westminster Abbey now had audio guides. The audio guide had numbers on it that corresponded to numbers on a map. No more crowding around a guide or trying to squeeze past a crowd.

The special floor in front of the altar had been uncovered as well. Previously this floor had been covered over for centuries and only visible for coronation ceremonies and rare special viewings. It has a type of inlaid stone called Cosmati and was installed by Henry III in 1268.

Founded in 960 AD by King Edgar and Saint Dunstan, the official name of the abbey is the Collegiate Church of Saint Peter at Westminster. It is a “Royal Peculiar”, which means it falls under the direct jurisdiction of the reigning monarch. Various monarchs have made their marks on Westminster Abbey, most notably King Henry III, whose building spree in 1245 made it largely what is seen today. King Henry VII built the Lady Chapel with the magnificent fan vaulted ceiling in 1503.

In 2016, the abbey was in the process of creating a whole new space for its museum in galleries up above the abbey’s nave that would be opened in 2018. That particular area of the abbey had not been open to the public for 700 years.

I spent a couple of hours at Westminster Abbey, exploring it more thoroughly than I had ever been able to do so before. The exception was the Shrine of Edward the Confessor. It was off limits. It used to be open to a few people at a time, but things change.

I discovered after I got back home that there were Verger tours open at specific times on specific days. A Verger (who is basically a church caretaker) takes a small group of people into places of the abbey where tourists cannot go on their own, including the Shrine of Edward the Confessor. I decided the next time I traveled to London, I would arrange for a Verger tour.

Another change was that they now had a restaurant within the abbey. It was in the former food stores of the monks in the 14^th century and is called the Cellarium Café. I had some Welsh Rarebit (a fancy cheese toast) with salad, and an apricot tart with ice cream.

My foot was bothering me (the same one which had a stress fracture back in 2014), so I took a taxi back to the hotel (there were several parked out in front of the abbey), gave my foot a massage and wrapped it in an ace bandage. Once wrapped, it felt much better.

I decided I didn’t need to stay in the room with my foot elevated, but I didn’t want to go too far. So I walked the relatively short distance from the hotel to Temple Church.

Built in 1185 by the Templar Knights, the original part of the church is round, with a later rectangular addition. I have mentioned in past posts that I have loads of ancestors who were knights. Two became Templar Knights in their later years. They were buried in the crypt of the church with effigies upstairs.

One died in 1219 at the age of 73. He was a knight all of his life and even led (and won) a major battle at the age of seventy. He had served five kings – Henry II, his sons, the “Young King” Henry, Richard I, John and John’s son, Henry III. He decided to become a Templar Knight on his deathbed and was invested into the order.

Another died in 1226 at the age of 56. He came to the Templars a little later in life — in 1212 at the age of 42. He had been a busy guy – also in the service of Richard I, John and Henry III. He was a strong supporter of the Templars with gifts of lands in Yorkshire. So, as a generous member of the order, he was honored with burial at Temple Church.

Another ancestor died while on crusade in the Kingdom of Jerusalem in 1241 (at the age of 31). He was with Richard of Cornwall, who was King John’s second son and was involved with the refortification of Ascalon. A chunk of stone, found among the rubble in a former moat in Ascalon, had graffiti including this particular ancestor’s coat of arms. He is also buried in the Temple Church. He either doesn’t have an effigy, or his is one of the unidentified effigies, or his was destroyed when the church was bombed by the Germans during World War II. His body is down in the crypt somewhere.

Next time – Mystic locations of Stonehenge, Glastonbury, and Avebury