England – Page 2 – 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 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.

July 26, 2020

The Crawleys & the Churchills

The fictional Crawleys of Downton Abbey lived in Yorkshire. But the settings used for the series weren’t quite so far north. Highclere Castle (Downton Abbey), which is open at limited times to the public, is in Hampshire. Byfleet Manor (the Dower House) is in Surrey. Many of the other locations — Cogges Farm (Yew Tree Farm), Bampton (the village), and several other locations – are in Oxfordshire. I wasn’t able to book a tour to Highclere Castle for the time I would be in London, but I could get a tour to the Oxfordshire series locations plus Blenheim Palace (home of the Churchills).

This was another small group tour through a group called International Friends. There were three of us on the tour. We started with Cogges Farm, at one time a real farm, which stood in for Yew Tree Farm. Yew Tree Farm was where Edith arranged for her daughter, Marigold, to live. Later she admitted to her family who Marigold was and took her to Downton. We could see the interior of the house that was used as well as the exterior.

The farm is now a farm museum. The house was begun in the 13^th century and was enlarged in the 16^th and 17^th centuries. There are still chickens, pig, and goats. The baby goats were leaping and dancing until I pulled out my video camera. Then they stood still and posed. That made me laugh.

Bampton was used as the village for the Grantham Estate. The village has been settled since the Iron Age and Roman times. It is in the Doomesday Book, which William the Conqueror commissioned in 1086.

St Mary’s Church was used for St Michael and All Angels. All of the weddings, near weddings, and funerals were shot at that church. We could go inside there too. Parts of the church date back to the 10^th century. It has been added to and refurbished over the centuries, ending in the mid-19^th century.

The Old Rectory was Isobel Crawley’s house. It was just across the road from the church. Various other Bampton buildings were used for the Grantham Arms pub and the Dog & Duck pub. Another house in the village was Mr Mosley’s house (number 2 in the photo).

The Downton Fair was held in the village square and the Downton Cottage Hospital was located in the Public Library, which was originally a schoolhouse in the 1650s. A small gift shop was in the building when I visited. I bought a couple of Downton Abbey items for a couple of my friends who were big fans of the show.

When we left Bampton, we went to Shilton to see the 18^th century hump-backed bridge and the ford across the Shill Brook. The building there was the Old Forge, which was turned into the Red Lion Pub, where Mr Bates worked when he left the Abbey.

At Swinbrook, a real inn was used as the Swan Inn where Lady Sybil and Branson stayed when they tried to elope. They were persuaded to return to Downton while at the Inn.

We ended the Downton Abbey portion of the tour and made our way to Bladen. In the churchyard of St Martin’s Parish church are several members of the Churchill family. Although most of the actual Dukes and Duchesses were buried in the chapel at Blenheim Palace, other members of the family, including Winston Churchill and his wife, are at Bladen. We paid our respects and took a few photos before heading to nearby Woodstock for lunch.

After lunch we spent several hours at Blenheim Palace. Queen Anne granted the land and provided some of the funding for the palace as a reward to John Churchill, 1^st Duke of Marlborough, after his victory at the 1704 Battle of Blenheim.

Once again I had quite a bit of time to explore what I wanted to explore at Blenheim. I started with the exhibit on Winston Churchill, which included the room in which he was born. Winston’s father was a younger son of the 7^th Duke and so would not become a Duke himself. Lord Randolph Churchill was elected as the Conservative MP from Woodstock and made his mark as a statesman.

I then turned my focus to the State Rooms, of which there are many open to the public. Photography was allowed in them all. One of the most opulent, in my opinion, was the dining room (which they called the Saloon). I had seen photos of that room many years ago as a child, so I loved being able to see the actual room in person.

Among my many photos, is one of the room that contains the tapestry showing the 1^st Duke at the Battle of Blenheim. The library is another enormous room with vast portraits and paintings, a gigantic pipe organ, and a statue of Queen Anne with an inscription on its base from the 1^st Duchess, Sarah, about her friendship with the Queen.

When I left the State Rooms, I visited the chapel, where most of the Dukes and Duchesses were buried. The 1^st Duke naturally had a very fancy tomb. In conversation with one of the staff, I discovered that the private rooms of the current Duke and his family were going to be open to tour later that afternoon. I had the time, so I bought a ticket and then went to take a good look at the gardens until it was time to view the private rooms. It is only on very rare occasions that those rooms are open to the public.

The gardens were as amazing and opulent as the State Rooms had been. The design of the Water Terrace was an attempt to rival Versailles. I think they did it.

The private family quarters were fascinating to see. Most places, the only time you get to see the private quarters is when the family no longer lives there and the castle/ palace/ grand house is under the care of some sort of Trust. The Spencer-Churchill family is definitely in residence with the 12^th Duke in charge. Yes, the Spencer part is Princess Diana’s family.

We were only allowed in as a small group and not allowed to take photos at all. That was fine. It was just fun to see where the family actually lived. They had a wing. The rooms were much more normal in size and not as lavish as the State Rooms. It was still obviously the home of someone with great wealth. In some of the bedrooms, it struck me as odd to see an antique, grand four-posted bed with a canopy next to a large flat-screen television. Computers sat on ornate, antique desks. I was glad I had time to see it all.

Next time – Banqueting House, Westminster Abbey & Temple Church back in London

July 19, 2020

A Day at Windsor Castle & Hampton Court Palace – Part 2

Hampton Court Palace had audio guides and costumed interpreters. The audio guide was divided up by the different parts of the palace, so I could decide where I wanted to spend my time and how much time I wanted to spend there.

When I had been there before in 1991, as part of the cattle herd, the person leading the tour had spent limited time in the Henry VIII portions of the palace and most of his time in the William & Mary rooms in the part of the palace that had been redone by Sir Christopher Wren. I think he favored that period. We were shown the Tudor Kitchens almost as an afterthought. So this time I decided to concentrate most of my time on Henry VIII’s apartments.

The palace was originally built by Cardinal Thomas Wolsey in 1515. I was a large and lavish palace where the king stayed in the state rooms when he visited. In 1529, Wolsey failed to secure an annulment of the king’s marriage to his first wife, Catherine of Aragon. As a result, the Cardinal lost favor with Henry and gave his palace to him to try to regain favor. It didn’t quite work out that way and Wolsey died just two years later. But Henry had a magnificent palace that he set out to enlarge and turn into his primary residence.

Entering through the Tudor Great Gatehouse, I crossed the Base Court and entered a door in a corner to my far left. With my map and audio guide in hand, I entered the second gatehouse, called Anne Boleyn’s Gate. Her rooms above the gate were still being worked on when she was taken to the Tower of London and executed. I then entered the palace just inside of the Clock Court and climbed the stairs.

The first room I encountered was the Great Hall. Anne Boleyn and Henry’s entwined initials were carved on the wooden screen at the end of the hall and their coats of arms on the hammerbeam ceiling (Henry was going for a medieval feel). The original tapestries that hung in the hall when Henry lived there were hanging in the hall when I was there. They are known as the Abraham Tapestries, with scenes from the life of Abraham from the Bible.

Of Henry’s six wives, Anne Boleyn, Jane Seymour, Catherine Howard, and Catherine Parr are most associated with the palace. The Great Watching Chamber, which was where courtiers would wait to see Henry, was built to honor Jane Seymour. She was the only one of Henry’s wives to produce a male heir and died just two weeks later of complications having to do with the birth. Her heart and lungs were in a lead box behind the altar in the chapel at Hampton Court (no photography was allowed in that one room). The rest of her was buried with Henry at Windsor Castle.

Henry’s last wife, Catherine Parr, was married to him in a small room near the chapel. She survived Henry by roughly a year, dying from complications of childbirth after giving birth to a daughter by the man she married after Henry’s death.

It is Catherine Howard who is most associated with the palace because of a legend that she still haunts the place. Rumors of her having been a wild child (being only about 14 or 15 when Henry married her) reached the king when they had not been married terribly long (about a year maybe). He dismissed it at first. But then they found and tortured a few of the males reportedly involved and one confessed. He was beheaded as his reward.

Things were further complicated when it was discovered that Catherine had been carrying on an affair with Thomas Culpeper, one of Henry’s courtiers and a distance cousin of Catherine’s. Lady Rochford, who was Jane Boleyn, married to Anne Boleyn’s brother, was found to have been aiding in the affair.

Culpeper was beheaded. He and the other fella had their heads displayed on spikes on London Bridge. Lady Rochford told all upon fear of torture. She ended up being beheaded along with Catherine. They were buried together in the chapel at the Tower of London, next to Anne Boleyn (who was also Catherine’s cousin).

After she was captured and imprisoned at Hampton Court (before being sent to the Tower), Catherine broke free and ran screaming down the Long Gallery towards the Chapel, believing Henry was there and wanting to beg him for mercy. She was captured before she could reach the chapel. People sometimes see her and sometimes hear her in what has been nicknamed the Haunted Gallery. Many people experience a somewhat creepy feeling there.

The Great Watching Chamber is next to the Great Hall. After spending some time in there, I went into the Processional Gallery. I was alone and there were some benches, so I sat down to get caught up with the audio guide. I kept putting it on pause to take photos and had gotten behind.

As I was sitting there listening, I saw some interesting-looking shoes with some somewhat heavy legs wearing white stockings standing in them. “Have you seen Thomas Culpeper?” the voice belonging to the shoes, legs and stockings barked. I looked up and saw Henry VIII looking down at me. He had a couple other people with him. “No Sir,” I responded, but didn’t think to curtsy. He headed off with the other two in the direction of the Great Watching Chamber and Great Hall. This was how I discovered that they had costumed interpreters at Hampton Court Palace. Cool! This will be fun!

Shortly after he left, a woman in Tudor dress came and sat on the bench across from me. We were the only two people in gallery. I abandoned my audio guide, turning it off and putting it away. “Hello,” I said to her. I soon discovered that she was Lady Rochford (she had been Lady in Waiting to both Anne Boleyn and Catherine Howard). I asked her who was queen to see where we were in history at the moment. The queen was Catherine Howard. Oh goody! Truly interesting times.

While Lady Rochford and I were talking, a gentleman came along who revealed himself to be Thomas Culpeper. I let him know that the king was looking for him. He asked which way he went and headed off in the opposite direction. He soon returned and the three of us talked about court gossip and Catherine’s naivety (didn’t learn a thing from her cousin, Anne’s experience) for a while just inside of the Haunted Gallery.

I got a photo of the lady playing Lady Rochford while we were in the Processional Gallery and took one of the gent playing Thomas Culpeper as he retreated down the Haunted Gallery. I headed down the Haunted Gallery shortly afterwards, checking out the room where Henry had married Catherine Parr and the chapel on the way. Then I proceeded down the stairs and out into the Clock Court where I photographed the exterior of the Great Hall. My next focus was the Tudor Kitchens.

To get to the Tudor Kitchens, I needed to go through an undercroft where I discovered a tea shop. Perfect timing. I used their facilities and got some refreshment before heading outside again to follow the maze of alleys to the kitchens where 200 cooks and other servants labored to create 800 meals per day for Henry and his court. The photo with the guy in the long, red coat walking down the alley ahead of me includes a doorway (third from the left) where a ghost has also been spotted.

The kitchen itself is enormous plus there are several other rooms to store plates, utensils, and serving platters and bowls; storage for beer; for wine; several larders; a butchers; a bakery; offices. I explored it all.

At the gift shop, back near where we were to meet the tour coach, I bought Christmas ornaments of Henry and all six wives. I also got an ornament of Hampton Court Palace.

A couple extras:

Historian Lucy Worsley, who you may have seen in several shows on PBS (including a series on Henry and his wives), has her offices at Hampton Court.
Hampton Court Palace was where the meeting took place that led to the creation of the King James Bible.

Next time – I visit the Crawleys and the Churchills at some of the Downton Abbey filming locations and Blenheim Palace

July 12, 2020

A Day at Windsor Castle & Hampton Court Palace – Part 1

My first day trip out of London didn’t go too far out. In fact, Hampton Court is in a London suburb, so not even officially outside of London for that portion of the day.

Our tour guide was impeccably dressed, perfectly coiffed, and closely shaved except for the handlebar mustache which he frequently stroked (when he wasn’t checking on the perfection of his hair, which never moved one millimeter). He had a Hungarian accent (sounding somewhat like Bela Lugosi) and referred to us all as “my lovelies”.

He didn’t have much to do. At Windsor, once we parked the coach (a large one that could hold about 45 people; he was not driving) in the car park, he led us through the town and to the castle, gave us our tickets , told us when to be back on the coach and set us free for about two hours. At Hampton Court Palace, it was pretty much the same. The coach dropped us off; he told us what time to meet back there; and then we were on our own for about three hours. I guess his job was just to look handsome and perfect and make sure he didn’t lose anybody (he did do a head count when we were back on the coach before signaling the driver that we could leave).

I have to say that I was relieved that we weren’t going to be herded around from room to room in a crowd and have to strain to hear what was being said. Many years ago when Mom and I had been to Windsor Castle and Hampton Court Palace before, that had been the case. At Windsor, no photos are allowed inside, so being in the middle of a throng of people wasn’t as bad as at Hampton Court. There photos were allowed and masses of people could make taking decent ones difficult.

Before leaving for Windsor, we stopped in South Kensington by the Royal Albert Hall. This is a round concert hall that can seat over 5,000. It was opened in 1871 as part of a memorial to Queen Victoria’s husband, Prince Albert, who had died about ten years earlier. The other part of the memorial is just across the street from the hall in Kensington Gardens and is called the Albert Memorial.

Around one of the sides of the Albert Memorial is a lovely building that was used as Mister Selfridge’s house in the TV series “Mister Selfridge”. The series was about the Selfridge & Company department store in London.

At Windsor, the Queen was in residence, so security was tight. The castle was originally built in the 11^th century by William the Conqueror and is the longest-occupied palace in Europe. Mom and I had been there in 1991 before the enormous fire of 1992. I was very interested in seeing how everything had been restored. Being a fan of dolls houses however, I stopped off to see Queen Mary’s Dollhouse first. Then I headed upstairs to the State Rooms.

Each room had a sign telling about the room. The ones which had been damaged by the fire also had photos of the damage so we could see how much work needed to be done to get the room back to what it had been before. They had staff in each room to answer any questions that people might have. The main thing was that I could take my time and really see what each room was about. My previous visit had all been a blur of glimpses of the rooms through the crowds.

One of the rooms that had been badly damaged in the fire was Saint George’s Hall, which is essentially the Great Hall. The room is enormous and the entire roof had collapsed. The discovery was made that the ceiling had been a false one and the room originally had a much higher and grander ceiling. The decision was made not to restore the hall entirely as it was, but to take it back to the medieval period when the original ceiling had been visible. Wow! The result was amazing!

I had quite a chat with a staff member who was just inside when I walked in and my jaw dropped. She walked over to me as I was saying “wow!” out loud. So we talked about how we both like the hall so much better now, despite the fact that it was beautiful and impressive before the fire. She then asked if I knew who the monarchs were whose paintings were on the wall. I responded by starting to name them. We both laughed when I said, “then all the Georges.” The first painting in the line was of James I, so I hadn’t named them all from William the Conqueror – just the Stuarts.

Although I couldn’t take any photos and I usually use only photos I took myself in this blog, I have included here three photos of Saint George’s Hall that were taken by others to show what the hall looked like before the fire, with the fire damage, and after restoration.

When I got back outside, the Queen’s Band was playing. I managed to take video and a photo while listening. This was an added benefit of being there while the Queen was in residence.

St George’s Chapel also doesn’t allow photography inside. There was a black marble slab in the middle of the aisle, which you might have seen if you watched the wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan. The slab says that, in a vault beneath it, are the remains of Jane Seymour (Henry VIII’s third wife, who died shortly after giving birth to his only son, Edward), Henry VIII, Charles I, and an infant of Queen Anne.

Poor Queen Anne had 18 children die. Just the one stillborn child was buried at Windsor. All of the others were buried at Westminster Abbey. Some were miscarriages, some still births, some died while still infants. Only one made it out of infancy as far as age eleven. Imagine.

I had lunch at the Victorian train station. They had several cafes and sandwich shops to choose from. Then I made my way back to the car park via a bridge from the railway station over the train tracks. Our tour guide was very happy to see all of his lovelies back to the coach on time and we set off for Hampton Court.

May 24, 2020

Alnwick Castle & the Scottish Borders

My first full day in Scotland, I had a day trip booked to visit Alnwick Castle and the Scottish Borders. As a fan of both Downton Abbey and the Harry Potter books and films, I was really looking forward to seeing Alnwick (pronounced Ann-ick). The castle was used as the home of the fella who ultimately became Edith’s husband in Downton. In the Harry Potter films, it was used for many of the exterior shots, and a few interiors, of the Hogwarts School of Magic.

The tour left from just across the street and down the road a bit. The tour group – Rabbies – does small group tours with a maximum of 16 people. I booked all of my day trips through Viator online. They were through various tour groups. Rabbies was one I really liked.

The tour coach was packed and a woman asked if she could sit with me. Her name was Naomi and she lived in Israel. We hit it off immediately and ended up spending the day together. We continue to stay in touch.

Our first stop was Kelso Abbey. As with most of the abbeys along the Scottish border with England, Kelso was destroyed in the 16^th century as part of what was known as the Rough Wooing. King Henry VIII of England wanted Mary Queen of Scots in marriage to his son Edward. When the answer came back as “no”, Henry started a war with Scotland. As part of that war, he destroyed all of the abbeys he could in Scotland. Henry did not take “no” for an answer ever.

After the destruction of the 12^th century abbey, much of the stone was hauled away to be used to build other things. There is one section of the building remaining. It gives an idea of both how strong and how beautiful a building it once was. Most of the land around it is a cemetery.

We took a walk into the town through the cemetery. This was so folks could get their morning coffee. Not being a coffee drinker, I went along just to see the town. It was a small market town with a central town square, where it would have been difficult to lose one’s way.

To get to Alnwick, we needed to cross the border into England. This included crossing the great salmon fishing river, the River Tweed. We stopped for some photos.

In Scottish Gaelic, the river is Abhainn Thuaidh, and in Scots it is called Watter o Tweid. Scottish Gaelic is the unique language of Scotland, which is still spoken in some parts of the Highlands, but not too much elsewhere in Scotland any more (unlike Welsh which is having a great revival). Scots is an archaic hybrid of Scottish Gaelic and English that was mainly spoken in the Lowlands of Scotland. It is the language in which the song “Auld Lang Syne” was written. “Auld Lang Syne” means roughly “days gone by.”

The seat of the Dukes of Northumberland, the 11^th century Alnwick Castle is the second largest inhabited castle in England, after Windsor. Over its long history, it has been involved in several battles, including the Wars of the Roses between the Yorkists and Lancastrians. Although it changed hands a few times over the centuries, it was never severely damaged and still looks very much as it did in the 12^th century on the outside. The inside and the parks were altered in the 18^th and 19^th centuries. New gardens were created in 2003 for the purposes of a charitable trust.

The castle has several Harry Potter displays and experiences for children and families. While we were there, a Downton Abbey costume exhibit was going on inside of the castle. Unfortunately they didn’t allow photos inside.

The dining room looked just as it did in Downton Abbey and there were several mannequins around the room wearing gowns that had been worn in the scenes shot there. This was another castle that, despite its size, seemed rather cozy.

Wanting something associated with Downton Abbey, I purchased a very elegant ‘cake slice’ which looked like something that would be used at a formal dinner there. A couple of my friends (also Downton Abbey fans) and I have an annual tea during which we use this special purchase to serve desserts.

Naomi and I had lunch together at the Treehouse, which actually was a treehouse. Then we walked around the garden and grounds until it was time to leave. I can’t remember who the person was whose statue on horseback I photographed, but I am sure it was a family member (the Percy family) and I really liked the statue.

Originally the site of an ancient fort built by the indigenous Celtic Britons, Bamburgh Castle had its origins in 547. That castle was destroyed by the Vikings in 993. The Normans built a new castle on the site in the 11^th century. Unfortunately there wasn’t enough time to tour the castle (and I think it was either closed for the day or about to be).

Just before crossing the border back into Scotland, we made a stop at Berwick-on-Tweed to take photos of the bridges. Berwick started as an Anglo-Saxon market town. Taking a photo of the bridges properly lined up with one another, there are three bridges from three different centuries.

Dunbar Castle was begun in the 7^th century on a rocky outcrop at the harbor of the town of Dunbar. The castle was then rebuilt in stone in the 11^th century. But in the 16^th century, the castle was blown up.

Back in Edinburgh, Naomi and I decided to have dinner together. Although it was my first full day in Scotland, it was her last. She was returning home the next day. I proposed the bar at the Balmoral. They had food as well as drinks in a casual atmosphere.

We shared a vegetarian grill that was huge (I think it was intended to be shared by two people) and delicious. Along with that, I had a mojito that added some cherry juice and champagne to the usual recipe. It too was quite tasty.

After our dinner, when we entered the lobby from the bar, we were called over to the desk by the Assistant Manager. He had some chocolates to give us. And then he also gave us some of the most light and airy macarons I have ever had. I thought that was so nice.

After sending Naomi off in her taxi to her hotel, I headed up to my room. My bed had already been turned down, with some hotel slippers next to the bed and more chocolates on the nightstand.

Next time – Rosslyn Chapel (and Castle), Melrose Abbey & Part of Hadrian’s Wall