| Expect The Unexpected.... |  | 18 June ’05, Saturday. Our Box Seats ???
A couple, three days have gone by and I’ve got some catch up to do again. We did have a great time seeing “Lion King”, and it was everything that we have heard it was…Fantastic !!! We had good seats, 3&4th seat in from the middle Isle, and about 2/3rds of the way up from the stage in the first section. Pretty lucky for those of us that have waited until the last minute. We were there for the matinee, and because it rained, we didn’t feel like we were taking away from seeing other sites. As it was, not to soon before the play was over, it cleared up, so off we went to continue walking the streets and having a good time again in London. For the 2nd day in a row, we didn’t get back to the campground until after 10. This is not like us, we normally like to have our glass of wine, make our dinner, wash dishes, and be all done by 7:30 at least. Thursday, we took in another show…”Billy Elliott”. We had seen the show when it was in the theatres, and when we saw it was on the stage here, we just hoped we could get seats. We heard that the box office opens at noon to sell the tickets that may be available for that same day performance, so we were there by 11:30am. The line had already started to form, so we jumped right in. Some how, Louise had heard from someone in line or passing by, that if you went to another line inside…you could get tickets right away…. She jumped at the “chance” and got us 2 tickets for the matinee again. We were thrilled, that is until we got inside, went to our seats, and sat down… WE COULDN’T SEE THE STAGE !!! Our tickets were for balcony box seats…they were just in front of the stage, and up on the 2nd and a half level. If and when you sat down, you couldn’t see anything. If you were to stand, you had a great view. As it was, we found that these seats were, for us, the best seats in the house…we had a great time…we could wonder around the whole area, take off our shoes, eat and drink our snacks with out bothering anyone, and just have a good time with an incredible show. Billy Elliott was outstanding !!!! Again, another late night in getting back to “Bumble Bee”, and getting to bed tired… Friday morning as I was entering the shower, I just barely noticed someone passing through the door. After a quick thought, I thought about who that might have been. Sure enough, after showing and checking with the reception desk, I found out that Bob and Helen (a couple we had met in Ireland, and whom we had been since corresponding with emails, and trying to get together again) were indeed here. They had pulled in yesterday and here we were, pulling out today. That’s ok, we had a chance to get together for coffee and a long talk, and with hopes of getting together somewhere in Europe later in the year. They are a couple from Fall City Wa., and are traveling for a few months in Europe as well. Eleven AM and we were pulling out of London and heading towards the coast for the last few days in Great Britain. About 15 miles north of London, and on one of the many freeways, I noticed that the “hot engine” light was blinking, and the temp of the engine was climbing pretty quickly. After pulling off on to the shoulder and getting to the back of the van, I noticed that the cooling water was “flowing” out of the engine…I couldn’t stop it if I had wanted too…we had lost the water pump !!! !!it, not now… We had a couple of quart bottles with water in them, so dumping them into the radiator and watching as it flowed out as fast as I was putting it in, we had no options. Get the hell off the freeway and find help. Now tell me, why is it you can only have serious problems on Fridays, Saturdays, or “Bank Holidays” (National Holidays to us) ??? Well, to shorten this up, we did find a mechanic in Harlow (just north of London), we couldn’t get in until this morning at 11:00, and they had to order 2 water pumps (not sure which one, if any, would fit). It was to take 1 to 2 hours max to do the job, but as our luck continues, we didn’t leave until after 4:00. After all was done (we hope, as they had a heck of a time getting the water to stop), we found a nice campground about 5 miles west of town. After sleeping in the parking lot of the garage last night, this is going to be heaven tonight. Fact is, we had dinner tonight at one of the local pubs, and I had probably one of the best meals of the journey, right here in this, very little community…Tomorrow…only He knows… wish us luck…
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| June 25, 2005 02:19 AM
By Joel and Louise
Location: England
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| What's an Oast ???? |  | 14 June ’05, Tuesday. London at Dusk
“We’ll get that picture when we come back…”, or “there is another one up the road, that is just as good…” Ya Right !!! We always have good intentions, but not always follow up by getting that “perfect” picture. Well, that’s the story this time as well, we (I) thought we would definitely find another picture just as good, but when we did, I couldn’t find a was to get close enough. I’m talking (writing) about a Oast House…anyone know what a “Oast House” is ? Briefly, it’s barn with a silo or 2 or 3 attached. The top of each silo is like an up-side down ice cream cone. These also have an arm attached that runs out at 90 degrees and has some type of ornament attached at the end. This arm is about 12 feet long. Most of these old “silo’s” have now been converted into B&Bs, but originally they were used to store and “dry” barley. The cone would turn into the wind because of the arm finding the direction, and as the wind would enter the cone, which had circular baffles built-in, it would whirl and dry the grain. Today as I mentioned, most are converted into room’s at B&B’s, and are really well done. The cone’s can be seen for a long distance, as most are either painted chrome or have brass or copper. I bring this up now, as we had not seen this on any other part of England, but hope to see more after we leave the core area of London. Our trip brought us up from Battle, to Bodiam (which is due north of Battle about 15 miles) and the Bodiam Castle. The 14th century castle is a simple four-squared walled, 8 round towers rising out of the surrounding moat. As it sits on a slight hill with the water all around it, it is really picturesque. We didn’t take the time to go through the interior, as it was mostly in ruins. But exterior, it was worth the stop (and the $2 parking tab). The rest of the ride to London was still due north until we hit the city. We have a campground that is close enough for us to get into Piccadilly Circus by bus in 45 minutes and at a cost of $1.20 each. By the time we got all setup, and on the bus into town, it was just about 5pm. It has been 7 years since we were here, and it is good to be back. We had nothing planned, but as it was we didn’t grab the bus back until after 9:30. We did pick up tickets to see “Lion King” tomorrow, and we also took the ride on the “Eye of London”. By the time we got back, we were ready to hit the rack. Tomorrow…more London
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| June 25, 2005 02:14 AM
By Joel and Louise
Location: England
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| Not Only The Cliffs Of Dover... |  | 13 June ’05, Monday. The Cliffs of Dover
The sun was out bright, breakfast done, and we were ready to head off for the day. We headed off down the coast and the first village we were looking for was Rye. Rye is a mix of cobbled stone streets, towers, and half-timbered buildings. By half timbered buildings, I mean that the bottom half are stone, and the top, “black timber”… There is a small river, that has a “lock” system in it. Because of the tides of the English Channel, the rise and fall of the tide would just about drain the river, so about halfway through the village, the drop of the tide leaves everything high and dry and on the other side of the “lock”, it has water as usual. The first impression, is this is a “artsy” type of village, and you would be right on…hippish and artsy… Then on to Dover. Just over 2 hours out from Battle, is Dover (that’s Bumble Bee time…). Just west of Dover is Folkestone. This is were the “Chunnel” is located. The Bullet Train runs from London to Paris, through this Chunnel (Channel Tunnel), under the English Channel. Just as you pull into the city of Dover, your eyes come in contact with the Dover Castle and Fortress high on the hill. This HUGE complex is now and I’m sure centuries ago as well, is and was impressive.
Dover is known for it’s “White Cliffs”, but now that I’ve been there, it will always be the fortress and the underground caves that make Dover. The castle and it’s fortress, is thanks to King Henry II, back in the 12th century. Since that time, Dover and the Dover Castle / Fortress, has seen many significant battles. From the 13th century to WWII. The chalk cliffs of Dover have many tunnels dug into them, and all of these have been used to house armies. In the case of WWII, the English had a “Top Secret” Intelligence network that led the rescue of over 300,000 men that were caught in a trap in France. It was also the location, while receiving constant shelling from the German artillery in France, served as a major partner in the D-Day invasion in 1944. We not only took a self guided tour of the castle, walls, grounds, and the 13th century Saxton church, we had a guided tour of about 30 percent of the underground tunnels. That was all they would allow us to see. We toured 3 levels of tunnels, which included the mapping rooms, communications rooms, hospital, and some of the kitchen and crew quarters. The Heritage Group was fortunate in getting back some of the original equipment, including planning tables, hospital equipment, and phone communications systems, just to finish this fine site. I must say, this was quite a day… When we got back, one of our neighbors here had spent the day of watching professional tennis. They watched the women’s preliminary games to Wimbledon. Well, you can’t be everywhere at once… Tomorrow…London…
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| June 14, 2005 11:32 AM
By Joel and Louise
Location: England
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| Battle England |  | 12 June ’05, Sunday. The Village of Battle
Hastings? Well, not yet, but Battle we found to be a great stop. It seems that I have some ties to Battle through family. I wont go into a lot of detail, but that we know, goes back to “Thomas Goodman” being born in Battle in 1840 or there about. Sunday, we went into town after setting up at this fantastic campground, and had fun going through one of the many cemeteries looking for someone with the “Goodman” name on their tombstone. I’m sure it doesn’t surprise anyone, but we didn’t have any luck… I know I told you that we had purchased a “English Heritage” membership when we arrived in England. This is because of all the wonderful sites that they have and take care of. We have used our card for free admission so many times, it is almost embarrassing, and we were able to use it one more time here in Battle. Heck, it even pays for our parking in most of the places as well. The “Battle Abbey” and the fields around it, is the location that the invading Normans defeated the Anglo Saxons in 1066 and we were able to stand on “The” site were King Harold fell and died. Most of the original buildings were destroyed, but some were rebuilt soon after. One of the best preserved, is the Great Gatehouse. It is said to be the finest of the surviving medieval abbey entrances. It is used daily by the teachers and special guests who drive their cars onto the grounds of the private school that now occupies the courtyard of the abbey. In walking around the abbey grounds and then out into the fields were the battle was actually held, was interesting, to think that my grandfather may have grown up playing in this field, and a thought on the other side, thinking of all those that lost their lives on this “Battle Field”.
Just as we were walking along a portion of the exterior wall that overlooks Battle, we noticed that a band, and 3 different military groups were lining up for a march through town. We saw them off from our position on the wall, and then finished our tour. After walking through the gates of the Great Gatehouse, we saw the small band sitting in a small courtyard in the main part of town and playing songs. Just across the street from them I saw a great place to have a “cup of coffee”… well, I was ready… I really enjoyed Battle. It is a small, quaint, and friendly place to visit and I’m sure, live.
After getting back, we found that we just weren’t hungry enough to make up dinner, so we pulled out this computer, slipped in a movie (Fiddler on The Roof), and settled in for a couple of hours before closing our eyes for the night. Oh, I forgot to mention I had bought something new… A couple of campgrounds back, a van somewhat similar to ours, was parked behind us. I had noticed a small tent set up behind it, but kind of passed it off to being for the dog, or maybe the “Dog House”. Upon questioning, I found they had it for storage so when they get to the campgrounds, they don’t have to “shuffle” everything around so they can take the van out. They told me they had paid $20 for it, and it was worth every penny of it….I found a sale and paid $5.24 !!! I already love it !!! We pulled in to camp, put all the “extras” in it, and we were ready to leave with Bumble Bee anytime we wanted…and we did…
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| June 14, 2005 11:29 AM
By Joel and Louise
Location: England
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| 3000BC....Really ???? |  | 10 June ’05, Friday. Ancient Stonehenge
I was told that I had misspelled Stourhead by leaving out the “t” in my last journal…sorry about that, I guess that having only misspelled one word in the last 14 months of writing this journal isn’t too bad…
Leaving Stourhead, we headed again east. Our next stop and campground was going to be in Salisbury. It was a fairly short drive of about 1 ½ hours, and it turned out to be a very nice site and a good nights sleep. We were on our way by 10am and heading back the same way we came in. 7 miles out, and we were pulling into the parking lot to see the great and ancient stone circle of Stonehenge. This is one of the oldest sites we have seen in a long time. The remnants of Stonehenge date back between 3000BC and 1600BC. This monument is a circular structure, that is aligned with the rising of the sun at the solstice. They are still not sure just what purpose this structure was for, but it is impressive. These huge stones had to be carried hundreds of miles over land and water to get them right to the right spot. Then that were shaped and raised into position, as we see some of them today. They tell us, and I’m sure it’s true, it took a very sophisticated society to have had the total design and construction skills to put this together. There is a lot of very interesting things written about Stonehenge, and I’m not going to put them all here, so you are on your own to learn more. Now we are going to take a little detour back northwest. We have heard a lot about the “White Horse” that was carved into the chalk hillside just outside of Westbury. Another amazing site, but maybe not quite up to the hype. There is no doubt, it took a lot of work. The overall look of the horse has been changed a little over the centuries, but it didn’t really hurt anything. There are 2 more different sites we would like to see, but let’s take one day at a time. Now a turn around, and head off for the English version of the “Riviera”…Brighton.
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| June 14, 2005 11:24 AM
By Joel and Louise
Location: England
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| Where Was Cedar Cheese First Made ??? |  | The Cathedral at Wells
9 June ’05, Thursday.
40 minutes after leaving Bath, we were deep into The Cheddar Gorge. Our trip there was going through some slight rolling farm hills, and then just out of no where, we were heading down at a 15% grade. Winding and twisting, with tall deciduous trees completely covering over the narrow roadway. Little by little, we started seeing the rocks start forming and then, it was all rocks…straight up, over 400’ straight up. It was also kind of funny that we had very little traffic on the road getting there, but once we were there, cars and people just seemed to come out of the rocks. The village and the gorge of Cheddar was all set up for the “Tourist”, with a capital “T”. I can’t imagine what it will be like this summer, as the real crowds arrive. The high hills aren’t the only thing that brings the crowds…Cheddar Cheese was first developed here, and there are 3 different “Caves” that are attractions. It was nice to see, and I’m glad we were there now instead of later. We passed on everything but the drive through the gorge. At the end of town, we turned south and headed for Wells. Wells is known as the “smallest cathedral city in England”. The awe inspiring medieval cathedral, which they say is the “finest in England” gives Wells this title. I think, personally, that Wells deserves to be recognized for more than the cathedral, although the cathedral is something special. The little “city” really has charm and is very quaint. There is even a little channel of water that runs down each side of the street (it separates the mail street from the sidewalks right in the main shopping area). The water comes from a medieval spring (at 40 gallons a second), and in the 15th century the Bishop of Beckynton gave this channeled water to the village as a gift. At the end of the street from the village (City), stands the historic buildings of the cathedral, the Bishop’s Palace, the walls of the palace, and adding more atmosphere, the moat around it. There is also the Vicar’s Close, which is the oldest continuously inhabited street in Europe. Construction on the cathedral started in the late 1100’s. The expanse of the cathedral is unbelievable, but as you walk through, it all seems to fit quite easily. By the time we had walked all the cathedral, it was time to grab lunch, and head on down the road. We made our way further south to A303, and then headed east. Our next stop was going to be Sourhead. Sourhead is thought to be the finest examples of 18th century landscape gardening in Britain. The garden was started in 1740 by Henry Hoare, who inherited the estate. He built a large lake, that is fed by 3 other smaller ones, planted rare trees and plants, and Neo Classical Italianate temples. There are also grottoes and bridges. The house, is a “Palladian” style, that dates from 1724. We parked the van, and needing a walk (what, another walk !!!), we slow walked the 2 miles around the lake and the beautifully planted grounds. 5 o’clock already, so we continued heading east, and ended up in a campground just outside of Salisbury. Tomorrow…Stonehenge and….
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| June 11, 2005 07:52 AM
By Joel and Louise
Location: England
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| Anyone Want A "Bath" ???? |  | The Pulteney Bridge
8 June ’05, Wednesday.
Tuesday morning we left our campground, just 15 miles north of Abergavenny, and headed down to Newport, across a long and beautiful bridge to Bristol, and then on to our next campground in Bath. While in the UK, we try to stay in campgrounds belonging to The Caravan Club, but in Bath, we decided on a municipal campground. We are about 15 minutes out of Bath by bus, and the bus stops right across the street. Yesterday turned out to be a bright and sunny day. Seeing as half of our day was getting here, and seeing as how we needed to do a little washing of clothes, we spent the day in camp catching up. This morning we were out at the bus stop and on our way into see the attraction in Bath by 10am. We had a list of places we wanted see, and wanted to get with it. Bath (as the name might indicate) is noted for its baths”. At least it was in the Roman times and other times, off and on, since. Our first visit was to the “Roman Baths”. Even to this day, the center of Bath maintains its hot springs and with them, the Roman Baths. The original Roman baths from the 1st century (and they weren’t the first baths here), weren’t excavated until the late 19th century. The water coming out of the ground is still coming out at 116 degrees, but unfortunately, there are no spa’s available today to use this soothing water. There is a new complex that has been built, and was to open 2 years ago, but as of now it still has problems and no date available as to opening. Across the plaza from the baths, was the Bath Abby. We joined a tour going through the Abby and really enjoyed it. This Abby was built in 1499, on top of a church that was here in 973. The Abby, as it stands now, is over 500 years old and a fine example of “Late Perpendicular Gothic” (mean anything to you???). 12 noon, and we boarded a doubledecker red tour bus for a hour ride around the town. This is always a good way to acquaint ourselves with the layout of the city and the things to see. Then a picnic lunch, sitting on a bench in the center of town, listening and watching the street musicians. 2pm, it was time for a “free” guided walking tour of Bath. Then, we walked over to the Pulteney Bridge. This 18th century bridge is not only wonderful to look at, it is very functional as each side is lined with retail shoppes, from one end to the other. 4pm, we boarded the same sightseeing bus, and visited the hills around the city, having a good view of the houses and the city below. We saw “The Circus” (Georgian architecture at its best), a beautifully laid out prominent living complex. It is 3 large curving structures that make a complete circle, with a large park in the center. We also saw the Royal Crescent, which was a similar complex, only in a “crescent shape”. I guess I could have saved you a lot of reading, and me a lot of typing, if I had just said, “we saw Bath today”, and let it go at that…. Tomorrow…The Cheddar Gorge, and Wells…
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| June 11, 2005 07:46 AM
By Joel and Louise
Location: England
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| A Busy Day, Some Wonderful Sites... |  | 6 June ’05, Monday. Stokesay Castle
A good nights rest, a great shower, and we were ready to head out again after breakfast. Our route will take us north from Kidderminster to Ironbridge. Then, further north to Shrewsbury, about turn, and head south just short of Abergavenny for the night. We were out to see some of the “Historic West Midlands”. Our first stop was little town of Ironbridge. In 1779, Abraham Darby III cast the world’s first iron bridge. It spans the Severn River and really is a “monument to the ironmasters” of the time. Abraham was the grandson of the first man to smelt iron with coke. Next we headed down stream and visited a mine. This mine was actually started as a tunnel, but after bricking up the walls as they went, they found that something was “leaking” out from between the bricks. It turned out to be “liquid coal”. Fact is, they also found large quantities of the black goo that eventually was sold to buyers all over Europe. The large quantities didn’t last too long, so they boarded up the entrance. It was re-opened to the public in 1987, and there is still a small quantity streaming down the walls. Well, we have now been in 1 ice cave, 2 salt mines, and 1 liquid coal mine… Next stop not far from Ironbridge, is the ruins of the Buildwas Abbey. This was a “fine 12trh century church” and a Cistercian Abbey. The back drop of the wooded gardens and it’s beautiful chapter house, amazingly intact tiled floor and decorative stonework made this a very interesting stop. A few miles further down the road was the Wenlock Priory. The ruins of this large Cluniac priory, was once part of the Europe wide network of the immense French Abbey of Cluny. This was one Abbey that I wish King Henry VIII had left alone. It must have really been something special. One more stop after lunch, and then on down the road to find our next campsite. Just off the roadway we found Stokesay Castle. The books call this the most perfectly preserved medieval fortified manor house in Europe, and it was built in the 13th century. This castle is out in the countryside and very close to the Welsh border. Also on the grounds is a 17th century parish church. The timber framed 17th century gatehouse is spectacular. This manor house was built by Lawrence of Ludlow, who was most renowned for his wool merchants, that made him very wealthy. There was only one time when the castle came under siege, and then the “guards of the castle” threw up their arms at the approaching army and gave up without a shot being fired. They say that is what saved the castle from being destroyed. Inside the house, were still some pretty incredible pieces of craftsmanship. From the stone work to the wood beams and wood sculptures at the top of one of the fireplaces. A full day was had, and Louise is now asleep across from me, so… Tomorrow…
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| June 08, 2005 10:41 AM
By Joel and Louise
Location: England
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| "Shakespeare" |  | 5 June ’05, Sunday Royal Shakespeare Theatre
Stratford-upon-Avon was just as good as all the books told us… and Wm. Shakespeare, as you already know, a legend. Arriving early we found a parking lot with room for us, so after putting in our ₤4 for 4 hours, we were heading into town. Stratford-upon-Avon is one of those towns with canals cutting through it at all angles. It is filled with tour boats, a small chain pulled ferry (about 15 people at a time for about 50 cents), small power and row boats, and canoes…a tourists delight, and it showed as you could practically walk across the canals without touching the water. Because of the canals, the roadways through the town were at all angles, and very confusing. After stopping at the Information Office, we headed over to the Royal Shakespeare Theatre. There are 2 theatres there and we thought a tour of both of them was a good start in getting in the mood for “Shakespeare”. The largest sat about 1600 for a performance, and the smaller and much the older of the two, sat less than 700. Of course the smaller had the feel that we were looking for, the larger was the one that was used for all the plays except if a play is being put on by a non-professional troupe, or special occasion that would fit the smaller theatre better than the larger one. Then it was out to see the rest of the town. There are buildings that Shakespeare was born in, lived in, and died in. Homes that his mother, sisters, and daughters lived in… We also saw a church that he attended… Then, we saw that we were out of time at the parking lot, and as we were leaving we also saw a sign saying that parking without paying or expired, was a ₤60 fine… Now we were in trouble, because of all those angled streets and canals, we weren’t too sure of how to get back. I know Drew, “put a map in your pocket and you’ll never get lost…”. I can’t wait for you to get out into the real world… Well, after grabbing that little ferry, and making a couple of wrong turns, we got back to “Bumble Bee” and found that we were out of time by over 30 minutes, but still no ticket. Seeing as how we had seen most of the things we wanted, we took off for our next destination. On a good day it would have taken us about 2 hours to get there, but today…let’s just say we had a driving day from hell. It took us almost 4 hours, and just about an extra tank of gas before we found a campground that we could stay in. I know you all want the details, but it is best that we forget it…at least for the time being. Tomorrow… if we are still talking…the “Old Iron Bridge” and more
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| June 08, 2005 10:37 AM
By Joel and Louise
Location: England
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| Medieval Warwick England |  | 4 June ’05, Saturday. Warwick Castle
After a cloudy day driving, we pulled into Warwick yesterday about 4 in the afternoon. Never having been here, we were in a little bewilderment in the “campground site” book. It said that during “race day” you would “have restricted access”… Race days ?? Well, it seems that this campground is located in the center grounds of a horse racing track, and during race times, you have to wait to either get in or out. As it was, it wasn’t race day and we made out just fine. Fact is, it was a campground that was located within easy walking to just about anything of importance in the area. The city of Warwick was just about totally destroyed in 1694 because of a fire, but fortunately, there are still some very fine medieval guild buildings that survived. Warwick not only has a fine collection of the gild buildings, there is the Doll Museum from 1573, the really beautiful Lord Leycester Hospital, Beauchamp Chapel, and of course the “splendid” (as the British would say) Warwick Castle. Being an medieval fortress, the Normans rebuilt it and made a fortified castle of it in the 14th century. Then in the 17th century the Greville family transformed it into a great country house. It was the residence for the Earls of Warwick and his family. This “Castle” is really set up for the visiting tourist, and maximizes the opportunity to gain $$$ from them. Now saying that, I feel it was still a bargain. It was restored beautifully with the help from Madame Tussaud’s. Not only was the work carried out on the structures, it was also well documented with those who lived there by the Tussaud’s. Their creations in wax were outstanding. They really did come to life. Then there were the hired medieval guards, the ladies of the house and their ladies in waiting, the knights, and even a jester to entertain us. We were invited to a “Royal Weekend Party” with the Prince of Wale’s from 1898 as our host (thanks to Madame Tussaud), and with special guest Winston Churchill (in his late teen’s). We also visited the private rooms of all the family, the Great Hall and State Room, The Mill and Engine House and, and… Overall, we spent over 5 hours on the grounds. We were also entertained by a “court action” against “William The Conquer”, and then outside for a flying display of “Birds of Prey”. Their handler treated us to a wonderful show with such birds as eagles, vultures, and hawks. I don’t know how many acres there were for the “grounds”, but they were all magnificent. Louise has really gotten into the huge trees, and they were well represented here. It is amazing, but there are more really large trees here in Europe and Great Britain, but as far a “forests”, they have very few. Tomorrow…Shakespeare and Stratford-upon-Avon…
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| June 08, 2005 10:32 AM
By Joel and Louise
Location: England
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| Proclamations of The Town Crier |  | 2 June ’05, Thursday. Who’s In The Pillory Now ??? …
We were going to do yesterday that we ended up doing today…Why ? RAIN !!! I’m sorry, but sometimes you just don’t want to get out in the wet, and besides, Lou wasn’t feeling so good. She was suffering from a wave of nausea that flowed in a wave from her stomach to her head, and then back. I think it was the red wine from the night before… Anyway, today we packed up, drove to Chester (about 5 miles away), and spent the day as tourists. Chester is a walled Roman city on the Welsh border and they say the “Romans still rule the roost here”. Something that wasn’t Roman, was the beautiful black and white Tudor-style architecture of the “Row”. These were particularly in the shopping district and are the half timbered, two level structures. Chester has been occupied since the “stone age”, but really came in to power as a trading settlement for the Romans about 1 AD. We felt the best way of getting our bearings and finding out what makes this town tick, was to walk the city walls. I don’t know just how far we walked on the walls, but by the time we were through, I was just about through…you know, worn out… tired… wanting to quit… The books, say it is a 40 minute walk, but I’d like to find that person who wrote the book. I don’t know, maybe it was the red wine from Tuesday… I guess it wasn’t just the wall, as every time we came to a place that looked interesting from the wall, we had to leave the wall and check it out. The first exit was when we arrived in the center of the “old town” of Chester. The main shopping area was filled with the “Row” buildings, throngs of people, and more sites that drew us in. One thing we did find, was that we were just in time for, the noon time messages from the Town Crier. The Town Crier for Chester is David Mitchell, and a Town Crier he is… He put the messages out to us and took the time to invite us personally to his town. Fact is, he asked me if I wanted to find a way to keep Louise from spending too much money shopping here in Chester…”of course”, I said, and with that he had Louise step forward, and he strapped her into “leg clamps” with a sentence of: “The stores close at 6pm and I’ll release you at 6:10pm”… and then he turned to me and told me “Of course, it will cost you 15% of what ever I would save by Louise being in “clamps”… We also had stops at a couple of internet cafes, three different Roman ruins, the Roodee racecourse, the city clock tower, and the Chester Cathedral, among other stops along the way. Our self-guided audio-tour through the Cathedral was a real highlight. Construction started in the early part of 1100 and continued with additions until the late 1300’s. In 1190 it became a Benedictine Abbey, and a new Church in the Norman style. One thing that sets this church off from many in England, was due to the Dissolution of the Monasteries by Henry VIII, the Abbey was closed in 1540, but the next year it became the Cathedral of the newly created Diocese of Chester.
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| June 05, 2005 06:26 AM
By Joel and Louise
Location: England
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| the Beautiful |  | 8 May ’05, Sunday.
The Lakes District… We haven’t traveled a great amount of miles, but we have traveled on some of the most incredible roads, through some of the most enjoyable scenery. First, we are in the mountain areas of Great Britain. They aren’t the mountains that we have in the North West, but they do get as high as 3000 feet, but they are formed more like large rolling hills than jagged mountains. One of the “passes” we went over we had to climb at a 20 to25% pitch and then going down was the same…the roadway is just wide enough to barely have room enough to meet a car coming at you. Remember, you are driving on the “wrong” side of the road, at about 35-45 miles an hour, a large hedge or rock wall (standing anywhere from 4’ to 8’ high) right at your drivers door, and the front wheel on the passenger side is riding on the little bumpers in the middle of the road (you just can’t get over enough to get off of them). And then, on top of all of that, the road is winding, twisting, rising, and dropping constantly. Every once in awhile, you will come to a part of the road that is just wide enough for your (or their) car…you hope when that happens, you are by yourself. Again, the day was spent in wonderful scenery, and on a bright day of sunshine, it was going to be tough to find anything wrong with this day. We did find a waterfall that we could hike up to, and it was worth the stop. We also stopped by the Castlerigg Stone Circle. These large stones were laid out in a circle high up on one of the hills. They say they don’t know who or how these stones were put there. They don’t even have any idea yet how long ago it was that they were laid out there as well. What they do know is, it was a long time ago. Well, tomorrow will treat us to more of the same roads and scenery for at least a couple more hours. Tonight, we stay in a forest, right on a river bank, about 30 miles from any town or city of any size…it will be a dark and quite night, I’m sure….
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| May 09, 2005 09:01 AM
By Joel and Louise
Location: England
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| Heading South into England Again | | 7 May ’05, Saturday.
A nice drive through some wonderful rolling hills, with some being in full bloom, and others of bright green grass, that the sheep keep cut short…it looks like a golf course as far as you can see. As we got closer to the coast, we started to see large forests that were planted about 20 years ago, and are looking good. It is amazing, that other than those, we have seen very little of any type of “forest” in Great Britain or The Netherlands. As we pulled into Carlisle, we found our campground right away. After we paid for our nights stay, we headed off to get some groceries. The young lady at the campgrounds told us how two get to the store (about 2 miles away). No problem getting there, but we had a lot of daylight left, and there was a castle in Carlisle that we wanted to see. We followed the signs and found our parking spot. A look around the grounds and up on the walls, gave us a good over-view, and not much else to see, so we walked into town to see a cathedral and then back to van. As we drove back to the campground, we followed the signs as we did coming in, (we know were right), but they lead us astray. We were lost, hopefully lost, and tired…why now ??? We tried one freeway off ramp, and we tried another, we traveled 5 miles up, and we traveled 5 miles down…were are we camped ??? If we hadn’t paid for the nights stay, we would have been on our way, but we had paid… finally, we found the right off ramp and the right campground…tell me, who gets lost more than we do ??? Tomorrow….the Irish Sea coast and then into the “Lakes District”.
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| May 09, 2005 08:59 AM
By Joel and Louise
Location: England
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| We Needed St Abby's Head... | | 4 May ’05, Wednesday.
The wind shook “Bumble Bee” all night long, but when morning broke, the sun was out and the wind dropped off considerably. We had a little of last nights “attitude” left, but that was melting with the help of the sun and a trip into this little town we were in… Berwick-upon-Tweed (aren’t these names just beautiful ???). Unfortunately yesterdays fiasco pushed us past a couple of wonderful sites that we would liked to have taken in, but that was yesterday and this is a “NEW” day. We were heading up to Edinburgh Scotland, about 45 miles distant, and we were taking “A-1”. Fortunately for those of us that wanted to take the “coastal route”, this time A-1 is the coastal route. About half way to Edinburgh we came across a highway marker telling us of a small village at the sea, so we made a U-turn on the A-1 and went back a 100 yards and then headed down this very narrow road. We wondered over hills and valleys, around bends and by small and large farms, and then we came upon this incredible seaside Scottish fishing village called St Abby’s Head. As we came into the village, the main part was on top of cliff and then there was this little single lane road that we could take (providing that no one was coming up) to the small wharf below. Once there, and a lot of pictures taken, we saw this very little outdoor patio serving food. On the menu, it said, if the tables are full or it is raining, we will bring your order on a tray to your car… This was a very nice, but very old looking building. Outside, they had 7 tables that were set up inside of a wall on 2 sides…to keep the wind out… We were lucky that it wasn’t a weekend because we wouldn’t have had a table and that meant we wouldn’t have had our crab sandwich, tea, and scone with jam and whipped cream…. Oh yes, tonight we went into the little village close to the campground and had dinner at one of the little “Pub’s”. For a “starter” we had “Haggis”…mmmm good !!! Tomorrow…Edinburgh (ED’n-burah)
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| May 05, 2005 08:28 AM
By Joel and Louise
Location: England
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| We Don't Want To Talk About It.... | | 3 May ’05, Tuesday.
We are getting closer to Scotland, and you can sure tell it by the stronger British/Scottish accents. After leaving camp, we headed north and our first stop for the day is going to be “Hadrian’s Wall”… Built by the Romans and their slaves, at Emperor Hadrian’s order in AD 122. Hadrian’s Wall marked the northern boundary of their empire in the 2nd and 3rd centuries AD, and was their most impressive engineering achievement in Northern Europe. Hadrian’s Wall covers over 73 miles and still stands on average 6 feet of the original 10 feet in height. Also along with towers, complete settlements followed the wall. For the infantry men who were to man the wall, come summer to winter, it can get very cold here. Today, the first week of May, and the rains have continued and the winds are blowing cold. Just think of the wind and snow together…it must have been really tough. Just as we arrived, the rain let up to a light drizzle and the wind was mild. Once we parked “Bumble Bee”, we had a walk of just over a half a mile to the wall. This walk took us through gated fences that kept the sheep and their new (twins) baby lambs in the “bright green” grass pastures. Our trail was down a hill and then up the other side to the wall. This section that we stopped at, was once a complete settlement for the Roman military. The foundations of most of their buildings were still there, and of course the wall. It was really amazing, because once you were at the top and looking down into the hills and dale on the Scotland side, and then with your eyes, follow the walls east and west until they went out of site in the far off distance…it was really a physical and engineering feat. Well, we had better get on the road. We haven’t decided were we will settle for the night yet, but we want to follow the “coast road” as much as we can, and it is only 2 in the afternoon. We had to back track for about 30 miles to get back to the coast (North Sea), and then make a left turn and follow the water….sounds easy???…guess again !!! I really don’t remember anytime that we had more wrong turns, mis-directed by signs and maps, and road just ending than we had today. IT WAS HELL!! I won’t go into all the trials that we went through, but we finally said enough was enough and headed for “A-1”…the mail highway…the one that IS the most traveled…ANYTHING that will take us out of our misery. When we finally pulled into a campground in a driving rain and wind storm, we really weren’t good company for each other (or anyone else, I’m sure…). WE DON’T WANT TO TALK ABOUT IT !!!
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| May 05, 2005 08:25 AM
By Joel and Louise
Location: England
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| Lewd ??? | | 2 May ’05, Monday
The solid stone walls of the Pickering Castle still guard over the small church and a little bit of the castle walls that are still standing. It was interesting, but the Church of St. James and John made the stop. One of the stories coming out of the church was about one of the clergyman that thought the 10th century frescos that were painted on the walls, showed lewd and suggestive images that he didn’t want his congregation to view. So, he grabbed a paint brush and started painting over them with white paint. Thank goodness they have been restored. They are just wonderful paintings showing things like a dragon being slain by St. George and other bible stories. When they were painted in medieval times, most of the people couldn’t read so they painted stories on the walls.
Next, we wandered over to see the North Yorkshire Moors Railway train station. This is a small railway, whose trains are pulled by steam engines. After the train left the station, we headed north into town. This is a little town called Goathland. Goathland is located right in the “moors” of Yorkshire, and the station is in a small valley with a small river running right in back of the station. This station is the one that was filmed in the Harry Potter movies. The moors (heavily brushed with heathers and heaths), run right up the bank of the other side. Our drive through the “moors” was really very pretty, but as we have read, it must really be outstanding when the heather and heaths are in bloom.
On the coast is Whitby Abbey. Perched high on a cliff, the gaunt remains of this magnificent abbey stands tall above the picturesque seaside town of Whitby. The Abby was founded in AD 657 by St. Hilda (known as Hild during her life time). Unfortunately the Abby was destroyed by a Viking invasion in AD 867. Much later, William the Conqueror rebuilt it in 1070, but again King Henry VIII had it destroyed during the dissolution in 1538. It’s really sad, because it must have magnificent to see in AD657.
Now, back on the road, those less traveled, we head off to our next campground, White Water Park. It is located just in between Middlesbrough and Thornaby-on-Tees. One night there, and then up the coast route “tomorrow”….
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| May 05, 2005 08:23 AM
By Joel and Louise
Location: England
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| You Would Think We Would Have Learned.... | | 1 May ’05, Sunday.
Leaving York, we ended up taking the “Ring Road”, which is to save you time as it will take you out of the city traffic…but NO, it takes you into one of those traffic jams that is miles long, instead of a block or 2…I hope we have learned something from this… Our destination was from York to the coastal town of Scarborough. It should have taken us about 45 minutes to an hour, but, we decided to take a side trip to Helmsley Castle.
This 12th century Norman castle sits high on a massive earthworks (hill) overlooking the Rye Valley. Unfortunately, there isn’t a lot of castle left, but the views, the historical story, the stone cottages of the village, the small shoppes, and a nice little restaurant that we found. We decided to split a pizza and salad, and thank god we did, it was all we could eat as it was. England has a program called “English Heritage”, which we could join for £ 40, or about $75. This will get us into over 409 “Heritage” sites all over England. We gave a quick calculation, and decided that we would probably make up the cost of the pass in the first 2 weeks…we need as much help as we can get. Now, onto our next campground…West Ayton. It’s about 12 miles outside of Scarborough. Tomorrow, we’ll head back about 10 miles to Pickering...
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| May 05, 2005 08:21 AM
By Joel and Louise
Location: England
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| What Was That Noise ???? |  | 29 April ’05, Friday.
Back to York this morning to see what we missed yesterday. York has a “City Wall”, that is broken up into 7 sections, which means that it doesn’t cross over either one of the rivers, and there are a number of “bar’s” (gates), that you have to leave the wall, cross the street, and go back up to continue. I think, there was only 2 that we could cross all the way to the next without leaving the wall. There were 3 locations that we had to walk quite a distance to rejoin if we wanted to complete the whole thing (which we did). We also spent a lot of time just exploring the streets (including the “Shambles”), street market, stores, restaurants, and then on to the Castle Museum. We spent at least 4 hours exploring this museum. It was set up much differently than any we have been to so far. A lot of it was set up like you were walking down a street of Ole York, or even into someone’s home. It also had historic items ranging from the 9th century onto the end of WWII. We had a good time there and glad we took the time to see it.
Most of York today, is much the same as it was centuries ago. Yes, there is some new and modern, but most still date back into the 16th and 17th centuries. They are small, but they have a wonderful feeling as soon as you enter. By the way, York is know as the “most haunted city in Europe”. They have not only had people that have seen, heard, of felt a “person”, but even whole Roman regiments in a couple of cases…want to spend a night in one of the most haunted places ??? I’ll let you take my place.
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| April 30, 2005 04:16 AM
By Joel and Louise
Location: England
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| On The Roads Less Traveled.... |  | 28 April ’05, Thursday. Clifford's Tower,York
Yesterday we traveled north by taking a lot of “lesser traveled” roads. It was a windy day for the road, but fortunately for us, it was mostly a tail wind. The roads here in England are again different from all the others we have traveled on during our journey. The first thing of course is the side of the road that we travel on. The next is, there is no shoulder to these roads, in fact, there is a curb that keeps you on the straight and narrow. It is a little disturbing to see that curb right there beside you on these narrow country roads. We have seen a few “Grand” Country Homes, with all the manicured grounds along the way and also were quite surprised at the amount of mustard that is being grown in all the fields. Another picture, is all the farm land that is fenced in with plants of “hedges”. It is a beautiful sight to see the fields of yellow mustard blooms completely “hedged” in.
Our first stop was the college town of Cambridge. It was one of those towns that you have heard of forever, and you just wanted to see just what it looked like or felt like to be there. This was another town of narrow windy streets with no parking, so I just pulled up to the curb, stopped and got out. “You can’t just park here…”, “Well, if they would make more parking spots, we wouldn’t have too… come on, we will only be a little while”… As it was, as we walked around the corner, we walked right into a great little market going on, so… We also had to visit the Information Center… As luck would have it, we got back and everything was OK, but no sooner had we gotten back into our seats, and a police car pulled up, parked, got our of their car and walked around the corner heading for the market as well…”so there…”
A half day of driving and we decided to settle into our next campground. It is located just outside of the city of Nottingham, that is the Nottingham of Robin Hood fame. We were also close by the “Sherwood Forest”. These are real places and real legends…kind of neat. The campground was also kind of neat. We camped right on the edge of a small lake, complete with all the waterfowl (with their young), and fish. We even had a fisherman doing what fishermen do… This morning, we again took to the back roads and finally made it to York. We got into town about noon, so after doing a quick “set-up”, we headed off into see what York had to offer. It took us all of 10 minutes to walk to “Clifford’s Tower”, which is all that is left standing of the Castle of York. Clifford’s Tower stands high on a hill, which used to be surrounded by water and a much larger fortress. The harbor has changed dramatically here. Today the city of York has 2 rivers flowing through and around it, but centuries ago, there was a large body of water from a river, but is now much more shallow and narrow. Even today, the River Ouse will take you out to the sea. Just around the corner from the tower is York. We wondered the historic streets, visited a couple of churches, (even had lunch in one), and then found ourselves inside the famous “York Minster”. We had no sooner entered and they were starting a tour, so we jumped right in. It is amazing how much more information you get when you have a tour guide to show you through. The York Minster is the largest Gothic church north of the Alps (540 feet long and 200 feet tall). (The word “Minster” means a place from which people go out to minister of spread the word of God.) Construction was started in 1280 and wasn’t finished for over another 200 years. It has many outstanding “painted” windows throughout, but the one that stands out to me is the one called the “Five Sisters Windows”. These are 5 windows that stand over 50 feet high and are painted, and then each piece is put together with lead (like what we would call a stained glass paneled window). As always, there is so much more to tell you about this “Church”, but it will have to wait.
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| April 30, 2005 04:11 AM
By Joel and Louise
Location: England
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| Great Britian Here We Come... |  | 26 April ’05, Tuesday. Campground at Nottingham
Tuesday morning we were up and at the ferry terminal by 6:30am to catch our “fast ferry” for the crossing to Great Britain. This fast ferry was a huge catamaran that they say is the largest and fastest catamaran in the world. As far a size, it loaded on about 10-12 large truck and trailer combo’s plus a lot of cars, caravans, campers, and busses filled with school kids on a break of some kind. There were 2 movie theatres, and at least 5 restaurants and more on board as well. The crossing took about 3 hours compared to the slow ferries that take 9 hours to cross the same route. Anyway, we left Hoek van Holland and arrived at Harwich England. As we were going through the passport check, they made sure that we remembered that we would be driving on the opposite side of the road from then on… I was hoping that I could follow someone for the first few miles, but that was hopeful thinking, as “Bumble Bee” just couldn’t keep up. Well, put the headlights on, think of what you were doing constantly, and hope you don’t mess up…just go for it… After leaving Harwich, we traveled on for about 30 minutes and we pulled into our first town in England…Colchester. This turns out to be the “first town to be recorded in England”. The first thing we noticed was parking was almost non-existent, and the streets were really narrow, so add this onto driving on the wrong side, we had a challenge in front of us. Now after finding a parking lot and a place we could park in, we had to find the ATM to get some “Pounds”. Of course the ATM doesn’t put out coins, so I had to find a store to buy some little token so I could get change and then run back to the van and hope that I beat the “meter maid” there. Got all that taken care of, now seeing as how we were famished and had some money in our pocket, we went looking for something to eat. As it was, we came across “Computerchinno”, which was a small restaurant and internet café all in one. After having our lunch, catching up on the web page, and email, we headed up the road to find our next campground.
Tomorrow…heading north toward York…
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| April 30, 2005 04:05 AM
By Joel and Louise
Location: England
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