Berkeley Castle

On Thursday, I drove over to Berkeley Castle, which was only 8 miles away.  I wasn't even aware that this existed when planning my trip. I found out about it while talking to the estate agent and Lady Mander on Tuesday morning.  Lady Mander is friends with the Berkeleys and thought it very amusing that I would be touring the castle during the day and she would be dining with the family that same night.              

I was not allowed to take any pictures inside, and I somehow lost the pics I took outside so I scanned these photos from the souvenir booklet that I bought.

Early painting of castle

It was pretty amazing to be in this room.

This is the other side of the room pictured above. This room is probably where Shakespeare's A Midsummer's Night's Dream was first performed.

This is Queen Eliz. I bedspread, it all embroidered in silk and gold threads.

The legend about why the bedspread was left behind. I bought the silk scarf, below.

I added this picture because what looks like red wallpaper on the walls is actually hand embroidered wool which was part of a tent made for watching King Henry VIII joust in France with the french King. It was later used to cover the walls of the master bedroom, then pieced together on these walls. There was an elderly British woman on the tour with her daughter, she was obviously a needle-artist like me and we together went ga-ga over the bedspread and the wall covering. Her daughter had to keep saying "come on mum, keep up"!

Isn't this so romantic looking?

Adventures in Bath

On Wednesday, I drove myself to Bath, about an hour's drive away. It was a rainy day but not too cold. The first thing I did was to tour the roman baths which were quite interesting. Their antiquity was impressive, certainly the oldest ruins I've ever seen (which isn't saying much for my experience). However, the audio guide which I rented kept talking about the “ramons” and once in a while threw in “roman ruins”. I thought this a bit quirky but very british. My favorite part of the “Ramon Baths” was the ancient plaque of “Sulis”, some kind of roman diety. His face is strangely scary and benevolent at the same time. I also got a kick out of all the animal faces carved in stone, these are just a few.

At the roman baths

Ink and pastel drawing of Sulis

Bath Abbey

 Next, I went to the enormous Bath Abbey. It was impressive! I wanted to take a tour and paid for what I thought was a walk around of the main abbey. Turned out it was the tower tour-involving climbing some 200+ tiny stairs up to the top of the abbey. Well, it was an adventure. I got to see the bell ringing room, the back of the clock, stand it the bell chamber while the bells rang the ½ hour, ( it was loud but thrilling) and then stand on the tallest tower. I think it is the tallest building in Bath, the view was wonderful. Going down the stairs was the hardest part, between bifocals and astigmatism, boots and stiff ankles, I was glad when I was down! It was worth it, though.                                                                                                   

Some of the very ornate stone carving on the Abbey.

Inside the Abbey. The walls and floors are covered with inscriptions and tributes to the illustrious dead, including Americans.

The infamous steps to the top of the abbey, as you can see, these are original and very worn. Kind of slippery, too.

The back of the clock

The view from the abbey tower

And there I am, at the top!

The Pump Room Restaurant

Souvenir shop bag

Me with the most photographed man in Bath.

Pen and pastel drawing of 

Jane Austin Center souvenirs.

I then went into the Pump Room, which is now a very nice restaurant and had a little lunch, then popped over to a souvenir shop to get a t-shirt that Inger-Lis had requested. Here is the bag it was in, I won't show the shirt 'cause she hasn't seen it yet. I then hopped on a sight-seeing bus for awhile and got off at the Jane Austen Center, where I had my picture taken with this jolly fellow, said to be the most photographed man in Bath! The center is quite small but fun for Jane Austin fans, of which I am one!!! I didn't learn anything new (I could probably be a guide myself without any training) but they had lovely display from the numerous movies made from her novels and I bought some lavender ink and a pretty pen from the gift shop. I had planned on also going to the Fashion Museum across the street but alas, it was closing for the day in 20 minutes. So I walked up the street to see the famous Crescent of Bath with its upscale apartments for the rich and famous of Jane Austin's day. I had to walk back to my car at this point because the sight-seeing bus was on its last run to the other side of town. I got lost for awhile, found the car park, fought traffic in Bath (traffic is TERRIBLE in Bath at all times, the streets are just too tiny, winding and narrow), and then found that the most direct way home was detoured due to an accident. I had to take the long way home and my garmin sat-nav was very confused. I didn't get home until about 7 o'clock. Next time, I'll plan for more time in Bath!

The Cotswolds

On Wednesday I drove myself around the Cotswolds, visiting the villages of Stow-on-the-Wold (don't you just love that name?) and Chipping Camden. I think that this was my favorite day of this trip,tooling around pretty country roads in my little Vauxhall compact. The towns were so picturesque and the scenery breathtaking, especially when the sun came out.

Stow-on-the-Wold center square, the steepled building in back is the town hall and library.

 

They still have these darling red phone booths!

This is a victorian fountain. I know that because it says so on the plaque.

I saw this picture on the net while researching for my trip, and I was determined to find it and have my picture taken in front of it. This is St. Edwards church in Stow. It is supposed to be pretty interesting inside but was closed for a funeral.

Viola! Bad picture, bad lighting but at least I got it.

More St. Edwards.

 

After taking shots of the church, it looked like it was about to pour rain and so I ducked into an antique shop across the street. There I found a couple of treasures to bring home with me. An Edwardian tablecover with hand crocheted lace 7” deep (be still my beating heart!) and a little piece of hand carved wood work that appears to be a fragment from some larger decoration.

Close up of lace work.

The quarter is for size comparison. The wood appears to be quite old and is very dusty and dirty right now, I plan on cleaning it up a bit. Gently, of course. Then I will probably hang it on the wall.






 

Picture from Huffkins web page.

I then walked around a bit (it never did rain), looking into shops and walking down some picturesque alleyways. A lot of the shops were second-hand charity stores, up-scale silver and crystal shops were closed because there were gypsies in the area, the town hall was closed, too. I was a little disappointed that there wasn't more to look at, but I was warned by Lady Mander that it was very touristy. I decided it was time for a little something to eat before going on to more sight-seeing and went into this tea-room.

I ordered hot chocolate and scones. The scones came out on this wonderful little rack with jam and clotted cream. The hot chocolate was about the best I've ever tasted, and clotted cream is to die for. It's like butter and whipped cream put together. English scones are what we call biscuits, but with things like fruit put into them. In England, cookies are called biscuits. After my meal, I went around to the tourist info booth and asked how to find some thatched cottages. I was kindly directed to drive north to Chipping Camden, where there are a few cottages that are the most photographed. I did that, but couldn't get any pictures. The buildings that I found were all at busy crossroads with no place to park. So I drove around and found myself at another fine old church, which, again, was closed. This time it was for a pianist to rehearse for a concert that evening. I could hear him playing and it sounded really nice, but darn it, I wanted to get in!  I took some pictures outside that are pretty nice, the sun had come out again.

The outer gate of St. James in Chipping Camden.  This was a pretty big and imposing church with many old, old grave markers in the yard, some dating back to the early 1600's.

The grass is really this green, and don't you love the variations in the colors of the stone?

Read this inscription, the wife is called a relict. I saw this terminology on several other grave markers of this time period.

A really cool side door on the church.

Last picture for this blog post. (I'm tired) this is the view from the St. James church yard, the turreted building is what's left of an ancient estate that its owner burned in the civil war (which one-I don't know) so that it would not fall into enemy hands.

Taking it easy

 

On Sunday it was actually sunny and I didn't want to drive anywhere far yet, I had planned to go to a Church of England sunday service but chickened out and so went wandering instead. On Monday, it was raining as well as a bank holiday-which in England means most things are closed. What wasn't closed was cancelled because of the rain. So I spent Sunday wandering around the village and Owlpen, and sketched some, bought some food in the small local shop (fresh local baked bread, brown free-range eggs, butter, jam and organic milk-this was some of the best food I have ever had!) took pictures, and relaxed. On Monday I practice driving by going to the nearest bigger town, Dursley, to find a supermarket and some maps. I found both and spent then spent the rest of the day sketching the colored drawing of the path next to the church and this sketch of a tile. I also watched BBC television which I found very entertaining.

The Crown Pub and Inn, in Uley.

These cows live on a farm right next to Owlpen.

Pretty view from the Owlpen road.

Flowers in the hedgerow.

An Uley house.

Uley house with white roses around the door. This photo doesn't do justice to how pretty it looked.

Owlpen Church and Manor

 

Owlpen is the name of the place where I stayed. My apartment was in the top of a tithe barn built in the mid 1400's, around the same time as the main part of the manor house was built. The main house is a grade1 building, meaning that its owners have to keep both the outside and inside period correct. It has been used as a set for many TV and movie productions. I sadly was not able to tour the manor because it is undergoing some repairs. But I met Lady Mander, who with her husband, Sir Mander bought the place in the mid 70's and lovingly restored it, converting several outbuildings into rental cottages. She was very gracious and we had a lively conversation about Utahns and Mormons. She said that the estate has had a fair amount of Utah mormon visitors, Sir Mander had even been to Salt Lake City once. She drew me a map for negotiating the roundabouts between Uley (the little village at the bottom of the lane) and Stow-on-the-Wold, this being the picturesque Cotswold village I wanted to visit on Tuesday. I will go into that trip later, I'm still on Sunday! The little church was built a while later for the personal use of one of the manor's owners. I think it's early Victorian. Here are some pictures I took of the church and manor.

Owlpen Manor, with its church in the background.

Owlpen church

Back of the church

Richly ornamented grave marker.

Church nave.

Ceiling in the nave.

One of two carved stone faces.

One of the many stained glass windows.

There is a lot of mosaic work in the nave, very Victorian and pretty.