October 26, 2009 - Wales

Greetings All,

Today we headed off to Wales to show our friends Derek & Carol, who are over from Mississauga, some of the sites in the area. We headed off to Snowdonia National Park. Once off the main highway or motorway as they are called in the UK we travelled through some very lovely countryside. Very winding one lane roads that follow the hills up to Snowdon. Sheep seems to be the main staple of the farms here. Our first stop is the small village of Llanberis. We walk around to take some photo opportunities of Lake Padarn and the church. From here you can take part in what is known as The Great Little Trains of Wales which are narrow-gauge stream trains, we pass on this. In the past this area was well known for its slate quarries and we see the evidence of this in the attached picture. We headed off to Betws-y-Coed, our next stop, and the fall colours in Wales are the best we have seen and the hills are in full bloom.

Betws-y-Coed is a lovely little town that reminds our friends somewhat of Niagara-on-the-Lake. We have a great, although late lunch here. The guys have haddock and I must say the largest portion of fish I have seen yet. No such a thing as a small meal in a pub. I have plaice and Carol a burger. After lunch we walk around the town and do some shopping. Derek scores a gollywog for his mom, much to our surprise as these are now considered rather racist. Gollywogs for the uninitiated are little black dolls that used to be available through Robertson jams and were available until the mid 1970's we think until the change to political correctness. The mug and doll were actually marked gollywog. We are thinking maybe Wales are not worried about today's political correctness. Just a point of interest Fred does have a gollywog pin back from his childhood days in England.

As the UK has already had its time change it gets dark by 5:00 p.m. so we decide to head back to Liverpool on the coast road going through the seaside towns of Rhyl and Prestatyn. The changes astound both Fred and Derek as they don't remember them as being as large as they are today. Mind you in this area there are trailer parks (caravans in the UK) for miles and I do not think it is a place to be during the summer months. We arrive back in Liverpool just as it is getting real dark. A good day was had by all.

Ta Ra for now.

Sandy & Fred

October 6, 2009 - Leeds Castle

Greetings All,

Today we visited Leeds Castle, which gets its name from the ancient Saxon manor of Esledes and was recorded in the Doomsday book of 1086.

The Domesday Book is the record of the great survey of England completed in 1086, executed for William I of England, or William the Conqueror. While spending the Christmas of 1085 in Gloucester, William "had deep speech with his counsellors and sent men all over England to each shire to find out what or how much each landholder had in land and livestock, and what it was worth". One of the main purposes of the survey was to determine who held what and what taxes had been liable under Edward the Confessor; the judgment of the Domesday assessors was final - whatever the book said about who held the material wealth or what it was worth, was the law, and there was no appeal. Damn government even in those days.

Following the Norman Conquest of 1066 many manors were fortified to remind the locals and foreign invaders the strength of the nobility. Construction of the first stone castle on the Leeds Castle site began in 1119 by Robert Crevecoeur, a descendant of one of William II's knights. While looking very fortified the castle was besieged twice in 1139 & 1321 when its residents of the day offended the king. The beauty of the castle is not accidental. As they say location, location,location is everything. The castle was built between the two strategically important towns of London and Dover. Leeds castle passed into royal hands in 1278 and became part of the Queen of England's dower - the settlement queens received from their husbands. Over the course of the next 150 years it was held by six mediaeval queens in all; Eleanor of Castile, Margaret of France, Isabella of France, Anne of Bohemia, Joan of Navarre and Catherine de Valois.

In Tudor times Henry VIII visited the castle with his Queen, Catherine of Aragon in 1520 and his son King Edward VI granted the castle to one of Henry's courtiers for his services in 1522.

Since that time it has been in private ownership and used as a garrison, prison and a convalescent home. As well it has been the private home of the Culpeper (17th century), Fairfax (18th century) and Wykeham Martin (19th century) families. The castle as we see it today the final result of over 900 years of alterations and changes. Upon the death of Lady Baillie in 1974 (the castle's last owner) it was left to the Leeds Castle Foundation whose aim is to preserve the castle and grounds for the benefit of the public forever. The grounds surrounding the castle used to be a 3000 acre estate, while today it is smaller it still contains farms, woodland, a golf course and several gardens.

Today, as we tour the castle, the final preparations are underway for the annual flower festival. This year's theme is to honour the 500th anniversary of Henry the VIII's ascension to the throne. We see the displays being prepared, as well as some finished displays. The smell is amazing. As you tour the castle, you are given information on the various rooms and how their usage changed over time. Some rooms have been recreated as closely as possible to how they might have looked during the time the mediaeval Queens owned the castle.

The pictures will be on Flickr, but will not be available until Thursday.

We have spent three hours exploring the interior of the castle, however, due to the rain we do not explore the grounds so a return visit will be in the planned in the future.

From here we headed into Maidstone but we are rather disappointed. After a late lunch we headed back to the Inn.

Cheerio for now,

Sandy & Fred

October 5, 2009 - Canterbury

Greetings All,

Today we left London. John had warned us about being careful about what lanes we were in to get out of Westminster alone never mind London. After one unsuccessful attempt, (we were in the wrong lane) we are finally on our way after driving over Vauxhall Bridge twice. We do have another detour later on as the Nav. Chick is not very clear on her instructions (or is it the listener). Finally we're out of London and it is raining quite hard. Thankfully by the time we get to Canterbury the rain is now a heavy mist.

We headed to Canterbury Cathedral after lunch as we have paid for 4 hours of parking. The cathedral is unbelievable. When you consider when it was built and the tools of the time, in comparison to today, the results we see in the architecture is mind boggling. Since 597 AD Canterbury has been the seat of the Archbishop of Canterbury. We enter the Cathedral through a very ornate gate Christ Church Gate which is early Tudor probably built as a memorial to Henry VII's eldest son Arthur, Prince of Wales whole died in 1502 at the age of 16. The shields on the front represent officers of his household and his trusted supporters. The heavy wooden doors were given by the Archbishop Juxon in 1663. We spend over two hours inside the cathedral exploring the chapels within the church itself. It is in this cathedral that Thomas Beckett was murdered by Henry II's knights in 1170. The windows are from various periods as the the church grew. We see the only two that have survived from 1180's. The crypt is a very solemn quiet place with various prayer chambers and the structure of pillars are amazing. Picture taking is not allowed in this area here but we do sneak some. There are some spots which still have the original painted walls and are protected against taking pictures which while understanding the need to protect the walls it is a shame we cannot take photo's without flash. There are a number of tombs and shrines to people of note since 1170 onward. The Black Prince's Tomb is one of the finest medieval tombs, Edward Prince of Wales (1376). The gilded effigy shows him in full armour and gauntlets, spurs, his dog and helmet. We spend over 2 1/2 hours in the Cathedral trying to take in all the history and beauty of the place.

We then head out and do a quick walk around the area near the cathedral and realize we have only glimpsed a tiny bit of Canterbury. There is an Abbey and a castle which we have not even come across. This is definitely a place the needs another visit. We then head off to Lenham for our stay at the Dog and Bear a Inn (a 17th century coach inn built in 1602 and visited in 1704 by Queen Anne and her coat of arms are proudly displayed over the entrance). The back roads are very pretty and the countryside is rolling hills. Once we are checked in we stroll around the village. The church has some very old tombstones on which we cannot see dates. Fred does make one out that dates back to the early 1800's. Tonight we have a fun moon and I suggest we head back to the cemetery to take pictures. Fred nix's my idea. Maybe scared of ghost's LOL.

Cheerio,

Sandy & Fred

October 1-3, 2009 - London

Greeting All,

October 1 - Today we headed off to London. We take all the back or A & B class roads to get there. just over a two hour trip. The original plan was to stop at some of the little villages or towns along the way. I had especially wanted to stop at Burford to browse the shops but the car sticker expired and our replacement was waiting for us at John and Adrienne's in London and Fred did not want to chance a fine for a expired plate which I think is quite expensive. We pass some very pretty countryside with winding roads and as we get nearer to London the towns become bigger. Our afternoon in London is used to catch up on e-mails as we did not have the anticipated WiFi in Shipton-under-Wychwood. Then a quick jaunt to Harrods to get some great kids we know Fulham Balls. Supper is made by Adrienne then we all head off to a pub the Jugged Hare for a pint. Adrienne then heads back as tomorrow they head off to Prague and Fred, John and I have another pint at the White Swan. Bedtime at a decent hour for all of us.

October 2 - Catch up day continues, blogs to be posted, pictures downloaded and laundry to be done. Tonight we finally are taking in a show in the West End, Sister Act at the Palladium. We decided to have supper at The Clachan a pub close to the theatre. Friday night and it is crazy busy (see picture). The show is amazing and the actress who plays Delores has a fantastic voice. I especially liked that before the show started a voice which sounded like Whoopi Goldberg told the audience to shut your damn cellphones off and if they heard any ring that they the actors and actresses were going to get you, same for candy wrapper noise. The theatre is hot so we walk down to Green Park to cool off after the show. It is busy with theatre goers, clubbers and general tourists . We see our very first street person ever which is really quite amazing given the number of times we have been here. He has two overloaded shopping carts but is quite clean and rather well dressed for a street person. Makes us wonder if he is just out to collect some spare change. Back at the flat Fred does the doggy duties as required then its bedtime.

October 3 - Today we are finally up to date. We have a late start and headed off to Covent Garden as I want o do a bit of Xmas shopping. The Victoria tube line is closed for the day, so we walk to Victoria Station to get another line to get up to the Garden. Once my mission is accomplished we walk back to the flat covering some old stopping grounds. The Mall, Green Park, Buckingham Palace. We stop at the Jugged Hare for lunch. Here we are served at the table which is a first usually you order at the bar and then they bring your food. A nice change if I do say so. In the pub we learn a bit of trivia about hares. There are two types of hares in Britain, the brown and blue hares. March Madness is a mating ritual where the females box overly attentive males!! And you all thought it was to do with college basketball!! By the way the pub's signature pie is hare pie which I was told is very tasty, I passed on it. Another short stop to pick up some salad stuff for the next two nights and we are back in the flat. I am exhausted today must have been the cool windy outdoors. I had hoped to get to Hyde Park today didn't happen. Pictures have been posted on Flickr but still need a description, hopefully Fred with accomplish that tomorrow before he heads off to the footie match.

Cheerio,

Sandy & Fred

September 30, 2009 - Oxford

Greetings All,

Today we headed out to Oxford, a University City in the area. The other University City not too far away is Cambridge which we had reported on in our very early travels to the UK.

In the days of old the Church was responsible for the higher education of its nobles and their sons. Girls were not to be given a formal education. We used the park and ride as the city is quite congested and parking for a day can be expensive. The 4 pound bus ride return for both of us is cheap when all is considered.

Oxford was originally founded in 680 by the patron saint of Oxford St. Frideswide who built the first church on the site where Christ Church Cathedral now stands. Once off the bus the first site we come across is the remains of St. Martins Church a 14th century tower. The tower has a clock with two quarter boys that hit the bells every 15 minutes. This site is the junction of four ancient routes into the centre of old Oxford. From here after purchasing a map we go into St. Mary the Virgin University Church. The building is amazing as you will see from pictures on Flickr. It takes us a while to get our bearings or at least Fred the map reader I think he has become too dependent on the GPS :) (Editorial note: the author Sandy is too damned impatient to move on before allowing a proper evaluation of where we are or were we're headed).

We then head off along the main street High Street to Merton College. This college was founded in 1264 by the Lord Chancellor Walter de Merton. The cobblestone lane is still intact. The college boasts the oldest Quad in Oxford - the 14th century Mob Quad. The chapel built in 1290 is also the University's oldest. We end up in a park like setting which is part of Merton's grounds but are also the grounds of Magdalen College (pronounced Maudlin). We walk along dead Man's Walk I believe so named for the men who walked along this path to be burned at the stake, such as Cramner, Ridley and Latimer in 1555 at the behest of Catholic Queen Mary. Wow those Catholics could be nasty back in the day.

We end up back on High Street and arrive at Magdalen College. This college was founded in 1458 by William Wayneflete. This college has the most beautiful grounds of all as it has a river walk and deer park. We have come across all this while searching for Oxford Cathedral which we finally find as Fred now has his bearings. As the college dining room is closed until 2:30 we opt for lunch as there is a fee to enter the college and we wanted to see it all. We pass a lovely house and gardens just outside the college which is the War Memorial Gardens. A picture of it I have posted on this blog.

Our final site for the day is Christ Church College, which also houses Oxford cathedral, which is the smallest cathedral in Britain. It is here we are able to enter the college and tour inside. Founded in 1525 on the site of the old priory. Originally called Cardinal College (by Cardinal Wolsey) it was re-founded by Henry VIII 20 years later. All that remains of the priory is the 12th century Norman Cathedral which acts both as the colleges chapel and the town's cathedral. This college has the largest of all quads, called Tom Quad and the tower bell rings each night 101 times. The original college had 101 students and they had to be inside the college before the bells stopped ringing at 9:00 P.M.. The bell chimes at 9:05 as Oxford time is 5 minutes after Greenwich Mean Time. The dining hall at the college is massive and was the model for the Hogworts dining hall in the Harry Potter movies. The stone work of the ceilings in the cloister, Meadow building and cathedral is amazing again you need to look at Flickr or Facebook (me) to check it out. The other thing I found very interesting was Charles Dodgson better known to us as Lewis Carroll the author of Alice in Wonderland was a math tutor here and his writings are based on real people. Alice was the deans daughter and the characters in the books were based on people who worked or lived in the college as well as objects in the college.

Well I could go on forever about Oxford and we only covered a few of the 33 colleges the city has. As well there are other sites to see that we didn't have time for. A full day was spent in Oxford and it's a place that is worth another visit. We headed back to the Lamb Inn for pie night. We arrived just after 6:00 and notice a lot of reserved tables. We get a seating for 7:45 thank goodness cause Fred was really looking forward to pie night. Again the food was amazing and portions good. Well tomorrow we are off to London for 4 nights to dog sit.

Cheerio,

Sandy & Fred.

September 29, 2009 - Blenheim Palace & Hailes Abbey

Greetings All,

Today we headed back to Woodstock to finish off the tour of Blenheim Palace. Our last visit to the Palace on September 4th allowed us to upgrade our entrance fee to a years pass for free. Today we explore the side of the Palace that is guided by the ghost of Grace Ridley maid to the first duchess Sarah Churchill. It is very well done with computer images in mirror's and on walls as well as animated mannequins. This tour gives us the history of the people who lived in the palace and some insight to the type of people they were. As well there are additional information kiosk's which you can access for information on the family tree, what the various dukes have contributed to the palace since it's original construction. A good two hours was spent here.

Our next stop is Hailes Abbey near Winchcombe in Gloucestershire. Founded in 1246 by Richard, Earl of Cornwall, King of the Romans and the younger brother of King Henry III, this once great Ciscertian (monks from France) abbey became a site of pilgrimage when Richard's son Edmund donated a phial of the holy blood to the community in 1270. The blood was to said to be from Christ and have great healing powers. Abbot Stephen Sagar had the phial opened and said it just contained a sticky honey like substance and was not blood at all. Fool did not know that over time blood separates and he was just looking at the serum, so he had it destroyed. Hailes Abbey was one of the last religious institutions to acquiesce following the Dissolution Act of 1536, Abbot Stephen Sagar and his monks finally surrendering their abbey to Henry VIII's commissioners on Christmas Eve 1539. After the Dissolution, the west range was converted into a house and was home to the Tracy family in the seventeenth century, but these buildings were later looted and demolished by not only Henry VIII and other lords but finally the peasants and farmers of the area.

The area was also renowned for it wool and sheep are still farmed in the area today. It is said, even today, that the wool is the finest in the UK. As well there are a number of horse chestnut trees on the site and when walking under them you have to be careful of the falling conkers. As a point of interest there are 470,000 horse chestnut trees in Britain. The World Conker Championships are held in Oundle Northamptonshire on October 11 and the length of the string the contestants are allowed to use is 12 inches.

On the drive back we stop in Stow-on-Wold for a walk around another quaint village and I drop into St Edward, a church that is open to check out the stained glass. We head back to The Lambs Inn for a pint and then venture onto the Red Horse Inn for supper. I have the best burger I have had since we have arrived here and Fred has fish and chips. Then back to the Inn to relax for tomorrow's adventure.

Cheerio,

Sandy & Fred

September 28, 2009 - Cotswolds Bound

Greetings all,

After an appointment at the clinic for a prescription renewal we headed off for a three night stay at the Lambs Inn at Shipton-under-Wychwood. This is a quaint village in the Cotswolds that is near Burford. The village itself while very small does have three pubs, the one we are staying at, the others being a small hotel The Shaved Crown and The Red Horse Inn.

Once off the highway our drive takes us along some single track roads. While you must pull over onto the grass in order for cars to pass each other I like the roads as you must drive slower than on the two lane back roads or A or B class roads as they are called. The leaves have started to change but because we do not get the frost and sudden drops in temperature that Ontario does we do not get the brilliant colours of Ontario. Golds, some red and dull green. As well a lot of leaves just dry up and fall off. We see pheasant along the road side and at one round about there is a huge male strutting around, of course I missed the photo op.

After we settled in our room, we went for a walk around the village and then headed back to the Inn to have a pint on the patio as the weather is warm. Supper tonight is at the pub and the food is excellent. All local produce. Fred has a caprese salad to start,followed by braised lamb shank and rum bama for dessert. I have duck spring rolls with the most amazing fresh plum sauce followed by a steak. The meal is complemented with a bottle of Fighting Flat Shiraz,an Australian red and a very good full bodied wine. We then head up to our room to relax. We find out tha the WiFi is not working so its reading time and games on the PC.

Since this is a relatively short blog and somewhat boring I thought I would give you a bit of trivia on How Britain likes their Tipple!! (Wine) 1.6 billion bottles are imported to the UK every year, 2.6 billion pounds is spent on wine drunk in licensed premises, 5 billion pounds is spent on wine drunk at home and 27.9 litres of wine are drunk per head in the UK every year. Note that last bit of trivia was based on information before we arrived in the UK. A figure sure to go up:)! Chardonnay is the most popular white wine drunk in Britain followed by Pinot Grigio and last but not least alcohol production and retailing employs 650,000 people in the UK.

Cheerio,

Sandy & Fred