August 17, 2010 - Bath

Greetings All,

Today we spent exploring Bath, designated a Unesco World Heritage Site in 1987.  The symbol you see here is the World Heritage Symbol and was placed at the centre of the original town.  Bath has the distinction of being the only city with a World Heritage Site designation in the UK.  We walked to the Abbey Churchyard and joined a free two hour walking tour of Bath.  Our guide, Terry was very informative providing us with some of the city's background history.  The city was established as a spa resort by the Romans in AD 43 with name Aquae Sulis ("the waters of Sulis"), utilizing the natural hot springs of the area.  There is also archeological evidence that the valley in which Bath is situated was populated well before the Romans conquered England.  Bath sits in a valley, surrounded by seven hills so the Romans of the day must have felt right at home in Aquae Sulis.  After the fall of the Roman Empire Bath became just another small dirty city until the Georgian period when Queen Anne visited the city in 1702.  After her visit the rich and famous of London visited to see what Bath was all about.  The medicinal properties of the Bath's 3 hot springs was also growing at this time.  As the city did not have the housing or entertainment for the well-heeled from London, a building boom took place.

An architect by the name of John Woods created amazing buildings to house the London aristocracy outside of the city's walls as there was no room to build within them.  Attached is a picture of a John Woods building in Queens Square. Queens Square and The Circus are the masterpieces attributed to him.  His son was also an architecture and was also named John Woods and his masterpiece is the Royal Crescent.

Both of the Woods' based their designs on the Palladian style of architecture from Italy with symmetry, columns and triangles in the upper parts of the structures.  Almost all of the city is constructed of Bath Stone which is a soft limestone that is quarried in the area.  We learnt that the stone can be cleaned but the process takes six months. The house must be sealed and water is then cascaded over the stone for this period then lightly brushed.  The city pays the owner half the cost of the cleaning, however, we do not find out how expensive this is.  Once cleaned the stone appears like new and doesn't have to be cleaned again for 40 -50 years.  As the city is a World Heritage site all home owners are encouraged to have their homes cleaned.  During the 1700's Beau Nash took advantage of the new growth and arranged for himself to become the Master of Ceremonies for Bath, which required him to arrange a schedule of entertainment for those who came to Bath as it was the the Place to be seen.  He was a gambler and arranged for some of the entertainment to include his favorite pastime.  He never married but had seven mistresses and lived to a ripe old age of 86 something unheard of in that time period or at least a very rare occurrence.

After our tour we had a light lunch of Duck Spring Rolls and a 1/2 pint of cider for me and pint of bitter for Fred at The Crystal Palace a pub near the Abbey.  Our next stop was the Abbey. Its full title is Bath Abbey Church of St. Peter and St. Paul.  We were lucky enough to hear an organ recital in progress as we entered, so we sat and enjoyed the music being played from the amazing Pipe Organ.  I have posted on Facebook a video

of the music as well as some pictures.  Once again the architecture of the Abbey is mind boggling when you take into consideration when the structure was built and the tools used.  The original Abbey was founded in the 8th century then rebuilt as a Norman Cathedral in the 11th century. This fell into disrepair and commencement of building the present Abbey church was begun in 1499.  The organ we saw today was installed in 1895 and was totally refurbished in 1997 to its 1895 condition.

After our tour of the Abbey we set off to other city sites. The only disappointment for us was the fact there was a fee to enter the park by the river Avon.  It was not a lot, but totally unnecessary in our opinion.  The people manning the station looked scrubby and for all we know were taking advantage of the tourists.  Britain's annual Cities in Bloom floral competition is under way, which Bath has won 14 out 40 times and hopes to win again this year.  As mentioned earlier Lions are the theme of the city this year and attached is a picture of the ultimate floral sculpture King of the Pride. There is so much that we wish to share about our day  today but I am afraid it would take too many pages.  Today for us has been informative, enlightening and we have only scratched the surface of Bath.

Cheerio for now,


Sandy & Fred

Auust 16, 2010 - Off To Bath

Greetings all,

We headed off to Bath for a 4 day break to celebrate our anniversary.  We took the back roads but with a few minor detours due to the nav chic giving some wrong directions and Fred also making a couple of wrong turns.  The plus side of this was we got to see some amazing countryside and homes in some towns that we would have never seen otherwise.

We arrived in Bath, pronounced Barth by the locals, very posh as they say.  Our hotel, the attached picture, the Lansdown Grove is part of the architectural history of Bath and one of the oldest in the city.   In 1884 it was a private residence that comprised a Mansion, stables for 10 horses, coach house, harness room, cart room, mans room and lofts, plus six acres of land.  The hotel was for many years privately owned until the early 1990's when it was sold and underwent a major refurbishment.

Once we settled, we took a walk into the downtown area of Bath to check things out for the next day.  The walk is as the say a quick 10 minutes into town as it is all down hill.  We got the lay of the land and found the main features that we want to visit tomorrow. The Abbey, the Roman Baths and Pump House and where the City Sightseeing bus tour leaves from.  The city like others in the UK uses sculptures to promote and raise funds for charity by local artists. Bath has adopted "Lions" this year and last year had pigs.  These are then auctioned off usually for 100 to 200 pounds and the fund given to charity.

Last year the 100 pigs were auctioned off for an amazing amount of 380,000 pounds.  We then headed back to the hotel and let me tell you the walk back is way more then 10 minutes.  Uphill all the way.  Plus I did not wear shoes that were good for walking, so we stopped for some revitalization at a pub, The Old Farmhouse where I have a full pint of the best cider I have had yet in the UK, Thatcher's Gold Somerset Cider and Fred had a pint of 6X, a bitter.  Fortified we finished the last half of our climb to the hotel.

Supper which is included is quite good.  There are some supplements or extras which you pay for but all quite reasonable.  We felt rather young as there was quite the geriatric crew in, as a bus tour had booked into the hotel and we had picked a late sitting for supper.  All in all a great arrival to Bath.

Cheerio,

Sandy & Fred

August 5, 2010 - Porthmadog, Wales

Lechyd da i chwi yn awr ac yn

A welsh greeting meaning good health to you now and forever.  Just don't ask me to pronounce it.  The weather forecast was finally favourable today so we headed off to Wales for an afternoon.  We took secondary and back roads to reach our destination and traveled through some beautiful and rugged countryside.  It started to rain of course as we traveled into Snowdonia National Park.  Now I know I have mentioned this before in our blogs but the roads in the UK can be really something.  Narrow, winding and sometimes only room for a single car.  At least those were the back roads we traveled on.  So my seat and arm rest now has permanent new clutch holdings from my fingers.  The scenery though makes it all worthwhile.  A bonus was, the road had very few if any cars on it so Fred was able to stop for some photo opportunities.  The rain stopped and it cleared up to be a lovely afternoon as we reached our destination.

Porthmadog is a comparatively new town as it is not yet 200 years old.  The town developed with the slate trade and the investment of William Madocks.  He completed several projects in the area between 1808 and 1811 which culminated with the reclamation of the wide Glaslyn estuary which diverted the river Glaslyn and created a new harbour between 1821 and 1825 and thus the town's name which translates into Madog's Port.  Several shipyards where built on the quayside which brought prosperity to the town.  The Ffestinog railway was built to bring slate from Blaenau Ffestinog to the harbour and at its peak in 1873, 116,000 tons of slate was being shipped worldwide.  The export of slate declined in 1880 but the Cambrian Railway which was built in 1867 opened up the area for the tourist trade.

The Ffestiniog Railway still operates it's steam engines today but now as a tourist attraction pulling coaches through the picturesque Vale of Ffestiniog.  We were in luck as when we arrived there was a steam engine at the station preparing to leave.  We stopped at the station's pub for a peint o gwew for Fred, a Hancock's bitter and 1/2 pint of cider for me.  Our timing was perfect; we finished our drinks as the train was preparing to leave. We saw the coal getting shoveled into the engine's boiler and the train leave. The smoke was a gray/black as it started off and surprisingly was not noisy.

We walked through the town and were somewhat disappointed.  It did not have the character that we were expecting but having said that it was very busy with tourists.  We found a pub to have a late lunch in "The Australian" which looked like it has seen better days but the food was good.  We then decided to head back to Liverpool taking a faster route. The roads were busier and just as winding and narrow. We did pass through a town that has a lot of character, Prentag so we must check it out on a future outing.  The scenery was just as stunning on our route back and there were also more places to pull over for photo opportunities.

The roads were well marked with Araf/Slow (Welsh/English) right on the pavement to slow down on the tight curves.  I am thinking Araf Araf sounds like a dog barking to me, but going slow would be nice on some of these roads.  All in all a very enjoyable outing and found a place to check out on a future adventure.

Hwyl am rwanlnawr, (Bye for now)
Sandy & Fred

July 22, 2010 - Aira Force Falls and Home

Greetings all,                                                                      

Today we headed back to Liverpool after a hearty full English Breakfast at our B&B, Laurel Cottage.  We have really enjoyed our stay as the location is good for heading off in all different directions in the Lake District.  A good recommendation from Fred's second cousin Mark.  The plan was to avoid the motorway for our route back to Liverpool which would make for a more scenic route though at times a bit hairy with the narrow winding and sometimes one car lane roads.  But hey that is what the adventure is all about.  Our first stop was in Aira Force Falls and grounds and stop that in Victoria time was considered a beauty spot. The walk we took is only a mile but you can hike up to five miles on different trails.  With the terrain we are again reminded of the need to get good hiking shoes for both of us if we wish to do some more serious walks in these beautiful forests and countryside.  The forest is lush and green and there are a number of people out already walking the trails.  The walk up to the falls is steep in some places but the path is well maintained by National Trust staff.

During our walk we came across this very old pine tree.  The trunk is absolutely huge. As you can see from the picture of me I cannot reach across the width of it.  If you are on Facebook I have posted more pictures and Fred will be uploading to Flickr pictures of this last mini respite of ours.  The drive home is very good and the weather  is bright and sunny with some clouds.  We stopped for a late lunch in Burscough a small town which is very close to home.
The pub, The Bull and Dog does not look extremely distinguishing on the outside  but is very quaint inside and has a very unique feature in the ceiling beams.

During World War II the pilots of HMS Ringtail, a Royal Navy Airstation in Burscough, embedded a penny into the beams of the pub as they left on missions so that they had something to return to. Unfortunately, those pennies left in the beams were of airmen who did not make it back home.

We hope you  enjoyed this segment of our little get-a-away.

Ta Ra,

Sandy & Fred

July 21, 2010- Wordworth's House and Sizergh Castle

Greetings All,

Today we headed off to Cockermouth to visit the birth place of William Wordsworth.  The picture to the right is of the town's Police Station built in 1894.  Wordsworth's house was first built at the end of the 17th century.  The house went through many changes since the first owner William Bird in 1690 until it became a National Trust Estate in 1939.  It has served as a home, doctors surgery and was finally sold to Cumberland Motor Services in 1937 and slated for demolition to make way for a bus station.  The local people of Cockermouth raised funds and purchased the house for 1625 pounds and formed the Wordsworth Memorial.  In 1938 the National Trust took over the house and opened it to the public for the first time on June 3, 1939.

Wordworth's House first became the home of John Wordsworth a 23 year old lawyer in 1764.  It was a 'tied' house which came with his job as an Agent for Sir James Lowther's Cumberland estates.  It served both as a home and office for nearly 20 years.  John and Anne Wordsworth were married in 1766 and had five children the second being William the future  poet.  The poem The Prelude recalls his early childhood with warmth and happiness.  William's happy childhood days ended sadly with the early death of his mother Anne in 1778 and later his fathers death in 1783.

We did not take any pictures of the outside of the house as it was under repair and only a couple of the gardens that were terribly over grown and in bad shape for a National Trust site.  As we were early before the house opened we did a walk through the main street and noted the number of businesses that were closed down or under going repair.  It was not until we got into the house did I realize that the town had a devastating flood in November 2009.  There was a video that told the story of the towns devastation.  The basement of the home was flooded and in the garden a marker showed how high the flood waters from the river Cocker.  I am 5'4'' and the water level came to the top of my ear.  Apparently the water rose so fast that business' had very little chance to save anything.  The volunteers have worked extremely hard on the inside of the house to get it back into showing order so thus the wildness of the gardens.  The other cool thing about this house is that some of the rooms are hands on. In one of the rooms there was a working harpsicord.  I was offered by the lady on site to play it if I so wished.  It was partially closed and she saw me looking at the keys and placing my fingers over the board.  I declined as it has been too many years since I have really played a piano though it would have been neat to do so and the offer was very nice.

We next headed off Sizergh Castle and Gardens.  This is located at the gateway of the Lake District. This National Trust site is still used as a home and has been occupied by the Strickland Family for more than 750 years.  The Elizabethan carved woodwork in some rooms is very impressive.  The most noted piece is in the Inlaid Chamber where paneling which was previously removed and sold to the Victoria & Albert Museum, then in 1999 was restored to the home.  The ground covers 1600 acres and includes gardens, a lake, pond, limestone pasture, orchards and semi-natural woodland. As well there are shops and a pub, the Strickland Arms. We spent about three hours here touring the house and grounds.

We then headed back to Bowness-on-Windermere taking back roads to see the countryside.  The day is beautiful, bright and sunny, and the roads are very windy and narrow.  Some seat clutching for me in spots but otherwise a very lovely drive.  Once back we took a walk along Lake Windermere to check out the boat cruises. We decided that the fall would be a nicer time to take a cruise as we are now at the start the the school holidays and there are too many kids for our liking.  While walking back we came across three swans that look like they are lining up for dinner.  A perfect picture moment and a laugh for us.  Next stop was The Albert, a pub for a nice 1/2 pint of cider and pint of bitter for Fred on the outdoor patio. Supper tonight was at Sutherlands and was mediocre at best though the restaurant looked very nice from the outside.  Never judge a book by it's cover  holds true.

Ta Ra for now,
Sandy & Fred

July 20, 2010 - Hadrian's Wall, Housesteads Fort

Greetings all,                                  

Today we headed off for a two day exploration of North Britain.  With a picnic lunch packed we started off somewhat early to Northumberland and Hadrian's Wall.  It was overcast and the weather looked very threatening but as it turned out we left the worst behind us.  Our travels northward took us through some beautiful but very rugged countryside.  One of the roads we traveled had some very narrow winding roads up to Housesteads Roman Fort and Hadrian's Wall.

Here is a bit of history on the construction of Hadrian's Wall.  While the Romans had pretty much conquered all of Great Britain the northern tribes (the Scots) continued to be troublesome during the reign of Hadrian (117 -138 AD).
Unlike his predecessors Hadrian decided to consolidate imperial gains and in some cases abandon previous conquests. For Britain, Hadrian ordered a wall to be built across the narrowest part of Britain from Tyne to Solway some 76 miles or 122 km long.  The wall's construction began in 122 AD, beginning at Newcastle.  The wall was constructed of stone and puddled clay and was ten feet wide.  Small Forts were built along the wall to provide protection from the invading northern tribes.  It is believed that Housesteads Fort was already in place as a garrison before the wall was even under construction.  The fort is one of the best preserved in all of Britain.

One can only imagine how the Romans defended the walls against the invaders. This area is very hilly and is now surrounded by farms.  Upon our arrival the farmer by the site was putting his collies through their paces herding the sheep. It was too bad we were so far away that we could not get a decent picture or video.

A light rain started to fall and we really would have loved to have walked along the trails and down into the valley, but we both need to invest in proper hiking boots.  Also I need to shed some more weight and get in better condition as the hilly walk back left me winded.

The ride to Bowness-on-Windermere was rather hairy.  The roads were narrow, winding and through some very rugged countryside. In some places the sheep were on the road.  Thank god most British cars are made for these narrow roads.  Meeting buses was another matter.  Our lodging in Bowness-on-Windermere was a converted School House and very cute.  Supper on our first night was at the Old John Peel Pub and as it turned out was our best evening meal while we were in Bowness.

Tomorrow we explore the Lake District.


Cheerio,
Sandy & Fred

July 4, 2010 - Independance Day

Greetings All,

I thought I would post a update of what we have been up to since our return to Liverpool from our short visit to London. The weather has been amazing and according to my brother-in-law, John, the driest he has ever seen it in all his years here. Hey I'll take some good hot summer weather anytime.

I decided that I wanted the flat to have a bit of colour and so we went in search of a nursery to get planters for the balconies.  After stopping at a couple of places, we finally found a proper nursery/garden centre near Ormskirk.  I asked for some assistance, as I wanted plants that would survive full sun and windy conditions. They got a young lady to help us and once I told her what I needed she asked how much land were we looking at?  Well needless to say Fred and I looked at each other rather sheepishly and pointed to the cart with three oblong planters.  She kindly smiled said oh I see and carried on to give us a number of choices. I opted for geraniums and later went back to pick lavender and two shrubs as she recommended.

So far so good the plants have survived.  For those of you who know me well, if it wasn't for my girlfriend Colleen watching out for our front garden in Ajax all would have been lost.  So now the place looks a little more homey.



We are still adjusting to some of the differences in the UK in the food department.  We had Fred's aunt and uncle over for dinner and as strawberries are in season, I decided strawberry pie would be a perfect dessert.  So I needed jello called jelly and corn starch called corn flour in the UK.  Jelly is quite different as it is a solid block of jelly that gets cuts into cubes rather than crystals as it is in Canada. Works the same though one cup of hot water and one cup of cold if you are making normal jello.

It is highly concentrated and you can smell the flavor in this case strawberry when the package is opened. It worked well and supper by the way was a success.

And now, finally to the title of this blog Independence Day.  As you may or may not know Liverpool Football Club is owned by George Gillett and Tom Hicks two Americans who have managed to screw up the club as well as place it in major debt.  To say they are disliked by any Liverpudlian would be a major understatement. The rally we went to today certainly made that point very clear.  Spirit of Shankly
the supporters union ran the rally with guest speakers, music and information on how they hope fans can buy shares in Liverpool FC so that any future owners of the club will not be able to saddle the club the level of debt that it has today.  The rally was held on the Plateau of St George's Square, in the City Centre. We met two elderly gentlemen who grew up in the Shankly era and one of the first questions they asked me was I American. Crap I've got to get someone to send me a badge that says I AM CANADIAN so that I don't get that question asked again.  After telling them that I was not American they apologized and we had a nice chat, they wished us well then carried on their way.
 
One speaker was Karen Gill the granddaughter of Bill Shankly.  She is the patron of the supporters' union and her speech was very moving.  So for a 500 pound investment you can purchase a share of the club. Something Fred wants to look into. How exciting to be part of a club you have supported since childhood.

 


Here is just a small look of some of the signage that was posted around the Plateau.

As if you have not guessed Independence Day  is to get free of The American Ownership the the Liverpool Foot Ball Club!

We have been checking out new pubs around town and once we leave the Rally we stop in at The Doctor Duncan for a pint of bitter and 1/2 pint of cider before heading home. This pub is a traditional style pub and quite nice.

Well that is all for now. We hope to visit some National Trust sites over the next two months and will keep you posted of any adventures.

Ta Ra for now,

Sandy & Fred