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UK 2023

July - August 2023
A 31-day adventure by Sarah Read more
  • 38footprints
  • 3countries
  • 31days
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  • TravelerUK 2023
    11
    Day 18

    Stonehenge

    August 9, 2023 in England ⋅ ⛅ 19 °C

    Stonehenge has long been on Ian's wish list. Today was the first completely sunny day since we arrived, so we booked tickets online over breakfast and headed out.

    We got there at 10:20, 10 minutes before our ticket time and were shocked at how long the queue was! We checked at the counter which queue we should join and it seems that the booked time has no relevance to anything as everyone lines up regardless. You would think a country that's been around as long as England would have learned a thing or two about how to organise stuff! At least we weren't lining up in the rain like at Jorvik.

    After getting into the centre, we got on a shuttle bus to the stones. It was quite interesting and it was a nice day for it. We were able to get closer than I imagined we would. I do get a bit put off by the commercialisation of these sites. I guess the worst part of visiting UK in the summer is the number of tourists we are competing with. It was much quieter in winter 2017!    Read more

  • TravelerUK 2023
    1
    21
    Day 18

    Salisbury Cathedral

    August 9, 2023 in England ⋅ ⛅ 24 °C

    Paganism to Christianity in one day!

    We squeezed a lot into today. We visited Frome in the middle of the day as they had their Wednesday markets on. We had a lovely lunch there.

    We planned to head to Salisbury late in the day as we hoped to hear the choir practice for Evensong. For once we were in luck! We did have a quick wander around the Cathedral but mostly I wanted to listen to the beautiful music 🎶Read more

  • TravelerUK 2023
    11
    Day 19

    Bowood Estate

    August 10, 2023 in England ⋅ ⛅ 26 °C

    Today started slowly, and as it was a fine day I did some laundry. The thing about doing so many things yesterday is that we ticked several off in one day. We weren't in the mood for a big city like Bath or even Salisbury. So we googled for large country houses and discovered the Bowood estate.

    The Marchioness of this estate is the best friend of Queen Camilla (who grew up just around the corner in Lacock). She played a role in her coronation. They have a display of various official gowns which members of this family have worn at various coronations and official events. Apparently the gown is very specific to your rank and peer. The current Marquis was page boy to our late QEII at Windsor castle for a bit when he was 13. All the Marquises have been MPs or foreign secretaries or whatever, so very involved in politics.

    A very interesting house and garden. They even have their own chapel with pipe organ! The gardens are vast. Part of the estate has woodland, some very old trees. There are formal gardens and large grassy areas where people can have a picnic. They've created an adventure garden for kids, which we stayed away from as it was inhabited by many a noisy child on school holidays!

    A lovely day: the weather was perfect; lunch in the tea rooms was great; and the drive up here passed through a quaint village lined with thatched houses. Picturesque.    Read more

  • TravelerUK 2023
    12
    Day 20

    Wells

    August 11, 2023 in England ⋅ ☁️ 23 °C

    We drove to Wells today, another pretty town with a splendid Cathedral. This one had a few unique features. The architecture is a little different. Apparently those scissor arches were added in about 1310 because some cracks started appearing and it needed reinforcement.

    The carvings outside and inside are also very interesting. They depict many Bible characters (Noah building the ark etc) not that I could tell who was who. The clock is interesting. It is inside so the chimes are not the really loud bells that you would hear in the town. Instead of cuckoos in a cuckoo clock, this one has jousters!

    We had a stroll down the street and popped into a couple of shops, but we were both tired today and headed home for an afternoon nap.    Read more

  • TravelerUK 2023
    2221
    Day 21

    Bourne Mill Antiques Centre

    August 12, 2023 in England ⋅ ⛅ 20 °C

    Today was a travelling day, heading for Kent. We had 6 hours to do a 3 hour trip so we planned a couple of deviations. This was a goldmine! Such a quaint Antiques shop in a lovely old building.

    There were several floors, but it's easy to lose track as the stairs seems to only ascend by half a floor. There were 23 rooms, with several dealers filling all the nooks and crannies including attic spaces. Ian kept bumping his head!

    We both found a couple of treasures. I bought a couple of music boxes.    Read more

  • TravelerUK 2023
    2
    Day 21

    Twitcher's Cottage, Oare

    August 12, 2023 in England ⋅ ⛅ 21 °C

    We've arrived at our next bnb, our final relaxing spot before we hit London. This area is a favourite of bird watchers (hence the name) as there are wetlands close by with lots of bird life. Their house and ours were all agricultural buildings which have been converted. They have a horse or two on the property.

    The house looks very comfortable. It's a peaceful spot.    Read more

  • TravelerUK 2023
    11
    Day 22

    Leeds Castle, Kent

    August 13, 2023 in England ⋅ ⛅ 21 °C

    We visited Leeds Castle in the afternoon. (FYI this is not the Leeds in West Yorkshire!)

    This was very different to other castles we've visited. Although it was first built in early 1100s, it was not presented with the medieval or Gothic feel of other ancient places. The castle was bought by a rich lady (who had inherited from 3 husbands 😯) who used her inheritances to refurbish the castle. She was half American and loved to host parties with wealthy filmstars. The castle is set in the 1930s as she had decorated it.

    The inside was OK. You couldn't go to all the areas. It felt more like a stately home than a castle. The best part was the grand piano, which I couldn't resist having a tinkle on. You lose all shame when you haven't had access to one for 3 weeks.

    The grounds however were magnificent! Better than Warwick or any of the others. It had a splendid moat, and vast areas of grassy places where you could picnic or have wedding photos, with streams, bridges and waterfalls. There was a little 'village' of barn buildings which were set up as cafes. They had a maze (which we didn't go to) and you could go on a boat trip around the moat and lakes. A gorgeous day! I did lots of walking and my back is a bit sore.    Read more

  • TravelerUK 2023
    5
    Day 23

    Sheerness, Isle of Sheppey

    August 14, 2023 in England ⋅ 🌬 22 °C

    Today was a trip down memory lane. Ian grew up in Birmingham until he was about 12. Sheila lived with her grandma on Sheerness through all her school years. Her mother, his grandma, lived in London when he was a kid but she still owned a caravan at Sheerness and that was where they'd have their annual holiday.

    So we drove along the beach at Sheerness, but nothing was ringing any bells. He remembered climbing huge concrete stairs, but the first place we stopped at didn't look right.

    So we messaged his sister Mich who said it was actually Minster where they used to go, which is the next bay along. He recognised that part, although some things don't quite mesh with what he remembered. He also couldn't see the sunken WWII ship he thought was there. Maybe that was in a different spot and his memories have gotten muddled.

    It was pleasant weather and we shared a bucket of hot ships 🍟.    Read more

  • TravelerUK 2023
    1
    Day 23

    Rochester

    August 14, 2023 in England ⋅ ☁️ 22 °C

    On the way home from Sheerness we deviated via Rochester as there were meant to be lots of good antiques shops. As it happened, some were closed on Mondays and some were about to close, so not much success on that front.

    But we happened upon Rochester Cathedral and poked our head in, as is our custom. What attracted my attention (after the pipe organ) was this amazing collection of textile artworks depicting the days of creation. Stunning! The artist is Jacqui Parkinson and her exhibition is going around several Cathedrals in 2023 and 2024. Wow!

    Her website is www.jacqui-textile.com    Read more

  • TravelerUK 2023
    111
    Day 24

    Getting to London

    August 15, 2023 in England ⋅ ⛅ 24 °C

    We were both apprehensive about today, but it worked out nicely. There was great potential for disaster which thankfully did not eventuate. I am feeling grateful 🙏
    * We navigated our way into London Heathrow under Murgatroyd's guidance - and we can't thank her enough.
    * We returned the car to Hertz with all windscreen wipers intact and no dings or scratches - phew!
    * We got ourselves and our luggage onto the correct train and to our hotel without Jeremy to guide us. (I convinced Ian not to spend £98 on a taxi, and that we were capable of taking the tube 🤞)
    * The hotel looks lovely! I was worried that we'd be stuck in some awful room for 5 days.

    To celebrate our relief, we had a fancy dinner in our hotel. I had salmon for £18 plus dessert. It was delicious. Our hotel has a mini fridge and kettle, but no cooking for me 🙂. We'll be back to M&S sandwiches tomorrow, but I'm sure I'll stretch our buffet breakfast to include a snack for later. (I'll have to remember my capacious handbag 🤫)

    Our hotel is Novotel Tower Bridge and we are directly opposite the Tower of London. It's in a very convenient spot. We had a stroll around the immediate vicinity and already saw lots of interesting things. I was intrigued by the ruins of a Roman wall which they've preserved and built around.

    London is teeming with people! Peaceful it is not, and I was worried that we might undo our de-stressing in beautiful countryside of the last few weeks. But I think it is going to be fun. I just have to remember that I need to take things at my own pace. There is no point rushing around like a crazy person and getting home knackered.    Read more

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