Towns
and other points of interest
|
Date |
Town |
Comments |
|
Sept 12 Thursday |
Jamaica Inn Cornwall 9:30 – 10:15 |
This
inn on the Bodwin Moor was the setting for Daphne du Maurier’s novel The
Inn on the Moor. This was
a loo stop, there was a snack bar, but the gift shop was closed. It gave us chance to chat with more of our
fellow travelers in an effort to get to know each other better, and also
got to see a “perfectly flat, smooth, not a ripple” moorland (our guide,
Caroline Neilon’s words). To the
rest of us it was a gently rolling land with low hills.
What would she have said about the Prairies, I wonder? There were sheep in the fields. |
|
Sept 12 Thursday |
Tintagel Cornwall 11:00 – 12:00 |
Accepted
by many as the birthplace of King Arthur around 500 AD. There is the ruin of a castle there, but
it was built in the 12th century, long after Arthur’s time. Pottery shards from 500 AD belong to European
traders, not indigenous people. So
there is controversy. A very beautiful
place with the castle ruins on a small peninsula connected to the mainland
by a short isthmus. The headlands
on either side are high and rugged – sea cliffs hundreds of feet high.
A wonderful place for hiking! Then
went to downtown Tinagel, a one-street village. There was a open-air market in the parking lot, and across the
road the famous old Post Office, built in the 13th century. Several other old buildings were situated
along the main road. |
|
Sept 12 Thursday |
Boscastle Cornwall 12:15 – 1:30 |
From
the higher plateau area of Cornwall we descended about 700 ft to the small
sea-side village of Boscastle, a picturesque tourist town. There is a very well-protected harbour in
a short fiord from the Atlantic and a small river flowing through the
village. A large , high headland
protects the harbour and town from the Atlantic, and there are footpaths
along both sides of the harbour to the tops of these headlands. The sea cliffs seen from there are quite
spectacular, and there are some sea stacks visible also. It is about ½ mile from the parking area
to the headlands, and several of the group took the walk. Shops, grocery store, pubs, a hotel, church
and private houses are found in the village. |
|
Sept 12 Thursday |
Clovelly Devon 2:25 – 4:30 |
The
village clings to a steep hill and is the only village that charges admission
to enter it - £3.50 – paid by Trafalgar.
A Visitors’ Centre at the top of the hill housing snack bar, restaurant,
gift shop and loos provides access to the path leading to the village.
There is a Rover service for those who prefer to ride, and this
is the only vehicular road. Supplies are normally taken to the villagers
using donkeys hauling sledges down the steep cobbled single street.
We walked down and back, 1½ mile return trip, and by going slow,
had no problem. It is a very steep hill, so looking down
into the back yards of private homes was normal. Many cafes, shops, B & B’s on the way
down, and the Red Lion Hotel right at the harbour. A large breakwater built in the 14th century in the
harbour provides protection for the fishing and tour boats. Apparently this is the most photographed
village in Devon. |
|
Sept 12 Thursday |
Barnstaple Devon |
Stayed
at the Royal & Fortesque Hotel, a beautiful refurbished older hotel. Supper included, and it was good. Had bannoffee pie and clotted cream
for desert. (banana & toffee).
Had a short walk after supper, very warm. |
|
Sept 13 Friday |
Glastonbury Somerset 10:37 – 11:30 |
Several
legends and myths associated with Glastonbury, involving Joseph of Arimathaea,
Jesus Christ and King Arthur and Queen Guinevere. Joseph was the great-uncle of Jesus and worked
for the Romans as overseer of their mines in Britain. It is thought that on one trip to visit the
mines he brought the teenaged Jesus with him. After the crucifixion he is purported to have brought the chalice
from the Last Supper with him, thus setting the stage for the search for
the Holy Grail. An earlier
church on the Abbey site was destroyed and in cleaning up the debris,
the monks came across what they decided were the graves of King Arthur
and Guinevere, with the nearby tor (hill) being the Isles of Avalon.
Pilgrimages to this site became very popular, and the proceeds
went towards a new Abbey which was built in the 13th century. The
Abbey is in ruins with only parts of some walls still standing. It was razed by Henry VIII’s men and the
building stone used by the locals for their own buildings. An Abbot’s Kitchen has survived quite well,
having been used by the Quakers for their meeting house. Although
there are only bits of the Abbey left, it immensity is very evident and
almost as powerful as intact churches.
The grounds are beautiful, surrounded by a wall so traffic noises
are shut out; it is a place of serenity and beauty. There is an excellent Visitors’ Centre showing a model of the
original Abbey. The Abbey was
580 ft long (E to W) – Westminster Abbey is 554 ft – and had the highest
spire ever built in England – 500 ft.
The tallest standing today is Salisbury Cathedral at 404ft. |
|
Sept 13 Friday |
Bath Somerset 12:55 – 4:00 |
Popular
during Roman times because of its healing “waters”. Roman structure still
standing. Run down during the
Middle Ages, the “baths” enjoyed a renaissance during the 17th
century, and after Queen Anne’s visit of 1702, regained their popularity. On
a city tour we had a view of the Royal Crescent, which is now a luxury
hotel. Room rates £165 to £550
per night. Built between 1767-1774. Beautiful lawns and gardens here. There
was a Saxon church on the site of the Bath Abbey and Edgar, the first
king of united England was crowned here in 973.
The present Abbey was built between 1499 and 1616. It has a “Jacob’s Ladder” on the front façade
with angels climbing up and down, and a rebus depicting the founder’s
name: it is an olive tree and a crown.
The founder was Bishop Oliver King.
The
“Bath Act” of 1825 made it law that all new houses in the city had to
be faced with Bath Stone – a yellowish sandstone. On
our walking tour we visited several shops, had lunch in the park between
the Abbey and Roman Baths, entertained by a couple of buskers singing. Later walked to the Pulteney Bridge and the
terraced Pulteney Weir on the River Avon. The bridge is unique because when you cross it, it looks like
any city street, with shops on both sides.
However, looking out the window of a shop assures you that you
are on a bridge. It is copied
from a similar design in Florence. |
|
Sept 14 Saturday |
Cardiff Castle Wales 8:30 – 10:30 |
There
was a Roman structure, probably a barracks, on the castle grounds and
part of the castle walls stand on the original Roman walls. During Medieval times the Normans built the Castle’s Keep on a
motte (a steep knoll), surrounded by a moat, both of which are
still there. The castle itself was restored in the 1800’s
by the Third Earl of Bute, and shows the extravagance to which he went.
Every room is a masterpiece generally depicting a theme:
astrological symbols, the pleasures of the seasons, biblical characters,
children’s stories. The tops of
the library shelves are adorned with carved animals, including platypuses,
squirrels, beavers. The Banqueting Room dates
from the 15th Century and is in the oldest part of the castle. The outside castle walls are adorned with sculpted
bears, wolves and lions. The
Norman keep is reached by a set of steep stairs that have been added in
more modern times. One passes
a guard house and well before ascending.
From the bottom castle floor winding steps takes one past the kitchen,
living quarters, bedrooms to the top of the keep where there is an excellent
view of the main gates and clock tower.
The
clock tower was built in the 1800’s.
At the main gate there is a museum dedicated to a Welsh military
unit. Unfortunately, time did
not permit a close look at the museum and accompanying gift shop. |
|
Sept 14 Saturday |
Tenby Wales 12:30 – 1:30 |
A
small town on the Bristol Channel. The
North Coast of Devon was visible across the water. The town is built on a high cliff with the
beach accessible via a paved switch-back walkway. The walk from the bus parking area to the beach, lunch, and the
walk back with a loo stop somewhere in between, meant that we were hurrying
most of the time. So there was
little chance to explore the town and shops.
I did note that the water in the channel was quite warm compared
to the sea temperature around the Martimes. |
|
Sept 14 Saturday |
Pembroke Wales |
It
is here that we got the ferry for Ireland.
There is a castle in Pembroke, and Henry II was born here. We arrived at the ferry terminal at 2:07,
aboard by 2:45 and left shore at 3:00, arriving in Ireland at 6:50. We sailed on the Isle of Inishmore,
an 11 deck ferry. Huge vessel,
looks like a cruise ship. |