July 2012b

Here follows our great escape from the Olympics....

Fri 27 July 2012

So we've packed the car, and are ready to embark on two glorious weeks of holiday far away from London.

We decided to head out to Finnian's place (on the other side of London) half an hour after the commencement of the Olympic opening ceremony, which was being held only 10 minutes from our home. We'd never seen the A406 so empty, it was a dream run! Most of London must have been sitting in front of the TV.

We arrived at Finn's place about an hour earlier than he was expecting us!

Sat 28 July 2012

In the morning we drove to Chippenham for a pleasant little SCA event called Summer Tourney. Steve spent much of the day in the kitchen assisting Edith in preparing the evening's feast, which was held in the twilight hours alongside the tournament field.

Afterwards, we headed to Mary's place for relaxing chats over drinks (and comfy bed).

Sun 29 July 2012

Steve cooked up eggs benedict for breakfast, then the four of us drove the half hour north to Berkeley Castle, to be tourists together.

Unfortunately no photography was allowed indoors. 

We were amazed at the main staircase with its walls lined in red embroidered cloth reputed to be from the lining of Henry VIII's pavillion at the Field of the Cloth of Gold. It looked to be absolutely true - the embroidery was tremendous and sooo much of it too! 

All the internal oak doors each had about a dozen carved panels per side - each individually designed and carved in exquisite gothic designs. 

The "front porch" seen here (below) is new but old - it is reclaimed (from a period property elsewhere) and re-designed to fit. The Apostle doors also are reclaimed, and look perfect here.

Once 2pm rolled around, Finn and Mary drove off to see another local medieval property, while Steve and I headed north to Richard and Lena's place in Lancaster.

Above: Lena in her lovely garden, Lancaster.

Mon 30 July 2012

Richard drove us and Lena to Castlerigg Stone Circle in the Lakes District. The blurb onsite says: "The Circle was built around 4,500 years ago by prehistoric farming communities." 

At left: click the picture to enlarge.

Next, we wandered through picturesque Ambleside (pictured below), first looking for coffee, then lunch, and browsing a local bookshop.  We discovered there are strong connections in Ambleside with USA's early settlers.

Richard drove us south along Lake Windermere - all very pretty. 

Below: a stonking great Victorian home we drove past, which must surely boast splendid views over Lake Windermere.

We stopped in to see Sizergh Castle on the way back to Lancaster (below). 

We decided to have dinner out at a local pub together, then took Richard and Lena to see the latest Batman film with us.

Tue 31 July 2012

A relaxing day at Richard and Lena's. Jen applied for some jobs online and Steve continued some more fighter training with Richard. Lena took us to an enormous antiques centre local to them, and we had to be dragged away at closing time four hours later! Jen bought a small diamonte brooch and a pretty oval Victorian plate (a 'cheap knock off' from during the era), while Steve snapped up a cookbook and a set of five crystal brandy glasses.

Wed 01 Aug 2012

We got out of bed after 9.30 - well it is a holday! We had a quiet day in the house, getting some laundry done and watching a couple of DVDs. 

Thu 02 Aug 2012

Today Steve drove the porsche east through the twisting roads of the Yorkshire Dales, enjoying dappled sunlight through the trees and pretty little villages.

Our first stop was the (privately owned) Hardraw Force Waterfall (pictured at left).

Then we stopped to look at the Aysgarth falls, which were less spectacular but did have a lovely sandy rivers edge (pictured below). 

The pub in Aysgarth had a surprise in the back of its carpark - it is the final resting place of the war cart from the movie Gladiator. It's in terrible condition as it was made of cheap materials, and has been exposed to the british weather for years.

Above: upstream there are tea trees depositing tanins in the water, making it brown

Next, we stopped at a farmhouse/cafe on the outskirts of Wensley for lunch, with fresh local produce and tasty Wensleydale cheeses. Steve enjoyed the best latte he'd had in ages.

We stopped in at Alex's mother's place to pick up his keys, and stayed in his spare room overnight. Thanks Alex! 

Fri 03 Aug 2012

So this morning we set out to see some of the local sights. We started with Druid's Temple near Masham, a 192 year old "folly". It's a bit like visiting a beefed-up Stone Henge but with the mod-cons of a sheltered cave (with stone seating), overlooking an eight person dining area (pictured at right), an altar, a central pillar, and plenty of overlooking standing space for observers right around the outside. 

Next, we spent much time wandering about Fountains Abbey, but we still didn't see all there is to see! Very sore feet now....