Chapter 18

Forties and norties!

With one day left with our hire car, we headed to the 'other' (UK) Canterbury, 55 miles SE of London.  It was Mothers Day, so needed to be busy, as thinking about being 12,000 kms away from my girls made my heart heavy.
Canterbury was founded in the 1st century by the Romans and its history is long and colourful.  The cathedral built in 597AD, is the centrepiece of the town and was where Thomas Beckett was murdered in 1170.   The river Stour weaves its way through the town, and of course everywhere you look is a cute pub, or building.  We took a row boat tour of the town, which was fun and informative.  Chas Dickens was a well known visitor to the city.

 

A trip into London to meet a work colleague of Philips, had us in a district we had not explored before, the historical and financial centre of London, in behind St Paul's Cathedral.  Again, interesting names, but this time streets. We walked up Poultry (a very short street), Cornhill,  Cheapside, Milk St, Bread St, Grocers Hall Court........! Home brew or opium, I am still deciding!
Walking back to Charing Cross we passed the Royal Courts of Justice in Fleet Street and popped in to sit in on a hearing.  An interesting test case regarding the legality of euthanasia.  3 judges sitting, including the big wig, Chief Lord Justice of England and Wales.  The wigs they wear are called frizz tyes, originally made from human hair, but now made from horsehair.  The gothic building has more than 1000 rooms and 1000 clocks.  Pity the poor sod who has to wind them forward or back.

London is full of shows and we have mentally made a long list of what we would like to see. A 2013 Olivier Award winner "Top Hat" -  a 40's style tap dancing show in the Aldwych Theatre in the West End - was our first choice.  A matinee session, while we had the days free.  Excellent performance and such a cute theatre. Afterwards we said to each other, "why not dinner at the Savoy" ......."yes" we answered in unison!  A great seafood dinner in the 2 week old restaurant called Kaspars, beautifully decorated in the 40's style. 

Pre-dinners at Savoy

"Why not stay in London the night" we said....."yes", we answered in unison.   So we headed off to the Chancery Court Hotel in Holborn, an area adjacent to the West End.  Although built in 1914, and having an Edwardian facade, it too had been newly refurbished in a 40's style.  We did actually plan this, so a change of clothes and a toothbrush tucked in a backpack was on hand!  It makes a better story to think it was spur of the moment though!
After 40 winks and a light breakfast, we headed off on foot, (a 50 min walk) to meet Chris and Sal for lunch at  Le Pont de la Tour, a restaurant on the Thames near Hay's Galleria (originally Hay's Wharf, now a shopping centre), with views of the Tower Bridge and the Gherkin. What an escapade!

Hay's Galleria

View from restaurant

A stroll along Columbia Road  in the East End, a couple of days later, was an absolute delight. On sundays the narrow road, bordered by quaint shops built in the 1860's, is transformed into a flower market. An oasis of foliage and flowers.  The chant of the barrow boys ....." Everyfin a fiver" was tempting, but we were off to the pub for lunch. I think Pip was pleased we did not have a garden here.

 

The weather here has been a mixed bag. We have had some brisk sunny days, and some shockers of 5 deg, which had us indoors all day. The media tell us it's the coldest spring for over 35 years. Great!
One sunny day we did travel  to the village of Downe, 23 kms SE from London.  Downe House, sitting on 33 acres just outside the village, was the former home of Charles Darwin and his family from 1842. It was here that he worked on his theories of evolution by natural selection, and where he conducted experiments in the greenhouses. Very informative, and well worth the trip.

Rear of Downe House

Pub lunch at Downe

The next day was sunny as well.......WOW
Off to Greenwich we went. Took the hour-long boat ride down the Thames to meet Chris and Sal at the dock at 11:00 GMT (!).  Interesting to walk around the Cutty Sark, Observatory and Planetarium.  The latter showed a short film on the possibility of alien life in other galaxies, which fascinated Sal to the point of nodding off for a brief snore. 

As we had done the "river thing", we decided to try the new cable car across the Thames, which opened in 2012, at a cost of £60m. We boarded just as the wind was picking up, so felt like a teabag by the time we got to the peak of 60m.

Two screaming kids, a pram and 6 adults squashed into the cabin was not the relaxed ride we anticipated.  Answer........off to the pub!
We chose "The Grapes", a tiny wee pub,  in an area called Limehouse,  not far from Canary Wharf, on the Thames.  Its history goes back nearly 500 years with Sir Walter Raleigh setting sail to the new world from directly below, to patron Chas Dickens making reference to it in his book "Our Mutual Friend". There were more dogs than people at the bar!
Good way to end the day!

We are enjoying London but the weather is a challenge. 
Hopefully there will be a "summer"!

Till the next blog
Love Annie
Xxx

Chapter 17

Rule Britannia

Arrived in England to a sunny, chilly day. Quel surprise.
We did not go all the way into London on the Eurostar, instead we jumped off at a new station called Ebsfleet, in Kent, and in the middle of nowhere. This was about 30 mins from Philip's cousins home, so easy for them and us. Did not have to fight the crowds at the end of the line.
The next day was Philip's birthday, so we headed to The Railway, a pub in West Wickham for lunch. Our nephew Julian and his partner Tamara - who left Australia in June 2012 and are currently living in London - joined us, as did Philip's cousins Martin, Janet, Valerie and Derek. It was so nice to catch up with them again.  Roast beef all round, and yorkshires of course!

A new country consumes a lot of time in setting things up.  New phone numbers, transport passes and bank accounts, and buying a few warmer clothes.  This coupled with Philip doing interviews has seen the time pass quickly.
We hired a car for a week to explore and catch up with friends. As a belated birthday present to Pip, we decided to head to Wales for a weekend .......because we could!
Now Pip had not driven for 7 months, so on this occasion, I was allowed to be a "back seat driver"! 
On our way to Wales, we stopped in Bath, 156km west of London.  It was first called Aquae Sulis in 60AD. It became popular in the Georgian era which led to the exemplary architecture crafted from Bath stone that you see today. A very elegant place. I don't know why we had never visited before, as they get 3.5 million visitors a year, so very popular!

Our Wales B & B stay was a pub in a village called Moulton, about 20 minutes further on from Cardiff. Food and room were great. We did not try the Faggots for dinner (whatever they are), but stuck to the Welsh Black Angus beef instead. The publican had an uncle who lived in Melbourne......small world. 
Next day we headed back into Cardiff for a look at the bay. The area is being transformed with apts and restaurants, and because of the sunny day was abuzz with people. 

Cardiff Bay - abuzz with people

Tintern Abbey was suggested to us as a place of interest to visit, or should I say the remains of.  It was built in 1131, and is now an impressive shell of what would have been a masterpiece of construction.

 

The drive on this 22 deg day showcased the Wye River valley, as the road and the river ( which forms some of the border between England and Wales) snaked its way along from Chepstow to Hereford.  Daffodils, bluebells, forget-me-nots, trees full of blossom and the greenest of fields with their hedgerows were so picturesque.  Because we were reasonably close, we went to Abergavenny.  Philip kept singing the song all the way there, very annoying. "Taking a trip up to Abergavenny.........."  
We passed through other villages with names of....North Piddle , Suckley, Inkberrow, Arrow, Whatcote, Snitterfield, and Lower Swell. What were they drinking when naming these places?
Because the Cotswolds is such an interesting area and we were right on the doorstep, we headed off early from our friend Annette's home at Bearley near Stratford-upon-Avon to explore some National Trust places.
First stop was Charlecote Park, which sits beside the Avon river on 185 acres, and has been owned by the Lucy family since 1247.  The house was constructed in 1551.  It had its own brew house.........bet there were great parties! 

 

Next stop was Baddesley Clinton, owned by the Ferrers family since 1500. It has passed from father to son for 12 generations!  Persecuted Catholics were hidden here from priest hunters during the 1590's.  There are a number of secret cupboards, false walls and other clever 'hidey holes' dotted around the house.

Philip wanted to go pub crawling, so Annette and I appeased him with the offer of a pub lunch. We took the drive to Chipping Campden, a small market town in the Cotswolds in Gloustershire, which dates back to the 14C. A pretty village where the streets are lined with elegant honey-coloured limestone buildings. It is a local stone called Cotswold stone or oolitic stone. We had lunch in the pub called The Eight Bells, where we just got through the doorway!  This is a height thing not a width thing!! We haven't put that much weight on.  The pub got its name from having stored the bells whilst waiting for the adjacent church to be completed.

The 8 Bells

After leaving the 15 acre haven on the hill in Bearley that we had called home for a week, we headed off to the Talton farm shop in Newbold-on-Stour on our way back to London. Here we picked up freshly picked asparagus, baby carrots, new potatoes, fresh bread and a couple of home made pork, apple and cider pies. We passed on the bacon bap and a brew, then hit the M40 back to West Wickham.

Till the next blog
Love Annie xxxx