LAST WEEK IN ENGLAND

Hadrian’s Wall – Yorkshire Dales

After bidding Scotland good-bye, we set off to explore Hadrian’s Wall, the defensive fortification built across northern England by the Romans from 122-128 AD to keep out the savage Scottish.  It was an enormous undertaking by the Romans:  120 km long, 5 to 6 m high and 2 to 2.5 m thick, with forts and turrets every 500 m.  We spent the morning stopping at many interesting points along the wall, including Chesters Roman Fort and Museum.

Everyone’s favourite stop was walking along the wall at Walltown Crags - a short stroll up a hill dodging the local sheep and we were on top of a well preserved section of the wall.  The views were spectacular, and Hadrian’s Wall impressive, dramatically snaking and diving along the hilltops (where it has done for nearly 1,900 years).

We zig-zagged our way south to the Yorkshire Dales, stopping at Hartside Summit to soak in the beautiful views.  We were lucky enough to witness an old steam train on the Carlisle to Liverpool line, hurtling along at full speed (about 100 km/hr) and blowing enormous clouds of smoke into the air.

The Yorkshire Dales is a region of rolling hills, lush valleys and craggy limestone cliffs with crystal clear streams, mossy dry-stone walls, unspoilt villages of brown stone and slate rooves   ...   and sheep.  A beautiful corner of the world.

York - Warwick - Oxford

Onto York, the walled Roman city that was later conquered and held by the Vikings for hundreds of years before the Norman Conquest.  We walked the wall, saw York Minster (cathedral) and ambled through the Shambles (overhanging timber framed shops which were mainly butcher shops dating back to the 14^th Century).

The Jorvik Viking Centre was the highlight of our visit as we journeyed in a time capsule back to around 900 AD to learn about the brutality of the Vikings and their way of life.

The museum is on the site of the archaeological diggings of the old settlement of Jorvik.  Clifford’s Tower, the old fort tower built in the 1300’s, was our last stop for the day and gave the children an opportunity to dress up to be kings and queens for a while.

Warwick Castle, although very commercialised, was a fun day for everyone.  We saw knights on horseback jousting, plenty of sword fighting, and story telling (about dragons, of course).

Various activities were on offer for budding knights and princesses, including archery and juggling lessons with the Court Jester.  The most interesting part of the day was watching the “Flights of Prey” show with magnificent birds of prey, some with wingspans up to 8 feet, flying around the castle grounds and swooping the spectators.

On to Oxford, and the spirit of learning lingered in the streets and old buildings as we walked around the historic Oxford University.  Some of the residential colleges were like grand palaces with fortress like walls, stately buildings and very “English” gardens, with deck chairs lazily spread across the manicured lawns.

We walked up the narrow spiral staircase to the top of St Mary’s Church to overlook the city and the heart of the university, Radcliffe Square.  

London - Dover

Next on the agenda was a visit to Hampton Court, the largest and grandest Tudor structure in England.  It was built by Cardinal Thomas Wolsey in 1514 but passed to King Henry VIII when the cardinal fell from favour - he was unable to convince the Roman Catholic Pope to allow the divorce between Henry and Catherine of Aragon (his first wife).

We wandered the many rooms and out into the grand formal gardens, which have been painstakingly returned to the period of Henry and a later king, William III.

It was interesting to learn that the monarchs would only live in one place for a short period of time as they (and their massive entourage) would deplete the local region of food and other resources, and the rooms would become so dirty and smelly that they would pack up their furniture and move on.

We spent an interesting afternoon at the home of Charles Darwin, where he lived for forty years and worked on his revolutionary theories and the book, “On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection”.  The book shook the Victorian world and has influenced thinking ever since.

The garden contained areas that Darwin set aside for his many experiments, including his weed garden which illustrated the struggle for existence in nature.

We thought we had better make it three castles in three days just to get our required dosage before leaving old England, so we ventured to Dover Castle.  The castle, perched proudly atop the White Cliffs of Dover, boasts a long and eventful history.

It became a Norman earthwork castle soon after 1066 and was garrisoned uninterruptedly until 1958.  Although it has an interesting medieval history, it was its more modern history that captivated us. 

During World War II, this frontline fortress once again was the centre of activity with 250 year old tunnels being recommissioned for use by the British Navy.  In 1940, these tunnels were the engine room of Operation Dynamo, the rescue mission of over 338,000 Allied and British troops from the beaches of Dunkirk (they were only expecting to save about 30,000).

These troops had their backs to the ocean and were fighting to save their lives as the Germans cut them off.  The rescue attempts by a massive flotilla of 700 naval, merchant and civilian boats were nothing short of miraculous.  There were incredible stories also of the ingenuity of troops on the ground - when the beach was too shallow for the ships to come in they built a jetty out of army trucks into the ocean and climbed upon them to reach the ships.  It was a powerful presentation.

Off on the ferry tomorrow back to France to make our way up to Belgium and The Netherlands.

_

SCOTLAND THE BRAVE

Carlisle – Ayr

Our first day in wee Scotland was spent driving from Carlisle across to the west coast through Galloway Forest Park and north to Ayr.

We drove through magnificent scenery all day, particularly along the coast looking over the Atlantic Ocean towards Ailsa Craig, an imposing rock mound island, and Kintyre.  (The family may have broken out into a few choruses of the song “Mull of Kintyre”.)   

At Ayr, the magnificent 18^th century Culzean Castle, perched on a rocky outcrop overlooking the Atlantic, was spectacular.

Not only was the history and the architecture of the castle fascinating, the herd of red deer (does, fawns and stags) feeding peacefully under the oak trees was entrancing, and the Walled Garden with its myriad of coloured garden beds and beautifully manicured lawns was perfectly tranquil.  We all loved this castle.

Glasgow - Drumnadrochit

A brief stopover in Glasgow at the Kelvingrove Art and History Museum increased our knowledge on Scottish history.  We learnt about the early Scots, the Vikings invading Scotland, Robert the Bruce, Robert Burns the poet, Mary Queen of Scots, and her son James VI of Scotland (who was also James I of England).  The children learnt that kilts were only worn originally by Highlanders, and that they only came into existence around the 1600’s.  Clans designed their tartan around what they could afford (red dye tartans signified wealth as the dye came from a rare type of beetle). 

Next a bit of family history was investigated by Sarah at Renton, just north of Glasgow.  We visited the castle of some of her paternal relatives who sold the castle in the 1930’s.

Due to the enormous upkeep of the buildings, this castellated Gothic mansion was turned into a nursing home about 25 years ago.  We made ourselves known to the nursing staff and then took a wander around the home and its simple grounds.

The open rolling hills of farmland gave way to more extreme mountainous landscape the further north we headed towards Loch Ness and Drumnadrochit.

We stopped numerous times on our travels to breathe in the fresh Highland air and to marvel at the wild mountains and the cold glacial lochs.  A wee bonnie Scotsman was playing the bagpipes at one lookout which set the perfect atmosphere for our travels.

It was interesting to learn as we drove past Ben Nevis, UK’s highest mountain, that it was only 1344 metres high.

Neptune’s Stairs on the Caledonian Canal, which helps link the North Sea with the Atlantic Ocean via Loch Ness, Loch Lochy and Loch Linnhe, was a very interesting stop for the boys in the family.  We watched a boat pass through part of the lock system which raises or lowers the boats 80 feet above or down to sea level.

Nessie did not show her face and fortunately we all felt quite at ease camping beside the loch.  Ellie had reassured us that she was “really friendly and didn’t eat people”.  Georgia (the horsey one) went for an hour long ride around a horse riding farm which overlooked the ruins of Urquhart Castle and Loch Ness.

She claims that she REALLY enjoyed it.  We visited the Loch Ness Exhibition Centre and learnt about the Loch Ness monster hoaxes and how they were solved.

Drumnadrochit - Ullapool

A day ahead of schedule, the family decided to head further north-west in search of more rugged landscape   ...   and we found it.

On our travels we stopped at the Falls of Shin and had the most unexpected surprise – Atlantic salmon jumping up the falls on their way to freshwater breeding grounds.  It was a wonderful experience witnessing these seafaring fish battling their way up fast flowing streams into the middle of Scotland.

The glacial cut landscape became more desolate the further west we headed, with very little vegetation and few inhabitants.  We assumed the low population was due to the inhospitable terrain, but we were to learn later that the clan numbers were significantly reduced by the English Red Coats after the Jacobite rebellion in 1746, to avoid the possibility of another Highland resurgence. 

We stayed that night at Ullapool, which typified the Scottish fishing village:  a village in Scotland with fish.  It also sported steep pebble beaches with an endless supply of smooth skipping stones.

Ullapool – Cairngorms (Grampian Mountains)

We passed through Inverness on our travels east, but as we were too invigorated by our stay in the Highlands, we didn’t stop in the city.  Just east of the city is Culloden Moor, the site of the last battle fought on British soil.

This battle was fought in 1746 between the English Government and the rebelling Jacobites and lasted for just one hour.  It saw the end of the attempt by bonnie Prince Charlie to regain the English crown for the Stuart family from the reigning Hanover family.

This battle led to the English building the fort, Fort George, only a few kilometres down the road at Ardersier.  We wandered around the military barracks and climbed the ramparts to catch a glimpse of the magnificent views over Moray Firth and out to the North Sea.

Dolphins swam lazily in the water just off shore, which was an added bonus to our day.

Time to turn south through the Grampian Mountains and into Cairngorm National Park.  A working water mill captured our attention at Blair Atholl and we learnt about the process of stone grinding oats and wheat to make various grades of meal.

We couldn’t resist stocking the pantry with their fresh home-baked breads.  Our highlight in Blair Atholl however was finally seeing some gorgeous Highland cattle with their enormous horns, shaggy coats and their shaggy fringes completely covering their eyes.

Heading south, we visited the Scottish Crannog Centre where we inspected a reconstructed loch dwelling from the Bronze/Iron Age.  These lake dwellings, and the lives of their inhabitants, are still puzzling archaeologists today.

The Centre had fascinating hands-on exhibitions encouraging visitors to try various arts and crafts from this bygone era, including how to light a fire without matches.  Vid managed to create fire, and Tom and Georgia loved trying the simple techniques of wood turning and grinding a hole through a stone.

The countryside continued to overwhelm us with its unique beauty as we opted to drive the narrow, hair-raising, no-room-for-two-vehicles road towards Edinburgh.  The baron windswept hills with low growing purple flowering heather were magnificent.  We felt alone (Vid quite enjoyed the lack of other vehicles) to the extent that we were on another planet when we saw some “golden” sheep.

Unfortunately as we wound our way down the mountains we approached civilisation again and the busy world we live in.

Falkirk - Edinburgh

The Falkirk Wheel was Vid and Tom’s highlight for the day before driving onto Edinburgh.  The wheel is the first boat “lift” and is an enormous feat for modern day engineering.

It works on the Archimedes’ principle of water displacement, and although the concept in theory seemed simple, the practicality of developing this amazing structure was admirable.

On to Scotland’s historic capital, Edinburgh, and in particular Edinburgh Castle.  Although there is quite a variation in the architectural styles of the castle (as it was built over many centuries) the stone buildings all had their own character.  The quaint chapel of St Margaret’s is the oldest building in Edinburgh and is the only building within the castle walls not to have suffered at the hands of battle.

The castle is the home to the Scottish crown jewels – the crown being the second oldest in the world after the Hungarian crown.  It has not been worn since the 1600’s.  We also saw the “Stone of Scoone”, a sandstone piece of rock which has reputedly been used for over one thousand years as the stone where the monarchs of Scotland sit for their coronation.

We stopped on the Scottish/English border to bid Scotland a wee farewell and enjoyed the magnificent views for a final time.

It is certainly a country we would all love to visit again.

_

THE LAND OF FEW VOWELS AND NORTHERN ENGLAND

Shrewsbury - Conwy

The unique natural beauty of northern Wales captured us as we drove through Snowdonia National Park.  An incredibly wild and lonely landscape battered by thousands of years of changing conditions, but none so forceful  as the glaciers during the Ice Age.

Our two hour walk into the mountains above the Ogwen Valley was magnificent.  Ellie’s little legs (combined with a bit of time on Dad’s shoulders) braved the thousands of rock steps up and down.  Vid, Georgia and Tom were a little braver as they scrambled higher up the mountain for better views of the glacial lake nestled snugly in the shadows of the mountains.

The steep sides on this mountain were used by Edmund Hillary in winter for practising ice climbing before attempting Mt Everest.

Energised by our walk, we decided to make the most of the blue sky day and visit Conwy Castle.  This imposing fortress, completed in 1287, fulfilled the perfect image of a fortress castle.

Its solid round towers and soaring stone curtain walls gave an intimidating presence that has not been diminished by the passage of time.  The views from the battlements over the town and out into the Irish Sea were breathtaking.

 

Back into England   ...

Conwy – Chester – Windermere

The Roman walled city of Chester, with its Tudor style houses, was an easy place to spend a morning.

We walked the 3 km trek around the top of the wall surrounding the city, and up and down Chester Rows with its 700 year old shops, some of which are half a level below street level.

The Lake District was another corner of Europe where we were met with “oohs” and “aahs” from the back section of the motorhome.

Green, green paddocks, black faced sheep and beautiful dense vegetation leading right down to the edge of magnificent bodies of water.

The geology of this area provides a dramatic record of nearly 500 million years with evidence of colliding continents, deep oceans, tropical seas and kilometre thick ice sheets.

In the middle of the 1800’s half of the world’s textile industry’s bobbin supply came from the Lake District.  Visiting a mill was a fascinating insight into the world of bobbins – who would have thought of their importance.

There were 64 mills in this area of England and this small mill alone used to produce 250,000 bobbins per week.

Off to MacScotland   ...

_

THE ENGLISH COUNTRYSIDE

Salisbury – Bath – Cirencester

We spotted Salisbury’s majestic cathedral topped with England’s tallest spire (123 metres) kilometres from the city.  The Gothic cathedral, built in the 1200’s, is now the home of Europe’s (and questionably the world’s) oldest working clock and the finest of only four surviving Magna Cartas.  The clock, which was built in 1386, has no face and hands but rather chimes a church bell on the hour.  If it has worked continuously since it was made, it has ticked more than 5 billion times (only ticks every 5 seconds).

The Magna Carta is one of the most celebrated documents in English history – at the time, in 1215, it was a solution to a political crisis, but its importance has endured, as one of the Latin clauses protecting the rights of individuals is still law today.

Enough of medieval history   ...   we took an enormous leap back in time to the Stone, Bronze and Iron Age.  We let it soak into our veins as we visited every possible henge and Iron Age fort in the southwestern pocket of England – Old Sarum, Woodhenge, Stonehenge and Avebury Henge to name the main ones.

 The iconic archaeological site of Stonehenge was overwhelming.  One could only marvel at the prehistoric engineering feat involved in carting the enormous rocks (some over 240 km from Wales) and the erection of the lintel stones on top.  Although the real mystic of this great and ancient stone circle will never be unravelled, its connection to the sun and the seasons is fascinating - an interesting arrangement of rocks.

Georgia felt that our step back in time was not complete without sighting one of the great “hill figure” horses carved into the chalk rock.  Although many date back to the Stone Age, the one we saw was only created in 1812.

All in desperate need of a bath, the Roman Baths seemed the logical destination.  However when we arrived, there was no way we were jumping into the lead lined baths filled with green murky steaming waters.  We found the elegant town of Bath with its multiple rows of duplicate Georgian style houses eye capturing, though the narrow streets were not particularly in sync with our home on wheels.

The old Roman road, The Fosse Way, led us north into the Cotswold Hills to Cirencester.  The “Cotswolds” were beautiful, with its undulating landscape, dry stone and hedge fences, green pastures and  1,000,001 sheep.  The local history recorded in the Cirencester Museum (from prehistoric, stone, bronze and iron ages, Saxons, Vikings, Normans and through the medieval times) was fascinating for all ages, including Ellie who thrived with the activities the museum had on offer for young ones.

We stayed the night with some Green relatives, Andrew and Sally Scarth, and thoroughly enjoyed the simplicity of a warm shower, cosy beds, home cooked meals and SPACE.

Cirencester – Chaddsley Corbett

Stratford-Upon-Avon, the dainty touristy town, was the birthplace and home of William Shakespeare.

This called for some recitals, by Mum and Dad, from the many comedies and tragedies of Shakespeare’s writings, and not much conversation was understood by the rest of the family for a while.  The children may have felt their parents had gone completely off the rails.

“Green” country in the Black Country was our next destination.  Black Country was the name given in the mid 1800’s to the industrial region located in the midlands of England.  At this time it was considered the “workshop of the world” as the industrial revolution gained full momentum.  Its name is derived from the smoke of many thousands of ironworking foundries and forges, and the countryside which had been spoiled by the working of coal mines.  Sarah’s great-great grandfather, and subsequent generations, owned a tool, chain and nail manufacturing business in this area.  It is still the home of the Green family.

The Black Country Museum was a step back in time as we watched a chain maker skilfully master the hot iron into uniform links.  The tour down an underground coal mine was an unnerving insight into the dim working life of men and boys who were as young as nine, especially when we turned off our torches to feel the loneliness of the dark and cold conditions.

Staying with Sarah’s cousin near Chaddesley Corbett was fantastic (leaving aside that it was in a house).  It was also fabulous to see great Aunt Ilse again, who never tires and has the energy and spirit of a person half her age.  We relaxed, and the children played, as Mark and Maggs did their extra bit to spoil us, especially by organising a huge get together of relatives (most of whom we had not met before) with some cousins travelling hours to see us.  There was plenty of chatting and plenty of laughter. 

The laughter did not stop with the end of the dinner party.  After everyone had left, Vid was having a shower   ...   Sarah was awoken to a little “knock, knock” and Vid whispering, “Sar, I’m locked in the bathroom”.  Apparently Sarah’s response was, "Is there somewhere in there you can sleep?”  When she was greeted with a “NO”, she apparently responded by saying, “Well what do you want ME to do about it?”  Can’t imagine that Sarah would have been so heartless.  An hour later, and with Maggs and Mark on the job, the sledge hammer was brought out and Vid was rescued in the wee hours of the morning.  Fortunately Mark’s skill as a builder meant the house was not totally destroyed in the process.

Off to Wales   ...

_

RED DOUBLE DECKER BUSES AND BLACK TAXIS

Dover – Greenwich

The white chalk cliffs of Dover loomed ahead of us as the ferry crossed the Strait of Dover towards England.  It was a picture perfect morning standing on the top deck, sharing the moment with the seagulls as we approached the Mother Land.

We adjusted ourselves to driving on the left again (in a LH drive vehicle) and had a quick stop in the medieval city of Canterbury to view the famous Canterbury Cathedral - the centre of the Church of England.  It was, again, another impressive facade for a building dominating the local skyline.

Everyone learnt something at the Royal Observatory at Greenwich, the home of “longitude” and “Greenwich mean time”:  Ellie learnt that you could jump across a line on a pavement and be in the eastern half of the globe on one side and in the west on the other side;

Tom learnt about the beginnings of Nebulas and that in five thousand million years time “the earth will be nothing more than a frazzled rock”; Georgia learnt about the competition that resulted in the invention of the modern day clock; Vid was intrigued with the development of ship faring clocks so that they could keep accurate time on a rolling sea, necessary for longitudinal navigation; and Sarah learnt all of the above. 

London

Four days of sleeping in a house with rooms, comfortable beds and big showers   ...   don’t worry, we are mentally holding up just fine with our motorhome circumstances.  We stayed with some great friends in Fulham, London – John, Claire, Charlie & Bertie Maiden.  They spoilt us rotten, which we lapped up as we enjoyed the small comforts a home can bring.  There were plenty of laughs and plenty of late nights chatting.

We tightened the laces on our adventuring boots as we headed off to explore the sights of the big city of London.  Days could have been spent in the Natural History Museum and the British Museum – both housing incredible exhibitions and generously provided free of charge by the city of London.  The Earth Hall captured our attention for the longest as the children learnt about the effects of earthquakes, tsunamis, volcanoes and other geological phenomena on Earth.

Amongst the masses of displays were various interesting ponderings:  an elephant bird egg, a dodo, all sorts of creepy crawlies, and rare mammals.  The Rosetta Stone at the British Museum was fascinating – it was from this stone inscribed with three languages (hieroglyphics, Egyptian and Greek) that archaeologists were able to decipher the mystery of the ancient language of hieroglyphics.

The family later enjoyed a lazy stroll through Kensington Garden and Hyde Park playing with the local squirrels.

We walked past the Wellington Monument to Buckingham Palace - no corgis, no queen and no princes, just a couple of very stiff “buzzybee” Welsh guards who weren’t interested in engaging in a civil conversation over a cup of tea and scones.

The old City of London, with the Tower of London, Tower Bridge and St Paul’s Cathedral made an interesting day.

The crown jewels in the Tower were incredible with the world’s two largest diamonds (530 and 317 carats) and an amazing array of emeralds, sapphires and rubies.  Let’s just say that Georgia and Sarah joined the crowds on the conveyor belt to view the crowns a few times – their favourite being the petit diamond crown worn by Queen Victoria.

St Paul’s Cathedral with its iconic dome dominating the London skyline was fascinating.  We concentrated our time on finding some old and very distant relatives buried there.

The giant revolving London Eye soared us high (135 metres) above London.  The 30 minute trip (the wheel only spins at double the rate of a minute hand on a clock face) was awesome and although the morning was overcast, patches of sun persisted so the 360 degree view was spectacular.

We departed hastily to beat the weather and ran past the Houses of Parliament and Big Ben in the pouring rain to take shelter in Westminster Abbey.

It is a simple but elegant structure though a little cluttered inside.  The guided tour unravelled some of England’s history as we stepped over and around some 400 odd tombs.

It was a short walk then to the Cabinet War Rooms and the Churchill Museum at Whitehall.  The rooms are an excellent relic of wartime Britain - it was here where Churchill, his cabinet and military leaders made some heavy decisions during WWII.  The museum offered an intriguing expose of the public and private faces of Winston Churchill in very interesting displays.

The enigma machine (German code machine) was particularly fascinating and reading some of Churchill’s incredibly witty quotes were a valuable insight into the man and his dedication to the role he played in this turbulent period of history.

Our visit to London would not have been complete without a walk around the Monopoly board – Regent Street, Trafalgar Square, Piccadilly Circus, Pall Mall, Oxford Street, Mayfair and Whitehall.  Fortunately we didn’t land on “Go directly to jail”.

A taste of London was all there was time for, but we all agreed it was FANTASTIC sampling the flavours the grand city had on offer.

_