Interlude in Norfolk

A delightful weekend was spent in the county of Norfolk, visiting some of Bob's illustrious friends-and-relations. Despite a distressing start (occasioned by a hic-cough in the rail service, and causing a prolonged journey undertaken by train, 'bus, and train again) we had a very pleasant time, and thoroughly enjoyed experiencing some English countryside in the autumn.

The highlight of the weekend was a visit to Banham Zoo - a model of what a family-friendly modern zoo can be. The animals were the most photogenic I have ever seen in such an establishment, and we particularly enjoyed getting up close to creatures in the miniature farm. The prairie dog enclosure was especially intriguing, and we enjoyed an encounter with one wee fellow who popped up to see us out of his hole some two meters from the fence . . . on the wrong side! He was not at all scared of us, and eventually went back to join his family by the simple expedient of pushing through one of the holes of the wire fence.

Back to Britain

Well, what have we been up to since we've been back?

We arrived home in the midst of extensive renovations. The kitchen was mostly done by the time we returned, but the bathroom and toilet and lots of flooring were being upgraded by the lovely Polish builders Lukas and Martin. It was quite exciting going for some days without washing facilities, but we all survived, and the flat looks lovely now.

A church day out with the Good Shepherd Mission took us to the unfortunately named Ugley Hall, where we had a barbeque, the children swam, others played tennis, and we all socialised in the (mostly) sunshine (there were ten minutes or so spent all huddled together under a leaky tarpaulin). Ugley is a gorgeous wee place - the hall had very English gardens and the little church is very picturesque. The day was even rounded off nicely with two small children falling in the fish pond.

Robyn started her summer job at Imperial College just a couple of days after we got back, where she has been working on a clinical trial.

Myself, having some leisure time (ie: trying to find a job), volunteered to help out at the Good Shepherd Mission's outreach week - Fun in the Sun. It's pretty much like a holiday program or a beach mission (though not at the beach), and focuses on the large estate just across from the church, which houses mostly Bangladeshi families. I joined the Social Action team, and spent the week cleaning carpets. It was great fun, and we got to have some interesting conversations with different people as we shampooed their rugs and scrubbed at stains. And I'm a pro at carpet cleaning now! It was also a great opportunity to get to know some of the congregation better.

The Cheltenham Bible Festival sounded an appealing weekend away, so Robyn and I camped out for four nights at the Cheltenham racecourse, meeting Lyndon and Mim during the day to attend the meetings and seminars. There were some great talks, lots of things to see and activites to do, and a huge bookshop tent. A ceilidh one evening was tonnes of fun (and good excercise!) and Bob and I tried our hands at silk painting in the arts and crafts tent. Some highlights of the meetings included hearing Don Carson, Sharon James, and Stuart Townend.

Another fun day out I had was at trip to Hampton Court Palace with a girl from church. We didn't go into the palace itself, but wandered round the gardens and spent some time ooh-ing and ah-ing in the Royal School of Needlework shop. A trip back to look through the buildings is now on my list. . .

Oh, and we've been to a Prom. In a box. I got free tickets for me and Robyn from someone at church, and we went to hear a selection from Saint-Saëns, Fauré, and Debussy. It was gorgeous music, and we had some of the best seats in the whole Royal Albert Hall.

Well, we've done other nice things as well, but I think I'll leave it at that for now. Life in England is pretty busy!

Jersey cows and lavender

Our two-and-a-half months in Europe was rounded off nicely by a relaxing week on the beautiful Channel Island of Jersey. My (Minnie's) Papa George lived on Jersey for a good many years, and was keen for us to take a look, and we were only too happy to do so.

Arriving at 9.45 in the morning, we had a quick stop at the information centre before catching a bus out to Highlands Hotel (a Christian hotel on the south-western-most point of the island). The bus drivers in Jersey are very friendly - they'll help with directions and even drop you off at the gate, if you're lucky! We were warmly welcomed at our hotel by Alan, the manager, and settled ourselves in before going out for some advice on what to see and do. A nearby lavender farm sounded appealing, and we decided to walk there. We ended up spending a good three or four hours there, admiring the many varieties of plants, feeding chickens, snoozing on the grass, learning about distillation, and sipping lavender tea in the cafe. It was terribly pleasant. A quick trip into St Helier helped us get our bearings a little, and we sat for a while in Liberation Square, admiring the memorial remembering May 1945, when the people were set free from five years of German occupation.

Our first morning at Highlands we were stunned by the superb breakfast put on - anything and everything we could possibly want. We went back into town to have a look around the streets, and found a cafe where we could use the internet for free while sipping on mochas. We had heard that the Logos II was berthed nearby, so we went over to see her, and spent an hour or so looking at books on board. There were lots of good books going for really cheap, so we stocked up and came away with laden arms.

The weather swiftly turned to custard during this week, and on Sunday morning we were blown to church with rain bucketing down upon us. We enjoyed attending Quennevais Evangelical Church. Everyone was very friendly, and we were even offered a lift back to the hotel. We had been advised to join the hotel residents for the Sunday lunch, and it was well worth it. Our table-mates were two lovely Irish ladies, and we had a lovely time chatting over the meal. It was nice to have a properly relaxing Sunday afternoon. We spent it snoozing, reading, resting, etc. . . and then joined in the evening service upstairs, where Derek Moon played the keyboard and spoke.

Jersey Pottery was another pleasant place that we visited. They make lovely pieces, and have a shop and gallery and some of the workshops open to view.

Monday being £3 movie night, we decided visit the cinema and see Ocean's 13, a good holiday movie (not one I'd choose to see if I had to pay more than £3, but). The theatre was practically abandoned, but we enjoyed ourselves. Back at the bus stop by our hotel, we struggled against the wind down to the coast to take some photos of Corbiere lighthouse. It was hard to take pictures when we couldn't even stand upright - one couldn't even hold the camera still - but we managed to get a few by leaning against the rocks.

A highlight of our time in Jersey was our visit to Gerald Durrell's Wildlife Conservation Centre. While we heard many comments about the zoo being a bit overgrown and scruffy, we found it really interesting, and appreciated the flora as being an attempt to keep the area more natural for the animals, rather than just unkempt. The aviaries were amazing - there were all sorts of rare and beautiful birds flying free around us - and we had fun in the reptile home trying to take photos of bright coloured frogs and peering over bits of bark looking for toads and snakes. It was a very informational zoo, and it was interesting to see where all the different beasties came from originally, and what they ate, and things.

A nice dinner of wood-fired pizza and ginger beer at St Aubin's bay made our last evening nice, though we did miss the bus back to the hotel and had to sit for an hour on the beach while we waited for the next one. Robyn went rambling while I sat and sketched, and then got herself stuck taking a shortcut up a sloped wall. Thankfully a random guy walked past and hauled her up before any damage was done. . .

We got to the airport very early the next day. . . terribly early. . . and sat reading our seedy novels for quite some time before we caught our flight. They have comfy chairs. Our flight was half empty, and we had a cool view of the island as we lifted off, before the clouds covered everything. A very smooth flight back to Gatwick was a peaceful way to end our trip, and we were happy to be home.

Bathing

After visiting the Cotswolds we were off to Bath for a couple of days. Our train arrived at about 11am, and we were kindly informed by someone at the information desk that it was a 20 minute walk to the YHA. 50 minutes later. . . . up a long hill. . . . we arrived at our picturesque hostel. Pausing only briefly to draw breath we headed back down the hill and into town. We had a quick bite of lunch sitting below the Pultney bridge, and then wandered up through the centre making our way toward the Jane Austen Centre. Robyn decided she wouldn't come in, as she wasn't so interested, so I (Miriam) did the tour and had a look about by myself while she sat and read in the park. It was an interesting centre, but unfortunately the new ITV dramatisation of Persuausion had just come out and there was a very heavy focus on that. We have a low opinion of it, for various reasons which I shall not expound here (I could, for pages). Anyhow, it was still interesting, and it was good to hear where exactly in Bath Jane had stayed and lived.

A wander through the shops was fun - it is a nice rambley town centre with little arcades and corners everywhere. We bought some tea to cook at the hostel and went up pretty early.

Having discovered that the hostel charged extra for breakfast, we betook ourselves to town to eat before joining a free walking tour at 10.30am. There was a large crowd gathered at the meeting point, but we were divided up into groups of 15 or so and sent off with a volunteer guide. Our guide was a lovely gentleman who told us lots of interesting stories about town figures and the architecture, etc. The tour lasted about two and a half hours, and went all about the highlights of Bath as well as looking at some more obscure areas. It was a very enjoyable way to spend the morning.

Bath is such a lovely city. The buildings blend with the surroundings so well, and the planning was very well thought out, with lots of gardens, squares and promenading areas. It is very happily situated.

The afternoon we devoted to the Museum of Costume, located in the Uppper Assembly Rooms. There was a very interesting display on the history of pockets, and an interactive one on corsets! Robyn and I both managaed to achieve a 26" waist, and I'm sure we could have gone smaller with a less generic corset (it sounds a lot - but try it yourself!). It was lots of fun - there were hoop petticoats to try as well, though most of them were a bit warped. The actual dress displays were okay, but perhaps not quite all they could have been, though admittedly some areas were being refurbished. The Assembly Rooms were very grand - beautifully proportioned and kept. We were only sorry that we weren't allowed to take photos of them.

Robyn took off with a book to a wee walled garden by the river - you pay 70p and you can use the grounds and take possession of a blue-and-white striped deckchair. It makes a fetching scene to look upon. I had a wander about town, revelling in the gift shops and antique stores, before meeting up with Robyn in time for tea. We decided to eat out - at Garfunkels, a chain restaurant we have seen all about the place. We were able to sit in a conservatory, and it was very pleasant. Back at the hostel we had a game of chess before retiring for an early night.

Wednesday we went in to the Roman Baths and Pump Room. I had expected the Baths to be a place of walk in, have a look, say 'oh, how nice' and walk back out again in five minutes. On the contrary - it is a very well set out tourist & history attraction, with information given by personal audio tour (some narrated by Bill Bryson!) and well presented displays. The Baths are very impressive (though it was not a little distressing to notice two pigeons either attempting to drown themselves or thinking mistakenly that they could swim). There are some lovely carvings and mosaics that have been excavated and reassembled. After spending an hour or two looking about we felt it necessary to take a glass of the waters, and so headed to the Pump Room. This is now a rather swank restaurant, but anyone can pop in for a glass. The water flows from a fountain, where it is caught in a glass and handed to you, all warm and minerally. Horrid stuff. I downed about an inch, and then politely left my glass on the ledge. Robyn only managed a sip or two. On the way out we were paused by a gorgeous piece of textile art showing the houses of the monarchy of England over the last 1000 years.

After a Sally Lunn to take the taste away we caught a little country bus, we made our way to Prior Park, a beautifully National Trust park just out of the city. The walk around the park is lovely - there are paths and wooded areas and landscaped gardens. We took ever so many photographs and made some sketches. The main attraction is the Palladian Bridge (one of only four in the world of this particular type of architecture).

We were back to Bath and collecting our luggage mid afternoon, where we found the greatest amusement in our wheeling our suitcases down the hill. Both normally quite well behaved (the cases, I mean) they decided that this was the time to make free and, bouncing off the paving stones, gave us a merry chase. My suitcase decided it preferred either the garden walls or Robyn's ankles to a sedate path, while Robyn's was frankly suicidal, and kept trying to leap into the path of oncoming traffic. We did make it intact to the railway station, and enjoyed a peaceful trip back home.

Oh So English!

The Cotswolds are my (Bob) favourite part of England (at least they are so far - one never knows what other scenes of beauty one may find). I think they just embody all that England is to me: the incredible history with all the lovely old houses and the ancient churches, the beautiful countryside with great green meadows, rolling hills, and the little bubbling brooks winding their way through the villages lined with cheerful spring flowers. I hope some of these photos show you what I mean.




Anyway, enough of the poetry, what did we see? Well, having left Oxford behind, we were given a tour of a few of the villages in the Cotswolds. Our route took us through Stow-on-the-Wold, Upper Slaughter, Lower Slaughter (where we stopped for a wander) and Bourton-on-the-Water (far too touristy and commercialised for our liking) before arriving in Meysey Hampton. This little village is where Mim's parents live, with whom we were staying for the weekend. We were well fed during our stay, with delicious meals cooked by Mrs Hainsworth. Their house was built about 700 years ago and although originally a barn was converted into two little semi-detached houses with wattle-and-daub walls. It's such a lovely place although Minnie found she banged her head on the low doorways a little too frequently (for some reason Robyn had no such problems...).

Mim's sister Ruth came over for lunch after church on Sunday, then we drove over to Bibury which is my favourite of the Cotswold villages (all but the 3rd photo of those above were taken here) - so pretty. We went for a long walk in the glorious sunshine, starting with the church (it would be perfect for a wedding) and the adjacent hotel and grounds (again, perfect for a wedding...), and wandering through the fields, along the river and past the few shops. We stared in amazement at the children who, with parents happily watching on, worked on destroying the ancient dry stone wall piece by piece and threw chunks of it in the river, until Ruth strode over to have a word with the parents regarding the preciousness of this piece of English heritage. She was rudely rebuked for daring to criticise and it wasn't until Mrs Hainsworth had a word with one of the children that they eventually stopped to abuse us for disciplining their children! We took a leisurely route back to Meysey Hampton through more of the villages and spent the afternoon soaking up the sunshine on the front lawn.

Our brief visit to this picturesque part of the world came to an end as we headed off to Bath by train.

Towers in the Mist

We departed London for a six day trip, consisting of two nights each in three locations. First stop was Oxford. . . .

We arrived in the city before lunch, having taken the train from London. The new purpose-built Youth Hostel is conveniently located just behind the railway station. We left our luggage, and set off in to town, heading first of all for the information centre - a handy stop. Grabbing a bite of lunch, we directed ourselves toward the Bodleian Library, where we saw a display of Murghal paintings and admired the courtyard and entranceway. Feeling the admission price to be a bit steep, we did not go in, though it would be interesting to see at a later time. Just up the road, and past the William Morris workshop (disappointingly closed) we opted to have a look through the Magdalen College buildings and grounds. It is a beautiful college, and we were not surprised that such genius came from its alumni - it has a very inspiring atmosphere. After looking around the quadrangle, chapel and courtyard we wandered down Addison's Walk by the meadow. It was a beautifully sunny day, and so pretty with all the spring flowers growing all over the place.

Dinner at the Eagle and Child was a must. The Rabbit Room was fully occupied, so we were obliged to sit further back in the pub (pushing through the fur coats with some difficulty. . .) and were served a perfectly adequate meal, though I wouldn't say one goes there for the food. 'Twas nice, though, and amazing to sit where CS and JRR and Warnie had talked and eaten, etc.

The next day was Good Friday, and we set out in the hopes of finding a service somewhere. Not having any guide, we thought 10am was a likely time, and we were right! Christ Church Cathedral was where we settled for our first high church experience (though it wasn't that high, just more than we're used to). The guard was somewhat suspicious that we weren't really there for the service but rather to have a free look around so sternly instructed us to come straight back when the service finished! The choir was lovely, and we did not disgrace ourselves (although kneeling had to be avoided due to having somehow found ourselves to be sitting in a pew space designed for only one person). Following this we took the opportunity to tour this college, and were much impressed with the Great Hall and the quadrangle. Miriam found that a guide and the verger in the Cathedral were knowledgeable and happy to talk to her about Elizabeth Goudge and her family, which was very nice - they had quite a chat. After a visit to Alice's Sheep Shop we walked back up to Magdalen Bridge, where we hired a pedal boat for an hour. This is definitely the way to do it - you whizz past punters and rowboats and don't even come close to some of the predicaments in which they seem to find themselves (a pedal boat is a great deal more manoeuvrable). The punters and rowers fall into two categories - those who call out "cheater!" as you zoom past, and those who look longingly at you and then argue with their husbands about why they couldn't have had a pedal boat. Such fun! We made it all the way out to the Thames, which was very cool, and did some nifty manoeuvring as we came back in to dock.

Another must do was the purchase of an Oxford hoodie. Clichéd, I know, but necessary. It is brown with pale blue writing. And I got a free cap! It was unseasonably warm weather and we both loved the history of the city - it would be quite some experience to study there.

The only other major thing we did was a long walk through the Christ Church grounds, where we sat and ate our lunch, read our books, and did a spot of sketching. Then we met up with Lyndon and Mim in a gorgeous bookshop, and they whisked us away to the Cotswolds. . .

Away from the City

Having spent two weeks in London, we finally managed to see some proper English countryside, and some proper English villages.

Our first stop was Banham, a wee village in Norfolk, where we went to see Robyn's Nana Lawrence and her aunt and uncle and cousins. We (us, Lyndon and Mim) drove up on Friday night and had a lovely dinner with Aunty Celia, Uncle Ian, Alasdair and Caroline. Andrew met us there, having caught the train. We spent the night at Nana's house, and had a nice relaxing morning chatting on Saturday, before going out to celebrate Nana's recent birthday. She took us all to Dunstan Hall, an estate with a grand restaurant, where we enjoyed a lovely buffet meal and pots of hot chocolate afterwards (for some of us, anyhow). A postprandial constitutional by the river in Norfolk was a nice follow up, where Lyndon and Andrew felt the need to act as mean older brothers and did their best to beat Robyn up and throw her in the river. They soon learned this would be more painful to them than it would be to her! A wander through Norwich Cathedral led us to an enormous copper font which, on closer inspection, was revealed to be an ex chocolate melting pot from the local sweet factory! (Quite the way to do it, we thought). In commemoration of the Battle of Britain, there was a very impressive lace panel depicting the various planes and fighters including a New Zealand battalion. Returning to Banham we enjoyed a nice boardgame in the evening in which each played is a taxi driving around London. . . for those of you who do not know, Miriam has a tendency to win boardgames, in which she indulged on this occasion. . . She does not mean to, it just happens.

Sunday morning worship was at the Baptist Church in Diss, a nearby town. We returned to Uncle Ian & Aunty Celia's for a yummy Sunday lunch, after which Lyndon and Alasdair took Andrew off to the train station. We girls decided to go for a walk about the village and, well rugged up, had wandered over the village green and through the church, when it began to snow! It was quite windy, so the snow was sharp, but it was such a novelty and so fun to be out in - very invigorating. We had a sociable evening with the family.

We were up bright and early Monday morning with our bags packed ready for Cambridge. We had a glimpse of how bad the traffic jams can get, but made it in good time anyway. Lyndon and Mim dropped us off outside the Youth Hostel as they headed back to London, so we booked in and made use of the left luggage room before walking into town. We got our bearings at the Information Centre, and purchased tickets to go punting on the Cam and to look around Kings College. A wander through the town came first, though, having a peep into some shops and choosing a picnic lunch. We ate by a bridge where we tried to play Pooh sticks, but there was a grate or something, and it didn't work. After that, it was time for our personal chauffered punt ride (nobody else showed up) down the Backs complete with cushions and warm blankets. This is down the part of the river that many of the colleges back on to, showing off their grounds and buildings from a different angle. Highlights included drifting under the Bridge of Sighs (see photo 2) and the Mathematical Bridge, and seeing the great library at Trinity. We heard the gory story of an ill-fated boat race in Victoria's reign (swords in punts are a bad idea) and of the bridge whose designer reclaimed a wedge of stone as payment for his services. We also enjoyed the vagaries of Cambridge weather, beginning our ride in the sunshine and going on through snow, sun, snow, and a little cloud. Weather for everyone!

Kings College was next (a relief to be out of the biting wind and snow!), with a walk through the Chapel guided by a handy pamphlet. The thing I (Miriam) found most moving was the inscriptions of all the names of Kingsmen who had fought and fallen during the two World Wars. These were inscribed on the walls of a little memorial chapel, and on a separate pillar from the rest was etched the name of a Kingsman who had fought for the other side.

After strolling about the grounds we returned to the street (by which time the sun was shining again), where a visit to the fudge kitchen resulted in us becoming the proud possessors of a whopping slice of 'double trouble chocolate' fudge. Some more strolling was now necessary, so we got some dinner supplies before heading 'cross town back to the hostel. We were cosily ensconsed in the lounge with books when the fire alarm went off! We were herded out the door (sans coats) and across the road to stand in the bitter wind waiting for the fire truck to arrive with seven firemen (two of whom got out) and learned that in such an old building it is best not to use a hair dryer right under the smoke alarm. Fun. The rest of the evening was fairly uneventful, until a busload of stout German schoolchildren arrived and took up residence on the floor above. They seemed to particularly enjoy playing leapfrog down the hallway and propelling themselves off the bunk beds with great force. They made the most of an unenforced bedtime, and kept this up well into the wee hours, and then woke us at an unearthly hour the following morn. Even more unforgivable, they scoffed all the pains au chocolat that were promised in the breakfast menu.

Having realised the weather was not going to improve, we ruled out such activities as cycling around the countryside and settled on a daytrip to Ely, a nearby Cathedral town. After purchasing Young Person's Railcards, we were amazed to find just how little we had to pay for the train there and back. It was lovely seeing all the countryside whizzing by and we arrived all too soon. We once again found the wind bitterly cold and walked speedily around the village, through a lovely park (see photo 3) and found ourselves at the Great Gateway, built many years back. From there we entered the cathedral through a back door just in time for the start of a guided tour. It was really interesting hearing all about the history of the church and being shown features we no doubt would have missed ourselves. The tower of the cathedral was built by monks with a structure very advanced for the time and is still magnificent today (see photo 4). We then wandered through more of the village, stopping at the visitor's centre which is located in the great Oliver Cromwell's house. After an unhealthy lunch of burgers and fries in a little family run diner, we came accross an amazing book shop where an hour and half of time whizzed past. Although tempted to purchase half the store, we left empty handed due to budget (and luggage!) restrictions. We stopped at lots of lovely little shops on our way back down to the river while it continued to snow on and off, then arrived back at the station for our return journey. After picking up our luggage and purchasing delicious hot chocolates, we settled in for the trip back to London. It was again lovely to see all the countryside, this time being covered in a blanket of snow (see photo 5), and it was with some sadness that we arrived back to the dull buildings of the city.