How old is that?

 Next episode will be heavily into all that!

Our American friends always express amazement at the historic sites all over UK. For us growing up with it it’s just second nature. We were taught in school about the bronze and iron age settlements, about the Roman conquest that started around 55 BC and lasted about 400 years. Many modern roads still follow the line of Roman roads laid down then.

Hadrian's Wall last year

There are of course things like Hadrian’s Wall and cities such as London, York, Chester (among many) that were established as Roman cities.

Later came the Vikings then the Norman Conquest in 1066 (a date every British school child has burned in their memory!). There was an English Civil War, battles against the Scots, and 2 World Wars. All of which have left permanent reminders on this relatively small island.

So for our British followers, we apologize for the repetition of things you know so well. For our overseas friends if you enjoy history you are in the right place!

Tomb in York Minster

In recent blogs we showed the city of York which has most of the previously mentioned periods woven into it’s fabric, and Speke Hall which lies on the outskirts of the city of Liverpool.

Speke Hall

After leaving the Wirral (yet again) we headed South East into the area known as “The Midlands” which naturally are in the middle of the country!

Long a center of industry and the Industrial Revolution, the midlands developed from the woolen industry and leather working dating back to pre Roman days.

The Iron Bridge in Ironbridge

Our first stop was a town called Ironbridge, where not surprisingly the worlds first cast iron bridge was located! It’s a quaint little town on a river. The bridge was built to allow movement of goods and animals across the gorge that cuts thru the town.

Tolls for the bridge.

Just outside of the town is the site of a blast furnace that smelted iron ore into pure iron and predates the bridge by centuries. The river allowed the products of the furnace to be easily moved to market.

Ironbridge Gorge

Just down the road is another old town called Much Wenlock site of a ruined abbey. There are many ruined abbeys in UK due to Henry the Eighth's abolition of the Catholic Church which we call the Dissolution. 

Majestic Much Wenlock Abbey

The Catholic Abbeys, Priorys etc. were all taken over by the government and then knocked down so the pieces could be sold off. Wenlock Abbey was an enormous place and the ruins are still very impressive.

The old town of Much Wenlock

Also close by are the remains of a Roman city that in it’s day was the 4^th largest in the Roman Empire. Bigger than Pompei.

A 2000 year old wall still standing

Only a small part of this large city have been excavated

The ruins were preserved after the center of power moved to Chester and Wroxeter gradually faded away. It’s location in a remote cattle farming area meant it wasn’t robbed of it’s stones or built over, leaving it for Victorian archaeologists to excavate and explore. Modern archaeologists have re-created a Roman Town House of which there were 100’s in the actual city.

The Roman Townhouse

The next stop was Kennilworth about 70 miles east where the remains of an enormous castle built around 1120 are there to explore.

Imposing Kennilworth Castle

Kings from King John (signer of the Magna Carta) to Henry V visited here thru the centuries and Queen Elizabeth the First was courted here by her lover Robert Dudley. Various owners have built additions and the results have added beauty rather than detracted from the place.

Everywhere you look in Kennilworth is another breath taking sight.

We took a train from Kennilworth to Coventry for some more modern history. Coventry was the one of first cities in World War 2 to suffer a fire storm as a result of a German bombing raid. The center of the city burned and with it its cathedral.

The original Coventry Cathedral

Destroyed by German bombs in WW2

In the 60’s a very modern new cathedral was built next to the remains of the old building and the result is a visual treat together with a reminder of the horrors of modern warfare.

The Modern Cathedral from the 1960's

We were amazed to find that immediately adjacent to the burned out cathedral, hidden away across a narrow alley was the Old Guild Hall that was over 700 years old and had survived the blaze intact!

The Guild Hall

The Guild that built the hall was formed to further the interests of the merchants involved in the wool trade. It’s hard to explain to an American audience how important that was. In the US you rarely see sheep, perhaps in Montana or a small flock on a farm, so rare that we always point them out to each other during our travels.

In UK it hard NOT to see sheep, they are everywhere. Lamb is a common dish in restaurants here that is almost unknown in the US.

The merchants must have done well because the Guild Hall is very ornate and has Royal connections.

Coventry is also famous (at least in UK it is) for “Lady Godiva’s Ride” and the hall has a statue of her.

Lady Godiva hides behind her long hair

The legend is that in 900 AD Lady Godiva told her husband that unless the burdensome taxes on the citizens of Coventry were reduced she would ride naked thru the marketplace.

The taxes weren’t reduced but Lady Godiva had the townsmen confined to their houses and combed her long hair to protect her modesty. All went well except that one townsman looked out of his window and was caught peeping.

His name? Tom. And that is why we having Peeping Tom as part of our language!

Boy that’s a lot of history. I think I wore my brain out!

See you next time.

Sisters, Aunts and Grand Kids

 Finally we drove back to our old favourite Arrowe Brook Farm.

You may see that I have returned to English spelling of some words. It’s my blog I can do what I want!

I hooked up with a Wirral art group

A fun day.

The return to Arrowe Brook and the Wirral was due to my Aunt Maud having passed away just before we flew in. Aunt Maud had a good run, reaching almost 97 before she slipped away at the care home she has been in for at least 10 years.

My sisters have been looking after her affairs all that time bless them.

I always remember her as a dainty lady and the leader of a dance school where both of my sisters learned tap and ballet. As a tiny kid in short pants I would go to their rehearsals for the annual Christmas show they would take part in. As I got a little older I would help out behind the curtains hauling in the scenery. Not that I did much hauling as I was probably 8 or 9 at the time, but I felt like I had helped out.

A spinster all her life, her house was always full of little trinkets, china ballerinas and music boxes. When they played the “Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairies” at her funeral the memory of the music boxes came rushing back.

We hooked up with Ken and Angie again for a trip to Liverpool for the celebration of the end of the Battle of the Atlantic. Fought between the German U Boats and the Allied convoys that crossed the North Atlantic during World War 2.

Big crowds

The famous "Ferry across the Mersey"

Hurricane, Lancaster and Spitfire

It was very crowded as there were Navy ships in for visits, Royal Air Force, Army, Navy and Marine exhibits. Historic military vehicles, helicopters, planes and seemingly endless soldiers, sailors and airmen showing off their hardware.

The highlight was a flyover by the Lancaster Spitfire and Hurricane of the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight. All very rare authentic WW2 aircraft and the Lancaster one of only 2 worldwide still flying.

I had some maintenance chores to do on the Motorhome and finally got the “Leisure” (house) battery to charge up. A hidden blown fuse was all that was stopping it.

We grabbed the chance to visit one of the historical places around Liverpool  - Speke Hall which dates to before 1066.

A genuine Tudor House

Lots of places in UK are said to predate 1066 and the reason is that William the Conqueror invaded England that year and after he had defeated the English he had a survey taken of everything in the country, The survey is known as “The Doomsday Book” and if a house is listed in it then naturally it has to predate 1066.

Most of these old houses have reverted to the government due to scandalously high estate taxes which forced the families to sell or have them seized by the government. There are a few “Trusts” who oversee the running of the properties, the main one being “The National Trust” who manage most of the big intact houses, and the other the “English Heritage” who seem to have all the ruins!

Speke Hall is English Heritage and we bought a membership which gets us in to all their properties free plus lets us park free where non members have to pay.

While we were around the Wirral we took the opportunity to grab our Grandkids and take them to a country fair in rural Cheshire. Much like a US County Fair with fairgrounds, animals, old cars etc.

Niail was having a Mohawk day!

They had a blast and so did we although I think we were more tired than they were at the end of the day.

Flying chairs

The "Twister"

Kaitlynd on trampoline

A model steam engine named aptly "Maud"

Vintage cars.

My sisters had reservations for “The Everly Brothers Story” at a local theater and we managed to get seats next to them, we all had dinner at a Turkish restaurant before the show (And it was excellent). All in all a very enjoyable evening.

Then it was time to move on again, but with my other Aunt Sheila’s celebration of life coming up in a few weeks we decided not to head for Cornwall just yet but instead to visit some more English Heritage sites in what is called “The Midlands”, which as the name implies are in the middle of England.

History is all around in UK from the town of Greasby near our home town which dates back to 8000 BC thru the Angles and Saxons, Romans, Vikings, William the Conquerer, Tudors, the English Civil Wars. Take your pick.

Next episode will be heavily into all that!

The National Boat Museum at Ellesmere Port.

Step 2 in UK

 All in all a great day out. Thanks Ken and Angie.

Finally it’s time to move on.

Seems like ages since we got here but it’s only 2 weeks! We have been avoiding thinking about heading out. I suppose we are in denial, wanting to go but not wanting to think about where we should go.

My Aunt recently passed away aged 97, and we have been hovering in the wings as my sisters have organized the funeral, started the probate process and moved her belongings out of the care facility she was in. Now we face the funeral which is going to be in couple of weeks. We will have to plan on being back for that and we have made reservations at Arrowe Brook Farm again.

Which means our plans for Cornwall in the far South West of England have had to move back. It’s not a problem as we don’t make plans or reservations except on Holiday weekends.

We came up with a short trip to York, a city in Yorkshire. About 150 miles east (well the way we went it was) it got us into the travel mode again.

Ken had mentioned a campground on the River Ouse south of York that had a water taxi that took you into the city.

We found Poplar Farm Caravan Park about 3 miles south of the city that had a bus stop outside the gate with a bus direct to the center of the city and also a pier from which the boat went also to the city center.

Camped right next to the river.

What could be better? How about it being right on the banks of the river with a nice pub next door? Sounded like heaven to us, and they had vacancies for the weekend!

The Ship Inn next door!

After a couple of hours drive we were checked in and all set up. The bad thing was that the house (Leisure) battery appeared to be dead and that ruled out a “Pub Stop” we had been looking forward to. Without a house battery we couldn’t get lights and some controls to work. A commercial campground like Poplar Farms has electric power hookups and we could happily run on that.

York is an ancient and very picturesque city with Roman ruins, a Minster (Cathedral) dating back to the Norman Conquest of England in 1066, lots of Viking history, English Civil War battles. Lots to keep Barbara and I busy.

York Minister

We decided to search for a city pass similar to those we bought in London and Dublin last year we found one.

This would get us into all the major tourist sites, onto the Hop on Hop off buses and even on the boats that went right from the campground. As Senior Citizens we could get a discount so we bought a 2 day pass. It easily paid for itself just on the boat fares and Hop On Hop Off buses for the 2 days. The entrance fees for the York Minster, Yorvik Viking Museum, Clifford Castle and York Castle Museum were a bonus. We heartily recommend getting a city pass if you are exploring York.

The old part of York named "The Shambles"

We walked and walked! Luckily the center of the city is fairly small but our legs were tired for the next 3 days.

Cruising the Ouse past the Campground.

We extended our stay by a day for a couple of reasons. Barbara’s cousin Malcolm lives about 50 miles away and when we contacted him he arranged a meet up of the rest of the local cousins who we haven’t seen in several years.

The city walls of York

I wanted to see the National Railway Museum too and we took the opportunity to walk along the top of the city walls to get there.

The world's first passenger train (Went from Liverpool!)

And also the Bullet Train at the National Railway Museum

After a long walk around the walls and museum we were too tired to walk back, so a taxi did the work and we were soon out in the gorgeous Yorkshire countryside visiting all Barbara’s cousins who had gathered at Malcolm’s cottage.

It was scary to find how long it had been since we saw Brian and Dianne but thankfully we had met Janice and Malcolm fairly recently. Malcolm’s neighbour John came by and we all sat out in perfect weather enjoying each others company and eating Malcolm’s delicious food. We had so much fun we clean forgot to take pictures!

Our next destination was Thirsk which is only about 45 miles to the north of York. We had a reason for the short trip, a destination we both were looking forward to.

Huge campground and so clean.

We found a campground on the North side of the town called Otterington Park, a really spic and span place with huge gravel spaces, a shop/office and huge bathroom buildings. All surrounded by farmland and withing a 10 minute walk of a nice pub called the “Shorthorn” named after the Shorthorn cattle.

The reason for the trip was connected to one of our favourite TV shows on PBS and some of our favourite books from the 70’s and 80’s. I think most people have heard of the series “All creatures great and small”?

World of James Herriot Thirsk

It’s about a veterinary surgeon in a town named Darrowby in Yorkshire and it’s set just before World War 2 in the 1930’s.

In the series the vet’s name is James Herriott and his books became world famous. They describe the country vet’s life in the Yorkshire hills and the hilarious local characters he is involved with.

His real name revealed

Sorry to break the spell but James Herriot was not his real name and Darrowby wasn’t where he lived and worked. The hills, farms and character’s however are all real.

His real name was James Wight and the real town was Thirsk. His real house wasn’t called Skeldale House, in fact I don’t think it has a name, but it’s here in the delightful market town of Thirsk and is now called “The World of James Herriot”.

The real entrance hallway

The real dining room

Seeing the real house seems strange as it’s not very like the TV sets that we are used to. Finding that he had a partner and mentor but who wasn’t named Seigfried and who in turn really did have a brother but not named Tristian made the whole lot come to life.

The TV set hallway

The TV set dining room

Stories from the books and TV shows came tumbling back as we walked around the extremely well presented house where exhibits showed their actual lives and the parallel TV show including the sets in which it was filmed.

Just to complete the experience we went to the pub for lunch and true to form it wasn’t called the Drover’s Arms! We went to the Mowbray Arms in the old Market Square and had a very tasty meal (And a couple of excellent pints of Theakston’s Best Bitter).

Mowbray Arms

Pub interior

I don’t think we’ve enjoyed a day out as much in a long time.

I got a few of my favorite things fitted in also. We stopped at the Yorkshire Air Museum in Elvington where there were lots of airoplanes to see. The one I particularly wanted to see was a Halifax bomber from WW2. Most enthusiasts know about the famous Lancaster bomber but the Halifax was the other heavy bomber that shared to load. The one here is assembled form a collection of parts, it’s the only complete one in the world and is painted to represent an aircraft named “Friday the 13^th”. All the symbols represent bad luck but the aircraft actually survived 128 missions only to be scrapped at the end of the war.

Halifax Bomber Friday the 13th

We also stopped at a place called Sutton Bank and for an early birthday present I got to fly a two seat glider.

Putting on the parachute

Instructor running thru the emergency proceedures.

The instructor did the take off behind the tow plane and the landing but I flew the rest of the 1/2hr flight and really enjoyed doing so. Thanks Barbara!

Finally we drove back to our old favourite Arrowe Brook Farm.