Today was another interesting day of travel and sight-seeing.
Shortly after leaving York we drove through the area of Nottingham / Sherwood Forest. John Hood, our Tour Guide, gave us a brief history of Robin Hood. Yes, the family names are the same, but that is as close as it gets.
When we left York this morning one of our group asked for the bus driver to put the radio on for awhile. This comes into play later this morning. Anyway, after a brief time, maybe 1/2 hour, the radio was turned off.
When we stopped at a comfort station along the highway, there in the parking lot on the back of a flatbed truck was a huge Rocking Horse. It was mention on the radio this morning. It was built to try to get funding and knowledge abut training young people in the lost skills such as stone work (masonry), etc. The rocking horse was (if I remember from the radio) somewhere around 16 to 18 feet high. It gets a little confusing here in England (including N. Ireland, Wales and Scotland) because on the road they use miles, but regular measurements they use the metric system. The Republic of Ireland uses the metric system (kilometers) on their highways. Ireland also uses the Euro currency.
Our first real stop was the town of Coventry. We parked close to the center of town, near the university. We then walked to the town center where on a clock town the story of Lady Godiva is acted out. On the hour lady Godiva comes out on a horse, and as it travels around the bottom of the clock, Tom peeks out of a door above her. Even his eyes get bigger as she approaches.
Near where the bus parked is a bombed destroyed cathedral sitting along side a new cathedral. Also, just on the other side of the new cathedral is another old church, Holy Trinity Church, which has a mural close to the ceiling that is older than the ones in the Vatican. I do not have the dates in front of me, but I seem to recollect that it is about 50 years older.
Our next stop was in Stratford-Upon-Avon - yes, that Stratford. We had a short stop at Anne Hathaway's cottage where a group photograph was taken. We then were driven to the main area. We had a tour of Shakes pears' Birth place and where he lived until he married and left home.
We had about 2 hours free time before our next event. However, since we were staying here this evening, it was okay.
A number of us signed up for an optional tour for Tea and Cream. On our way we drove through some small Cotswald towns (Cotswold is an area, not just a town). The house here were built from 'Cotswold' stone - a yellowish colored soft stone. Along the way we passed some farmlands that looked different - John told us that the farming method was called Ridge and Furrow. The field looked like a lake with waves on it. The 'ridges (higher ground) were planted with one type of crop, and the furrows (valleys) were planted with another type of crop which obviously preferred more moisture since the rain from the ridge would flow down to the furrow. The ridges seemed maybe about 12 to 15 yards apart.
We stopped for the Tea and Cream and Scones at a pub in the village of Campden. the pub was built in 1188. The cream was very heavy, and a lite yellow in color. It kind of reminded me of a soft butter. The scone was fresh bakes, with raisins in it, and was served warm. You cut the scone in half, spread a berry jam on it, then covered it with the cream.
Supper was at the hotel, so we had the evening to walk around Stratford-Upon-Avon, along the river among the canal boats, and back through the old town.
Signed
Your Wayward Traveler and his companions.
No comments:
Post a Comment