I spent a quiet morning as I waited for the skies to clear, ran a few errands — had to buy some Wellington boots for my remaining time in the English countryside. While walking through town I discovered the Oldest Bar in Englands — The Royal Oak and the City Cross, from the 14th C. Locally known as the Butter…
July 26: Winchester
The sun disappeared again behind low gray clouds heavy with rain. Makes me sorta miss gray May and June gloom in Los Angeles (which I truly dislike, but is better than this). I set off at midday, when the rain had lessened a bit, to meet a friend I’d met in Australia for lunch. For those of you who have…
July 25: Winchester
At last the sun overpowered the clouds this morning, at least for awhile. It even caused me to remove a layer of sweaters! My destination today — Winchester Cathedral and other historic sights in the town center. The Cathedral is significant to the town’s history: The seat of the Bishop was moved to Winchester from Dorchester-on-Thames in 676, and around…
July 23 & 24: Winchester and an excursion to London
On Sunday I bid farewell to Staffordshire and Lees Farm and my kind and generous hosts and friends, Keith and Lynn. I loved seeing the north central area of England — the impossible shades of green, rolling hills and dales, dry stone fences and rock escarpments, all features of the incomparable Peak District. Next on my itinerary: Hampshire and the…
July 20 & 21: Village Life
I failed to post yesterday because I didn’t really do anything worth noting. My hosts had a funeral to attend and it was raining pretty much all day, so I did some reading and relaxed at Lees Farm. In the afternoon Keith and Lynn taught me how to play Mah Jong, which is more complicated and takes more brain cells…
July 20: Buxton, Ashford, Bakewell and Arbor Low
The day dawned rainy. Or maybe it didn’t really dawn at all. Hard to tell when the sky is a mass of grayness. But as it promised to clear by midday we headed out towards Derbyshire. (Where I am staying sits at the intersection of Staffordshire, Cheshire and Derbyshire, so we’ve visited all three shires in these 3 days). Over…
July 19: Leek, Little Moreton Hall and Croxden Abbey
I had hoped to see more of this part of England, and today’s destinations provided wonderful examples of small village life, old preserved manor homes and ancient abbey ruins. What more could one ask? We visited Leek on market day, so there were vendors selling produce and antiques and off price goods along the High Street. There was the tallest…
July 18: London to Leek (the village, not the vegetable)
Today I set off from London to head north to the country home of two more friends from my walk on the Camino de Santiago — Keith and Lynn. We first met in the train station in Bayonne, France, enroute to St Jean Pied de Port, and as this was before I was an old hand at public transport I…
July 17: Stonehenge and Salisbury Cathedral
Another day to venture outside of London to see some historic sights. An 80 minute train ride brought me to Salisbury, a medieval cathedral village at the confluence of 5 rivers, and the county seat of Wiltshire in the SW of England. There are a couple good reasons to visit — one is the Cathedral and the other is the…
July 16: A Sunday in London
I set off a bit late this morning, with a vague plan of heading towards the National Gallery and found myself wandering some parts of town I hadn’t yet been to. Leicester Square was like Times Square — many of the same shops and street performers all working the crowds. (With all the American brands on display it made me…