No matter how diligent I am when I pack for these trips it seems that I forget something about every 3rd or 4th trip; tooth brush, work socks, belt, ... So when I get to the hotel I play a game called "What did Tony forget this time?" When I got to the hotel this time I was feeling pretty good because I didn't seem to have forgotten anything, I had my power cords, power converter, my socks, the right number of t-shirts. However, I did forget something. Since I am doing this blog and can attach pictures you can play the home game of "What did Tony forget this time?" Any thoughts? If you're thinking that it looks windy, cold and wet you would be correct! This picture was taken at the top of the Pennard Cliffs on the southern coast of Wales on the Gower Peninsula). The trip to the cliffs was quite the adventure. In order to navigate when driving in the UK I use a low tech combination of no GPS and maps that aren't really detailed. In general, if I think I need to go south west I point the car south west and see if that works out. Eventually I get to my destination. This trip was no different I headed over to south Wales on the M4 from Bristol, England. Driving passed Cardiff (been there, done that) I continued south to the exit for Swansea. At that point the maps weren't much help, so I kept heading south. We passed through many small towns (including one called Mumbles, that was having a festival). The drive from Mumbles on turned into very small, winding roads up steep hills as we climbed to the top (keep in mind that I'm driving a manual transmission). It really was an experience driving up hill, shifting with my left hand passing vehicles that couldn't have been more than a few inches away as they were coming toward me! Finally finding the Pennard Cliffs, I stepped out into the cold, wet Welch air. The receipt from joining the National Trust got me free parking. I walked down toward the cliffs, the rain and wind were almost as impressive as the cliffs. The cliffs were well worth the drive to see them. I climbed down to the beach, at one point is was like reverse wall climbing the surface at one point was obviously man made, but while it had some texture to it the rain made it slick. So I had to look for larger rocks sticking out from the surface to step on order to not slip and fall. On the way back to Bristol I stopped at a pub in a small Welch town for lunch. The drive back was much less eventful because I took a much easier route and did not have to deal with the small, winding roads, it was also less fun!This was all on Sunday. On Saturday I visited Tyntesfield and the Cheddar Gorge. The Cheddar Gorge was impressive, and again involved me driving a stick, sitting on the right side of the car shifting with my left hand and trying to navigate driving up a mountain. When I got to the top I walked farther up a path to get a good picture from the top of the gorge. It was quite the climb to get to the top; part of my exercise plan for getting ready for Paris!
Tyntesfield was very impressive. The estate was bought by a family back in the early 19th century that had made their initial fortune trading guano, yes... guano. They then added onto what was a traditional Victorian style with a Gothic style addition. The combination was very interesting as you walked through the house. I was lucky, the house had just been opened after undergoing major renovations and roof work. What was very interesting was that the last resident lived in the house until his death in 2001 (when the National Trust purchased the house). Portions of the house had been kept as they were at the end of his life, so there is a room with a television (not HD) and throughout portions of the house are modern books. Portions of the house are still closed off as the National Trust continues to work on cataloguing all of the items. There is also an attached church that was used by the family. When it was being built there was dispute with the local Bishop over the consecration of the church due to the cocern over loss of income to the local churhc. The Bishop complained to the Bishop of Bath and Wells and was able to keep the church from being consecrated. That means that while they can hold religous services in the church they can't hold weddings, burials or baptisms in the church. The guy that spent all the money and effort to build the church died just after it's completion and couldn't be buried in the church, he is buried at the church in town.
Today I visited Laycock Abbey. Most of the places I visit I've never heard of, but this one has several locations within the building that have been used during the filming of a series of movies (includinng 3 of the Harry Potter movies), so it did hold some special meaning. The weather was the same it's been all weekend, cold and rainy. Not a good Midwestern rain, just a constant drizzle that eventually leaves you chilled to the bone. I also walked through the village of Laycock which probably hasn't changed much in the past couple of hundred years. It was very cool, they had a game set up for kids where they had to locate about 50 different figures hiding throughout the town and decode what they represented. For example, there was a pair of red slippers and a broom that represented the Wizard of Oz.
I also visited Dyrham Park. An old estate that includes several hundred acres of land for deer. The couple hundred deer just walk around and allow people to get pretty close for pictures. I'll probably be going back to this house just due to the close location to Bristol and it is not far off the M4 which I drive from London to Bristol. It would definitely be a great place to spend a couple hours walking around the house and gardens. One thing to mention is that due to the wet weather they asked us to wear little blue booties over our shoes to protect the carpets (yes I got a picture).
As you can tell it was a busy weekend! This weekend I haven't completely decided where I am going, but I'll let you know when I get back!
