|
January 12 - 14, 2001 |
Photos & Text © 2001 by Len Schwer
Revised 11 March 2001
|
|
|
Our Great Britain adventure started from SFO and the new international
terminal that recently opened in Dec 2000. After check-in we found the Red
Carpet Club and settled in to await our 10 hour flight to London's Heathrow.
After arrival in Heathrow, we made our way through Terminal 3 and down to the Heathrow Express for a quick 15 minute ride to London's Paddington Station, where we waited briefly for our train to Bath. The first class accomodations on the train were very comfortable. Arriving in Bath we took a taxi from the Bath Spa Station to our first B&B - Brock's Guest House. The room was very spacious and well appointed with all the amenities American's are used to in quaility hotels -- even wash cloths (flanels) were provided! We were lucky to have a room on the first (2nd US) floor as there was only one other room occupied during our off season stay. We experience our first English breakfast of eggs and bacon, with grilled tomatoes and mushrooms -- an English breakfast staple! The owners, Marion & Geoffrey Dodd, were off on Holiday in Canada, but we were well looked after by a very nice lady from Seattle, named Jody, who cares for the B&B while the Dodds are away. I fully agree with Rick Steve's recommendation of thhis most lovely Georgian townhouse. |
) SFO New International Terminal Red Carpet Club. |
) Heathrow Express to London |
) Paddington Station, London |
) Train to Bath |
) Brock's Guest House |
) Brock's Guest House B |
|
|
|
Brock's Guest House is a very short walk form the famous Royal
Crescent, a semi-circular arrangement of houses in the typical Bath
Georgian style with the beautiful cream colored limestone that
characterizes all of Bath. We met two nice young ladies, who were also
taking a tourist photos, and exchanged cameras for pair pictures. The
other 'heads' picture is a trick Augie taught me that we use more for
grins than memorable pictures.
The big tourist thing to do in Bath is visit the Baths ... Roman Baths. When the Romans ruled this part of England, they took advantage of the natural hot springs in Bath and built a Roman Bath. Interestingly, the Baths were rediscovered in the late 1800's when a resident complained to the City of a damp and warm basement. Excavations in his basement led to the discover of the Baths and their eventual Victorian restoration; by the way, the houses that were located above the Baths were removed, so no more complaints about damp basements. The River Avon, of Stratford Upon Avon fame, run through Bath. There is a very nice path for miles along the river and we found out later, that walking less than a mile along the river takes you out into the country side to enjoy the rural area near Bath. The most famous resident of Bath is probably Jane Austin. There is a small museum and gift shop on one of the main streets in Bath. Inspired by Jane Austin, we made our way back down to the train station and stopped at the Click Internet Cafe to write some missives to the folks back home. |
) Royal Cressant |
) Royal Cressant Us |
) Royal Cressant Heads |
) Roman Baths |
) Roman Baths B |
) Roman Baths Len |
) Baths Wooden Model |
) View of Bath's Abby from the Baths |
|
) Avon River |
) Jane Austin |
) Click Internet Cafe |
|
|
|
Maybe it helps being an engineer to appreciate Stonehenge, or it
was the reversal of the low expectations I had for the site from the
guidebooks and friends, but I was impressed during my visit to this 5000 year
old site. My mind boggled at the transport of these huge stones, yet
alone the manpower need to erect them.
The word henge refers to the ditch and associated bank of soil that encircles the stones. Larger stones are from a quarry 30 km away from the site, and the smaller stones from Wales over 385 km away. It was a beautiful crisp (low 30's) and clear day for our visit. We used the services of Mad Max Tours (Maddy is the owner and Max is her dog who helps 'guide' the tours), they also took us to Avebury, Lacock & Castle Comb shown in the next section; I highly recommend Mad Max Tours! |
) Stonehenge - Entrance view |
) Stonehenge Augie |
) Stonehenge Len |
) Stonehenge - View looking north |
) Stonehenge - View looking east |
) Stonehenge Augie2 |
) Stonehenge- View looking east (zoomed) |
) Stonehenge- View looking south |
) Stonehenge - Heel Stone |
) Telescopic Lens (© AES) |
) Stonehenge Len2 |
|
|
|
Close to Stonehenge are the villages of Avebury, Lacock & Castle Comb.
These provide an interesting mix of villages historic, past and
present, respectively.
Avebury is an ancient site (circa 2500 BC) with more of the monolithic stones and a deep (27 feet) trench circle surrounding the site. The village that is now inside the circle, is fairly recent and survives on the Avebury tourist trade. Lacock is more representative of villages of the past; the George Inn has been serving beer since 1361! All the residents of Lacock make their living in and around Lacock, i.e. there are no 'commuters' or 'weekenders' living in Lacock. The village is almost totally owned by the National Trust and thus maintains its character. Castle Comb represents the current trend of villages inhabited by people that work in nearby towns or cities and live in Castle Comb as 'commuters' or in some case just on weekends, i.e. gentrification. It is easy to understand the attraction of living in such quaint and beautiful surroundings; voted prettiest village in England (1962) and was the setting for the filming of Dr Dolittle (Rex Harrison original, not Eddy Murphy version). |
) Avebury - Church built from monolith stones (© AES) |
) Avebury - Some of the monoliths (© AES) |
) Avebury - Surrounding Ditch |
) Avebury - Some of the monoliths (© AES) |
) Avebury - Shades of monolith in movie "2001" |
) Avebury - Devil's Seat Stone |
) Avebury - Village view (© AES) |
) Lacock House |
) Lacock Country Side |
) Castle Comb |
) Castle Comb Augie |
) Castle Comb - Stream that powered the spinning mills |
) Castle Comb Church |
Return to Britain 2001 hub page
Photos & Text © 2001 by Len Schwer