Highclere Castle

We visited Highclere Castle home of the TV show Downton Abbey.  This was one of the highlights of my trip and I was really looking forward to it.

When we got there the clouds made for some dramatic pictures.

Highclere Castle is owned by the Lord Carnarvon and has been for many generations.  The current Lady has quite the business mind.  She set up an Egyptian exhibit in the basement and opened the house up to tours, weddings and a TV show.  While the pictures don't show it I'm guessing that there were a thousand people who visited that day.

We were not allowed to take pictures in the house but I assure you it was Downton Abbey inside and out.  We got to see the bedrooms where they all sleep including the room where Mr. Pamuk stayed.  I loved seeing the dining room with the huge painting of Charles the first.  I really wanted to take a picture but there were people standing around watching the tourists.

There is a wildflower meadow behind the castle.  Through the meadow and down the hill was the gardens.

The English really know how to do gardens!

The girls in the Secret Garden.

The girls found a hidden area behind these bushes and had a lot of fun making it a "den".

If you watch the show you will recognize this angle as where Hugh Bonniville walks with the dog in the beginning of each show.

One thing the show doesn't really show is how the place is a bit run down.  The floors really need to be refinished as does all of the woodwork.  Some of the tapestries are ratty and need to be replaced.  The show doesn't let you hear how creaky the floors are.  On TV the place seems so much bigger inside but it's really not much.  Maybe by our standards but by English castle or manor house this place was small.

There were several follies around the grounds. It's called a folly due to the fact that is for decoration and has no practical use.

A previous Lord Carnarvon was one of the two guys who discovered King Tut's tomb.  In the basement is and exhibit showing the discovery and many artifacts.  Three thousand year old egyptian artifacts!  It doesn't get much older than that!

All in all the estate is a thousand acres and beautiful acres at that.  I could live here!  A small cottage on the grounds would be heaven.

Lavenham

On Tuesday we went to the town of Lavenham for tea.  We all dressed up, some of us had our hair done up real nice and off we went to enjoy a true English tea.

Here the girls are outside The Swan the tea room.

The girls and Jonathan.

High street in Lavenham.  High street is the same as main street to us Americans.

These houses were built in the late 15th century and early 16th century.

Lavenham is noted for it's crooked and leaning houses.

It's enough to drive a person who likes order and symmetry crazy!

This was erected in 1501.  Nora is sitting on a stone that was carved 9 years after Columbus sailed for North America.

I wouldn't be surprised if Dr. Seuss had ancestors who lived here.

Chad and Pete trying to correct the situation.

Lacock

We visited Lacock a little village a short drive from Bath after church on Sunday.  It was the town that Pride and Prejudice was filmed in.  The Red Lion is where the Meryton Ball took place in the film.

Look familiar?  Just add dirt, carts and horses and you have it!

Bath

After driving through the Cotswolds and even getting lost for a little bit in the countryside we made our way to Bath.  Bath is named such for the Roman Baths that still exist to this day.  When the Roman’s invaded the island of Britain  two thousand years ago they took advantage of hot springs and made a Roman bath.  They also built a temple complex.  The structure must have been quite large and impressive.  Once the Roman’s left the baths were forgot for quite some time.  In the 19th century the rich and elite of Britain revived the Roman baths and put them back into use.  Bath as the city we know today was born and prospered at a favorite vacation spot for the wealthy British.  Many, many movies show Bath in one form or another.

This is the entry leading into the Roman Baths, I doubt these ceilings are very old.  Old by English standerds it a thousand years.

This is the Roman Bath.  It's the big one, there are several smaller ones that are more like hot tubs or saunas but this one was the big one where everyone would have congregated.  It is currently has no roof but in Roman times it was covered by an arched ceiling.

The girls.

There are statues around the baths that represent famous Romans,  the statues are not originals they were crafted by the English when the baths were revived.

Next to the baths is a restaurant serving the same water.  I have heard that it tastes terrible but it’s supposed to be rather healthy.  This is the fountain in that restaurant that serves up said water

This is the Cathedral next to the baths.  See the angels climbing Jacob’s latter?

We also visited the Royal Crescent.  Do you recognize it?  It was in the Jane Austin movie Persuasion.

All in all, Bath wasn’t my favorite place.  Anything would be disappointing after visiting the Cotswolds and the place we stayed at wasn’t all that great.

Hacking in the Cotswolds

We chose Stanton and the Vine because of it’s close proximity to an equestrian center we were going to go riding at.

Here we are on the trail ride, called a hack in England.  Maria the girls and I left the men and boy behind.

We started out with a riding evaluation what was nothing more than 2 laps of the arena while being led by people on the ground.  We had to pay for said evaluation. grrrrrr.

We then went on the hack, through the village of Stanton and up a hill through pastures and woods.  All the while I was being led or ponied by the leader.  We had a riding evaluation, paid for it and even filled out forms as to our riding ability and I was led like a little kid on a pony.  I tried hard to not get upset.  I didn’t want to seem like the arrogant American and demand to ride by myself.  Everyone else was being led, except Maggy so I tried to tell myself that maybe my horse was just a problem and needed supervision.

Yes, that is me being led.

I swallowed my pride and tried to enjoy the ride.  Beautiful it was!  We could see sheep being herded in the distance, fields of lavender and darling little villages.

 On the way back we passed the couple that was staying in the B&B with us.  They were not being led.  I was ticked off!  Customer Service isn’t what it is in the states and I knew that other than enjoying a good venting (something I didn’t think I could do without bursting into tears or yelling) there would be no way to set it right.  It’s not like the rest of the group could handle another ride nor were we coming back.  Everyone else in our party had a fantastic time and I didn’t want to sour it with a temper tantrum.  Later in the day after some discussion we came to the conclusion that our paperwork got mixed up and Maggy and my must have been switched.  Despite my frustration we would love to come back to Stanton again.

Stanton

You may think that I just took pictures of just the nice houses but there were whole towns like this!  For 24 hours we saw not a single building that was newer than a 100 years old.

Here is an example, we were driving and turned a corner and here this place was.  Thats the way the Cotswolds are, hidden gems around every corner.

We thought we had seen it all and then we came to Stanton, the town we were staying the night.  It’s only businesses where the B&B we where staying at and a restaurant.  No tourists but us and another couple.  The village was very quiet and the best had seen thus far.

We had dinner at the Mount Inn and Restaurant.  I had traditional lamb, something they eat more of here than we do in the states.

When dinner was over we were treated to a beautiful sunset.

 The girls and I walked back to the B&B and I got this picture.  The house behind them is our B&B the Vine.

The next morning I got up early to take pictures and see the village.

See this fence, it was built before there ever was an organized European colony on North American soil!