Bath

Started the day with breakfast in the candlelit dining room overlooking the garden watching Robert (the hosts' dachshund) burrow his way into the linen piled on the swing seat outside. He is a very cute wee dog and had to oversee everything that was going on around the place. Our hosts at this B&B are Kevin (an ex truck driver from Hamilton) and his wife Billie. They are a very helpful and friendly couple.

We walked into town (about 20 minutes or so) and then did a 2.5 hour free walking tour of the inner city which was great. Its a good way to find out lots of interesting facts about the general history and to notice things that you might otherwise walk past. After lunch we then headed to Pulteney Bridge (Bath's version of the Ponte Vecchio)

and then up to the Assembly Rooms/Tea Room/Fashion Museum which included a display of Princess Diana's dresses (David was absolutely riveted during this particular section). After this we went round No. 1 The Crescent

(a Georgian house on the very edge of the Crescent) which has been restored to its former glory before taking a short break just lying in the sun outside on the park lawns. In the kitchens of the house they had a wheel set up above the fire demonstrating how they used to get dogs to run in the wheel (like hamsters do) in order to keep the meat turning on the spit below. Evidently they kept teams of dogs for this purpose. I could imagine the invitations "Would you care to come round for supper.... I will get the hounds to run up a roast for us" or "Sorry the meat is undercooked but the dog fell asleep". They also had mouse traps on show and we were told that they used to recycle the mouse skins to make eyebrows (they evidently had lots of skin and hair problems due to the make-up and wigs that they wore constantly).

We then walked back down to Bath Abbey and had a look through there before completing the day with another tour of the Roman Baths/Pump House covering the bits we had missed last night.

By this stage our feet had done enough so we took a taxi home rather than face the climb up the hill in the rain!

Tomorrow we farewell Cleo (our Renault Clio rental car) and head for London on the train.

Tintagel to Bath

Today was warm and wet but we had a good time anyway. We left Tintagel and headed up the coast (yet again the GPS took us down a rather narrow road to avoid going through a relatively small town on the way but that has been about the only mysterious choice it made for the day). We decided to stop at Clovelly (in North Devon) which is a pedestrian-only cobblestone village set on the side of a steep hill leading down to the sea and (perhaps thanks to the rain!) we had a very peaceful walk around without a lot of other tourists. The sun broke out when we arrived and with the exception of one significant downpour it was a lovely diversion. They transport things in and out of the village by donkey and a sled system made from crates on runners. I also got to meet a couple of "Clovelly cats" so gave them a pat on the way in and the way out. The walk out was much more challenging than the walk in!

We then headed across country toward Bath and things flowed quite well until we merged on to the M5 and encountered the "Return of the Summer Holiday Traffic". It was just amazing how many cars, caravans, trailers, and miscellaneous vehicles can fit on a 6-lane motorway at the same time. It was bumper to bumper traffic for most of the 42 kms we were on it so can see why they probably left for home a day or two in advance. I suspect most of them will reach their destination by tomorrow at least!

We then arrived in Bath (a bit later than we anticipated because "someone who shall remain nameless" put the wrong address into the GPS). We then did our usual orientation of the city walk, got our train tickets for Monday and paid a quick visit to the Roman Baths (Will add more photos on Bath tomorrow).

We then trekked up the hill to a wine bar near the B&B for tea and completed the last section of the walk after tea. Currently collapsed wondering how much energy is involved in drinking a cup of tea....lol!

Tintagel

Well the weather didn't improve a lot and at one point we wondered whether we were experiencing a Tintagel Hooley (the local term for strong wind). We visited the Old Tintagel Post Office and once again realised how short people must have been several centuries ago (or they developed a serious stoop to compensate).

We then ventured down (and up and down and up) to the ruins of Tintagel Castle. The views were great but it was hard to hold the camera steady with the wind gusts and it was quite a long drop to the water below!! The King Arthur theme is strong here of course - so strong that in the 1930s, a "romantic millionaire" built a mansion in Tintagel, including a grand hall which is now a centre for audio-visual presentations about King Arthur etc.

After lunch we headed to Port Issac (those who are Doc Martin fans will recognise the scenery) and spent some time walking around the village and immediate coast line.

Getting there was fun as we drove down what were basically one-way country lanes with hedge covered walls on both sides and very little passing space. It required quite a bit of patience to negotiate!

We admired the local concern for wildlife when we passed a sign saying "slow down for fox sake". Speaking of wildlife, I thought you might like a photo of today's "Cornish Swan" (okay, I know its not really a swan but it is a water bird)!!

A feature of life in UK is the large number of people who bring dogs with them on holiday. Many of the hotels and B&Bs welcome them and there seem to be few restrictions on where they can go even in the countryside. Its nice that a lot of shops make a point of leaving bowls of drinking water outside for the dogs (not that they need it right now!)

Salisbury to Tintagel

We started the day with another lovely "candlelit" breakfast (our B&B host said he liked to create a certain ambience for all dining experiences!!). The full english breakfast was very nicely cooked but I am sure it is not a weight watchers option, particularly given that we are having one most days. He had an eye for detail and put lots of effort into ensuring that people felt welcome.

We then drove about 2.5 hours to Babbacombe (near Torquay) to catch up with cousin John and spent a pleasant lunch with him before heading off again, but this time in the direction of Tintagel.

We stopped at Launceston Castle on the way (but given the increasingly inhospitable weather it was a short visit). The lady at the admission desk said she wasn't really expecting anyone else that day because it was getting late and it was raining but we assured her that as southern kiwis coming out of a winter climate we would cope admirably (which we did!).

We arrived in Tintagel to a warm welcome from the next B&B owner but unfortunately the weather was closing in more and had partly obscured the view from our window (see photo below). We are hoping that tomorrow will fine up and allow us to do a bit of exploring. We are clearly now in King Arthur and Merlin country and we can already see that the marketing merchandise has changed to all things Arthurian (hopefully that is an actual word).

Had tea just down the road (the closest eating place to where we are staying became the place of choice mainly due to the rain). David had the traditional speciality of the area - cornish pastie - while I had a chicken curry sprinkled with Italian parsley....maybe corriander isn't as popular here....

Didn't see any swans today so you have been saved from another swan picture... but there is always tomorrow!

Day in Salisbury

Had a busy day in Salisbury and could happily have stayed on for another day or so. It has been patchy rain (yet again) but still warm. We managed to do a guided tour of Salisbury Cathedral (which is one of my favourites - G), and it has beautiful stained glass windows throughout the building. In the Chapter House attached to the Cathedral we got to view an original of the Magna Carta and hard to believe that such an important document was written on a single piece of paper (actually leather).

We then had a look around Mompesson House (a Queen Ann town house in Cathedral Close) - where they filmed part of Sense and Sensibility - atlhough it may seem otherwise, this is not a "movie themed" holiday but we keep finding out that they used these homes as backdrops for period productions.

We then went to Wilton House (450 year old home of the Earl of Pembroke - who from the painting on the wall was quite a good looking man!) where they filmed part of Jane Austen (I think). It had huge paintings throughout and even with my limited art knowledge I recognised some of the names (Van Dyck, Rembrandt, etc). The grounds were also quite impressive. David says that everytime he looked around I was taking another photo of a swan so have included one of the Wilton House swans this time!

We then went slightly further back in time and visited Old Sarum (the site of the original castle and Cathedral of Salisbury)

and finished the day with Stonehenge.

Although kind of interesting Stonehenge was somewhat underwhelming and I am glad that we got in for free with our Heritage Pass or I probably wouldn't have bothered. We have used our Heritage Pass a lot and it has more than paid for itself already.

Tomorrow is back on the move again and we are off to visit cousin John in Torquay before we cross the country to Tintagel in Cornwall.