Wednesday, August 6, 2008
Chichester Cathedral
Goodwood House
“Taking Sides” At Chichester Festival Theatre
We will not be in any hurry to get out and about this day.
We plan to leave the hotel at 9:30 a.m. and walk to Chichester Cathedral, where we will spend the morning.
Chichester Cathedral was begun almost 1000 years ago; the Cathedral celebrates the 900th anniversary of its consecration this year. It is a large and beautiful Cathedral, with a very unusual feature for Britain: it has a separate bell tower, just as many Italian churches have a campanile. The Cathedral’s architecture is largely Norman but, like most English cathedrals, it features a variety of styles and decorations, reflecting the fact that it was built over many centuries and continues to evolve.
Chichester Cathedral was erected upon the site of a Roman settlement, and an ancient Roman mosaic is preserved in the Cathedral floor. The Cathedral has many beautiful and unusual monuments—a monument to the first human being killed in a railroad accident is one of the most fascinating memorials in the Cathedral—and in the last fifty years the Cathedral has aggressively commissioned windows, murals, monuments and other artworks from contemporary artists. One of the Cathedral’s most famous works of art is the window created by Marc Chagall. Another famous work commissioned by the Cathedral is Leonard Bernstein’s “Chichester Psalms”, premiered at the Cathedral in 1965.
The grave of Gustav Holst is in Chichester Cathedral.
We will explore the Cathedral exterior and interior in depth, and examine the monuments and artworks. When we have completed our explorations, we will have lunch in the café located in The Cloisters.
After lunch, we will walk back to our hotel and retrieve the car and drive to an attraction three miles outside the town of Chichester: Goodwood House, an estate owned (but not occupied) by The Duke Of Richmond.
Goodwood House is open to the public, on average, only thirty to sixty afternoons each year. According to the Goodwood House website, it will be open to the public on this particular afternoon, so we plan to take advantage of the opportunity to visit the property.
The Duke Of Richmond was a title bestowed upon an illegitimate son of Charles II (“The Merry Monarch”) and, over generations and through marriage into other titled families, three additional titles have been acquired by The Duke Of Richmond: The Duke Of Lennox, The Duke Of Gordon and The Duke Of Aubigny. Accordingly, the present incumbent is officially known as The Tenth Duke Of Richmond, The Tenth Duke Of Lennox, The Fifth Duke Of Gordon And The Duke Of Aubigny.
Goodwood Estate is presently occupied by The Heir Apparent Of The Duke Of Richmond, Charles Henry Gordon-Lennox, Earl Of March, Darnley and Kinrara; his second wife, Janet Elizabeth, The Countess Of March (and daughter of The Third Viscount Of Ascot); their son, The Heir Apparent Of The Earl Of March, 13-year-old Charles Henry, Lord Settrington; and Lord Settrington’s younger siblings, The Honorable William Rupert (age eleven) and The Honorable Frederick Lysander and Lady Eloise Cordelia (seven-year-old twins).
I believe that Lord Settrington’s older half-sister, Lady Alexandra, no longer resides at Goodwood House and now resides in London, but my information on this latter point may not be up-to-date. It is not always easy to keep up with The Peerage.
On the rare afternoons it is open to the public, Goodwood House may be visited by taking either a “stewarded” tour or a “guided” tour. From the Goodwood House website, I cannot for the life of me figure out what is the difference between the two, but on August 6 only “guided” tours—and not “stewarded” tours—will be offered, so I guess it makes no difference for our purposes.
The “guided” tours are one hour in length, but there will be one 90-minute “connoisseurs” tour precisely at 2:45 p.m. on August 6, so we will take the 2:45 p.m. “connoisseurs” tour in order to see as much of the house as possible.
Goodwood House is a very unusual structure: it consists of three sides of an incomplete octagon. The building was constructed over a prolonged period of time, in the 17th and 18th Centuries, but the interiors were completely transformed early in the 19th Century, redecorated in The Regency Style. The interiors remain consistent with The Regency Style to this day, and are considered to be among the finest Regency interiors anywhere.
The public rooms are supposed to be very grand, very beautiful and very sumptuously adorned. The house is filled with paintings, furniture, porcelain and tapestries of the very greatest interest and highest quality.
The painting collection includes grand portraits, including Royal portraits, by Van Dyck. It also includes scenes of London commissioned from Canaletto. There are also English paintings by George Romney, George Stubbs, Joshua Reynolds, Henry Raeburn and Thomas Lawrence.
The furniture is British and French, with French furniture taking precedence: The Third Duke Of Richmond was Britain’s Ambassador To France during the reign of Louis XV, and The Duke personally commissioned numerous pieces of furniture from France’s finest cabinet-makers. Further, The Duke purchased enormous quantities of French furniture on the open market during his years in Paris. He purchased even more French furniture during The French Revolution, when French nobles were frantically trying to sell whatever they could unload at whatever prices they could obtain, and he and his heirs continued to acquire furniture from France at bargain prices for over half a century after The Revolution.
The porcelain is Sevres and, once again, it was acquired by The Third Duke Of Richmond during his diplomatic service in France. In fact, the Goodwood House Sevres porcelain, a complete and astonishingly-elaborate dinner and dessert service, was commissioned directly from the Sevres Porcelain Factory. Moreover, Goodwood House’s Sevres dinner and dessert service is of the greatest rarity because it features not one but two primary colors, blue and green, virtually unprecedented at the time of its commission (1765). The entire service is on display in the Card Room.
The tapestries are Gobelin, a gift to The Third Duke Of Richmond from Louis XV himself. The tapestries portray scenes from Cervantes’s “Don Quixote”, and are supposed to be extraordinary.
(London’s National Portrait Gallery contains a magnificent portrait by George Romney of The Third Duke Of Richmond and Lennox, as he was styled at the time. My brother and I made a point of showing the painting to my parents and Josh last September. The portrait is in profile, with The Duke glancing down at a book while sitting outdoors at Goodwood. The tower of Chichester Cathedral is in the distant background. It is my favorite George Romney painting anywhere. The National Portrait Gallery version of the painting is only one of several versions, and I suspect that there must be another version of the same painting at Goodwood House. The Third Duke Of Richmond And Lennox is also one of the figures portrayed in John Singleton Copley’s grand history painting, “The Collapse Of The Earl Of Chatham In The House Of Lords 7 April 1778”, also at London’s National Portrait Gallery. In Copley’s painting, The Duke is portrayed as having just finished speaking at the moment of Chatham’s collapse.)
I think we will enjoy going through Goodwood House very much, whether we be guided or stewarded through the premises.
How likely will it be that any of us will ever again find ourselves in or anywhere near Chichester on a day that Goodwood House is open? The opportunity to visit the House will probably never repeat itself for any of us.
After Goodwood House, we will drive back to Chichester and spend some time walking the market streets and locating a pleasing restaurant for dinner.
After dinner, we will attend a second performance at Chichester Festival Theatre. Tonight’s performance will be in the smaller venue, the Minerva Theatre, which accommodates only 283 persons.
The play will be “Taking Sides”, Ronald Harwood’s drama about the de-Nazification proceedings of Wilhelm Furtwangler. The role of Furtwangler will be played by Michael Pennington, the actor who played the role of Furtwangler’s interrogator at the play’s world premiere, unveiled in this very theater in 1995. In the original production (directed by Harold Pinter), the very, very short Daniel Massey played the very, very tall Furtwangler.
The play itself is not very good--Harwood has no intellectual depth, and his play, among other things, turns Furtwangler's American interrogator into a cartoon--but I will not mind seeing the play again.
Wednesday, July 09, 2008
Day Seven: Salisbury
Thursday, August 7, 2008
Salisbury Cathedral
We intend to depart Chichester at 8:15 a.m. and drive to Salisbury, where we hope to arrive by 9:30 a.m.
Salisbury, for us, will be all about Salisbury Cathedral and nothing but Salisbury Cathedral.
Salisbury Cathedral, in itself, is worth crossing oceans to visit.
Salisbury Cathedral is one of the most magnificent buildings anywhere. As a work of art, it puts to shame the two great medieval cathedrals we will already have visited, Canterbury Cathedral and Chichester Cathedral.
Salisbury Cathedral’s magnificence is a result, primarily, of three factors: it has a very large Cathedral Close, the largest in England (80 acres), which allowed the Cathedral to be set apart from all surrounding buildings and placed in the very center of the Close, affording the viewer magnificent views of the Cathedral from all sides, angles and distances; it has England’s tallest spire, 404 feet high, which serves as a glorious and fitting capstone of the Cathedral’s structure (it is the tallest surviving pre-1400 spire anywhere in the world); and, most important, it was built in a single architectural style, owing to the fact that the Cathedral was planned, designed, erected and completed in the remarkably short span of 60 years.
The foundation for the Cathedral was laid in 1220. By 1258, the interior of the Cathedral had largely been completed. The exterior of the main structure was finished in 1265, including the magnificent West Front. The Cloisters and Chapter House were completed by 1280.
The architectural style is Early English Gothic, and there is a purity and a uniformity in the architecture of Salisbury Cathedral lacking in most other great English cathedrals. The exterior is breathtaking from a distance, it is breathtaking up close, and it is breathtaking from all angles, making it one the most pleasurable buildings anywhere to visit. We will probably spend at least an hour, if not more, walking around the exterior of the structure, admiring it from all vantage points, of which there are many due to the size of the Close.
The interior of the Cathedral is fascinating, too. The ceiling, the vaulting, the glass, the carvings, the side chapels: all are remarkable. There are innumerable ancient monuments and memorials in the Cathedral, many of them of the greatest interest.
The world’s oldest working clock is in Salisbury Cathedral, dating from 1386. The clock is a giant mechanism, an enormous contraption with wheels, weights and pulleys. I would estimate the clock mechanism to measure eight-to-ten feet high, deep and wide. It has no clock face, because it was constructed solely to regulate time for the bells of the Cathedral. Salisbury Cathedral has no bells today, because the bells were contained in a separate bell tower that was demolished in 1792. Salisbury Cathedral is today one of only three cathedrals in Britain without bells.
Salisbury Cathedral has a stunning octagonal Chapter House. Its vaulting and wall paintings and stone carvings and stone reliefs are original, all from the 13th Century. Visitors are permitted to rest on the stone ledges of The Chapter House and admire the vaulting and paintings and stonework at their leisure.
It is in The Chapter House that one of four surviving original copies of the Magna Carta is on display. The Salisbury Cathedral Magna Carta, of all copies that survive, is in the best condition.
The Cloisters at Salisbury Cathedral are the largest in Britain. They are a wonderful place for strolling, resting and contemplating.
I have always been in love with Salisbury Cathedral from my initial glimpse of the Cathedral as I first entered the Close, and I have maintained a deep emotional attachment to Salisbury Cathedral ever since. My brother loves Salisbury Cathedral, too. It is almost impossible for him to visit the English countryside without working in a visit to Salisbury Cathedral.
My parents have not visited Salisbury Cathedral for many years, and they welcome the prospect of returning. This will be Josh’s and Josh’s sister’s first visit to the Cathedral. I suspect they will find Salisbury Cathedral to be one of the highlights of our entire trip.
We will spend the entire day in the Cathedral and Close. Between walking around the Close and examining the Cathedral exterior as well as the exteriors of the buildings that line the edge of the Close, and examining the interior of the Cathedral, and visiting The Cloisters and The Chapter House, we will easily be able to occupy the time between 9:30 a.m. and 3: 15 p.m. Sometime in the early afternoon, we will have lunch in the excellent Cathedral restaurant.
At 3:15 p.m., we have something very special planned: we will take a two-hour guided tour of Salisbury Cathedral’s roof and tower. The guided tour is quite extensive, and extremely detailed. In fact, it is more than simply a guided tour of the roof and tower—it is a guided tour of the Cathedral’s many inner passageways that eventually lead upward, lending access to the roof and tower. A total of 322 steps is required to reach the roof, but the guided tour stops frequently along the way in order for the guide to point out interesting features of the great building’s interior and history. Because of all the stops, visitors are not winded in the least once they finally reach the roof, where they may look out over the Cathedral ramparts upon the town of Salisbury and the surrounding countryside.
Visitors do not actually go up into the great tower. Visitors are only permitted to look up into the interior of the tower from directly beneath the center of the tower’s base. The tower is too dangerous for visitors to attempt to climb. Its interior support is composed entirely of wood, and the tower leans—its peak is more than two feet off center.
After the guided tour is over, we will make one final stroll around the Cathedral Close and then proceed to our hotel. We will check in for our single night in Salisbury—we tried to arrange as many two-nights stays as possible throughout our journey, but there will, nonetheless, be three single-night stays during the trip, and Salisbury will be one of them—and afterward we will walk around the market streets of Salisbury for an hour or two before locating a suitable establishment for dinner.
Salisbury Cathedral
We intend to depart Chichester at 8:15 a.m. and drive to Salisbury, where we hope to arrive by 9:30 a.m.
Salisbury, for us, will be all about Salisbury Cathedral and nothing but Salisbury Cathedral.
Salisbury Cathedral, in itself, is worth crossing oceans to visit.
Salisbury Cathedral is one of the most magnificent buildings anywhere. As a work of art, it puts to shame the two great medieval cathedrals we will already have visited, Canterbury Cathedral and Chichester Cathedral.
Salisbury Cathedral’s magnificence is a result, primarily, of three factors: it has a very large Cathedral Close, the largest in England (80 acres), which allowed the Cathedral to be set apart from all surrounding buildings and placed in the very center of the Close, affording the viewer magnificent views of the Cathedral from all sides, angles and distances; it has England’s tallest spire, 404 feet high, which serves as a glorious and fitting capstone of the Cathedral’s structure (it is the tallest surviving pre-1400 spire anywhere in the world); and, most important, it was built in a single architectural style, owing to the fact that the Cathedral was planned, designed, erected and completed in the remarkably short span of 60 years.
The foundation for the Cathedral was laid in 1220. By 1258, the interior of the Cathedral had largely been completed. The exterior of the main structure was finished in 1265, including the magnificent West Front. The Cloisters and Chapter House were completed by 1280.
The architectural style is Early English Gothic, and there is a purity and a uniformity in the architecture of Salisbury Cathedral lacking in most other great English cathedrals. The exterior is breathtaking from a distance, it is breathtaking up close, and it is breathtaking from all angles, making it one the most pleasurable buildings anywhere to visit. We will probably spend at least an hour, if not more, walking around the exterior of the structure, admiring it from all vantage points, of which there are many due to the size of the Close.
The interior of the Cathedral is fascinating, too. The ceiling, the vaulting, the glass, the carvings, the side chapels: all are remarkable. There are innumerable ancient monuments and memorials in the Cathedral, many of them of the greatest interest.
The world’s oldest working clock is in Salisbury Cathedral, dating from 1386. The clock is a giant mechanism, an enormous contraption with wheels, weights and pulleys. I would estimate the clock mechanism to measure eight-to-ten feet high, deep and wide. It has no clock face, because it was constructed solely to regulate time for the bells of the Cathedral. Salisbury Cathedral has no bells today, because the bells were contained in a separate bell tower that was demolished in 1792. Salisbury Cathedral is today one of only three cathedrals in Britain without bells.
Salisbury Cathedral has a stunning octagonal Chapter House. Its vaulting and wall paintings and stone carvings and stone reliefs are original, all from the 13th Century. Visitors are permitted to rest on the stone ledges of The Chapter House and admire the vaulting and paintings and stonework at their leisure.
It is in The Chapter House that one of four surviving original copies of the Magna Carta is on display. The Salisbury Cathedral Magna Carta, of all copies that survive, is in the best condition.
The Cloisters at Salisbury Cathedral are the largest in Britain. They are a wonderful place for strolling, resting and contemplating.
I have always been in love with Salisbury Cathedral from my initial glimpse of the Cathedral as I first entered the Close, and I have maintained a deep emotional attachment to Salisbury Cathedral ever since. My brother loves Salisbury Cathedral, too. It is almost impossible for him to visit the English countryside without working in a visit to Salisbury Cathedral.
My parents have not visited Salisbury Cathedral for many years, and they welcome the prospect of returning. This will be Josh’s and Josh’s sister’s first visit to the Cathedral. I suspect they will find Salisbury Cathedral to be one of the highlights of our entire trip.
We will spend the entire day in the Cathedral and Close. Between walking around the Close and examining the Cathedral exterior as well as the exteriors of the buildings that line the edge of the Close, and examining the interior of the Cathedral, and visiting The Cloisters and The Chapter House, we will easily be able to occupy the time between 9:30 a.m. and 3: 15 p.m. Sometime in the early afternoon, we will have lunch in the excellent Cathedral restaurant.
At 3:15 p.m., we have something very special planned: we will take a two-hour guided tour of Salisbury Cathedral’s roof and tower. The guided tour is quite extensive, and extremely detailed. In fact, it is more than simply a guided tour of the roof and tower—it is a guided tour of the Cathedral’s many inner passageways that eventually lead upward, lending access to the roof and tower. A total of 322 steps is required to reach the roof, but the guided tour stops frequently along the way in order for the guide to point out interesting features of the great building’s interior and history. Because of all the stops, visitors are not winded in the least once they finally reach the roof, where they may look out over the Cathedral ramparts upon the town of Salisbury and the surrounding countryside.
Visitors do not actually go up into the great tower. Visitors are only permitted to look up into the interior of the tower from directly beneath the center of the tower’s base. The tower is too dangerous for visitors to attempt to climb. Its interior support is composed entirely of wood, and the tower leans—its peak is more than two feet off center.
After the guided tour is over, we will make one final stroll around the Cathedral Close and then proceed to our hotel. We will check in for our single night in Salisbury—we tried to arrange as many two-nights stays as possible throughout our journey, but there will, nonetheless, be three single-night stays during the trip, and Salisbury will be one of them—and afterward we will walk around the market streets of Salisbury for an hour or two before locating a suitable establishment for dinner.
Day Eight: Dartmoor
Friday, August 8, 2008
Stonehenge
Dartmoor
Widecombe In The Moor
The Church Of Saint Pancras, Widecombe In The Moor
Plymouth
We plan to leave Salisbury at 8:30 a.m. and proceed immediately to Stonehenge, located just outside the town of Salisbury.
My brother and I have visited Stonehenge twice, and my parents visited Stonehenge on one occasion many years ago. We are making a return visit so that Josh and Josh’s sister may see the great stone circles for themselves.
Stonehenge is one of the world’s great travel disappointments. The stones themselves are not a particularly impressive sight when viewed in person, and the manner in which visitors must view this ancient monument is a disgrace.
A two-lane blacktop highway separates the giant parking lot from the stone circles. Visitors must cross the blacktop highway by dodging traffic flowing in both directions—there are no traffic stoplights, and no pedestrian crossings painted onto the blacktop—and then make their way through mud paths to the circles. It is not a pleasing experience.
Visitors have the option of purchasing tickets that enable them to approach the circles fairly closely (but not too closely, as the circles are fenced off from the public—with an American prairie snow fence, of all things) or simply walking along a barbwire livestock fence that parallels the two-lane blacktop, separating the road from the adjacent fields. This latter option allows visitors to observe the circles from a slightly more distant perspective than the paying customers.
Stonehenge is generally mobbed with tourists, and it is always fun to see the profound looks of disappointment on the faces of visitors. Most typical is a look of incredulous disbelief evidencing “We traveled all this way to see THIS?” on visitors’ faces. Most tourists spend a few minutes looking at the stone circles, re-cross the road, get in their cars, and drive away.
The first time my brother and I visited Stonehenge, in 2002, we witnessed an incident in the Stonehenge parking lot involving a double-deck bus full of German university students. Whatever touring schedule the German students were obliged to observe required that they spend one hour at Stonehenge. The students became incensed—they wanted to leave Stonehenge as soon as they saw a glimpse of the stone circles across the road. About half of the German students did not even bother to get off the bus.
A group of the students got into a very public argument first with their guide and then with their bus driver, both of which were also German. The guide and bus driver refused to leave the parking lot ahead of schedule, and the students became very upset, heaping abuse upon the guide and driver, dumping trash in the parking lot and relieving themselves against the bus.
Finally, about half of the students left to visit the concession stand in the Stonehenge parking lot, while the other half remained in the bus. None of the students bothered to cross the road to get a closer look at the stone circles.
In a short while, the students who had departed for the concession stand returned, bearing sausages laden with mustard. They boarded the bus and glumly sat, eating their sausages and mustard—and drinking beer. It was 9:00 in the morning.
Since Stonehenge is so close to Salisbury, it makes no sense for Josh and his sister NOT to visit Stonehenge while we are so close by. It is imperative for everyone to see Stonehenge at least once, even if deep disappointment is inevitable.
After spending whatever time Josh and his sister want to spend with the stone circles, we will head toward our evening’s destination, Plymouth, routing ourselves through Dartmoor.
Dartmoor is the giant moorland that occupies much of Devon. Over half of Dartmoor is covered with peat; the rest of the land is farmed or tended, or is a combination of bare hills and rock that has its own special beauty.
Dartmoor is very sparsely populated—only 33,000 persons reside in this giant swath of moorland—and it is a warren of narrow roads, hills, streams, bogs, farms and villages. On a dark, cloudy, rainy day, Dartmoor is very mysterious and evokes moods right out of “The Hound Of The Baskervilles”. On a sunny day, Dartmoor does not look much different than parts of Northern Minnesota, only with peat on the ground instead of grassland.
We have planned what we believe to be an interesting path through the giant moorland, and it should make for an interesting day’s drive.
Halfway through the moor, we will stop at Widecombe In The Moor, a small village near the center of Dartmoor, and walk around the village and have lunch.
Widecombe In The Moor is one of the more popular villages in Dartmoor for visitors, but I cannot say why, precisely. It is a convenient stop if one is driving through Dartmoor, but the village itself has only one interesting feature: an ancient church, The Church Of Saint Pancras, erected in the 14th Century in the English Perpendicular style.
The church is very large for such a small village because, as the only church for miles and miles around, it serves a very large parish. It has a large, tree-laden churchyard, and its exterior is very beautiful, although the interior is not very notable.
The Church Of Saint Pancras was the site of the earliest recorded instance of ball lightning.
In 1638, during Sunday afternoon worship service at which 300 persons were present, an eight-foot-wide bolt of ball lightning entered the church through a window, made its way around the full church interior and exited through the roof. There is confusion on the question how long the incident of ball lightning lasted. Some persons insisted it lasted a full minute, others insisted it lasted a full two minutes. However long it lasted, it must have seemed like an eternity. Four persons were killed by the lightning and another 60 were injured. A dog died, too, first thrown into the air and then thrown several feet out the church’s main door. The path of destruction was random, and inexplicable. Some victims had their clothes burned off but were otherwise unharmed. Other victims suffered severe burns to their flesh but their clothing remained untouched and unscorched. In the months following the event, all persons in the church that day were asked to write an account of what had happened or asked to dictate their personal observations to local clergy and schoolteachers, who duly recorded their tales. It is from these old eyewitness accounts that scientists of today have concluded that the phenomenon of ball lightning is the only possible explanation for what occurred that day at The Church Of Saint Pancras.
Once we have spent whatever time we want to devote to Widecombe In The Moor, we will continue our drive to Plymouth.
We should arrive in the late afternoon. We will check into our hotel first thing and relax.
Our Plymouth hotel has a swimming pool, and my brother and Josh and I will probably take advantage of that luxury. Our Plymouth hotel is the only hotel during our trip that has a pool.
Later, we’ll find a place to have dinner.
Stonehenge
Dartmoor
Widecombe In The Moor
The Church Of Saint Pancras, Widecombe In The Moor
Plymouth
We plan to leave Salisbury at 8:30 a.m. and proceed immediately to Stonehenge, located just outside the town of Salisbury.
My brother and I have visited Stonehenge twice, and my parents visited Stonehenge on one occasion many years ago. We are making a return visit so that Josh and Josh’s sister may see the great stone circles for themselves.
Stonehenge is one of the world’s great travel disappointments. The stones themselves are not a particularly impressive sight when viewed in person, and the manner in which visitors must view this ancient monument is a disgrace.
A two-lane blacktop highway separates the giant parking lot from the stone circles. Visitors must cross the blacktop highway by dodging traffic flowing in both directions—there are no traffic stoplights, and no pedestrian crossings painted onto the blacktop—and then make their way through mud paths to the circles. It is not a pleasing experience.
Visitors have the option of purchasing tickets that enable them to approach the circles fairly closely (but not too closely, as the circles are fenced off from the public—with an American prairie snow fence, of all things) or simply walking along a barbwire livestock fence that parallels the two-lane blacktop, separating the road from the adjacent fields. This latter option allows visitors to observe the circles from a slightly more distant perspective than the paying customers.
Stonehenge is generally mobbed with tourists, and it is always fun to see the profound looks of disappointment on the faces of visitors. Most typical is a look of incredulous disbelief evidencing “We traveled all this way to see THIS?” on visitors’ faces. Most tourists spend a few minutes looking at the stone circles, re-cross the road, get in their cars, and drive away.
The first time my brother and I visited Stonehenge, in 2002, we witnessed an incident in the Stonehenge parking lot involving a double-deck bus full of German university students. Whatever touring schedule the German students were obliged to observe required that they spend one hour at Stonehenge. The students became incensed—they wanted to leave Stonehenge as soon as they saw a glimpse of the stone circles across the road. About half of the German students did not even bother to get off the bus.
A group of the students got into a very public argument first with their guide and then with their bus driver, both of which were also German. The guide and bus driver refused to leave the parking lot ahead of schedule, and the students became very upset, heaping abuse upon the guide and driver, dumping trash in the parking lot and relieving themselves against the bus.
Finally, about half of the students left to visit the concession stand in the Stonehenge parking lot, while the other half remained in the bus. None of the students bothered to cross the road to get a closer look at the stone circles.
In a short while, the students who had departed for the concession stand returned, bearing sausages laden with mustard. They boarded the bus and glumly sat, eating their sausages and mustard—and drinking beer. It was 9:00 in the morning.
Since Stonehenge is so close to Salisbury, it makes no sense for Josh and his sister NOT to visit Stonehenge while we are so close by. It is imperative for everyone to see Stonehenge at least once, even if deep disappointment is inevitable.
After spending whatever time Josh and his sister want to spend with the stone circles, we will head toward our evening’s destination, Plymouth, routing ourselves through Dartmoor.
Dartmoor is the giant moorland that occupies much of Devon. Over half of Dartmoor is covered with peat; the rest of the land is farmed or tended, or is a combination of bare hills and rock that has its own special beauty.
Dartmoor is very sparsely populated—only 33,000 persons reside in this giant swath of moorland—and it is a warren of narrow roads, hills, streams, bogs, farms and villages. On a dark, cloudy, rainy day, Dartmoor is very mysterious and evokes moods right out of “The Hound Of The Baskervilles”. On a sunny day, Dartmoor does not look much different than parts of Northern Minnesota, only with peat on the ground instead of grassland.
We have planned what we believe to be an interesting path through the giant moorland, and it should make for an interesting day’s drive.
Halfway through the moor, we will stop at Widecombe In The Moor, a small village near the center of Dartmoor, and walk around the village and have lunch.
Widecombe In The Moor is one of the more popular villages in Dartmoor for visitors, but I cannot say why, precisely. It is a convenient stop if one is driving through Dartmoor, but the village itself has only one interesting feature: an ancient church, The Church Of Saint Pancras, erected in the 14th Century in the English Perpendicular style.
The church is very large for such a small village because, as the only church for miles and miles around, it serves a very large parish. It has a large, tree-laden churchyard, and its exterior is very beautiful, although the interior is not very notable.
The Church Of Saint Pancras was the site of the earliest recorded instance of ball lightning.
In 1638, during Sunday afternoon worship service at which 300 persons were present, an eight-foot-wide bolt of ball lightning entered the church through a window, made its way around the full church interior and exited through the roof. There is confusion on the question how long the incident of ball lightning lasted. Some persons insisted it lasted a full minute, others insisted it lasted a full two minutes. However long it lasted, it must have seemed like an eternity. Four persons were killed by the lightning and another 60 were injured. A dog died, too, first thrown into the air and then thrown several feet out the church’s main door. The path of destruction was random, and inexplicable. Some victims had their clothes burned off but were otherwise unharmed. Other victims suffered severe burns to their flesh but their clothing remained untouched and unscorched. In the months following the event, all persons in the church that day were asked to write an account of what had happened or asked to dictate their personal observations to local clergy and schoolteachers, who duly recorded their tales. It is from these old eyewitness accounts that scientists of today have concluded that the phenomenon of ball lightning is the only possible explanation for what occurred that day at The Church Of Saint Pancras.
Once we have spent whatever time we want to devote to Widecombe In The Moor, we will continue our drive to Plymouth.
We should arrive in the late afternoon. We will check into our hotel first thing and relax.
Our Plymouth hotel has a swimming pool, and my brother and Josh and I will probably take advantage of that luxury. Our Plymouth hotel is the only hotel during our trip that has a pool.
Later, we’ll find a place to have dinner.
Tuesday, July 08, 2008
Day Nine: Plymouth
Saturday, August 9, 2008
Charles Church, Plymouth
Saint Andrew’s Church, Plymouth
Plymouth Barbican
Cruise On Plymouth Harbor
Plymouth Hoe
The Royal Citadel, Plymouth
“A Disappearing Number” At Theatre Royal, Plymouth
We hope to set out this day around 9:00 a.m.
Our first stop will be Charles Church, which lies in the middle of a great traffic circle in downtown Plymouth.
Charles Church was erected during The Civil War. It was named after Charles I, the Sovereign who granted its charter but who was soon to lose his head.
The church was one of the last churches built in the English Gothic style, a style that was falling from fashion at the time. It served as one of Plymouth’s two principal churches for over three centuries until it was destroyed during World War II.
All that remains of Charles Church today is the tower and the striking English Gothic vaults and a few walls, but the ruins fully reveal the church’s original structure and are a most impressive and beautiful sight. The remains of Charles Church now serve as a memorial to those Plymouth residents who lost their lives as a result of German bombs (Plymouth, owing to its status as a major port, was one of the most heavily-bombed cities in all of Britain).
From Charles Church, we will walk over to Saint Andrew’s Church, the other historic principal church of Plymouth.
Saint Andrew’s Church, too, was destroyed during the war, but Saint Andrew’s Church was rebuilt at war’s end.
The original building was constructed over several centuries, from 1100 to 1500, but most of its present form dates from the 14th and 15th Centuries, when the building was substantially enlarged in the English Gothic style. It is the largest parish church in Devon. The post-war reconstruction duplicates the church, as it was, before the war.
Many famous persons are associated with Saint Andrew’s Church. It was the first church in England in which Catherine Of Aragon worshipped after arriving from Spain. Francis Drake was a member of the church, as was Captain Bligh of the Bounty. It was the church of Francis Chichester.
After exploring Saint Andrew’s Church, we will walk to the Plymouth Barbican, the area with which so much of Plymouth’s history is associated.
The Barbican is a maze of narrow streets and alleys just off the harbor that, miraculously, survived the bombs of World War II. A few of the buildings date to Elizabethan times.
We will walk around this area and examine the old buildings, and then we will walk to the harbor front and visit The Mayflower Steps, from which the Pilgrims embarked en route to The New World. We will walk the entirety of the harbor. Many, many epic voyages originated from the harbor in Plymouth, from the Pilgrims to Francis Drake to Walter Raleigh to Captain Cook to Scott Of The Antarctic.
Once we have seen everything on the harbor front, we plan to take a cruise from the harbor. The particular cruise we plan to take first circles the inner harbor—named Sutton Harbor—after which it sails out into Plymouth Sound, sailing below Plymouth Hoe, the high ground overlooking both Sutton Harbor and Plymouth Sound (and that formerly served as the town’s major fortification), and then into the Naval Dockyards, Europe’s largest port, which serves as home to British warships and nuclear submarines.
After we return to the harbor, we plan to buy a picnic lunch and take it up to Plymouth Hoe and eat upon the grounds. Plymouth Hoe is nothing so much as an enormous park overlooking Sutton Harbor on one side and Plymouth Sound on another. Plymouth Hoe is very beautiful, the finest feature of the city of Plymouth in my estimation.
After lunch, we plan to spend the afternoon exploring the Hoe. There are many things to see on the Hoe. One is a giant statue of Francis Drake. Another is the Boer War Monument. There are several other interesting memorials on the grounds, too. Most impressive of all the monuments, perhaps, is an elaborate and imposing memorial to The Royal Navy, commemorating those who lost their lives in both world wars while serving on the seas.
Plymouth Hoe is also home to Smeaton’s Tower, a lighthouse that used to be situated upon rock out in Plymouth Sound, only to be dismantled and re-erected at the top of Plymouth Hoe. We plan to tour Smeaton’s Tower, and climb to the top and enjoy the prime views over Plymouth, Sutton Harbor and Plymouth Sound.
The largest man-made attraction on Plymouth Hoe is The Royal Citadel, a fortress that was constructed shortly after The Civil War to protect Plymouth from foreign invasion. It was to become Britain’s most important fortification for over a century after its completion.
The Royal Citadel is enormous. Its walls are seventy feet high, and within those walls lie a large parade ground, storerooms for weapons and provisions, officer quarters, working quarters and barracks for 300 men. 113 guns are in place on its ramparts. Hundreds of military personnel—representing The Royal Navy, The Royal Marines and The Royal Artillery—currently work within the Citadel. Units operating out of The Royal Citadel served in Basra in Iraq.
The entrance to The Royal Citadel is a dramatic Baroque Arch at the end of a long moat (the moat never was filled with water).
The Royal Citadel is periodically but infrequently opened for guided tours, but there are no guided tours scheduled for August 9. The most we will be able to do is to circle the giant fortress and admire its exterior.
After we have completed our explorations of Plymouth Hoe, we will return to our hotel for an hour or two (and once again take advantage of the hotel's swimming pool).
In the evening, we will have dinner and attend a performance at Plymouth’s Theatre Royal, a modern and excellent theater facility. My brother and I attended a performance of “Hamlet” at Theatre Royal in 2004 (at that performance, Michael Maloney portrayed Hamlet, creditably).
This evening’s performance will be presented by an experimental British theater company known as Complicite. The play is titled “A Disappearing Number”. It was “conceived and directed” by Simon McBurney.
“A Disappearing Number” tells duo stories: the real-life story of the professional collaboration between two leading mathematicians of the early 20th Century, G. H. Hardy (1877-1947), a Cambridge Professor, and Srinivasa Ramanujan (1887-1920), a Brahmin from South India whose spiritual journey took him from India to Cambridge and back to India again to face an early death; and the fictional story of two present-day mathematicians, one Western and one Asian, whose spiritual journey begins in the West but ends in India—a journey that also ends in death.
“A Disappearing Number” received its world premiere at Plymouth’s Theatre Royal in 2007. It returns for one weekend of performances in 2008, after having toured the world, and we have decided to take advantage of the opportunity to attend one of the four Plymouth performances.
It is supposed to be a very experimental work—having nothing to do with the conventional narratives of the stage—but it is also supposed to be fascinating if not rewarding. The play is probably not too experimental, because it won the Evening Standard, Olivier and Critics’ Circle Awards for Best Play Of 2007. It combines text, music, sound, projections and dance to tell the story.
We shall probably all either love or hate “A Disappearing Number”. The play is only one hour and forty-five minutes in duration, so it is not too long—and we can always leave if we intensely dislike the play or performance. It is the only evening event we could find in Plymouth that attracted our interest in the least, so it seems sensible that we go.
I worry that no one will like the play, but Josh and I forwarded articles about the play to my brother and Josh’s sister, and they read the articles and they said they want to attend a performance. They are intrigued, and so are my parents.
I hope it works out.
Charles Church, Plymouth
Saint Andrew’s Church, Plymouth
Plymouth Barbican
Cruise On Plymouth Harbor
Plymouth Hoe
The Royal Citadel, Plymouth
“A Disappearing Number” At Theatre Royal, Plymouth
We hope to set out this day around 9:00 a.m.
Our first stop will be Charles Church, which lies in the middle of a great traffic circle in downtown Plymouth.
Charles Church was erected during The Civil War. It was named after Charles I, the Sovereign who granted its charter but who was soon to lose his head.
The church was one of the last churches built in the English Gothic style, a style that was falling from fashion at the time. It served as one of Plymouth’s two principal churches for over three centuries until it was destroyed during World War II.
All that remains of Charles Church today is the tower and the striking English Gothic vaults and a few walls, but the ruins fully reveal the church’s original structure and are a most impressive and beautiful sight. The remains of Charles Church now serve as a memorial to those Plymouth residents who lost their lives as a result of German bombs (Plymouth, owing to its status as a major port, was one of the most heavily-bombed cities in all of Britain).
From Charles Church, we will walk over to Saint Andrew’s Church, the other historic principal church of Plymouth.
Saint Andrew’s Church, too, was destroyed during the war, but Saint Andrew’s Church was rebuilt at war’s end.
The original building was constructed over several centuries, from 1100 to 1500, but most of its present form dates from the 14th and 15th Centuries, when the building was substantially enlarged in the English Gothic style. It is the largest parish church in Devon. The post-war reconstruction duplicates the church, as it was, before the war.
Many famous persons are associated with Saint Andrew’s Church. It was the first church in England in which Catherine Of Aragon worshipped after arriving from Spain. Francis Drake was a member of the church, as was Captain Bligh of the Bounty. It was the church of Francis Chichester.
After exploring Saint Andrew’s Church, we will walk to the Plymouth Barbican, the area with which so much of Plymouth’s history is associated.
The Barbican is a maze of narrow streets and alleys just off the harbor that, miraculously, survived the bombs of World War II. A few of the buildings date to Elizabethan times.
We will walk around this area and examine the old buildings, and then we will walk to the harbor front and visit The Mayflower Steps, from which the Pilgrims embarked en route to The New World. We will walk the entirety of the harbor. Many, many epic voyages originated from the harbor in Plymouth, from the Pilgrims to Francis Drake to Walter Raleigh to Captain Cook to Scott Of The Antarctic.
Once we have seen everything on the harbor front, we plan to take a cruise from the harbor. The particular cruise we plan to take first circles the inner harbor—named Sutton Harbor—after which it sails out into Plymouth Sound, sailing below Plymouth Hoe, the high ground overlooking both Sutton Harbor and Plymouth Sound (and that formerly served as the town’s major fortification), and then into the Naval Dockyards, Europe’s largest port, which serves as home to British warships and nuclear submarines.
After we return to the harbor, we plan to buy a picnic lunch and take it up to Plymouth Hoe and eat upon the grounds. Plymouth Hoe is nothing so much as an enormous park overlooking Sutton Harbor on one side and Plymouth Sound on another. Plymouth Hoe is very beautiful, the finest feature of the city of Plymouth in my estimation.
After lunch, we plan to spend the afternoon exploring the Hoe. There are many things to see on the Hoe. One is a giant statue of Francis Drake. Another is the Boer War Monument. There are several other interesting memorials on the grounds, too. Most impressive of all the monuments, perhaps, is an elaborate and imposing memorial to The Royal Navy, commemorating those who lost their lives in both world wars while serving on the seas.
Plymouth Hoe is also home to Smeaton’s Tower, a lighthouse that used to be situated upon rock out in Plymouth Sound, only to be dismantled and re-erected at the top of Plymouth Hoe. We plan to tour Smeaton’s Tower, and climb to the top and enjoy the prime views over Plymouth, Sutton Harbor and Plymouth Sound.
The largest man-made attraction on Plymouth Hoe is The Royal Citadel, a fortress that was constructed shortly after The Civil War to protect Plymouth from foreign invasion. It was to become Britain’s most important fortification for over a century after its completion.
The Royal Citadel is enormous. Its walls are seventy feet high, and within those walls lie a large parade ground, storerooms for weapons and provisions, officer quarters, working quarters and barracks for 300 men. 113 guns are in place on its ramparts. Hundreds of military personnel—representing The Royal Navy, The Royal Marines and The Royal Artillery—currently work within the Citadel. Units operating out of The Royal Citadel served in Basra in Iraq.
The entrance to The Royal Citadel is a dramatic Baroque Arch at the end of a long moat (the moat never was filled with water).
The Royal Citadel is periodically but infrequently opened for guided tours, but there are no guided tours scheduled for August 9. The most we will be able to do is to circle the giant fortress and admire its exterior.
After we have completed our explorations of Plymouth Hoe, we will return to our hotel for an hour or two (and once again take advantage of the hotel's swimming pool).
In the evening, we will have dinner and attend a performance at Plymouth’s Theatre Royal, a modern and excellent theater facility. My brother and I attended a performance of “Hamlet” at Theatre Royal in 2004 (at that performance, Michael Maloney portrayed Hamlet, creditably).
This evening’s performance will be presented by an experimental British theater company known as Complicite. The play is titled “A Disappearing Number”. It was “conceived and directed” by Simon McBurney.
“A Disappearing Number” tells duo stories: the real-life story of the professional collaboration between two leading mathematicians of the early 20th Century, G. H. Hardy (1877-1947), a Cambridge Professor, and Srinivasa Ramanujan (1887-1920), a Brahmin from South India whose spiritual journey took him from India to Cambridge and back to India again to face an early death; and the fictional story of two present-day mathematicians, one Western and one Asian, whose spiritual journey begins in the West but ends in India—a journey that also ends in death.
“A Disappearing Number” received its world premiere at Plymouth’s Theatre Royal in 2007. It returns for one weekend of performances in 2008, after having toured the world, and we have decided to take advantage of the opportunity to attend one of the four Plymouth performances.
It is supposed to be a very experimental work—having nothing to do with the conventional narratives of the stage—but it is also supposed to be fascinating if not rewarding. The play is probably not too experimental, because it won the Evening Standard, Olivier and Critics’ Circle Awards for Best Play Of 2007. It combines text, music, sound, projections and dance to tell the story.
We shall probably all either love or hate “A Disappearing Number”. The play is only one hour and forty-five minutes in duration, so it is not too long—and we can always leave if we intensely dislike the play or performance. It is the only evening event we could find in Plymouth that attracted our interest in the least, so it seems sensible that we go.
I worry that no one will like the play, but Josh and I forwarded articles about the play to my brother and Josh’s sister, and they read the articles and they said they want to attend a performance. They are intrigued, and so are my parents.
I hope it works out.
Day Ten: Saint Michael's Mount
Sunday, August 10, 2008
Saint Michael’s Mount
Land’s End
Saint Ives
We plan to leave our Plymouth hotel very early, no later than 7:30 a.m., because we want to be on the Cornwall Coast looking out upon Saint Michael’s Mount by 9:00 a.m.
Saint Michael’s Mount occupies a small island a few hundred yards offshore from the Cornwall Coast. It is, in reality, a granite mountaintop rising from the sea, on which is situated an ancient castle with an ancient church at its very peak.
Saint Michael’s Mount is very similar to Mont Saint Michel in France (though nowhere near as impressive as the French version), and the similarities are owing to the fact that both islands were developed by the same religious order under the direction of a Benedictine Abbott in France. The British island was turned over to the Abbott of France’s Mont Saint Michel in 1075, nine years after The Norman Conquest, and the French Abbott modeled Britain’s Saint Michael’s Mount after France’s Mont Saint Michel. First, a church was built atop the island in 1135. Construction of the present castle followed, beginning in 1193.
Saint Michael’s Mount became independent of Mont Saint Michel in 1424, when Henry VI declared it to be a foreign priory and turned its affairs over to a British religious order, Syon Abbey, under whose control the Mount operated until it was closed in 1535, part of The Dissolution Of The Monasteries.
Saint Michael’s Mount had several different owners until 1659, when it became seat and residence of the Saint Aubyn family. The Saint Aubyn family continues to reside on Saint Michael’s Mount today. The family operates its various tourist enterprises under a 999-year leasehold, but it no longer owns the island—ownership of the island was transferred to The National Trust in 1954, as it had become too expensive for a single family to continue to maintain the island once Britain imposed draconian tax rates after World War II.
We hope that our arrival coincides with low tide, so that we may walk to the island on the lengthy causeway. Approaching Saint Michael’s Mount via the causeway, looking up at the beautiful buildings as they grow closer and closer, while the sea is only a few inches from one’s feet, lapping at the rocks on the causeway, is a miraculous experience.
If our arrival coincides with high tide, we will have to take a boat out to the Mount.
As one walks onto, or lands by boat on, the island, one notices a series of small but handsome stone cottages that surround the small port at seaside. These cottages are occupied by the full-time residents of Saint Michael’s Mount, about thirty in all, who earn their livings by working for the Saint Aubyn family, serving as gardeners and guides at the castle, or manning the two shops and the café and the restaurant, or manning the boat service. Additional workers commute to the island each day, because Saint Michael’s Mount is a major destination for visitors, British and foreign, and requires numerous employees for its maintenance.
We hope to arrive on the island by 9:45 a.m. We will stop and have coffee and cake in the delightful cafe at portside, and afterward walk up the steep, narrow, cobbled streets to the castle, which opens at 10:30 a.m. We hope to be inside the castle walls by 10:45 a.m., because we want to attend Sunday service in the church atop the castle. The church is the oldest part of the complex, purely medieval in design and construction. Its Sunday service occurs at 11:15 a.m.
After service, we plan to tour the castle. The stroll through the castle should take a couple of hours, because a number of rooms are open to the public and most of these rooms are quite fascinating, filled with the history of those who have lived in the castle over the centuries, as well as historic furniture, art, weapons and mechanical devices (one of which is an ancient clock that tells the movement of the tides, built to allow residents of Saint Michael’s Mount to plan their trips to the mainland via the causeway).
Most impressive are the entrance hall, the library, the Chevy Chase room (a room devoted to hunting—there is a frieze of hunting scenes encircling the room, and intricate stained glass panels portraying scenes from the hunt), the blue room, the drawing room, the map room and the garrison.
Once we have completed our visit to the castle, we will walk back down the cobbled streets and have a late, full lunch at the restaurant near portside, after which we will return to shore, whether by causeway or by boat.
From Saint Michael’s Mount, we will make the short drive to Land’s End, the westernmost point in England (but not in the United Kingdom—a portion of Scotland protrudes even further West).
Land’s End is typified by roughhewn limestone cliffs high above the sea, from which one may watch waves from the Atlantic Ocean crash against the rocks. It is a beautiful sight, but one must get a few hundred yards away from the kitschy Land’s End tourist shops that, happily, are all congregated in the tiny settlement. If one focuses on the settlement itself and only the settlement, Land’s End is perhaps the most ignominious tourist trap on the planet. If one ignores the settlement, and focuses on the natural beauty of the area, Land’s End is worth a short visit
My brother and I visited Land’s End early one morning in 2004. It was a dark, windy day, and the force of the wind from the Atlantic Ocean was bracing (and almost frightening). The dark sky and clouds gave Land’s End a very dramatic specter that day, and we enjoyed walking among the cliff tops.
I think that my parents and Josh and Josh’s sister will enjoy a brief visit to Land’s End. After we have spent some time out on the cliffs, we may even want to have afternoon tea at Land’s End’s only hotel. The hotel’s restaurant looks out upon the Atlantic, and offers views of the Isles Of Scully on a clear day.
From Land’s End, we will make the short drive to Saint Ives, an old fishing village that, over the last one and two centuries, has become first an artist colony and then a resort town.
We will check into our hotel, and afterward spend some time exploring the narrow alleyways of this ancient but charming village, with its ancient granite houses hugging each other in the long but narrow strip of land between the seashore and the high cliffs above the town.
I love Saint Ives. It is not a resort town like American resort towns. Its commercial establishments are genteel, and largely free of the kitsch that typifies American resort towns (and nearby Land’s End, too). Despite the tourists, Saint Ives is a real town, with real residents, whose ancestors have lived in this old town with its old stone buildings for centuries.
The buildings of Saint Ives are dark, almost black, granite. The skies are gray, even gloomy. The beach is gray, too, and this dark coloration lends the town the aura of a film set. Above the town is an array of Victorian mansions, many now turned into hotels, built by nouveau riche in the latter part of the 19th Century, when Saint Ives had become a fashionable vacation destination.
The lower part of the town is crammed with cafes, restaurants, coffee houses and teahouses, art shops, bookshops, antiquaries and shops selling seafaring memorabilia. There is even an old Woolworth’s, right out of the 1930’s, replete with the smell of peanuts roasting, probably one of the last such Woolworth’s stores anywhere in the world (at least it was still there in 2004).
I think my mother will love Saint Ives. The entire time my brother and I were in Saint Ives in 2004, we kept telling each other that our mother would love Saint Ives. We told her all about the town when we returned home, and she told us that she would love to visit Saint Ives some day. She very much looks forward to visiting the town this year. I hope she will not be disappointed.
After we have spent an hour walking around the town, we will locate a restaurant for dinner.
Saint Michael’s Mount
Land’s End
Saint Ives
We plan to leave our Plymouth hotel very early, no later than 7:30 a.m., because we want to be on the Cornwall Coast looking out upon Saint Michael’s Mount by 9:00 a.m.
Saint Michael’s Mount occupies a small island a few hundred yards offshore from the Cornwall Coast. It is, in reality, a granite mountaintop rising from the sea, on which is situated an ancient castle with an ancient church at its very peak.
Saint Michael’s Mount is very similar to Mont Saint Michel in France (though nowhere near as impressive as the French version), and the similarities are owing to the fact that both islands were developed by the same religious order under the direction of a Benedictine Abbott in France. The British island was turned over to the Abbott of France’s Mont Saint Michel in 1075, nine years after The Norman Conquest, and the French Abbott modeled Britain’s Saint Michael’s Mount after France’s Mont Saint Michel. First, a church was built atop the island in 1135. Construction of the present castle followed, beginning in 1193.
Saint Michael’s Mount became independent of Mont Saint Michel in 1424, when Henry VI declared it to be a foreign priory and turned its affairs over to a British religious order, Syon Abbey, under whose control the Mount operated until it was closed in 1535, part of The Dissolution Of The Monasteries.
Saint Michael’s Mount had several different owners until 1659, when it became seat and residence of the Saint Aubyn family. The Saint Aubyn family continues to reside on Saint Michael’s Mount today. The family operates its various tourist enterprises under a 999-year leasehold, but it no longer owns the island—ownership of the island was transferred to The National Trust in 1954, as it had become too expensive for a single family to continue to maintain the island once Britain imposed draconian tax rates after World War II.
We hope that our arrival coincides with low tide, so that we may walk to the island on the lengthy causeway. Approaching Saint Michael’s Mount via the causeway, looking up at the beautiful buildings as they grow closer and closer, while the sea is only a few inches from one’s feet, lapping at the rocks on the causeway, is a miraculous experience.
If our arrival coincides with high tide, we will have to take a boat out to the Mount.
As one walks onto, or lands by boat on, the island, one notices a series of small but handsome stone cottages that surround the small port at seaside. These cottages are occupied by the full-time residents of Saint Michael’s Mount, about thirty in all, who earn their livings by working for the Saint Aubyn family, serving as gardeners and guides at the castle, or manning the two shops and the café and the restaurant, or manning the boat service. Additional workers commute to the island each day, because Saint Michael’s Mount is a major destination for visitors, British and foreign, and requires numerous employees for its maintenance.
We hope to arrive on the island by 9:45 a.m. We will stop and have coffee and cake in the delightful cafe at portside, and afterward walk up the steep, narrow, cobbled streets to the castle, which opens at 10:30 a.m. We hope to be inside the castle walls by 10:45 a.m., because we want to attend Sunday service in the church atop the castle. The church is the oldest part of the complex, purely medieval in design and construction. Its Sunday service occurs at 11:15 a.m.
After service, we plan to tour the castle. The stroll through the castle should take a couple of hours, because a number of rooms are open to the public and most of these rooms are quite fascinating, filled with the history of those who have lived in the castle over the centuries, as well as historic furniture, art, weapons and mechanical devices (one of which is an ancient clock that tells the movement of the tides, built to allow residents of Saint Michael’s Mount to plan their trips to the mainland via the causeway).
Most impressive are the entrance hall, the library, the Chevy Chase room (a room devoted to hunting—there is a frieze of hunting scenes encircling the room, and intricate stained glass panels portraying scenes from the hunt), the blue room, the drawing room, the map room and the garrison.
Once we have completed our visit to the castle, we will walk back down the cobbled streets and have a late, full lunch at the restaurant near portside, after which we will return to shore, whether by causeway or by boat.
From Saint Michael’s Mount, we will make the short drive to Land’s End, the westernmost point in England (but not in the United Kingdom—a portion of Scotland protrudes even further West).
Land’s End is typified by roughhewn limestone cliffs high above the sea, from which one may watch waves from the Atlantic Ocean crash against the rocks. It is a beautiful sight, but one must get a few hundred yards away from the kitschy Land’s End tourist shops that, happily, are all congregated in the tiny settlement. If one focuses on the settlement itself and only the settlement, Land’s End is perhaps the most ignominious tourist trap on the planet. If one ignores the settlement, and focuses on the natural beauty of the area, Land’s End is worth a short visit
My brother and I visited Land’s End early one morning in 2004. It was a dark, windy day, and the force of the wind from the Atlantic Ocean was bracing (and almost frightening). The dark sky and clouds gave Land’s End a very dramatic specter that day, and we enjoyed walking among the cliff tops.
I think that my parents and Josh and Josh’s sister will enjoy a brief visit to Land’s End. After we have spent some time out on the cliffs, we may even want to have afternoon tea at Land’s End’s only hotel. The hotel’s restaurant looks out upon the Atlantic, and offers views of the Isles Of Scully on a clear day.
From Land’s End, we will make the short drive to Saint Ives, an old fishing village that, over the last one and two centuries, has become first an artist colony and then a resort town.
We will check into our hotel, and afterward spend some time exploring the narrow alleyways of this ancient but charming village, with its ancient granite houses hugging each other in the long but narrow strip of land between the seashore and the high cliffs above the town.
I love Saint Ives. It is not a resort town like American resort towns. Its commercial establishments are genteel, and largely free of the kitsch that typifies American resort towns (and nearby Land’s End, too). Despite the tourists, Saint Ives is a real town, with real residents, whose ancestors have lived in this old town with its old stone buildings for centuries.
The buildings of Saint Ives are dark, almost black, granite. The skies are gray, even gloomy. The beach is gray, too, and this dark coloration lends the town the aura of a film set. Above the town is an array of Victorian mansions, many now turned into hotels, built by nouveau riche in the latter part of the 19th Century, when Saint Ives had become a fashionable vacation destination.
The lower part of the town is crammed with cafes, restaurants, coffee houses and teahouses, art shops, bookshops, antiquaries and shops selling seafaring memorabilia. There is even an old Woolworth’s, right out of the 1930’s, replete with the smell of peanuts roasting, probably one of the last such Woolworth’s stores anywhere in the world (at least it was still there in 2004).
I think my mother will love Saint Ives. The entire time my brother and I were in Saint Ives in 2004, we kept telling each other that our mother would love Saint Ives. We told her all about the town when we returned home, and she told us that she would love to visit Saint Ives some day. She very much looks forward to visiting the town this year. I hope she will not be disappointed.
After we have spent an hour walking around the town, we will locate a restaurant for dinner.
Day Eleven: Saint Ives
Monday, August 11, 2008
Saint Ives Parish Church
Saint Ives Museum
Tate Saint Ives
Barbara Hepworth Museum And Sculpture Garden, Saint Ives
We plan to leave our hotel at 9:00 a.m. and walk to Saint Ives Parish Church, a 15th-Century church in the very center of the old town, very near the harbor.
Saint Ives Parish Church, erected between 1410 and 1434, was built in the early English Gothic style. It is a large church, with four aisles, and has a large church tower, 80 feet high. Much of the interior decoration—wood, stone, alabaster—is from the 15th Century, and it is a very beautiful and very peaceful church to visit. One of the church’s aisles was set aside for the fishermen of Saint Ives. During service, the fishermen would sit in this aisle, which provided a full view of their boats through the church’s only plain-glass window. The church’s most unusual feature is a wagon roof, with unusual and intricate wood vaulting. The church has a large and beautiful churchyard with ancient monuments.
Our next stop will be the Saint Ives Museum, a museum presenting the history of the town. The Saint Ives Museum occupies a series of old granite buildings in the heart of the old fishing quarter, right next to the sea.
The Saint Ives Museum is a very fine museum, with many interesting artifacts on display. It is well worth a couple of hours.
The museum has exhibits covering the history of farming, fishing, mining and shipping in the town. It also has a display of art from Saint Ives, as well as exhibits on the history of railroads and steamships in Saint Ives. Also on view are a traditional Cornish kitchen, old toys, Victorian clothing and many, many photographs of the town and its people from the 19th and 20th Centuries.
Once we have seen what we want to see at the Saint Ives Museum, we will walk over to Tate Saint Ives, part of the Tate Gallery network (Tate Britain, Tate Modern, Tate Liverpool and Tate Saint Ives).
Tate Saint Ives opened in 1993. It occupies a fine purpose-built building near the coastline, nestled beneath the cliffs. Its focus is artwork of the Saint Ives artist colony, in existence since the 19th Century.
We will first go to the top floor and have lunch in the excellent café. It provides magnificent views over the houses and beaches below.
After lunch, we will view two of the three exhibitions that will be on display throughout the 2008 summer months at Tate Saint Ives: “Dawn Of The Colony: Saint Ives 1811-1888”; and “Modernism In Saint Ives”. There is no permanent collection on display at Tate Saint Ives.
With the exception of Barbara Hepworth, the artists who lived and worked in Saint Ives never acquired an international following. Saint Ives artists were local artists, producing work of local appeal. Saint Ives artwork from the 19th Century is invariably realist, with a touch of Impressionism creeping into an occasional canvas late in the Century. Early 20th-Century artwork occasionally reflects the artistic developments of the era, European and American, but generally in severely watered-down forms.
After World War II, the Saint Ives artist colony fractured into two, one group tenaciously holding to realism and the other group advocating a move to abstraction. Diplomatic relations were broken between the two factions, but neither group was of international importance, making this a purely local conflagration, ignored beyond town borders.
Once we have viewed the exhibitions, we will walk to the nearby Barbara Hepworth Museum And Sculpture Garden, which is administered by Tate Saint Ives.
Hepworth spent the last 36 years of her life in Saint Ives, and her home, studio and garden were left to the nation after her 1975 death. I have never thought highly of Hepworth’s work—“bargain-basement Henry Moore” is how her work has always struck me—but it should be interesting to spend an hour seeing where she lived and worked, and viewing the sculpture on display in the garden. The garden sculpture contains Hepworth’s favorite pieces, arranged as she left them at the time of her death.
When we leave the Hepworth Museum, we will stroll the streets and alleyways of Saint Ives for an hour or so, and locate a teashop in which to enjoy a full and formal British afternoon tea service.
We will probably return to our hotel for a bit before we go out for dinner.
When we leave Saint Ives the following morning, our goal is to have escaped town without eating a single Cornish pasty (unless Josh and his sister want to try one).
Saint Ives Parish Church
Saint Ives Museum
Tate Saint Ives
Barbara Hepworth Museum And Sculpture Garden, Saint Ives
We plan to leave our hotel at 9:00 a.m. and walk to Saint Ives Parish Church, a 15th-Century church in the very center of the old town, very near the harbor.
Saint Ives Parish Church, erected between 1410 and 1434, was built in the early English Gothic style. It is a large church, with four aisles, and has a large church tower, 80 feet high. Much of the interior decoration—wood, stone, alabaster—is from the 15th Century, and it is a very beautiful and very peaceful church to visit. One of the church’s aisles was set aside for the fishermen of Saint Ives. During service, the fishermen would sit in this aisle, which provided a full view of their boats through the church’s only plain-glass window. The church’s most unusual feature is a wagon roof, with unusual and intricate wood vaulting. The church has a large and beautiful churchyard with ancient monuments.
Our next stop will be the Saint Ives Museum, a museum presenting the history of the town. The Saint Ives Museum occupies a series of old granite buildings in the heart of the old fishing quarter, right next to the sea.
The Saint Ives Museum is a very fine museum, with many interesting artifacts on display. It is well worth a couple of hours.
The museum has exhibits covering the history of farming, fishing, mining and shipping in the town. It also has a display of art from Saint Ives, as well as exhibits on the history of railroads and steamships in Saint Ives. Also on view are a traditional Cornish kitchen, old toys, Victorian clothing and many, many photographs of the town and its people from the 19th and 20th Centuries.
Once we have seen what we want to see at the Saint Ives Museum, we will walk over to Tate Saint Ives, part of the Tate Gallery network (Tate Britain, Tate Modern, Tate Liverpool and Tate Saint Ives).
Tate Saint Ives opened in 1993. It occupies a fine purpose-built building near the coastline, nestled beneath the cliffs. Its focus is artwork of the Saint Ives artist colony, in existence since the 19th Century.
We will first go to the top floor and have lunch in the excellent café. It provides magnificent views over the houses and beaches below.
After lunch, we will view two of the three exhibitions that will be on display throughout the 2008 summer months at Tate Saint Ives: “Dawn Of The Colony: Saint Ives 1811-1888”; and “Modernism In Saint Ives”. There is no permanent collection on display at Tate Saint Ives.
With the exception of Barbara Hepworth, the artists who lived and worked in Saint Ives never acquired an international following. Saint Ives artists were local artists, producing work of local appeal. Saint Ives artwork from the 19th Century is invariably realist, with a touch of Impressionism creeping into an occasional canvas late in the Century. Early 20th-Century artwork occasionally reflects the artistic developments of the era, European and American, but generally in severely watered-down forms.
After World War II, the Saint Ives artist colony fractured into two, one group tenaciously holding to realism and the other group advocating a move to abstraction. Diplomatic relations were broken between the two factions, but neither group was of international importance, making this a purely local conflagration, ignored beyond town borders.
Once we have viewed the exhibitions, we will walk to the nearby Barbara Hepworth Museum And Sculpture Garden, which is administered by Tate Saint Ives.
Hepworth spent the last 36 years of her life in Saint Ives, and her home, studio and garden were left to the nation after her 1975 death. I have never thought highly of Hepworth’s work—“bargain-basement Henry Moore” is how her work has always struck me—but it should be interesting to spend an hour seeing where she lived and worked, and viewing the sculpture on display in the garden. The garden sculpture contains Hepworth’s favorite pieces, arranged as she left them at the time of her death.
When we leave the Hepworth Museum, we will stroll the streets and alleyways of Saint Ives for an hour or so, and locate a teashop in which to enjoy a full and formal British afternoon tea service.
We will probably return to our hotel for a bit before we go out for dinner.
When we leave Saint Ives the following morning, our goal is to have escaped town without eating a single Cornish pasty (unless Josh and his sister want to try one).
Day Twelve: Cornwall And Devon
Tuesday, August 12, 2008
“The Launceston Town Trail”
The Church Of Saint Mary Magdalene, Launceston
Launceston Castle
Holsworthy Parish Church
Long Bridge, Bideford
Lynmouth
This day will be devoted to four smaller towns, each of which has something we particularly want to see or experience.
We plan to leave Saint Ives at 7:30 a.m. and drive to Launceston, a hill town on the Cornwall-Devon border and the most significant of the four towns we plan to visit this day. We plan to spend more than half of our day in Launceston. We should be in the center of Launceston, with the car parked, no later than 9:00 a.m.
Once the primary commercial, military, ecclesiastical and political center of Cornwall, Launceston lost its importance centuries ago. However, one important vestige of its ancient exalted status remains: each Prince Of Wales must come to Launceston at least once to collect the feudal duties to which he is entitled, his right as Duke Of Cornwall.
Today Launceston is a market town, important to its surrounding communities, but seldom visited by tourists. This may be unjust, because Launceston appears to have several attractions that should make the town a rewarding place for us to visit.
The center of town is medieval, with old, narrow streets and alleyways. Remnants of medieval 12th-Century walls are still visible in the town. Numerous Georgian buildings, of excellent quality and in excellent condition, are peppered throughout the town. Launceston is one of the best towns anywhere to see Georgian architecture, exceptionally preserved. The most prominent feature of Launceston is Launceston Castle, a small, round Norman castle located right in the town, situated atop a natural mound.
We plan to take a self-guided walking tour, “The Launceston Town Trail”, which is supposed to allow us to see all the key sights of Launceston in two hours. We expect it may take us three hours, given that we plan to visit the interiors of both The Church Of Saint Mary Magdalene and Launceston Castle. There are twenty-two buildings on “The Launceston Town Trail”, some medieval, some English Gothic, some Tudor, some Elizabethan, some Georgian, and some Victorian, as well as markets, monuments, cemeteries, squares, historic streets, promenades, arches and lookouts over both the Devon and Cornwall countrysides. I believe we may enjoy this self-propelled tour of Launceston very much.
The Church Of Saint Mary Magdalene will be one of the first stops on our tour. The church is famed for its intricately-carved exterior, making it one of the finest churches in England. Built between 1511 and 1524, its exterior is carved Cornwall granite, with flora and fauna and royal insignia carved into the stone. The church is very large (it seats 750 worshippers), and was designed in a very beautiful and very detailed and very elaborate English Perpendicular style (although the tower, from a former church on the site, is from 1380 and is European Gothic).
The interior is known for its equally-elaborate arches and vaulting, and contains numerous monuments and memorials.
Launceston Castle will be one of the last stops on our tour. The Castle began life in the 11th Century, when Launceston was the gate city to Cornwall, but the Castle in its entire history was never besieged or attacked. As a consequence, its exterior is in remarkable condition.
The Castle has an unusual layout. It is a single round tower, around which is arrayed a single round castle keep.
There is not much to see at the Castle except the keep and ramparts, but the views from the Castle ramparts are supposed to be stunning. The ramparts offer magnificent views of the town of Launceston, as well as nearby villages and farms.
We’ll climb all the way to the top, which takes almost 20 minutes from the base of the natural mound.
Launceston Castle has not been occupied or used for protective purposes for centuries. Its last use was during The Napoleonic Wars, when French prisoners of war were billeted in the Castle.
After we have completed our “Launceston Town Trail”, we will have lunch in the town.
In the early afternoon, we will leave Launceston and set out for Holsworthy.
The primary attraction in Holsworthy is Holsworthy Parish Church, an Early English Gothic church from 1250. Holsworthy Parish Church was built on the site of an 1130 Norman church, portions of which were used for the new building.
Excavations in the 19th Century revealed that the original Norman church had incorporated an old Norman custom into its construction: a “foundation of life” wall was discovered to be part of the original church building, a custom that involved placing a living person inside the wall as it was built.
Substantial alterations and additions were made to the church in 1366. Aside from the tower, the exterior of the church has not been changed since 1366. Ancient rings for horse tethers may still be seen on the church exterior.
The large tower is from 1450, built in the English Perpendicular style. The tower is noted for its stained glass (unusual in a belfry), its clock, its eight bells and its carillon, which plays thirteen tunes at regular intervals (including, naturally, “Holsworthy Church Bells”). The present carillon is the second to have been installed in the tower; an earlier, 19th-Century carillon had been shipped to Germany for overhaul shortly before World War I, never to be seen or heard again.
There is a large churchyard. A prominent war memorial stands outside the church
The church interior features massive octagonal columns with vaulted arches. The stained glass is from the 17th, 18th and 19th Centuries. Numerous monuments and memorials are scattered throughout the church interior.
The church organ has a long history. It was built in 1645 for London’s All Saints Church, Chelsea, the church of Thomas More and his family. We visited All Saints Church, Chelsea, last year. In 1723, the Parish Church Of Bideford (the next town we will visit) acquired the organ, had it shipped from London, and installed it in the Bideford church. In 1865, the organ was acquired by Holsworthy Parish Church, disassembled, moved to Holsworthy and reassembled. It may be the only organ in an English church that has served three separate churches in three separate towns.
We will visit the church and churchyard, after which we will take a short stroll around Holsworthy’s town square, with its shops and businesses. Holsworthy only has a population of 2,000 persons, so our entire visit to Holsworthy should take no more than ninety minutes.
From Holsworthy, we will drive to Bideford for a short stop. The appeal of Bideford, for us, is the low-lying 13th-Century bridge, Long Bridge, with its 24 ancient arches. Not only is Long Bridge one of the oldest bridges anywhere still in use, it is also an exceptionally beautiful and even graceful structure, largely because it lies so close to the water. The bridge crosses The River Torridge at a diagonal angle, which somehow adds to its unique beauty.
After we have spent some time viewing this marvelous structure, we will proceed to nearby Lynmouth, where we will spend the night.
Lynmouth is a tiny, tiny town, but it has a number of fine hotels because it occupies such a beautiful spot on the Devon Coast. Lynmouth is situated in a great gorge that lies on a cove, and the East Lynn River and the West Lynn River converge in the town before flowing out to sea, dividing the town into three sections.
It is an exceedingly beautiful spot, and Lynmouth has been a destination for visitors for over 200 years—since The Napoleonic Wars, in fact, when the British stopped visiting the continent for safety reasons and had to find places at home to visit. It was during this period that Lynmouth was “discovered”, and it has been a destination, for the British and for others, ever since. Among notable persons who have vacationed in Lynmouth are Thomas Gainsborough, William Wordsworth, J.M.W. Turner, Henry James and C.S. Lewis.
The town of Lynmouth lies directly on the bay, but the hotels in Lynmouth are all situated on high cliffs 700 feet above the town. Most of these hotels date from the late 19th Century, and are representative of the Victorian ideal of hotel splendor, with spacious guest rooms and splendid public rooms, all richly appointed, and magnificent views of the sea.
My brother and I visited Lynmouth for one day and two nights in 2004, and we have never forgotten our visit.
The weather in Lynmouth was brutal during our stay. We suffered the heaviest rain we had ever experienced anywhere. Literal sheets of rain—vertical, horizontal, diagonal—hit us from all directions, and we were sopping wet within minutes from head to toe. Umbrellas and rain jackets were of no use in such conditions.
It rained all day and all night. The sky was dark and foreboding, suggesting some imminent great disaster. The river rushing through the town created a loud, ominous roar. The streets of the town were deserted because of weather conditions, and most small shops and cafes had decided to close for the day. The only things open in the town by early afternoon were one small convenience store and the town museum, dedicated to the two most significant events in the town’s history: The Lynmouth Lifeboat Of 1899 and The Lynmouth Flood Of 1952. My brother and I went through the museum, and were fascinated to read all about these two great occurrences.
The Lynmouth Lifeboat Of 1899 involved a ship in distress at sea off the coast during a January 1899 gale and the efforts of the citizens of Lynmouth to launch the town rescue vessel to save the lives of those aboard the flailing ship.
The Lynmouth rescue vessel, the Louisa (informally known as The Lynmouth Lifeboat), could not be launched from Lynmouth Harbor due to terrible weather conditions ashore. As a result, the rescuers of Lynmouth decided to transport their rescue vehicle by road to Porlock, a town with a sheltered harbor, and launch the rescue from Porlock. Porlock was fifteen miles by road from Lynmouth, and The Lynmouth Lifeboat weighed ten tons.
Twenty horses and 100 men were required to transport the Louisa to Porlock, and the effort began in darkness in the early evening.
The first major hurdle was hauling the Louisa up the steep Countisberry Hill in Lynmouth, a 1,423-foot hill pitched at a 1-in-4 incline. Six men went ahead of the boat, using picks and shovels to widen the road as the boat was hauled uphill.
Once atop the hill, the Louisa was dragged fifteen miles across the moorlands of Exmoor, in cold and pouring rain, to Porlock, where the boat had to descend dangerous Porlock Hill, with all 100 men and all twenty horses used as living brakes to stall the descent.
The Louisa was launched off Porlock Weir at 6:30 a.m. the next morning, and exhausted rescuers rowed in heavy rain and inhuman conditions to reach the stricken vessel, where all aboard were safely rescued and transferred to the Louisa. The rescuers rowed back to shore, where rescuers and rescued all arrived safely.
No human lives were lost in this amazing feat of human endurance, all undertaken in darkness, cold, wind, mud and heaving rain, the most adverse conditions imaginable.
The only casualties were four of the twenty horses, who died of exhaustion.
The Great Lynmouth Flood Of 1952 destroyed the town of Lynouth, killing 34 persons, destroying 100 buildings and causing 420 persons to become homeless.
Torrential rains in the forested hills high above the town saturated the ground during the day of the flood, causing small rivers of floodwater to form. These small rivers picked up power and volume during the night, when these floodwaters became giant roaring rivers carrying uprooted trees, giant boulders (weighing as much as forty tons) and other debris. These waters cascaded down the gorge into the town. The peak of the flood occurred during the middle of the night, when a river of debris swept through the town, leaving a landscape of utter destruction in its wake, sweeping 100 buildings, 29 bridges and an unknown number of vehicles out to sea.
Most citizens of the town survived because most townspeople had moved to higher ground during the night, not long before the giant river of debris entered the town and carried it away.
Our 2004 visit to Lynmouth was an unforgettable, even dramatic, visit for us, and we loved every minute we spent in the town.
We have also never forgotten our stay at the hotel. The hotel’s location offered marvelous, even dramatic, views of the sea and coastline. Even in pouring rain, the views were breathtaking.
Further, the hotel’s owners treated my brother and me like family during our stay, giving us coffee and tea and hot chocolate and cakes in the public rooms at all hours, even late at night, an extraordinary gesture on their parts, since the hotel dining room was only open for a single seating at breakfast and a single seating at dinner. They insisted upon washing and drying our clothes when they saw how drenched we had become from our few hours down in the town. They extended every possible kindness and courtesy to us during our stay.
Needless to say, we will be staying at the same hotel this year.
There is a unique mode of transportation used to reach the hotels high above the town: The Cliff Railway, a 108-year-old water-operated funicular, 862 feet long, operating on a frightening 1:1.75 gradient track, in continuous operation since 1890.
The Cliff Railway is one of the most unique and unusual modes of transportation in the world. Each of the two cars holds 40 passengers as well as a 700-gallon water tank, alternately ingesting and discharging water as one car ascends and the other descends. Fully occupied, each car weighs ten tons. The water is piped in from the West Lynn River, over one mile away. The railway is a remarkable feat of Victorian engineering.
We will take The Cliff Railway up to our hotel, where we will have dinner and spend the night, and enjoy the marvelous views over the sea and coast.
My brother and I are secretly hoping for another deluge in Lynmouth, a repeat of 2004.
“The Launceston Town Trail”
The Church Of Saint Mary Magdalene, Launceston
Launceston Castle
Holsworthy Parish Church
Long Bridge, Bideford
Lynmouth
This day will be devoted to four smaller towns, each of which has something we particularly want to see or experience.
We plan to leave Saint Ives at 7:30 a.m. and drive to Launceston, a hill town on the Cornwall-Devon border and the most significant of the four towns we plan to visit this day. We plan to spend more than half of our day in Launceston. We should be in the center of Launceston, with the car parked, no later than 9:00 a.m.
Once the primary commercial, military, ecclesiastical and political center of Cornwall, Launceston lost its importance centuries ago. However, one important vestige of its ancient exalted status remains: each Prince Of Wales must come to Launceston at least once to collect the feudal duties to which he is entitled, his right as Duke Of Cornwall.
Today Launceston is a market town, important to its surrounding communities, but seldom visited by tourists. This may be unjust, because Launceston appears to have several attractions that should make the town a rewarding place for us to visit.
The center of town is medieval, with old, narrow streets and alleyways. Remnants of medieval 12th-Century walls are still visible in the town. Numerous Georgian buildings, of excellent quality and in excellent condition, are peppered throughout the town. Launceston is one of the best towns anywhere to see Georgian architecture, exceptionally preserved. The most prominent feature of Launceston is Launceston Castle, a small, round Norman castle located right in the town, situated atop a natural mound.
We plan to take a self-guided walking tour, “The Launceston Town Trail”, which is supposed to allow us to see all the key sights of Launceston in two hours. We expect it may take us three hours, given that we plan to visit the interiors of both The Church Of Saint Mary Magdalene and Launceston Castle. There are twenty-two buildings on “The Launceston Town Trail”, some medieval, some English Gothic, some Tudor, some Elizabethan, some Georgian, and some Victorian, as well as markets, monuments, cemeteries, squares, historic streets, promenades, arches and lookouts over both the Devon and Cornwall countrysides. I believe we may enjoy this self-propelled tour of Launceston very much.
The Church Of Saint Mary Magdalene will be one of the first stops on our tour. The church is famed for its intricately-carved exterior, making it one of the finest churches in England. Built between 1511 and 1524, its exterior is carved Cornwall granite, with flora and fauna and royal insignia carved into the stone. The church is very large (it seats 750 worshippers), and was designed in a very beautiful and very detailed and very elaborate English Perpendicular style (although the tower, from a former church on the site, is from 1380 and is European Gothic).
The interior is known for its equally-elaborate arches and vaulting, and contains numerous monuments and memorials.
Launceston Castle will be one of the last stops on our tour. The Castle began life in the 11th Century, when Launceston was the gate city to Cornwall, but the Castle in its entire history was never besieged or attacked. As a consequence, its exterior is in remarkable condition.
The Castle has an unusual layout. It is a single round tower, around which is arrayed a single round castle keep.
There is not much to see at the Castle except the keep and ramparts, but the views from the Castle ramparts are supposed to be stunning. The ramparts offer magnificent views of the town of Launceston, as well as nearby villages and farms.
We’ll climb all the way to the top, which takes almost 20 minutes from the base of the natural mound.
Launceston Castle has not been occupied or used for protective purposes for centuries. Its last use was during The Napoleonic Wars, when French prisoners of war were billeted in the Castle.
After we have completed our “Launceston Town Trail”, we will have lunch in the town.
In the early afternoon, we will leave Launceston and set out for Holsworthy.
The primary attraction in Holsworthy is Holsworthy Parish Church, an Early English Gothic church from 1250. Holsworthy Parish Church was built on the site of an 1130 Norman church, portions of which were used for the new building.
Excavations in the 19th Century revealed that the original Norman church had incorporated an old Norman custom into its construction: a “foundation of life” wall was discovered to be part of the original church building, a custom that involved placing a living person inside the wall as it was built.
Substantial alterations and additions were made to the church in 1366. Aside from the tower, the exterior of the church has not been changed since 1366. Ancient rings for horse tethers may still be seen on the church exterior.
The large tower is from 1450, built in the English Perpendicular style. The tower is noted for its stained glass (unusual in a belfry), its clock, its eight bells and its carillon, which plays thirteen tunes at regular intervals (including, naturally, “Holsworthy Church Bells”). The present carillon is the second to have been installed in the tower; an earlier, 19th-Century carillon had been shipped to Germany for overhaul shortly before World War I, never to be seen or heard again.
There is a large churchyard. A prominent war memorial stands outside the church
The church interior features massive octagonal columns with vaulted arches. The stained glass is from the 17th, 18th and 19th Centuries. Numerous monuments and memorials are scattered throughout the church interior.
The church organ has a long history. It was built in 1645 for London’s All Saints Church, Chelsea, the church of Thomas More and his family. We visited All Saints Church, Chelsea, last year. In 1723, the Parish Church Of Bideford (the next town we will visit) acquired the organ, had it shipped from London, and installed it in the Bideford church. In 1865, the organ was acquired by Holsworthy Parish Church, disassembled, moved to Holsworthy and reassembled. It may be the only organ in an English church that has served three separate churches in three separate towns.
We will visit the church and churchyard, after which we will take a short stroll around Holsworthy’s town square, with its shops and businesses. Holsworthy only has a population of 2,000 persons, so our entire visit to Holsworthy should take no more than ninety minutes.
From Holsworthy, we will drive to Bideford for a short stop. The appeal of Bideford, for us, is the low-lying 13th-Century bridge, Long Bridge, with its 24 ancient arches. Not only is Long Bridge one of the oldest bridges anywhere still in use, it is also an exceptionally beautiful and even graceful structure, largely because it lies so close to the water. The bridge crosses The River Torridge at a diagonal angle, which somehow adds to its unique beauty.
After we have spent some time viewing this marvelous structure, we will proceed to nearby Lynmouth, where we will spend the night.
Lynmouth is a tiny, tiny town, but it has a number of fine hotels because it occupies such a beautiful spot on the Devon Coast. Lynmouth is situated in a great gorge that lies on a cove, and the East Lynn River and the West Lynn River converge in the town before flowing out to sea, dividing the town into three sections.
It is an exceedingly beautiful spot, and Lynmouth has been a destination for visitors for over 200 years—since The Napoleonic Wars, in fact, when the British stopped visiting the continent for safety reasons and had to find places at home to visit. It was during this period that Lynmouth was “discovered”, and it has been a destination, for the British and for others, ever since. Among notable persons who have vacationed in Lynmouth are Thomas Gainsborough, William Wordsworth, J.M.W. Turner, Henry James and C.S. Lewis.
The town of Lynmouth lies directly on the bay, but the hotels in Lynmouth are all situated on high cliffs 700 feet above the town. Most of these hotels date from the late 19th Century, and are representative of the Victorian ideal of hotel splendor, with spacious guest rooms and splendid public rooms, all richly appointed, and magnificent views of the sea.
My brother and I visited Lynmouth for one day and two nights in 2004, and we have never forgotten our visit.
The weather in Lynmouth was brutal during our stay. We suffered the heaviest rain we had ever experienced anywhere. Literal sheets of rain—vertical, horizontal, diagonal—hit us from all directions, and we were sopping wet within minutes from head to toe. Umbrellas and rain jackets were of no use in such conditions.
It rained all day and all night. The sky was dark and foreboding, suggesting some imminent great disaster. The river rushing through the town created a loud, ominous roar. The streets of the town were deserted because of weather conditions, and most small shops and cafes had decided to close for the day. The only things open in the town by early afternoon were one small convenience store and the town museum, dedicated to the two most significant events in the town’s history: The Lynmouth Lifeboat Of 1899 and The Lynmouth Flood Of 1952. My brother and I went through the museum, and were fascinated to read all about these two great occurrences.
The Lynmouth Lifeboat Of 1899 involved a ship in distress at sea off the coast during a January 1899 gale and the efforts of the citizens of Lynmouth to launch the town rescue vessel to save the lives of those aboard the flailing ship.
The Lynmouth rescue vessel, the Louisa (informally known as The Lynmouth Lifeboat), could not be launched from Lynmouth Harbor due to terrible weather conditions ashore. As a result, the rescuers of Lynmouth decided to transport their rescue vehicle by road to Porlock, a town with a sheltered harbor, and launch the rescue from Porlock. Porlock was fifteen miles by road from Lynmouth, and The Lynmouth Lifeboat weighed ten tons.
Twenty horses and 100 men were required to transport the Louisa to Porlock, and the effort began in darkness in the early evening.
The first major hurdle was hauling the Louisa up the steep Countisberry Hill in Lynmouth, a 1,423-foot hill pitched at a 1-in-4 incline. Six men went ahead of the boat, using picks and shovels to widen the road as the boat was hauled uphill.
Once atop the hill, the Louisa was dragged fifteen miles across the moorlands of Exmoor, in cold and pouring rain, to Porlock, where the boat had to descend dangerous Porlock Hill, with all 100 men and all twenty horses used as living brakes to stall the descent.
The Louisa was launched off Porlock Weir at 6:30 a.m. the next morning, and exhausted rescuers rowed in heavy rain and inhuman conditions to reach the stricken vessel, where all aboard were safely rescued and transferred to the Louisa. The rescuers rowed back to shore, where rescuers and rescued all arrived safely.
No human lives were lost in this amazing feat of human endurance, all undertaken in darkness, cold, wind, mud and heaving rain, the most adverse conditions imaginable.
The only casualties were four of the twenty horses, who died of exhaustion.
The Great Lynmouth Flood Of 1952 destroyed the town of Lynouth, killing 34 persons, destroying 100 buildings and causing 420 persons to become homeless.
Torrential rains in the forested hills high above the town saturated the ground during the day of the flood, causing small rivers of floodwater to form. These small rivers picked up power and volume during the night, when these floodwaters became giant roaring rivers carrying uprooted trees, giant boulders (weighing as much as forty tons) and other debris. These waters cascaded down the gorge into the town. The peak of the flood occurred during the middle of the night, when a river of debris swept through the town, leaving a landscape of utter destruction in its wake, sweeping 100 buildings, 29 bridges and an unknown number of vehicles out to sea.
Most citizens of the town survived because most townspeople had moved to higher ground during the night, not long before the giant river of debris entered the town and carried it away.
Our 2004 visit to Lynmouth was an unforgettable, even dramatic, visit for us, and we loved every minute we spent in the town.
We have also never forgotten our stay at the hotel. The hotel’s location offered marvelous, even dramatic, views of the sea and coastline. Even in pouring rain, the views were breathtaking.
Further, the hotel’s owners treated my brother and me like family during our stay, giving us coffee and tea and hot chocolate and cakes in the public rooms at all hours, even late at night, an extraordinary gesture on their parts, since the hotel dining room was only open for a single seating at breakfast and a single seating at dinner. They insisted upon washing and drying our clothes when they saw how drenched we had become from our few hours down in the town. They extended every possible kindness and courtesy to us during our stay.
Needless to say, we will be staying at the same hotel this year.
There is a unique mode of transportation used to reach the hotels high above the town: The Cliff Railway, a 108-year-old water-operated funicular, 862 feet long, operating on a frightening 1:1.75 gradient track, in continuous operation since 1890.
The Cliff Railway is one of the most unique and unusual modes of transportation in the world. Each of the two cars holds 40 passengers as well as a 700-gallon water tank, alternately ingesting and discharging water as one car ascends and the other descends. Fully occupied, each car weighs ten tons. The water is piped in from the West Lynn River, over one mile away. The railway is a remarkable feat of Victorian engineering.
We will take The Cliff Railway up to our hotel, where we will have dinner and spend the night, and enjoy the marvelous views over the sea and coast.
My brother and I are secretly hoping for another deluge in Lynmouth, a repeat of 2004.
Day Thirteen: Exmoor
Wednesday, August 13, 2008
Exmoor
Glastonbury Abbey
Cheddar Gorge
Bath
We plan to set out at 9:00 a.m. this day. Our day will be devoted in large part to unique scenic features as we make our way to Bath.
Leaving Lynmouth, we will drive through the moorland of Exmoor. The moorland of Exmoor is different from the moorland of Dartmoor. Exmoor is coastal moorland, with much more greenery and plant life than Dartmoor, since Exmoor receives significant amounts of rainfall (in addition, Exmoor receives, on average, only 1600 hours of sunlight each year). Part of our drive through the moorland of Exmoor will be right on the coast, on high cliffs overlooking the sea. This is a beautiful drive.
Leaving Exmoor, our first stop will be Glastonbury Abbey, one of Britain’s greatest historic attractions and one of the oldest Christian sites anywhere.
Glastonbury Abbey’s origins may date as far back as 37 A.D., when Christians in Rome, six years before the Roman invasion of Britain, chose Britain as a chief locus for the propagation of Christianity. A community of monks was centered in Glastonbury for hundreds of years before the first stone church was erected in 712. The foundations of the 712 church survive, serving as the West end of the nave of the great church that was erected in the Tenth Century.
By the time of The Norman Conquest, Glastonbury was the wealthiest and most important abbey in Britain, a distinction it was to maintain until The Dissolution Of The Monasteries five centuries later.
A fire late in the Twelfth Century destroyed many of the buildings at the Abbey. The Abbey was rebuilt on an even grander scale after the fire, and it is the remnants of these 12th-Century buildings that may be viewed today.
The Abbey buildings occupy thirty-six acres. In addition to the great church, there are remnants of a parish church, several chapels, a bell tower, cloisters, monks’ quarters, priests’ quarters, a chapter house, a refectory, an infirmary, a brewery, stables, The Abbott’s House, and the great kitchen, the only building that has survived intact. The great kitchen is a giant square building with a peaked roof supporting an unusual cupola, inside of which are four giant roasting pits for cooking meat, four giant ovens for baking bread and four giant cauldrons for boiling soup, all in working condition.
All of these buildings are set amidst a giant park, filled with giant trees dating back hundreds of years, gardens, irrigation canals, stone paths and fruit orchards. Glastonbury Abbey is one of the most beautiful and most spiritual sites to visit in Britain.
The great church was probably the largest building in Britain during much of its useful life. It was well over 100 yards long, with upper and lower chapels, and the surviving portions are several stories high at their peaks. It must have been one of the great wonders of its day.
Joseph of Arimathea is believed to have been instrumental in the founding of Glastonbury’s earliest Christian community. It is believed by some that Joseph brought the Holy Grail to Britain shortly after Christ’s death, and buried it on Glastonbury grounds. The thorn tree that adorns the visitor entrance to the Abbey is an offshoot of a tree planted by Joseph. The actual thorn tree planted by Joseph flourished for over 1600 years until destroyed by Cromwell’s forces during The Civil War. A branch of the original thorn tree was planted nearby shortly thereafter, and the second thorn tree lasted for another 350 years. The second thorn tree died in 1991, but a branch of that thorn tree soon grew into the thorn tree that may be seen today. The Glastonbury thorn tree, oddly, blooms twice a year: in May, and again at Christmas. For hundreds of years, a sprig from the Glastonbury thorn tree has been sent to The Sovereign at Christmas, one of the greatest and longest-lasting traditions of the English Monarchy.
We plan to spend two or three hours exploring this great Abbey and its grounds. Glastonbury Abbey is much larger, much more beautiful and in much better condition than the ruins of Saint Augustine’s Abbey in Canterbury, and there is much more to see and explore in Glastonbury.
Once we have completed our visit to the Abbey, we will visit the small museum on site, which presents a detailed history of the Abbey, complete with a model of the entire complex as it was during its heyday, as well as artifacts that have been unearthed during excavations.
It should be the middle of the afternoon by the time we are ready to leave the Abbey. We plan to have a light lunch in the town of Glastonbury, a town that, other than its famous Abbey, is little more than a dump.
From Glastonbury, we will drive toward Bath, routing ourselves through Cheddar Gorge.
Cheddar Gorge is Britain’s largest gorge, set among the Mendip Hills. Cheddar Gorge derives its name from the nearby town of Cheddar.
A roadway winds through the valleys of Cheddar Gorge, allowing visitors to traverse the entire gorge by a meandering automobile drive. Most of the cliffs are only 200 or 300 feet high, although the highest of the Cheddar Gorge cliffs is almost 400 feet high. The area covered by the Gorge is not large, and one may drive through the entire Gorge in about thirty minutes.
Many visitors stop and hike through the Gorge, but we will not attempt to do so. We may stop once or twice at a road pull-off for a closer look, but we intend to drive through Cheddar Gorge simply because Cheddar Gorge is the most interesting path for us to take as we make our way to Bath. If it were in the United States, Cheddar Gorge would hardly be entitled to a second glance by anyone who has seen the great cliffs of the Upper Mississippi.
We should arrive in Bath no later than late afternoon. We will first check into our hotel, and afterward spend the following couple of hours strolling through the center of this beautiful city.
Bath is a great walking city. Filled with old stone buildings, bridges crossing The River Avon and lovely riverside parks, it is one of the most beautiful and charming cities for walking in Britain. We no doubt will make an early stop on our walk at Sally Lunn’s, and pick up Sally Lunn Buns to eat while we walk. We can hardly make a visit to Bath without each of us eating at least one Sally Lunn Bun!
After we have seen the essence of the center of Bath, we will find a suitable place for dinner.
Exmoor
Glastonbury Abbey
Cheddar Gorge
Bath
We plan to set out at 9:00 a.m. this day. Our day will be devoted in large part to unique scenic features as we make our way to Bath.
Leaving Lynmouth, we will drive through the moorland of Exmoor. The moorland of Exmoor is different from the moorland of Dartmoor. Exmoor is coastal moorland, with much more greenery and plant life than Dartmoor, since Exmoor receives significant amounts of rainfall (in addition, Exmoor receives, on average, only 1600 hours of sunlight each year). Part of our drive through the moorland of Exmoor will be right on the coast, on high cliffs overlooking the sea. This is a beautiful drive.
Leaving Exmoor, our first stop will be Glastonbury Abbey, one of Britain’s greatest historic attractions and one of the oldest Christian sites anywhere.
Glastonbury Abbey’s origins may date as far back as 37 A.D., when Christians in Rome, six years before the Roman invasion of Britain, chose Britain as a chief locus for the propagation of Christianity. A community of monks was centered in Glastonbury for hundreds of years before the first stone church was erected in 712. The foundations of the 712 church survive, serving as the West end of the nave of the great church that was erected in the Tenth Century.
By the time of The Norman Conquest, Glastonbury was the wealthiest and most important abbey in Britain, a distinction it was to maintain until The Dissolution Of The Monasteries five centuries later.
A fire late in the Twelfth Century destroyed many of the buildings at the Abbey. The Abbey was rebuilt on an even grander scale after the fire, and it is the remnants of these 12th-Century buildings that may be viewed today.
The Abbey buildings occupy thirty-six acres. In addition to the great church, there are remnants of a parish church, several chapels, a bell tower, cloisters, monks’ quarters, priests’ quarters, a chapter house, a refectory, an infirmary, a brewery, stables, The Abbott’s House, and the great kitchen, the only building that has survived intact. The great kitchen is a giant square building with a peaked roof supporting an unusual cupola, inside of which are four giant roasting pits for cooking meat, four giant ovens for baking bread and four giant cauldrons for boiling soup, all in working condition.
All of these buildings are set amidst a giant park, filled with giant trees dating back hundreds of years, gardens, irrigation canals, stone paths and fruit orchards. Glastonbury Abbey is one of the most beautiful and most spiritual sites to visit in Britain.
The great church was probably the largest building in Britain during much of its useful life. It was well over 100 yards long, with upper and lower chapels, and the surviving portions are several stories high at their peaks. It must have been one of the great wonders of its day.
Joseph of Arimathea is believed to have been instrumental in the founding of Glastonbury’s earliest Christian community. It is believed by some that Joseph brought the Holy Grail to Britain shortly after Christ’s death, and buried it on Glastonbury grounds. The thorn tree that adorns the visitor entrance to the Abbey is an offshoot of a tree planted by Joseph. The actual thorn tree planted by Joseph flourished for over 1600 years until destroyed by Cromwell’s forces during The Civil War. A branch of the original thorn tree was planted nearby shortly thereafter, and the second thorn tree lasted for another 350 years. The second thorn tree died in 1991, but a branch of that thorn tree soon grew into the thorn tree that may be seen today. The Glastonbury thorn tree, oddly, blooms twice a year: in May, and again at Christmas. For hundreds of years, a sprig from the Glastonbury thorn tree has been sent to The Sovereign at Christmas, one of the greatest and longest-lasting traditions of the English Monarchy.
We plan to spend two or three hours exploring this great Abbey and its grounds. Glastonbury Abbey is much larger, much more beautiful and in much better condition than the ruins of Saint Augustine’s Abbey in Canterbury, and there is much more to see and explore in Glastonbury.
Once we have completed our visit to the Abbey, we will visit the small museum on site, which presents a detailed history of the Abbey, complete with a model of the entire complex as it was during its heyday, as well as artifacts that have been unearthed during excavations.
It should be the middle of the afternoon by the time we are ready to leave the Abbey. We plan to have a light lunch in the town of Glastonbury, a town that, other than its famous Abbey, is little more than a dump.
From Glastonbury, we will drive toward Bath, routing ourselves through Cheddar Gorge.
Cheddar Gorge is Britain’s largest gorge, set among the Mendip Hills. Cheddar Gorge derives its name from the nearby town of Cheddar.
A roadway winds through the valleys of Cheddar Gorge, allowing visitors to traverse the entire gorge by a meandering automobile drive. Most of the cliffs are only 200 or 300 feet high, although the highest of the Cheddar Gorge cliffs is almost 400 feet high. The area covered by the Gorge is not large, and one may drive through the entire Gorge in about thirty minutes.
Many visitors stop and hike through the Gorge, but we will not attempt to do so. We may stop once or twice at a road pull-off for a closer look, but we intend to drive through Cheddar Gorge simply because Cheddar Gorge is the most interesting path for us to take as we make our way to Bath. If it were in the United States, Cheddar Gorge would hardly be entitled to a second glance by anyone who has seen the great cliffs of the Upper Mississippi.
We should arrive in Bath no later than late afternoon. We will first check into our hotel, and afterward spend the following couple of hours strolling through the center of this beautiful city.
Bath is a great walking city. Filled with old stone buildings, bridges crossing The River Avon and lovely riverside parks, it is one of the most beautiful and charming cities for walking in Britain. We no doubt will make an early stop on our walk at Sally Lunn’s, and pick up Sally Lunn Buns to eat while we walk. We can hardly make a visit to Bath without each of us eating at least one Sally Lunn Bun!
After we have seen the essence of the center of Bath, we will find a suitable place for dinner.
Day Fourteen: Bath
Thursday, August 14, 2008
Bath Abbey
“The Mayor’s Honorary Society” Tour Of Bath
The Royal Crescent, Bath
Number One Royal Crescent, Bath
The Roman Baths And Pump Room, Bath
“Enjoy” At Theatre Royal, Bath
We plan to leave our hotel at 8:45 a.m. this day and walk to nearby Bath Abbey, which opens for visitors at 9:00 a.m.
Bath Abbey stands in the very center of Bath. A former cathedral, it is a splendid building, one of the finest examples of English Perpendicular architecture in Britain.
A church has occupied the same spot since the 7th Century, but the present structure—a very large and spacious building—dates from the 12th Century and, after an interruption of 400 years, the 16th Century. It is the last of the great medieval churches in Britain, completed only a few short years before The Dissolution Of The Monasteries.
The most prominent features of Bath Abbey are the spectacular fan vaulting, among the most beautiful to be seen anywhere and designed by the same architects who designed the breathtaking fan vaulting in the Henry VII Chapel at Westminster Abbey, and the spectacular stained glass windows. Bath Abbey has 52 windows, occupying over 80% of the wall space, and the windows give the Abbey a lightness and grace rare in a medieval cathedral. The most remarkable window in the Abbey is the giant window at the East end, featuring a window portraying 56 scenes from the life of Christ.
Bath Abbey was erected in cruciform plan, very rare for churches of the time. The giant tower, with ten bells, is placed at the center of the cruciform.
Bath Abbey is filled with memorials and monuments. There are more memorials and monuments in Bath Abbey than any other religious structure in Britain other than Westminster Abbey.
One monument is dedicated to Nancy Storace, the first Susanna in Mozart’s ”The Marriage Of Figaro”. Storace was born in London, but was a member of the Court Opera in Vienna for several years before ending her career back in Britain. While in Vienna, Storace appeared in stage works of Salieri, Mozart and Gluck. In addition to writing Susanna for Storace’s special talents, Mozart also wrote one of his most celebrated concert arias for her.
There are two organs in the Abbey.
We will explore the Abbey’s complete exterior and interior, after which we will visit The Heritage Vaults, located in the crypt. The Heritage Vaults present a history of the Abbey, including models of the various buildings that have occupied the site over the centuries, and include ancient artifacts associated with the Abbey. It is a small but charming museum.
We will complete our visit to the Abbey promptly at 10:30 a.m., because at 10:30 a.m. we will take “The Mayor’s Honorary Society” Tour Of Bath, an extensive guided tour of Bath’s most important buildings, from both historic and architectural perspectives. The tour begins only a few feet from the Abbey’s main entrance. “The Mayor’s Honorary Society” Tour is limited to twelve persons and lasts two hours, sometimes longer. It is supposed to be unmissable.
After the tour, we will have lunch, and then we will return to The Royal Crescent, which we will have visited during “The Mayor’s Honorary Society” Tour.
The Royal Crescent is perhaps the finest example of Georgian architecture anywhere. Erected between 1767 and 1774, The Royal Crescent is a half circle of elegant and imposing town homes, 30 in number, with 114 Ionic columns, designed and erected on the grandest possible scale. The Royal Crescent encircles a large and elegant private park. From the day of its completion, The Royal Crescent has been the most fashionable address in all of Britain outside London.
During World War II, the city of Bath was bombed, and three of the thirty houses of The Royal Crescent were destroyed, not to be rebuilt until well into the 1950’s. Bath, lacking military or industrial installations of significance, was considered to be safe from bombings during the war, and the city actually served as a haven for persons evacuated from London and elsewhere, much as Dresden did for Germany.
Bath was targeted by Germany, however, after Britain bombed the medieval city of Lubeck, ancient cornerstone of the Hanseatic League. The German retaliatory bombings of Bath were part of “The Baedeker Blitz”, a German initiative in which historic and cultural cities of Britain were chosen as bomb targets based upon their significance as set forth in Baedeker Guides—and it was Hitler who personally ordered the destruction of Bath in retaliation for the British destruction of Lubeck.
The bombings of Bath shocked the residents of the city, who were accustomed to seeing and hearing German bombers pass over the city on their way to Bristol, a major industrial city targeted by the Germans heavily and often. The people of Bath ignored the sirens warning them of approaching planes, assuming that the planes were headed to Bristol, and only began to seek shelter after bombs began exploding in their midsts.
The first wave of bombers dropped mostly incendiary bombs on the city. The real destruction and loss of life occurred during a second wave of bombers, whose attacks began just as people began emerging from their shelters after the first wave had ended. The second wave of bombers succeeded in inflicting major damage on the city, and was responsible for most of the loss of life.
Another series of bombings occurred the following night. One of the odd results of the second night of bombings was that the city’s hastily-assembled mass morgue, holding the victims of the previous night’s bombings, suffered a direct hit, rendering almost all of the victims unrecognizable. The second night’s bombings also destroyed two separate bomb shelters, both of which received direct hits, killing unknown numbers of persons.
Over 19,000 buildings in Bath were destroyed during “The Baedeker Blitz”, but all significant buildings were rebuilt after the war.
We will spend some time walking The Royal Crescent and its park. When we have seen what we want to see at our leisure, we will visit Number One Royal Crescent, the only one of the thirty grand town homes open to the public.
George III’s second son, The Duke Of York, was the first tenant of Number One Royal Crescent. Number One Royal Crescent is now fully restored to late 18th-Century glory. All of the wall coverings, ceilings, cornices, floors, doors, windows and window dressings are original or faithful reconstructions, as is the array of fine furniture that fills the many rooms. The design is pure Georgian—elegant, colorful, stately but under-stated. The interiors are palatial, but also warm and inviting. This grand town home is well worth a visit.
From Number One Royal Crescent, we will return to the center of Bath and visit The Roman Baths And Pump Room.
We have deliberately saved this attraction for the end of the day because we plan to have a formal and lavish afternoon tea in the glorious Pump Room at the conclusion of our visit.
The thermal bath facilities in Bath were erected by the Romans, who occupied much of Britain for four hundred years. The Romans built an elaborate complex over the thermal springs, which included not only bathing and social facilities but a temple, too. Much of what the Romans built remains, and may be visited as part of a tour of the baths.
The Roman facilities were amazingly complicated. The Romans created an entire series of bathing rooms, offering waters of different temperatures, from the very hottest waters that human beings could endure to the very coldest waters, as well as hot rooms where bathers could prepare themselves for their progressions through the bathing rooms. These rooms were elaborately decorated, a reflection of the fact that public bathing was an integral part of Roman social life.
A dozen of the bathing chambers may be visited, including the magnificent central public bath, with its columns and courtyard. Along the way, there are Roman artifacts on display, as well as exhibits tracing the Roman history of Bath. The Roman Baths are an attraction well worth visiting.
Once we have completed our tour of the baths, we will go upstairs to The Pump Room, part of the Georgian buildings erected over the ancient Roman Baths below, and have an elaborate English afternoon tea, complete with sandwiches, scones, and cakes. The Pump Room is a magnificent example of Georgian splendor, and one of the best settings imaginable for a lavish afternoon tea.
Our tea will serve as our dinner, because after we leave The Pump Room we will walk to Theatre Royal, Bath, to attend a performance of Alan Bennett’s 1980 comedy, “Enjoy”, a satire about a local council’s intrusion into the life of a married couple approaching late middle age.
“Enjoy” is seldom revived, but the play itself is not our primary attraction—the primary attraction is the theater itself, often cited as the finest and most beautiful theater interior in the British Isles.
The theater’s exterior was built in 1720, but the interior dates from 1805, the height of Georgian splendor, and the auditorium is the finest Georgian theater ever erected. Its 900-seat auditorium is a red-and-guilt treasure, with tiers of ornate plasterwork, a trompe l’oeil ceiling and a magnificent central chandelier. The auditorium was totally refurbished in 1982 and again in 1999, and is magnificently maintained.
Theater Royal, Bath, is one of the most important theaters outside London. It is home to The Peter Hall Company as well as host to touring productions from London and elsewhere. “Enjoy” is a presentation of The Peter Hall Company.
After the performance, we will find a restaurant to have a light supper before we return to our hotel.
Bath Abbey
“The Mayor’s Honorary Society” Tour Of Bath
The Royal Crescent, Bath
Number One Royal Crescent, Bath
The Roman Baths And Pump Room, Bath
“Enjoy” At Theatre Royal, Bath
We plan to leave our hotel at 8:45 a.m. this day and walk to nearby Bath Abbey, which opens for visitors at 9:00 a.m.
Bath Abbey stands in the very center of Bath. A former cathedral, it is a splendid building, one of the finest examples of English Perpendicular architecture in Britain.
A church has occupied the same spot since the 7th Century, but the present structure—a very large and spacious building—dates from the 12th Century and, after an interruption of 400 years, the 16th Century. It is the last of the great medieval churches in Britain, completed only a few short years before The Dissolution Of The Monasteries.
The most prominent features of Bath Abbey are the spectacular fan vaulting, among the most beautiful to be seen anywhere and designed by the same architects who designed the breathtaking fan vaulting in the Henry VII Chapel at Westminster Abbey, and the spectacular stained glass windows. Bath Abbey has 52 windows, occupying over 80% of the wall space, and the windows give the Abbey a lightness and grace rare in a medieval cathedral. The most remarkable window in the Abbey is the giant window at the East end, featuring a window portraying 56 scenes from the life of Christ.
Bath Abbey was erected in cruciform plan, very rare for churches of the time. The giant tower, with ten bells, is placed at the center of the cruciform.
Bath Abbey is filled with memorials and monuments. There are more memorials and monuments in Bath Abbey than any other religious structure in Britain other than Westminster Abbey.
One monument is dedicated to Nancy Storace, the first Susanna in Mozart’s ”The Marriage Of Figaro”. Storace was born in London, but was a member of the Court Opera in Vienna for several years before ending her career back in Britain. While in Vienna, Storace appeared in stage works of Salieri, Mozart and Gluck. In addition to writing Susanna for Storace’s special talents, Mozart also wrote one of his most celebrated concert arias for her.
There are two organs in the Abbey.
We will explore the Abbey’s complete exterior and interior, after which we will visit The Heritage Vaults, located in the crypt. The Heritage Vaults present a history of the Abbey, including models of the various buildings that have occupied the site over the centuries, and include ancient artifacts associated with the Abbey. It is a small but charming museum.
We will complete our visit to the Abbey promptly at 10:30 a.m., because at 10:30 a.m. we will take “The Mayor’s Honorary Society” Tour Of Bath, an extensive guided tour of Bath’s most important buildings, from both historic and architectural perspectives. The tour begins only a few feet from the Abbey’s main entrance. “The Mayor’s Honorary Society” Tour is limited to twelve persons and lasts two hours, sometimes longer. It is supposed to be unmissable.
After the tour, we will have lunch, and then we will return to The Royal Crescent, which we will have visited during “The Mayor’s Honorary Society” Tour.
The Royal Crescent is perhaps the finest example of Georgian architecture anywhere. Erected between 1767 and 1774, The Royal Crescent is a half circle of elegant and imposing town homes, 30 in number, with 114 Ionic columns, designed and erected on the grandest possible scale. The Royal Crescent encircles a large and elegant private park. From the day of its completion, The Royal Crescent has been the most fashionable address in all of Britain outside London.
During World War II, the city of Bath was bombed, and three of the thirty houses of The Royal Crescent were destroyed, not to be rebuilt until well into the 1950’s. Bath, lacking military or industrial installations of significance, was considered to be safe from bombings during the war, and the city actually served as a haven for persons evacuated from London and elsewhere, much as Dresden did for Germany.
Bath was targeted by Germany, however, after Britain bombed the medieval city of Lubeck, ancient cornerstone of the Hanseatic League. The German retaliatory bombings of Bath were part of “The Baedeker Blitz”, a German initiative in which historic and cultural cities of Britain were chosen as bomb targets based upon their significance as set forth in Baedeker Guides—and it was Hitler who personally ordered the destruction of Bath in retaliation for the British destruction of Lubeck.
The bombings of Bath shocked the residents of the city, who were accustomed to seeing and hearing German bombers pass over the city on their way to Bristol, a major industrial city targeted by the Germans heavily and often. The people of Bath ignored the sirens warning them of approaching planes, assuming that the planes were headed to Bristol, and only began to seek shelter after bombs began exploding in their midsts.
The first wave of bombers dropped mostly incendiary bombs on the city. The real destruction and loss of life occurred during a second wave of bombers, whose attacks began just as people began emerging from their shelters after the first wave had ended. The second wave of bombers succeeded in inflicting major damage on the city, and was responsible for most of the loss of life.
Another series of bombings occurred the following night. One of the odd results of the second night of bombings was that the city’s hastily-assembled mass morgue, holding the victims of the previous night’s bombings, suffered a direct hit, rendering almost all of the victims unrecognizable. The second night’s bombings also destroyed two separate bomb shelters, both of which received direct hits, killing unknown numbers of persons.
Over 19,000 buildings in Bath were destroyed during “The Baedeker Blitz”, but all significant buildings were rebuilt after the war.
We will spend some time walking The Royal Crescent and its park. When we have seen what we want to see at our leisure, we will visit Number One Royal Crescent, the only one of the thirty grand town homes open to the public.
George III’s second son, The Duke Of York, was the first tenant of Number One Royal Crescent. Number One Royal Crescent is now fully restored to late 18th-Century glory. All of the wall coverings, ceilings, cornices, floors, doors, windows and window dressings are original or faithful reconstructions, as is the array of fine furniture that fills the many rooms. The design is pure Georgian—elegant, colorful, stately but under-stated. The interiors are palatial, but also warm and inviting. This grand town home is well worth a visit.
From Number One Royal Crescent, we will return to the center of Bath and visit The Roman Baths And Pump Room.
We have deliberately saved this attraction for the end of the day because we plan to have a formal and lavish afternoon tea in the glorious Pump Room at the conclusion of our visit.
The thermal bath facilities in Bath were erected by the Romans, who occupied much of Britain for four hundred years. The Romans built an elaborate complex over the thermal springs, which included not only bathing and social facilities but a temple, too. Much of what the Romans built remains, and may be visited as part of a tour of the baths.
The Roman facilities were amazingly complicated. The Romans created an entire series of bathing rooms, offering waters of different temperatures, from the very hottest waters that human beings could endure to the very coldest waters, as well as hot rooms where bathers could prepare themselves for their progressions through the bathing rooms. These rooms were elaborately decorated, a reflection of the fact that public bathing was an integral part of Roman social life.
A dozen of the bathing chambers may be visited, including the magnificent central public bath, with its columns and courtyard. Along the way, there are Roman artifacts on display, as well as exhibits tracing the Roman history of Bath. The Roman Baths are an attraction well worth visiting.
Once we have completed our tour of the baths, we will go upstairs to The Pump Room, part of the Georgian buildings erected over the ancient Roman Baths below, and have an elaborate English afternoon tea, complete with sandwiches, scones, and cakes. The Pump Room is a magnificent example of Georgian splendor, and one of the best settings imaginable for a lavish afternoon tea.
Our tea will serve as our dinner, because after we leave The Pump Room we will walk to Theatre Royal, Bath, to attend a performance of Alan Bennett’s 1980 comedy, “Enjoy”, a satire about a local council’s intrusion into the life of a married couple approaching late middle age.
“Enjoy” is seldom revived, but the play itself is not our primary attraction—the primary attraction is the theater itself, often cited as the finest and most beautiful theater interior in the British Isles.
The theater’s exterior was built in 1720, but the interior dates from 1805, the height of Georgian splendor, and the auditorium is the finest Georgian theater ever erected. Its 900-seat auditorium is a red-and-guilt treasure, with tiers of ornate plasterwork, a trompe l’oeil ceiling and a magnificent central chandelier. The auditorium was totally refurbished in 1982 and again in 1999, and is magnificently maintained.
Theater Royal, Bath, is one of the most important theaters outside London. It is home to The Peter Hall Company as well as host to touring productions from London and elsewhere. “Enjoy” is a presentation of The Peter Hall Company.
After the performance, we will find a restaurant to have a light supper before we return to our hotel.
Day Fifteen: Bristol
Friday, August 15, 2008
The Clifton Suspension Bridge, Bristol
S.S. Great Britain, Bristol
Bristol Cathedral
Saint Mary Redcliffe Church, Bristol
British Empire And Commonwealth Museum, Bristol
This day will be devoted to nearby Bristol.
The city of Bristol is seldom visited by tourists, and this is regrettable. Bristol is an excellent city for explorations—there is enough to see and do in Bristol to occupy three or four days, even more—and we will only be able to visit the most essential attractions of Bristol in the single day we will devote to the city.
Some day I would like to devote two or three days to exploring the many historic churches of Bristol. There are fifty or so churches in Bristol worth visiting—Bristol is one of Britain’s largest cities, with a population of half a million people—but we do not have the luxury of spending several days in Bristol on this trip. Accordingly, we will visit only two of the city’s most essential churches, and leave the remainder for some future trip.
We plan to leave our hotel in Bath at 8:00 a.m. and drive the ten miles to Bristol.
We will start our day at perhaps Bristol’s most renowned attraction: The Clifton Suspension Bridge, just outside Bristol.
The work of engineer Isambard Kingdom Brunel, still regarded as the finest engineer Britain has ever produced, The Clifton Suspension Bridge is one of the marvels of Victorian engineering. Straddling The Avon Gorge separating Clifton from Bristol, the bridge was constructed between 1836 and 1864 at a cost so high that no one was able to calculate the final expense (one hundred thousand pounds is the best guess, but that figure is almost certainly too low).
The bridge is over 1350 feet long. Its longest span is over 700 feet long, the longest span ever attempted at the time of its design and construction. The roadway is 245 feet above the water at high tide, and the bridge’s towers, over 85 feet high, stand on the cliff tops at either side of the river.
The Clifton Suspension Bridge is a beautiful and remarkable work, and it is a gorgeous sight from all vantage points. It was designed in a pseudo-Egyptian style, much in vogue at the time, but Brunel’s final Egyptian touches—sphinxes atop the two towers—were not incorporated into the finished bridge because of cost concerns.
The bridge remains in use, open to both pedestrian and vehicular traffic, and its useful life is expected to be several hundred more years. The iron chains holding the roadway are the original chains, and scientists anticipate that the iron chains will outlast the towers. Four million vehicles cross the bridge each year.
The Clifton Suspension Bridge has been a magnet for suicides since it opened. Between 1974 and 1993 alone, 127 persons jumped to their deaths from the bridge. The most celebrated suicides or suicide attempts were exactly 100 years apart: Shirley Bassey’s daughter jumped to her death in 1985; and in 1885 a young woman attempted to jump to her death, only to have her petticoats serve as a parachute, carrying her to safety (that particular young lady went on to live into her eighties).
We will drive to Clifton and park in the village, and walk to and cross the bridge. None of us has ever actually walked across The Clifton Suspension Bridge, and we are very much looking forward to doing so. It is supposed to be a wonderful experience.
Once we have completed our visit to the bridge, we will drive to downtown Bristol and park the car for the day.
Our first stop in downtown Bristol will be another Brunel engineering marvel, the S.S. Great Britain.
The S.S. Great Britain was the first ocean-going vessel with an iron hull and a screw propeller. At the time of its launch in 1843, it was the largest vessel afloat (322 feet long, over 100 feet longer than its nearest rival).
Such an unusual ship was a great feat for its day. Its launch day was declared a national holiday. Prince Albert took the train from London to Bristol to officiate at the official launch, and his rail journey in 1843 took two hours and forty minutes, about the same time required to make that same rail journey today.
The S.S. Great Britain was built as a passenger ship to ply the Atlantic between Britain and The New World. It initially accommodated 252 passengers and a crew of 130, but another deck was soon added to the ship to enlarge the passenger capacity to 730 persons. Its maiden voyage was to New York, and required only 14 days, easily a record.
Within a few years, however, the S.S. Great Britain was taken off the Atlantic route and was turned into an emigrant ship for the Australia emigration trade. The ship served the Melbourne route for over thirty years (with a brief interruption as a troop ship during The Crimean War).
Because the journey to Australia took four months, and because meat preservation was difficult in the era before refrigeration, the ship had to carry live animals (and butchers) in order to feed the passengers. A typical voyage to Australia began with 133 sheep, 38 pigs, 420 chickens, 400 geese, 300 ducks, 30 turkeys and three head of cattle. Passengers complained that the ship sounded and smelled like a barnyard.
Once the ship was no longer suited for the Australia emigration trade (it had become outmoded for long passenger trips), the ship was turned into a coal ship in the 1880’s. Its useful sailing life ended in 1886, when a severe fire ended its sailing days and it had to put in at the Falkland Islands. The ship remained in the Falkland Islands for seventy-five years, serving as a coal bunker for forty of those years. In 1970, it was acquired by the city of Bristol and towed home to the very Bristol shipyard in which it had been built thirteen decades earlier. The ship is in dry dock today, restored to its original splendor, inside and out, and open to the public.
The entire ship may be toured, from its first-class quarters to its steerage-class quarters to its bridge to its engine room. The public rooms for the first-class passengers are very attractive, although nothing like the scale of luxury that was to become standard for passenger liners later in the century.
We expect to spend a couple of hours touring the S.S. Great Britain, going through the entire ship. It should be fun.
From the S.S. Great Britain, we will walk to Bristol Cathedral.
Bristol Cathedral is a giant building, created on the most enormous scale, built over a period of 700 years.
Originally an abbey, Bristol Cathedral's earliest surviving portions—the glorious Chapter House and two separate gateways, all in Romanesque style—date from 1140. One of the Lady Chapels dates from 1220. The Eastern part of the Cathedral, in the English Perpendicular style, was constructed between 1298 and 1332. A transept and central tower followed in the mid-15th Century. The nave and West towers were the final parts of the Cathedral to be built, erected between 1868 and 1888, in a style consistent with the Eastern end of the Cathedral.
Bristol Cathedral is one of the most unusual sacred buildings in the United Kingdom because it departs in many ways from the typical English practice of building great churches.
The interior is what is known as a hall church, which is German-derived: the aisles are the same height as the choir. As a result, there are no clerestory windows to light the central space. All light must come from the aisle windows, which, to compensate, are very large.
The great West Façade is Spanish-derived, with short, squat spires.
The rose window is French-derived, placed above the central doorway, most unusual for an English cathedral.
The Cathedral is situated on Common Green, a large, triangular public space owned by Bristol Cathedral. Common Green is lined with many distinguished buildings, including Saint Mark’s Chapel, from 1220, which we will not have time to visit.
We will attend the 12:30 p.m. Eucharist service, and afterward spend ninety minutes or so touring the Cathedral and grounds. When we have completed our visit to the Cathedral, we will have a late lunch in the Cathedral refectory.
From Bristol Cathedral we will walk to Saint Mary Redcliffe Church, the other absolutely essential Bristol church to visit.
Saint Mary Redcliffe, large and imposing, is often mistaken for a cathedral, owing to its size, beauty and grandeur. It is the finest ecclesiastical building in Bristol, the second-largest parish church in Britain, and one of the most striking churches anywhere. Its spire (292 feet high) makes it the tallest building in Bristol.
Parts of the church date back as far as the early 12th Century, but most of the building was constructed during the 15th Century, the height of the Gothic-church-building boom in Britain. It is one of the finest Gothic structures in Britain, described by Elizabeth I as “the fairest and goodliest” church in England.
The majestic church was built in the shape of a cross, and observes the Gothic practice of vertical organization, with strong vertical lines always guiding the eye upward. It has a cathedral-like nave and vault, intricate vaulting, and beautiful black marble pillars.
Much of the medieval decoration was destroyed during The Dissolution Of The Monasteries and The Civil War, and much of the original stained glass was destroyed by Cromwell’s forces during the latter epoch.
The proliferation of monuments and memorials was not disturbed, however, and Saint Mary Redcliffe remains full of monuments and memorials of the greatest interest.
We plan to spend ninety minutes or so touring the church and its grounds, situated on one of Bristol’s most lovely spots, overlooking Bristol Harbor.
From Saint Mary Redcliffe we will walk to the British Empire And Commonwealth Museum.
The British Empire And Commonwealth Museum, six years old, will close its doors permanently in October. A move to London is planned, but no site and no date have been established for reopening the museum in the capital.
Many of Britain’s museums, like Britain itself, are in wretched financial shape, and several important museums in Britain have closed their doors within the last few years, including London’s Theatre Museum, which closed last year. Additional museum closures throughout the country are inevitable.
The building itself is perhaps of greatest interest, as it was yet another creation of Brunel. It was designed and built as a passenger railway terminus, the first such terminus in the world, part of the world’s first integrated rail-and-shipping network. London maintained contact with its far-flung empire via Bristol, and Bristol served as the hub of London’s communication with its overseas colonies for decades.
The museum houses sixteen galleries presenting the history and legacy of Britain’s 500-year empire; it mounts temporary exhibitions as well.
We probably will not have time to visit the interior of the museum, because we will probably arrive at the museum half an hour before closing time. Single admission is eight pounds, or about twenty dollars per person, and I doubt that thirty minutes is enough time to warrant the admission price.
None of us has ever visited this museum, although my brother and I closely examined its exterior in 2004. I have heard both very good and very bad things about the museum. Whatever the merits of the museum, it has not been a financial success, which is why there are plans to relocate the museum to London.
The museum is located in an interesting area of Bristol, and we will probably explore this area for an hour or two. It is an interesting part of the city for walking, and we will probably stop during our walk and get a snack or something before we return to our car and return to Bath.
Back in Bath, we will have time for another walk around the lovely city center before we have dinner.
The Clifton Suspension Bridge, Bristol
S.S. Great Britain, Bristol
Bristol Cathedral
Saint Mary Redcliffe Church, Bristol
British Empire And Commonwealth Museum, Bristol
This day will be devoted to nearby Bristol.
The city of Bristol is seldom visited by tourists, and this is regrettable. Bristol is an excellent city for explorations—there is enough to see and do in Bristol to occupy three or four days, even more—and we will only be able to visit the most essential attractions of Bristol in the single day we will devote to the city.
Some day I would like to devote two or three days to exploring the many historic churches of Bristol. There are fifty or so churches in Bristol worth visiting—Bristol is one of Britain’s largest cities, with a population of half a million people—but we do not have the luxury of spending several days in Bristol on this trip. Accordingly, we will visit only two of the city’s most essential churches, and leave the remainder for some future trip.
We plan to leave our hotel in Bath at 8:00 a.m. and drive the ten miles to Bristol.
We will start our day at perhaps Bristol’s most renowned attraction: The Clifton Suspension Bridge, just outside Bristol.
The work of engineer Isambard Kingdom Brunel, still regarded as the finest engineer Britain has ever produced, The Clifton Suspension Bridge is one of the marvels of Victorian engineering. Straddling The Avon Gorge separating Clifton from Bristol, the bridge was constructed between 1836 and 1864 at a cost so high that no one was able to calculate the final expense (one hundred thousand pounds is the best guess, but that figure is almost certainly too low).
The bridge is over 1350 feet long. Its longest span is over 700 feet long, the longest span ever attempted at the time of its design and construction. The roadway is 245 feet above the water at high tide, and the bridge’s towers, over 85 feet high, stand on the cliff tops at either side of the river.
The Clifton Suspension Bridge is a beautiful and remarkable work, and it is a gorgeous sight from all vantage points. It was designed in a pseudo-Egyptian style, much in vogue at the time, but Brunel’s final Egyptian touches—sphinxes atop the two towers—were not incorporated into the finished bridge because of cost concerns.
The bridge remains in use, open to both pedestrian and vehicular traffic, and its useful life is expected to be several hundred more years. The iron chains holding the roadway are the original chains, and scientists anticipate that the iron chains will outlast the towers. Four million vehicles cross the bridge each year.
The Clifton Suspension Bridge has been a magnet for suicides since it opened. Between 1974 and 1993 alone, 127 persons jumped to their deaths from the bridge. The most celebrated suicides or suicide attempts were exactly 100 years apart: Shirley Bassey’s daughter jumped to her death in 1985; and in 1885 a young woman attempted to jump to her death, only to have her petticoats serve as a parachute, carrying her to safety (that particular young lady went on to live into her eighties).
We will drive to Clifton and park in the village, and walk to and cross the bridge. None of us has ever actually walked across The Clifton Suspension Bridge, and we are very much looking forward to doing so. It is supposed to be a wonderful experience.
Once we have completed our visit to the bridge, we will drive to downtown Bristol and park the car for the day.
Our first stop in downtown Bristol will be another Brunel engineering marvel, the S.S. Great Britain.
The S.S. Great Britain was the first ocean-going vessel with an iron hull and a screw propeller. At the time of its launch in 1843, it was the largest vessel afloat (322 feet long, over 100 feet longer than its nearest rival).
Such an unusual ship was a great feat for its day. Its launch day was declared a national holiday. Prince Albert took the train from London to Bristol to officiate at the official launch, and his rail journey in 1843 took two hours and forty minutes, about the same time required to make that same rail journey today.
The S.S. Great Britain was built as a passenger ship to ply the Atlantic between Britain and The New World. It initially accommodated 252 passengers and a crew of 130, but another deck was soon added to the ship to enlarge the passenger capacity to 730 persons. Its maiden voyage was to New York, and required only 14 days, easily a record.
Within a few years, however, the S.S. Great Britain was taken off the Atlantic route and was turned into an emigrant ship for the Australia emigration trade. The ship served the Melbourne route for over thirty years (with a brief interruption as a troop ship during The Crimean War).
Because the journey to Australia took four months, and because meat preservation was difficult in the era before refrigeration, the ship had to carry live animals (and butchers) in order to feed the passengers. A typical voyage to Australia began with 133 sheep, 38 pigs, 420 chickens, 400 geese, 300 ducks, 30 turkeys and three head of cattle. Passengers complained that the ship sounded and smelled like a barnyard.
Once the ship was no longer suited for the Australia emigration trade (it had become outmoded for long passenger trips), the ship was turned into a coal ship in the 1880’s. Its useful sailing life ended in 1886, when a severe fire ended its sailing days and it had to put in at the Falkland Islands. The ship remained in the Falkland Islands for seventy-five years, serving as a coal bunker for forty of those years. In 1970, it was acquired by the city of Bristol and towed home to the very Bristol shipyard in which it had been built thirteen decades earlier. The ship is in dry dock today, restored to its original splendor, inside and out, and open to the public.
The entire ship may be toured, from its first-class quarters to its steerage-class quarters to its bridge to its engine room. The public rooms for the first-class passengers are very attractive, although nothing like the scale of luxury that was to become standard for passenger liners later in the century.
We expect to spend a couple of hours touring the S.S. Great Britain, going through the entire ship. It should be fun.
From the S.S. Great Britain, we will walk to Bristol Cathedral.
Bristol Cathedral is a giant building, created on the most enormous scale, built over a period of 700 years.
Originally an abbey, Bristol Cathedral's earliest surviving portions—the glorious Chapter House and two separate gateways, all in Romanesque style—date from 1140. One of the Lady Chapels dates from 1220. The Eastern part of the Cathedral, in the English Perpendicular style, was constructed between 1298 and 1332. A transept and central tower followed in the mid-15th Century. The nave and West towers were the final parts of the Cathedral to be built, erected between 1868 and 1888, in a style consistent with the Eastern end of the Cathedral.
Bristol Cathedral is one of the most unusual sacred buildings in the United Kingdom because it departs in many ways from the typical English practice of building great churches.
The interior is what is known as a hall church, which is German-derived: the aisles are the same height as the choir. As a result, there are no clerestory windows to light the central space. All light must come from the aisle windows, which, to compensate, are very large.
The great West Façade is Spanish-derived, with short, squat spires.
The rose window is French-derived, placed above the central doorway, most unusual for an English cathedral.
The Cathedral is situated on Common Green, a large, triangular public space owned by Bristol Cathedral. Common Green is lined with many distinguished buildings, including Saint Mark’s Chapel, from 1220, which we will not have time to visit.
We will attend the 12:30 p.m. Eucharist service, and afterward spend ninety minutes or so touring the Cathedral and grounds. When we have completed our visit to the Cathedral, we will have a late lunch in the Cathedral refectory.
From Bristol Cathedral we will walk to Saint Mary Redcliffe Church, the other absolutely essential Bristol church to visit.
Saint Mary Redcliffe, large and imposing, is often mistaken for a cathedral, owing to its size, beauty and grandeur. It is the finest ecclesiastical building in Bristol, the second-largest parish church in Britain, and one of the most striking churches anywhere. Its spire (292 feet high) makes it the tallest building in Bristol.
Parts of the church date back as far as the early 12th Century, but most of the building was constructed during the 15th Century, the height of the Gothic-church-building boom in Britain. It is one of the finest Gothic structures in Britain, described by Elizabeth I as “the fairest and goodliest” church in England.
The majestic church was built in the shape of a cross, and observes the Gothic practice of vertical organization, with strong vertical lines always guiding the eye upward. It has a cathedral-like nave and vault, intricate vaulting, and beautiful black marble pillars.
Much of the medieval decoration was destroyed during The Dissolution Of The Monasteries and The Civil War, and much of the original stained glass was destroyed by Cromwell’s forces during the latter epoch.
The proliferation of monuments and memorials was not disturbed, however, and Saint Mary Redcliffe remains full of monuments and memorials of the greatest interest.
We plan to spend ninety minutes or so touring the church and its grounds, situated on one of Bristol’s most lovely spots, overlooking Bristol Harbor.
From Saint Mary Redcliffe we will walk to the British Empire And Commonwealth Museum.
The British Empire And Commonwealth Museum, six years old, will close its doors permanently in October. A move to London is planned, but no site and no date have been established for reopening the museum in the capital.
Many of Britain’s museums, like Britain itself, are in wretched financial shape, and several important museums in Britain have closed their doors within the last few years, including London’s Theatre Museum, which closed last year. Additional museum closures throughout the country are inevitable.
The building itself is perhaps of greatest interest, as it was yet another creation of Brunel. It was designed and built as a passenger railway terminus, the first such terminus in the world, part of the world’s first integrated rail-and-shipping network. London maintained contact with its far-flung empire via Bristol, and Bristol served as the hub of London’s communication with its overseas colonies for decades.
The museum houses sixteen galleries presenting the history and legacy of Britain’s 500-year empire; it mounts temporary exhibitions as well.
We probably will not have time to visit the interior of the museum, because we will probably arrive at the museum half an hour before closing time. Single admission is eight pounds, or about twenty dollars per person, and I doubt that thirty minutes is enough time to warrant the admission price.
None of us has ever visited this museum, although my brother and I closely examined its exterior in 2004. I have heard both very good and very bad things about the museum. Whatever the merits of the museum, it has not been a financial success, which is why there are plans to relocate the museum to London.
The museum is located in an interesting area of Bristol, and we will probably explore this area for an hour or two. It is an interesting part of the city for walking, and we will probably stop during our walk and get a snack or something before we return to our car and return to Bath.
Back in Bath, we will have time for another walk around the lovely city center before we have dinner.
