Long weekend in May

If we tried to give every week a name we probably couldn't - but this past one I would label as an 'up and down' one. If I talk about the downs first then I can finish on a high note. News from New Zealand was that two people that have both played a part in my life have passed away. It is sad to think that I can no longer say hello to them, or visit them, and certainly it reminds me to continue to make the most of what we have. On to Friday ... when we were meant to be flying off to Belfast for our long 'looked forward to trip' to the Giant Causeway. After 2 hours at the airport, we were told we weren't allowed to get on the plane - what us little old kiwis!! Yes, we had gone through security but at the gate Ryanair (you know that quaint, Irish, no frills airline that is trying to increase their patronage and income by charging for using the toilets on the plane) staff said we didn't have our online tickets stamped and could not travel. They have recently changed to online booking for non-EU residents and so we assumed (yes I do know what they say about making assumptions and they are right) that the procedure would be the same for all airlines. WRONG - even though we were only flying within Great Britain, and we don't need a visa to be in Great Britain anyway, we needed a stamp on our ticket, no stamp no fly!! After a few grumbles about spoiling the weekend and how much money we had lost (deposit on hotel, car parking, airfares) and how we would never fly Ryanair again (except for the flights we have already booked) we drove back to Bristol and discussed what we could do in the weekend. Out came our little box of leaflets we had been collecting for such an occasion and decided to visit Bourton on the Water, Lynton and Lynmouth and Malmesbury (3 visits, 3 days as it is a bank holiday on Monday).
So, I'll start with Bourton on the Water - its in the Cotswolds (remarkably few thatched cottages in this area) about an hours drive from Bristol. The photos are all Harry's as he tried out his new camera and I managed to delete all mine accidentally while wandering through the bird sanctuary (I know it isn't that easy to delete them but somehow I managed it). Saturday and infact the whole weekend was shorts and teeshirt weather so we enjoyed wandering around the sleepy little hollow while the village buzzed with tourists lazing and picnicking in the sun, paddling in the water, walking their dogs, or browsing in the shops. We actually thought that there might be something on as we arrived but the parking attendant said 'It's just Bourton on a nice day'.
There's a model railway there (nice but small with 40 British and Continental trains running around - you could make them go by pushing buttons - so that's what I did much to the annoyance and amusement of some of the kids). There's also a car museum which Harry went to, while I wandered down the river taking photos of back yards and lots of wisteria. The museum has the original BRUM) - a small 1920's Austin 2 who sneaks out on the town and has adventures - a bit like Herbie - the film was made at the motor museum in Bourton. I hadn't heard of the BRUM (though wish I had seen the movie with the picture below and the following quote I googled)...
"The actors in Brum do not speak ... For this reason, it has been easy to prepare episodes for airing in other countries and Brum has been broadcast in many parts of the world and in many languages, including Italian, Dutch, Hebrew, Croatian, Arabic, Norwegian, Danish and Swedish".

We wandered around the little town, across the many stone bridges and into some of the little boutique shops. We discovered the little model village where we could wander around the same streets and over the same bridges we had just done but on a 1/9th replica scale. It is all made of Cotswold stone - very realistic - to add to its authenticity the model village even has a model village in the model village in the model village. It was completed by the owner of the Old New Inn (which stands in front of it and has the most wonderful dark red peonies in the garden) and was opened on the Coronation day of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth in 1937.

We finished the day by wandering through the local bird sanctuary where we saw for the first time a Cassawary (bird from Australia and New Guinea that looks a bit like a vicious emu), a bird with very long eyelashes (can't remember the name), king penguins (always feel sorry for these birds who like space and are out of their normal weather conditions - at least they were given some ice which progressively melted during the day) and lots of other birds we had seen, or not seen, before.
Driving back to Bristol we stopped firstly at Kemble Airport, which Harry wandered around and took lots of photos (particularly of Hunters) and I sat in the sunshine and read the paper, and then to IKEA (the shop I hate to go because you can't shop in a hurry and there is only one way in, and one way out, and you have to go right round the maze of display stands before finding the exit and the cashier) to buy a sofa bed for the lounge. The sofa just fitted into our little car and it sat in the cardboard box until Monday evening when we had the time and energy to unpack it (well Harry did while I was having a snooze). Saturday night we danced the night away at Sheila's 50th birthday party. During the evening the DJ asked for requests and so Harry asked for 'Grease' (we were the only couple on the dance floor at times so when the DJ said that 'he didn't want to play it because it might clear the floor' we were a bit confused. Anyway, he switched to a song (quite undanceable) apparently sung by 'Grace' and he got confused when we sat down. We soon put him right 'Grease' not 'Grace' was the request (he blamed Harry's accent I probably would blame his hearing!! We both had a laugh).
Sunday after a bit of a sleep in we headed off to Lynton and Lynmouth - this time south of Bristol - along the Devon coast. On the way we had a picnic on the Exmoor hills overlooking the sea towards Wales. We could see the smoke from the chimneys in Port Talbot, the long sandy beaches, and the cliffs around Cardiff. This is Lorna Doone country and it was difficult to picture it way back in the 17th century when farmer Jack Ridd and his family were threatened by the outlaws - the Doone family (originally Scottish aristocrats who were banished from their land - presumably at one point they were on the wrong side) and turned to a life of crime. RD Blackmore based his story of Lorna Doone on this family and it is one of those historical romances I hadn't read (but just might now that I have visited its setting). It has the same old theme - one of the Ridds meets Lorna and falls in love. How does it end I wonder? My desire to see Lynmouth, was spurred by one person telling me that they had spent a weekend in the area and another telling me they were taking their children to the beach for mid term break. I envisaged a sandy beach, where children could swim and build castles, and where Harry and I could find some space to lie in the sun, read newspapers and eat picnics. As we descended down the rather steep narrow road (for England anyway) we saw a little bit of sand, and many more rocks - we had arrived at low tide - we left at high tide where the rocks are all covered which creates an illusion of sand for miles. Villages affected by such a significant tidal swell have two different personalities and it is always good to see both. Lynmouth is tucked into a cove, with a Gorge at one end and cliffs at the other. We wandered up the Lyn Gorge. The river provides electricitiy for the town and the national grid - but was once the scene of a devasting land slide and flood. Back in 1952 more rain fell in one night than flows down the Thames in 3 months, taking with it houses, shops and sweeping boats out to sea. One quote we read at the local memorial included:
"About half-past nine there was a tremendous roar. The West Lyn had broken its banks and pushed against the side of the hotel, bringing with it thousands of tons of rocks and debris in its course. As we watched, we saw a row of cottages near the river, in the flashes of lightning because it was dark by this time, fold up like a pack of cards and swept out with the river with the agonising screams of some of the local inhabitants who I knew very well."


Lynmouth and Lynton are linked by a steep uphill path, a road, or a water powered cliff railway (built in 1890) - you can guess which one we took. It's the only water powered railway in the UK ... when the cable car gets to the top the tank underneath the car is filled with water and the weight pulls the empty one up. At the bottom the tank is emptied. By his rather ingenious method it can move cars up and down the 500 feet cliff all day (well between the hours of 10 and 7). I guess it is quite environmentally friendly as there are no emissions and we are assuming that they recycle the water. At Lynton we wandered over the hills to the cliff tops overlooking the Valley of the Rocks (have to go back there and explore more) and saw a cricket game played in full whites, said hello to wild goats, before having tea and wandering back down the hillside to the car.
Monday...was a little bit cloudy but lovely and warm, we were feeling a bit tired from all that walking the day before and so took a picnic to Malmesbury where we visited the Abbey House Gardens - Home of the Naked Gardeners (but only on certain days and today wasn't one of them). It's a beautiful garden with so many flowers I had not seen before, and some we had seen but couldn't name. We did recognise a huge number of irises, granneys bonnets, herbs, wisteria, tree with yellow flowers called a Laburnum (my gardening knowledge isn't really that good but google's is) and admired these while wandering up and down little paths to the Avon River and the little waterfall. The garden is built around the Abbey House, with the actual Malmesbury Abbey next door. It is a 12th century abbey, which Henry VIII sold in 1539 to a local cloth maker, who later gave it to Malmesbury ot use as their parish church - which it still is today - not a ruin like so many but a large magnificent church standing in a small village. The Abbey House was bought by the current owners in the early 1990's who obviously love gardening, in their birthday suits, and have made a life time committment to make a beautiful scene - however I felt a bit sad when I read this quote:
"Ian & Barbara now spend their every moment tending family and garden, rarely going further than the garden gates. “We can visit other gardens in our library of books and from our collection of DVD’s” says Barbara, “although I’m not sure our children will forgive us the lack of holidays away!”
and walking back to the car I saw a delightful quote
"1490 - Malmesbury's market cross is erected for poor market folkes to stande dry when raineth cummith".

It is also two years this week since we arrived in the UK with our 2 back packs and 2 suitcases. We went out for dinner, and rather reflectively thought about our adventures and our life in the UK.