England, Ireland, Scotland, Wales!
Part Two: YATELEY and CHAWTON
Cousins!😍
Specifically, John is my father's cousin. We had hoped to see them last December-January but couldn't make it work, but we did it this time!We had such a delightful time that I barely have any photos to show you. They are such sweet and welcoming people. We talked and we talked and we talked!
They live conveniently near a place that I also missed last trip, and we were thrilled to be able to fit in this time -
Jane Austen's Home
Lish and I are both massive Jane Austen fans.
We arrived early for our ticketed entry, so grabbed some early lunch at Cassandra's Tea Shop (named for Jane's sister).
Deliciously decorated
I ordered a ham, egg and chip butty
And Lish ordered a clotted cream tea
and was then bemused at the clotted cream which is very nearly butter!
Again, so busy reading all the stuff that we neglected to get any decent photos. You'll just have to take it from us, it is a wonderful exhibit.
In one room was this delight:
And some of Lish's personal highlights:
I am hard-pressed to sew that neatly with a machine!
Jane's little house is in the village. Her wealthy brother, Edward, had several estates in various places, and let them choose a house on any of them. They chose this cottage, and were thus just a short walk from Edward's 'great house', and able to socialise frequently with their relations, including nieces and nephews.
Chawton House, Edward's place, was most unfortunately not open at this time of the year. But we walked up the drive and goggled over the gate at it.
Clearly, I have to come back again, to spend time here.
Also on the estate is a church -
Jane's mother Cassandra, and her sister Cassandra Elizabeth,
are both buried in the church yard
are both buried in the church yard
But Jane is buried at Winchester Cathedral, because she moved to the city for treatment for her illness. Because she died within the parish, she had the right to be buried there, and her friends and family used their social connections to secure her a prestigious plot within the cathedral.
Winchester was only about 20 minutes from where we already were, so we nipped over.
We discovered much more than just Jane!
We were greeted upon entry to the city by this manly man:
None other than Aelfred the Great! King of the West Saxons and later the Anglo-Saxons.
We saw the Winchester Bible, such a work of devotion and beauty! Photography was forbidden, but you can read about it here.
By the time we finished in the exhibit, it was getting dark and they were trying to kick people out. We scampered the last bit, and finally, needing the aid of torchlight, found Jane's resting place:
A parting glance back at the church, now lit in the evening
... and we made our way up the M3 (do not recommend) back to the dear cousins' house, where Margaret had put on the second lovely dinner for us:
roasted vegetable pasta bake
and dainty butterfly cupcakes
After which, we had the most unexpected and lovely treat!
It was the weekly rehearsal of the choir that Margaret is involved with.
They are working up Britten's "St. Nicolas Cantata" for a performance in mid-November, which of course we are going to miss.
Margaret received permission for us to come and hear them rehearse!
Not only were we allowed to hear them, we were given the loan of the score, and we got to sing along with them! It was fantastic.
All too soon, it was time to leave them. However, we took a quick walk up to the village, and they showed us around their various haunts:
Ready for Remembance DayKnitted and crocheted poppies
The Charity Shop (op-shop in Australian), where I managed to find a knee-length puffer jacket with hood! Beautiful polar white! Not boring black!
It will feature prominently in all photograhy when we hit Ireland!
Margaret took us to see her church, which spans various periods in history.
A Medieval bell tower; some Elizabethan architecture
It suffered substantial fire damage about 50 years ago, but was rebuilt, with some modern sections that still manage to blend harmoniously with the older parts.
Victorian bits
One remaining gorgeous stained-glass window
And then, with thanks and hugs all round, we headed off towards
WALES
Even on the M4, it's still such a pretty drive!
South Wales, as opposed to
New South Wales!
We took (Lish took, I was driving!) a number of fairly terrible photos of us crossing the River Severn, from England into Wales!
These taken at the same point on the bridge - the difference in the weather on either side was amazing
We found our accommodation with only a little trouble... and it was well worth it.
If I have one complaint, it is that we didn't stay here longer!
Seaview Cottage, Mumbles is the most beautiful spot. It has been lovingly renovated, so artistically. Everywhere your gaze rests is beautiful.
Beautiful living/dining room, with a view over the bay
A perfectly-appointed kitchen
Two wonderful bedrooms, each with their own character
And even the loo is sumptuous!
We picked up some groceries at Tesco's, and Lish set happily to work
on a simple but delicious
Ravioli with an aubergine and ricotta sauce, with roasted capsicums
The AirBnB hostess had stocked us up with bread, Welsh cakes and another Welsh thing that was sort of like banana bread only not, and I need to be able to make both of these again!
* * *
The next morning we spent some nice quiet time, snuggled in the cottage, looking out at the view
before heading out to explore.
This is the "road" (I say "road" with heavy sarcasm) that I had to get my not insubstantial car up into!
The coastal walk was lovely - rocky and WINDY and picturesque.
Pebbles painted by nature, on the beach
Surfers in the water, people in puffer jackets on the beach
Help me!
You can walk all around the coast, and then up some *steep* steps to the top of the hill, and then around a bit further, and there's a castle!
Then we had a main meal as a late-ish lunch in the town
Chicken Katsu curry for me
Fish Finger wrap for Lish
On the way home we spotted a yarn shop! and got some sock yarn and a circular needle for Lish.
And then we didn't have to go out again, and it was a lovely lazy TV-watching, knitting evening. (Lish has started knitting again! I'm thrilled. I knit the toe of the sock and now Lish is doing the heavy lifting. I'll probably need to do the heels as well. I'll teach them those things, later! )
And looking out at the pretty, pretty view.
I paused the TV-watching to check what time our car ferry was the next day, and discovered it was
02:45***AM***
😱
Minor freak-out, and immediate email to travel agent to confirm that this was in fact a mistake.
It was not.
Obviously that was going to be an absolute impossbility.
Anyway, to cut the long story shorter, I woke up at 5am, had a phone call with my travel agent, Karl at Tailby & James Travel Associates, Balgowlah, who is worth his damn weight in gold, he fixed it all up for the 14:45PM time we thought it was going to be, I even got to go back to sleep for another hour and a half. I owe that man a drink.
* * *
We packed the car up and squEEEEzed our way back out of the little lane
(that sound being the noise I made while performing the manoeuvre, *not* the sound of the car on the walls!)
THE THREE-CASTLE DAY
Oh look! - a castle!
Llawhaden Castle
Oh look! - a castle!
Carew Castle
This one had an entry fee. It is in better shape than the last one.
They have little signs with QR codes dotted around, and you can listen to an audio tour by connecting that way. Unfortunately my roaming chose that moment to NOT WORK. However! - they have the tours online here!
I'll have to spend some time with them, when I get a chance.
Lish found an old friend 🦇
In addition to being a historical monument, it's located in what is now a national park, which has plenty of wildlife. Apparently More than half of all the species of bats found in Britain – including the rare greater horseshoe bat – have been recorded here over the past few years.
The Elizabethan wing. You can see where the great wooden beams would have been set into the walls, to support the floors. I expect that drawing on the sign would have been the third level up, going by the window shape.
Painting inspo!
Plenty of people have painted it.
There's even one in the Art Gallery of NSW!
early Christian
cross dedicated to
Maredudd ap
Edwin, an 11th
century Welsh
prince
Pembroke Castle
We assumed Henry VII, who was born in this castle, but no.
This castle wanted to charge a fee, too, and we now down to the choice of castle or lunch, before the ferry. We chose lunch - going for main meal at this time, given that after the ferry, we had a two-hour drive up to Dublin, which would make it too late for a dinner.
Which was not the right choice, because somehow (Karl 😍) our ferry tickets included Club Class, where there is a whole complimentary buffet of lovely snacks and drinks, that we were then too full to take advantage of!
The ferries are HUGE! And super stable - I barely felt any movement on the crossing.
I was able to have a nap, which helped after the broken night.
The drive up to Dublin was unfortunately in the dark. But the company was great, and the playlist was wonderful. We just love being together so much.
Parking in Dublin CBD is tricky. The car is about a kilometre away from the hotel. There is zero parking on the street, so we had to schlep our bags back. We have left the big bags in the car. 🤞🏻
The hotel is spiffy, BUT it has a night club, which is riiiiiiiiiight under our room. The doof-doof vibrates through our bathroom floor.
We slept 8 hours, regardless!
Next post: DUBLIN! ☘️
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