May 22
Today was the long awaited train ride from Pickering to Whitby through
the York Moors. Shortly after we purchased our tickets we discovered our train
would be delayed an hour. That gave us
the opportunity to check out a couple of sites in Pickering including the
castle and one of the old churches in town.
After our quick walk around Pickering we boarded the train which took us
through the Moors and small villages and farmland. It was a pretty ride, and a popular one as
the train was full.[Jim's additions in []'s]
[The train was steam powered and run by a combination of paid and volunteer staff. We almost took the train yesterday but am glad we waited. Around noon, a volunteer was killed in a rail yard accident that shut down the service; we would have been stranded at Whitby with no way to get back. As it was fallout from the accident cancelled the 10:00 train, but not the 11:00.]
As we approached Whitby we could see the abbey on the hill. It was a bit of a hike to the top but worth
it as the abbey overlooked the North Sea.
As you can see from the pictures it was a huge building at one
time. [Unlike many Abbey,s this one was not destroyed when abandoned with its stones used on other projects, The main destruction occurred during WWI by the German fleet sitting off the coast in the North Sea. The Abbey was an inviting target, no military value, just a big target for their gunners.] After the abbey we walked through
the historic part of the city and then headed to the local’s favorite fish and
chips place. [The shop was off the main path, strictly carryout with no seating or parking. We arrived a 4:05 but they did not open until 4:15. We could see them cooking as we waited. We were the first ones in at 4:15, but by then there was a line of locals behind us.] They were definitely the
best fish and chips we had on our trip. [ Fully agree! We shared an order for 5 pounds, I saw fish and chips on other menus for as much as 13 pounds.]
Steam Train to Pickering
Whitby Abbey
May 23
Time to leave York and head south to Ashwell where my cousin lives (a
cousin I’ve never met). Our weather is
definitely getting warmer. After a very rainy
April the farmers were now busy trying to get their crops in. We saw many freshly plowed fields ready to be
planted.
As we were driving south on the Motorway we passed through Sherwood
Forest (and of course the sign said we were in Robin Hood Country).
Jim and I stopped at Audley House and Gardens for a tour of the house
and gardens. The house was amazing and
of course I loved the gardens. My
favorite was the vegetable and fruit gardens. Some of the fruit trees were tagged with the
year they were discovered. One was from
the late 1400’s while several were from the 1500 and 1600’s. After we left Audley we make a quick stop at
the Duxford Imperial Air Museum (similar to visiting Wright-Patterson Air Force
Base in Ohio). Jim could have used about
four more hours, but we just didn’t have the time as we needed to get to
Ashwell. [Duxford is both a museum and working air field, There are 8 display hangers covering a distance of one mile. We left one hanger after hearing a bi-plane flying loops and other tricks on the adjoining field. After they landed, we saw them park the plane in one of the display hangers as it was part of the museum.]
The following pictures are at Audley House Manor/Gardens
[The gardens were also interesting because they were lined by fruit trees tied to wire as a grape vine. The branches were clipped so that the trees are flat with just 4 or 6 branches tied straight along the guide wires. The English liked to hide their vegetable gardens because they thought they were ugly.]
After checking into our hotel we met my cousin Andrew and his wife
Wendy. They introduced us to their
landlord who had a one-day old baby lamb they had just rescued. Laverne was thrilled to hold it! Andrew, Wendy and their neighbor then joined
us for dinner - we drove to the next village where we celebrated Pete and
Laverne’s wedding anniversary [in a centuries old pub. Its easy to still consider oneself young when eating in an establishment older than the USA has been a country.]
Andrew and Wendy joined us for breakfast at our hotel and took us to
Bury Lane Garden Center (basically a Merrifield Garden Center, but with lots of
new things to check out). We bought some
freshly picked strawberries to take with us to London – yummy!
Wimpole Estate was next and what a wonderful place it was. This time it was not only a house and garden to explore but also included a working farm. Several of the farm buildings had thatched roofs which was awesome to see. [The women folk when to the "working farm", the men to the house, each had a separate admission. The house was used as a residence until 1940 but never had running water. During the was it was used to train agents to infiltrate Poland. The cover story was that it was a hospital, but the locals know otherwise cause who would use a building without water as a hospital.] It was a fun day and I was so glad I had the opportunity to meet Andrew and Wendy. We had a great time with them and look forward to seeing them again. But it was time to move on so we jumped in our cars and drove to Heathrow. We turned in our cars and grabbed a taxi to our flat where we would be staying for the remainder of our time in London. [an 80 pound ride, plus tip--the most expensive taxi I have ever taken-- about $125 split between the 2 couples.]
It’s the Chelsea Flower Show! I
can’t begin to say how wonderful it was.
The gates opened at 8 am (we arrived by 8:30) and closed at 8 pm (we
didn’t leave until 7:45 pm). It was the
flower show’s 99th year and they definitely know how to put on a
flower show. There were 350 exhibits and
250 vendors. They now limit the number
of tickets per day and sell out way in advance of the show (which is why we
bought our tickets several months ago).
The exhibits were unbelievable.
Everytime you thought you had seen the best of the best you went around
a corner and there was more. Needless to say we were not disappointed.
Vegetables!
Today we’re off to Greenwich. We
thought it would be a good day to do so and get a “little bit away from the
main sites in London.” Well, with the
rainy April they had and today being warm and sunny, guess where everyone was
headed? We took a boat cruise on the
River Thames to Greenwich passing by many of London’s famous sites. Once in
Greenwich we checked out the market where we had lunch and then walked through
the various vendor stalls. Greenwich has
several sites to visit but with just one day there we chose the Maritime Museum
and of course the Royal Observatory where we saw the “Prime Meridian”. While at the Royal Observatory (on top of the
hill) we had a great view looking back at London. We also saw the site of the Olympic equestrian
events. They have a some work to do - with
their rainy April they are a bit behind schedule in getting some of their event
sites ready. We took the train and tube
back to our hotel.
Tower Bridge
Maritime Museum (this bottle was huge!)
Back of ship (amazing it's still intact)
Happy Birthday Abby!
Our morning started at the Victoria and Albert Museum. What an amazing place. Laverne and I decided to check out the
Ballgowns exhibit. Wow! It was quite an exhibit with gowns from the
1950’s to the present. We also visited the
fashion exhibit of the mid 1800’s to early 1900’s. Jim and Pete checked out other parts of the
museum and then took off for the London Museum.
Laverne and I headed to Harrod’s and then Hyde Park and the Albert
Memorial. Lots of the Queen’s Jubilee memorabilia in all the stores, including Harrod’s.
Dinner tonight was at Covet Gardens.
Triton at Victoria and Albert Museum
Food Court at Harrod's
More history today by visiting the Churchill War Rooms, Westminister Abby and the Jewel Tower. We toured the war rooms using the audio tour. They also recently opened a museum which is now part of the tour. I can’t imagine what it was like to live during that time period and being bombed day after day and wondering when the invasion might begin. They did an excellent job with the tour.
Another audio tour at Westminster Abbey – it’s definitely the way to do
it as you can take your time as you wander through the abbey. It’s a beautiful cathedral but St. Paul’s
(which we visit later) is definitely my favorite.
The Houses of Parliament: Lines
too long today and we did not have time to visit them. Oh well, maybe next time. The lady at the info center suggested we
visit Jewel Tower across the street which we did. The exhibit gave us the full
history of the Houses of Parliament so it was a good substitute since we were
unable to see Parliament.
Time to take in the theatre. We
saw “The 39 Steps” (done as a comedy) at the Criterion Theatre in Picadilly
Circus (this area is similar to Times Square in New York city – which means it’s
a busy place at night).
Criterion Theatre (The 39 Steps)
Can it really be our last day? We started our day at the Sloane House (he was an architect and collector). The home was remarkable as it basically was a museum. He had collected some amazing pieces of history including an Egyptian sarcophagus. After the Sloane House we headed for St. Paul’s – another audio tour! Two highlights here: climbing the 350 steps to the outside of the dome to see the London skyline and attending the Evensong service. What a wonderful way to end our trip by attending the Evensong service.
St. Paul's Cathedral
The view from atop St. Paul's
Our trip on the tube back to our flat was in the midst of rush hour so
it was a little crazy getting back.
After dinner at the neighborhood pub it was time to pack!
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