Climbing Roadtrip: Roaches, Culm Coast, Pembroke August 2 - 12, 2016

Don Willan's climber's hut

Gritstone climbing in the Peak District is relished by British climbers almost to the point of cult status. I was thrilled to finally travel to The Roaches and stay in the famous and unique Don Whillans climber's hut. The hut is a former game keepers' cottage built into a rock cave and has a long and varied history going back to the early 1800's.

Waiting at the gate for customers.
Note the dark clouds over the
climbing area! 

Daily, buses choke the narrow lanes bringing kids to climb at The Roaches. Not dissuaded by a bit of rain and wind, guides set up top ropes and kids in blue helmets swarm all over all the lower grade climbs. Toward the end of the day, an ice cream truck regularly shows up and the kids buy ice cream and eat it before getting back onto the bus to return home.  Brits love ice cream, cream tea (scones, clotted cream and hot tea,) cakes, and opportunities to get home made goodies can be found at obscure trail head junctions, parking lots and on most shore line drives. I find it quite civilized really!

Mag preparing the evening
meal of bolognese. No 
doubt, the wine contributed
to the fun!

Space for seven had been reserved at the hut but as it turned out, only four people showed up, which is probably just as well as the weather didn't cooperate. Being less hard core than the local guides, on the first day, August 7th, we opted to go to The Roaches Tea Room, watch the variable weather, and eat Staffordshire Oatcakes, an area specialty of a savoury pancakes made of oat four and stuffed with melted cheese. The next day presented us with gale force wind so rather than climb, we did a ridge hike and explored the area. As we were coming down off the ridge, there was the ubiquitous ice cream truck waiting for tired, hungry walkers! Of course we each had a refreshing cone!

Mag and Paul decided to clear off toward the end of the second day, so after a delicious dinner at Barbarella's in Buxton we went our separate ways. At 1,519 ft above sea level, the little village of Flash claims to be the highest village in Great Britain. As it was on our way back to the hut, we drove into the village and stopped at the New Inn, (which is not so New any more) for a beer. Who knew! So many places have a little bit of fame to claim!

Even though the weather was still unstable the following morning, we were reluctant to leave without even one gritstone climb. After all, the guides were there with the bus loads of kids, so if they could do it, so could we. Michael chose the classic, Right Hand Route. on the Upper Tier. It starts with big pockets, goes up a slanting flake, and under a roof before finishing up a crack. Michael stepped confidently into the pockets, started up the flake, and just made it to the roof when suddenly the wind kicked up and a fierce squall dumped rain on us! I could hear Michael cursing and screaming, "I'm about to fill me pants" as he paused to consider his next move! I leaned into the rock in an attempt to gain some protection from the wind and rain, but to no avail. As I watched Michael disappear over a ledge, I noticed a slug sliming out of a rising puddle of water collecting in the pocket he had been sheltering in. We were all miserable. Eventually, I heard a faint "SAFE" from Michael and he began to take up rope. Given we had a fair amount of gear on that climb, as soon as I felt the rope tighten, I started up the wet rock. The climb had good holds and gritstone is true to its name, even when wet. I was able to make my way up the climb, retrieve gear and get to the top just as the rain stopped and the sun came out. As we gathered everything up, we looked on in disbelief as the guides had a group of kids in their signature blue helmets on top of the Lower Tier. We decided this was enough and knowing we had a long day of travel, started on the 226 mile journey to the Culm Coast of North Devon.

Sunset from the window of
our Air BnB hosts home

North Devon is a coastal area of southwest England, known for dramatic cliffs, wild seas, sandy beaches and fantastic rock climbing. We had our first experience with Air BnB in Northam. It had been a long day of driving and we struggled to find the little town home that advertised a cosy room overlooking the sea. The name of the road changed 3 times in as many blocks and unknown to us, we'd driven past it at least three times, and after considerable frustration, we finally found it. When Sherry, our hostess, opened the door, she said, "Why didn't you call? Don't you have SatNav?" My only response was, "We don't have SatNave and don't call for directions." Sherry gave me a very knowing and sympathetic look.

Gear drying on the deck.

Sherry and Dipo, ushered us to the kitchen where they had prepared bowls of fresh watermelon for us and Sherry offered to make tea. After the epic climb and a long day of driving, we were more interested in a glass of red wine. We learned that they don't drink much wine but were happy for us to. Dipo helped gather our bags out of the car and grabbed the bottle of red wine that we produced and started to put it into the refrigerator. Michael stopped him in a very humorous tone said, "Oh no! Only barbarians put red wine in the refrigerator!" which caused everyone to laugh. The whole stay was full of fun and laughter. It was a pleasure to stay in a house with access to a kitchen, laundry facilities and even a place to dry our gear and ropes after getting caught in the deluge at Staffordshire. Our hosts, were lovely and this turned out to be a fabulous experience!

Devil's Slide Overview

A climbing template for this trip is Ken Wilson's, "Classic Climbs," a book that describes 80 of the lower grade rock climbs of Britain, all well known, and many of which were first climbed by Alpinists of old. Devil's Slide, located on Lundy Island, is described as one of the finest sea cliff climbs of South-West England. It was to be the first of these classic climbs we were actually going to do. I had a level of excitement and even some trepidation at the thought of it. It was planned as a day trip, taking the 8:30 ferry to the island, executing the climb then catching the 5:30 ferry back. It was an hour hike to the climb, a 3 pitch climb and an hour back to the Ferry dock. There was very little margin for error in the timing so we decided to take Friday, August 5th, as a day for reconnaissance and sightseeing in Bideford.

Bideford

Floating Cafe in Bideford

Bideford is a delightful ancient port town but also hails to a dark side of murder, superstition and harshness. Temperance Lloyd, Mary Trembles and Susanna Edwards were sent to the gallows in 1682 for witchcraft which serves as a dark reminder of England's superstitious past. In addition, Sir Richard Grenville brought a Native American tribesman from Roanoke, Virginia, named him Raleigh after his cousin, Sir Walter Raleigh. Raleigh, however, died of influenza, or it is speculated from heart break, in 1589.

Punishment in medieval Bideford was harsh for minor offences. Knocking a hat off someones' head as a joke got one young man interned for life. Others were sent to the Australian penal colony for similarly minor offences. Today, however, Bideford is a lovely historic town that is well worth visiting. We found many peculiar things such as old boat tricked out with funky memorabilia from the 50's and 60's including old 33 long play disks, a skeleton hanging in the corner and an advertisement of an evening of ghost boat stores of murders and ghosts that haunt the riverbanks of Bideford attracting people as a Cafe and pub. All very quirky!

Rappelling down the
Devil's Slide

Scottish Highland Cattle

The following morning, we arrived at Bideford Quay  at 7:30 am for the 8:30 am departure and looked forward to to seeing dolphins during the two hour sailing. As luck would have it though, the ferry left Bideford Quay 30 minutes late increasing the anxiety for the day. We discussed how we could shorten the climb should we need to for any reason and how to be first off the ferry so we could get a quick start out of the gate and toward the climb. We were very fortunate to have a pod of dolphins join us for part of the sail over and this seemed like a good omen. When the ferry docked we bolted off the boat, scampered up the hill and hotfooted it to the climb. All went exactly as planned. We executed the climb flawlessly and made it back to the ferry dock in plenty of time. As a treat we were able to see goats, sheep and even Scottish Highland Cattle. Lundy Island is a place that definitely deserves more time.

Hartland Quay

Having accomplished the major goal of Devil's Slide, sightseeing was in order for the next day. We journeyed to Hartland and it didn't disappoint. Hartland Quay and the Lighthouse at Hartland Point host a barren, craggy coast line with dramatic views and secluded rocky beaches in every direction.




I am constantly surprised at the quantity and quality of small tea shops all over Britain in most obscure and remote places. This one pictured was out on Hartland Point not far off the Coastal Path. It was a private parking lot with access to the Hartland Point lighthouse. Had a lovely cappuccino, soup and cream tea. Couldn't have done better anywhere! Simply amazing! Other whimsical things we encountered were, Gnome Reserve, Fairy Cross Village, stopped at the Coach & Horses Inn in the village of Horns Cross where we had a lovely sea food medley for dinner. Our cook was an authority on Bess of Hardwick, a shrewd business woman from 16th century Elizabethan English society who through a series of well-made marriages rose to the highest levels of English nobility and became enormously wealthy. Who knew!

Promontory Slab

Our next objective of the area was sea cliff climbing on the Culm Coast off Baggy Point. Since this was a first trip to Culm Coast for both of us, we wanted to get the lay of the land before committing to a climb. Michael insisted we didn't want to carry the heavy climbing packs for this, so against my better judgement, I agreed to the beta exploration without packs. After all, we had a two hour window on either side of low tide to complete the climb. Low tide was 4:30 so we had from 2:30 to 6:30 and it was about 10:00am. We took off up the hill to baggy Point viewpoint, a fairly gentle grade walk on a gravel path.

We had two very popular climbs in mind, Shangri-La and Ben both rated at Hard Severe (HS) or perhaps 5.7 or so in Yosemite ratings. As we came up the hill to the Baggy Point view point, the first area we encountered was Ben on Promontory Slab. Looking across Slab cove, we could see Shangri-La looking very dramatic on a fin of rock jutting into the ocean at a perpendicular angle to the shore. To access Shangri-La, a static rope must be set up on a stake located on a downward damp grassy slope. If you slip, you careen down a 70 meter cliff or so into the surf pounding and onto the rocks. Of course we discussed the definition of damp, Michael being very adamant this grass was dry and not damp. My position was, it was between damp and wet. In any event, based on the fact there was a crowd developing for Shangri-La and because of the earlier decision to leave the gear in the car, meaning we had a 45 minute hike back to the car, we decided to climb Ben on Promontory Slab with a way less aggressive start than Shangri-La. As we were walking back up the hill with the packs, I told Michael that this was going into the blog. He replied that he'd be looking for it, so Michael, here's to you!

C130 Hercules Planes buzzing
us as we climbed Ben

Anyway, we set up the climb and lowered onto the tidal ledge right around the 2:30 mark. Michael had just started up and all was going well until I heard this thunderous noise. In my mind, it could be nothing more than a tsunami, so I braced myself to get wet. The drenching never came though. I looked up and there was a C130 Hercules plane zooming past flying at an amazingly low altitude! Just as I recovered from that, a second one flew past! About that time, Michael screamed down between curses, "What was that? I'm about to fill me pants!" He was, however, able to grab his camera and take a quick shot as they flew into the distance! That's an experience I won't soon forget!

Derelict Tank on Castlemartin
Military Training Area

The next destination, Pembroke, required a drive of 226 miles around the Bristol Channel.The only crossing of the Bristol Channel is just a bit Northwest of Bristol. Had we been able to cross the Bristol Channel at Northam, it probably would have only been about 40 miles! Unfortunately, no bridge or tunnel exists that can facilitate that! This wouldn't have been so bad except we had to wait until noon to get started as I had left my purse in the Prince of India where we had dined the evening before with Sherry and Dipo. Sighhhh..... We arrived in time for dinner at the May Cottage, another BMC climbers hut in Maidenwells, just outside of Pembroke. After a nice dinner, we explored the quaint village of Pembroke.

Green Bridge of Wales
Pembrokeshire Coast National Park

Climbs at Pembrokshire Coast National Park, are accessible only by going through the Castlemartin military training area. It's owned by the Ministry of Defense (MoD) and in 1999, the Defense Training Estate was formed and units from all over the UK and NATO have trained on the ranges. Again, this brings home the difference between National Parks in the US and the UK. I must say though, MoD was very accommodating to climbers and walkers. They even produce a very good overview map of the climbing areas though it's actually a brochure of, "Agreed Climbing Restrictions."

Ganymede at St. Govans
Pembrokeshire Coast
National Park

As is par for the course in Great Britain, the weather was definitely iffy for climbing the first day, August 10th. On top of that, low tide was late in the day, so rather than chance being caught in another storm, or in tidal issues, we started out in town doing some genealogy research then went did the Stackpole Wildlife Walk around the Bosherston Lilly Ponds and Stackpole Estate. We walked part of the Coastal Path, had great views of sea cliffs, walked on secluded beaches, explored blow holes which are sea caves that develop into vertical shafts and can result in blasts of water if the weather is appropriate. Of course there was a lovely tea shop where we had cappuccinos and Welsh Cakes. The instinct to not climb was spot on as we did get "grimmed in" with a quick but fierce squall!

We woke up to bright sunshine the following morning and knew it was the day to climb! The climb we chose was easy and not very tidal. We could lower down to the rocks in the calm sea and knock out this climb which is exactly what we did. We finished by noon, did some exploring in the area then went to Tenby, a resort town in Pembrokeshire, West Wales.

Dinnych y Pysgod is the Welsh name for Tenby which means Little Fort of Fishes. It's a fabulously scenic walled seaside town. We walked the beach, then sat on Castle Hill watching the sea and people, then had a lovely dinner before heading back to the hut for our last night.

My mother had traced her family's lineage to Pembroke. She has a record of the family in America dating back to the early 1700's.  She was told as a young girl, that she was related to a "Titled Welshman at Pembroke Castle." She asked me to see if I could find any information while I was here.

Pembroke Castle

On August 10 before the Stackpole Wildlife Walk, we stopped at St Mary's Church, dating back to the 13th century, to see what we could find and managed to arrive just after the morning service was finished. The Vicar, Brenda, opened up her records, and the oldest they have is the Pembroke Parish Register from 1711 - 1744. Unfortunately, this isn't early enough to find Phillip Johns, the reputed father of Griffith Johns, the guy found in America in the early 1700's. The church only has copies of record as the originals are kept at the Pembroke Archives in Haverfordwest. Brenda is in her 70's, was very nice and quite helpful. Her records were quite disorganized so we helped her get them in order. She was very cavalier about some ancient bibles that were taking up space on a very small shelf just in front of the huge organ pipes. She looked at them in disgust and with a wave of her hand said, "These need to be in a museum somewhere, not here!" It was actually pretty funny to see as history to people here is so common place!

A page from St Mary's
Parish Register
1711

We were driving though Haverfordwest on the way home so we stopped in at the Pembrokeshire Archives. We arrived an hour before they opened so we spent the time picking blackberries that were taking over the parking lot! (They made a fantastic blackberry crumble!) When they opened, I explained my mission to Mary Robinson. Together we did a bit of research and ultimately, received a "pat on the back" from her for having as much information as we did. Because of the damp, humid climate, the records from the 1600's are gone and the ones that could be found from 1711 are virtually illegible. Also, the names Phillip, Griffith and Johns in any combination are very common Welsh names so it's virtually impossible, without, more specific information to go any further. It was an interesting project and I wish I could have done more to connect the dots of our ancestry back to Wales.

London, CHECK! July 14 - 16, 2016

Changing of the Guard - Buckingham
Palace

 An 8:20 train from Flint, North Wales, arrives at Euston station, London by 10:30 leaving ample time to hop a tube to Green Station and make your way to Buckingham Palace about 15 minutes before the daily 11:30 changing of the guard! Not much is more British than the Changing of the Guard at Buckingham Palace.  The crowds had started gathering for the event hours before I imagine. After much jockeying for position, we managed to find a spot where we could catch a glimpse of the Queen's Guard as they marched onto the Palace grounds before the ceremony. We could hear the band playing, but could see nothing so we again jockeyed for position, this time, along the rope facing away from the actual palace. We waited through the entire 55 minute ceremony and were finally rewarded with a good view of the guard as they left the palace. Though the actual ceremony was beyond our view, it was still fun to be part of the crowd and witness the pageantry and excitement of this British icon.

The visit to London was a quick 'check the box' sight seeing trip from the outside. In three days, there was no way we could do justice to all the magnificent buildings, museums, sights and events so walking the city was the order of the day. In light of that, this blog will mostly be pictures and visuals during our travels.

House of Parliament & Big Ben on
the right. Magnificent!!

A well guarded 10 Downing
Street

The weather was bright and sunny so after the Changing of the Guard, we strolled along The Diana Princess of Wales Memorial Walk through St James park, ambled past government buildings, were astonished by the first glimpse of Big Ben and the House of Parliament along the River Themes. Westminster Abbey is just as regal as it looks on TV!

Theresa May was in her 2nd day as the new Prime Minister so we loitered in front of Number 10 Downing Street to see if we could spot anyone famous. We didn't! The police guards were friendly and jovial posing and photo bombing pictures! We walked past Horse Guards Parade where the Queens Guard keeps the horses, past Admiralty Arch, through Waterloo and finally had dinner on the outdoor patio of an Italian Restaurant on Leicester Square before we finished the day walking through Piccadilly Circus.

Piccadilly Circus Fountain 

Lights of Piccadilly Circus

I've always heard of Piccadilly Circus but never realized what it was. As we approached, I realized it was a shopping area sort of like Times Square in New York. It has similar lighted signs that dominate the area and a signature fountain where you can people watch, use as a meeting point, etc. The term circus refers to the the fact it used to be a complete roundabout or circle. When Shaftesbury Avenue was built in 1886, it was no longer a complete circle but the name stuck. The Piccadilly part comes from a shopping street and Piccadilly Hall, a house belonging to a tailor who specialized in a type of collar known as a piccadill which was fashionable in the late 16th and 17th centuries. As far as the fountain goes, it has an obscure history as well. It is famous for it's statue reputed to be the Greek god of love, Eros. It appears, however, the statues' official name is the Shafetesbury Memorial Fountain, built in 1893 to commemorate Lord Shaftesbury. It was intended to be the Greek go Anteros, but the bow in his had reminded people of cupid and is therefore confused with the Green god of love, Eros. Who knew?

Tower Bridge

Ambassador Theater

The second day started out at the Tower of London, Tower Bridge, London Bridge, past the Monument to the Great Fire of London, the Bank of England Museum, St Paul's Cathedral, the London Museum then capped off a Theater show, STOMP at the Ambassador Theater.

British Museum

We were waiting for a rainy day to do the British Museum, since it's an inside venue, but that never came. Though the weather was glorious, we decided that no trip to London would be complete without a visit. The British Museum is dedicated to human history, art, and culture and has about 8 million works in it's permanent collection! One entire day is not enough to do it justice. We skipped around to some of the recommended displays:

• The Rosetta Stone - Allowed scholars to read hieroglyphics for the first time.
• The Elgin Marbles - Bruce, the 7th Earl of Elgin, removed 56 friezes and 19 statues from the Parthenon over a 10 year period. For many years, the Greek government had demanded the marbles be returned to Athens, so far to no avail. Note; The museum has a brochure that explains the pros and cons of this decision 
• The Sutton Hoo Ship Burial Helmet - Anglo-Saxon warrior's helmet
• The Lewis Chessmen - a large chess set carved from walrus ivory and whale bone during the 12 century
• Egyptian mummies - a phenomenal display
• The Portland Vase - a glass vessel believed to have been made in Rome between AD5 and A25
• Aztec turquoise mosaics - masks, snakes and other animal figures



Gold Cape on display at British
Museum found in Mold,
North Wales (a replica sits in
the Mold Library)

Of course we had to take a look at the golden Mold Cape found only a few miles from Michael's home in North Wales in the Market Town of Mold. A replica is on display in the library at Mold. What a treat to see the real thing!

Being completely exhausted and unable to take in any more we caught an early train back to Flint!

London definitely deserves another, more in-depth visit!

.

Lake District and Dismissed from Medical Care

After being cleared of all medical restrictions regarding the broken leg on July 26, 2016, we hopped in the car and drove to the Lake District of Cumbria hoping to get in a bit of climbing and hill walking. The Grange Old School Climbers Hut in the Borrowdale valley was our destination for three nights and two days. The Hut is aptly named as it was the original school for the area built in 1890. The last classes were held in 1935 and a plaque on the wall dedicates the school to the memory of Margaret Heathcoat recognizing her for a life of good works. The Climbers Club, took it over and made it into a quaint hut to encourage mountaineering and rock-climbing in the area. It was a joy to stay in.

The 'Hundred Year Stone'
sculpture to mark 100
years of  National Trust

All the land in England higher than 3,000 feet lies withing the Lake District National Park in northwest England. Most of the land in the park is under private ownership and though there is free movement on park land, access to cultivated land is typically restricted to the public footpaths. Even the small towns such as Keswick are located entirely in the park. In addition, Cumbria has some unique language that I had to learn in order to read climbing and hiking guides:

• Fell - hill or mountain
• Ghyll - ravine
• Beck - stream
• Dale - valley
• Tarn - mountain lake
• Bothy - a shelter, found in remote, mountainous areas, typically left unlocked and available for anyone to use free of charge.

What charming words! Absolutely love them!!

View of Derwentwater from Castlehead,
with Cat Bells Fell in the background

The original plan for this trip was to do three classic trad climbs, Little Chamonix , Gillercombe Buttress and Troutdale Pinnacle. These are well known, easy climbs with easy access and we were looking forward to it. The first morning, however, was drizzly and overcast so we decided to go into town for plum bread (raisin bread toast) at Brysons Tea Room in Keswick. Brysons advertises it will ship it's pies and plumb bread anywhere in the world! Maybe one day, I'll order some for home! It was yummy!

After finishing the plum bread, it was still overcast so we decided on a walk around the lake. We parked at the National Trust Great Wood car park and headed toward Derwentwater. The walk around the lake was beautiful with lovely rock sculpture to picturesque sail and row boats and fun history. We were enjoying the walk so much we just continued. Some of the more interesting points are Friar's Crag, which is said to be the launching point for monks making a pilgrimage to St. Herbert's Island which is the setting for Owl Island in Beatrix Potters book, the Tale of Squirrel Nutkin. There are several islands each with a marvelous history. One of the more interesting is Derwent Island which was bought in 1778 by Joseph Pocklington. He built a house, fort, Gothic boathouse and a mock stone circle on it and being quite an eccentric held an annual regatta where he challenged the townspeople of Keswick to attack the island while he shot at them with his cannons! We continued on to the small promontory of Castlehead where we were treated to a fantastic view of Derwentwater. Tea and farm shops are found in the strangest places in this county and sure enough, we encountered Annie's Pantry and Farm shop along the trail. Annie's is only accessible on foot and was quite a civilized stop for cappuccino and hot chocolate. By this time, we were thoroughly enjoying the hike and seeing a sign that Castlerigg Stone Circle was only 1/5 of a mile decided to continue on.

Castlerigg Stone circle with Helvellyn
and High Seat Mountains in the
background

Castlerigg Stone Circle is a Neolithic Stone Circle with an uncertain purpose. Many of the Bronze Age circles are thought to be burial chambers or ceremonial areas but no evidence of this has been found at Castlerigg. It is suggested this circle had astronomical significance with alignments with planets or stars. One of the more unusual features is rectangle of standing stones within the circle, again with the purpose lost in time. We traveled the 1/5 of a mile across ghyll and dale even encountering a cow who had 'just' given birth, snacked on wild raspberries, but no Stone Circle! We kept walking and eventually found another sign indicating we only had 1/2 mile to go! Were we lost in some sort of space, time, distance continuum? We continued along a small lane, eventually encountering a road worker who told us we were indeed on the right path and it was just down the lane on the right and he was indeed correct. The detour had taken us three miles out of the way but was well worth the visit even though there was a group of school age children having an outing there. We may never quite understand the discrepancy in signs but it was well worth the extra few miles to see Castlerigg Stone Circle in the sun as the following day would prove to be quite rainy.

Row boat on a beautiful
Tarn (mountain lake)
surrounded by fells (hills)
near Watendlath

After the walk we took a drive down a single track road across the Ashness bridge to the hamlet of Watendlath. It is 847' above sea level and has an attractive tarn surrounded by fells in a classic hanging valley. A hanging valley is a valley cut across by a deeper valley or cliff. The peace of the place is what grabs you immediately. Though there was a fisherman on the tarn in a small row boat, we didn't see anyone else in this ancient settlement. One can only wonder how people lived so remotely.

Atmospheric conditions at Honister Pass
just past the Honister Slate mine, known
for it's green slate.

The second day turned out to be rain all day, dashing any remaining hopes we had for climbing. In fact, each time we would park the car to attempt a walk the rain would start in earnest! We took a driving trip that took us over Honister Pass, stopping at Honister Slate Mine, then made our way to Cockermouth, an ancient market town. Cockermouth sits at the mouth of the Cocker River and thus it's name. We stopped for a cappuccino then drove back to Keswick poking around in the shops then had a wonderful baked trout dinner in a small hotel bar!

This is a place that certainly deserves more time than we gave it but that just means we'll have to come back again!

The Scotland and Northumberland Adventure - June 26 - July 1, 2016

Stylized A depicting a boat sail
representing the export of
Scotch Whisky into 200
markets worldwide

Decided to take a trip to Newcastle in the northeast to see Michael's family and have a change of scenery. Wanting to do a Scotch Whisky distillery tour and not go too far, this seemed like a good time to do it.

Scotland is known for Scotch Whisky which generates £3.95 billion in exports and over 40,000 jobs across the UK are supported by the industry. It accounts for a quarter of UK food and drink exports and sells at three times its nearest rival whisky. There are 115 distilleries licensed to produce Scotch Whisky so it wasn't difficult to find a distillery to visit.

Rascally Liquor tasting after the tour. 
It lacked the amber color of Scotch 
Whisky but it was quite drinkable!

Annandale Distillery was established in 1836 bought by Johnny Walker in 1893, closed in 1924 during WWI and raided for its copper then reborn 2011. They've done a fantastic job of renovating it and the tour was very casual informative. They even let us look into the vats which is unheard of on other tours I've been on. Since they've just recently started distilling, and you can't call it Scotch Whisky unless it's aged in oak casks in Scotland for 3 years, their first batch won't be ready until 2017. They managed to get creative though and take some liquor that hasn't aged three years and call it Rascally Liquor. It is lacks the amber color of Scotch but it is really quite drinkable!

During our drive back into England, we passed through the whimsical village of Gretna Green, historically the first village in Scotland, following the old coaching route from London to Edinburgh. Gretna Green holds claim as one of the most popular wedding destinations in the world, hosting about 5,000 weddings per year and one in six Scottish weddings. In 1754, Gretna Green's Blacksmiths shop, in folklore at least, became a focal point for underage lovers to escape Lord Hardwicke's Marriage Act and marry without parental consent. The legal age for consent in Scotland remains 16 so it still attracts these underage lovers.

Washington Old House - Michael & Mum

As Americans, we know much of our early history stems from England. This includes our first President, George Washington, whose ancestral home is in the Washington area of Tyne and Wear. Washington Old Hall is the ancestral manor house owned and maintained by the National Trust. It was fun to visit and learn of Washington's family pedigree and see his family home. During this visit, we did have a bit of a discussion regarding where George Washington was actually born, England or America. Michael's mum was convinced he was born in England but as it turns out, he was actually third generation American, born in Westmoreland County, Virginia in 1732. Michael's mum has very fond memories of Jimmy Carter and the Friendship Force, a cultural exchange program where people meet people from other cultures through reciprocal home stays. The Doyle's participated in the Friendship force and were connected with a family from Atlanta. They developed a close friendship with that family that has lasted until today. When Jimmy Carter visited the UK in 1977, Washington Old Hall was on his agenda. Michael's mum remembers the visit vividly and the visit is documented in detail at Washington Old Hall. Because of the personal connections the Doyles have with the United States, it was a very nice visit indeed!

Bamburgh Castle in Northumbria 

With more than 70 miles of rocky coast line, Northumbria lies claim to some of the most dramatic castles in the United Kingdom. During my 2016 visit, we did a castle tour of Holy Island of Lindisfarne, Bamburgh, and Dunstanburgh Castles. Bamburgh though is large and imposing and captivates you the moment drive into the village. It is one of the largest castles in the country, has been in continual use for over 3000 years and sits on rocky precipice dominating the village with spectacular views over the North Sea. We hadn't gone inside during the previous visit so we took time to go back to Bamburgh and visit this fortress palace of the Anglo-Saxon kings of Northumbria. It did not disappoint with the the spectacular views, ancient artifacts and priceless treasures.

Barnard Castle Ruin at
Barnard Castle, Teesdale

Silver Swan dating from 1774. If
you look through the swan to
the paintings behind, you will
see the Architectural Capriccio
by Canalletto

On the way back to Wales, we stopped at Barnard Castle and visited the namesake which is now a ruin. The real treat of Barnard Castle, though, is the Bowes Museum. The museum is a public art gallery built by John and Josephine Bowes simply for the enjoyment of the public. It's contents are priceless consisting of Napoleon relics, fantastic picture galleries, old china, jewels of incredible beauty and value and unique art of every kind. One of the most popular attractions is the 18th century Silver Swan Automation which when fed a coin, preens itself, looks around and appears to catch and swallow a fish. It is a life size and clockwork driven and even has a music box. The swan sits in a stream made of glass rods and is surrounded by silver leaves. Small silver fish swim in the stream. The automation lasts only 32 seconds and is only demonstrated once a day to help preserve the mechanism. Mark Twain saw the Sliver Swan at the Paris exhibition in 1867 and described it in his book, "The Innocents Abroad:" ‘I watched the Silver Swan, which had a living grace about his movement and a living intelligence in his eyes - watched him swimming about as comfortably and unconcernedly as it he had been born in a morass instead of a jeweler's shop - watched him seize a silver fish from under the water and hold up his head and go through the customary and elaborate motions of swallowing it...' 

After spending the afternoon in the Bowes Museum, rather than traveling back on the motor way, we took the slower but much more scenic route through the Yorkshire Dales National Park where we were treated to stunning views of natural beauty on our trip back to North Wales.

South of England

June 11 - 20, 2016

Portland Bill on the Isle of Portland.
Over 400 known shipwrecks on
only 9 miles of coastline

The original plan, before the broken leg, was a rock climbing trip starting in southern England at the Isle of Portland in Dorset. Because Portland is essentially a limestone peninsula, it is well known in the climbing community as one of the best sport climbing venues comprised of ~4 miles of dramatic white limestone cliffs. We had a killer deal on a caravan at the Glen Park Caravan so rather than cancel, we decided to go and turn it into a sight-seeing trip.

Portland is an intriguing area with a history of smuggling, shipwrecks, limestone quarrying so fine it's used in St. Paul's Cathedral, ammonite fossils, and in more modern times, host to the 2012 sailing Olympics. Oh, can't forget the outstanding Thursday night music at the Cove House Inn! I even sampled cockles, which I've always wondered about which are like small clams. I enjoyed hiking a bit of the coastal path wandering along the base of some of the climbing areas even if I couldn't climb. From the hike, the views of Chesil Beach and the ocean from the cliffs were outstanding. Chesil Beach is a unique pebble beach that connects Portland with the mainland. The pebbles are so round and just the perfect size to fill your pockets with, and I did! Listening to the waves break over the pebbles is mesmerizing! In addition, Portland turned out to be a great launching point for various other sights and experiences as well.

White Horse of Osmington,
carved into the chalk hills, a tribute
to King George III in 1808

Venturing a bit further inland, we discovered some hill figures. These are figures carved into a steep hill side to reveal the underlying geology, in this case white chalk. The first one we saw was the White Horse of Osmington, a representation of King George III riding a horse. King George III visited the area frequently as a holiday destination so in 1808, John Rainier, a stonemason and architect decided to honor the King by creating this hill figure. Unfortunately, due to illness, the King was unable to return to Weymouth and never saw his loyal subjects tribute.

The Cerne Giant 

Continuing the journey, we soon discovered the Cerne Giant. A bit more of a historical mystery and not quite the same royal tribute. The Giant is 180' tall with unknown origins but he certainly gives everyone pause when they see him in all his glory! We ventured into the town of Cerne Abas and found a street fair going on for the Queen's 90th Birthday. There was much celebration and dancing in the rain!

Stonehenge - 7 days before the 2016
Summer Solstice 

This trip turned out to be quite fascinating in terms of archaeology. What trip to the UK would be complete without a trip to Stonehenge, a World Heritage Site? Though we were there 7 days days before the summer solstice, we did not stay for the event. In fact, my image of this was shattered when we were told it was more like a drunken brawl and to be avoided at all costs. In addition, if the weather is overcast, which it is frequently, it could be an non-event. On top of that, we had an appointment at the hospital to get Michael's leg cast off on the Solstice which was not to be missed! We had in mind to see Avebury Stone Circles, another World Heritage site and learned that there were other fascinating sites to see on the way. The first was Woodhenge, a timber circle monument located only 2 miles northeast of Stonehenge. Then Silbury Hill, the tallest prehistoric man-made mound in Europe of unknown purpose and West Kennet Long barrow, a Neolithic tomb or barrow, situated on a prominent chalk ridge near Silbury Hill only 1.5 miles from Avebury. We finally made it to Avebury Stone Circles! Though Stonehenge is the most sophisticated, Avebury is the largest stone circle feature in Europe.

Ammonite Fossil
(foot for scale)

Lyme Regis, a beach resort along the Jurassic Coast, yet another World Heritage site known for its geology, especially fossils. It is the birthplace of Mary Anning, one of history's most important fossil collectors and paleontologists. In addition to important fish fossils, her discoveries include the first ichthyosaur skeleton, plesiosaur skeleton, and the first pterosaur skeleton located outside Germany. Her observations played a key role in the discovery that coprolites, known as bezoar stones at the time which were fossilized faeces.  I could go on, but you get the idea!

Roman Baths in Bath

Being only a few miles from Bath, we decided to spend a day in this beautiful

Pulteney Bridge and the wier
over the River Avon

and historic city with magnificent architecture and Roman Baths, yet another World Heritage Site primarily because of it's Georgian Architecture. Bath is the only place in the UK with hot springs. No wonder it was so popular with the Romans! We enjoyed taking in the sights and sounds, including the picturesque the Crescent, the Circus and the Pulteney Bridge which is exceptional because it is only one of four bridges that has has shops built on both sides, just a means of getting over the river. We also discovered that being disabled has it's benefits. When we arrived at the Roman Baths, we were discouraged by the very long line. It would be hours before we could get in if we had to wait in that line! When the staff saw the wheel chair, however, we were ushered in immediately with no wait.

"The Royal Oak"
The English Oak Tree that hid
King Charles II during his escape
from the Parliamentarians following
the Battle of Worcester in 1651
located at Boscobel House

On the way back to Holywell, we broke up the trip with a stop at Boscobel House which turned out to be closed but we were still able to view the grounds and see the Royal Oak. This is actually a daughter tree to the original Oak that hid King Charles II during his escape from the Parliamentarians during the English Civil War that pitted the Parliamentarians against the Monarchy. There are many references to Royal Oak so it was fun to learn the origins of it. 

Because we were unable to get into Boscobel House we stopped at the Royal Air Force Museum (RAF) at Cosford, Shropshire a fascinating museum dedicated to the history of aviation. I was particularly fascinated by the Cold War Exhibition which had a variety of 'silo theaters' depicting key tensions of the Cold War period. They did a good job on this and I found it quite engaging.

At the conclusion of this trip I had logged about 1,700 miles of driving in the UK. I was grateful when the plaster came off Michael's leg on the Summer Solstice June 21st, and he resumed driving duties! I must say though, I did see him struggle with many of the same things I did. He's just used to it I guess so he just takes it in stride. I'm happy to be a passenger again!