Wandering

Arrived Southampton and leaving the Queen Mary 2 it was off to a cousins home to catch up after years of not seeing each other. It was also the home of ‘Sapphire’ our home for the next three weeks.

Jill and David have very kindly offered their RV to us for a Scottish sojourn. However, first off are a few visits to other cousins dotted around the country side. I have cousins spread across the length and breadth of England but this time the focus of our visit is those mostly in the north and on the west coast of either England, Scotland and/or Wales.

We started off in the south with a visit to Jeremy and Deborah, located in a small village called Warminster, not too far from Bath. Living in an old renovated church dating back to the 1600s, it comes complete with tombstones in the front yard and boasts numerous memorial plaques to those who have died. These are attached to the  walls of the dining room. It’s a  unique home and boasts one of my favourite kinds of stoves to be found in England called an Aga cooker, which was first invented and initially built by a Swedish inventor called Gustaf Dalen (you can see it in the background of one of the photos).

Within a couple of days we’re off to another relative, but first, we stopped in Bath to take in the River Avon and the Roman Baths. We learn quickly that trying to fit an RV into a regular parking space is not an exercise for the uninitiated, but who cares if we take up 2 spaces? The more complicated task is trying to figure out how to pay for a parking space and this was not the first time that a kind passerby, recognizing our frustration, offered to buy us 3 hours of time in the car park! To comlicate matters, parking costs are based on what the emissions of your vehicle are, and, of course, the more emissions, the higher the price! That’s definitely a first, at least for us.

Mid week Bath was busy, and the tourist season hasn’t even started. We didn’t have a long time, so we passed on the 25 pound cost of entering the Roman Baths but rather strolled around the  old part of Bath and the Avon River. it’s a beautiful town with a pedestrian friendly downtown area peppered with numerous small businesses and markets.

Next, it’s across the River Severn and into Wales to visit the next relative. Easier said than done. I don’t think I’ve ever been as confused and bemused by the number of roundabouts, hedgerows, route numbers, and small villages while navigating through the countryside. Of course, I’m using Google Maps and setting routes using google, but it doesn’t give you the overall vision of where you are going.

As long as you obey Thelma, that’s what we call google; you are OK. An unslaving obedience does get you to where you want to go. It may not be the most efficient way to get between A and B but you will eventually arrive.

However, there’s another confounding element to driving in Wales, and that’s reading the road signs. These even include directions printed on the road, such as ‘Araf’, which means slow. That’s an easy one, and they do make it a little easier by providing a translation below the Welsh.

But who’s looking at the road signs. The Welsh countryside is beyond beautiful. At this time of the year, a lot of the hillsides are painted yellow from the mustard grown, but the predominant colour is the emerald greeen dotted with white from the lambs and sheep that outnumber the residents. It’s gorgeous…

But now it’s on to Gladestry – try and find that on the map. A village of perhaps 100 with a pub and a school. In fact, one of the last schools in the county and saved from closure by the fact it’s  one of the top performing schools in the area. But it’s the home of another cousin – Liz and her partner John.

Their home is somewhat of a hobbit’s home. Again, very old and, in this day, unique. Liz has lived here for 27 years and  obviously loves her home. Unfortunately, in North America, they would have torn the house down and built some monstrosity. Their home exudes character and history, and both Liz and John suit it perfectly. There’s a cornucopia of animals that live with them, including a lone chicken survivor from what was once a collection of 12 – foxes are cunning!!

More later…