We had our 2.50 ready to pay at the other end but when we got there it was an honour system so Glenn (with my approval) decided that we had in fact had a maximum of 50p value. We drove away lamenting that we had not taken this road on our way in this morning when it was clear sky all the way. A smooth trip to our hotel at a services area where we had the best room we have had in the UK with great staff and a pitch black room to sleep until your hearts content. Our curtains here are so thin the street lights light it up all through the night. I have taken to sleeping in the eye mask they gave us on the plane!
Staying near Cheddar Gorge, we decided we must give it a look as it was recommened highly by Bill. We entered this awesome Gorge with our eyes popping and they pretty much spent the rest of the drive hanging out. We pulled over and took loads of pics and I did a fantastic 'cooeee' which echoed brilliantly back at us. None of the pics are able to capture the absolute enormity of the rock walls but we tried.
We were delighted by the appearance of several bronze age sheep which Glenn read online are basically the same as they were 3000 years ago. I opened my window to take a pic of this baby and couldn't resist baaaing to it and to my great surprise and joy it answered me.
Neither of us really wanted to leave the Gorge. It gives you a great sense of belonging; well it did me anyway. But leave we must and headed North to the 'Stanton Drew Circles' They are a stonehenge kind of thing but little visited and sit in a farmers field which we should have been wearing our wellies to venture into but we came unprepared and left with very soggy feet. Glenn just put up with his but, having inherited fussy feet, I changed my socks and placed my boots on the floor behind Glenn where by now, there was heat blowing through; not on my side though, where I sat with my legs wrapped in two blankets. Funny really that we will leave having only worn our wellies a couple of times and yet when we need them they are not at hand. I have now put them in the boot ready for next weeks trip to Hadrian's Wall! Back to the circles; they are the third largest standing prehistoric stones in Britain and are currently being explored by English Heritage. Extaordinay to think that people with few tools saw the value in moving these great stones.
So with feet squelching, we went in search of the Clifton Suspension Bridge. Now, this famous bridge gets a lot of airplay in this country so I thought it would be pretty easy to find...wrong! We took a pot shot and put Clifton into James, and then did a search of tourist attractions in that area....no bridge? Deciding there would certainly be signs when we got close, we set off and James took us into the heart of Clifton. Signs? I hear you ask; no I answer. Nice old city, canals and old buildings galore but all very hard to take in when you have no idea where you are going and there is constantly someone up your behind making sure that you cannot make a sudden decision nor turn around nor pull over. Driving here is a bit like being caught in a stampede of cattle! So several educated guesses (by Glenn) later and we found ourselves in the great gorge under the bridge Tada! I can't say how surprised we both were by the span of the bridge and its height from the ground below. But, we wanted to be at the top, to walk over it, but the road that should take us up there was covered in scaffolding as a part of the rock wall had appeared to fallen...at least it wasn't on us. So we drove on looking for a turn but just got further away. Hung a U turn and found our way up the hill but still no signs to the bridge. Going against all his manly instincts (I know its a gender stereotype but too bad) Glenn stopped and asked for directions and finally, there it was. Found a miraculous free park and spent some time exploring this amazing feat of engineering built 100 years before my birth;
From the other side of the river, we could see a balcony (you can just see it at the left side of the 1st pic. About halfway down the left hand side) and wondered if you could still get onto it; then we saw people. Of course we then had to go there ourselves. A very steep climb down steps that led into what they call 'Giants Cave'. It was used as a church 400 years ago but I can't imagine how they got down there. As we squeezed our way down the low passage to the cave there was a man playing an instrument that sounded like a pan pipe. Anywhere else he would have been a busker but it seemed he had just come to play to his ancestors or something. Anyway, it was beautiful and made the experience of standing on a ledge looking down about 150 metres to the road and river below, a much more earthy experience. The bridge was worth every bit of the hassle it took to find it and the ensuing hassle that came from going round and round through streets too thin, lined with cars, trying to find a cup of tea to have with lunch.
Had a hasty but pleasant conversation with Freedom during lunch and were informed at great length about the newest kitten to be fostered and how one removes ear mites from the poor little thing. From here it was an easy journey over the Severn bridge for the last time and to a far less quality hotel for the night; of course it didn't come close to matching the dark depths we sunk to at Wakefield last year, but it wasn't clean enough for me. Glenn set off well early for the football and arrived 45 mins early but we now know why people say better early than late...you only have the two choices here, on time does not exist. The game against Cardiff was reportedly disappointing. Leicester did not play well against the home team who won 2-0 and Glenn limped home licking his wounds.
What would a trip in the UK be without an old castle? Well you never know what you are going to get really. The pictures on the internet can make something small look enormous and vice-versa, so we weren't expecting huge things from Goodrich castle; the original from the 11th century is all gone except the name, but in 1148 it was rebuilt by a Norman. This family died out in 1245 and it passed to Henry the V111 half brother. You approach from the side and it is unimposing until you are upon it and see the massive rocks upon which it is built and the deep moat surrounding it.
Once upon it, it took our breath away with its architecture and engineering feats. You can see the grooves in the walls and the gap through which the portcullis (the barred gate) is lowered. This didn't help in 1646 however when during the civil war, a mortar (cannon) bombarded the castle and destroyed enough to make the royalists surrender. The mortar named 'Roaring meg' has only recently been returned to the castle it destroyed and is the only surviving civil war mortar. We heartily agreed that this was one of the very best castles we have seen.
We drove on through lovely English countryside but barely, as it was on the border of Wales, heading for Longtown Castle; a ruined keep with views of the Black Mountains. Well, once we saw the mountains, we lost all interest in the castle, it was the most spectacular view as we drove toward the bare, brown range which dwarfed everything in its shadow.
The castle, built in the 13th C was very atmospheric and interesting. It is a motte and bailey which means the 'servants' had to build the mound it sits on from scratch and the signs talked of the castle owner not only owning this property, but the whole village. I wonder if they invited the whole village in for tea, or, to take refuge when there was an attack? I think we all know the answer to that one don't we.
As you can see we had prime views of the mountains from here and a nice gent offered to take a pic for us...no heads squeezed in the corner here. Back the way we had come along lovely hedge lined roads and found a tiny village that made the worlds best chips for lunch and, had a certificate on their wall from Guiness World Records for producing the biggest bag of chps ever in 2004. Passed a car which had suffered the terrible fate of being parked in a thin bit of road and had been crushed against the ancient castle wall it sat beside, and enjoyed our chips by the stream. Arrived home safe and sound and with just long enough to take a breath before we set off for Amsterdam on Monday followed by Hadrian's Wall on Thursday.
Cheerio for now :)
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