Last days out

We are departing the UK mid-September so we thought it time for a catch-up of some recent local trips. This may be our last post from the UK but don’t despair – there will be plenty from our next two destinations of Italy and India to look forward to!

Gifford's Circus

We both use Olympus camera equipment and shortly after arriving here we joined up with the local Olympus community. We’ve joined them for some great events, some of which have appeared here as posts in the past. This time we were lucky enough to get tickets to their annual Gifford's Circus event – a private showing of several acts for us photographers followed by portrait sessions under the direction of professional photographers with their lighting equipment.

While the acts were fun they are hard to photograph due to the dim light and constant movement. The portrait sessions were great fun even though you only got about a minute each in front of each model.

Somerset

A last trip down to my birthplace, Wells and Cheddar. Though I am slightly biased, Wells is on my very short list of ideal large towns/small cities that I’d be happy to live in in this country, if the economics, family, and weather situation all aligned. Right up there with Totnes in Devon and Marlborough in Wiltshire. So we headed away for a glorious sunny summer weekend with my sister Gail and b-in-law Janos. The highlight, of course, being a walk around Wells. Lots of beautiful old buildings and a good market with plenty of interesting stalls and food. And a last visit to one of the best cathedrals in Britain too: not only has it an amazing carved façade, but plenty of effigies, interesting side rooms, and a medieval clock. And this was the first time we managed to get access to the old library full of ancient manuscripts with many of the books chained to their shelves!

The Library with chained books

The 18th C was rife with graffiti

For us no trip to Somerset is complete without a stop at St. Andrew’s church in Cheddar (where my dad is buried) and a stroll through Glastonbury which has some amazing abbey ruins and other old buildings, the spectacular Tor, and numerous hippies and shops selling crystals and hippy clothes. To finish off we were in for another 'treat' – and we should have guessed given we were returning home on a sunny mid-August holiday weekend – a “stop” on the A303 where we could contemplate Stonehenge for a while, and many less interesting fields while the traffic jam snaked along.

Horse and Carriages

Since our car died we’ve had to consider walking as a means of transport. We hadn’t put it into practice until we took a stroll down through our local paths to our closest village of Stanford Dingley. Britain is perfect for walking with numerous public walkways throughout the countryside. The usual difficulty is that they typically start at the side of small roads where you cannot park, so are only practical for locals who can walk to them. And long trousers are required due to the number of nettles, not to mention “wellies” as they are muddy for 11 months of the year.

There is an annual event around this neighbourhood where horses and carriages, with the passengers dressed in period costume, ride around the local villages. We met them at a local farm where they were stopping for drinks - and providing free rehydration for us spectators too! There were about 16 carriages in all, several of them with uniformed “staff “ who would hop off to lead the horses when necessary. Very picturesque and a good opportunity to meet with the locals.

With footman ...

On the way home we dropped in to “The Bull” where we heard there was a Hotchkiss car meeting. It was there! An obscure French make from 1910, though not the entire national collection as we met a couple of old boys, one who had just sold his as they are very expensive to keep on the road, the other had his in the garage undergoing maintenance. There were a couple of more recent, i.e. 1920’s, vehicles there too. Had a great chat with a local chap who flew the Concorde for 18 years.

A 1910 Hotchkiss lady