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England Tour in
the south of England 2007 |
And in the second part:
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England Tour
in the south of England 2018 |
Take also a look at holidays 2009:
England, Wales tour
In 2007 in July, we have
made a tour in England. We always stayed two days at an hotel.
The route was: _ Salisbury (Wiltshire) - Sherborne (Dorset) - Tavistock (Devon)
- Tintagel (Cornwall) - Bath (Somerset)
We had National trust pass. It costs a lot, but than you have free entry to many beautiful places. And England is not
cheap.
I will describe a number
of beautiful areas and gardens.
Salisbury
Salisbury is located on the River Avon. The Salisbury Cathedral from the 13th century is definitely worth a visit.
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Before we went to Stonehenge we went to 'Old Sarum'. The Normans built a castle there. As you can see, only the foundations are left. |
Stonehenge
Near
Salisbury lies Stonehenge. We have already visited it 15 years ago. It was
still fascinating to see this ancient
monument (3250 and 1500 v. Chr ) in this grand landscape.
You also can walk through the meadows to the many
barrows
(burial mounds were built in the early Bronze Age) There is not much
to see, but the sight is
beautiful and there are growing many plants near the barrows (for the
lover of nature).
There are several stone circles in Great Britain. But this is the best
known. It is amazing that the stones have been
transported over a large distance.
There is also a relationship between Stonehenge and the sun.
The midsummer's morning the sun rises directly over the Heel Stone and the
first rays shone into the centre of the monument between the open arms of
the horseshoe arrangement. The midsummer sun always rises exactly opposite
the setting of the midwinter sun. (Trilithons, the pairs of standing
stones that form a horseshoe shape in the center of the Sarsen circle)
Then the weather
changed and we got a beautiful sky for the photos.
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Wilton House
This English country house is located in Wiltshire near Salisbury. The house and gardens have been open to the public since 1951.
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Montacute House
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Tintinhull Garden.
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New Sherborne Castle
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At
Sherborne lies the New Sherborne Castle and
also the old castle (ruïne), which is already visible
from the entrance of the park. You can walk around the lake. The
garden with flowers is not so
large. There was held a wedding reception
in the orangery.
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Dartmoor National Park
After
Sherborne we went direction Tavistock. We have driven through the Dartmoor
National park.
As you see, it was rather foggy. The area is 945 km2.
Outside the area it was rainy, but not foggy. It seems however normal in
this area. It was very fairy-like.
Now and then sheep and pony's loomed up in the fog. They may walk on the
road. It is an area of peat-moor, heath, ferns, steams and granite rocks.
The next day we have taken another road. How the foggy part really looks I
can’t tell.
Castle Drogo
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Eden Project
From
Tavistock to Tintagel we have gone first to Eden Project in Cornwall.
There are two giant, multi-domed greenhouses.
Some years ago I had seen a reportage on television, when they were
building the project. It lies 5 km from Saint Austell and is
located in a reclaimed china clay pit.
It is opened in 2001.
We had to make
choice between this and the Lost Gardens of Heligan. Both on a day
is to much, because you can stay there for some hours.
The
aim of the project is to show the dependence of people on nature. You get
information and simple practical ideas on how to care for the plants and
their habitats, that provide for us. Working for a better future.
The most impressive section, is the multi-domed greenhouse that recreates
the natural environment of a tropical rainforest. The second
“greenhouse” has plant life from Southern Africa, the Mediterranean an
California. Outside are also many plants to admire.
Arts is also important. They try to use art to illustrate the link
between plants and people.
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Tintagel Castle
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Bath
This was a rainy day. Therefore we stayed the whole day in Bath.
The Romans built
temple and bathing complex that still flows with natural hot water.
These
mineral springs were already used before the Roman.
At least 10.000 years ago.
We found the city
with the many broad streets not very beautiful. But perhaps it was because
of the bad weather.
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England Tour in
the south of England 2018 |
11 years later we decided to go to Cornwall again. This time 2 nights in a hotel in Exford, 3 nights in the far south in a hotel in The Lizard, 2 nights in a hotel in
Tavistock.
Hoek van Holland
We took the boat from Hoek van Holland to Harwich. We slept on board.
The next morning we drove to Exford. Along the way we were in traffic around London and also twice because of an accident. We therefore only had time to view Cheddar. |
Cheddar
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| To reach Cheddar you drive through a ravine. In Cheddar you can visit two caves. Furthermore, it is known for its cheese. |
Dunster Castle
Dunster Castle is built on a steep hill near the town of Dunster and has been in the possession of the Luttrell family for 600 years. Both the gardens and the castle can be visited. Near the castle is an old
church.
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Lynmouth and Lynton
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| The harbor Lynmouth is connected to the much higher Lynton by means of a
water-powered funicular railway. Despite the rain we had a great view. |
Tintagel Castle
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| In 2007 we had a hotel at Tintagel. Now we have visited Tintagel Castle when we drove to the next hotel. I have also added a picture of the very old post office in Tintagel this time. |
Housel Bay Hotel in The Lizard.
I usually don't put photos of hotels on the website, but nature was so beautiful here. It is on the most southern part of Cornwall. Near the hotel you can see the lighthouse (second photo).
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Glendurgan Garden
There are some gardens in the neighborhood. We have chosen the Glendurgan Garden. Known
for a maze of hedges from 1833. But I found the beautiful trees, exotic and wild plants more interesting. Especially the
I found very beautiful.
Down you end up at a beach. Then you walk along another path back to the entrance.
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Pendennis Castle
After the visit to the garden we drove to the Pendennis Castle. It was built by Henry VIII in 1548. Later it was besieged by the troops of Cromwell. Now you can see all kinds of weapons and you have a beautiful view over the coast.
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St Yves and the Tate Museum
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| St Yves was a fishing port, but is now more of a seaside resort. At the beach is the Tate Museum, where abstract art hangs. Art of many artists, who lived in St Yves in the 20th century, but also a painting by Dutch artists Pieter Mondriaan and Karel Appel. The museum is part of the Tate Gallery, network of four museums in England: Tate Britain (1897), Tate Liverpool (1988), Tate St Ives (1993) and Tate Modern (2000). |
Lost Gardens of Heligan
11 years ago we had opted for the Eden Project. That's why we went to the Lost Gardens of Heligan when we drove to our last hotel.
The garden was forgotten for 75 years and completely overgrown with blackberry bushes. The dune has been restored by many volunteers under the leadership of Tim
Smit, a Dutch archaeologist. There are many different gardens, a Jungle
Valley, walled gardens, a vegetable garden, an Italian garden, picnic areas, but also pastures with cattle.
I especially liked the tortuous trunks of the very old rhododendrons.
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Tavistock
Our hotel was in the center of Tavistock. There are a few very nice old buildings and the covered market is worth a visit. Furthermore, there was not much to see.
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Dartmoor National Park.
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| Tavistock lies on the border of the Dartmoor National Park. The photos were taken in a different place than the last time. There was no moorland here, there are horses and sheep. You see this landscape all around you. Very impressive and natural .... again foggy, but less than on our previous visit. |
Buckland Abbey
Nearby is Buckland Abbey. Originally it was the abbey. But confiscated by Henry VIII and sold in 1541 to Sir
Grenville. The abbey was converted into a residence. In 1581 Sir Francis Drake became the owner. Now it is from the National Trust.
From 19 February to 23 September, a four-meter-high, glittering egg from Andrew Logan was exhibited in the barn.
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Colchester Castle
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| On the way back we could see Stonehenge, but this time we drove to Colchester. That is close to Harwich, so we knew for sure that we would be on time for the boat. In Colchester is a castle with a beautiful park. The castle was already closed, but it was nice to walk through the park. We saw many squirrels. |
This time we had a navigator in the car for England for the first time. Sometimes it searched for a very short route. The roads were then so narrow that you had to drive a lot backwards if you met an oncoming car. And of course there were again the many roads with the hedges. Because you are left as a driver, you have less visibility in the many corners. But that also makes driving a lot of fun.
Of course we haven't seen everything. We skipped St. Michael's Mount, because Saturday everything is closed and Sunday the gardens around the castle are closed and those were the days we were in the
neighbourhood. But there were plenty of other things to see
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