As Time Goes By: Post-Scotland Literary And Cultural Experience

At last, I finally have the photos of my second part of the England tour uploaded! Whew! A month after the trip and I have sorted out the photos at last. This part of the trip started on Sunday 15th July with the way back to England after Scotland. Our first stop was the Lake District of Cumbria, where we stayed in Grasmere for a night.

Way back to England

Entering the Lake District

Outskirts of Grasmere Village

Streets of Grasmere

Wordsworth Hotel

The famous Poet Laureate William Wordsworth was born and bred in the Lake District. Throughout his lifetime, he went from village to village to stay, but he would always stay within the Lake District.

Upon reaching Grasmere, we went to our lodgings, the Forest Side Country House Hotel, outside Grasmere Village. It is a quaint house in the woods, but since the rooms are such that the bathroom and loo is separated from the room, we had to go to the end of the corridor if we wanted to shower or use the restroom. Kind of reminds me of my hostel days!

Forest Side Country House Hotel, Grasmere Lake District

Waterfall behind the hotel

At the entrance

Outside my room window (with the hotel sign)

Morning dew glistening on the leaves

Incidentally, my Chinese name means "morning dew". So it was like looking at myself when I took this picture! :-p

After checking in, we went to the neighbouring village Ambleside for lunch at The Glass Restaurant, where I had Sausages and Mash, with Raspberry Creme Brulee for dessert. Yum!

Where we had lunch

The restaurant

After lunch, we had a drive around the lake, then went to Hawkshead to see the Beatrix Potter Gallery! Yes, I got to see Peter Rabbit and all the other characters! The gallery itself used to be her husband's solicitor office. Her own house, Hill Top Farm, was a bit out of the way, so we did not have the time to go there.

Sign at the Hawkshead public carpark

Beatrix Potter Gallery

Street of Hawkshead Village

The World of Beatrix Potter (and Peter Rabbit)

With Beatrix Potter

I love this clock!

I can't remember this frog's name!

Cute little sparrow!

3 little kittens

In a discussion?

The model of Hill Top Farm

Beatrix Potter in her later years

My favourite picture!

Another favourite!

More favourites!

Peter Rabbit and Friends on display

Statue outside Beatrix Potter Gallery

How the Lake District got its name

After exploring the Beatrix Potter Gallery, we went past Windermere Village (the biggest village in the Lake District), then back to Grasmere to visit Dove Cottage, the house where William Wordsworth and his family stayed for seven years.

We also visited the Wordsworth Museum, where the works of him and his contemporaries were on display. Apparently, Wordsworth studied John Milton's "Paradise Lost" in school. Coincidentally, they were from the same school. John Milton was one of the most famous persons ever to graduate. He then came back to teach. Centuries later, Wordsworth majored in Milton's works and became one of the most famous poets ever during the Romantic era.

View of Windermere Village

William Wordsworth's inscription outside Dove Cottage

Dove Cottage, Grasmere - William Wordsworth's House

Is that what England looked like in the 18th and 19th centuries?

This place used to be for poets and literary scholars alike

After the tour of Dove Cottage (which is a very small place, makes me wonder how tall people were in those times), we had a long drive up and down the mountains for the next couple of hours or so. The view from the top of the mountains is really breathtaking! I could just imagine winter, when the mountains are filled with snow, and if one looks down from the top, it must have been a very beautiful sight! No wonder authors go to the Lake District for inspiration!

At the foot of a mountain

View of the river from the top of the mountain

The lolling hills of Cumbria Lake District

Looking down from the mountain top

A mountain goat grazing by itself

The remains of an old Roman fort up in the mountains

Cows grazing at the foot of a mountain

After a winding trip up and down the mountains, we drove back to our hotel, then took a ten-minute walk into the village for dinner. Most of the eating places were already closed, as we reached the village around 8:00pm, so after walking all over and not able to find a nice and cheap place, we settled for The Lamb Inn, a pub-cum-restaurant in one.

When I saw the menu, I was quite excited, as the place serves Yorkshire Pudding and roast boar! But since we had a full lunch and it was getting rather late, I ordered something light (Macaroni and Cheese) instead. And honestly, the Macaroni and Cheese we have in Kenny Rogers back home is much better!

The Lamb Inn - where we had dinner

My room in Forest Side Country House Hotel

Next morning (Monday 16th July), we checked out of the Lake District and went down towards North Wales and then Stratford, before stopping at Witney, a town off Oxford, to stay the night. There was a minor drama when we were checking out. Our lodgings were all bed-and-breakfasts, so when we checked into Grasmere, the receptionist told us that breakfast started at 6:30am, so we could just go into the main hall and proceed to the dining hall.

When we reached the main hall of the hotel, everything was still dark and the door was locked. It was 6:45am. So I rang the doorbell. We waited five minutes and no one came. I rang the doorbell again. Still no one came. Then my dad, being the ever anxious type, rang the doorbell several times in succession.

At last, an angry-looking man came stomping out and shouted at us from behind the closed door, "Stop ringing the bloody doorbell!" He opened the door and shouted at us, "Stop ringing the bloody doorbell! You'll wake up the entire house! Can't you wait for me to come out?"

We had to apologise and explained that all we wanted was to go in for breakfast. The man then said in a very British accent, "Breakfast isn't at 6:30, it's from 8:30 to 9:30." Before we could explain that the receptionist told us we could have breakfast at 6:30am, he slammed the door and stormed off back.

We were all appalled by his attitude. We decided not to wait and just left. Before that, we wrote a note to the management, explaining what happened, and requested for the refund of the breakfast money, since we paid for bed and breakfast, but we only stayed the night without having any breakfast. However, according to my mum, her recent credit bill reflected full payment without the refund. :-(

Leaving the Lake District

An old church in Chester (border of England and Wales)

River Avon (Yes! In Stratford at last!)

Close-up of the River Avon

Town of Stratford on the River Avon

Shakespeare Country at last!

This is supposed to be Puck from "Midsummer Night's Dream"

This statue represents all the fools (jesters) in Shakespeare plays. The four sides of the stand has a quotation with reference to fools or jesters, as can be seen in the next few pictures.

One of my favourite quotes - I find it very true indeed!

The sign outside Shakespeare Centre

Outside Shakespeare's birthplace

The front door of Shakespeare's birthplace

The house and gardens where Shakespeare was born is still standing, now open to tourists, students and the public as Shakespeare's Birthplace. In there, there are exhibitions of Shakespeare's works, beds, utensils and decorations of the sixteenth to seventeenth centuries, as well as a big guest book. Although we were not allowed to take pictures inside, I did sign the guestbook, stating my name, where I am from, with the message, "A dream come true", and signed off as "one of those who idolises him".

Another great literary figure - Rabinadrath Tagore
(found in the grounds of Shakespeare's birthplace)

I have no idea how Tagore's bust came to be in the garden. Both were from different eras and have totally different writing styles. But if it was meant to be a tribute from one great literary figure to another, then it is a good thing indeed to have Tagore's bust in Shakespeare's garden!

Outside Shakespeare's Birthplace

The entire house

Shakespeare's bookshop

How I wish I can find this bookshop here! Inside there are old and out-of-print editions of Shakespeare's works, complete and unabridged. I wanted to buy the Oxford edition, but the price is too high and the book too bulky to bring back. :-(

We went to Ann Hathaway's Cottage next. It was the cottage where Ann and her family lived before she married Shakespeare. For a while, Shakespeare was living there, then Ann and their children stayed there while he went away to set up his theatre.

British signs are so deceptive! We followed the sign saying "Ann Hathaway's Cottage", and a resident told us it was at the end of the street. What is "end of the street" actually means three lanes, a park, a town, up and down a hill, another town, before finally reaching the destination. Initially we thought it was only ten minutes away from Shakespeare's Birthplace, but it took us half an hour or so just to reach the cottage, as it was on the outskirts of Stratford town.

The bridge leading to Ann Hathaway's Cottage

(after this bridge, we had to pass by a park, two towns and a hill before the cottage was in sight)

The garden of Ann Hathaway's Cottage

Ann Hathaway's Cottage

An old cottage in Stratford town
(how I wish I can stay in there!)

Streets of Stratford town

After coming back from Ann Hathaway's Cottage, we went on to Holy Trinity Church, where Shakespeare was baptised and buried. His grave and that of his wife's is side by side. It used to be at the grounds of the church, but their graves have been moved to the basement of the church, and I was not able to go into the church to take a look. What a pity! :-( Nevertheless, I said a little prayer for him and his wife, as I had promised myself that if I was ever in that area, I would pay a tribute to him.

Holy Trinity Church

Old graves on the grounds of Holy Trinity Church

After leaving the church, we left Stratford town and drove towards Witney, to The Marlborough Hotel, where we spent the night. We were given the Annex of the hotel, which is a converted cottage behind. Pretty cosy!

Our abode for the night

Our room

By the window

Room 21 of The Marlborough

After checking in, we walked around the small town of Witney, looking for dinner. The town itself is pretty quaint, with the old buildings retained. I will not mind staying there, except it is too quiet for my liking.

My parents were craving for Chinese food (as usual!) so we went all over just to find a Chinese restaurant, and finally, we managed to find one with the name of The Water Margin! Interesting! Can hardly believe there actually is a 水浒传 in England! Whoever said English and Chinese classics do not mix?

Pavilion at Witney town square

A tall structure at Witney town

Sun setting in Witney

A typical house in Witney

The Water Margin restaurant - where we had dinner

Enjoying British Lager beer

On my bed (once again)

Next day (Tuesday 17th July), we left Witney and proceeded to Oxford, passing by Bleinheim Castle on the way. Bleinheim Castle is the estate of the Spencer Churchill family, where Winston Churchill was once part of. In fact, he was born in one of the rooms of the castle.

The Churchill estated started from the time of Queen Anne, where in recognition of John Churchill's service, she bequeathed him the piece of land with which he built his estate. He became the first Duke of Marlborough. Currently, the estate is in the hands of the 11th Duke of Marlborough.

John Churchill's sons died before him, so the estate went to his eldest daughter, who owned it as Duchess of Marlborough in her own right. She outlived all her children, so upon her death, the estate went to her nephew, Charles Spencer, the son of her sister, the same Spencer family who are the ancestors of the late Princess of Wales.

Since then, the Spencers owned the estate, until around the time of the 6th Duke of Marlborough, he was given permission to use back his ancestor's name of Churchill, and the family became known as Spencer Churchills ever since.

The castle itself is wonderful! Tapestries, decorations, the grounds and the gardens, even the lake and the place where the sheep graze, everything is great! A magnificent castle indeed! Even nicer than the royal apartments themselves!

View of Bleinheim Castle from the entrance

Bleinheim Castle Lake

Ducks near the lake

Bleinheim Castle from the side

Sheep grazing in the grounds

Monument to John Churchill (1st Duke of Marlborough)

Bleinheim Castle against the English skyline

Bleinheim Castle (close-up)

A statue in the gardens behind the castle

The back of Bleinheim Castle

Structure behind Bleinheim Castle

The East Wing of Bleinheim Castle (private apartments)

Other side of the lake

We went on to Oxford University Town after leaving Bleinheim Castle. Oxford University was way before Cambridge University, yet it is Cambridge that impacts me more. Although my dream was Oxford, it is Cambridge that I find more beautiful, more conducive, and more tranquil.

Clock Tower at Oxford University

One of the colleges at Oxford University

The library building

One of the hostels of Oxford University

Old town wall of Oxford

Old town gates of Oxford

Oxford University Press Building

Part of Oxford Castle

Due to time constraints, we did not tour Oxford as thoroughly as we toured Cambridge. We walked around Cambridge the whole afternoon, but we only drove around Oxford, with the occasional stopping of the car at various points so I could take photos. We lingered in Oxford for an hour or so before proceeding to Salisbury for Stonehenge. YEAH!!

Part of the Salisbury Plains

Stonehenge

Close-up of the stones

Stonehenge from a distance

The lone sentry stone

The stones from another angle

What the original stone formations were like

At the entrance to Stonehenge

"Welcome to Stonehenge!"

Leaving Stonehenge
(the stones from a distance flanked by grazing sheep)

Incidentally, the Salisbury Plains and Stonehenge is part of Thomas Hardy's Wessex. So we did enter Hardy country, or part of! Upon leaving Stonehenge, we went to Bath. This English city used to be under the Romans long time ago. It is the only city in Europe that has natural hot spring water coming out from the grounds. Nobody knows why and how.

Needless to say, the Romans used it as a medicinal spa and bathing place. As time went by, English aristocrats and the richer public went there to enjoy the spa and bathing facilities. Then people started settling there, and the city grew bigger. When it became a full-fledged city, it was called "Bath" due to the Roman baths and hot spring that still exist to this day.

Entering the city of Bath

The bridge over the Bath spring waters

Apparently, this is the only bridge in England that has shops on both sides of it. The water in this river flows out from the Roman bath and hot spring nearby, and culminates into one big rushing water, as can be seen from the next two pictures.

Hill top houses of Bath by the river

City of Bath next to the river

Flowers in the garden by the river

Upon arriving in Bath, we first went to our hotel. We checked into the Redcar Hotel. The service is good, but the hotel itself is small and narrow, and we were given a room all the way up on the fourth floor. There is no elevator or escalator, so we had to walk up narrow stairs, lugging our luggages. I do not mind if I was carrying just a backpack, but I had to drag my big luggage all the way up. I almost could not make it!

My parents wanted a walking tour of Bath. The advantage of summer is that the skies do not turn dark until about 9:30pm or so, thus we opted for the 8:00pm walking tour, which lasted for about two hours. The meeting point was outside the Roman Bath Museum, somewhere near the Bath Abbey.

By the time we checked into the hotel, it was past 6:00pm. By the time we put our luggages down and checked out the room, it was 7:00pm when we finally came out. So we quickly walked to where the Roman Bath Museum is and had dinner at the cafe opposite. Finally I got to eat Yorkshire Pudding with roast lamb, and Shepherd's Pie! My parents ate Fish and Chips.

Where we had dinner

Bath Abbey

The back of Bath Abbey

Statue of King Henry VII, at the wall of Bath Abbey

Statue of St Peter

Statue of St Paul

The Roman Bath Museum

The Kings and Queens Bath (behind the Roman Bath Museum)

Hot steam actually comes out through here!

An old Roman hospital

Typical Bath terrace houses

The Circle

The Circle is a series of four semi-circular (or quarter-circular) rows of terrace houses. These are the more exclusive housing in Bath, with some of the houses being residences of the rich and famous in the past. The quarter or semi-circular shapes make up one full circle. Everything is curved, including the houses and the gates.

Just behind The Circle, there is another exclusive long stretch of curved building, called the Royal Crescent. It overlooks two parks - the Victoria Park and the Crescent Park. These two parks are separated by a thin concrete pavement.

The Royal Crescent

Each house in the Royal Crescent consists of three to four storeys, depending on whether it is the side or the middle. One house stands out as it has a yellow door. According to our guide, the door was so painted because the lady who first stayed there loved the colour yellow. However, the management of the Royal Crescent disapproved and brought her to court by insisting she changed the colour. She argued and fought, and in the end won the case. Since then, the door has remained yellow, even though the lady had long since passed on and the house has changed hands several times.

House with the yellow door

No. 1 Royal Crescent (the first to be built)

The pavement separating the two parks behind the Royal Crescent

Next to the Royal Crescent there is a row of old Victorian houses with a hanging grey structure at the end of the rows of houses. That is actually a bathroom. In the past when Victorian families became larger, going to the restroom within the house became a problem. So some smart aleck hit upon the idea of having the restroom separated from the house itself, restrooms were then set up at the end of the house. The structure we saw happened to be one of the last of its kind, what is known as the almost extinct "hanging loos of Bath".

A hanging loo of Bath

This is reputedly to be the most haunted walkway of Bath

I was fascinated by the shell above the door

Our walking tour ended about 9:15pm, after which we went back to our hotel room to rest for the night. The next morning (Wednesday 18th July), we had breakfast at 8:00am, and toured the rest of Bath, namely the Roman Bath Museum and Hot Spring Spa, Jane Austen Center and the Sally Lunn Kitchen Museum, which is the oldest house in Bath.

In front of our hotel - the Redcar Hotel

Our hotel room

Interior of our hotel room

The dining room where we had breakfast

Bust of Charles Dickens inside the Roman Bath Museum

Sign at the entrance of the Roman Bath Museum

The old Roman bath

Why the Romans set up a bath in Bath

Other side of the old Roman bath

Hot steam coming out of the bath

Close-up of the old bath

Ripples of water

The medicinal hot spring

A violinist outside the Roman Bath Musuem

She was performing Bach's "Air in G", one of my favourite classical pieces! It sounds so beautiful on the violin! After we were done with the Roman Bath Museum, we went exploring the streets of Bath, passing by the oldest house in Bath where Sally Lunn kitchen used to be, then went to Jane Austen Center.

Jane Austen was not a Bath citizen, but she rented a place to stay with her parents for a few years. In Bath, she wrote two novels, "Persuasion" and "Northanger Abbey". Both stories were set in Bath. Just a pity we did not get to see her actual hometown and countryside! :-(

Archway of Bath

Olden streets of Bath

The oldest house in Bath

Sign outside the Royal Mineral Water Hospital

I could not resist taking this!

And this!

And this too!!

With Mr Darcy! (outside Jane Austen Center)

With Jane Austen herself

These books are all original and old, out-of-print editions of her works

The church where her parents were married in

The house the family was staying in

I love this dress!
(It is actually a 19th century Victorian dress during Jane Austen's time)

A dining room setting in Jane Austen's stories

Portrait of the young Jane Austen

Samples of her handwriting and cross-stitch

Some characters from her stories

The tea room on the top floor of Jane Austen Center

Part of the old town wall of Bath

Sally Lunn's Kitchen Museum in the oldest house of Bath

Sally Lunn was a baker. She lived in Bath in around 1620. The house she lived in is now the oldest house in Bath. She worked in the kitchen day and night, baking buns and bread. The house is now a restaurant, famous for Sally Lunn's pastries, as well as a mini museum where the kitchen and tools are preserved on display.

Part of the kitchen

The kitchen where Sally Lunn used to bake

Other side of the kitchen

We bought a bun too. It was a plain giant-sized bun, which tasted like, erh, a bun. Nothing extraordinary. Perhaps it was plain, which was why there was nothing extraordinary. Maybe if we bought a flavoured bun the taste would be better?

An enclosed well where the spring water comes out

Sally Lunn box

Sally Lunn bun (actual size)

We left Bath around noon and went on to Windsor Castle, at the town of Windsor. Windsor Castle is on the outskirts of London. It is the place where the royal family stays when they are not on official business.

Part of Windsor Castle

Windsor Castle

Windsor Town Centre

Statue of the Queen on one of the buildings in Windsor

Streets of Windsor

I saw a Pizza Hut right by the street and took the opportunity to go in and get Bonaffee Pie. Finally I got to taste the pie which I craved for so much after watching "Love Actually". When the pie was in my hands, I took my time to savour it, instead of eating it up in one gulp. It is made of banana and caramel, with whipped cream. Delicious!

Bonaffee Pie, or what remained of it

From Windsor, we went to London to spend the rest of the day, before going to Reading to spend the night at the Crescent Hotel after dinner.

Our room in Crescent Hotel, Reading

Room 15, Crescent Hotel

The dining room of Crescent Hotel where we had breakfast

Crescent Hotel, Reading

The next day (Thursday 19th July), we checked out of the hotel after breakfast and proceeded back to London to Heathrow Airport, to catch our flight home. We hung around the airport after checking in, went to Harrods (again) and TGIF for a meal, before boarding the plane at noon.

It was about 8:00am local time the next morning (Friday 20th July) when we reached Bangkok International Airport. We went to a cafe for breakfast, where I had a long mug of hot chocolate, then took a rest on some benches, before boarding the plane back home. We reached home about 4:30pm. And that concludes my entire trip!