WELLS & BRISTOL. Of fake stone circles and a wedding.

WELLS & BRISTOL

We’re on our way to Bristol for a wedding of a former tenant but we stop on the way at another stone circle the daughter has found.  We walk and walk through fields and along a tiny lane and finally on the hill is a stone circle that looks in fantastic condition.  We take photos and think of the people who built it and then the daughter reads an inscription - it was built recently to commemorate something or other in the town! The disappointment is real. We stop looking for stone circles on the way to Wells, where we’ll have a break. 

We find an amazing cafe, Fosso lounge, it’s like stepping into an English country house.  There’s a craft market in the centre and I take a look at Wells Cathedral which began in 1175. It was the first church to be built in the Gothic style that had begun in France. I didn’t go inside as it was expensive but the outside and monastery grounds are surrounded by a moat and reflecting pool with swans floating by. It’s a beautiful small town, worth a look. 

We’re staying outside Bristol at Rickford in a lovely old pub, The Plume of Feathers built in 1756 across from a tiny stream that weaves through the town and next to a mill.  Such a pretty little town with a lovely old church that’s being repaired. We settle in for the night, eating at the restaurant there. Next day is our first English wedding.

THE WEDDING. 

What a place! It looks ancient but we find it was built in the 1920’s by a tobacco family, Coombe Lodge. It was built on the site of an older property dating back to 1759. What a night! What a beautiful venue. And what a wedding! The sun came out, the sunset lit up the brides, yes two beautiful women tied the knot.  A tenant who lived with us and became our adopted daughter and her lovely partner who’s obsessed with dinosaurs so all our tables were different dinosaurs! A glorious evening was had by all.  I felt I was back in the 1920’s, English folk, quirky and interesting.  We danced until late as a big moon glazed the property in soft silvery light. 

Next day we drop our car off and head into the old part of Bristol. We only have a day before returning home but I have to say Bristol has some beautiful old bars. Worth returning to check them out.  

LYME REGIS. Of ammonites and ancient stones.

On our way to the next stop, the daughter is again on the search for stone circles. She finds one that we go down through tiny one way lanes and possibly end up in someone’s farm but in the field is a mushroom looking structure surrounded by wildflowers. A huge slab resting on three big uprights. 

Then onto Lyme we go .We’re on the hunt for fossils. Off we go after researching the tides as Lyme Regis has huge tides that when they recede reveal ammonite fossils and because there was a Victorian age tip at the top of the hill, old ornaments and bits of glass turn up on the tide. 

We are so excited to find old bits of crockery and bottles that for a time we forget the fossil search but then we start.  Not an easy job as their is quite a crowd on the beach bent over like birds sieving through the sands and under rocks but we return to our little cottage just outside Lyme in Axminster and go through our haul.

We go to the one local pub with it’s quaint thatched roof where the owner has a brother who lives in…guess where? Sydney of course. I sometimes think half of England lives in Australia. There's an old telephone booth that has been turned into a library that we find on our way to the pub and then we return to our little cottage which is a part of a complex of old cider making buildings. We awake with the soft bleating of lambs and their mothers grazing below. 

Today we go to Lyme village and explore the gardens along the coast, passing beneath the ammonite shaped street lights and past all the pastel coloured beach houses where we lunch at the Rock Point Inn where I have the famous Coronation chicken which is oddly good! It’s got curry paste, cinnamon, mango chutney and chicken on a bed of lettuce. Prince Charles has revived it again, possibly the only good thing coming out of the Coronation!

Afterwards I go through the old mill as we wait for the tides to turn again. I find a beautiful vase in the Museum, porcelain and brick shaped with three holes in the top for single flowers. It’s a Dutch invention and in the Delft colours of blue and white. The cut outs at the top are little hearts.  It’s my one special purchase of this trip.

And then we’re on the hunt again. The tide has turned and we find more lovely glass pieces and then head for the rocks where the ammonites nestle mainly under the rocks and embedded in the strange black/grey mud of the hillsides where the famous Annie found her fossilised skeletons of dinosaurs.  We find tiny pyrite ammonites and even though after a couple of hours we only find about five, we are satisfied. We walk back with a guy who does tours and has worked at the museum for thirty years and he fills us in on his love of fossils and the hunt.  We are in agreement. We will be back.

PENZANCE. Of pirates and ghosts.

We have finally reached Penzance. We’ve found a place that says it’s close to the centre but it’s a bit of a long stretch but it's close to the sea which is beautiful with its beach of pebbles with the waves moving them creating a constant clinking sound.

We pass by the Egyptian House which was built in 1835 by an Egyptologist, evidently you can stay there as well, it's pretty weird.

Lovely little galleries here and the windows are decorated.

And then we’re at the Turks Head dating back to the 1200’s, the oldest pub in Penzance. Unspoilt by modern decor, it’s kept it’s vintage feel. The publican there is friendly and tells us how the place is haunted with a hidden passageway underneath and with guests having ‘ghost bumps’, herself included. Have a fabulous fish pie with the usual peas and cabbage that seems a common dish to have here. 

Next day we’re off to Mousehole, a cute village with a little protected port where we have scones, jam and Cornish clotted cream.  This is different to Devonshire tea where the cream goes on first and then the jam.  In Cornwall, it’s the opposite.  I know in Australia we make judgements on who puts the cream on first but here it makes sense as clotted cream is thick.  In Australia you get thin whipped cream that can’t carry the weight of the jam! Important facts for the Devonshire tea enthusiasts.

Then we’re off to Trengwainton Garden, again full of beautiful rhododendrons but it’s nothing compared to Haldon Gardens. At this garden, I have problems with my tenant and spend most of my time arguing on my phone so I didn't get to appreciate it's beauty.

We head off to St Michael’s Mt at Marazion. We get there in time to walk across on low tide but as we’ve been there before we don’t visit the village but we find old pottery which is exciting, one piece I found looks Medieval in style. Another lovely small village full of galleries. 

Then back to Penzance which is a strange town, definitely with a pirate vibe. We go to the Admiral Benbow for dinner. Serving pirates, smugglers and rum since 1695, is their advert on their website. It’s got a huge collection of maritime artefacts rescued supposedly from shipwrecked vessels which have foundered on the coast over the years since it’s four hundred year old history. The restaurant is a recreation of a deck from a period ship with rescued figureheads. Supposedly Robert Louis Stevenson visited this pub in 1880. It’s got a recording of rolling waves as you walk through. Loved this place and the food was excellent.