Yet another half term break !

Last week we all, Sally’s mum included, returned from a trip to South Wales via Salisbury & Somerset. Boasting its new UK plates the Range Rover took us off for another driving holiday. Leaving on Tuesday of the half term break, Mark, Aisha, William and Margaret went back  to have a better look at Stonehenge, this time in more pleasant weather. 

We went on to West Pennard just outside of Glastonbury where we spent two days with Valerie, Rachel’s mum. She was enormously welcoming putting us all up and preparing not only a delicious dinner but two mornings of ‘Full English’ cooked breakfasts. We stayed with her at Easter but did not actually get too far out of the back garden. This time we made it to the 'Bath and West Show’ the local annual agricultural show. 

Valerie at West Pennard.

The show was similar in size and style to the Sydney Easter Show but with fewer rides. The kids enjoyed watching a sheep dog demonstration, practised their lambing techniques and had a couple of goes on the twister. They also watched a horse shoe making competition and saw a traditional punch & Judy show. William had a go at air rifle shooting, as you do, and after several very wide shots scored a bullseye!  There were some fantastic displays in the flower tent – the sweet peas and begonias were spectacular, while the 60 year old bonsai azaleas were incredible. There were some carnivorous plants which had their eyes on William !

William's Bullseye !

Beautiful Begonias

Sweet William & Sweet Peas

A carnivorous plant has its eye on  W !

On Thursday we reluctantly left Valerie and went into Glastonbury and visited the excellent rural life museum, which gave us a good insight into the hardships of ‘the good old days’. 

Glastonbury is a small town that in recent times hosts the annual Glastonbury festival but has been of significance since Neolithic times. It is associated with the legend of King Arthur as well as a supposed visit by Jesus and his great uncle, Joseph of Arimathea. Across from the Tor is a smaller hill where the ‘Glastonbury Thorn’ could be found. Legend has it that on arrival there Joseph struck his staff into the ground where it took root and grew. A cutting of this thorn bush survived until last year when vandals cut it down. There have also been suggestions Glastonbury  is a possible location for the Holy Grail, again brought by Joseph of Arimathea. 

The top of the Tor has been important since the 5^th Century when an Iron Age fort stood there. Later it became a site of pilgrimage where a medieval church of St Michael was built and stood until around 1275 when, on September 11^th, an earthquake shook south west England and toppled the church. This was replaced in 1360 which survived until King Henry VIII’s purge of the Catholic churches when it was largely ruined and the Abbot of Glastonbury hanged atop the Tor.

The climb up the Tor was much steeper than we expected. It was another blisteringly hot British day with clear blue skies and temperatures hovering around 26!!!  Margaret, at 73 with arthritis and various artificial bits and pieces but minus her walking stick, did a great job being hauled up by Mark. The kids raced on in no time at all but were a bit puffed at the end.

Margaret made it !

Resting Kids.

We stopped off at Bathampton to visit the grave of Arthur Philip the founder of the first colony at Sydney Cove in 1788. For a figure of such significance to Australia’s history, his grave is fairly unassuming and in fact his final resting place was forgotten until 1897. 

It has also been suggested that his grave is in fact not where it is currently marked but either outside the church or possibly lost altogether. 
For more information on him see this link. Arthur Philip

 

On Thursday night we stayed at a rather nice though slightly ‘Fawlty Towers’ style farm stay near Cardiff. The kids shared the luxurious king size bed while Mark and Margaret took the singles. There was a small gym at the farm stay and the kids had fun ‘working out’. Aisha took things too seriously though and ended up slipping off the treadmill and ‘skinning’ her shin. Ouch.

We drove on through Swansea to one of the kid friendly surprises Mark had organised – a visit to a local chocolate factory. Mark required extra protection from the chocolate (or was that the other way around ?) The kids had a go at making next year’s Easter bunnies and eggs. 

We then drove on down to the Gower Peninsular where, with temps hitting 27, we again went to a sand beach and went swimming this time in water that was surprisingly pleasant.  

   We impressed the locals with our style both in and out of the water. 

After a couple of hours at the beach we drove up to The Brecon Beacons National Park to a Youth Hostel we had booked for two nights. The hostel was nestled in between classic Welsh valleys and not far from a large lake/reservoir. As Mark drove back down the Cardiff to collect Sally from Cardiff train station, a Friday night hot spot for the hip, young and horrendously drunk, he had a fantastic view of sunset in the Brecons, sadly not recorded.

Part of the view from the hostel

A boy and his Nanna.

The Hostel.

Getting back to the YHA close to 11pm we were amazed that it was only then almost dark. We again had very good weather for most of the trip although Wales did live up to its reputation of changeable weather by giving us swimmable weather on Friday, cool cloudy weather on Saturday followed by cold drizzle the final day. 

On our way to the next kid friendly surprise we stopped at another bit of 'boring stuff' - Brecon Abbey where we were amazed to see a ‘William Strutt’ hanging in the Abbey. 

William was an English painter, whom we knew about, who came out to colonial Australia and became a significant colonial artist. Most notable is his work on the  'Black Thursday' fires in Victoria of February 1851 as well as his works surrounding The Bourke & Wills fiasco. 

Black Thursday.

Bushrangers.

The burial of Burke.

We finished our time in Wales with a visit to the 'Big Pit', a former Welsh coal mine now a museum run by the former miners.Their aim is to act as a tool for educating about coal and to teach and hopefully hand on aspects of Welsh culture. It was a poignant visit for those who could still remember the Thatcher govt’s attempts to close down the mines and the subsequent miners’ strikes of the 1980s.

We drove from Big Pit’ 4 hours or so back to London, mostly in pouring rain, in time to finish homework and start school the next day.

We also had to get ready to go off the following weekend to Devon to retrace some of the Wosrfold family tree. 

We have just returned from that trip, the highlights of which will be ready in a few days.