22 Sep 2014. <GB-ENG> Lacock, & Holt, Wilts —

Okay, today started off with Lacock.

Fox Talbot Museum

Fox Talbot's Study

1835 negative

1835 positive

Lacock Abbey, founded in 1232 and, with the Dissolution of the Monasteries, converted into a country house in about 1540, still preserves largely intact the fine medieval cloisters, sacristy, chapter house and monastic rooms of the Abbey. It was originally an Augustinian nunnery, but became the home of William Sharington in Tudor times, but later the home of the Fox Talbot family. William Henry Fox Talbot, the most famous of these, lived here till his death in 1877. He is known for developing the negative-positive photographic process known as the calotype, and is commonly regarded as the father of modern photography. The first ever photograph using this process still exists, and is of the oriel window in Lacock Abbey. There is a museum here, documenting early photography and Fox Talbot's part in it. Nicéphore Niépce is often credited with the invention of photography, but his process of hardening bitumen in light, then washing out the unhardened part with lavender oil, was primitive, required inordinately long exposure times, and produced poor images. Daguerre's 'Daguerrotype', and similar processes, could only produce one image which, although satisfactory, was not reproducible. Fox Talbot's process allowed multiple copies to be made from the one negative, allowing him to publish a book, The Pencil of Nature, illustrated with actual photographs. This was indeed photography as we know it!

Chapter House

Cloister

Lacock Abbey has another claim to fame — it provided some of Hogwarts' rooms in the first two Harry Potter films! The Cloister featured in the Mrs Norris cat scenes, Professor Snape's laboratory was the Sacristy, and the classroom was filmed in the nuns' Warming House. Parts of the 2008 film The Other Boleyn Girl were filmed here, and many other films were made here. The village itself features as 'Cranford' in the BBC period drama of the same name.

Huge Monkey Puzzle Tree

A very pleasant morning spent wandering the Museum, the Abbey, and the village, and then we left for nearby Holt. Here what can only be described as an industrial site was converted in the early 20th century into a totally delightful garden inspired by the Arts and Crafts style, The Courts Garden. In a period of 3 years its short-time owner George Hastings laid out the plans which have been followed to this day. The various owners had differing enthusiasm for the garden, but since Major Clarence Goff gave the garden to the National Trust in 1944, the spirit of the work of Lady Cecilia Goff and of her daughter Moyra with the garden has been carried on. It is a garden mainly of perennials, herbaceous borders, a large arboretum, an orchard of fruit trees, and a kitchen garden. The topiary of the yews and hollies is bizarre at times, but always interesting. We came to the garden just as the trees were starting to take on their autumn colouring.

Topiary

Flowers

Grapes

Minotaur in Arboretum

'Temple'

More topiary

After enjoying the garden for a couple of hours, we adjourned to the car park. Our alternator belt had been making a lot od noise, and we noticed a sign by the carpark for AP Servicing Ltd, just round the corner. We called in, and asked Andy if he could help. Oh that all mechanics we just drop in on were as helpful! He even has a website — www.apservicing.co.uk.

We then made our way towards Stonehenge, to the same layby we stayed at last time, in order to make an early start tomorrow for the Autumnal Equinox festivities there.

Distance driven — today, 46 miles ( 74 km ); to date, 7,951 miles ( 12,796 km )

21 Sep 2014. <GB-ENG> Northleach, Glos; Uffington, Oxon —

Woke up with a wonderful view out over 'The Paddocks', Cotswolds farmland. The sun was shining and all was well with the world. We didn't have far to go to get into Northleach, a lovely little old village, and to the Mechanical Music Museum. This place runs mainly on guided tours, where they demonstrate the various self-playing musical instruments.

We started with a George II chamber barrel organ built in the 1740s, passed through a number of barrel-driven music boxes which still produce exquisite sound, then went on to some disc-driven music boxes which allowed you to change the music in much the same way as changing a recording or a CD today — but still pin-driven. Some had superb sound, like a huge Polyphon 'jukebox' — although they were very hard to keep running — this museum has just the staff on hand to do this, however! Then we went on to early Edison cylinder machines, gramophones and phonographs. One, from the 1940s, had a huge papier-maché horn (for ideal, albeit highly directional, sound reproduction) and with bamboo 'needles' cut for each individual playing — they wore out within 5 minutes! — but the sound from a 1940s recording rivalled the best hi-fi reproduction from later years! Then on to reproducing pianos and player pianos of(not the same thing, but similar results), and we listened to a piano roll of Ernesto Leocuona playing his own Malagueña, form the 1920s. Altogether, a lesson in sound quality — the hi-fi buffs of today haven't made such huge strides as they would sometimes like to think!

We then took off for Uffington, on the northern edge of the Berkshire Downs, the site of the oldest and most famous white horse chalk hill carving. This one has been dated to about 3,000 years ago, and has been kept in pristine shape by constant 'scouring' by the locals. This one is most impressive, as it looks somewhat stylised by today's standards. It was mentioned in the annals of Abingdon Abbey, and Daniel Defoe documented it in his 1725 A tour thro' the whole island of Great Britain. An earlier literary reference, in Latin, was in Camden's 1607 work Britannia. This horse is cut into a hillside that, once again, is a magnet for hang-gliders because of its constant updrafts. It sits below Uffington Castle, an 8-acre hill fort dating back to about 700BC, whose earthen banks at one time sported a timber palisade, and the chalk upslopes to it were scoured to make a blinding white underlining for the whole thing — quite an impressive structure. Below it is Dragon Hill, a flat-topped chalk hill where St George is reputed to have slain the dragon. The blood of the dragon flowed onto a patch on the hill which is forever poisoned, leaving a white patch where no grass will ever grow!

View from White Horse across Dragon Hill

The Ridgeway

Running past this site is the Ridgeway, a VERY old road. Apparently it was being used as a footpath when there was still a land link between England and the Continent. There is It was in use when Avesbury and Stonehenge were being built, and there is still an 85-mile length of it from Avebury in Wiltshire across to the Thames at the Goring Gap. About a mile along this path from Uffington Castle is Wayland's Smithy, actually a neolithic chambered long barrow dating back to 2700-3400BC. We walked along this path to the barrow, on the way meeting many ramblers, cyclists and even horsemen. A good long walk, with an impressive old tomb at the end!

We left here, well exercised, and set off towards Lacock, a rural country town in Wiltshire, and the home of William Henry Fox Talbot — but more of that tomorrow!

Distance driven — today, 44 miles ( 71 km ); to date, 7,905 miles ( 12,722 km )

20 Sep 2014. <GB-ENG> Tewkesbury, & Deerhurst, & Chedworth, Glos —

Left our little layby — a misty morning, to the sound of robins chirruping. Went into Tewkesbury (on our way) to shop before continuing to Odda's Chapel and the Parish Church (The Priory Church of St Mary the Virgin) at Deerhurst. Both date back to Saxon times, and are most interesting.

Odda's Chapel is a small late-Saxon chapel built by Odda, a kinsman of Edward the Confessor, in memory of his brother Ælfric, and dedicated in 1056. Typical of Saxon chapels, its dimensions are 1:2:3 (width:height:length). This is a remarkable survival in a land where many old churches have been allowed to crumble. It only survived because it was a good size for a farmhouse, so was given a coat of plaster and whitewash and preserved for that purpose.

Till in time, the hand of progress came to try what could be done,
Both to modernise and renovate with care,
So they chipped away the plaster of the ages dead and gone
And they found — a little Saxon Chapel there.

Admiral R.A. Hopgood, A Little Sanctuary, 1919

Near Odda's Chapel is the Parish Church. We had to get in and out fairly promptly, as they were setting up for a wedding a couple of hours later. In spite of this, the Church Warden took us around on a bit of a guided tour. There has been a church on this site since about AD700, and considerable parts of the early Saxon masonry still remain. The inner rectangle of the church — the lower portions of the east and west walls and the north and south walls of the chancel and nave are original Saxon, the earliest masonry dating to about AD700. Six nave arches were added about 1200, piercing the original walls and creating aisles to either side.

Alphege (Ælfheah), about AD953-1012, was professed monk at Deerhurst. In 1006 he succeeded Ælfric as Archbishop of Canterbury. He was captured by the Danes, held for a huge ransom which Alphege exhorted his people not to pay. He was martyred in 1012. Thomas Beckett, in his last sermon, referred to Alphege as the first Martyr of Canterbury.

A place steeped in history. The old apse has all but disappeared, with only one part of its walls remaining. This section of wall contains a carving of an angel, towards the top, looking outwards. It appears that the nave was not semicircular, but consisted of seven flat walls on a semicircular plan. A recent expert in Anglo-Saxon carvings has suggested that the carving of this 'angel' is especially fine, and would suggest instead an archangel. As, according to tradition, there were seven archangels, this would suggest that each of the seven walls of the apse might have borne a carving of an archangel. Whatever the story, a fine relic of the Saxon age!

The church also contains what is regarded as the finest Anglo-Saxon font in existence. It was discovered serving as an animal trough in a nearby farm over a hundred years ago and reunited with its base, which carries the same spiral decoration. There is also a carving of Virgin and Child over the inner entrance door, interestingly commemorating the babe in the womb rather than in the arms, and is regarded as one of the finest surviving examples of Saxon sculpture. Today it looks rather abstract in its form, but if you remember that the features would have been painted onto the simple outline sculpture, this would put it into its proper context.

There's another piece of interesting history in the church. It was the parish church of the Strickland family, one of whom, William Strickland, travelled to the New World with John Cabot, and is credited with introducing turkey to England. His coat of arms appears beneath a family-commemorative stained glass window, and its crest is a turkey.

We left Deerhurst and travelled to Chedworth, where there is a Roman villa. The roads to this site are interesting to say the least — we drove for at least two miles over hilly (steep) one-lane tracks, with passing points every so often — exactly the kind of roads Susie does not want to drive. But we got there, and were most pleasantly surprised. The villa was discovered in Victorian times, and Victorian methods were used to stabilise it — not what we would do today, but at least they preserved the site. The Roman walls remained to a height of possibly two or three feet — the Victorians capped them with tiles or horizontal capstones. The National Trust have recently put a building over the bathhouse area so they can preserve and display the mosaics properly. And the story of this site is mosaics — there are incredible mosaics through the whole site. There are even some not on display, excavated recently, and then reburied to preserve them.

Another feature of the Chedworth site is the pheasants that inhabit the place, We saw at least ten on the grounds, and then as we drove out we saw fields with literally hundreds! Also, as we were leaving the carpark, we were treated to a procession of grey squirrels through the treetops — will we ever see a red one?

Anyway, we left Chedworth, drove to nearby Northleach to check out a Museum of Mechanical Music that Warren had noted on the map. It will be open tomorrow at 10, so we dropped a little northwards on the A429 and have found a good layby overlooking "The Paddocks", some rather impressive Cotswolds farmland.

Distance driven — today, 78 miles ( 125 km ); to date, 7,861 miles ( 12,651 km )

19 Sep 2014. <GB-ENG> Forest of Dean, & Kempley, Glos —

Today we woke up in the Forest of Dean. The night had started off in an eerie silence, but then it started to rain. Because we were parked under a tree, the droplets falling from the leaves fell a bit harder than simple raindrops. Warren slept through it all — as usual — but Susie wasn't overly pleased. But after all, it was all her fault — she was the one who suggested washing the van yesterday!

Boars' work!

After breakfast, we went for a walk through the forest. It was misty, almost gloomy — Autumn has arrived. As we were walking, we met a lady walking her greyhound and asked her what was ahead of us. She suggested a slightly different path, and changed her own path to guide us part of the way. We love the locals — they are such wonderful hosts. We walked through the forest, and all of a sudden came upon a stained glass window! A real stained glass window, hanging from a wooden cross-beam, and representing the Forest of Dean, with a swallow flying through the top of it and a sheep in the bottom — although, from our experience, it should have been a robin — we've been visited by so many robins here! — and a deer or a wild boar, both of which are common in the forest. They don't mind the boars, which root through the bracken (which is here almost a weed), digging it up. On our walk we found substantial evidence of the boars doing just that last night!

Another part of the wildlife here is the ramblers. While we were out walking, it seems that they were busing in groups of teenagers who looked as if they were on some sort of orienteering exercise. Whatever it was, they were having a load of fun!

Apse

Chancel

Saints in Chancel

Anyway, we got back to the van, and then went off to the Sainsbury's near Cheltenham for a major (4-day) shop. We had lunch in the carpark, then set off — at about 3pm — for St Mary's Church in Kempley. This is a lovely old Anglo-Norman church built in about 1130. In 1872 the vicar, the Rev. Arthur Drummond, noticed signs of colour coming through the whitewashed interior walls. The whitewash was very carefully removed, to reveal medieval frescoes in remarkable condition. They were coated with shellac to protect them. In the next century the shellac darkened, once again obscuring the paintings. Fortunately, this shellac was of a type regularly removed in the conservation of artworks, so after its removal, the frescoes are once again in remarkable condition.

We spent over an hour at the church — it runs on an honour system, with postcards and brochures readily available, with the simple request that you put the suggested price into the box if you take one.

We then went back to a layby we noticed off the A417, near Dyke House Lane, where we will sleep until tomorrow — to the sounds of robins chirruping away!

Distance driven — today, 51 miles ( 82 km ); to date, 7,783 miles ( 12,526 km )

18 Sep 2014. <GB-ENG> Cheltenham, & Westbury-on-Severn, & Forest of Dean, Glos —

Progress on a few fronts — we went out to see Stewart Wilsdon, who was going to help us with our gas for the Continent. Well, he came up with the simplest of solutions — plan to use CampinGaz, which is readily available throughout Europe. What we need is a regulator to connect to their bottles, which he was able to supply us. He also recommended a tool to allow us to undo the connecting hose clamp to change over the regulator. This is such a simple thing to do that we will be able to run a large (7kg) bottle of Calor gas (from the UK) as our backup, so long as we only use it for a day or so each time (until we can replace the other). That means we can run on one large Calor bottle for about a year, and get the smaller CampinGaz cylinders as they run out every couple of weeks. If we need to go to any other system at any time, we simply buy the full cylinder plus the appropriate regulator.

We looked through our vehicle documentation, and were able to find the exact engine specifications, which we have given to Richard Hulin, and which should help him track down a replacement. We now won't check back with him until after Stonehenge.

We spent a little time at Macca's to do some emailing, then set off for a rather interesting site — Westbury Court Garden. This is a fascinating water garden laid out in the Dutch manner between 1696 and 1705. There is a 1709 engraving by Jan Kip (from his series Britannia Illustrata) which represents the garden at that time fairly faithfully. When the National Trust took over the garden in 1967, it set about bringing it back to the state represented by Kip. The species planted would all have been well known in the early 1700s, and the garden is a wonderful snapshot of gardening practice around that time. Being of Dutch design, of course there is a canal in it! While in the garden, we were visited by the cheekiest of robins. One just sat on the wall and sang his heart out!

We wandered here for a couple of hours, then drove a little further into the Forest of Dean, where Warren had noticed a picnic area (in the road atlas) where we might stay for a quiet night. We missed it by about half a mile, instead finding a carpark at the Speech House Woodland — nice walks, quiet parking, no fees — at the picnic spot (which we walked down to) you have to pay to park! Don't say the Hams don't fall on their feet!

Distance driven — today, 76 miles ( 122 km ); to date, 7,732 miles ( 12,444 km )