Tewkesbury – Part 2

Part 2 should be called visits to the surrounding area. The bus stop was only a 5 minute walk from the caravan site and so it was going to be more convenient using the bus to get to the main centres. Having said that we needed the car to get to Croome Park a National Trust property. The next bit is gleaned from the NT website:

 Croome was 'Capability' Brown's first complete landscape, making his reputation and establishing a new style of garden design which became universally adopted over the next 50 years. The outer eye-catchers, acquired in 2009, and the elegant park buildings were designed by Brown, Robert Adam and James Wyatt. Croome Court, sold by the Coventry family in 1948, is at last reunited with the parkland, allowing visitors to appreciate the 6th Earl’s vision for the estate as a whole. The house is presented empty of contents, giving visitors an opportunity to follow the restoration progress over the coming years.’

Sue at the newly refurbished Ice House'.

Croome Court and the main room

     

Looking around the cellars at the various displays we spotted this photo of Graham Bill. I know a few of you who read this blog will remember Graham from Cornwall School, Dortmund. Graham used to teach here when it was St. Joseph’s Special School.

Next time you are at a ball make sure you know your ‘fan etiquette’.  Double click the photo to enlarge it.

 

Stuart at the Island Pavilion. This is one of the few photos of me on this holiday so enjoy it.

The number 71 bus takes you from Tewkesbury to Gloucester. We did the main sites on the this visit and on the second one Sue hit the shops and I did some of the geocaches around the hospital.

Here you see the cathedral which is well worth a visit. The second and last photo of me by one of the old steam cranes in the newly renovated dock area.

          

Sue by the centrifugal water pump known as ‘The Snail’. This dry dock is used for overhauling wooden boats using traditional skills.

           

The 41 or 42 bus takes you to Cheltenham Spa. These buses take different routes to Cheltenham so it’s worth doing your homework before you set off. We found out the hard way! On the way into Cheltenham Spa you pass the Aston Martin, Bentley, Jaguar, BMW, Mercedes etc. garages. So we were expecting something a little up market and we were not disappointed. The town is described as the most complete Regency town in England.

The Pump Room in Pittville Park.

Neptune fountain built in 1893 and fashioned on the Trevi Fountain in Rome.

The upmarket shopping centre – set well apart from where the great unwashed shop.

Regency Terrace – I’m sure they look a lot better on a sunny day.

 

The 540 bus takes you to Evesham by a very circuitous route, but it does give you a good view of the little villages. Also it is the first time we have arrived at a bus stop in reverse, honest (it is part of the planned route).

The old market town of Evesham is situated in the centre of the famous horticultural Vale of Evesham - the fruit and vegetable basket of England.

The  15th Century Roundhouse – actually rectangular

The gateway to Abbey Park

The Vision of the Swineherd Eof

This bronze sculpture came about via a public art competition held by the Cotswold & Vale Magazine of Evesham. Six sculptors were shortlisted and asked to submit a maquette sculpture idea using the theme of the legend of Eof. All the proposed sculptures were then anonymously displayed in public where they could be voted upon by the local population.

The 16th Century Bell tower in Abbey Park

The Almonry, this 14th century building, once the home of the Abbey's Almoner, houses a wealth of information and artifacts, documenting the history of the great Abbey and the defeat of Baron Simon de Montfort at the Battle of Evesham in 1265.

  

Well that covers most of our trips out of the Tewkesbury area. Need less to say we met lots of people on site and even one lady said ‘ I remember you from 2 weeks ago’. We think we she was having an away weekend with a male friend ‘ say no more’ wink, wink.

Just to bring you up to date with my visits (Stuart) to the hospital I have had to have one of my excisions (cut out) done again (today 26th May) because there was a minute bit of the basal cell carcinoma left behind. At the moment one of my eyebrows is being pulled up, to give me a very quizzical look. I hope it is the tape that is doing it and not the stitches or I shall look like that forever more!

This is a You Tube clip about St. Joseph’s school – 2 minutes only.

Click Here

Tewkesbury – Part 1

Tewkesbury is an attractive, historic town dominated by timber-framed buildings with overhanging eaves and has a fascinating maze of small alleyways behind the main streets. It is situated on a spit of gravel just above flood level at the junction of The Severn and Avon.

We were booked in for 18 nights so were hoping for good weather so we could get out and about. The advantage of this site is its proximity to the town and local bus services which go to Gloucester, Cheltenham and Evesham.

Here is the reception for the site – notice it is raised up so the floods don’t affect it.

Tewkesbury's glory is it's Abbey, founded at the end of the 11th Century as a Benedictine Monastery. The spectacular central tower, which stands 148 feet high, is the largest surviving Norman central tower in the world. With the exception of Westminster Abbey,

The first few days were sunny and warm, but that soon deteriorated to dry and cold and some days there was frost in the morning. This is May – Global Warming, no way!

Sue just practising for the rest of the holiday.

66 Church Street - An example of a recently restored timber-framed building which has been dated to 1475. The outside has been redecorated in a traditional limewash whilst the interior retains the original ceiling decoration.

This is one of the 11 (about) alleyways which can be found in Tewkesbury.– The Old Baptist chapel can be found down this alleyway along with the Old Baptist cemetery.

The historic Abbey Cottages, over 500 years old, were rescued from dereliction in the 1970s; one houses a museum, the others are residential homes and commercial offices.

The first weekend we wandered across to the Food Festival. Not having to drive I had to sample some of the local beer – not bad.

An interesting label, don’t you think!

Vegetable display.

Tewkesbury Marina has 400 flood protected berths. Located where the River Severn and Avon meet, there is a choice of cruising areas including the River Avon which meanders gently to Stratford-upon-Avon. The larger River Severn flows down through Gloucester to the Bristol Channel and up to Worcester and Stourport.

The local tourist boat close to the centre of Tewkesbury.

A tight fit – they only had inches to spare either side. What happens if you wish to return this way and the river has risen – problems I think!

Mill Bank – spot the swan on her nest.

The original Abbey Mill, built by monks and with foundations dating back to the 12th century, managed to escape dismantling during the dissolution. Once thought to be the largest and most modern flour mill in the world it has long been converted into houses.

Later that week - we think there are 8 cygnets in all.

This is a very potted version of in and around Tewkesbury. We spent ages exploring all the nooks and crannies and doing longer walks in the vicinity, usually with a geocache or two included

Part 2 will be coming soon, this will include all our away days.

Trains and Horses

Sue, taken on Easter Sunday afternoon. It was sunny, but a little chilly. Recently the weather had been very wet and we had been negotiating many flooded paths. Needless to say we were geocaching and this was our last one of 5. The clue was ‘are you feeling tyred?’
 It was a short walk from the cache to Moors Valley Park and the miniature railway. Being such a nice day they had out many of the engines and business was brisk with trips around the lake.



At this stage there should be some photos of Maggie and Brian from Poole, who joined us for a lovely evening. Unfortunately the hard drive on the computer had to be replaced and some of the photos have gone with the old hard drive. I didn’t know anyone to do the repair so picked someone who had Checkatrade accreditation, they were excellent. If you want any type of work doing go to Checkatrade.com and read about the people first.
This last Sunday, 18th April, we went to a heavy horse event in Harbridge, near Ringwood. The blacksmiths making shoes for the horses, big horses need BIG shoes.
 
The Jane Wordsworth outfit.

Ploughing demonstration. It’s amazing what commands the horses manage to learn.

The return journey.

The steam boiler weighed about 5 tons.

Carriage racing – it looked rather dangerous around such a small course

Sue with one of the heavy horses.

I’ve been out in the New Forest checking out some walks recently. Having had biblical amounts of rain I have been rambling in wellies. With the lovely weather of late the forest is once again, very dry.
Here are a couple of photos from a walk I am leading on the 21st April.


Recently we were in the middle of the forest doing a geocache, which was placed in this yew tree. The tree was unusual because a square portion had been cut out for an oven door (see to my left). This tree had been like this for well over 30 years. Another couple arrived, also cachers, with their 5 month old dog which was a real bundle of fun. Control – what control! They call themselves Bella’s Pack. We had a long chat and walked back to the cars with them. They have done over 2500 caches.

I had my motorbike serviced this week and wanted to give it a good run out while the weather is good. I went to Calshot, about 30 miles, to see what ships were leaving Southampton and this huge container ship was just entering the Solent.
You can just see my bike with the now defunct coastguard tower in the background.

That’s it for a while now, we are off in the caravan on the 26th April for 2+ weeks so hopefully will have plenty to write about when we return.

March Manoeuvres

After the nose job came the forehead job. It all looks very neat and at the time of writing it is healing up well. It looks as though there are loads of stitches, but it is just one. Don’t know how the surgeon did it but it looks clever.
 
Trish, Colin, Jane and Ron came for a meal chez nous. It is quite a while since we all met up so there was much news to catch up on.
 
It was that time of year again when Sue had to add a one to her age. So without ado I pulled out all the stops and took her out for lunch at Harry Ramsden’s for the old fogies’ menu.
Below is Harry Ramsden’s on the under cliff at Bournemouth.

Sue outside the new beach huts on the prom.

Harry Ramsden’s

 
Rambling during the winter months has had to be curtailed due to the weather. Many were cancelled and others I didn’t go to because of the poor conditions   …..’wimp’ I hear you say! I wouldn’t disagree.
One walk I wanted to do was to recce a new walk and at the same time put out a new geocache and check another that has had an accident. The new geocache I put out is at Leaden Hall in the New Forest. It is on the edge of what was No.2 Wall Target on the Ashley Walk bombing range. The target was 6 acres in size and was covered in concrete. The concrete has been removed and has left a rather barren patch – see photo below.

Bailey – my companion on the walk.

The other geocache was caught up in the fire below. Throughout the forest they have ‘controlled burning’ to clear areas. I think they might have overdone this area as there is very little left.

The geocache after the fire, the contents survived. The box has been replaced.

At the end of March our friends from Portsmouth visited for the day. Fortunately we could use the conservatory. It was a good day.