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© Lisa Cubbon, 2000
Who: Andy and Lisa Cubbon (over 50, retired and no kids at home!)
When: June 1-16
Where: Victoria Hotel in Torquay; B&Bs in Bath and near Gilford; Thistle Hotel in London
Well, we survived yet another assault on England! The jet lag is finally lifting and I can once again think. This year’s trip was particularly difficult for me. The lack of deep dark seems to affect me more each year. England, specifically the southern portion, does not get dark at night. I have a circadian clock that is quite accurate for me. I get up with the dawn and go to sleep when it gets dark. The trouble was that it did not get even close to dark until almost 11 p.m.! And dawn crept in around 5am. I was not at my best. Andy handled it quite well. He seems to be unaffected once his clock has reset to five hours earlier. Coming home the trip hit me hard too. Andy has done better but he’s quite content to lay in bed and read until his normal get up time. I was at the gym at 6:15 this morning. Oh, well. The trip was busy once again. The week at Torquay went by fast! Our room was quite spacious but located so that ALL the noise from the disco/karaoke bar across the street streamed into our room. That did not help my sleeping problem at all. None of the singers were any good either. One night we were treated to some incredible off key singing. I did not realize anyone could sound that bad at karaoke.
Thrusday-Friday June 1st-9th. Our dancing personally was better. Andy and I both felt more comfortable but the scores did not reflect any improvement except for Tuesday night when we did make a couple rounds in the waltz and a semi-final in the tango. Wednesday night was zippo! Andy has concluded that there is something they don’t like about us and we are clueless as to how to fix it. We are discussing how we will continue dancing but it’s pretty certain that it will not be competitive but more focused on social dancing. Hopefully, we will continue to enjoy dancing for many years and be able to stay in touch with our dancing friends too. I hope that Richard, our coach, can help us work this out.
We flew on British Air and it was pretty OK. We had to go steerage since I was not willing to pay $7,000 to sit up front. I suspect Andy would chafe at that too. A surprise was the individual TVs in each seat back and a very nice selection of movies, news, sitcoms, and cartoons. We each took an Ambien and slept pretty good too. We met up with our friends, George and Laura at the bus stop at Gatwick and we all coached down to Torquay together. The one hitch was that the transfer bus was 30minute late but the coach was 30 minutes late too. There was a bomb explosion in London that shut down a critical bridge that delayed all the coaches. The problem on the coach was no food. For some unknown reason, they were out of sandwiches and most soft drinks. That meant a 6 hours bus ride with nothing to eat. Andy had some nuts and bolts, which he munched on but that was it.
Our free day in Torquay was spent in Totnes. We visited Totnes a few years ago and both wanted to spend a little more time there. Mitzi Williams joined us and we have a pleasant day with a lovely lunch. Totnes is a mediaeval town with an old church (every town in England has an old church) and an original wall. The High Street goes right up from the Dart River. While we were in Totnes we were told that the world’s largest catamaran was there being refitted but all we could find was the mast which I would easily believe to be the world’s tallest mast. Our waiter at the hotel had photos of the catamaran so we did get to see that it exists. Why someone would want one is beyond me. The reason it was in Totnes was that it fell apart on its initial voyage. Doesn’t instill confidence, does it?
Our last day in Torquay, we took the afternoon and went to Cockington Village. It’s a working village set up and in a lovely setting. The rose garden is spectacular with lots of old variety roses in bloom. There is also an old Norman Church that has been is steady use since around 1000 AD. We also bought the only keepsake for the entire trip there. I bought two pieces of hand blown glass, one is a platter and the other is a bowl. Both in a very attractive shade of blue to match the kitchen. Andy helped pick them out since his color eye is much better than mine is. We hauled those suckers all over England and they made it home in one piece! Jenny has already claimed them as a part of her inheritance.
We had been looking forward to several wonderful Balti Indian lunches in Torquay but to our dismay, the restaurant was only open once at lunch and the place was filthy. The food was great but we only ate there once. On the other hand we had several splendid fish and chip meals at a diner we found on the waterfront. We ate there last year too so it was nice to go back. Other meals were at the Singing Kettle, a tearoom near by the hotel. The hotel food was awful even judged by English standards. I think the English have done a lot to improve their cuisine but this chef over sauced and under seasoned everything. If we go back again, we will get a self-catering apartment and I will cook breakfast and do something for dinner. You miss out on the dining room companionship but we can get over that.
Saturday June 10th. Andy did an excellent job driving this year. He’s really got the hang of this. I did not need the pruning shears at all this year. I seldom felt the need to trim the passing shrubbery this year. Even on the “lanes” that pass as two car roads, he did great! The roundabouts make so much sense too. Of course, this car did not have the turn signal on the correct side so Andy washed the windows a good bit but better safe than sorry, as we always say.
We picked the car up on Saturday. It was a KIA and handled pretty well. Since we had chosen to downsize the luggage this year to just one humongous case, a hanging bag, two Rick Steves bags and two backpacks (honestly, this is much better than last year), we were able to pack all the dance crap in the humongous case and the handing bags, and leave them in the boot! We lived in our Rick Steves and backpacks for the week we were touring. Jenny has used her Rick Steves bag for the last two summers in Europe and that’s all she took. I am not sure we can get down that far but very close for next year’s trip. We decided to take an A road instead for the M to Winchester on our way to Guilford. The A roads are like our state highways and the Ms are the motorways like our expressways. Some As have limited access but they go through towns and over hill and dale. Winchester isn’t really on an M so the A made more sense. Andy skillfully maneuvered the car and we were there in about 4 hours. We did get a packed lunch from the excellent bakery in Torquay and stopped and ate that at a service center. There were no picnic tables so we ate in the car, like last year, and carried on to Winchester. The Cathedral at Winchester really appealed to Andy. It consisted of four different architectural styles reflecting four different eras! Cromwell during the English Civil War smashed the original stain glass window to bits but the resourceful citizens of Winchester gathered up the pieces and presented them to the Deanery after the war. The shards were too little and multitudinous to be completely reconstructed but a portion of the window could be recreated and was while the rest were incorporated in the a collage of the window. It’s a very eclectic looking window until you hear the story and then it’s very endearing. When one of the chanceries was recently refurbished, they found shards of the window embedded in the ceiling. Being English, they waste not so Salisbury had an extra stained glass window which was offered and graciously accepted and places in the Winchester Cathedral. Waste not, want not should be this town’s motto. Also of interest was the crypt under the main altar. It floods, every year without fail. It was built during a dry period and as soon as that was over, bingo, instant grotto. It’s a lovely space and you can just imagine the monks padding around on sandals in the muck. We had tea at the Cathedral Rectory. Teashop and headed into Guilford to the lovely B&B run by Gillian and David Swinburn. We stayed there last year for two nights and this year we were very fortunate to get 5 nights. They have a charming house with four sections of varying age. The oldest (Snow White’s house) is over 450 years old. Then there is an Edwardian add-on and a Georgian piece which is the front entrance. I can’t remember the forth section but it all flows together nicely and it’s a warm place to stay. Gillian decided that we should take an old fashioned English walk to dinner so she handed us a laminated map and advised us on how to find the public footpaths and what to watch for and off we went. We did pretty well on this first attempt at orienteering, except for the brief diversion on the wrong path! It was one of those very British activities; on the bridle path, then the public footpath, across someone’s field, see the beautiful manor home on the left, then the lovely unusual barn on the right, find the road and keep on walking to the restaurant. Now, David and Gillian promised to pick us up if we could not make it back on our own. I have to say my feet were tired and I was bushed. The Cider House was a welcome respite. We have a very nice meal and a half pit of T.E.A. (Typical English Ale). I opted to not try the “Ferret” ale even though the bar keep assured me that they had gotten most of the ferret out! There was a dog watching a couple eat but I have gotten used to the British fondness for their dos and it doesn’t bother me any more to see them in restaurants. When we were leaving we learned the rest of the story; the dog did not belong to that couple. He was freeloading and actually belonged to someone at the Shackleford Townhall, many miles away. Why would the dog leave? They fed him biscuits and water. He seemed very happy. We did manage to walk home but on a different trail. Andy flushed a fox (first one we’ve seen in the wild for a long time), some pheasants and a couple rabbits. It’s was around 9PM and still quite light out. The Swinburn’s were pretty surprised to see us on hoof, back at the B&B. Off to sleep after some conversation with David and Gillian.
Sunday June 11th. We had the house to ourselves this morning. David and Gillian had a tennis match so we were deemed trusted guests, handed the keys and instructions on how to lock up and off they went! We were picked up you Alana and Tim O’Neil. They are friends of ours from Atlanta who have recently moved to London to continue their competitive dance training. Tim got himself a job with KPMG as a permanent hire so they can stay as long as they want. Alana can work on his visa so she is working for a relocation firm. The live in Sutton and he trains into London and she drives the company Mercedes! It’s cherry red and very nice. All Tim pays for is petrol (a fortune at about $1.30 per quart!) and a yearly tax of about 1200 pounds (about 1800 dollars. Not bad). They are doing wonderful over there and have been experiencing some success at their dance, which is reward enough for them. When they come back to the US, they will be a stunning addition to the competitive circuit here. They have seen nothing of London since their lives are consumed with dancing and working. So we went to Windsor Castle. Andy and I went there last year but the Queen was in residence and Sophie and Edward were getting married that weekend so the state apartments were closed and I wanted to see them! This year, I checked on the internet and the state apartments were open on Sunday. Yeah! First the O’Neil’s took us to see where the Barrs live. The Barrs were multi champions of Blackpool and wonderful lecturers. We attended two master’s classes from them this year at Torquay. This was the second time that the Barrs were lecturers and they are wonderful. Anyway, they have a lovely home seen from the outside (they were in France). I was surprised that it was stucco and not English brick. After that detour were on our way to Windsor. We had an adventure and missed the turn off but we were together. We finally found the carpark and off we went in search of food! Tim was hungry. After a lunch, we hit the Castle. It was not too crowded and I think they enjoyed it. We left there and went to see their apartments. Tim and Alana went from a $250k house on a lake to a 24x24 box on the third floor. Their next move will be to a crate on a grate but as Alana said, they will still have the Mercedes! I have to congratulate them on their adaptability. This living in London is their life, not a vacation so they are doing what the English do. Quite remarkable. They took us to see where they practice and we took them to dinner. They tried to convince us to join them the next night for a practice session but we declined, over and over. We were going to St. Albans the next day and had no idea of what we would find plus I was still pretty upset about Torquay. Dancing was not what I wanted to do. We had a great day with Tim and Alana.
Monday June 12th. Today is St. Albans. We were going to do some genealogy research for Andy’s family. Andy’s family has deep roots in England but as Andy says, as soon as there was regular service to America, they all left! We first went to the Roman ruins, Verulamium, founded somewhere around 50 A.D. The Museum was very nice. Very friendly environment and the displays were interactive. I really loved it. We spent about two hours there and then hiked into the city of St. Albans to find the Family History Center. Well, we located the 7th Day Adventists instead. The nice lady told us where the LDS church was and we hiked over there. We saw lots of different places in St. Albans, most, of which an average tourist never sees. We were not in harm’s way but it was off the beaten path. Well, the church was not the FHC so we hiked back to the Tourist Information Center. They told us where the library was so we spend a good couple of hours there, pawing through their books. The librarian was pretty helpful and even helped Andy to get a copy of a 1600 map of St. Albans. We did not get anything new but did get confirmation of names and dates for some births, marriages and deaths. We wished we could have done better but it was OK. I think London might hold more answers to this puzzle. We had another adventure getting back to Guilford. We were on the North Central side of London and had to get to the Southwest of London. We tried a little different route and the traffic was brutal for about 2 miles and then, miraculously, the roadway segued into an Motorway and we were home free, mostly. We decided to eat at the Wool Pack in Elstead but we got there too early. They don’t open until 6:00 P.M. Every one seems to eat later in England. I asked Gillian and she said she would prefer to eat earlier but David gets busy in the yard and it’s 10 or 10:30 sometimes before they eat their main meal. We went back to the B&B and walked down to the Stag. We had eaten there last year and it’s just a short walk over a bridge built in the 1200s to the Stag. We had eaten there last year and it was the night that England was playing Portugal in the Euro 2000 Football (Soccer to us yanks) Tournament. We had a nice supper and went back and I finished watching the football match. Gillian came in and caught me stretching out on the floor and invited me to the Tone and Groan class at the house the next night. Yeah, right…
Tuesday June 13th. Gillian and David all but insisted last year that we go to Portsmouth and we could not work it in but this year it was a must do activity. I could not see what was so great about it but they were very pleased when announced we were going there and Gillian produced brochures and direction and off we went. First the drive down was OK except for the pinch point on the A roadway. A small town refuses to let the road be widened so all 6 lanes scrunch down into 2 for about 2 miles. David says there are plans to put a tunnel under the mountain and it’s a class two project now so maybe it will get funded and done in the next couple years. It certainly would speed things up. Turns out there is a lot to do in Portsmouth. The weather was dreary in the morning so we took David’s advice and did the D-Day Museum first thing. It was something else. The Royal School of Needlework was commissioned to create a tapestry to commemorate the events of D-Day. It’s called the Overlord Embroidery. There are 34 panels representing different aspects of the activities of the invasion. They also have a shot video and they walk through display rooms. Very, very well done. We spent about two hours there just poking around. When we left I certainly had a different understanding what life might have been like for those living in Portsmouth when the attacks occurred. Portsmouth was under direct attack and buildings were bombed and people killed. We saw bombed out buildings last year in Plymouth and before in London but I never understood the impact. After the D-Day Museum, we headed over to the Ship’s Museum. We found the carpark with relative ease and had lunch and then started through the ship’s museum. They have three ships there to be toured. The Mary Rose, Henry VIII’s ship that sank (due to the cannons not being secured), the Victory (Nelson’s ship at the Battle of Trafalgar) and the Warrior, built in 1850 and powered but steam and sail. We have to go back. We did not see it all or take it all in. The Museum we never saw. The ships were wonderful. The Mary Rose is a walk by exhibit. The ship was a found after 800 years in the channel and in order to preserve it, it is constantly watered with a solution of ethyl glycol and wax in the hopes of penetrating the wood and filling it with wax to replace the water. They anticipate it may take 20 years to get it preserved. The Victory is in great shape if a little too short to stand up in. I was hunched over and so was Andy. There were several guys on the tour that were positively stooped on the Orlop deck, which was about 4’8” high. Very uncomfortable position. The guide we had was very informative and told the tail of the battle and we saw the site where Nelson died and a similar barrel to the one that Nelson was preserved in until the ship could get his body to London for burial. Curiously as a seaman, he desired to not be buried at sea. So they honored his wish and pickled him in a barrel of brandy. He was in remarkable condition 6 weeks later when he could be delivered to London and properly buried. The last ship we saw was the Warrior and I confess I was pooped. We roamed it but I think we could have seen more. We headed home, happy but in need of coming back again to re-process what we had seen and to see more. When we got back to the B&B, another guest was there. He’s a regular and we went to dinner together at the Stag. Ron is a School General Manager. He retired a couple years ago but he’s so good, that he gets called back and does it again on a substitute basis. Usually the existing person got sacked so they hire Ron to get matters back in hand and then the new person gets to take over. We talked about WWII. As a child he was shipped off to a farm in Devon for 5 years during WWII. He only saw his mother once a year and it was very traumatic when they came and took him from his substitute mother. He still goes and sees her once a year. Ron lives in Lymington and stays at the B&B since he got tired of hotels and the Swinburn’s are so darn accommodating.
Wednesday June 14th. Today we planned to do Kew Gardens. But wait. David insists we see Wisley Gardens first. They are the premier gardens of the Royal Horticultural Society and just up the road. Later we can go to Kew. OK, he was right before. So off we go and boy, were we impressed. We never made it to Kew Gardens. This garden is huge and impeccably maintained. There is a school there for horticultural students and they were everywhere working. The weather has a particularly iffy quality today but they kept working. The rose garden was bigger than any I have seen before. The roses were a little passed the whole place stank real good. We were particularly impressed with a display of forced hydrangeas in rainbow colors. The fuchsia was to die for. The photo I took of it doesn’t do it justice. We wandered around there for over 5 hours and still did not see it all or even sit long enough to appreciate the beauty of the place. When we left we wandered around a bit. We went searching for Godalming. I have seen that town name several time and thought it must be an interesting place plus I needed to buy my pears soap. It’s mightily hard to come by here in the US so we took a wander. Not quite lost but driving on the B roads (remember the pruning shears for these roadways!) and occasionally swinging through a round-a-bout. Never really got to downtown Godalming either. When we got back to the B&B, fortunately or unfortunately, I was in time for the Tone and Groan! So off I went to the guest lounge and worked out with the English matrons. The teacher knew what she was doing and it was a hard hour for me. My thighs hurt like the dickens for the rest of the vacation! I also showed off THE DRESS. I had shown it to Gillian and she was sure the other ladies would love to see it. I think they were expecting to see a huge box and when I took it out of a duffel bag and phrumphed it to live, they were amazed. They all touched it. One woman was so surprised, because every ball gown she has she worries about wrinkling. Not so with this honey! I explained that it was specially made by costumers and of materials that stretch and move with you. They touched and oohed and aahed and then they watched me pack it back up into that little bag again. Quite a show!
We finally went to Godalming. Once we broke down and asked directions, it was a piece of cake! We had dinner at the Bel and Dragon. It’s a new restaurant, open 5 weeks, and the food was quite good. The building had been a church (wasn’t everything?) and then an auction house and none of the church decorations were left in the building. They did a wonderful job decorating. We shared the best sticky toffee pudding there for dessert. I sure hope it stays in business. The High Street in Godalming was interesting. New store fronts on the ground level and the old stuff on the first floor. Some of it quite tilted one way or the other. Next time we will wander there longer. Found the soap! Gillian recommended Waitrose as opposed to Stainsbury’s and Waitrose had what I needed. It was time to go back and pack. This was our last night at the Lower Eashing Farmhouse. Gillian had a big party coming in and they needed the room. She had arranged for us to stay in a B&B very near Gatwick, which was a good idea.
Thursday June 15th. We left the Swinburn’s, promising to return and headed for Leeds Castle, another must do. We spent about two hours there. The castle was very nice and the grounds were very well manicured. But I felt like I was at an English version of the Biltmore House only not a grand but much older. Henry VIII had stayed there (and everywhere it seems) and the old keep area was pretty spectacular; the rest was so-so. The weather was Iffy. Spitting rain and clammy. We could go to Canterbury or Dover and I opted for Dover. I think Canterbury will be a day and we only had a few hours. Dover was the surprise of the trip. We got on the M and went Southeast. Saw where they are building the roadway for the high-speed train to France, through the Chunnel. Thought about taking the Chunnel but decided that’s for another trip. I wanted to see the White Cliffs of Dover! We had no idea where we were really going. The guide book was pretty vague on attractions and nothing seemed to say, this way to the scenic overview. So we followed the sign to Dover Castle. Turns out our intuition was correct. Dover Castle sits high over the White Cliffs and I could get photos and we got to see the hovercraft come in from France, twice. It makes a weird racket and comes up on a pier and then settles down like a big bullfrog when the fans are turned off. I really liked seeing it. But the Castle was wonderful. Seems there has been a fortification there since the Romans inhabited England. So there is a Roman lighthouse build in the first century, a Saxon church with a Norman Church built right on top of each other and next to the lighthouse and a great big castle with a keep and everything built by Henry II. It was wonderful. They even had a trebuchet (mediaeval war engine) but that it was a reconstructed one. The Keep was in very good shape and open. The National Trust, which runs the site, has an exhibit set up that showed how the castle residents would have gotten ready for a visit from Henry VIII. Actually he did visit so it was probably historically accurate. The, hum, bathroom facilities were very interesting… The king was the only one with a private loo. There were also mediaeval tunnels and buildings and tunnels from WWII. We just did not have enough time to see it all and we will go back. Not many places you can go that have history that spans from Roman times to WWII.
It was time to leave England now. I think we were sightseeing out. We headed back towards London and Gatwick and our B&B for the night. Of course we had our one traffic problem. The M had a great big accident right where we were suppose to get off so out comes the wonderful Ordinance Survey map and I find an alternative route which actually might have been better. We slipped right into and out of Gatwick and zipped on the B&B. The one we stayed in was only 8 minutes from Gatwick. It was very quite too since the planes took off and landed away from the house.
Friday June 16th. Time to go home. We met a couple at breakfast on Friday morning that were on their way to 2.5 weeks in Barbados. They own a home there. Fancy that! Very nice people. The B&B was nice, not Swinburn's but nice. First experience with shredding toilets. Yes, there was a shredder in the toilet. Don’t know why but it was loud when you flushed. It was way too light for my sleeping habits but the room was large and clean. And the hosts were very pleasant people. Viv made sure we knew where to get gas and how to turn the car in. We were pleasantly surprised at the ease of getting into the airport and the car return is right next to the terminal. What a deal! It was so much easier than any airport in the US we have ever used. We were pretty early to the airport but got checked in and entered “no man’s land”. Once you have passed into the terminal area you are stuck and unfortunately we did get stuck. The plane was 2 hours late getting in to London. The flight, which was coming from Atlanta, had to go to Shannon because, get this, London was fogged in! We left at 2PM and arrived in Atlanta at 5:45PM. I took my nap before we even took off! The flight was event free and I watched American Beauty (interesting) and some sitcoms. Andy dozed and read mostly.
Now, this has gone on long enough. If you desire more information on any of the places we visited, just let us know. We have books from everywhere and soon, very soon I will read them.
Until the next time, Lisa