Where’s Waldo and the Wanderers Now?

We have just arrived at our fourth place in England; time to catch up and look at where we’ve been.

            Dan, Plymouth

Dan was our first Airbnb host, who generously picked us up at the ferry landing at 10PM when we arrived from France. He and his family were leaving on vacation the next day, so our time with them was brief. But they were quite nice, and the ride in from the ferry dock was great – driving in the dark right off the ferry would have been a disaster!

The next morning we walked into the town of Plymouth, to the car rental place, and we’ve had wheels ever since (although we have certainly been “mobility challenged”!).

            Jane & Oz, Cornwall

Our first real place, where we stayed for a week, was in a quiet village in a river valley. A wonderful place, where we took tranquil walks along the river, and some more stimulating excursions to the moors in Dartmoor. We’ve heard much about the fine beaches on the south coast, but we were warned how very crowded they are in August. Besides, we live near the beach. In this small village, we also began to learn about tiny village lanes with high hedges on both sides, never designed for modern automobiles.

 

View from the deck at Jane & Oz's

The Tamar Rive & Railroad Bridge in Calstock

One of Calstock's two pubs

Outside the "Yacht Club" in Calstock

No, it's a foot path, we didn't have to drive here!

           

Tony, near Gloucester

A suburban experience, in a small town a bit south of the ancient city of Gloucester. The Gloucester & Sharpness Canal flows just outside our window. This canal, like most canals, was built to carry shipping, in this case the movement of goods from Gloucester to Bristol, and thence to the sea. It allowed Gloucester to be the most inland of England’s ports, and in its day handled all kinds of freight.

The arrival of the railroads, however, reduced the importance of canals, and trucking on the modern highway system has eliminated canals as a shipping route. Today canals here in England, like in France and the rest of Europe, are used for recreation. Every day we see small boats, mostly the particular type of English boat called a Narrow Boat (6’-8” wide to fit in 7’ locks), passing up and down the canal, or tying to the bank to spend a night or three.

Of course, we also visited Gloucester, its once-busy docks (for which the canal was built), and the famous cathedral. We took a trip to Oxford, about an hour away, and got re-acquainted with an English couple we met 15 years ago on a trip to Alaska. Oh, and then there were our former Airbnb guests who lived nearby and took us for a drive around Ross-on-Wye and Forest of Dean, visiting some of their favorite places. Hummmm, seems like we did quite a bit there!

View out our window at Tony's

The canal on a still evening

An English Narrow Boat tied up along the canal; in the background, our window is the second dormer from the right

Narrow Boats and a rower on the Gloucester Canal

           

The Farmhouse Mews, Braithwaite

We have just arrived here, in the Lake District, it the north of England. (Took about six hours of motorway driving, some at 70MPH, some much slower due to construction, accidents, and traffic around Manchester. Highways in England are every bit as charming as those in California – which is to say, not at all!) Braithwaite is a tiny village with stone houses, and no real grocery store, The Scottish boarder is about an hour’s drive. We’re looking forward to doing some hiking, for which the region is renowned. We also have a tip on some megalithic sites, some great-looking stone circles, not far from here. (Google satellite view has taken the mystery out of a lot of places,; it also allows for some anticipation!)

Oh yes, Paula reminds me of the distillery, always an interesting visit. Here we’ve got whisky, gin, and vodka. Then there’s Hadrian’s wall, begun in 122AD by the Roman Emperor Hadrian to keep out the Northern Savages – today known as Scots. (And, likely, inspiration for The Wall in Game of Thrones, although Hadrian’s falls far short of 700 feet high.)

So we expect it will be a stimulating and eventful week!

Quick photo out our window at the Farmhouse Mews, in the Lake District