Inside Wells Cathedral

We were hoping we’d make it to Wells Cathedral in time for their Choral Evensong at 5:15 on Monday September 16th. We were so happy that we did and enjoyed a very meaningful hour…

Evensong: (Boy Choristers and Vicars Choral)

Preces and Responses: Smith

Psalms: 82, 83, 84, 85

Canticles: Byrd Fauxbourdon Service

Anthem: Byrd Justorum animae

Wells had lots to offer photo wise so there will be a few posts from this Cathedral City. Next week I’ll continue with photos of the outside views of the cathedral, the Bishop’s Palace, Vicar’s Close, and the Inn where we stayed.

“Wells is the smallest city in England with about 12,000 inhabitants. It can call itself a city because of the famous 13th century Cathedral. It remains remarkably unspoilt and has many other historic buildings including the moated Bishop’s Palace, Vicars’ Close, St Cuthbert’s Church and a good local museum. The Wells Market Place, with lively markets twice a week, the narrow streets and an eclectic mix of building styles all reflect on the continuing development of the town throughout the ages.”

We are enjoying a very leisurely Friday and plan the same for Saturday here in the Pacific Northwest. Hope all is well in your domain…

Friday’s Fences…

I’m participating in a new meme for me this week called Friday’s Fences from Life According to Jan and Jer.

This fence is from The Beryl, a boutique hotel in Wells, England. We stayed at this Inn this past September.

I’ll have to sneak in visits to see other fences today because soon I’ll have 4 girls (ladies) around my breakfast table, 2 nieces, our daughter and DIL. All my nieces and nephews live in California, Texas and Colorado so it’s a special treat when we capture a couple and bring them up to Washington state. Time will tell what the “girls” decide to spend time doing today until my sister Lana arrives later this afternoon. Hope you have a fun Friday planned.

Stow on the Wold

Just the name of this market town makes you want to check it out. Looking back on our trip I’m already hoping to return and spend some more leisurely time here and there. The Cotswolds is one of the places I’d like to explore with time to just wander about. There was one thing I was determined to see during our very short time in Stow.

We needed to find The Parish Church of St. Edward.

The Parish Church of St. Edward was built between the 11th and the 15th century. The tower was the last part of the church to be completed in 1447. It is 88′ high and houses the heaviest peal of eight bells in Gloucestershire; it is also very prominent for miles around. The painting of the Crucifixion in the south aisle was painted by Gaspar de Craeyer (1582 – 1669), a contemporary of Rubens and Van Dyck. Many features of this outstanding Cotswold Church may be attributed to the town’s prosperity as a centre of the Wool Trade.

But all this cool history isn’t what motivated me to walk around this church…

I was looking for a special door I wanted to see. This is a cool door but it wasn’t the one I was looking for.

This is the door I was determined to see in person. Those are real trees that flank this door to the church. Pretty cool, yes?

We had to have the “we were here” photo taken! Another slightly different view. Can you tell I was excited about this door?

If I visit Stow again I think I would take tea at Lucy’s …

From the Cotswolds we headed Southwest to stay a night in the Cathedral City of Wells. Hope you aren’t getting tired of our England journeys. I’ve got lots more to share and we haven’t even gotten to Cornwall yet…

We have a fun weekend planned with lots of girlie things we hope to enjoy. October is half over. What are your plans for this weekend? Today (Wednesday) I’m just watching the leaves fall and I ordered a pizza to be delivered for dinner. There were a lot of leaves to watch after all…

A Taste of Downton Abbey in Bampton…

Since we wouldn’t be able to stop at Highclere Castle during our recent trip to England we stopped at Bampton in Oxfordshire where some filming was done.

The village of Bampton was used for filming outdoor scenes, most notably St. Mary’s Church and the library, which serves as the entrance to the cottage hospital.

This weekend we are going to be having a girls time with daughters, nieces, sisters which includes a Downton Abbey marathon. I’m looking forward to comparing some of the church photos and village photos with what we saw in this quaint village.

I’m looking back today to come up with some photos for Vee’s notecard party. The fall colors are getting more prominent around these parts. How are they shaping up where you are?

St. James Church, Chipping Campden

The church of St James, is a landmark for miles around, can be found at the north end of Chipping Campden. It is a magnificent example of an early perpendicular wool church, rebuilt in the 15th century.

We walked away from the village center to walk about The Church of St. James. We really enjoyed the views of the church and from the church.

And from the inside of the church…

” The finely carved canopied tomb of Sir Thomas Smythe is on the North wall in the sanctuary and is the most remarkable in the church. He was Lord of the Manor of Campden until his death in 1593. He lived at the court of Henry VIII and was the first Governor of the East India Company.

Some interesting history of the church can be read by clicking here. It was interesting to me to read about the “peal of eight bells”. We passed this Inn on our way back to the town center from St. James.

Hope you all are having a nice weekend and for our friends in Canada I hope you are enjoying your traditional Thanksgiving meals with some loved ones. For the most part we’ve had a very unproductive weekend here at this old house. We did manage to take apart and clean out our dishwasher which revealed some interesting stuff…icky. Maybe the beginning of our week will be more productive. We have some fun plans for the end of this week. How about you?

Chipping Campden ~ Cotswolds

“Chipping Campden is one of the loveliest small towns in the Cotswolds and a gilded masterpiece of limestone and craftmanship. The main street curves in a shallow arc lined with a succession of ancient houses each grafted to the next but each with its own distinctive embellishments.”

“As the name suggests (“Chipping” means market or market place from the old English “Ceping”). Chipping Campden was one of the most important of the medieval wool towns and famous throughout Europe. This legacy of fame and prosperity is everything that give the town its character.

Campden was already established in the 7th century and derives its name from the Saxon “Campa-denu” or “Campadene”, meaning a valley with fields or enclosures of cultivated land.”

“For many visitors, Chipping Campden is the quintessential Cotswold town. It has a variety of building styles that have survived from all ages. Chipping Campden was one of the Cotswold’s main wool markets.”

World War I and World War II Memorials.

The ancient Market Hall was built in 1627 by Sir Baptist Hicks for a cost of £90.00. It was for the purpose of giving shelter to the local market selling cheese, butter and poultry – not wool as is sometimes thought.

Each corner of the building has a pediment, and each gable had a window which is now blocked up. The side arches have stone ballustrades and the floor is paved with stone.

We really enjoyed this small market town. There was a used bookstore in town where I found an Elizabeth Goudge book.

We also spent some time at St. James Church grounds and I’ll share those photos next along with some of it’s history.

I had a fun adventure with one of the “girls” last night and hope to share about that soon. It was a beautiful day on Wednesday here in the Seattle area. Hope all is well where you live…

HT: Chipping Campden Tourist Information.

An Evening Stroll…

…through the graveyard to dinner.

After settling in at the Old Manor House we asked for a recommendation for dinner and chose the “walk to” option. Strolling in the countryside is so rewarding.

We weren’t starving so we detoured slightly through the church yard.

We found out later that relatives of our host are buried in this church yard cemetery. It’s interesting to think of the years of history the family claims here.

It was fun to see these phone booths are still around.

Dinner just ahead at the Halford Bridge.

Beef and Yorkshire Pudding which is a regular offering on Sundays for many pubs.

We decided to share a dessert, too.

It was interesting to me to see most of the eateries we stopped in already were advertising for their Christmas meals so you could book ahead. Makes me think a lot of people eat out at Christmas which also means a lot of people work on Christmas…

I think I’ve only eaten out on Christmas once if that. Have you eaten out on Christmas or do you eat in?

Old Manor House…

…a luxury Bed and Breakfast in South Warwickshire, on the edge of the Cotswolds. This 16th Century home was our favorite. This great house is seven miles from Stratford Upon Avon and just one and a half hours from London.

We had a very good experience here and if we would travel back to England we’d book more than a night at this lovely manor to explore the area.

16th Century homes have some very unique features. Josh and Laura got the duck your head room!

Loved the windows…

One of the fun highlights of our time here was meeting Geoff and Joan, an older couple who were staying at the Old Manor House while we were there. We had a lovely time talking and getting to know their interesting history.

It was so interesting to learn that Joan was one of the “Call the Midwives” that served after World War II in the London Area. I asked her if she had seen the BBC series and she said that she really has enjoyed it and how accurate the show is.

I didn’t get a photo of our hosts but did get one of their adult son who was helping out while we were there with breakfast and taking care of a new litter of pups.

Speaking of breakfast…it was a delicious version of the traditional English breakfast.

We highly recommend the Old Manor House. Tomorrow I’ll share photos from our short walk to “The Halford” where we enjoyed our Sunday Pub Dinner.

Back on the home front…

My niece Michelle shared these words from my dear old Pop on Sunday when they visited him…
“You know, it’s hard without your Baba. I have tears. But God is with me. And so I get up and go on again. God is love. And when His love is in you, you feel His comfort. I’m thanking Him for all He’s given me. He is good.”
Today when I talked to him on the phone he said, “I’m not going to lie, it’s hard.” We talked about how great it is that he has good memories. “Yes, he said, God has been good to us.” By the way today he went to “Staplers” (Staples) to buy a board so he could put together a jigsaw puzzle Ryan and Michelle bought him…
Thank you for remembering him in your prayers!!

Stratford Upon Avon…

On our way to the Old Manor House in Halford on the edge of the Cotswolds we stopped for a couple of hours in Shakespeare’s Stratford Upon Avon.

We were intrigued with a property that had both the Union Flag and the U.S. flag and walked in to tour the property. Here’s a link that gives the history of this property.

An old fashioned confectioners on High Street.

This is Shakespeare’s birthplace right in the middle of town on Henley Street right across the street from Peter Rabbit!

This town is a full vibrant town with plenty of history, shops and eateries to enjoy. This was a Sunday so some shops were closed and many were closing at five. We had our fill of being on the road and shopping on this day and headed a little south in search of our Bed and Breakfast. I’ll devote a full post to the Old Manor House in Halford as it was our favorite B & B experience this time around in England.

One of the shops that I wish was open was this shop. I really wanted that tea bag holder…

We’ve had several days of sunshine here in the Seattle area and took care of some outdoor work we needed to do. First load of leaves, mostly what we call helicopter seeds, have fallen from the huge maple in our neighbor’s yard on to our drive and lawns. Very soon we’ll have several more leaves fall that will need to be taken care of. For a day or two we are enjoying a nice neat and tidy yard. We pulled out 3 arbor vitae and took them back to Home Depot for a refund since they didn’t do well and had turned brown.

Hope you had a nice October weekend!

The Potteries

The Potteries area in Stoke on Trent isn’t a picturesque area of England and it’s not like one our factory outlet areas in the states. Each factory stands on it’s own and you have to do some driving in between the shops depending on your interests. We were not devoting a whole day to this venture as we were more interested in getting to our next destination in the Cotswolds.

I was most interested to see the Emma Bridgewater shop. We chose the second factory that was closest to E.B. which was Aynsley.

Here’s a link where you can poke around and see all the different potteries there are to visit in the area.

I’m a real bargain hunter and even the discounted prices weren’t floating my boat. I chose a few items to pack away in my suitcases to bring home. If you are serious about buying there was a shipping option at the factory stores.

I chose the hedgehog for my souvenir mug. The inscription on the bottom says “Numbers of Mrs. Tiggy-Winkle’s friends and relations are seriously depleted in the twenty-first century. Falling insect populations and rising traffic levels have all taken their toll as has excessive tidiness in the garden with the loss of vital log heaps and piles of leaves.

A couple egg cups and a tea towel rounded out my purchases at Emma Bridgewater.

It was fun to poke around our second stop but we left empty handed. My buying skills were kind of like this next sign we saw…

Happy first October weekend to all of you. We got some fabulous sunshine on Friday and I hope we have more in store. We have some serious yard work that needs to get done and some dry days would really help that venture. I’ll continue with my England posts Sunday night or Monday. Enjoy your weekend!

The Happy Wonderer ~ ellen b.

To honor and encourage

Category Archives: England