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Published: June 23rd 2008
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Following a brilliant weekend in Brugge, I met up with my wonderful aunt Kathy who had made the long trek to see me from Hawaii. During a brief stopover in London (while waiting for Kathy's luggage to turn up from the airport - thanks Heathrow!) we planned the weeks travel ahead. We decided to do a loop through the country side, first heading to Cornwall then up to Wales and Shropshire to see where my great grandfather had grown up and then down through the West Midlands to London.
Once Kathy’s bags arrived from Heathrow we got straight in the car and headed on the long drive to Cornwall and kept going till we made it to Penzance. We arrived in Penzance about 8 pm and in our desire to be flexible and spontaneous we hadn’t booked a place to stay. The places we had in mind were full and any where else was too smelly or too dodgy! So we headed over to the next town of Marazion where we stumbled across the wonderful Corner House. This place was brilliant - we had a beautiful room and the town was quaint and charming. The driveway was a bit tight
though (we managed to scratch the hire car on the way in!). We conned a local hotel into serving us some dinner after they had closed their dining room and then settled in for a lovely nights rest.
The next morning I awoke fairly early and took a little walk around the town. The main attraction of Marazion is without a doubt Saint Michael’s Mount, which I discovered I could see from the window of our B&B room if I was standing on tippy toes! Saint Michael’s Mount is an enchanting medieval castle and church perched upon a craggy island and at high tide it is completely cut off from the mainland, however at low tide you can walk all the way out across a cobbled pathway. It was so quiet and serene to be able to have a walk along that beach at that time of the morning.
After breakfast, Kathy and I set off to see some more of the Cornish countryside. We drove along the coastline to Land’s End and then on to St Ives for a little shopping, stopped in at Padstow for more shopping and then to Newquay for lunch. We ate lunch
in the hotel where my uncle Matthew and his wife Jodie were married - Kathy was able to give me a little tour of where the wedding had taken place.
Further along we stopped at Tintagel which is thought of as the ruins of King Arthur’s castle. One thing that struck me about Cornwall was just how blue and inviting the water looked! I was almost tempted to take a dip!
Thanks to our brilliant planning, we were again stuck for somewhere to sleep the night - the first hotel we found was fully booked out but we end up spending the night in a hotel along the motorway at Bristol. From Bristol we planned to make our way to Wales the next morning.
This day was my turn to do a little of the driving but once we got to Cardiff I was struggling to find somewhere to park our car. So I was evicted from driving duties and my aunt found us somewhere remotely close to Cardiff castle to park. Kathy and I took in a tour of Cardiff castle and then completed our essential shopping tasks (I managed to make some great finds!) and then
headed towards Abergavenny. I’d longed to see Abergavenny as it was where one of my close childhood friends had grown up. I have to say I loved Wales, the countryside was full of rolling and sometimes dramatic lush green hills peppered with sheep. I can’t wait to make it back there sometime soon.
From Abergavenny we travelled back into England, to Church Stretton in Shropshire. This is the town where my great-grandfather immigrated to Australia from. Kathy and I stopped in at the graveyard to check for any clues to our family history and we managed to find some family graves. One of those graves made reference to the family having lived at Botvyle Farm. Satisfied with our discoveries we headed off to find our bed and breakfast. It proved hard to find and we were soon lost in the hedge-rows. Amazingly we stumbled across Botvyle farm which is now operating as a B&B. We enquired about being able to stay the night however they were booked out. When we explained the family connection the owner invited us into the parlour to show us a pane of glass in the window. Engraved in the window were the names of
many of my relatives! For me that was the most amazing moment of the week, simply to see my great-great grandmother’s name engraved on a piece of glass.
We eventually found where we were supposed to be staying, the North Hill Farm. Although I was somewhat disappointed not to be able to stay at Botvyle Farm, North Hill more than made up for it. It was a perfect location perched on a hill with amazing views across the patchwork fields.
Sadly our trip was drawing to a close and so from Church Stretton we had to head back to London making a quick stop at Warwick castle. I had a wonderful week and am so grateful to my aunt for taking me on this trip - with out her I might not have seen any more of the U.K. than London!
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