Visit to Lacock

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Journey between Chippenham and Reybridge via Lacock
On 7 July, we took the train to Chippenham, and reached there in the lunch time. The travel line webpage misled us to wait at the wrong bus stop. One of the ladies on the street advised us to go the bus terminal by the riverside. We found the bus timetable, which was the same as the one we had printed from the Internet. As a result of the change and confusion, we missed the 12:57 bus. we had a picnic lunch by the river. Mark and I remembered walking along the river, as a part of the suggested walking course, when we visited Chippenham before.

The single Decker bus, which would go to Lacock, came just after 2pm, and we arrived at Lacock at 2:30. We remembered the streets and buildings which we saw in 2005. As we were going to the Damson Cottage in Reybridge, we crossed over the horse bridge over the River Avon and walked along the footpath for Reybridge. Not having the detailed map, we came out of nowhere! Following the sign for Damson Cottage, we walked on the single concrete road. Mark phoned the owner of the hotel, but she didn't answer the first time. We managed to reach the village. We found a man in the village, and asked him where Damson Cottage was. Unfortunately, he was a contracted builder who isn't living in Reybridge, and he wasn't able to help us. We walked past the bridge and reached the florist shop. Mark phoned the hotel and managed to get hold of the owner. We were directed to go back to the bridge, cross it over, and Damson Cottage appeared on the left hand.

Damson Cottage possessed a number of old-fashioned pieces of furniture, e.g. Victorian cooker, oak sideboard, and quite a few Japanese artworks. She showed us the dining room, bathroom, and single and double bedroom. She also told us the shortcut route for Lacock.

Strolling through Lacock
After having a rest, we started exploring the village. After crossing over the bridge, we turned left and entered the footpath flanked by the allotments. We walked through the pasture land. A stunning rural landscape with lush hills and grounds and honey coloured houses and several horses made us forget about the stressful journey from Chippenham to Reybridge.

After returning to Lacock, we began strolling through the village, popping in St Cyriac's Church, bakery, National Trust, grocery shop, Quintessentially (Candle and soap shop), and Wool shop etc. We closely looked at some of the tilted timber-framed houses with mullioned windows, fringes and patterns on the facade. Sachi was impressed with the well-preserved medieval houses, which were built between 14th and 17th century. I told her that Lacock village has been managed by the National Trust, as well as Lacock Abbey. She was surprised that the wool shop was open in the middle of the summer, which wouldn’t happen in Japan. There were number of pullovers, slippers, carpets, and blankets, all of which were made of sheep’s skin. She found the sponges made of sheep’s skin and bought it for her father.

George Inn
We decided to have dinner at George Inn, one of the oldest pubs in Lacock. There were some interesting features, e.g. the original Tudor fireplace with the spat and lintel decorated with a stack of timbers and copper saucepans. There were quite a few people including Japanese tourists popping in and taking photos of the famous fireplace.

We waited a bit for the special menu to be displayed. Sadly, the restaurant didn’t do roast meats on Wednesday night. Admittedly, it is getting more difficult for us to find the restaurants where they served roast beef other than Sunday lunch time these days. However, all of the meals sounded very English, e.g. beef ale & pie, venison, lamb with mint sauce with vegetables and roasted potatoes. Mark and I had desserts e.g. bread and butter pudding or rhubarb and apple crumble.

On 8 July, we got up at 8 o’clock and had breakfast at 8:30. We all had full English breakfast. Sachi was curious about the fact that there were loads of Japanese items at Damson Cottage and she talked to the owner. We found that she lived in Tokyo in the 1970s, as her husband had been working for the French company based in Tokyo. She liked Japan, food, and was interested in Japanese art, e.g. Hiroshige and Hokusai’s ukiyoe paintings.

As we had planned visiting Lacock Abbey, we asked if we could leave our big pieces of baggage and late pick them up. The lady let us leave them and take the key in case there would be nobody in the house when we could come back in the afternoon.

It was a sunny morning. Water plants, e.g. lilacs and water lilies were thriving. Ducks and swans and their children were swimming in the river. Sheep were out in the pasture land. They didn’t seem to be afraid of humans or mind that we were taking photos of them. As usual, they were eating grasses and leaving umpteen droppings and pieces of wool on the ground. We looked in the distance. The sun was reflecting on the lush hills and meadows, honey coloured buildings including the church’s spire, and sheep and horses. It was a typical English rural landscape.

Knowing that Lacock Abbey wouldn’t open till 11 o’clock, we decided to stroll through the village, spotting historical objects, e.g. sheep’s gates attached near the church, 14th century barn and popping in the National Trust shop. Lacock Abbey and village have been used for a number of settings for famous films, e.g. Harry Potter, Pride and Prejudice, Emma, Cranford, recently. There were books about films made in Lacock. It was interesting to know that people laid white powders on the streets and roofs to make it a winter wonderland scene for Cranford and to read the details of street people wearing the Victorian costumes and letting people run the horse carriage.

Lacock Abbey
We entered Lacock Abbey and grounds at 11 o’clock. The Sphinx monument, grounds, and courtyard building did not seemed to have been changed since 2005. We were told that the entrance had been changed, e.g. we would enter from South facade and end at the Great Hall.

We started walking on the corridor under the cloister vaulting, which were carved with heraldic shields and a rich assortment of mythological and grotesque creatures. We were invited to several rooms which were used for the nuns’ mourning places, kitchen, and keeping important documents. There were some murals, a mysterious pot which was used for Harry Potter’s film, the tank were the nuns washed and kept a shoal of fish for them to eat on Fridays.

After strolling through the cloister, we went into the house. We were invited to the kitchen which showed various features, e.g. remains of the enormous Tudor fireplace, Georgian laundry unit, Victorian cooker, and Edwardian dumbwaiter, which were used in different periods of time over the 600 years.

Afterwards, we started looking round the house. There were portraits of the past residents, Sir William Sharington, Olive Sharington, displayed in the corridor, and a number of valuable art collection, artefacts, furniture belonging to the Talbot family displayed, e.g. Fox Talbot’s collection of natural history specimens, stuffed animals, antiquarian books, the chairs with the back shaped as open shells, the rocking horse, blue-and-white patterned china collection, carved mythological figures shown on the legs of the stone tables, music instruments including the harp which was used by the Queen Victoria, and Venetian glass chandeliers, to name just a few. One of the most outstanding features is the central bay window which was used for Fox Talbot’s photographic invention in South Gallery. There were more rooms with a wide collection of the Talbot’s family’s possessions shown in 2010 than the last time we visited. The new route ended up at the Dining Room and Hall where numerous terracotta statues and busts were displayed on the wall and coats of arms of Ivory Talbot’s friends and relatives on the ceiling.

It was 12:30 when we finished looking round the house. We walked to the Botanical Garden, Lady Elizabeth’s Rose garden, and the viewpoint for a bubbling brook and 18th century rockworks. We also walked to the viewpoint to see the south facade of the abbey. Finally, we quickly looked round the Fox Talbot exhibition related to his invention of photography. Different types of materials, equipment, and tools which Fox Talbot used for the invention, were displayed, along with negatives and photos that had been developed over the time.

King John's Hunting Lodge
We went to the tearoom of King John's Hunting Lodge in the lunch time. We sat at the table inside. The waitresses did not seem to have noticed us, and Sachi called one of the waitresses. We all ordered "Cream tea". The dining room was decorated with very striking tapestries representing King John which were hanging on the wall and oak sideboards laden with blue-and-white china sets displayed with English cakes. We were offered proper leaf tea, freshly baked scones, homemade jams and clotted cream. They were delicious and filling.

We picked up our luggage at Damson Cottage and walked to the bus stop. We found the big cherry tree near the Cantax House previous day. Sachi had gone to the cherry tree while we were waiting for the bus. The bus arrived a little later than the scheduled time. We were charged higher bus fare than the previous day due to the different bus company. The bus arrived at the bus terminal of Cheltenham. We found the Market Hall while walking towards the station.

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