More Environs About Bath

---

Awaken to a perfectly beautiful day (Tuesday), no clouds visible, yet not to let us forget we are in England we did experience a drop or two later in the day, but nothing to complain about. After extracting the parking ticket from our windshield, we made our way to the town of Cheddar where Cheddar Cheese was first produced. Yep we purchased a couple varieties. Sorry Doozer, but the products must be consumed before we board the warm plane to Ireland. Have a wonderful picture of a country English road😉, followed by the Abbey at Glastonbury. Henry VIII dissolved the abbeys in 1539 as the Pope refused to grant a divorce from his Spanish Queen. He then preceded to destroy the abbeys in England. Really Henry, you are tearing all these fine buildings up just to gain a divorce. Come on dude. Okay, okay he also desired to appropriate (steal) the riches of the abbeys, but the spark was the Pope's refusal. We do not care for Henry, his daughter Elizabeth, well that is another matter. Women often, maybe typically, are better than men. Okay, there are definitely exceptions, but how many women have carried an AR-15 into a school?

Next stop was the Wells Cathedral. Gosh, just a run of the mill amazing cathedral folks constructed during the middle ages.

Now we arrive at Wednesday 8 June where we proceeded to Avebury in order to view prehistoric stone circles. Saw Stonehenge in 2015, which produced awe. Stonehenge is presented very well, although quite compact so lends itself to such treatment. By contrast Avebury is gigantic; it encircles a small town. Furthermore, religious fanatics who may even put Jerry Falwell to shame spent time destroying many of the "pagan" stones, while other folks scavenged rock from others to use as building materials. Nonetheless, it was an enjoyable pastoral scene. We also took a peek at the nearby Silbury Hill, which is a mound created over 4,000 years ago making it the oldest man-made object in Europe.

On Thursday visited several rather old villages, including Castle Rock where we have a picture. St. Andrew's Church occupies a spot in the center of town with most of the structure dating from the 15th century, although some portions are from the 13th.

We have arrived at our last day in Bath and was the day glorious, temp mid to perhaps upper 60's and look at the sky in the pictures. Yes, we received a drop or two late but very few. Great last day! Off to Cardiff, Wales on the morrow. Of course we continue to hope all are well and bushy tailed.

---

Photos

English Country Road
Do not recall our destination, but do know the GPS led us down this road (really just a trail). Ostensively, this is a two lane road, but our car barely fit. Guess the speed limit? Wrong-it is 60 mph. Seriously England. Well, we were certainly pleased to exit the few we traversed. As a warning to our Doozer who is intending to drive across Ireland. Driving here, and we would imagine worse in Ireland, is not intuitive. Driving on the continent is intuitive, here no. Things just do not flow. In addition these folks drive on the wrong side of the road and similarly place the steering wheel on the wrong side . And Doozer are you aware of European road signs? We have viewed them for many years, yet the difference from the US takes us time readjusting. Don't drive-take a tour. Folks help-tell him that.

Wells Cathedral
Wish to see pictures inside? Speak to the Bird; she disallowed me to include.

Glastonbury Abbey
Henry had his minions tear roofs off the Abbeys, but here folks also appropriated stone to build houses. At the front many years previous Edward I reburied King Arthur and Guinevere, really just to solidify his conquest of Wales. Yet if you believe Arthur and Guinevere existed, I have a wonderful island off the coast of Kansas to sell.

Avebury Stones
A few of these are present about.

More Stones
A section of the stone circle below the town. Notice the sheep?

Bird's Eye View;)
Ariel view of the preceding picture. White specs are sheep. The stones are where the grass has been recently cut.

Another Ariel View
Different section that is above town.

Silbury Hill
Mentioned this earlier. Will also add the RAF stationed lookouts atop the hill during WWII to report on Nazi bombers. German bombers ranged widely through England causing damage to historical sights. Much more than London and RAF bases were targeted.

St. Andrews
Yep, looks pretty old to us.

Castle Rock
Folks continue to reside in the village. Today must be trash pick-up as their blue waste cans are out.

River Avon Cruise
Not the sharpest knives in the drawer as we took another river cruise, but with our expectations tempered, we were not disappointed. This was the end of the line where sits Bathampton Weir. England used water power extensively until coal rolled around. This weir dates from the 14th century.

Kennet and Avon Canal
Before the locomotive industrial England built many canals to move goods. This one has been repurposed as a city walk. Where the horses once labored pulling barges folks now stroll along the canal. The bridges date from the very beginning of the 19th century.

Rick Steves Cover
As Rick used a photo of the Pulteney Bridge, we felt obligated to follow suit in our blog. The bridge was constructed during the later 18th century.

Bath
Bird and I were sipping an English beer and thought you would like to see typical Bath architecture. Everywhere are very similar buildings, some more elaborate, some less.

Comments

[Luanne Helms]

Trip
We are certainly enjoying your trip through your pictures and updates.....stay safe and keep having fun!!! Love you