Spooky Dartmoor

It was a bleak and bitterly cold day, walking on the moor.  The fog blotted out the sun, the mist blowing across the fields.  The wind “cut you, cut you like a knife”.  We were following the ancient Two Moors path, picking our way around the peat bogs, not really lost but not knowing where we were.

The wind howled, at least we thought that it was the wind.  Suddenly, a menacing, luminous form emerged from the mists.  It is a great hound!

Oops, sorry.  I got a little melodramatic there.  It turned out not to be the Hound of Baskervilles.  It was actually a peaceful, white Dartmoor pony.  It was bitterly cold and foggy with cutting wind, though, and I expected the Hound to appear at any moment.

Yesterday, we ventured out on Dartmoor once again.  In weather like this, the moor is a spooky and, at least to Liz, a romantic place.  Where I think of luminescent great danes, Liz sees Brontë sisters.  Never-the-less, it is truly an amazing place!

The day before, we were hesitant to venture too far from our starting point because we couldn’t spot the landmarks that our Ordinance Survey map referenced through the thick fog.  We were a little braver today.  We thought that as long as we could recognize the path that we were on, we would be OK and be able to get back to our car.  After about 5 minutes, we were rethinking our decision.  Alone on the moor, no discernible landforms and less than 100 yds. of visibility, we were a little worried.  We were still on the Two Moors path but we hadn’t seen the field boundary stone that was supposed to be on our right.  And then it was there, just before we came across the Hound, I mean pony.  Reassured, we trekked on.  Our goal was to find and explore Grimspound.

Grimspound is a mid to late Bronze Age settlement, probably dating from around 1300 B.C.E.  It consists of 24 stone hut circles surrounded by a massive stone wall 500 feet in diameter and 10 feet thick.  As we climbed the hill, we located and passed a few more landmarks.  But, where was the site?  The path was starting to get narrower and we started thinking that we had missed it in the fog.  We decided to turn around and walk back down the hill, resigned to the idea that we may not be able to find it.  And then, about 50 yards to our left, there it was, just visible in the fog.

It is truly an awesome feeling to step inside of a 3000 year old house!  The huts are small, only about 9-15 feet in diameter and were probably just tall enough to stand up in.  The wall surrounding the settlement is huge.  From our vantage point in the fog, we couldn’t see the whole thing at once.  One interesting addition to the site is a stone paved road that runs right through the center of the pound.  This was put there by 12^th or 13^th century tin miners that clearly had no respect for their ancestors.

After spending quite a while at the site, it was time to go back to the 21^st century.  Having traversed the path once, it was relatively easy to find our way back.  All-in-all, it was an incredible hike!

Click here to see our pictures from the Grimspound walk and our walk today around the Southwest Coast footpath near Salcombe, Devon: Pictures from Dartmoor and the Southwest Coast path

Devon Diversions!

Well we really hit the proverbial mother lode this time.  Our wonderful London landlords own a thatched cottage on the edge of Dartmoor in Devon.  They usually rent it through a self-catering rental service when they aren't here.  (Self-catering is the description used in the UK for vacation rentals that include a kitchen and do not include prepared meals such as breakfast).  This week they are having some maintenance work done on the chimney and so couldn't rent to paying customers.  The problem for them and the boondoggle for us is that the chimney in the cottage needs to be kept warm and dry so they needed someone to say here and light the fire.  Well …. we are great and reliable fire lighters!  So here we are in the loveliest cottage basking in front of our fire after a day of walking on the moor!  The cottage may have a thatched roof but inside it is modern, beautifully furnished and fully equipped. 

Devon is beautiful even in the middle of winter.  It is a warren of narrow, wall and hedge lined roads.  Our cottage is on a road that is probably about eight feet wide -- barely wider than our tiny rental car.  It’s a two way road with pull outs, sort of.  If you meet oncoming traffic and no pull out is available, someone backs up.  Did I mention that not only are the roads narrow, they are curvy and often very steep.  Tom did all the driving as I am definitely wise to my limitations and even under favorable conditions in the US, I am not a good driver.  There is no way I could handle driving on the opposite side of the road much less doing so in Devon’s ant maze!  I couldn’t even describe the driving situation accurately when I drafted this post – Tom had to set me straight!

Today we drove up on the moor and walked up to Haytor Rocks.  We intended to walk further, but it was foggy, very cold and windy.  We couldn’t see our next waypoints ahead and worried that we would get lost.  Neither of us wanted you all to next hear of us as the stupid American couple who walked unprepared onto the high moorland and had to be rescued! So we sent shopping instead.  Nonetheless, it was starkly beautiful. We were walking in wild moorland pony tracks and came upon a small group of them playing in a hollow. Tomorrow the conditions are going to be similar but we are hoping to try another longer walk, perhaps in a more sheltered part of the park.

Last Sunday before leaving for Devon, we visited the Red House in Bexleyheath (near Greenwich).  This house was designed by William Morris, one of the famous pre-Raphealite artists in London.  Morris was really into architecture and design.  Eventually he applied his artistic talents to interior décor fabrics and wallpapers.  Earlier this winter we attended a exhibit at the Tate Britain that featured Morris among others.  So it was really interesting to visit his home.  The house was only recently acquired by the National Trust and is currently in the process of being restored.  Seeing the restoration in progress also was interesting. 

We are in Devon until Friday And then my parents are arriving for a two week visit next Wednesday.  Here’s a link to our Devon pictures and pictures of the Red House: Devon Diversions.

Liz

Tempting Spring-like Days in London

Bushy Park

During the past week we were treated to the best weather since we have been in London!  But it was a brief window of relative warmth as the temperatures dropped back down to freezing yesterday!  We keep saying to ourselves that 32 degrees just isn’t that cold.  But believe me – it feels bitter.  I’m not sure whether this is because there is so much moisture in the air even on a relatively dry day, or whether we are simply not acclimated to colder temperatures.  Whatever the reason, we both are hoping for warmer weather again soon.

We were able to take great advantage of the warm weather and went for several long walks.  A week ago we walked on the Thames National Path east toward the Thames Barrier.  This colossal structure was built in 1984 to protect the London area from flooding due to high tidal surges.  This walk was through a very industrial and not particularly attractive part of London along the river.  But the day was beautiful and we finished it off by returning to Greenwich and visiting the National Maritime Museum.  There we went to a fabulous Ansel Adams exhibit that left us both a little homesick!

The next day walked west on the Thames Path from our flat into the city to London Bridge.  This was a very historic walk with great views of central London.  We passed Deptford where Sir Frances Drake and others set sail on their journeys of exploration.  We walked by the area from which the Pilgrims set sail for the Netherlands in their initial journey to escape religious persecution and had lunch at the Mayflower Pub in Rotherhite which is nearby. 

On Monday we did one of our long training walks for the Camino.  This was a 12 mile walk on the London Loop from Kingston on Thames to the Hatton Cross tube station near Heathrow Airport.  The day was spectacular and this was a beautiful walk.  The first half was through Bushy Park which is comprised of land given to Henry VIII by Cardinal Woolsey.  Henry built one of his most famous palaces – Hampton Court – on this land.  We did not visit the Palace this past week and instead enjoyed the extensive grounds.  Portions of the park are pretty wild and contain many deer.  Other parts of the park are elaborately groomed gardens.  We had wonderful sunshine all day and really felt as if spring was close at hand!

The past few days disabused us of thoughts of an early Spring, however.  On Wednesday through Friday we visited with our friends Robin & Ruth in Wembley.  Ruth, Tom and I went for a great walk on Wednesday afternoon to Harrow School (the alma mater of such famous folks as Winston Churchill and Jawaharlal Nehru.)  It was a sunny walk but the temperature was starting to drop -- foreshadowing the cold to come.  Thursday, a bitterly cold day, we went out to Bletchley Park where British mathematicians and linguists, including Alan Turning, broke the Enigma Code used by the German military, and developed precursors to modern computers to quickly decode messages.  It was a fascinating look at important WWII history. 

This coming Monday we are off to Devon for five days.  Our wonderful London landlords are letting us stay at their Devon Cottage!  They normally rent the Cottage when they are not there, but cannot do so next week because they are having work done on the chimney.  Our only responsibility while there is to light the fire (to keep the chimney warm and dry)!  With temps in the 30’s this should not pose a hardship.

Here are pictures from the past week. The Thames Path -- London Bridge to the Thames Barrier, Greenwich on a Sunny Winter Afternoon, Bletchley Park -- Home of the code Breakers

Liz

Wintry London Walks and Sights

The Painted Hall -- Old Royal Naval College, Greenwich

It’s been a while since we have posted – we’ve been having such a wonderful and relaxing time, it’s hard to capture it in words!

Yesterday (and it snowed last night!) was a rainy and cold London day.  Despite the weather we decided to join the many Londoners outside walking through the city.  (I am constantly amazed that Londoners are out in any weather, rain or shine, pushing buggies completely outfitted for the conditions and otherwise enjoying "a spot of fresh air").  Our plan was to take the tube to Monument and walk through central London about 5 miles to the Victoria and Albert Museum.  (There I wanted to spend time looking at the incredible exhibit of china and porcelain!  Tom was not as exited – but then he doesn't necessarily share of my love of china!)  When we exited the tube station to begin our walk, we were greeted by two treats.  One was expected – “the Monument” was erected as a memorial to all those who died in the Great London fire of 1666.  It was a massive granite structure that is now dwarfed in the middle of central London skyscrapers.

As we stood in front of the Monument we heard church bells change ringing.  We walked around the corner to the small church of Saint St. Magnus the Martyr.  It is a wonderful church, just at the foot of London Bridge.  The building was designed by Christopher Wren. A group of “twenty-somethings” was change ringing.  For those of you who don’t know what change ringing is check out this article.  Many think that hand bells were developed so that change ringers could practice without the entire neighborhood listening!  We tried to record the bells and I tried unsuccessfully to upload some audio of the ringing so you will just have to imagine the beautiful sound of 12 huge church bells ringing away!.  We walked down to the church which was just finishing Sunday Services and got to look around the beautiful sanctuary.  Despite the rain our walk was great.    

One of the reasons we undertook our walk in the rain is that we are trying to walk as much as possible so we will be ready for the Camino in April.  As part of that we decided last week to try walking segments of the London Loop.  The Loop is a 150 km marked walking trail around the perimeter of London link.  It is divided into about 20 segments.  So it seemed like a great idea to walk these marked trails as part of our training regimen.  Last Monday, we walked about 8 miles from the industrial London suburb of Erith to Bexley along the River Cray.  It was a great day and at the end of the walk we stumbled on a very atmospheric cemetery at St. Mary’s Church in Bexley.  Although the cemetery is still active, it has not been maintained.  We included some photos of the gravestones and markers slowly becoming part of the forest again in the slide show link at the end of this post.

To continue our training, this past Thursday we planned to walk about 16 miles on the next two segments of the Loop.  We set off early and the day was sunny and beautiful.  Little did we know that during the day we would slog through over 5 miles of incredibly muddy trails.  After seven hours of walking we had covered about 14miles, it was getting dark and starting to rain.  So we bailed and took the bus and train home, thoroughly exhausted and completely encrusted in mud!  We decided that we need to wait for a bit drier weather to walk the loop and find some less squishy walks for the next couple of weeks at least!

In the past couple of weeks we have done and seen many other things.  Highlights have included seeing Spamalot in the West End, walking through the Inns of Court and visiting Temple Church, visiting St. Paul’s, and touring the Old Royal Naval College in Greenwich.

Spamalot was a great experience.  I must confess that I do not normally go for the silliness of Monty Python, but I know Tom loves it, so the tickets seemed a natural for us.  Our seats were in the first row and we could actually make eye contact with the actors.  I don’t remember when I last laughed so hard!  We especially loved the marriage between Lancelot and Prince Henry!  It was side-splitting!

The Inns of Court were also very interesting – they were lovely but struck me as a bit too much of a “place apart” to truly serve the cause of justice!  I think the British courts are much more accessible now than in past years.  Nonetheless, although we found a great shop where all the British barristers buy their robes and wigs, Eide & Ravenscroft, I don’t think I am ready to place my order just yet!  A real treat of this day was the Temple Church.  The original portion of the church was built in the 11^th Century by the Knights Templar.  Inside the old portion of the church are a number of effigies of 11^th century Templar Knights.  They were in perfect condition prior to WWII.  The church was substantially damaged by bombs during the war and the effigies also were damaged.  They are still incredible.

The Old Royal Naval College and St. Paul’s were both designed by Sir Christopher Wren and are lovely.  We enjoyed our tours of both places and have included many pictures with the slide show.  The chapel at the naval college was especially beautiful!

On a personal note, we are enjoying this time together, resting and relaxing.  We have decided that we should go out to dinner each Tuesday (after my WW meeting J) and are making the rounds of Greenwich restaurants and pubs.  We also had dinner last weekend at Robin and Ruth’s and loved meeting their friends Deborah and George again.  The evening was great food (curry – which is ubiquitous here) and conversation.  This past Saturday the four of us went out to a fabulous Italian meal here in Greenwich.  So far The Hill (the Italian place), Davy’s Wine Bar and the Ashburnham Arms (“our” local pub) are our favorites! We are trying to make a point of trying all things British -- so we are eating corgettes (like our cucumbers but different), curry (of course), cheese (OMG do they know cheese here), mash (most often potatoes but they mash everything at one time or another), British pork sausages (bangers) (I found a Weight Watchers brand that is only 1 point per sausage!), porridge (chunky oatmeal) and Weetabix (a little like shredded wheat but not really).

Here are our two most recent slide shows:  Walking and Exploring -- February 2013 and Around London -- Late January 2013

So long for now,

Liz