PatrickLondon

Yes, I think the paint on sheep comes from the paint on the ram's front, to indicate which ram has been the most obliging. The traditional red variety was known as raddle, hence the word raddled to mean - well, work it out for yourselves.

annhig

hi wilko,

having just spent the afternoon driving across a very foggy bodmin moor [well, it is bank holiday monday, what would you expect?] I empathised with your description of Dartmoor in the fog. on the way "up country" on Friday though, it was warm and sunny, so we stopped off at our favourite Dartmoor spot - Belstone - for a pie and a pint at the Two Tors Inn. views to die for, and a great little locals' pub with lovely food, great beer and no musak.

I'm glad you enjoyed Eden so much. some locals are a bit sniffy about it, but we think it's great, and usually get a year's pass every year. I agree with you about the food too - it's not cheap but consistently good quality. we were having lunch there one day and Tim Smit was at the next table, so if it's good enough for him, it's good enough for us.

keep up the good work!

regards, ann

irishface

Glad that you are continuing your delightful report. Thanks!

khunwilko

Yes - Patrick - take your point - we call it "tupping" a ram is referred to as a "Tup" - however on a large open moor I suspect that they may have been to do with shearing or ownership - or a HUGE ram!

Annhig - yes I've heard that the locals are not impressed with Eden - I think they were promised a lot of work there that didn't materialise. I have friends in Truro who mentioned it but we didn't have time to go into the whole issue.

BTW - I forgot to mention a gem of a Thai take away I found nr Truro - driving along one of the main roads approaching Truro there is a lay-by with the usual food serving caravan parked in it - except this one serves Thai food! It's called "Thai - K - away" - run by a English/Thai couple they have been serving Thai food in UK for 8 years and it's great. If you can understand a bit of Thai listen in on what the Thai chef says about his more "butch" customers - he's hilarious.

khunwilko

Warwickshire – Drive up the M5 and across through the Vale of Evesham and we arrived in Stratford on Avon in the late afternoon.
My friends I used to come here as teenagers armed only with a Frisbee which we would use to entice visiting female American students into a game.......S-o-A has always been a tourist rap – the other places I visited I was amazed at the increased volume of traffic but S-o-A I was prepared for.
We actually only spent a few hours there, and promised we’d return in a couple of days which we never did. Largely because when compared with other midland towns there’s not an awful lot to do there. The theatre was being rebuilt and my Thai friend would not have followed a Shakespeare play......

I’m sorry but I feel an anecdote coming on......as I may have mentioned I was educated in UK and for our “O” levels which was then the national exam for 16 year olds, we had to see Julius Caesar at the RSC – a matinee specially for the schools who were studying this play. You can imagine the discipline problems in a theatre full of hormone charged 16 year olds mostly being held against their will. Teachers ran around shouting threats such as “detention!” - “Hampton-Smythe and Jones – I can see you there!” these were greeted with howls of derision and mirth.
Eventually we all settled down and the play proceeded.....until towards the end – in a scene where Antony (Was it?) sits on top of a hill waiting for news of a battle.......well the theatre didn’t have a hill – it had a trapdoor and the centurions delivering the news would appear up through this hole in the floor. Unfortunately one centurion came up through the hole and when Antony asked “What news, Centurion?” ...he took a step back and fell straight back down the hole – the entire audience erupted – slap-stick – just what we had been waiting for – it must have taken 5 minutes for the auditorium to resume a semblance of quiet – this was then further disrupted by the reappearance of the centurion, this time with a pronounced limp and bent helmet. Every time the poor man moved he was greeted with cheers and renditions of the Laurel and Hardy tune. (I got a “B” for English Literature)

So Stratford in the present, lots of pretty gardens, expensive tweedy clothes shops, and restaurants.........

And the river Avon (Avon means “river” which explains why there are so many river Avons in England - the river River).......if you want a row in a traditional river rowboat – just like “Tales of the Riverbank” - then go to the Boathouse, ask for “Eddy Rose” and mention my name – you won’t get a discount but you’ll raise a smile. He’s a wonderful man who inherited the boat business, it came down through the family – so they’ve been there for generations. The upper floor of the boathouse is now a Thai Restaurant – sadly we didn’t eat there.
I like the marina – apparently you can navigate from the extensive UK canal system to the sea at Gloucester now. This gives you another glimpse into an exclusively British lifestyle – life on “the CUT”. The canals of Britain were hand-dug in the 18th century and facilitated the industrial revolution, they were displaced by the railways and slowly fell into partial disuse, but they somehow survived more or less intact and now provide a wonderful and unique tourist attraction. You can hire beautifully fitted out “narrow boats” and cruise the canals of Britain. As they tend to follow the contours they follow different routes to the roads and railways and you get to see parts of the countryside that others never see.
Looking round the marina you will also notice that many people live full-time on the cut, with central heating bathrooms, kitchens and all the comforts of home their narrow boats are as well equipped as any house could be and beautifully maintained. They are adorned with traditional paintings and decorations including pot plants and hand-painted watering cans.
Elegant swans glide around amongst the boats and gather near restaurants to feed on scraps thrown by the customers. A trip up the river will give you a glimpse of British riverbank wildlife, ducks, moorhens and coots etc, don’t expect to see and otter or river-vole these days though. And, at the right time of year amongst the weeping willows sit anglers, spaced apart at respectful distances, sitting under their umbrellas waiting for that elusive bite, which when caught will, at the end of the day be weighed and returned to the river.

So we took a few more photos of statues of “Billy Waggledagger” and his characters and set off for Warwick. The road to Warwick takes you past the Welcome Hotel – a grand building set in landscaped grounds – now I might be wrong but I’m sure I heard somewhere that the grounds were the location for the filming of another great British institution; the series of those stalwarts of pre-school development; Dinky Winky, Dipsy, Laa Laa and Po......the “Tele-Tubbies”. –

nona1

bit of info - the dye on the tups is usually date-related and helps the farmer work out when the ewe is due.

Smeagol

KW - The Thai Boathouse is a lovely restaurant and PACKED with Thai furnishings and LOVELT thai food. (not as good of course as food in Thailand) BUT it is run by Thai people and i have had many a good meal there.

bilboburgler

dye on tups also tup related so in all in all it can get pretty confusing out there for any particularly randy ewe

annhig

hi kwun,

I i have spotted that caravan a few times but it's never been my lunch-time. I will have to try harder.

there is another thai-brit establishment in cornwall- the thai kitchen in Hayle - only I think that the chef is the mother-in-law! Great food anyway and a BYO too.

i had a very similar experience with O level shakespeare only for us it was Macbeth at the Birmingham rep. Banquo's children came in balanced precariously on stilts and his ghost was wearing a rather tatty sheet. by the end those of us who were still paying any attention at all had got hankies stuffed in our mouths.

on the river at Hampton wick the other day we saw a family of great crested grebes - fancy that!

regards, ann

thursdaysd

Wow, sorry to hear about those school trips. I still remember a trip up to London to see Shaw's "Joan of Arc" that was just my class and a regular matinee audience. The performance was mesmerizing (at least for me).

gertie3751

Just found this. What a joy. Brings back all the memories of living in the UK. Like you, I simply can't believe the weather every year I go back there.

khunwilko

“Historic Warwick’


Now, I know Warwick pretty well and reserved a room over the phone –I had used the net with other hotels and car hire. ........... 2 mistakes; firstly I got the wrong hotel – I got the Lord Leyster and The Warwick Arms mixed up and accidently booked the Lord Leyster, secondly I didn’t use the net – this cost me an extra 10 quid a night– which seems pretty daft to me – if I’d cancelled my booking, gone to the local internet cafe and booked again I’d have saved the money – I could probably have used their internet access or done it from my room on my Laptop – go figure.

Actually the Lord Leyster is not too bad – it is a typical old hotel, compromises are made between character and convenience – the rooms are pretty small and the floorboards creaky, but it had a lovely hot bath-tub, but I couldn’t get anything more than tepid water out of the shower. I love a bath and my Thai friend usually takes a “cold” shower (at home anyway) so we were both quite happy. The weather had improved and my Thai companion was now demanding Air-con! Well that’s not common in UK country hotels – I don’t really like it in any circumstances except a car – even in Thailand. I demonstrated the opening and closing of a window.

What’s good about the Lord Leyster…….well car parking – lots of it at the back, I also enjoyed the breakfast – sometimes a buffet or sometimes a la carte – I had smoked haddock – bliss! My Thai friend had come to terms with fried egg on toast with bacon or cereals; I thought the haddock would be OK, but apparently not. But most of all, the hotel is in a great position, right on the High St and literally only a few yards from the entrance to the castle – did I mention there was a castle??

Of course the main attraction in Warwick is the Castle, not just any castle, it looks like a castle should and in castle top-tens, this one is frequently number one, it is to castles what Michael Jackson is/was to pop. ……and the similarities don’t end there.

I read somewhere once that Warwick castle - http://www.warwick-castle.co.uk/default.aspx?css=1 - is – or was - the biggest single tourist attraction outside London..... Has it changed? Well, armed only with a full English breakfast, a camera and some waterproofs, we were about to find out.

I will make another confession here, I have on several occasions in the past, entered Warwick Castle when it was closed – it wasn’t B&E or anything like that – we didn’t break anything or steal; it was just that we considered it to be our own back yard. One of my friends’ fathers was employed there too so we had detailed knowledge of the place to back us up. I remember a group of us taking a girl from New York into a dungeon in the middle of the night to see a body-shaped hanging cage....entry would not be so easy now so we chose to buy tickets......things had indeed changed....

In the 1970s, the castle was bought by Mme Tussauds with assurances it would have its integrity and character maintained with a minimum amount of change. Tussauds is in turn now owned by Nick Leslau’s Merlin Entertainments who took possession of the place for a £1.....sounds like a good deal! Actually Nick owns a lot of things and Merlin seem to lease them – Alton towers, Legoland, The London Eye, London dungeon etc....he’s even done stuff with Disney – which sends a shudder down my spine - Merlin are the second largest operator of amusement parks in the world after Disney.

We got up early walked over to the Castle entrance and on up towards the ticketing area, it was not really what I’d expected in fact I was somewhat taken aback...throngs of people were already buying their tickets, cups of tea, eating snacks and checking their bags. Tartrazine-charged children ran through the crowd as “Costumed interpreters” mingled, shouting jovial insults to each other. Their costumes reminded me not so much a historical period, more of a circus, and even included a stilt-walker. Were we visiting a castle or “Neverland”?

Tickets are around 20 quid....more if you want to go into the dungeons. This was the most expensive single entrance fee we paid. Would it be worth it?

The weather was in our favour, a nice sunny day, not too hot, great for strolling around. The main crowd was gathering outside the main gate for the “raising of the Portcullis” – to get everyone in the mood his was accompanied by some amateur theatricals about being recruits the King –

“Are you ready to fight”
“YES!” answered the crowd
“Do you come as friends?”
“NO!” Answered the crowd – the “Interpreter” sighed – he then pointed out that they DID in fact come as friends – they were recruits.........the question was repeated....
“YES!” roared the crowd
“ARE YOU READY TO DIE?”
“NO” roared the crowd – well at least they hadn’t lost all sense of reality – just yet.

The portcullis was raise to a cheer and folk started to move into the Castle...I spotted a gate labelled rose garden and we walked away from the crowd into a quiet, well kept garden – not a lot of roses still in bloom but a wonderful oasis. Before joining the throng we strolled around the grounds, down by the river and the gardens, there was little to spoil the peace and quiet. The river Avon floated by, ducks and moorhens paddled about, we took in the old powerhouse and the weir with its eel trap. We got some good shots of the outer walls which are pretty impressive...and then back into the castle.

The visitors are not left without some form of stimuli for a moment. When you enter you get a program and the day is full of events and spectacles...their connection with the history of Warwick can be somewhat tenuous, even the connection with any history at all, but it does engender the atmosphere of one of those 1940s and 50s Hollywood movies about Knights in armour and “Merrie Olde Englande”. I expected to see Errol Flynn stroll across the sward at any moment (he of Tasmania and Northampton fame)
e.g.
“By the way do you English say “Cheerio” or “Cheero”?”
“Well, “Cheero” actually”.........

I read somewhere that you shouldn’t give things like long sticks, baseball bats etc to kids below a certain age as they have difficulty in empathising, so striking another person with the said stick is purely an interesting exercise and the victim’s pain is not considered. Well to add to that, I’m sure it is equally bad practise to sell reproduction swords to children of this age then junk them up with high sugar drinks and let them loose in a real castle...one such child is a nuisance but dozens are downright dangerous!

The crowd gathers at different points in the grounds to witness various displays – falconry, archer, sword fighting etc. two displays of note – the Jousting and the trebuchet.
Historical re-enactment has come a long way in the last few decades the sword fighting etc really was impressive – the guys must have been really fit. However a special note must be made of the Medieval society who took re-enactment to its limits – where or who they are now I’m not sure but unlike most enactment societies who are content with pushing each other around a field this bunch of nutters developed or re-invented the sport of jousting – there’s no way you can really fake it – you just get on a horse in full metal jacket (literally) and run hell for leather at another chap mounted on a horse and try to knock him off with a big stick – and its very dangerous! This was on the program at 3 pm every day at Warwick castle - I’d seen it before and knew it would impress my Thai friend no end ------- shock and awe were already being expressed at the quantity of executions and the variety of methods used in UK days gone by, so this could be the icing on the cake - but alas – it was cancelled due to wet ground –
...but the trebuchet was still there – this is the biggest in the world – a record holder it can hurl a rock 300meters – or something like that. Loaded by men in costume using a treadmill it is set up to a theatrical commentary by yet another costumed interpreter – orders are shouted back and forth and the huge wooden machine swings into action....silently ..... they must have wished they could use pyrotechnics or something but they don’t.........you can imagine the scene of a siege 4 hundred years ago with these huge machines silently working away to the background shouts from their operators....to us so used to bangs and explosions it would have been a strange sight.
To most visitors, the castle is really an outside attraction; events in and around the ground can keep a family well occupied for a day. Ice-creams and pop are available at conveniently placed stalls, and extra portaloos cope with the summer crowds, I sometimes felt that most visitors were completely oblivious to the massive architecture and the ancient trees of the arboretum as they watched the various sideshows unfolding before them.
We spent some time (and effort) climbing the towers, which actually involve climbing a lot of steep stairs – it’s a one way system and frankly if you aren’t fit or have a gammy leg – don’t attempt it; there’s no turning back once you’ve started.

Up on the roof though are some great views of Warwick – photo-opportunities not to be missed.

So I suggested we head indoors...... let’s see what remains of “Art History and Culture”...........as we walked across the courtyard, a disturbing new attraction caught my eye – in the corner, a queue of children almost exclusively girls trailed up to one tower labelled in PINK!
Now I don’t know what this colour and hello Kitty etc does for you, but it turns my gut.....One Christmas, I upset my baby sister by giving her a “My Little Pony Humane Killer” outfit or was it a “Hello Kitty will be Spayed Kit”?
I’m sorry but I loathe pink and all that it stands for these days – and here it was in the middle of good old Historic Warwick.........

“Here lies the Princess Tower,
An enchanted place with magical power.
Fairy tales, princes and dressing up is the way,
Enter all princesses you’ll have a wonderful day “

Sorry but that was all I could take we headed for the interiors, and as if in sympathy down came the rain....

The interior of the castle is quite interesting, it contains some interesting paintings, Armour costumes and interiors and for me as a furniture buff, the Kenilworth Buffet – looks medieval but in fact it was a 19th century Arts and Crafts tribute to Warwick wood carvers. Made from one single oak tree.

Unfortunately the rain brought about a similar behavioural change in everybody else and we became part of a shuffling procession past the various displays inside the building. It really is difficult to appreciate much if you are part of a conveyor belt that is almost impossible to get off, but we hung on and got through hopping off here and there to take a closer look.

In the basement a few tableaux explain be preparations for battle and the roles of various members of staff, we didn’t try the restaurant, but did spend some time and money in the shop...mostly pens to hand out at work and souvenir chocolate.

I don’t intend to be too harsh on the Castle – it does manage to keep some of the historical atmosphere of old, but the rampant commercialisation is not to my taste – did I enjoy myself – yes most certainly if only from the (false) feeling of superiority I got over the other ice-cream munching baby-screaming “kiss-me-quick hated, “emmits and grockels”.

My friend was genuinely impressed – “I never see before” was a repeated comment and I must say I felt proud and even a little lump in my throat from time to time that this was part of my culture.

I promised myself I’d return out of season.


Next – one or two places you might have missed

Smeagol

I drove past Warwick Castle just 1 hour ago.......

annhig

hi kwun,

maybe Kenilworth Castle would be more to your taste?

I think it was one of the ruins that Henry VIII knocked about a bit. we used to go there on a sunday afternoon for a walk. it's the antithesis of Warwick.

khunwilko

I visited Kenilworth too - I'm just going to post a bit about other stuff in Warwickshire.......

khunwilko

Smeagol - have you ever been inside?

Smeagol

Yes i have, a friend of mine came over from Holland about 15 years ago and i thought he may like it (he did) not been lately though but i drive past it about twice a week.....

khunwilko

Yes - my impression is that those who live near famous locations.monuments etc tend not to visit that much. For a while I found myself taking a string of customers to Warwick - but the same as you that was over 10 years ago.
I think if you went in now especially at high season you'd find that things have changed a lot.

Smeagol

KW - Totally agree i went to the natural History museum for the first time about 2 months ago!!! shameful.
I plan to go to hampton Court palace too (i drive past that once a month and think i MUST go there)
We always make more of an effort to see another counries sights i guess cause we don't know when we will return.
I should buy a UK guide book......

khunwilko

Ah - the natural History Museum! - I went there too. My Aunt used to live in South Ken.......

I will do a bit on London next week - I actually don't have a computer at the moment - but that is another saga involving incompetence, deception and downright niggardliness by HP