West Country: Our Visit to Clovelly, Tintagel & Penzance

We spent a few days visiting interesting sites on the southwest coast of England. We stopped first in Clovelly, an old fishing village that was built into the side of a cliff. The cobblestone streets are too steep for cars and the rock-filled beach is accessible only during low tide.

From there it was on to Tintagel, an area of old castle ruins on the edge of Cornwall. The castle is said to be the birthplace of King Arthur. We looked for evidence of Merlin in the caves, but couldn’t find any. The castle site includes some very steep stairs that we climbed, as well as steep cliffs to avoid. It was windy, but gorgeous.

At the end of the first day we arrived in Penzance. The following morning was spent on a fabulous four-mile walk along the coast that began at Porthcurno and ended at, where else, Land’s End. The beaches and caves were beautiful. It was cool, windy, and rugged. Around every corner was another vista to behold. We’ve never seen water so clear and so blue-green. At some place along the way we stood at the southwestern most point in England.

The next day, Brian and John visited the Eden Project with the students. It consists of several biomes that represent a variety of ecosystems. A favorite was the Mediterranean biome; the flowers were indescribably colorful.

Lynn, Chris, Curtis and Brandon took a bus to St. Ives instead of going to the Eden Project. St. Ives is a beach town with an artist colony and well-known Cornish pasties. We sampled the fudge and jam doughnuts. Brandon and Curtis decided they didn’t care if the air and water temperatures were 10 degrees C., they wanted to swim in the ocean. They ran in and out until they started to turn blue; it was a blast.

On the morning of the last day, we went to St. Michael’s Mount. It is an old castle only accessible at low tide from Penzance. When we arrived, the wind was so strong that the castle had to be closed. We were allowed to walk along the causeway and onto the island. The wind almost blew us over (it was probably at least 40-50 mph) and we had to hold on to each other and stay close to the walls to stay upright. On the way back, we fought the sand blowing in our faces and clothes. It was quite an interaction with nature the whole trip.

Bathing at the Moors, Stonehenge & Salisbury

We spent two misty days in southwestern England. After a day at Bath and in Dartmoor National Park, we spent the night in Exeter and then had a rainy day visiting Stourhead, Stonehenge, and Salisbury.

Bath is the site of the famous Roman hot springs. The waters retain their warmth and mineral content. We tried a sip of the water but weren’t taken with it. A few years ago the city was digging a new sewer line and found the head of a statue of Minerva (the Romans combined their goddess Minerva with a local Celtic goddess, Sulis, when naming the springs Sulis Minerva).

From Bath, we drove to Dartmoor National Park and climbed Hayton Rocks. At the instruction of one of the students, a group that included Christopher and Curtis let out some sort of yell after reaching the summit. These moors are known for their wild ponies and for inspiring the Sherlock Holmes story Hound of the Baskervilles.

After a night at a youth hostel in Exeter (quite nice; we were the only ones there and were treated to a real English breakfast by the accommodating staff), we visited Stourhead, which was developed by the Hoare family (famous British bankers); Stonehenge, which needs no introduction; and Salisbury, home to England’s tallest cathedral.

The grounds at Stourhead include beautiful greenery, a variety of trees and flowers, a lake, several interesting buildings (including, so we were told by some students, the location where Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth shared a rainy kiss in the recent film version of Pride and Prejudice), and fascinating ancient Greek-inspired statues.

Even though it was raining at Stonehenge, there was still quite a crowd. But we managed to get some pictures of Brandon and Curtis in front of the famous stones.

Our last stop of the day was Salisbury. The Salisbury Cathedral is celebrating its 750th birthday. It contains one of only four original copies of the Magna Carta and the oldest working clock in Britain.

We’ll post more of our adventures after next week’s trip to the southwest coast of England.

Tower of London & Standing on Both Sides of the World

On March 6, we spent a morning at the Tower of London. One of the clever Beefeaters gave us a short tour and then we walked through the different towers on our own. There were excellent exhibits of armor, swords, and horses. We loved the Crown Jewels, but were not allowed to photograph them. The theme of the place was mostly about who was imprisoned there and how a beheading took place. It was a little gruesome. Here are some of the pictures we took.

This is the exterior of the Tower, near the visitors’ entrance.

Inside is the one of the oldest and most famous parts of the Tower of London, the White Tower, built by order of William the Conqueror in the 11th century. He didn’t live to see it completed. It used to house the royal family several centuries ago.

The boys enjoyed hanging around the Beefeater Bear, although we all found the real Beefeater tour guide to be one of the highlights of the visit (actually they are known as Yeoman Warders).

Next to the White Tower is the Jewel House, where the Crown Jewels are held.

The display of weaponry, armor, and replicas of knights inside the White Tower was impressive. The boys got to hold swords and other weapons of war.

During the afternoon of the same day, we took a train out to Greenwich, strolled through the lovely village, and climbed a hill to the Royal Observatory, location of the Prime Meridian. We stood in the western and eastern hemispheres at the same time and got a great view of London. Here are the boys straddling 0° longitude.

You can see the skyline of one of London’s business districts, Canary Wharf, behind us.