Friday morning I got up to drive Kristin to work and the entire right hand mirror of the car was missing. Someone had obviously had decided that their need was greater than ours!
On Saturday we headed off to Liverpool (w/o driver's side mirror) and arrived unscathed about midday. We decided to have a much quieter weekend than our normal trips!
The first stop was Albert Dock, we didn't do The Beatles Story (did it Sunday), but grabbed a lot of information to decide what we would do. From the docks we walked to the Liverpool Cathedral (Anglican) and from the outside it looked very big, perched on top of the highest hill (St. James' Mount) in the city. It was constructed during the 20th Century of locally quarried (reddish) sandstone and a tower height of 108 metres. Inside there was some sort of Anglican festival going on with lots of different activities. We climbed the Tower (well mainly used the lifts) and got panoramic views of Liverpool. From the Tower, we spotted our next location to visit - the Catholic Cathedral (Metropolitan Cathedral of Christ the King).
The Metropolitan Cathedral was completely different to all other cathedrals that we have seen this year - and that is saying something because I reckon the count has to be over a hundred! It was very modern, built in the 1960's, but to me it just seemed like a very, very big suburban church in Melbourne!
From the Metropolitan Cathedral we walked down Brownlow Hill to the shopping centre of Liverpool and made our way to the Cavern Quarter. Here we visited Mathew Street which has the Cavern Club, made famous by The Beatles. So the "Fab Four", Kristin, Andy, Billy and Declan went into the club and by the looks of the place, I don't think much has changed in the last 50 years! The was a two-piece band playing and for a Saturday Arvo, it was quite crowded.
Next, we drove to Penny Lane and Strawberry Fields and took the obligatory photos. From there we found our hotel, the Throstle's Nest (I assume a Throstle is a bird, a thrush?)and had a quick break before going back into the city centre for dinner. Liverpool was rocking early in the evening and on the corner of Mathew Street and Temple Court, it was impossible to have a conversation in the street, due to the blaring music from all venues!
Sunday morning, saw us visiting Liverpool FC's ground, Anfield and around the corner Everton's home ground, Goodison Park. Then we drove to Aintree, the racecourse where The Grand National is held (on the first Saturday in April). After our sporting fix, we went back into Liverpool and Andy & Kristin did The Beatles Story and really enjoyed it.
We left Liverpool, via the Kingsway Tunnel under the Mersey River and headed to Chester, which once upon a time was a more important port than Liverpool! Now it is a quaint medieval town where the rich football stars have mansions! Besides having the obligatory cathedral and city walls, the most interesting feature of the town was the ROWS, a series of two-level galleried arcades, like having a 1st story footpath, which was convenient because when we arrived in Chester in was raining!
Our last location for the weekend was Ironbridge Gorge, a World Heritage Site, the birthplace of the Industrial Revolution. In the 18th Century, the Industrial Revolution was kicked started here by Abraham Darby, who discovered how to smelt Iron ore with coke, which led to mass-production of iron wheels, rails and locomotives. The town has the world's first iron bridge (still standing), constructed in 1779.
From Ironbridge we headed back to Cardiff, and are getting ready for another week at the "Salt Mine". As usual all the photos have been posted on the Web Albums.
cheers!
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Sunday, October 11, 2009
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
South England
Last week Gabby & Andrew Wynne (and their girls Madi & Steph) dropped in for a visit on their UK/Europe trip. It was great to catch up, have a few (too many) beers and some nice Indian food.
Billy has been a bit crook with a dose of the flu and the rest of us have been a bit 'flu-ish' as well.
Anyhow we spent the weekend in the South of England. We headed off Saturday morning and drove to Canterbury arriving just before lunch. Canterbury is a lovely medieval city which has city walls, a castle ruin, an abbey ruin and a magnificent cathedral. Canterbury is the foothold of Christianity in England, this where St. Augustine established the Christian church in about 590 AD. In the Cathedral there are some famous people buried there, these include Thomas Becket, King Henry IV and the "Black Prince" Edward Plantagent.
After leaving Canterbury, we headed south to the English Channel at Hythe, we were hoping to have a coastal drive as we headed west, but what we found was the coastal road was next to a high embankment which blocked any view of the water. We did stop at a beach called St. Mary's in the Marchs and the wind was blowing a gale and the beach had a series of groynes about 50 metres apart. Travelling along the South Coast we came across towns called, Rye, Eastbourne, Seaford, Hastings & Brighton -why did they copy those Victorian names?!!
The next stop was Battle, near Hastings, the site where William the Conquerer defeated the English forces in 1066, the last successful invasion of England, and thus changing the course of England's history and turning them into Normans.
We stayed overnight in Eastbourne at a bed and breakfast 30 metres from the beach. Eastbourne is your typical British seaside resort with the obligatory promenade and pier with amusement arcade and a shale beach littered with groynes.
After breakfast we visited the Easbourne International Lawn Tennis Club. The traditional ladies lead-up tournament to Wimbledon is held here. From Eastbourne we went to Beachy Head, which has a series of huge chalky limestone cliffs to the water's edge. There is about 5 to 10 km of cliffs like this called the Seven Sisters and a popular surf beach called The Birling Gap. Have a look at the Web albums to see how big and impressive these limestone cliffs look. Interestingly the cliff at Beachy Head drops about 200 metres straight down to the water, with no safety rails or warning signs.
From here, we went Brighton - a larger version of Eastbourne, then onto Arundel. Arundel is another lovely little medieval town with a magnificent castle (the home of the Duke of Norfolk) and yet another cathedral. From Arundel we headed to Portsmouth via Chichester (Another Bloody Cathedral!).
Portsmouth is famous for its Naval history and the Royal Navy has been based here since Henry VIII built his giant warship, the Mary Rose. At the maritime museum, there are 3 famous ships, The Mary Rose, The Warrior (the first modern iron ship) and The Victory (Nelson's ship @ Trafalgar), all very impressive.
On our way home to Cardiff, we went to Salisbury and had a quick drink with the Wynne's who had been visiting Cornwall and Devon and Stonehenge over the weekend (if you are interested in their travels I've put a link to their blog on the top right).
Next week , we may head towards Liverpool - weather permitting - there is a lot of rain around this week!!
Cheers.
View South England trek in a larger map
Billy has been a bit crook with a dose of the flu and the rest of us have been a bit 'flu-ish' as well.
Anyhow we spent the weekend in the South of England. We headed off Saturday morning and drove to Canterbury arriving just before lunch. Canterbury is a lovely medieval city which has city walls, a castle ruin, an abbey ruin and a magnificent cathedral. Canterbury is the foothold of Christianity in England, this where St. Augustine established the Christian church in about 590 AD. In the Cathedral there are some famous people buried there, these include Thomas Becket, King Henry IV and the "Black Prince" Edward Plantagent.
After leaving Canterbury, we headed south to the English Channel at Hythe, we were hoping to have a coastal drive as we headed west, but what we found was the coastal road was next to a high embankment which blocked any view of the water. We did stop at a beach called St. Mary's in the Marchs and the wind was blowing a gale and the beach had a series of groynes about 50 metres apart. Travelling along the South Coast we came across towns called, Rye, Eastbourne, Seaford, Hastings & Brighton -why did they copy those Victorian names?!!
The next stop was Battle, near Hastings, the site where William the Conquerer defeated the English forces in 1066, the last successful invasion of England, and thus changing the course of England's history and turning them into Normans.
We stayed overnight in Eastbourne at a bed and breakfast 30 metres from the beach. Eastbourne is your typical British seaside resort with the obligatory promenade and pier with amusement arcade and a shale beach littered with groynes.
After breakfast we visited the Easbourne International Lawn Tennis Club. The traditional ladies lead-up tournament to Wimbledon is held here. From Eastbourne we went to Beachy Head, which has a series of huge chalky limestone cliffs to the water's edge. There is about 5 to 10 km of cliffs like this called the Seven Sisters and a popular surf beach called The Birling Gap. Have a look at the Web albums to see how big and impressive these limestone cliffs look. Interestingly the cliff at Beachy Head drops about 200 metres straight down to the water, with no safety rails or warning signs.
From here, we went Brighton - a larger version of Eastbourne, then onto Arundel. Arundel is another lovely little medieval town with a magnificent castle (the home of the Duke of Norfolk) and yet another cathedral. From Arundel we headed to Portsmouth via Chichester (Another Bloody Cathedral!).
Portsmouth is famous for its Naval history and the Royal Navy has been based here since Henry VIII built his giant warship, the Mary Rose. At the maritime museum, there are 3 famous ships, The Mary Rose, The Warrior (the first modern iron ship) and The Victory (Nelson's ship @ Trafalgar), all very impressive.
On our way home to Cardiff, we went to Salisbury and had a quick drink with the Wynne's who had been visiting Cornwall and Devon and Stonehenge over the weekend (if you are interested in their travels I've put a link to their blog on the top right).
Next week , we may head towards Liverpool - weather permitting - there is a lot of rain around this week!!
Cheers.
View South England trek in a larger map
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