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  • Writer's picturerhianprime

British Isles tour, day 1 - England

Well, we are off on our virtual holiday for a few days to England, Scotland, Ireland and finally home again to Wales. Yes we know it is V.E day and there is lots to be involved in from the safety of your homes and also it is also the feast day of Julian of Norwich. We remembered her yesterday and I am grateful for Philip Morris' wise words.


We have lots to do if we wish and you can dip into this offering as and if you wish to, at any time of day or night - and hopefully you will enjoy it! Some of the tours are quite long and you may wish to only do part of it today, and another part at another time - that's perfectly fine! It will be a a break from the norm and focus our minds and thoughts elsewhere.


As we are away for Quiz Night on tonight, there will be a short replacement quiz on Tuesday to keep you going along with today's travel quiz:


ROUND BRITAIN QUIZ

How good is your geography? Can you identify the towns and cities below? We’ll give you one to get you started …

Eg. Jesus’ Chapel = CHRISTCHURCH


  1. Royal bird is older

  2. Thomas Hardy’s ‘Casterbridge’

  3. Ho not in? We’ve come for lace

  4. The dock on the hill

  5. Bowl with Drake

  6. Where the Pirates come from

  7. On our way we met a man with seven wives

  8. Two ways of crossing the river

  9. Over a pit? No, by the sea

  10. What we do with our TV set

  11. Turkish? No only Roman here

  12. All shipshape in this fashion

  13. The capital of Wales on the river Taff

  14. Protector of the battered

  15. Feeling chilly? Just the thing for you

  16. Didn’t we have a lovely day the day we went here

  17. Squashed a can

  18. Strike a light

  19. Ready for the boat race

  20. Aged bacon

  21. A dark Scottish stream

  22. Dark water

  23. Would you find the navy in this forest

  24. Ernie’s former partner

 

England


Many tourists only think of England being London, red buses, the Queen, Houses of Parliament or Tower Bridge. We all know better and yet we are still virtual tourists and we travel differently. There is still expectation and dare I say excitement as we go forth!



We are heading North, but are stopping at Kiftsgate Court in The Cotswolds. The Cotswolds are a lovely area of our country and a "must" on the tourists guide to England. This is our first excursion today.


The Cotswolds are a very rural area of south central England covering parts of 6 counties, notably Gloucestershire and Oxfordshire. Its has quintessential English rolling green hills and grassland harbour thatched medieval villages, churches and stately homes built of distinctive local yellow limestone. It was of course well inhabited long before the Medieval times and maybe you have already seen the Roman and ancient sites. It is any area which is hugely popular for ramblers and cyclists, but with the plentiful gradients, you do need to be quite fit and agile!


Kiftsgate Court gardens are the creation of three women who have made this garden what it is today. It was in the 1920's just a normal paved formal garden in front of the portico, with a field and wooded banks beyond. Heather Muir developed the gardens in a feminine way which was very unusual and different. In the 1950's Diany Binny continued to add to the garden by creating the semi-circular pool in the lower garden. Anne Chambers who leads us on our tour, finest accomplishments was the addition of the new water garden that was once the tennis court. This is very different and does challenge our thinking. Enjoy!


Day 1 excursions - for this morning's activities, we have a garden tour, some music and a piece of prose for you to enjoy at your leisure.




We can tap along with this jaunty version of An English Garden:




Extract from Cider with Rosie:



We will pause a while as we pay our respects on this VE day at the National Memorial Arboretum. There is so much to see and do here, it would take us a day to explore fully at least! This video will give you a taste:




As we have been journeying north, let's stop and stretch our legs at Chester Zoo before leaving for Chatsworth.



As we enjoy the beauty of the English countryside we can relax with some music the Lark Ascending by the renown composer R Vaughan Williams.



The final visit of the day is a visit to Chatsworth House, set in the delightful Derbyshire Dales.

Chatsworth House is one of England's great stately homes. It is the seat of the Duke of Devonshire, it has been home to the Cavendish family since 1549. It has also been one of the few stately homes to appear on tv as a series of happenings throughout the year at Chatsworth, as it is a genuine lived-in house, despite all its grandeur.



Chatsworth House is renowned for the quality of its art, landscape and hospitality, It houses many treasures in the arts world and its grounds are quite staggering. Everything here is on the large scale; it is grand and imposing and good to visit but I prefer the simplicity of nearby Haddon Hall, personally. See what you think, and do feedback to me!


One of the highlights of the year here is Christmas at Chatsworth which I am told is spectacular! Have any of you been?


Follow this link (below) and click for the multimedia guide, select English and follow the tour as much or as little as you wish:



We travel now to Bedale to surprise Di and see her son, Huw. This is where we shall finish for the daytime activities, but there's more for this evening!.


Bedale in Spring:





 

Evening Entertainment


This evening let's sit out, with a drink and make the most of these lighter evenings as we enjoy the Morris Men.


The earliest recorded performance of Morris dancing comes in in May 1448.They were paid "Moryssh daunsers were paid 7s (35p) for their services." By Elizabethan times it was already considered to be an ancient dance, and references appear to it in a number of early plays.


Morris dancing is a form of English folk dancing and is often accompanied by music. It is based on rhythmic stepping and the execution of choreographed figures by a group of dancers. They frequently wear bell pads on their shins, and props such as sticks, swords, ribbons and handkerchiefs may also be used by the dancers. It is colourful and popular and there are different forms, some even involve clog dancing. Contrary to popular belief, it is said to not be pagan in origin. Enjoy the show:





And now before retire to bed, let's share in our evening prayer:


Almighty and ever loving God,

We give thanks for the beauty of England.

For the colour of flowers and plants,

for the wonder and intelligence of animals,

for the talent of architects and conservationists.

And for the solemnity, as we return thanks for those who died in the Second World War

or who were maimed in body or mind by what they witnessed.

We give thanks and may we all appreciate the cost of our peace and freedom.

In the name of Jesus Christ Our Lord. AMEN




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