Adventures with Grandpa

All my grandparents grew up in England (which is explains my many relatives over here), but both sets immigrated to Canada before my parents were born. However, since they have ties over here, they come back to visit every so often. It’s actually worked out for me that by the end of the summer I’ll have got to meet up with all of them!

Anyways, my Grandpa picked me up from Rowleth End, and started his “whirlwind tour” of England.  And I mean that literally. We crossed the country multiple times.

Castlerigg Stone Circle - a stop on the way to the lakes

From the Yorkshire Dales we raced up to the Lake District, which is where my Grandmother grew up in a town called Bassenthwaite. Unfortunately it was raining (though, so far this summer has mostly consisted of rain, it’s wet even for England!), but I could still tell that it was beautiful. We stopped at the house my Grandmother lived in, and at the church where my grandparents got married, my dad was christened in, and my great- and great-great grandmothers are buried. We also drove by many of the major lakes in the district. After our tour of the lakes we spent the night at my Grandmother’s sister’s house in Fleetwood.

An old Saxon Church in Bassenthwaite - where my grandparents almost got married

Next, we drove to the centre of England, to a town called Ashby-de-la-zouche. Now, I’ve grown up hearing about this town because my Grandpa grew up here, and my great-grandfather was still alive when I was little so I remember my dad going to his 100^th birthday. Also, his wife, my step-great-grandmother still lives there, so we stayed with her – she’s 94.  I always imagined it a lot smaller than it actually is..

Anyways, it has a really great castle! Or castle ruin, to be more specific. But know why it’s a ruin? Because it was a royalist stronghold in the English Civil War, and when Cromwell’s forces defeated the royalists they blew up part of the wall so it became indefensible. It’s pretty awesome still though. You can even climb up a tower, go through some underground tunnels, and see where there were fireplaces etc.

Ashby Castle

The tower of Ashby Castle

At the top of the tower

My grandpa and I also did a day trip out to Oxford. Our first stop was lunch at The Eagle and Child, the legendary meeting place of The Inklings (you know, JRR Tolkien, C.S. Lewis and their friends. For those who still don’t know, Lord of the Rings, and Narnia authors). Then we did one of those open top bus tour-y things. After that I went to do a closer up look at Oxford Castle.

The original Oxford Castle was built for William the Conqueror, and the later stone one became Charles I’s base when he made Oxford the capitol during the English Civil War. After the civil war, until as recently as 1996 it was used as a prison. And yes, there were improvements made in that time, but not a whole lot. The prisoners still didn’t have toilets in 1996.. Ugh

Oxford Castle

Blenheim Palace near Oxford

Next, we made our way back up to Beverley, near York, where I had some down time before my week of Cambridge, Stratford-upon-Avon, and Oxford, again!

Flamborough Lighthouse, near Beverley

Rowleth End

As I mentioned previously, I did another HelpX stint at a B&B in the Yorkshire Dales.  Like Barnacre, I spent 2 weeks at Rowleth End. I really could not have asked for a better second placement. It was very different, but awesome nonetheless.

Firstly, the Yorkshire Dales has to be one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever been. Even in the rain (which was most of the time), I thought the view from my window was amazing. Green hills, sheep, stone fences, the River Swale. And then, when the sun came out it was like nothing else.

Beautiful, eh?

One of the things I noticed most was the use of stone in buildings. I mean everything is built with stone – houses, sheds, fences etc. But when you look around it makes sense, there aren’t really a lot of trees. Anyways, throughout the Dales there are little villages of these stone houses, with very skinny roads in between them. Also, they’re not very far apart, only a few kilometres or so. It’s also not uncommon to come across a dilapidated stone building in the middle of a field, or on the side of the road.

Typical Yorkshire Village

As for the B&B itself, it was wonderful. Roger, the guy who runs it, is a very kind-hearted man. He let us keep all tips, let us drink whatever we wanted, buy any food we wanted/needed, and if we ever went out, he’d pay for everything. He took us out quite often too – to see the Olympic Torch in Richmond (yes, I’ve seen it twice now!), to get cheese from Wensleydale, and to the highest pub in Britain

The torch in Richmond

Yes, this is where Wensleydale cheese comes from

Tan Hill, the highest pub in Britain

There are only 5 bedrooms at Rowleth, so not too much work. I slept in a trailer in the garden, which was super comfy and warm – we even had a tv and internet. Anyways, I didn’t have to be up at the house until 9am, which is when I ate breakfast and we waited for the guests to finish so that we could start cleaning. In the morning we’d clear the breakfast tables, put the dishes in the dishwasher and put them away, vacuum, clean the kitchen and do the rooms of course. Sometimes we had extra jobs, but not often and they wouldn’t be hard. There were 3 other girls, Sophie from Germany, Ailsa from Taiwan, and Jade from Hong Kong. Usually it didn’t take us too long to finish.

After the morning work was done, we were free until 7pm when we had to help serve dinner, and then clean up afterwards. During free time I did various things. Sometimes I went for a walk with Buster the dog, watched movies, made Canadian dishes (Butter tarts, Nanaimo Bars, and Poutine), or took a nap. After dinner was finished, we often all watched a movie together

Going for a walk with Buster

Some steers giving us the stare down

Buster

The two weeks spent with Roger and the other girls went by way too quickly. I had a great time, and had lots of laughs.

I Love The Beatles

Did you know that I love The Beatles? That they are my favourite band of all time? No?
Then you don't know me very well.
But it's likely that most of you reading this, did actually know that I think The Beatles are amazing.

So, I went to Liverpool. Because that is what us Beatles' fans do.

And Liverpool is quite proud of their Fab Four. Pictures of the Beatles were everywhere, and there were TONS of different tours I could have taken. I ended up doing a taxi tour set up by my hostel though, because it cost £50 per tour - not per person - and so with all the seats taken, me and 4 others, we only had to pay £10 each!
The taxi driver took us to all the places a Beatles' fan would want to go. All of their childhood homes, Penny Lane, Strawberry Fields, where John and Paul met, Brian Epstein's house etc...

Where John Lennon was born - now student housing!

Brian Epstein's House

Ringo Starr's first childhood home

"Is in my ears, and in my eyes"

Canadian Penny on the Penny Lane sign

Paul's childhood house

"Strawberry Fields Forever"

Mendips - Where John Lennon grew up with his Aunt Mimi

Eleanor Rigby's Grave

George Harrison's childhood home

There's also a museum on The Beatles, called The Beatles Story - which, I obviously visited!

The museum started at the beginning, with the Quarry Men, and progressed through all the different stages of the Beatles until they split up. Each section had original instruments or replicas, and they recreated different things, like The Casbah Coffee Bar and The Cavern Club. The audio guide had lots of information on each section, and had commentary from John's sister, from his ex-wife Cynthia Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Martin and more that I can't remember right now!

The Original Drumset

Imitation Cavern Club

Just hanging out with Ringo

As you can tell, this was obviously the psychedelic phase section

I then made my way to Matthew St. where the infamous Cavern Club is located. Unfortunately the original was torn down in the 70's, but they have rebuilt a new one just a bit further down, even using some of the original bricks! Of course I went in and had a pint of cider. Yes, I did go into the Cavern and had a drink by myself.. but I wasn't going to miss out just because I'd look like a loner! (I also had a bit of an issue buying the drink, because I didn't have enough cash, but they didn't take my Visa, so I had to go get cash... and my bank in Canada is being a tool.. sigh. Still, I got the cider in the end).

Statue of John Lennon

John Lennon and Me

The band playing in the Cavern Club

I really couldn't have asked for a better time, or a more Beatles filled day!
I did do some other things in Liverpool, but I'll do that in another post. The Beatles deserve to have one all to themselves!

Cornwall Crusader

So, I'm back from my tour with Haggis Adventures. I had a fantastic time! The guides were great, and the company even better. Most people were Aussie, some other Canadians, a family from India, a German and an Italian.
I went on the Cornwall Crusader tour, which took me all over the Southwest of England, through Somerset, Devon, and Cornwall.
We left from London, and on our first day we hit up Stonehenge, Salisbury (where I saw an original copy of the Magna Carta!), and Cheddar Gorge, where Cheddar Cheese comes from, and the Cheddar Man was found.

Stonehenge - It's actually crazy how much we don't know about this, and how ingenious it is. 

Salisbury Cathedral - This is where I saw the Magna Carta, but wasn't allowed to take a picture of it

Cheddar Gorge - It's a very picturesque town. Makes delicious cheese. I had some 'cave-aged' Cheddar, and I could eat it all day. I also had some warm mulled cider which was amazing!

We stayed in Bath that night, but it was only a pitstop, though I did take this picture in front of the Royal Crescent.

On the second day we stopped at England's highest waterfall (Canonteign Falls), climbed a Tor (a rocky hill) in Dartmoor while we made our way to Newquay - a beach town.

View from the Top of the Waterfall

I thought it was hilarious that the waterfall was man made. The Lady of the house decided she wanted a waterfall, so paid to have one made!

The Tor

At the top of the Tor

Included in my tour was a surfing lesson on one of the beaches around Newquay. It was early in the morning, and I was expecting it to be really cold, however it wasn't that bad! Of course, I was wearing a wet suit and boots, so that helped a lot! Unfortunately, nobody wanted to get up early and take pictures of us, so I don't have any of me surfing. I had a wonderful time though, and while I didn't get completely on my feet, I did make it to my knees. I was a bit overenthusiastic with taking my hands off the board.

The beach where I went surfing, and an homage to my blog! I also ate my first batch of English fish and chips on this beach.

So, Day Three! We went to the amazing Minnack Theatre right on the ocean. It had literally been hewn from the rock, and a lot of it done by one woman! An amazing story. While there I had a proper cornish cream tea with clotted cream and jam on scones, jam on first of course, the proper cornish way! Next we went to Land's End, the most westerly point in England. We did a walk along the cliffs which was beautiful. After that we stopped at some random rock clusters/sculptures that have been around for 100's of years, before stopping to eat a Cornish Pasty in St. Ive's.

Above 2 photos - Minnack Theatre

Land's End

Land's End is well known for it's dangerous waters - Lot's of Shipwrecks

Men an tol - they think it might have been an entrance to a burial chamber, also there are lots of superstitions surrounding it

Lanyon Quoit - King Arthur's table

The fourth day was King Arthur day. We went to Tintagel Castle, which the King Arthur legend says is his birthplace. We also went to Glastonbury which is said to be the Isle of Avalon and King Arthur's burial place.

Above 3 photos - Tintagel Castle

Glastonbury Tor - Isle of Avalon, a long time ago this Tor would have been an island certain times of the year!

Our last night was once again spent in Bath. I went to see the Diary of Anne Frank at the theatre there, and on the last day I went to the Roman Baths, for which Bath is named. We also stopped at a town called Lacock, that hasn't changed it's architecture since the 1600's - no power lines, or satellite dishes here! And then our last stop was at the largest henge in Britain, the standing stones in Avebury.

Roman Baths

Lacock

Standing Stones in Avebury

And that's basically a summary of what I've been doing the last week! I've got a couple days in London, before heading up to Liverpool for a couple days, then some farm time!

Also, feel free to comment! As much as I love comments from my parents, everyone else can comment too!