Flowers, Fairy cakes and a Little Hell Fire 2

After visiting the caves and refreshing ourselves with tea. We climbed up the hill to the mausoleum. The gigantic hexagonal structure is built of flint. The many arches contain niches with urns holding the remains of Dashwood ancestors. Right behind the mausoleum is the church of St. Lawrence with its unusual gold ball. The Golden ball at the top of the bell tower replaces the traditional church steeple. There is a hatch in the ball which allows entry and 5-6 members of the hell-fire club would meet here. Although the church is small, it has a beautiful ornately painted interior. We were allowed to wander through snapping photos despite the fact that the local choir was getting ready to practice for a concert that evening, they were quite welcoming and friendly. After an exploration of the church and its grounds we made our way back to the mausoleum and had a picnic lunch just outside of it on the hill. It was a lovely sunny day and we enjoyed the blue skies filled with small planes and red kites hovering on the updrafts around the hill. I had made chocolate fairy cakes (cupcakes to those from the states) and we enjoyed them in the sun.

Flowers, Fairy cakes and a Little Hell Fire

Saturday 4 April - Ian and I met up with two of his archaeology friends, Aisling and Emily and we drove in Emily's car, Colin to Wycombe (pronounced wick-hum not why-comb as you might embarrassingly mistake in front of English acquaintances. Also not to be confused with the town of Wickham, also pronounced wick-hum). We were venturing to Wycombe to visit the hell fire caves because Aisiling is proposing to do her dissertation on hell-fire clubs, societies formed in the 18th century by wealthy and powerful men during which they revelled in debaucherous behaviour which mocked religion and the polite society of the day. The caves that we visited were chalk caves, quarried to build a road to connect workers to the local town. They were part of the Dashwood estate and it was a later Dashwood, Sir Francis who formed the local hell-fire club. We explored the 1/4 mile caves and tunnels, adorned with explanatory plaques, historical recreations with mannequins and Greek sculpture. It was a n interesting trek. Once we emerged into the sunlight again we had a cup of tea at the cafe at the entrance to the caves before further exploring the sights.

Sea Mills to Shirehampton to Bristol

After exploring Kings Weston House we made our way down to Shirehampton, A quaint little village with a lovely central green and lots of potted flowers around. We stopped in one of the Charity shops and poked around. We also passed the very interesting town hall and library and saw a number of lovely homes and yards as we made our way to the Shirehampton train station. We only had to wait a few minutes for the train to arrive and on the ride back we were treated to some lovely views of the Severn estuary. Once back in Clifton we walked back to the flat just in time to miss the passing hailstorm.

Saturday in Sea Mills

Saturday 28 March - After spending most of our weekends recently in the immediate area, Ian and I decided it was time to get out and go for an adventure. We took the small local train from just outside the grocery store to the next stop up the line, Sea Mills. From there we ventured through the village and some rain up to the Kings Weston House. The Estate is now a park and has many lovely wooded paths as well as open fields. There is also a lovely folly and a large house which is available for events. We meandered around the buildings and its gardens then around the lawns. From the house there is a lovely view of the Severn Estuary in the Valley below and on a clear day you can even make out Wales. We then made a trip across the road and up to the stables where we enquired about returning some time in the future to go for a trail ride. Back at the Estate house we had lunch in the basement tea room which had a lovely eating area ornamented with painted tiles and some great food. After a leisurely lunch and some tea to restore us we made our way into the neighboring village of Shirehampton.

Spooky Stories at Ashton Court

Saturday 21 March - We had an adventure with Friends Aisling, Ruth and Tom by going over to Ashton Court Manor at twilight to hear some spooky stories. The scary tales were improvised stories told by a local entertainer in response to the group and the different areas of the Manor grounds that we wandered to. The storytelling was accompanied by music from another local entertainer who performed on the harmonium, fiddle, and mandolin. The music enhanced the atmosphere created by the wooded park land and the dimming light. It was definitely an unusual way to spend an evening.

Days of Spring

Although friday was the first official day of spring, we have had a bout of warm sunny weather that has made the entire week seem very springy indeed. The daffodils are everywhere and the crocuses are just starting to fade. One of the wonderful things about living in England is the mild winter and early spring, hopefully all you New Englanders still suffering from snow will appreciate a glimpse of what is to come.

Goodbye cold weather

I found this display of lost mittens while wandering around Cotham. It was a lovely sunny day and it was funny to see all the little mittens waving goodbye to winter.