On to Wales!
After Mayday in Padstow we headed up to Wales to spend a couple of days with Anne Lister, a singer, storyteller, and writer who we met several years ago when she was touring in New England. She and her husband, actor Steve Purbrick, live in Pontypool. Anne connected us with the Llantrisant Folk Club the last time we were in the UK, back in 2005, and we were finally able to schedule a concert there.
We also spent some time hunting standing stones and other ancient monuments. We had seen the Harold Stones before,
but not St. Anne's Well.
A couple of the sites had informational placards illustrated by area school children. Fairies figure pretty heavily in the lore surroundng St. Anne's Well.
This remnant of a stone circle was on top of a hill overlooking the Severn.
The views to get there were spectacular!
On another afternoon we watched birds flying over the River Wye,
hiked past King Arthur's Caves
...found some Welsh bluebells,
...and had dinner at a 14th century pub.
The cable strung across the river is for pulling the ferry across. It's the same technology that has been used at this crossing for 600 years or more.
Thatching has been used for a long time, too!
On to Bath
On our way to London to catch our flight to Kosovo we stopped in the city of Bath to visit the Roman baths there. These were the largest baths in the Roman empire. Since the water is supplied by a natural hot spring, it kept the cost of operation low.
The baths were originally roofed over with a masonry arched roof. When it fell into disrepair and collapsed in the fifth or sixth century, it buried the baths so deep that the ruins weren't discovered until the 19th century, when artifacts were discovered while digging for sewers.
This picture is taken from the oldest intact Roman colonnade in the world - these stones have been in place for 2000 years.
We also went into the Cathedral. This building was heavily damaged in WWII, so all the windows are from the last sixty years.
The ceiling is amazing!
Julia asked if there were any greenman images in the church and was told that there were not. However here is a photo of one of the two that she found carved on the ends of pews.
We also spent some time hunting standing stones and other ancient monuments. We had seen the Harold Stones before,
but not St. Anne's Well.
A couple of the sites had informational placards illustrated by area school children. Fairies figure pretty heavily in the lore surroundng St. Anne's Well.
This remnant of a stone circle was on top of a hill overlooking the Severn.
The views to get there were spectacular!
On another afternoon we watched birds flying over the River Wye,
hiked past King Arthur's Caves
...found some Welsh bluebells,
...and had dinner at a 14th century pub.
On to Bath
On our way to London to catch our flight to Kosovo we stopped in the city of Bath to visit the Roman baths there. These were the largest baths in the Roman empire. Since the water is supplied by a natural hot spring, it kept the cost of operation low.
The baths were originally roofed over with a masonry arched roof. When it fell into disrepair and collapsed in the fifth or sixth century, it buried the baths so deep that the ruins weren't discovered until the 19th century, when artifacts were discovered while digging for sewers.
This picture is taken from the oldest intact Roman colonnade in the world - these stones have been in place for 2000 years.
We also went into the Cathedral. This building was heavily damaged in WWII, so all the windows are from the last sixty years.
The ceiling is amazing!
Julia asked if there were any greenman images in the church and was told that there were not. However here is a photo of one of the two that she found carved on the ends of pews.
Labels: Bath, standing stones, Wales
posted by Fred Gosbee at
4:47 PM
1 Comments:
beautiful... Historical Place is always beautiful..
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