Its the summer holidays!

I love my job and I love my holidays and thankfully at my job I get long holidays. So the first weekday of my holidayy I decided to go to Cheddar Gorge. After weeks and weeks of rain, today was the first 'overcast' day and so I decided to go to Cheddar gorge because it is very pretty and because I needed some cheese for lunch! Thankfully on the way I could tick off one of my Enchanted Land places, Rodney Stoke a thankful village.

For those of you who don't know, a Thankful Village is one which had no losses in ww1 and a doubly thankful village is a village which had no losses in ww1 and 2. These villages had their young go off to war and they all came back. Rodney Stoke proudly professes its thankfulness, even in it's village sign. I quickly pulled over the car when I saw that they have a 'shrine' to the fact that they are a thankful village. I drove down this small country lane to find a the church perched on a small mound looking out onto the Somerset Levels

. I walked up to the church and it was locked. Disappointed I turned round to find the key holder (a village oap) who was more than happy to let me go in. He chatted to me for about 5 minutes about the church and the history and then was on his way.

As enchanted land says:

"We come to Rodney Stoke in Somerset we find a village proudly expressing its thankfulness that it offered 17 men and four women to England and all came home safely home. Nowhere else have we found the spirit of thankfulness expressed as in a lovely window here, facing the door as we came in, with these grateful words:

To the glory of God and in thankful remembrance of the safe return of all the men connected with this parish who by land and sea served King and Country in the Great War."

The village only lost four people in the second world war and has a plaque dedicated to them, strangely enough another plaque on another wall documents another person who died in ww2, it is presumed by the villagers that this person was not part of the armed forces when he died but was in a cargo ship at sea (or so I was told by the kind gentleman).

The enchanted land also talks about other aspects of the church which make it special, the tombs of the Rodney family and the pews, which the gentleman who opened the church for me told me about. One the end of each pew is carved wood, two girls (I think they were the vicars

daughters) who taught people of the village how to carve and so each pew end was carved by a different person of the village. One was carved by Reginald Hale: "who left Rodney Stoke to seek his fortune overseas sailing in the greatest ship that ever then had gone to sea, and went down with it on his first voyage. It is one of the sad little postscripts to the poignant tragedy of the Titanic." The pew carved by Reginald Hale is the picture to the right.

As I was leaving the church I bumped into the old gentleman again and he told me how they had a dig recently by the church and found roman pottery and so it seems Rodney Stoke has been part of history for years.

Anyway so from there I drove onto Cheddar and decided to got straight up the gorge. It was so fun to drive up! Yes I am still relatively new to driving and so there are lots of roads round Somerset which I find fun to drive, and this is fun! I stopped at the top (I tried on the way up but it cost £5 to park for the day and as I wasn't going to stay the whole day I kept going) and then decided to go for a walk. Near the top I pulled over and decided to see if I could get a picture of the gorge from the top. But first I had to walk to the top which was a hell of a steep climb! Bearing in mind that there had been a months worth of rain this last weekend it appears I climbed up the route that it must have come gushing down at some point. The footpath is a steep climb, and full of the gorges rocks, on any other summer I am sure it would be bone dry, but today it was very muddy and very slippery! Still I wanted to get a picture at the top (because my dad would be annoyed if I didn't) and I decided to climb it. It was incredibly difficult, but I got to the top and looked around for

the view. I couldn't find the view which is on all of the leaflets (you have to pay for that one) but I did get a lovely view of Somerset. From Glastonbury Tor to the Bristol Channel, and I believe it would be even better if it was a clear day.

At this point I was getting hungry and so made my way back down, which was even more difficult then on the way up. I was over taken by walkers, who were clearly dressed for a walk, unlike me who was in a cardigan, t-shirt, new jeans (which a dog at Rodney Stoke decided to leave his imprint on) and a pair of boots. Anyway, I made it down safely!

I had lunch at Simply Gorgeous a lovely little tea rooms playing 1950's music with 40's and 50's nick nacks dotted about. As I was in Cheddar I had to have a jacket potato with cheddar cheese (it seemed only right). I looked round the village which has some very touristy shops in it and looked to see if I wanted to go to the Cheddar Gorge Explorer thing. I decided not, as it was £18.95 per adult which seemed very steep for me, so I didn't go in the caves or up the tower.

I decided not to walk anymore but instead visit The Cheddar Gorge Cheese Company which is the home of the only cheese still made in cheddar. For £1.95 you can see how the cheese is made and watch it being made and then after that you conveniently come out in their cheese shop! I had to buy some of their cheese and splashed out and bought their c

ave mature cheese which tasted amazingly! The best thing about their shop was that you could buy a knife

for 75p in case you 'couldn't wait till you got home'.

The bottom of Cheddar Gorge is very touristy however when you are driving up it, it is peaceful and definitely enchanting.

Anyway after that I went to Axbridge (which I will write in another post as this one is way too long) and then drove back to cheddar as it actually getting sunny! I drove up it again and took pictures but half way up I stopped off for another picture and heard a beautiful noise. Half way up the cliff was a man playing an Alphorn. It was beautiful just hearing this alpine noise echoing through the gorge. A perfect ending to the day.

Enchanted Land

I know I have already posted a few of my trips to different Enchanted Land places, but I hadn't actually finished the book! Last night though, I finally finished the book and so I can now (hopefully) publish the map of where I intent to go on my trips throughout this Enchanted Land.


View Enchanted Land in a larger map

Enchanted Land: Chedworth Roman Villa

After I went to Chipping Campden I twoddled on to Chedworth Roman Villa, partly for a cuppa break but partly because it is in my Enchanted Land book. Now I have to admit that on my drive there me and my so-called trusty sat nav had a slight argument (well I shouted at it because I thought we were lost but as it turns out I was about 100 yards around the corner from it). Anyway, thankfully Chedworth Roman Villa is a National Trust property which meant I got in free. If you are looking for somewhere to break a journey as I was, this is the perfect place. Not big enough to feel guilty about leaving early and not small enough not to go. There is a small cafe, a museum and of course the lovely grounds and mosaics.

Enchanted Land describes Chedworth as:
"Far away from the busy world is a Roman house that all may see, the villa at Chedworth cared for by The National Trust. It Lies in a valley like a miniature Switzerland, splendidly excavated and preserved with all its rooms and passages since it was found through a ferret losing its way in a rabbit hole."

A valley which is like a miniature Switzerland? I was there! I love the Alps and yes this valley may not have lived up to my expectations as a miniature Switzerland, but it was beautiful. For the villa, I had to park in the over-flow car park and on my way out do one of the steepest hill starts I have ever done! Anyway, The National Trust have done a brilliant job of creating a modern visitor centre and of course un-covering the mosaics.

The mosaics were alluring and delicate, to be honest I haven't seen mosaics for years. Possibly since my primary school went for one of our many school visits to Fishbourne Roman Villa. They were of course all covered by a modern building and you had the typical 'roman voices' displays playing in the background (which to be honest was rather annoying, now I know why so many people were walking round the villa with audio tour's in their ears). They also had one of those re-enactment people making cloth, not to sound grumpy but they annoy me too!

It is a great place to understand how the roman's lived and what their buildings looked like. And for an afternoon out I would recommend it, yes the valley was not a miniature Switzerland but it was close, just without the clanging of cow bells and no Alps in the distant.

Enchanted Land: Chipping Campden

Yesterday was two of my friends wedding. It was a beautiful wedding and I am so happy for them, but it was a 3hr drive away which meant I had to stay over, which also meant that I had a long drive back today.

I realised that the route I was driving was going to go past 3 Enchanted Land places (well actually a lot more, but these were the closest places). This blog post is about the first place I visited today, Chipping Campden.

Enchanted Land describes Chipping Campden as:

"It has been said that merely to walk down the long street Chipping Campden is a recipe for happiness and from the 14th to the 18th century the men who were building it must have known they were doing a lovely thing. Their canopied doorways, charming gables and oriel windows are all alluring, and crowing this splendid piece of countryside is a stately church filled with beautiful things."

So as you can see, I had to go! And I was not disappointed. Chipping Campden is simply a beautiful village. Made of Cotswold stone it is uniformed with wide streets, dappled by sunlight through ancient trees and enchanting. There is a warning which should come with Chipping Campden, it is a bit touristy and sadly the street is usually filled with cars so 'perfect pictures' are hard to get. I loved how all the modern houses are made with the same stone, and how as you drive out of the village, you drive through a street made up with thatched Cotswold stone cottages.

I was lucky that I visited just after the jubilee and so some of the bunting was still up in the village, so as I wandered around I could hear the gentle breeze blowing the flags, the smell of yellow roses (my favourite) wafting through the air and thankfully a sunny day.

Finally I stopped off at the church in Chipping Campden, I love churches and I love graveyards. I know it is strange but I do find graveyards very peaceful and calming (as long as I'm not in them on a dark windy night). Sadly I couldn't go into the church as there was a service taking place so I wondered round the cemetery, but I think I will have to go back as apparently there are some beautiful things in that church!
So final thoughts (for now) on Chipping Campden, lovely, beautiful, would love to live there, but next time I visit will be very early in the morning so I can try and get some pictures without cars and people in them!

Enchanted Land: Nunney Castle

Last summer I found a book called The King's England: Enchanted Land by Arther Mee. It claimed to be full of the most enchanting and wonderful places in 1930's England. After reading a chapter of it I decided that I would visit (most of) theses places and I started plotting them on a google map. I moved down to Somerset on Saturday and today has been my first free day. So as it was supposed to be only sunny in the morning I popped out to my first Enchanted Land spot, Nunney Castle.

I recently passed my driving test and so driving through a absolutely beautiful village with Elbow 'One day like this' playing was the perfect way to start my Enchanted Land quest.

Enchanted Land describes Nunney as:

"If we would see a castle of another kind, gathering the village about it as a hen gathereth her chickens, we may come to Nunney in Somerset and stare as at a thing incredible. In a minute we can cross the moat of a 14th-century castle, run into the castle, cross the bridge of a stream, and be in the nave of a 15th century church. The village clusters round these four towers reflected in the sparkling water of the moat. Standing in the castle, open to the sky, we counted thirty doorways and windows in the walls, some of the windows with a splay of ten feet. It is an astonishing spectacle, and above it all the weathercock on the old church tower shines like dazzling gold."

I loved Nunney, it is a beautiful village with everything you could need, a shop, cafe, pub, retirement home and a 14th century castle! I think it was a perfect way to start my tour of this Enchanted Land. The castle was surrounded by a beautiful moat and as I crossed the bridge two children came into the castle. This was great as one of the children lived in the village and was telling the other child all the history about the castle, which meant that I learnt a lot about the castle (whilst they were running around playing hide and seek).

The site is owned by English Heritage, and thankfully it is free to enter. There are also two information boards describing the castle and if you do want to visit the opening times are apparently "any reasonable time" (this made me chuckle!).

I also made friends with a cat today... 

After walking round the castle and reading the passage from my Enchanted Land book, I walked up to the church. Again I was stunned by how beautiful the church was sitting on a little hill. Looking down from the top of the church you can see the castle surrounded by its moat and a stream which runs through the village with houses meeting the sides of it and willow trees falling over it. It was a beautiful village and I can't wait to see where the Enchanted Land will take me next...

And so it begins...

As I want to document my travels to all the amazing places from Enchanted Land a book which I found on a bookshelf in Norwich from The King's England Series, I decided to create a scrapbook with all my travels in it. So this afternoon I spent time making a cover for the brown folder I brought from Paperchase whilst I was in London.

So today I brought my different scrapbooking papers to cover it and then for once I started a project and finished a project in the same day! Miracles do happen.

So here are my pictures from my completed scrapbook - all I need to do is visit the places from Enchanted Land and fill the book! One down, too many to count to go...

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Wymondham Station Tea Room

So after a pretty rubbish week this week, we decided to go to the tea rooms at Wymondham Station in Norfolk. It doesn't sound exactly exciting when you say it out loud but the tea rooms at Wymondham are supposidbly based on the 1945 film Brief Encounter (one of my favourite films). Brief Encounter is a story of a woman in a un-exciting marriage who one day accidently meets a man at a train station cafe and they have a brief relationship. It is a wonderful and heart breaking story and I love it.

The tea rooms is in the heart of the lovely old station (which is still used) and as we enter it from the platform door we find ourselves in one of the rooms.We were lucky and found ourselves a spot in one of the booths... not like a 50's diner but on seats which were once used in train carriages like Brief Encounter. It all seemed very exciting, yes some of the wallpaper was peeling and there seemed to be a bit of 'renovation' going on but it was also charming. I loved the train carriage style and the photos of Brief Encounter everywhere and train memorabilia.

We decided to order a cuppa and some dessert (as we had a big breakfast) and ordered from their consise menu. My mum and I ordered cinamon apple pie whilst my dad ordered jam roly poly. I can't fault the service as it was quick but we were let down with the food. My dad's dessert had been over cooked whilst my mum and I couldn't taste the cinamon in the apple pie and the custard was watery. We were disapointed.

It seems that this cafe could be something amazing and a tourist attraction if only it had a bit more work done on it. The idea is brillant but the excution needs work.

After our Brief Encounter with Wymondham Station, we then quickly stopped in Wymondham itself as I wanted to get my first tick on my Enchanted Land checklist. The market cross, a picture featured on page 137. So this is my first taste of stepping in Arthur Mee's and his 'recording angels' footsteps and hopefully I will be able to get to more places soon.

I love London...

Two weeks ago I had a lovely day to myself in London and it was a (relatively) free day - the best kind of day.

So, I started my day with breakfast outside St. Paul's Cathedral - I love St. Paul's, it is now on its regeneration after different fires throughout the ages and I love it.

After a lot of photograph taking I did what I always do when I go to London, hopped on a routemaster heritage bus. It almost seems a crime that people don't know our most iconic bus as the routemaster, but luckily for me that lack of care and the fact that tourists usually stay on the street taking photos of the bus rather than realising that they can actually go on it too means that it is usually empty.

So I had hoped to go to Temple Church to look at it because it was in the Enchanted Land, but sadly it has decided to close until September. After I popped to the Twinings shop, I went to a church (St. Clement Dames) which I have passed so many times, it turns out to be an M.O.D church and a very pretty one too!

After hopping back on a routemaster I ended up in Trafalgar Square, where my favourite place in London is. St. Martins in the Fields. After deciding not to stay for a lunchtime concert (as it was only 11am and it was an Organ recital - not my favourite) I decided to go to the parks of London. St James Park, Green Park, Hyde Park I cycled and walked through all of them.

Stopping off briefly in Earls Court to take a picture of a Tardis I then went onto Brompton Cemetery. Most people are creeped out by cemetery's but I don't see why, they are so peaceful.

And finally after a long day I finished my day having dinner with my brother on the South Bank.


Excluding food and my Oyster Card I only spent £1 on a Boris Bike. A brilliant free and lovely day in London.