England: Impressions

This is a rather quiet day, so I thought I'd toss out a few impressions from "A Virginia Yank in Queen Elizabeth's Court".

One strong impression is how we look at the "sizes" of things...there is a considerable difference in the sizes of things from what we are used to in the US. Let's look at a few:

Two cars can actually pass here. Last night we were on a
road where we had to back up to a wide spot so another
car could pass!

Personal travel. Most cars here are what we would call "sub-compacts". Fords, Kias, Citroens, Coopers, even Jags, Audis and BMWs are smaller here. No model names are the same as in the US that I have seen. I've seen a few full size Land Rovers, but even articulated H.G.Vs (Heavy Goods Vehicles, ie, semi-trucks) are much smaller than in the US. A typical semi has not 18 wheels, but 12. Petrol (gas) runs about £1.339 a litre. 3.78 litres equals one gallon, so £5.06 per gallon, which is $7.90/gallon! You also pay a yearly tax based on your emissions - a Ford Focus pays about £150/year ($234) just to own the car. Of course, you also have to account for the fact that most roads were built a LONG time ago, at least the ones that aren't modern motorways (our equivalent of Interstates). Sort of explains the small cars, trucks, almost all vehicles other than the coaches. Almost every road is paved, even private roads (we've been stopped by cows on the road a couple of times, but  they tend to be narrow and twisty. Even in cities, it isn't much better; in Cambridge the street Mark lives on is a single lane wide with people parked on both sides. In city center, you can count on having to find a wide spot to allow oncoming traffic to pass.

Lots of people walk or bicycle. I know the US could benefit from this custom. There are a lot more bike lanes, and lots of well marked crosswalks, many (in the cities) with their own traffic lights. Traffic is controlled for the most part by round-abouts. This even applies on motorways, though there are some regular exit and on ramps, typically with round-abouts at the top of the ramps. Maddeningly, there are some round-abouts with bloody traffic signals in them, too!

Most cities have excellent bus services. Almost every city, town, village has a bus terminal and the coaches are very nice. There is a rail station in almost every location, too, and transferring between the two is quick and easy. In my experience, at least, they are punctual, clean, and FAST! Passenger trains run at about 80-90 miles per hour. They are quiet and cool.

Housing is very, very different. Yes, lots of people own their own "detached house". But many more live in terraced housing, where there are rows upon rows of houses, each attached to each other on one or both sides. Entire streets are lined with housing like this. Most of it seems to be two story, and lots and lots of them are only two, or maybe three bedrooms. Rooms are smaller all the way around. Personal space is thought of differently here, too. Walk into any pub or restaurant and the tables are close together. Practically touching. But that's OK with everyone. We all just get along! One thing is for sure, Derek won't be able to go to any of his favorite pubs for weeks without being asked about that Yank that was with him! When you go to the places that locals go, instead of the tourist places, you tend to be remembered.

I should probably post this, then work on another one for later...catch you in the next installment!

England: The 5th July, 2012

Today brought more of Cornwall's "dreadful" weather. I swear every living soul, upon learning that I am a tourist, apologizes for the weather here. Thank you, but I'll take 60's and 70's with some clouds and an occasional shower (each and every day, it seems) over the truly dreadful weather in Virginia right now, coupled with the extensive power outages, and be perfectly happy to put on my waterproofs and just keep on trucking.

We drove down to The Lizard. The Lizard is England's southernmost point, and has more of its beautiful coastline easily available for a short walk.

This map isn't live, you can zoom around
by using the map here...

 The goal today was a bit further, probably a mile's walk from town center at the car park, down Lloyd's Lane to the Coastal Path, to Marconi's Lizard Wireless Station. It was here that Marconi first set the distance record of 186 miles to a station in France using wireless communications. The National Trust has recreated the station using time-correct pieces of equipment. The shed itself has been a number of things since Marconi left it in the late 1910's. Now it is a museum (all two rooms of it), and a separate building houses an Amateur Radio station that was unfortunately unavailable to operate due to mice having chewed through the underground coax out to the antenna. It is set to be sorted out next month, but that didn't help me.

The spark gap transmitter, the Leyden jars (early capacitors) on
the right allowed some tuning. The set operated in the 1MHz range.

The antenna "tuner". Moving the coil up and down in
relation to the coils under it allowed fine tuning the antenna,
which was connected to one of the thumbscrews on the front.

This was a later receiver, tunable, and driving a tape machine
that printed out the Morse code on the tape.

The receiver's convoluter. This was sort of the "crystal" that was
used in later crystal receivers. The tube in the middle of the U-shaped
brass support had metal shavings in it that would rectify the received signal.
A special relay would "convolute" the shavings by knocking them back
into randomness periodically.

A display of old Morse keys. As many of these
as I have seen, there were several that were
quite mysterious looking!

On our way out of town, we detoured to Keynance Cove, one of the most beautiful places I have seen in a long time. The cliffs here are about 200 feet tall! Note the tiny little fishing village in the pictures, if you want to walk a rather strenuous trail down, you can get ice cream at the shop there!

There's a sail boat in this picture1

My foot is hanging over the edge...it's sitting on very wet, slick grass
barely hanging to loose loam, sloped at about a 75 degree angle.

A panorama of the cove.

England: Tuesday and Wednesday

I think I mentioned that we went into Penzance Tuesday. Penzance is an old town (what towns in England aren't?). Anyway, we had lunch at Penzance's oldest tavern, the Turk's Head Inn.

While eating lunch, a gentleman next to us noticed I was American (could it be my bloody accent?). Turns out his only trip to America was during WWII when he was in the RAF and sent from Manchester, England "where you had to go to find out where you were going next", to Miami, Oklahoma (we think he said) which was "the middle of bloody nowhere". He told us they hitchhiked to get places and "everyone there was just lovely to us."

Then at the Angarrack Inn, everyone was greeting an older gentleman who seemed very unhappy. Sadly, Walter's wife passed away this morning. Walter taught Paul McCartney and George Harrison history when they were in grammar school (think posh private school). He used to give them hell for turning in their homework late. Their excuse? They were up late writing music...which Walter poo-pooed as useless, of course!

Yes, yes, it was an interesting day.

Today, we drove over to an ancient Celtic ruin. This was an early Christian chapel and baptism site called Boswarthan. The "well" here is a sacred site where even today, people will bring pieces of clothe and other items that have touched a sick person to leave as a plea for good health. You can see the items in the tree beside what I would call a spring. The chapel is actually quite large, and has been partially restored. You can see the stream falling into what must have been some sort of "font", and the altar is on the left. They only held a few people at a time, the chapel was for the saint - not the type of saint we think of today, but an almost hermit-like person who was the spiritual leader. These ruins go back at least 1000 years, perhaps as much as 1500-1600 years.

The Wishing Well and Baptistry. You can see items hanging
in the tree as pleas for wellness and prosperity.

The Celtic Christian chapel. The structure to the right of
the door had water flowing into it. We don't know exactly
why.

A view from the other side of the chapel. The altar is to the lower
left. The chapel's ground has sunken, so it is flooded when
there is a lot of rain like we've had here lately.

On the way to lunch, we also stopped at another ancient spot, a burial plot for what was probably someone fairly important. This was at Lanyon Quoit. The rocks have been placed back in their original position as the top rock was knocked off at some point. The actual burial was probably in a stone box placed in the earth under the monolith, with the cremated remains poured into the box before it was sealed.

Lanyon Quoit. Click the picture to see it full-size, and note the
large structure off in the distance to the left. That is the
abandoned "tipping house" or "engine house" of an
old mine.

This beautiful purple flower is everywhere along
the trails in Cornwall. It is called foxglove.
Beautiful, yes, but also deadly poison!

 Lunch was at Tinners Arms Free House in Zennor. When I came here in 2007, this was the first pub I visited, and the bartender was quite surprised when I said this wasn't my first time. I guess most of their repeat business isn't five years apart, and is probably lot more local! Lunch was Garlic Mushrooms and Spinach with Linguini and Goat Cheese, accompanied of course, by a pint of Tinners Arms Ale.

The Zennor Parish Church tower

After lunch we hiked along the Coast Path, out along the edge of Cornwall. It was a beautiful day, and the views were spectacular.

After this hike, we drove over to Hell's Mouth. For the first time I wished I had my pro camera gear, with the  ultra wide-angle lens. My mind is the only picture I have of it! Two hundred foot cliffs, total beauty.


Who knows what tomorrow will bring!

England (9): On the Canal

This is a bit out of order, covering the day before the Travel post. Sorry, I've been a bit distracted by trying to untangle my host's computer after some crapware got installed and took over a bunch of stuff.

England has a system of 3600 miles of canals and waterways that were first dug in the 1500's and used as a means of commerce up until the 1900's. The boats that plied these routes were called narrowboats, so named because their beam was only 7 feet 10 inches wide. Some canals are wider, and accommodate boats up to 12 feet wide, but these are in the minority.

Today, there is a whole community of folks who own narrowboats, mostly modern-built by boatwrights who specialise in creating these unique forms of transportation. They range from about 35 feet long up to a maximum of 70 feet (none of the locks are longer). Most of the locks are only 8 feet wide, so the wide-beam boats cannot get into these sections of the canals. The owners of such boats range from weekend "sailors" to live-aboard folks who spend all of their time plying the canals.

Saturday, we ran out to the Foxton Locks via car. This  is an excellent example of a flight of ten locks that can raise or lower the boats about 100 feet in elevation using a series of sluices and gates to either flood or empty each lock. Considering that many of these locks were first put into operation in the 1700's, it's an amazing engineering feat.

The easiest way is to post a bunch of pictures! (In no particular order, of course.)

The black vertical strip is a piece of cast iron. The grooves
you can see in it are from the tow ropes. Horses pulled the
narrowboats until steam, and then diesel and petrol engines took
over.

These two little lambs greeted me each morning at
Murcott Mill Farmhouse.

A narrowboat in a lock...

The water level is dropping.

(Sorry it's sideways...this is a boat heading through a gate.

An engine in one of the boats...the plaques on either side of
the door show what canals and locks the boat has been through.

This is a holding pond, halfway up (or down)
the Foxton Flight. If a boat has priority, or somehow
two just meet going in opposite directions, one (or a couple)
can wait in the wide spot for the other to pass.

A statue commemorating the horses and boys
that led them along the canals.

Looking back along the top of the Foxton Flight of Locks.
There was a festival starting up, so there were quite a few
"working boats" moored along the top of the flight.

Not a large selection, but certainly a  good selection of beer....

...found at the Bridge 61 Free House at the bottom of the locks.
Bridges are numbered, sort of like mile markers, as they tend to be
plentiful, and are therefor an easy way to report positions as in "I'm at bridge 28
and need assistance". "Free Houses" are those that are independent of the
large breweries that tend to own many of the pubs these days.

A modern working boat. This boat sells diesel,
coal, wood, and other goods to boaters along the canals.
This is very similar to the original boats, which only had
a small cabin that the entire family lived in since the main
portion of the boat was taken up with goods.

I also saw a boat whose owner is a wood carver, another that was a book shop, and a third with FUDGE! YUMMY!!!

Later than afternoon, we went out on the canal in Rodney's boat. It was definitely a leisurely way to spend an afternoon as top speed is about 3mph, and you must slow down when you pass moored boats so you don't rock them. That's impolite at best!

The videos show us on the canal, and pulling alongside the fuel dock at the marina. Thought they were pretty cool, so here you go!

Here's a few references if you're interested:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Narrowboat
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_British_canal_system

The weather today, Tuesday 3 July, is again crappy. Gee, you'd think I was in Cornwall in the summer time or something! We headed over to Penzance (as in "Pirates of..." fame) to get some lunch and a pint or two, then do some shopping. Lunch was at Turk's Head Inn, the oldest pub in Penzance. I had a very nice crab sandwich and a Skinner's ale. We sat next to an older gentleman who told of of his trip to America...during WWII as a member of the RAF! He was sent from Manchester ("that's where you had to go to get your orders"), to Miami, Oklahoma, of all places ("stick a pin in it, and you're in the middle of nowhere!"). He told us they would hitchhike around to get places where there was something to do. Said the Americans were "lovely, treated us very well". It was certainly a very enjoyable lunch! We'll head out to Tinners Arms later on for a pint  or two, then we're fixing pizza in tonight.

England: A Travel Day

Yesterday was a travel day from Northamptonshire to Cornwall. We took the scenic route through the Cottswolds and then around Tetbury hit the motorway. On the way down we went through Banbury. .Remember the nursery rhyme with a Banbury Cross in it? This is the cross:

Looks like we traveled back in time, based on this fuel price:

Oh, wait, that's a PER LITRE price! £1.319 per litre works out to £4.98 per gallon, which converts to $7.82 per gallon! Thank your  lucky stars, Americans!

I've mentioned roundabouts in a couple of posts. I thought I'd illustrate the signage leading into a busy intersection.

Whilst we didn't go anywhere near Stonehenge, we did pass a very interesting sight, that became even more interesting after we pulled over and entered the grounds. The GPS for some unknown reason, took us past the Rollright Stones. From the brochure that a very nice lady provided (for 50p):

"The Legend goes that a King and his army were marching over the Cottswolds when they met a witch, who addressed the King:

Seven long strides thou shalt take, and
if Long Compton thou canst see
King of England shalt thou be

The king strode forward, but on his seventh stride the ground rose up in a long mound obscuring the view of the village far below. The witch turned them all to stone, the King overlooking Long Compton, the men standing in a circle nearby, and his five knights whispering treachery further off."

The view of the Rollright Stones from the road.

Thought to be erected 2000-2500BC, the exact reasons are unknown.

Adding to the interest of the site, was Hades the Harris Hawk that was with the woman and boy who were looking after the site for the day.

Hades, the Harris Hawk

This was my first view of the Godrevy Lighthouse this morning. It's located in St. Ives Bay. I'm in the front yard of the Sunset Surf Shop, next door to Derek's house, where I am staying.

Today has been a slow day; slept late, had breakfast at Sunset Surf, then we went to Tesco's. The rest of the day has been spent getting finances up to date (got to keep on top of the expenses), and working on my host's computer for him. Pretty cheap rent I'd say!

Here was my Tesco's shopping list:

(1) Scrumpy's Strong Farm Cyder, 7.49% ABV, 1L, £3.99
(2) Proper Job Powerfully Hopped India Pale Ale, 5.5% ABV, 500mL, £3.98
(2) Doom Bar by Sharp's Exceptional Bottled Beer, 4.3% ABV, 550mL, £3.66
(2) Admiral's Ale "I See No Ships", 5.0% ABV, 500mL, £3.98
(2) Skinner's Cornish Knocker Champion Golden Ale, 4.5% ABV, 500mL, £3.98
(3) Healey's Cornish Rattler "It's Cloudy, It's Cyder, It Bites", 6% ABV, £6.45
(1) Jack Daniel's Black Label Whiskey, 750mL, £24.10
(1) W. West Jerky (beef jerky), £1.99
(1) Crisps & Snack (potato chips), £2.00
Sub-Total: £54.13
Less: £3.60 Multibuy Savings (BEERS: 4 for £5): £3.60
Total: £50.53 ($79.36USD, but I got free wine carriers for it all ;-))

England: Warwick Castle

Warwick Castle (pronounced WAR-ick) is a beautifully kept (and restored) castle in the town of Warwickshire, on a bend in the Avon River. I'll let you read about its history here on Wikipedia if you like that sort of thing.

We arrived late in the morning, and it was starting to fill up with school groups, as well as some other tourists. Yes, school is nearing its end here, and field trips are the activity du jour. Most of the groups are very well behaved. Apparently uniforms help with that, as the only ones really running rampant were the kids that were allowed to "dress down" for their outing.

Anyway, we had 11:30AM tickets to visit the Dungeon. This is a "living history" piece of the castle, and it is a bit hokie, but if you have some smarts, you can discern the history from the theatrics. I was placed in the dock, and once it was determined that I was an American, from Virginia, I was summarily dismissed as worthless of the court's time. Beats getting your head cut off. It was an enjoyable introduction to the castle and its history. Thankfully, our tour consisted of 9 adults, with no screaming children, as the overall effect was one of a carnival haunted house!

We climbed to the top of one of the ramparts, and spent quite a while wandering the halls of the main house. It was a very enjoyable morning!

A view of the Avon from the main living quarters.

One of the beautiful stained glass windows found
throughout the house.

Wait a sec! A picture of me in front of a knight in
shining armour on his steed.

A peacock gracing the inner courtyard. Several have the
run of the grounds.

A gold gilt frame, one of only about 8 in the world
that is this size. It's about 8 feet tall!

A view of the Avon and part of Warwickshire from
the ramparts of the castle.

A sundial on a rampart wall.

A rather imposing structure!

The original castle was on this mount, now part of the
rear wall of the castle.