Bill's no Willie!

Edinburgh is a really nice base for a visit to Scotland.  It's very historic and an easy city to navigate on foot.  The city center is fairly compact and divided into the "old town" and "new town".  We've spent practically all of our time in the city in the medieval  "old town" section.  The main street in this section is called the Royal Mile. It runs from the Edinburgh Castle which sits at the highest point in the city center down to the Palace of Holyroodhouse.  This palace is the Queens official palace when she is in Scotland.
The Edinburgh Castle sits on what is known as "Castle Rock".  Historians have evidence that people have lived in the Castle Rock area since the second century AD.  The castle itself isn't quite that old but dates back to the 12th century. 
We walked the entire length of the Royal Mile and much more.  When we were down near the palace Beth reminded me that we had toured it on our last visit.  Ben and Sarah were pretty young at that time.  We got a good chuckle when we started thinking about all the places we drug those kids to as they were growing up.  They were mostly good sports about it and hopefully appreciate all the cultural exposure we provided them.
 https://www.edinburghcastle.gov.uk/
https://www.royalcollection.org.uk/visit/palace-of-holyroodhouse
Another nice feature of Edinburgh is that it is easy to access other areas of Scotland from here.  When we checked in to our hotel the front desk clerk suggested visiting the South Queensferry Area.  This area was just a 15 minute train ride and was a great suggestion.  It's just a small city located on the Firth of Forth.  While that name may sound a bit confusing it's really quite simple.  The river is the "River of Forth" and the word "Firth" means "mouth of the river".   We enjoyed a nice lunch at a small place overlooking the river that also provided great views of one of the more interesting bridges I've ever seen.  The Forth Bridge is a railway bridge that has been in operation since 1890.  It's unique design was quite interesting and it was made even more spectacular looking with the fog and mist as a backdrop.  The bridge underwent a major restoration project that started in 2002 but has basically operated "trouble free" since opening close to 130 years ago.
 https://www.visitscotland.com/info/towns-villages/south-queensferry-p240281
 http://www.forth-bridges.co.uk/forth-bridge/facts-figures-rail.html
On our second day we decided to get out of the city even further and tour the Highlands.  To accomplish this we booked a tour that was mostly a "driving tour".  The drive passed through some magnificent forests and national park areas as well as a number of lakes in what makes up the Scottish Lake District.  There were about 12 of us on a bus that would seat 30.  Thankfully it wasn't full because although it was a brand new bus it didn't have the most legroom. 
Along the way our driver (Bill) shared with us some interesting stories.  Several of them were about William Wallace who may be better known to many folks as "Braveheart".  He was quite an inspirational person to the Scottish people and actually lead his men to a victory over the English army at the Battle of Stirling Bridge in 1297.  This was one of the few victories Scotland has ever enjoyed over the English either in war or rugby since folks have been keeping score of these things.  Unfortunately it kind of went down hill for Willam after this victory.  He was caught and executed in 1305 and according to Bill it wasn't an ordinary execution.  He was first hung but cut down before he died.  Next he was "gutted" (Bill's word not mine) and his insides set on fire and finally for good measure his arms, legs and head were cut off and placed on top of a spike on the London Bridge.
There is a Willam Wallace museum in the town of Stirling and Bill shared with us that because there are no portraits of him that when they made the statue of him for the museum they actually made him look like Mel Gibson.  He said this caused an uproar amongst the local people who have always referred to the monument as a monument to William Gibson!
The highlight of the Highlands was seeing Loch (Loch=Lake) Ness.  This is the largest of the lakes and they are very proud of it's size.  We were told it is over 26 miles long, a mile and a half wide at it's widest point and over 800 feet deep.  A young man who did a great narration on a little cruise we did on the lake told us that the lake has more water in it than all the lakes and rivers in England and Wales.  Additionally he was quite pleased to let us know that if it was drained that the entire population of the world could fit inside it several times.  Not sure how they figured that one but I hope they don't drain it and make all of us get in there, doesn't sound like much fun to me.
The cruise was very interesting and when you get to the pictures you'll see who we spotted as we were cruising around.
Now about Bill, our tour guide.  Bill was a really nice older gentleman with a pretty thick Scottish accent that made it fairly hard to understand him.  He would narrate a while and then play us a song or two which most of the time had terribly depressing lyrics. They were about things like the Glencoe Massacre or somebody being hung by the English which I guess was a pretty common thing.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/scottishhistory/union/trails_union_glencoe.shtml
We liked old Bill but we decided that Bill just wasn't Willie.  If you've been following the blog you may recall Willie was a tour guide we had back in New Zealand in the fall.  Willie was the tour guide extraordinaire!  Willie would be driving along pointing things out to us, sometimes with both hands at the same time. He sang to us, had us singing with him, made balloon animals (not while driving) and much more.  Bill could learn a thing or two from Willie but unlike Willie at least he kept one hand on the steering wheel most of the time!

Nessie?

Edinburgh Castle

Calton Hill-Edinburgh

Old Town Edinburgh

Forth River Railway Bridge

Highlands

Highlands

Scottish War Memorial-Highlands

Loch Ness Canal looking towards the lake

A very happy camper!

We've left England and Wales behind and moved north to Scotland.  We're in Edinburgh now.  We have four nights here before flying to Ireland.  In addition to spending some time in the city we're to do a couple of day trips.  One to look for the Loch Ness Monster and another visiting St. Andrews which is not only the birthplace of golf, it's also where Prince William found Kate back when they were attending the university there.
Our drive from the Lake District to Edinburgh was about 4 hours driving time with a couple of hours of stopping along the way.  As usual Beth had done her homework and had found a couple of unique and interesting things for our amusement.  The first two were a little quirky but a lot of fun to see.
First up it was something called the Falkirk Wheel.  This contraption is a rotating boatlift that connects two of the major canals in Scotland.  Hard to describe but it was huge and very entertaining to watch.  Hopefully the video or pictures will help explain it.  Needless to say, there was a whole lot of engineering involved in designing that thing!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ucg1O-5jsnM
From the Falkirk Wheel we were just a few miles from another unusual attraction, the Kelpies.  The Kelpies are the largest horse sculptures in the world.  There are two of them that are side by side and they are 30 meters high.  While it might seem like something more appropriate for Fort Worth than Scotland it was fun staring at them for a few minutes.  They are located in a nice park just off the motorway.  I can't imagine how many accidents they've caused since their completion in 2013 as unsuspecting drivers suddenly see these guys.  They definitely get your attention.
http://www.thehelix.co.uk/things-to-do/the-kelpies
Our last stop was a little more normal.  We stopped for a quick look around the town of Stirling.  Stirling is a "university town".  However, it is most well known for it's castle, appropriately named Stirling Castle.  The castle sits at the highest point in the town so it can be seen for miles and once up there it offers great views of the surrounding area.
 https://www.stirlingcastle.gov.uk/
I have one funny story from our Stirling visit.  They have a very magnificent old church which was founded in 1129 with a little bit of an unusual name.  It's called the Church of the Holy Rude.  Now I'm not sure what the name means but I'm sure there is an appropriate story that makes the name make sense.  We found it amusing that it had a big "Welcome" sign out front stating that the church was open weekdays until 4:30.  It was around 3:30 when we went to the door and were greeted with a "closed" sign!  Kinda rude if you ask me. 
One of my most challenging driving experiences ever was in Edinburgh about 15 years ago.  We had Ben and Sarah with us and it might have been my first experience driving on the left side of the road.  Of course it was also prior to the GPS.  Edinburgh is full of narrow streets,  many of which are one way and the name of the street seems to change for some reason every few blocks. I remember that day long ago that about every 10 minutes or so I would see the hotel but with all the one way roads I was having a hard time getting to it.  This went on for what seemed like several hours although it probably wasn't nearly that long.  I was just about to park that car in the middle of the road and tell everyone to grab their suitcases and walk to the hotel.  Suddenly some how, some way a path opened up and we made it.  I'm sure it was very amusing to Beth, the kids and the thousands of pedestrians that I kept passing. 
That experience has been stuck in my little brain for all these years.  Yesterday afternoon, older, wiser, more experienced and with the help of the GPS we navigated pretty easily to the hotel, unloaded and then drove on the last 1.5 miles to the rental car company.  I turned a little quick one time and think I did manage to go the wrong way on a one way street for a minute or so.  But it wasn't a busy street so it didn't cause a ruckus. 
We had that rental car for 17 days and put over 1,000 miles on it.  To the best of my knowledge I didn't hit anybody or anything.  When I turned in those keys I was one happy camper!

Just dropped off the rental car!

The Falkirk Wheel

The wheel in action bringing a boat to the lower canal.  The boat can barely be seen but probably holds 150+ people.

Didn't mean to stick my hand up his nose!

Beth and one of the Kelpies

Stirling

Stirling Castle

Milestones!

Over the next thirty days or so there will be a few significant milestones that we're going to reach on this journey.  I won't give them all away ahead of time and I'll try not to get too sentimental as I write about them.
Today is the first one.  It's the one year anniversary of my very first blog!  How this blogging thing all started I really can't remember.  I do remember Beth and I talking about documenting what we were embarking on and somehow the word blog came up.  Setting up a blog page was pretty easy and off I went into the world of blogging.  That first blog was titled "Countdown to Retirement".  I do remember after writing it thinking "that was kind of fun, maybe I'll do one every now and then".  Well, I do get a little stats page that I can view and according to it this is my 160th blog over the past year!  I guess it's become a hobby.
I've never envisioned myself as a writer, still don't and I'm sure everyone reading this is in agreement with that self assessment.  I'm simply trying to tell our story in my own words.  I hope along the way you are amused, informed, and maybe inspired or maybe you're just curious about "what are those idiots up to now". 
One other stat that I get is a "page view" stat.  I have no idea who is reading this unless they leave a comment (which isn't that easy) or tell one of us they read it.  This page view summary just tells how many different times the various blogs have been viewed.  Over the past year there have been over 8,500 page views!  While that number is a few million less than the number of people who click on a new instagram picture of Kim Kardashian showing her butt (hopefully that's none of you) I'm very proud of it.
Thanks for coming along for the ride!  

Double Dipping!

It's been well documented in this blog that Beth is the planner and brains of this twosome.  She hasn't admitted it yet but I don't think it was by accident that she's double dipping!  You see it's Mothers Day today over here so she gets two of them this year.
Her English Mothers Day was pretty laid back.  We enjoyed a nice breakfast here at the hotel.  Enjoyed some time sitting by the lake reading.  Did a short walk that was very nice and with none of the adventures like our walk Friday.
We did ride over to a local beach (Roanhead Beach) and looked around a bit.  As you will see in the pictures it was quite different, especially with the tide being out.  Finished off the day with a nice Mothers Day meal at the White Swan Hotel just down the road at Newby Bridge.
http://www.swanhotel.com
https://www.thebeachguide.co.uk/north-west-england/cumbria/roan-head.htm
The weather the last two days has been pretty darn close to perfect.  Sunny skies, no wind, lows around 40 and highs around 60.  It's on to Edinburgh tomorrow.
Happy English Mothers Day to all you mums (I've learned to speak British)!

Beth hiding in the sand and grass dunes of Roanhead Beach

Found her again!

Demonstrating my ability to walk on water.........much easier at low tide!

Found her again, this time on the beach

Lakeside Hotel from across the lake

"Just keep the lake on your left, you can't get lost"

Our journey has now taken us to Lake Windermere in what is known as the "Lake District".  This region is in the North/Northwest section of England.  As the name implies it is made up of a number of large lakes.  Lake Windermere is the largest of all the lakes in the district and we're staying at the south end..  This lake is a little more than 10 miles long, over a mile wide at it's widest point and at the deepest point is over 220 feet deep for those of you keeping score.
First of all a big thank you to a very special group of folks back at Texas Health Huguley.  Last year when I retired they bought Beth and I a hotel gift certificate which we're using for our stay here at the Lakeside Hotel.  We're so grateful!
http://www.lakesidehotel.co.uk
There are boats that run from one end of the lake to the other.  The hub for the boats is the town of Bowness which is pretty much at the mid-point in the lake.  From our hotel we can take a boat to  Bowness.  There we are able to switch to another boat that can be taken to the north end of the lake and the city of Ambleside.  The boats run continuously throughout the day so it's very easy.  Both Bowness and Ambleside are worth a few hours of wandering around time.  As well as one other stop at Brockhole which is the visitors center for the Lake District National Park.
https://www.windermere-lakecruises.co.uk
Wednesday this area received about 5 inches of snow.  We didn't arrive until late Thursday afternoon.  By then it had warmed up and all the snow except for that in the distant mountains had melted (this is going to be important later on).
In addition to the lakes, the area is known for it's outstanding hiking trails which we were anxious to try.  Friday morning we took the boat to Bowness.  We were going to look around a bit before taking a ferry across the lake and hiking back to the hotel.  We had talked to several people about this hike and they all said pretty much the same thing.  It would be about a three hour hike on mostly flat terrain and to just keep the lake on your left and you can't get lost.  It sounded simple enough so around 1:30 we took the ferry across and hit the trail.
Literally speaking we never got lost!  The lake was always on our left, but other than that it was a hike like no other we had ever done.  It started simple enough on a nice wide, well marked trail.  We knew from the map that the trail ran close to the edge of the lake.  What we soon figured out was that not only had a lot of snow melted in the last day or two but that it had rained quite a bit recently and the lake level was up considerably.  By the time we started to hit some little "challenges"  like the trail being under water we had gone too far to turn around so we kept pushing on.  Every time we'd get through one "challenge" and think we were done there would be something else for us to deal with just around the bend. 
Diversions off the trail took us over and through fences, often walking in sheep filled pastures.  I don't think they're the sharpest animals on the planet!  However, I believe they were looking at us thinking the very same thing.  Thank God there weren't any cattle ranches with bulls in any of them or this story might not have a happy ending.  At one point Beth was balancing on top of a fence post in a karate kid type pose.  The only way for her to get down was to jump into my waiting arms.  She did, I caught her and we kept going.  Another time we realized we were actually on one of those challenge courses like they use for The Spartan Race or Tough Mudder.  It was a far cry from the easy, flat hike we had envisioned.
The lake was always on the left, we were never lost!
Two or three times the only way to keep going was to take off our shoes and wade through the water.  Lakes in Northern England are pretty darn cold this time of year, especially when it snowed just two days prior.  Not only was it cold but the lake shores were very rocky so we were also afraid of cutting our feet.  At least there was not much chance of getting an infection. I don't think any fungus or bacteria could live in water that cold!
The lake was always on our left, we were never lost!
By now our easy three hour hike was a little over four hours in length and still no hotel in sight.  We finally jumped our last fence and headed westward toward where we knew the road to the hotel would be waiting for us  We had been told that the last bit of hike was along this road. Again everyone's story was the same; "there isn't much traffic on the road".  Well................it wasn't quite like driving on I-75 in Florida or I-35 in Texas but it wasn't exactly traffic free either.  There was no shoulder on the road and it was a very narrow, winding, two lane road and starting to get a little dark.  I think we were more scared on this section than at any other time during this ordeal.
A little over four and a half hours after starting our three hour hike we were back at the hotel, safe, sound and pretty darn tired.  After hot baths we ate a peanut butter sandwich and apple in the room, laughing at what we had been through and thankful that at least we kept the lake on the left the whole time......unless we were wading through it.

There's a trail down there somewhere!

One of the easier obstacles we had to navigate.  They got much tougher as the hike went on.

Refreshing....I don't think so

Some of our hiking companions

Lakeside Hotel

Beth on the trail..............lake's on the left

From the lake boat

From the Lake District National Park Visitors Center

One of the lake boats coming into the National Park Visitors Center

Snowdonia, Chester and the OAP discount

I told a little bit about the location of our Llandudno hotel in a previous blog. In addition to a great location it also had an interesting history.  The name of it was the Empire Hotel.  It was built in 1854 and was originally in a row of shops.  It was purchased by a family in 1946 and converted to a 20 room hotel.  The third generation of family members are managing it today.  One of the current family members actually married a Texan, a fact they proudly share in their story.  It's tough to get a Texan out of Texas so it must be true love that he has been living in Wales and helping run the hotel since 1993.  It wasn't overly fancy but it was full of character and very comfortable.  Some of the staff shared with us that many of the guests have been coming to the hotel for quite a number of years.  I don't know when we'll be back.  If we're ever in the neighborhood I sure wouldn't mind staying there again.
http://www.empirehotel.co.uk/
From Llandudno it was an easy drive to Snowdonia National Park which covers over 800 square miles and is the largest national park in Wales.  It also is home to the highest mountain in Wales and England, Mount Snowden.  I don't think I had ever given it much thought but I wasn't expecting to see snow covered mountains here.  Not only were many of the mountains in Snowdonia capped with snow they actually had a pretty good snowfall our second night in town.Our drive kept us just below the snow line but there were some great overlooks of valleys with lakes and green fields usually full of sheep with the snow covered mountains in the background. 
We enjoyed driving over to the park and spending some time in the village of Betws Y Coed (no idea how to pronounce it).  As with so many of these villages there was a beautiful mountain stream running through the heart of town.  Very picturesque!
http://www.eryri-npa.gov.uk/home
On the drive from Llandudno to our next destination, the Lake District, we stopped in the city of Chester.  Beth had heard about it from a lady she was visiting with back in the fall when we were on the New Zealand cruise.  Thankfully she still has enough brain cells to remember some of what she's heard even months later.
Chester was a Roman Fortress built back in the first century AD.  There were quite a few ruins that dated back to when the Romans were the big dogs over here.  Additionally it is considered to have the most intact city walls of any city in Britain.  It seemed like about 80% or so are still intact today.  We enjoyed walking a pretty good portion of it.  But what Chester is really known for is it's two story Tudor style buildings that occupy several streets in the city center. This style definitely gives the city a distinct look.
What I have left of my hair was starting to look a little scruffy.  Our ability to burn up hair clippers is well documented, having fried one in New Zealand and another in Spain.  We had decided when it was time for a haircut we'd just find a barbershop.  Well it was time and we found one in Chester.
The young lady that cut my hair was very nice.  When I set down in her chair I told her that I wanted her to make my hair look like hers.  It was shoulder length and pink.  She laughed and we were buddies right away.  She told me about her independent minded six year old daughter and asked about our children.  I told her about Ben and Sarah and of course included a good bit on SBJ.
The prices for haircuts were listed on a sign.  It was pretty simple:  Men 9 Pounds, Students 7 Pounds, OAP 6 Pounds.
When she was done she said that'll be 6 Pounds.  I happily paid her and we were on our way still curious as to what OAP meant but having a pretty good idea.  Google confirmed our suspicions.  We thought it was Older Aged Person, it's actually Old Age Pensioner!  I'll take that OAP discount anytime I can get it!

Snowdonia National Park

Town clock in the village of Betws-Y-Coed

Snowdonia National Park

Tudor Buildings in Chester

Eastgate Clock-Chester

On the wall around the City of Chester

Daffodils are in bloom all over the UK 

London

This picture was taken on the Westminster Bridge on Saturday, March 4.  Our prayers are with all the people in London who were impacted by yesterdays senseless act. 

The innocent lives that were lost is tragic.  Being cautious everywhere is the new normal.  However, if we lock ourselves away and don't live our lives to the fullest the terrorists win.

The overwhelming majority of people out there are good people just wanting to enjoy their lives.



Llandudno, Conwy, Alice In Wonderland and something very ironic.....all in one day!

As usual our day started pretty early.  We're staying at the Empire Hotel here in Llandudno.  Looking out our window the bay is a few hundred yards to the left and the Celtic Sea is less than a mile a way to the right.  We booked it through Hotwire.  We've started using them a lot and are becoming bigger fans with every booking.  Beth, who of course is the brains behind this duet has become very proficient at getting outstanding deals.
With Monday being a big driving day we didn't really do much after arriving.  Just a short walk to stretch the legs, relaxing in the pool, a nice meal here at the hotel (unusual for us to eat at the hotel) and we called it a day.  Driving in we liked the fact that the area is pretty flat and we had read about some nice walks.
Our goals for Tuesday were to check out Llandudno, walk the beach path to Conwy, check out the Conwy Castle and walk back.  The distance between Llandudno and Conwy is about 4 miles so we figured it was easily going to be a 10+ mile day for us.  By the time it was all said and done we had probably covered 12-14 miles and learned a few things along the way.
As we were heading out we noticed a statue honoring C.S. Lewis. There is a picture of it below.  Now in doing a little research it turns out there is a bit of controversy as to if C.S. ever visited Llandudno.  What is known is that Alice Liddell who was the inspiration for the book vacationed with her family here frequently.  Since it's been over 150 years it's doubtful the truth about C.S., and Alice in Llandudno will ever be known.  What is a fact is that Llandudno has taken every opportunity possible to tie him to the city including the commerative  statue as well as other statues of characters from the book scattered throughout the town.  As the marketing/media folks will tell you; never let the truth stand in the way of a good story!
The closer we got to the city of Conwy the bigger and more impressive the Conwy Castle became.  This castle and the walls surrounding the city were planned and built in just four years by King Edward I back around 1283.  It sits right at the mouth of the River Conwy and it certainly was well placed to defend attackers from either land or sea.  We enjoyed walking through it and imagining what it must have been like back in the day.  Of course,  I'm sure it was a little different in the Royal Apartment area than the servants side of the castle.
We've been touring around England and Wales going on three weeks now.  We saw something yesterday we had only had a glimpse of a time or two previously.........the sun!  Although it clouded up late in the day we had sunshine pretty much all day.  The ironic thing, it was far and away the coldest day we've had the entire time.  The temperature never got much above 40 degrees and the wind blew around 20+ mph all day.  The wind was coming off the chilly Celtic Sea to make it even colder.  The Traveling Idiots pushed on through the elements in spite of the fact that at times we couldn't feel our faces!

Conwy Castle

Fact or Fiction?

I'm not smiling......my face is frozen!

The Queen of Conwy Castle

Castle, Blue Sky & a strong wind

Llandudno Promenade on the Bay Side

Everyone should have their picture taken in front of Great Britain's Smallest House

Royal Britches?

We left Bath this morning and our five hour drive took us from one country soon to be exiting the EU to another.  We're now in the coastal city of  Llandudno, Wales.  Take a close look at the spelling of the city and try to pronounce it before clicking on the link below.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zYsF2AC0CDs
Unless you're fluent in Welsh (I'm not) you probably butchered it as bad as me.  Don't worry about it, it's all good.
We did a little side trip on the way stopping in the village of Tetbury.  Although it was drizzling (again) we did a little bit of a walk around the city center.  There was a very nice lady in the tourist information office who gave us a few suggestions and offered a sincere apology for the weather. 
Among the highlights she suggested was visiting a church just across the street.  She shared with us with a little snicker that this church was built for the "rich people" in the town.  She also wanted us to see the "other church" which was for the "poor people".  She wanted us to see both and compare the two.  The "rich folks" church was as you might expect, very high tone.  Unfortunately the drizzle turned to rain for a few minutes so we didn't make it to the "poor peoples" church but I'm sure it wasn't as high tone.   Now thankfully they were both built several centuries ago and I'm sure nothing like that would happen today.  I'm also pretty sure I know which one Jesus would have felt more comfortable in had he lived in Tetbury.
Also interesting to see were the Chipping Steps.  This is a row of houses that were originally built for a group of folks who worked as weavers.  They were built as the elevation along the street changed giving them quite a unique look which is probably better explained by a picture.  (there's one below)
http://www.visittetbury.co.uk/


Tetbury's real notoriety lies in it's connection to the Royal Family.  It's the home of Prince Charles's Country Residence.  Everyone living in Windsor Castle should have a little country home getaway place, shouldn't they?
https://www.highgrovegardens.com/
He actually has a store in town that sells a very nice selection of goods.  All the proceeds from the sale of merchandise goes to his personal charity which is a noble thing (no pun intended).
We spoke briefly to the nice lady running the store and Beth asked her if Charles ever popped his head into the shop.  She said he actually does a few times a year and that she has been there several times when it's happened.  She said that he was very nice.  He's always seemed like a pretty good chap to me.
https://www.highgrovegardens.com/shop.html
So now, about those Royal Britches.  All the towns over here have quite a few "charity shops" in them.  They're usually for organizations similar to the Heart Association, Cancer Society, Local Hospice Programs or churches.  We've been in quite a few, not serious shopping but just snooping around.  Beth found a nice pair of hiking boots earlier in the trip but unfortunately they were a little too big so she passed them up.
One of the charity shops in Tetbury was running a special, all clothing items for 2 pounds (a little over $2).  Much to my surprise there on the rack was a nice pair of already broken in Wrangler jeans in just my size.  I swooped them up quickly and was happy about my purchase.  Afterwards I got to thinking that Prince Charles and I look to be about the same size.  I'm pretty convinced that at one point those Wrangler's belonged to him.  He and Camilla were probably doing a little spring cleaning and took a bunch of clothes to the local charity shop.  Now they're mine. 
Makes for a nice story.  I'm sticking with it.

The Chipping Steps

Market Hall-Tetbury City Center

The Rich Folks Church

Inside the "Rich Folks Church".  Note the "reserved" sign on the back row.  I'm surprised mom never put one of those on the back row of First Baptist Church, Mulberry!

Who cut the cheese?

It would certainly be easy to spend more than one day exploring the city of Bath.  However, there are so many interesting places in this area we decided that Sunday would be spent in some of the smaller cities and villages.  Again we had quite a few to choose from but ended up selecting Wells and Cheddar.  They were only a short drive from where we were staying and close to each other.  The rolling green countryside was quite spectacular.  It was chilly and a little misty but we decided that made for an appropriate setting, especially since we couldn't change it.
Wells bills itself as "England's Smallest City".  I'm not sure what makes a village a village, a town a town or a city a city but it's a nice tagline.  It also seemed to be an accurate one because we discovered a busy little city center surrounded by nice houses and a very prominent cathedral.
Although there is evidence that people lived there long before, the city itself dates back to the 12th century.  It gets it's name from a natural spring located in the Bishop's Palace which is adjacent to the cathedral.  The spring water served as a great resource for the people and provided water for a moat that surrounds the Bishop's Palace.
The Bishop's Palace is over 800 years old and as the name implies served as the residence for the Bishop of the Church.  It's massive and contains over 14 acres of gardens within the compound.  Now I'm really not sure why he felt a moat was necessary unless he wasn't a very good bishop or he was concerned the parishioners might figure out how much of their tithes went to building the palace.
https://bishopspalace.org.uk/attractions/palace/
Like the palace, the cathedral is quite spectacular. However, it does look disproportionally large for a city the size of Wells.  Inside, the cathedral was much brighter than many of the old cathedrals that we have visited.  The stained glass windows were really nice and allowed in plenty of natural light even on a very overcast day.
The most interesting feature of the cathedral was a clock installed on a wall.  This is no ordinary clock.  It was installed around 1390 making it one of the oldest medieval clock faces in the world.  The clock still functions and until recently was wound by hand.  On the quarter hour the knights at the top of the clock circle several times like it's a jousting tournament.  Every time they go around this one poor knight loses the bout and falls back on his horse.  Poor guy gets beat about 8-10 times every fifteen minutes.  He's been doing this for over 600 years.  That's a lot of getting beat and getting back up.  You gotta admire his resolve!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ggT6Eon6OV0
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1304404/Wells-Cathedral-clock-wound-human-hand-replaced-electric-motor.html
We found a nice paved footpath that lead from the area near the Bishop's Palace to a small village a couple of miles away.  Not ones to miss out on a Sunday stroll we joined quite a few other folks on a  leisurely walk.  The "public footpaths" as they are called are so nice and easy to access.  Like the South West Coast Path in Cornwall this network of paths could take you for miles and miles.......over 600 miles if you felt so moved.
Our other destination, Cheddar is a village with a big claim to fame.  As you have probably guessed by now this is where cheddar cheese was first developed.  Like most things historic in England it dates back quite a few centuries.  In this case to the twelfth century when the local folks started storing their cheese in the local caves of the cheddar gorge while it matured.  Magically, mystically cheddar cheese was born and the cheddar cheese made locally is still stored in those very same caves today.  So yes, cheese is being cut in Cheddar every single day and has been for centuries!
But wait, there's more!.  In 1903 Britain's oldest complete human skeleton was found in one of the caves.  His estimated age, over 9,000 years.  He was appropriately given the name "Cheddar Man"!
You can't make this stuff up!

Outside the Bishop's Palace

Wells Cathedral

Cathedral Clock

The Jesse Window in the Cathedral-Nearly Destroyed in the English Civil War

Ceiling of the Chapter House in the Cathedral-Where the clergy met to conduct "church business"

Houses called "The Vicars Close".  It served as housing for men in the choir at one time

Front view-Wells Cathedral

Cheddar Gorge

Cheddar Gorge-Smell that cheese aging?

Goats roam free in Cheddar Gorge