Enjoying the Natural Hot Springs

A quick shout out to "The Roving Artist" as I think these are such fun keepsakes from our day in Newbury. Here are pictures of the two silhouettes Mr. Burns did of the girls - it was quick, painless and I'm in love with the idea! If you are in the UK and have a chance to work with this group, don't hesitate! These were created free-hand, not from a tracing. I understand from their web site that they will create silhouettes from photos as well.

Silhouettes of Megan and Sophia.

Bath (continued)

In the last post, I promised stories, so here goes my long-winded recount of our few days in Bath. First of all, the city is quite beautiful though I found myself more impressed with the countryside than with the buildings. Wandering around the area near our campground, we encountered magnificant trees that look like they are straight out of a sci-fi book (I've been reading out of Dan's collection lately...) - some looked like they were ready to reach out and grab you while others looked ready to pick up roots and walk away.

Trees along the walking path near the campground.

Our day sightseeing was fun - though we chose not to tour the Roman Baths as it just felt really expensive (£25 for the family). I found out, after the fact, that we could have gotten 2 for 1 admission via our Caravan Club membership. Oh well.

Entrance to the Roman Bath museum / exhibit.

Alternatively, we had a delightful tour of Bath Abbey. The site is known to have had a church as early as 757 and in 1090 a Norman cathedral was on the premises. The current abbey was founded in 1499 (source: Bath Abbey web site). They have activity sheets for older kids and it worked like a charm! Megan was completely distracted by finding answers to all the questions, which enabled us to take our time and enjoy the marvelous architecture. The curator of the museum entertained us with anecdotal stories and even stepped outside to point out the stone mason's marks on the buildings. Stone masons would place a stone, then quickly make a scratch on the side, which was their "mark." They were paid daily - and the marks showed how many stones each had placed.

On our way back through the Abbey, we were greeted by one of the staff. This is the first time that one of the clergy took notice of us and talked to us when visiting a church! He was quite interested in our travels and had even visited Seattle himself. Made the entire experience just a bit more personal and meaningful somehow.

Inside Bath Abbey (L) and view of the ceiling (R).

We biked in on our second day in town. It was just about as easy to get to the Bristol-Bath bike path as it was to walk up the path to the bus. With kids in tow and having to disembark a few times, it took about 30-minutes to bike to Bath city center. Part of the path was along the river Avon, which snakes around the city. Very beautiful and refreshing ride.

Kids were exhausted and it was a short day. But Dan convinced me to desert the family and go back to enjoy an evening at the spa. The Thermae Spa utilizes water from the natural hot springs. They have kind of a funky pricing model (in order to use spa services, which are extra, you must also pay for the time you are at the spa with a 1, 2, 3 or 4 hour "spa package" in addition to the cost of the treatment). But - they offer a "Twilight" special, with for £35 you get 3 hours to utilize the main spa facilities (minerva bath, steam rooms and rooftop pool), a main course entry, glass of wine and use of robe, towel and slippers. It was kind of weird being there by myself, but the setup is quite brilliant. Just grabe a float tube, wrap it around your shoulders and you just float around the minerva bath and roof top pool. Very cool. The food was simple but tasty. Downsides - there is no access to the "hot baths" unless you are receiving a "treatment" and the showers were on par with campground showers - small, with generic gel that is both shampoo and shower gel. I didn't think they would appreciate me walking around with a camera - so I've swiped a photo from their web site - probably one of the coolest venues to spend an evening.

Image courtesy of Thermae Spa web site. This is a slighly air-brushed view of the roof-top pool at the spa.

And finally, our campground host convinced us to stay an extra day. We were missing out on the "best" of England by traveling around in such a big rig. He heartily recommended we take the 20-minute walk to the Duchy of Cornwall, easily accessed from the path at the campground, but not accessible via motorhome. This turned out to be a pretty short walk, but well worth the day. The village is actually named Newton St. Loe and the property is owned by the Prince of Wales and leased to inhabitants though Prince Charles maintains offices in the village.

The Rectory dates back to the 1700's; the "Mount" from 1500's (extended in the 1600's); and most buildings are authentic from that period. Pictures first - scroll down if you want more information - I took pictures of the text and have typed it up below. =)

Picture of Village plan and history that was posted outside the post office.

The Thatch

Holy Trinity Church - we got to peek inside and it's marvelous!

Here's the verbatim text, as recorded from the sign outside the post office building:

"The first record of the village is in 5A.D. When the Wansdyke, a ditch and dyke earthwork, passed south of the village. At this time it was called NIEWTONNE. In 300 A.D. A Roman General Marceus built a large Villa. Niewtonne is listed in the Domesday Book in 1085 and was given by William the Conqueror to Goeffrey, Bishop of Coutance in Nortmandby and on his death in 1100 the Manor passed to Roger St Loe hence the village became known as Newton St Loe. A farmhouse was built in 1100 A.D. By Roger Mowbray which was fortified in 1400 by Lord Bottreaux. The remains of this House are known as St Loe Castle.

THE OLD VILLAGE The Shop, The Thatch, Newton Farm and Spencer's Cottage form the centre of the village and all date from the 1700's. The Shop was also a Bakery and Beer House. The cottage adjacent to the Thatch was a Public House called 'The Rising Sun'. The Fountain and Horse Trough were donated to the village by the Gore-Langton family in the 1800's. The village Blacksmith was at the top of the road leading into the village known as 'Smith's Hill'.

THE SCHOOLS There were two schools in Newton St Loe, the oldest being near the Church which with the adjoining school house was built in 1698 from an Endowment of Richard Jones, a Bristol Merchant. He also founded a charity to assist young people of Newton St Loe to train for an occupation, this charity still operates today. The school provided accomodation for the school-master, rent free. The school was extneded in 1911 but had to close on 18th December 1970. After the closure one of teh school rooms was returned as part of the School House, making a lifing room with bedroom above. The remaining school room became the Parish Room. The school at the other end of the village was built in 1846 at the expense of the Rector George Gore. Both buildings are now used for recreational purposes.

HOLY TRINITY CHURCH The list of rectors inside the Church date from 1297 as does the South Aisle and Nave. The Tower is 13th Century and contains a fine peal of 6 bells. The North Aisle was added in 1857 when the impressive Gore-Langton Memorial was erected in the South Aisle. The organ and windows are of great interest and date from the late 1800's. In the churchyard is a preaching cross which may pre-date 1297.

THE MOUNT, built it is believed, pre 1500's, has a superb view overlooking the Avon Valley. The house was enlarged in the 1650's to provide for servants quarters and again in the Regency period it nearly doubled in size iwth an attempt to 'Georginise' it in keeping iwth fashionable Bath. By 1870 Jon Lun Stothart and his family had moved into the house along with their 12 servants. The heir to the Gore-Langon Estate at Newton Park, The Hon. Capt. Chandos Gore-Langton also lived in the Mount from 1913-1924 with his family and added a further wing to the house. The Mount now remains a Grade II listed building of substantial size but still a family home.

The present Newton Park House was built by Joseph Langton in 1780, a wealthy Bristol Merchant who engaged Capability Brown to lay out the Park. Several large houses were built in the village at this time, The Hayes, Stonewalls, The Rectory, Spencer's Cottage and also most of the farmhouses and most cottages. The population is estimated at 200 in 1082 rising to 300 when coal was found and mined near the village. There are now 53 houses with a population of 150. The character of the village remained virtually unchanged from 1750 to 1950 when mains, drainage, electricty and water were installed, however Newton St Loe still has evidence of the past."

THE RECTORY Was the home of ten Rectors from the mid 1700's to 1952 when on the retirement of the Rev. Beaumont Russell it ceased to be the residence of the local rector. During this 200 years, the Rectory was the centre of village life and during World War II was the First Aid Post and A.R.P Wardens Post. After the War it became a Hall of Residence for Newton Park College before becoming the Headquarters of the Duchy of Cornwall, Eastern Region which manages Land Holdings for the Duchy stretching from Exeter eastwards."

Next up - Birmingham.

Ciao!