Magical History Tour 2003

Arrived in London on the morning of April 4, 2003 with my sister who was also visiting friends. We went out separate ways after leaving Heathrow. I made my way to the train station and bought a return to Paddington on the Heathrow Express since I had to get the train from Paddington to Worcester. It costs a bit more than the tube or the airbus but it’s quite convenient depending on where you’re staying or what your onward plans are.

But bloody hell! I expected the £24.50 for the one way to Worcester but the ticket to Cardiff for the 13th was nearly 40 quid and I thought buying it a week in advance would make it cheaper! *sigh* Well I went and had another cup of tea while waiting for the train. I figured out which train and platform I needed and the journey was pleasant with some lovely rolling countryside in Oxforshire and Worcestershire. When we rolled into Oxford I could see some of the spires and towers of the colleges and churches but the train station was away from the old city center. Coming into Reading (pronounced "Redding" for the uninitiated such as I was) I saw a great palladian heap on a hill outside of the city.

My mate Chris met the train in Worcester in a rush, turns out he had to get back to work when he had thought he would have had the afternoon off. He had to go out after work with a buyer that was in from out of town and worried I would be upset but really, all I wanted was to stretch out and have a nap so he needn’t have worried.

The next morning, we headed into the medieval city centre of Worcester. Worcester is a very old town dating to the Roman period, later with strong Royalist ties during the English Civil war and it was the site of the last battle of the war. It was also
the home of composer Edward Elgar and that name is found repeated all over the city. It has a lovely cathedral situated along the Severn River, dating back to the Norman age with various other periods represented up to some Victorian exteriors.

It’s a beautiful day, the clouds have parted and I’m walking around without a coat on! Two days ago in Halifax I was still shivering in my winter coat! We strolled around the pedestrian center and went into the Queen Anne era Guildhall for a peek. There’s a lovely Victorian ornate ceiling in the upstairs assembly rooms where there is now a tea room. In the lobby there was a market being held. We browsed through some prints in one booth and I was surprised when the stall owner knew right away I was Canadian rather than American! Doesn’t happen too often!

The tourist information shop is also in one wing of the Guildhall so we stopped in there to pick up a walking tour pamphlet and some postcards. On we walked, taking a side street because I spied an older building I wanted to look at. We passed by St. Helen’s Church which sits on the site of the city’s first Christian church, or so it is thought. Chris found it interesting seeing the place where he has been living through the eyes of a tourist. He was also astounded at how many things I could find to take a picture of !

A few photos later we came to the majestic Cathedral dating back as far as the 12th century in parts. (see review for more details) we wandered through there and had a cup of tea in the cafe.

From there we emerged out the back onto the Cathedral Green where there are some ruins of an earlier building beside the Cathedral. We exited the close through the Edgar Tower, a 13th century gateway into the Cathedral green with 800 year old wooden gates, looking very forbidding. There are other buildings in the area including a college and private school. We walked around the city center, a mix of old and new buildings past a 17th century building called the Commandery, now a civil war museum. It sits along side the Worcester-Birmingham canal as well which made for some pretty scenery.

Worcester has strong ties to the English Civil war, where it began in 1642 and ended in 1651 when Charles II fled to France and Oliver Cromwell took over running the country until his death. His son, Richard Cromwell took over but wasn’t the man his father was and the throne was restored to Charles II in 1660.

We made our way to Friar Street which has quite a few buildings dating to the 14th to 16th century including the Cardinal’s Hat, purported to be the oldest pub in Worcester variously dating frm the mid 1300’s to the mid/late 1400’s. We decided to have a bite to eat here and sat in a sunny windowed room. Chris was startled when I seemingly turned around and took a photo of the wall but my aim was to capture the old latch lock that contrasted with a modern Yale lock just above it . The beer and sausage hit the spot and gave us fuel for more walking. (see restaurant review for more details)

Along Friar Street we ambled, me taking photos randomly and Chris following, the best place to be since I tend to go off in any direction depending on what catches my eye. We found some old Almshouses that I think are probably now private residences and we also walked around the old GreyFriars house, now owned by the National Trust. There’s a lovely walled garden behind it and the building itself is half timbered and dates to the 15th century. It was built next to an actual friary by a wealthy citizen. There is a museum in it now though we didn’t partake.

Along Friar Street which turns into New Street, I admired many old buildings including King Charles house which is a pub now. It’s odd to see all these creaking and bent old houses with modern shops in the street level. There are also some covered shopping centers and markets in this area. We saw a lovely 18th century church, St. Swithins but it’s not open to the public without an appointment. Along the way we visited the money gods in the wall and a Thornton’s shop where I started to work on my stash of my favourite chocolate bar.

We doubled back and went to the Royal Worcester factory which is near the cathedral. We stopped first in an old pub, the Salmon’s Leap, just across from the factory for a quick drink out in the sun. We perused the clearance store in the factory compound and the seconds shop but decided not to do the factory tour and museum this visit.

We made our way back through the Cathedral green down to the riverside walk along the Severn. The sun is shining and the trees are trying to bud out. There is a small ferry boat here that is continuing on a tradition that goes back thousands of years. There were lots of swans in the river and the views were wonderful. We are getting really tired, or at least I was, by this time so we decided to end our walking tour around the city center. My jet lag is still lingering a bit and my feet are sore and we were both thirsty. We made our way back to the car park past a spire called St. Andrew’s Spire, also known as the Glover’s Needle after the fact that Worcester was historically a large center for glove-making.

We went back to Chris’s flat for a cold drink and then a drive out of Worcester up into the Malvern hills a little way for the view in the early evening long shadows. There was one spot we passed that had a sort of fountain where people were filling up large plastic water jugs with the Malvern spring waters.

We parked in Great Malvern and decided to try out an Italian place we found tucked away called Benedicto’s (review)

On the way back to Worcester we stopped at an off license and stocked up for the evening. We watched a movie and chatted to his best friend Joel who arrived a bit later on with takeaway food and I tasted my first kebab. Interesting. It was tinted with a curry spice which surprised me and I had it with a garlic sauce rather than the usual hot chili sauce. We talked about everthing from classic tv and movies to Bricklin cars. We’re off to Glasgow tomorrow.

The Worcester Cathedral dates from 1084 but there’s been a religious building on this site overlooking the river for several hundred years before that. The tower is 12th century and the chapterhouse is as well. There’s a Norman crypt and lovely cloisters where the coffee shop is and the stonework on the exterior is Victorian. We walked around the Cathedral and discovered a white statue of a seated man near the back of it, surrounded by stackable chairs. He looked quite lonely and neglected and I couldn’t tell who he was but he was probably a bishop.

The cathedral is the final resting place of King John who died in 1216 and also Prince Arthur, the eldest son of Henry VII. This young man would have been king but his life and marriage ended up changing the course of British history considerably. His wife was Catherine of Aragon and his younger brother, who became king in his stead, was Henry VIII.

We walked around the cloisters, admiring the stained glass windows looking out onto a peaceful green quad where there were some old headstones. We found an iron gate and I nipped out into the green space for a few photos. It looked like a very peaceful place surrounded by stone and in the shadow of the chapterhouse and tower. Chris decided he wanted to climb up the tower but I declined. It sounded a bit challenging for me so I gave him the camera and went for a cup of tea in the coffee shop while waiting for him. He said the steps were narrow and steep though there’s a stop partway up to view some old clockworks that were interesting and the views from the top were far-reaching.

There's also an ancient crypt, a chapterhouse and a library. There's a gift shop, of course, and a little cafe. There is a 3 pound charge to climb the tower and it's not for the faint of heart with 235 narrow spiral steps. Partway up there's clockworks in the Clock Chamber and you can peek into the Bell Chamber and Ringing Room. They also do guided tours twice a day on weekdays and on Saturdays in the winter.

After a drive through the Malvern Hills, we parked in Great Malvern and climbed up the hill (Church Street) in search of a restaurant. We ended coming half way back down the hill and found a little pedestrian alley off to one side that had a few likely looking restaurant signs. We decided to try out an Italian place called Benedicto’s.

It was quite a nice place, not large, and decorated in reds and wood and lots of paintings and prints. The food was quite good though our main courses, gnocchi and cannelloni were both a bit too rich to finish. The waiter was very entertaining too, he kept bursting in to song along with the background music, be it Sinatra or traditional Italian folk and opera. Indeed, sometimes his choice of song only matched the music in his head! We were amused but decided that if you were there for a romantic meal it might be a bit disconcerting.

They have a pre-theatre, a set menu and a la carte as well and a very good wine list. I think what we had was the set menu that provides several choices for starter, mains and dessert. It's a good thing we parked downhill from there as we could just roll down after. We were stuffed!

We had been walking around Worcester all morning, taking in the Cathedral and the Royal Worcester factory. We headed in to the medieval streets of the city centre which has quite a few buildings dating to the 14th to 16th century including the Cardinal’s Hat, purported to be the oldest pub in Worcester variously dating frm the mid 1300’s to the mid/late 1400’s. It’s now owned by an Austrian family who had to battle the UK Weights and Measures people in order to be allowed to serve traditional Austrian litres of beer instead of the regulated pints. They won their battle and are now allowed to serve their very excellent beers the way they want to and the staff wear traditional costume as well adding to the experience.

The food is top quality too. We were ready for a bite to eat and this was our choice though we decided just to have the half litre glass of beverage. We ordered sausages that you dip in mustard, cheese and horseradish and Austrian beer and sat in a sunny windowed room. The beer and sausage hit the spot and gave us fuel for more walking.

They have lots of imported Austrian beers and lots of homemade sausage on the menu. The main bar and two small cosy rooms are comfortable. IT's apparently been called the Cardinal's Hat 2 centuries ago, but has changed names many times until it was restored to its old name in the 1950s.

We managed to get ourselves together and on the road about noonish. The weather is overcast and cool but when we crossed the border into Scotland the sun came out. We had a lunch and petrol stop and made it to Glasgow before 5:30 (yes, that really is as fast as you thought. I don’t know how fast Chris was driving but the car’s speedometer only registered 80 mph. I’m saying nothing more but all the other cars were keeping up and passing us!)

We found the right exit and found the Premier Lodge . (see review) It’s right at the Charing Cross rail station. It’s just a block away from Sauchiehall street which is one of the main shopping streets in Glasgow. This end isn’t pedestrianized but has lots of restaurants and pubs one of which belongs to the Weatherspoon’s chain, always good value. The room was bright and sunny in the afternoon light and the only drawback is that it overlooked the motorway that rings Glasgow and it was noisy at night and in the morning.

We rested a bit from the long drive and then headed to Sauchiehall Street for food. We discovered a great Chinese restaurant called Bleu Ginger (see review). When Chris had taken the car to a car park complex earlier, he had discovered that a band was playing in a venue called the Garage, also on Sauchiehall street. (The venue has a big yellow truck on the front of the building over one of the entrances) He knew the band, 3 Colours Red and asked me if I would like to go. They’re kind of hard rock and a bit loud but he thought I might like them. Well there was a 50/50 chance he said. I shrugged and said why not? If I really hated them we wouldn’t have to stay. Turned out I really did enjoy the band, just my kind of fast hard rock music. I did have to turn in my camera to the staff at the door and they kept it in their safe. I was a little worried but I got it back ok at the end of the gig. It was an enjoyable night and we ambled back to the hotel after, with a few nightcaps in the hotel bar.

The next morning, I bounced out of bed about 8:30 after a spell awake from about 5:30 for over an hour. I finally got hold of my mate Iain and he is going to pick us up tomorrow and drive us around to see some local countryside but when we spoke he offered to drive us up to the island of Mull and Iona. Chris and I had originally thought of going there but it was quite a drive and we really didn’t have the time so we settled on Glasgow. It means an early start tomorrow but we are looking forward to it.

We went down Sauchiehall Street to find a place for breakfast. Ended up at a little café by the Queen St. train station and the bus station called Café Italia. Breakfast was filling and hot and the tea was invigorating. They do have tea in the hotel rooms but only provide that UFT milk that always tastes a bit odd to me. The day is cool and overcast so good for walking at least. We head east past Strathclyde university to the Cathedral dedicated to St. Mungo.

Glasgow Cathedral and Necropolis

I really like the cathedral here and I wanted to show it to Chris. I had seen it a couple of years ago when Carol and I had stayed in Glasgow for a few days before a tour. It’s not as big as some and the stonework on the outside is still mostly blackened by centuries of soot and it’s not really bright and light and airy inside. The floor of the cathedral nave is just plain stone, no fancy tiles but it is spacious and it’s more square than rectangular and it has some lovely stained glass. I really find that it has a gothic yet peaceful atmosphere, dark and cool with coloured light streaming in through the windows. I knew he would like it and he did though declared it a bit creepy. I think the dark skies outside added to the Gothic feel of it.

We explored the lower church where there are ruins and pieces from earlier churches and there’s the shrine to St. Mungo who founded the Cathedral and is the patron saint of Glasgow. There is also a white painted chapel under here called Blacader’s Aisle after an early bishop. They can’t called the under church a crypt because it isn’t actually below the ground level. The cathedral is built on a hill that slopes back down from the front.

We exited the church and I pointed out the Necropolis on the hill behind. This is a Victorian cemetery with elaborate monuments, shrines, mausoleums, acres and acres of rows and rows of them. There was nothing for it but to go have a look after I told him about that. We climbed up the hill and walked around, examining the stones and shrines. There was one that we looked at that was barred off and signed as dangerous. We peeked into the dark alcove and could see something carved on the back wall but really couldn’t make out what it was. Chris backed away with a shiver up his spine and me? I took a flash photo of it of course. What came out was a beautiful sculpture of the Virgin Mary with two angels against some marble inscriptions and yellowed (or perhaps that was the reflection of the flash) stone.

After we came down off the hill we headed into the old part of Glasgow because I wanted to see the Tolbooth spire at Glasgow Cross. We walked around and stopped for a snack and drink and poked our noses into second hand music shops looking for a cd of 3 Colours Red or anything else we could find of interest. Eventually we came to St. Enoch’s square where there’s a large new shopping mall and some larger stores, we’re getting into the shopping precincts of Glasgow now. We never did find the cd but we passed a movie theatre complex and decided to rest our feet and take in a film. There wasn’t a lot playing I wanted to see but Chris wanted to see the new Vin Diesel action film, A Man Apart so although it’s not my usual type of movie, again, why not? First we had a quick half at the pub across the street, one of the John Barra chain and then into the movie.

After the movie we went back to the same pub for a bite to eat and discuss the movie. We both thought it was quite uneven, lots of plot holes. Chris had seen the last Vin movie, XXX and really enjoyed it so was disappointed. I was ambivalent about it but at least I didn’t hate it.

Next port of call was the Hengler Circus, a pub which was up the end of Sauchiehall street near the hotel. It’s one of the J.D. Weatherspoon’s chains and we stopped in there for a couple of cheap drinks and then made our way to the hotel bar for a few more night caps, all the while discussing movies and actors etc.

This led to a rather lively debate about a movie and who the writer/director was. Both of us were adamant that we were right and there was no way to settle the debate as we didn’t have internet access. It came down to a bet of a pint but still no way to solve our dilemma. We decided to Phone A Friend so he went off to ring a mate in Manchester who we knew kept late hours. That friend was stunned to say the least, at receiving a call from Scotland late at night asking him to settle an argument before it became violent. Strangest call he ever got, he still says, laughing. Chris came back to the table looking very smug indeed. "You owe me a pint" Uh oh. I conceded gracefully and paid up. Neither one of us was willing to give an inch we were so positive in our own belief but confronted with the evidence, well, what could I do but amble up to the bar! When you’re wrong, you’re wrong :)

Seeing as we could now sleep easy having settled the question, we decided to head off to bed. Early morning tomorrow, Iain’s picking us up at 7:30. I’m to wake Chris at 7:10 if he hasn’t already appeared.

The day dawned misty but bright and it would prove to be a clear cloudless sky by midday, a glorious day for our road trip. The breeze had a bit of a chill in it but it was a great day for weather and we had a really lovely trip.

Iain picked us up at 7:30 promptly and we set off on the scenic route to Oban with a view to catching the ferry at noon. We followed the winding roads around Long Loch and Loch Fyne. Iain’s wife, Ellen, packed a picnic (though she hadn’t come along for the ride) and we stopped at Arrochar for a bite and a stretch in the early morning. The mist was still laying over the water and the mountains were reaching up through it to what would eventually be a peacock blue sky. The waters in the lochs along the way were still as glass and reflected the spectacular hills like a mirror.

Iain kindly stopped in the car park of Inverary Castle for me to take a photo. This is the home of the Dukes of Argyle. We continued through the road rising up into the hills and the views were spectacular. We arrived in the town of Oban in plenty of time for the ferry.

Oban looked like a nice little town. On a hill overlooking it is a circular structure called McCraig’s Folly which was built in the Victorian era as a "make work" project. It was fashioned after the Coliseum in Rome but never finished. This is MacDougal country and there are ruins of their castle just at the edge of Oban harbour – we had a good view of it from the ferry. The ferry takes about 40 minutes to sail to Mull and there are also good views of Duart Castle on Mull. This would be the ancestral seat of the Clan McLean.

Our ultimate destination is the holy Isle of Iona and we headed straight out to Fionnport, where you get the pedestrian ferry to the tiny island. The road there is single track with side lay-bys to let oncoming traffic pass. The only vehicles that are allowed on the island are service vehicles or residents’ vehicles. It’s only a 10 minute sail across the narrow strait.

When we arrived in Fionnport, a small village with a general store/post office and a small craft store for the tourists, the thing that really surprised me was the colour of the sea. It was astonishingly blue, that bright peacock blue! There are sandy beaches and rock formations along the shore and alongside the pier and it looked for all the world like a scene out of Turkey, Greece or southern Italy, not the north Atlantic coast of Scotland.

St. Columba founded the Abbey on Iona in 563 and it turned into the cradle of Christianity in Europe. Over 3 dozen ancient kings of Scotland are said to be buried in the old cemetery, some graves little more than a rise in the ground with a small stone the size of a man’s hand wedged into the ground at one end. There are also some modern graves here including that of political former UK Labour Party leader, John Smith.

The village of Iona is tiny. There’s a small hotel and a few Bed and Breakfast establishments, a restaurant and a bar and a few small shops. It’s still very much a religious mecca of sorts as well. The island is only a few miles long with some high hills in the center and several flocks of sheep to be seen, one we encountered in a field beside the Abbey.

It feels a bit like you’ve stepped back in time on the island. It has that aura of tranquility and peace, a more humane pace of life than in the city for sure. We were enchanted! We headed off towards the Abbey down a lane that passed in front of a row of houses. On the sea side of the little track back yards and gardens, fenced or hedged off from the road. They seemed to belong to the individual houses because they contained things like children’s toys, flower beds, and in one, a wrecked shell of a boat.

I passed one where there was a group of about 3 or 4 women sitting on the grass having their afternoon tea. Behind them on a little rise was a white porcelain tea set, complete with cream and sugar bowl. And why should we not still have tea parties outside just because we’re grown up! They looked so "together" sitting there in the warm sun on the grass that gently inclined down to the jewel-like sea.

We continued on and discovered we were on the wrong path to the Abbey. We hit a dead end with a fenced in meadow full of sheep. Still, the barbed wire came with a cloth over it so we figured others had passed this way and we struggled gingerly over the fence rather than walk all the way back and around. Navigating the meadow was tricky. The sheep weren’t the problem. But the ground was riddled with.. well let’s just say it was safer to look down and watch where you walked.

Anyway we came to the Abbey grounds. There’s a small fee that goes towards the ongoing restoration of the Abbey and out buildings which was began about 40 years ago. Prior to that the Abbey was in ruins. The oldest building on the site is St. Oran’s Chapel and there’s also a little shrine dedicated to St. Columba. There are two lovely tall Celtic crosses standing tall outside the Abbey as well.

We went into the Abbey which is very peaceful. It was brightly lit from the sun streaming in the back windows. There is a tomb of an old Duke of Argyle off to one side and a little place to light candles and have a quiet prayer. We walked round the cloisters which captured the sun and shut out the breeze. There is a little gift shop at one end and I had a quick look and spied bottles of various sizes of a cream liqueur called Columba’s Cream. The clerk offered a sample and after trying it, I bought a small bottle. Cream, honey and whisky. No additives or chemicals and you can taste all three ingredients which are blended together formulating the most extraordinary liquid that ever passed your lips!

On the walk back to the ferry pier, after a quick look in the other gift shop, I took photos of the ruins of a 12th century nunnery and then a few more down on the sandy beach.

We headed back to catch the 5 o’clock ferry. Mull is very desolate with very few houses scattered along the road and just a couple of small villages on this side of the island at least. The low mountains are nearly treeless and barren, covered with heather, or so it looked like, which will bloom by summer and put a bit more colour it their cheeks, so to speak. The highest peak on Mull is Ben Mohr, about 3500 feet.

We headed north on the mainland along the A85. We drove into the southwest highlands and pulled off the road by a hill surrounded-cove at Taynuilt to have the last of our picnic feast including a lovely bottle of Iain’s favourite wine, Soave. We passed Loch Awe where there are ruins of Kilchurn Castle and where there was a sign pointing the way to the turnoff to what Iain said was a small stone bridge across the Lock with the utterly delightful name "Bridge of Awe". We turned onto the A82 which eventually takes you past the side of Loch Lomond. At 22 miles long, it’s the largest fresh water loch in Britain.

We finally got back to the hotel about 8:30. We were absolutely clattered and we only sat in the car. Iain must have been exhausted doing all that driving though he didn’t let on too much. He was very much looking forward to getting home and relaxing with a few glasses of Soave. Hugs and good byes imparted and he was off home.

We had such a brilliant day, so many laughs and Iain was a font of trivia, history and geography along our routes taken. Chris and I both fell in love with Iona, Chris being positive he could live there happily.

Chris and I were going to go upstairs to try out that liqueur but discovered that, in spite of our lovely snacks that we had, we were starving so we nipped around the corner to the pub and ordered burgers. Back to the hotel, we had a couple of nightcaps, testing out the Columba Cream and reliving our day.

I've only stayed in the Premier Inn once, 5 years ago but the location is very good. It's at the old Charing Cross rail/underground station in Glasgow and right off the M8 motorway. It's a modern hotel and is quite comfortable. The only suggestion I would make is to ask for a room that does not face the motorway. The windows weren't double glazed and I found it noisy all night. Mind you, the view over the west end of Glasgow from there *was* lovely especially in the morning with the sun rising and lighting up the sandstone buildings. I expect the view from the other side looking over old Glasgow was equally nice.

The price that we paid was 35 pounds for a double-as-single but I'm sure the price has gone up since then. They advertise a room for 59 pounds double occupancy and that's still very reasonable. The room was bright and sunny and the en suite spotless. Nice decor and comfy bed with duvet. Breakfast wasn't included in our rate but there's a takeaway cafe across the courtyard where you can get tea/coffee and a pastry or sandwich in the morning.

The hotel is just around the corner, a block from Sauchiehall street, one of the main shopping streets in Glasgow. There are some good restaurants at this end, a Wetherspoons pub and a great gig venu (The Garage). It's a 10 or 15 minute walk into the city centre. The bar in the hotel is good, as well and the staff were all very nice.

Take exit 18 off the M8, 2 sets of lights onto Newton Street and turn left into Elmbank Cres. You'll see the hotel there. There's a car park nearby.

We had been looking for a Thai restaurant that used to be on the west end of Sauchiehall Street on the east side of the motorway but it wasn't there. Instead, we found Bleu Ginger. It's a Cantonese restaurant and the majority of the customers seem to be Chinese, always a good sign. It had an extensive "chili" menu and one of the dishes we ordered was thousand chili pork which, while quite spicy, probably used a few less than a thousand. We really enjoyed the meal though and the restaurant had the most beautiful high plastered ceiling. Lovely atmosphere and very good service. Prices not too bad, the meal came to 37 pounds for two (2003 prices) with a couple of drinks each and a tip. Unbelievable value for money, we thought.

If you like authentic Chinese food, and especially if you like it hot and spicy, Bleu Ginger is the place for you. Not everything is hot but when the menu says it's spicy, believe it! I'd go back in a minute!

The next few days are spent in Manchester. It looked overcast when we got up but it cleared up by the time we left though still a bit chilly. The journey south was uneventful and we reached Manchester by about 3:30. My mate Annie told me Paul McCartney was appearing in Manchester so I rearranged my schedule to be here for the concert. We all headed to the MEN Arena and found a place to park. The crowds inside were unbelievably thick. The bottleneck in some parts of the mezzanine was a bit scary when you felt like you might get carried along with the crowd. It’s easy to see how bad things can happen! But luckily the crowd was not pushing or shoving much and we made it to our seats ok, up near the top of the arena. Sounds far away but actually we had a pretty good view straight down to the stage and there were large video screens as well.

Cirque du Soleil did a half hour opening act, all the performers dressed in Louis XIV court costumes mostly and performed to McCartney’s Ambient project music. Then a big guitar showed on the back drop and the shadow of someone behind it raising a guitar up and there’s Paul McCartney on stage!!! He wore a black jacket over a red tshirt but the jacket wasn’t long in coming off.

The concert was amazing! He did electric and acoustic sets and two encores. His concert in Sheffield was cancelled just a few days ago due to a sore throat but he sounded near. It really did take awhile for it to sink in that I was actually hearing THE Paul McCartney with THAT voice – you know the one, the one you’ve heard and known all your life!

WeI walked over to Piccadilly Gardens raving all the way and we caught the last bus home, going on adrenalin for the next 2 hours.

The next day was cold and overcast. Annie and I got up mid morning when the plumber arrived to start installing the boiler. Oh yes, no boiler, no heat lol thankfully the shower is electric so lots of hot water. We left about noon, heading for the Lowry Gallery over in Salford. The best way to get there is by the Bury tram, getting off at the Harbour City stop, walk across the canal and past the multi storey car park. The Lowry is a modern complex built for the millennium and houses a lovely theatre, a few bars and a café.

There is a gallery that is the home of the works of L. S. Lowry, a local Manchester 20th century artist. His paintings portray the way of life in gritty industrial northern England earlier in the 20th c. The people in most of his pictures are almost cartoonish, but nearly shadows. The sky is always pale, gray and grimy with the smoke from many smoke stacks.

There is a designer factory outlet shopping center across from the radically designed steel plated building which overlooks a dramatic footbridge across the Manchester Ship Canal. This is the relatively new development called the Salford Quays and has attracted upscale housing and tenants. There is also a new northern branch of the Imperial War Museum across the canal from the Lowry. The Lowry itself is a very interesting building both on the inside and outside, although because the day was so gray, the steel tiled exterior sort of faded into the sky.

Tonight we headed for the Sedge Linn pub on Barlow Moor Road in Chorlton to meet up with more friends. We had a great evening and a pretty good meal as well.

Next day, it's sunny, still cool but a little warmer. We had to get up about 9:30 because of the plumber again. We drove to the Bowling Green for lunch. That’s a pub near the Chorlton Green. Chorlton-cum-Hardy is a lovely village, parts of which are quite trendy. There’s a park and quite an old village green and nearby, next to the Bowling Green is the remains of an old churchyard where the foundations of St. Clement’s church and some old graves marked by both headstones or flat paving stones can be seen. The entrance to the churchyard is a lychgate. The old green has several lovely old houses and some old pubs surrounding it.

The pub is beside a little bowling green, hence the name and we had a nice lunch in there. Back to the house to get my luggage and over to the Bed and Breakfast, the Woodstock on Wilbraham Road which is run by Mike and Linda, a lovely couple. It’s a very relaxed establishment and breakfast is a serve yourself cold breakfast in a small dining room. The lounge is a bit bizarre though, decorated in early hunting lodge. It’s full of heads and carcasses of stuffed animals and birds, some of which were looking decidedly scruffy. The stag head seemed to have a bit of silver duct tape on his ear and a bit of fur missing on his jowl!

I'm staying here with Jane and our room is a family room, with a double and two singles and an en suite bathroom and we are still only paying £20 per person. We had a cup of tea in the lounge and then decided to take the bus to the Trafford Center, a large and fairly new mall in Trafford. It's quite the amazing piece of architecture, all marble, with skylights and domes and a food area that is set up in various themes such as China and New Orleans.

I left films in Boots to get developed and we set out exploring the center and shops. The last bus to Chorlton left at 8 so we decided against a movie and came back to the B&B, had a drink and look at the photos which turned out great, especially the ones of Iona and the blue, blue sea.

One more day in Manchester, wee walked up to Barlow Moor Road, one of the main thoroughfares of Chorlton, and caught the bus into Manchester city centre at St. Peter’s Square. We met up with another friend and her husband who had come up from London for the weekend. We walked around, through Chinatown and continued over to the Rochdale Canal by the Gay Village. This canal was finished in 1806 and is part of a series of canals that link the east and west coasts of England!

There is a park here, with a statue of a man named Alan Turing. Turns out he is the acknowledged father of computing science. He was a great thinker and mathematician and during WW2 he created the Bombe machine that broke the German Enigma code. He was also gay was persecuted for it. He was prevented from continuing his work and was found dead in 1954 after biting into an apple laced with cyanide. Suicide? Seems so, and a tragedy.

There is also an AIDS memorial beside the park, a tall pole with hearts cut out which, when lit up at night, beam out into the darkness. It’s called the Beacon of Hope.

We walked back to Piccadilly Gardens and behind the new stores, there's the Exchange Square, where the old Corn Exchange was and here there are designer shops and also in the square is one of the oldest pubs in Manchester, the Old Wellington and the Sinclair Oyster Bar. We circled around the buildings past the PrintWorks entertainment center which is across the street from a brand new museum called Urbis. It’s a triangular glass structure, 6 storeys at one end, that houses a museum about city and urban life, not just in Manchester but other large cities around the world. We didn’t have time to go in. We had a lovely long lunch at the Mitre Café in the Mitre Hotel which backs onto the Manchester Cathedral gates. We scattered after lunch and met up again that night at the home of friends for a party at the home of friends.

After a Sunday lunch in a nearby pub, Annie took Jane and I to Piccadilly station. The station has been all renovated since I was there last and it really looks nice. We were comfy and the train wasn’t crowded as we left Manchester, about 3/4 full. I feel a bit wheezy but the smoke at the party last night was a bit thick at one point. The weather did turn overcast and a bit rainy but when you’re in transit, you don’t really mind. We arrived in Cardiff after dark, around 8:30 I think.

Jane lives in a lovely little flat in the top floor of a Victorian terraced house not too far from the city center. It was a bit of a struggle to get the suitcase up the stairs but not too bad.

Getting to Know Cardiff

Today’s weather could go either way. Jane has to work in the morning until 1:30 so I’ll meet her in town after that. I think I might be getting a cold. I do feel a little ick just around the edges today and still have that slight wheeze.

I caught the bus and decided to have breakfast first. That sorted, I went to Cardiff Castle to catch the hop on hop off city tour bus but I just missed the 11 a.m. departure. I peeked in to the castle compound to take a couple of photos but didn’t bother paying to go in as I had seen the interior in 1993 on the tour. I browsed a little in the gift shop and then went for the bus.

The Castle sits on a site where fortresses have been built back into the Roman days and the old foundations can still be seen in the castle walls in some places. The 3rd Marquess of Bute hired an eccentric architect, William Burgess, to restore and rebuild the family castle. He turned the interior into an extravagant and over the top replica of what they figured the middle ages at the Castle might have looked like. It’s worth a look but prepare yourselves for an assault on the senses. Not all the rooms are opulently lavish, the library is actually very tasteful.

The city center contains some large civic buildings, with dominant domes and clock towers and made of white Portland Stone. The town hall is the centerpiece of the three buildings, with one building housing the National Welsh museum and the other the Law Courts. The university building is down in behind. These are all early 20th century buildings.

The coach passed a pretty little church that has services only in Welsh and then headed to Cardiff Bay. This area was derelict for most of the 20th century but a major restoration project, similar to the Albert Dock in Liverpool, has been undertaken over the last 20 years. There are now expensive flats, hotels, restaurants and a science and technology center. There is also a massive millennium arts center here which houses the National Opera as well as dance and theatre companies.

Back up to the city center past the huge new Millennium football and rugby stadium which replaced the Cardiff Arms rugby stadium a couple of years ago. Off the bus and over to the Queen Street pedestrian shopping area. Old Victorian buildings, trendy shops and malls. I got some money out of the wall and walked around the block. A lot of the buildings in Cardiff are a darker gray stone with the pale white stone up the corners and around the windows as a trim.

I met Jane and we walked to the David Morgan department store for tea and cake. We browsed a Welsh gift department in the store and then walked over to an old church called St. John the Baptist.

The current church on this site dates from the 15th century. They have a model of the church inside made entirely of matchsticks and they do have a little tea room in the back but it was closed as are most attractions on Mondays. The church itself was open and we had a look around it. It was a lovely church with a 130 foot tall late 15th century square tower. It’s right in the city center and a short stumble from the Castle. It’s in a small square surrounded by buildings and an indoor market where we went to have a look at a souvenir booth. There was also a stall that sold china and porcelain and was very tempting. The market had of course the usual fruit, vegetables, meat and fish stalls as well as many other goods.

We also stopped into a cyber cafe near the church and caught up on email. We returned to the flat late in the afternoon. I do think I’m definitely getting sick but hopefully I can hold it off with Tylenol and some cough medicine.

A bit more exploring to do yet.
Another nice day! I went into the city center earlier than yesterday, too early to get into the big National Welsh Museum so I walked around the park behind the civic buildings taking pictures. There’s a lovely rotunda that has a war memorial in it, and it’s surrounded by trees in full pink flower with beds of yellow and red tulips on the ground.

The museum opened at 10. It’s free but special exhibitions may cost a small fee. I paid for the one that was on, the "Science of Star Trek Federation" which focused on the scientific side of the Star Trek series. There were about 30 interactive displays on various things from trying to dock and orbit the Enterprise to a space station and a transporter booth. The transporter booth was very cool. You stood there under one of the stations and watched yourself on a screen as you "disappeared" into a sparkle of ions and reappear in a room or tunnel somewhere.

I found the café and had a rest and a snack, not feeling very well. But I continued on and went up to see the paintings and the displays of porcelain and china. They have a nice collection of Impressionist and post Impressionist works and some modern Welsh art as well. They also have a number of Rodin sculptures including The Kiss.

The museum also has a natural history section and an archaeology section. I only popped my head into the medieval and middle ages part of that and discovered a room of tall slabs and celtic crosses which were about 1000 years old or more, some dating back to Viking invasions. I did ask and was allowed to take a couple of photos.

Outside the museum in the park/garden there is a mini ring of standing stones. This denotes that the national music festival has been held in Cardiff. I walked back toward the castle and Bute Park, a huge park behind the castle which was probably part of the Castle grounds at one time. There’s an old arboretum and you can get some good pictures of the castle from the park side. Back across the road to examine the stone critters on the animal wall along the Castle street side of the Castle. These are figures of animals carved as if they are climbing over the wall towards you.

It’s quite warm by now. I went back to St. John’s where I was going to meet Jane and went inside to wait in the cool interior. We decided to have our lunch in a very modern style café that was part of an exhibit and competion set up in the old city center library that focused on a promotion to find foods and products that were classic "Taste of Wales". The event was successful and they’ve kept the restaurant, Blas, going. I had the most delicious Welsh rarebit topped with ham and leek, Jane had hers topped with sticky onion. We decided to take the bus to see Llandaff Cathedral which is a little out of the way in a charming village with the same name though it is incorporated into the city of Cardiff. Charming probably means expensive. We found the ruins of an old Bishop’s palace first and then went over to the Cathedral itself.

It’s down a steep little hill and is very old but there has been a lot of renovation including a great ugly concrete arched thing in the middle of the nave with gilt carvings all over it. It really looks out of place. There are also a lot of new bits built that also look odd, not really built to mix in with the older surroundings. It’s obviously a working cathedral but I’m afraid I didn’t like it very much.

We were planning to go for a pint at an Australian pub near Jane’s but I was really fading, between the sun and not feeling that great so we went straight back to the flat.

Jane isn’t working this morning so accompanied me to the train. I felt sick this morning but a bit better on the train after some water and Tylenol.

In Bath, I booked the Edgar Hotel, which is located on the wide Georgian Great Pulteney Street that leads straight to the famous Pulteney Bridge. I discovered, also, that Paddington train station in London will be shut down all weekend so I’m going to get a bus ticket for Friday morning instead of taking the train.

I head to the city centre to find a tourist information center and some lunch. Pulteney Bridge is one of only three left in the world that still has shops lining it. It crosses the Avon River, one of several with this name in the UK and along side the river below the bridge is the Parade Gardens, a private park that charges the public a nominal fee to use it.

I came into the Guildhall market, and there was a little caff. One cheese and tuna toastie later and I’m ready to tour Bath. All the different bus companies stop along the Grand Parade beside the towering Abbey. I chose the Heritage city tours because they had live guides. Cheap at 7 pounds and the ticket was good for 48 hours.

The first bus I got on I didn’t really care for the guide. I did one turn of the city center with him and then switched to the other bus and joined Dan’s tour for the full two route tour and that was better.

Most of the tour focused on the Georgian rejuvenation of the city. Architects John Wood Elder and Younger rebuilt the city with financing supplied by Richard "Beau" Nash and Ralph Allen. In order to get more value for money, they erected the fronts of the houses along the terraces and squares and that was all. The purchasers had to finish the interior and the rest of the building so that although the fronts all look identical, the backs are often very different from each other! Bath, which was a Roman center with temples and the roman baths over the hot mineral springs, became a society place to be in the 18th and into the mid 19th centuries.

Bath is full of lovely architecture and remember to look up! There are always interesting details around roofs and windows. After the tour, I decided to go into the Pump Rooms, a restaurant in the Roman Bath complex for tea but there was a fairly long queue. There was a spot you could look over one of the baths, the Sacred Spring but, at loose ends, I decided to pay the entrance fee and go see the Baths and museum.

I left there and had a cream tea in a pretty little tea room behind the Baths that I saw from the walls. I went into M&S to get a sandwich and some fruit to have for supper in the hotel room and I went to Boots to get more drugs. I came out the other end right at the bus station so I bought my ticket for Friday.

Along Manvers street at a trudge, I never realized it until Friday morning but the book museum I had wanted to see is right across the street from the bus station. I never did get there though I would have on Thursday had I not been feeling so poorly in the afternoon.

It’s a beautiful city but is definitely detracted by so much traffic. The streets are mostly narrow, cars park on both sides and there are loads of street signs and lights. And people. On a summery mid week April day, there were plenty of people, tourists and school kids. I don’t mind touristy places, I’m a tourist and proud of it, but if you don’t like crowds, I would avoid Bath in the summertime.

For all it’s lovely streets, there are only a few that really spark the imagination where you can really picture old society strolling the elevated sidewalks and pretty squares, or browsing in the shops along Milsom street and Abbey square. The shops are all modern and trendy now but thank heavens at least they weren’t decked out with neon signs. I really do have to come back again when I feel better. I had my sandwich in the hotel room, watched Corrie and went to bed early.

The next day, after a rough night, with fever and a lot of coughing. Feel wrung out this morning. I was out fairly early, before 9 o’clock and only a few tourists were stirring. I sat in the sun by the Abbey which was sheltered from a brisk morning breeze. The Abbey opened at 9 and I went in. Donations please. It’s lovely inside with soaring ceilings that are vaulted and decorated.

There has been a religious establishment on this site for about 1300 years. The present Abbey dates from 1499 replacing the old Norman cathedral which replaced an Abbey where Edgar I was crowned the first King of all England in 973.

After I had a browse around the Abbey I went to a café for a half hour until the bus tours started up at 10, i'm using the ticket from yesterday as transportation around today. I got off at the Assembly Rooms which were built by John Wood the Younger and opened in 1771. (review)

I left the museum around noon. I’m not hungry yet so I decided to walk the short distance to see the circular "square" where the Kings Circus was. These are 30 houses, in three sections, in a circle, three storeys fronted with a different type of classical column for each level, and ringed around the top of the roofs with acorns, a symbol of early Bath.

The crescent was meant to resemble the Colosseum inside out and sort of does. One famous resident of these houses was the court painter Gainsborough.

A block away is the Royal Crescent, a wide curved terrace of houses overlooking the Victoria Gardens and a grassy private lawn. There’s a Botannical Garden in the Victoria park as well. Houses in this crescent now sell for over a million pounds.

I walked down Gay Street where the Jane Austen center is and found Queen’s Square named for Queen Charlotte I think. I wandered my way this way and that and realize I’m now hungry. I thought about a pub but there seems to be a scarcity of them in this area. I found a café that didn’t look too crowded.

I sat in the sun in the courtyard behind the Abbey for awhile after lunch, listening to a young man singing and watching a couple of shirtless tattooed workers dismantle some scaffolding.

My energy is really flagging now so I went back to the hotel and to bed for awhile. The rest of the day was pretty much a write off. I picked up a few snacks from a newsagent at one point.

April 18, Another lousy night. We’ll see how I feel when I get to London.

The bus journey was fine. We got into Victoria station early. I found a bank machine and a taxi and got to the hotel and to my room. I set out to meet my sister and her friend for dinner and it was all I could do to put one foot in front of the other. I didn’t eat a whole lot but heard all about their trip to Paris and their visit to Canterbury. Sounds like she had a wonderful time!

I realized I was going to have to have a doctor the next day. I called the desk and they arranged the call. It did take all day for him to get to the hotel which was more or less expected. My sister went home this morning but her friend told me to call if I needed anything so I did. He offered to have me come to his house and recover once the doctor had been and I gratefully accepted. Being sick in a hotel room is probably the worst thing in the world. The doctor diagnosed a bronchial infection and prescribed some antibiotics and a puffer. The rest of the week was spent recovering. I knew I couldn’t fly on the Tuesday after Easter and Air Canada’s staff on their Medical desk were great. They rearranged the flight and ended up getting me on a direct to Halifax flight on Saturday the 26th.

So the Magical History Tour ended up a bit of Magical Misery tour but the first half was wonderful. The worst I felt was in Bath and London. Next time I’ll get to a doctor before I get to that point again!

The Roman Baths and the Pump Rooms is near the old Abbey at the centre of Bath. The Pump Rooms, a restaurant in the Roman Bath complex where you can get high tea and a light lunch often has long queues. There is a spot you could look over one of the baths, the Sacred Spring but, it's just as well to pay the entrance fee and go see the Baths and museum. It’s pricey at £11 for adults but you can also get a combination ticket for £14.50 that lets you get into the Baths and the Assembly rooms with the Costume museum (separate cost 7 quid). If you have a ticket from one of the bus tour companies you can get 10% off as well. There are discounted tickets for children and seniors and there are family rates as well I think.

The Roman Bath part is not wheelchair accessible but the Pump Rooms are. THey do have Open Access limited evenings where special ramps are installed and you can view most of the site though not all.

They give you a long remote control thing that is an audio device. You punch in numbers that you see on signs around the complex and listen to the explanations. As a result, though there are quite a few people in the museum, it’s very quiet with everyone listening to their audio sets! They of course have them in various languages. The commentary was quite good though the day i went, i was not feeling well so didn't get as much out of it as i could have.

Bath was a Roman spa town and later on the Georgians discovered and started renovations. It became *the* in place to go and take the mineral waters for health. The Pump Rooms were where the elite met to see and be seen. The baths were excavated and this is still ongoing. There are lots of interesting things to see from the Sacred Spring to the Great Bath. The upper viewing level is ringed with statues and you can see the great Abbey looming over head.

You can buy a combined ticket with the Roman Baths that will also get you into the Assembly Rooms and Costume museum. It's well worth it as these are the top two attractions in Bath. On it's own, it costs £7.

There is a cafe open in the afternoons and there is of course a gift shop. You are allowed to take photographs though the Costume museum is dark and the costumes are behind glass so it won't be all that successful here.

Assembly Rooms:

It is a very fine example of Georgian interior with amazing plastered ceilings and opulent 18th century crystal chandeliers. There are three main rooms, the Octagon Room for playing cards, the tea room for light refreshments and the ballroom where dances and concerts were held. You can hire the tea room and ballroom now for private functions and it looked as if they were being set up for something. Each room had a gallery above the floor level for musicians to play. The website for the Costume museum has a good history of the building under the Assembly Room links. The building is wheelchair accessible with ramps and lifts.

In the same building downstairs is the Costume museum which I really enjoyed. They have clothing and accessories from as far back as the 16th century with the oldest complete outfit dating from 1660. The blackwork embroidery on one shirt from the Elizabethan era used silk so fine you couldn’t’ even tell it was stitched. Everything that old was of course sewn by hand, though some could still be quite elaborately decorated. The designs themselves became more elaborate with things like pleats and ruffles after the invention of the sewing machine in 1846. They had men’s and women’s clothing, shoes, fans, under garments, gloves and accessories. Most of the collection is pre-Edwardian with a smaller collection from the 20th century to modern age. The modern things don’t have very much explanation on the audio commentary, which was identical to the kind used in the Baths.

The museum had a "doll" about 18 inches tall, headless, with a Georgian court dress, the kind with the very wide pannier type "baskets" over the hips that gave the wide rectangular shape skirt, probably a good 5 or 6 feet wide from side to side on a full size dress. They used the dolls as "catalogues", to show what the dress would look like before it was made. They had a mannequin wearing a similar dress in the same case. Another item that caught my eye was a corset from the Edwardian era that would have pulled and manipulated the female shape into the "S" fashionable shape and the waist seemed pulled in almost to the point where I could probably have got most of my hands around the waist. It made me shudder to think what women did to themselves for fashion. And still do.