Archive for September, 2009

HALNAKER — Today I went to see something that’s been on my list of places to see for a long time: Fishbourne Palace. It is thought that this Roman palace began life as a supply depot for Claudius’ invasion of Britain before being enlarged to become probably the largest Roman palace in Britain. The museum showed how the palace was discovered, and how the it would have looked through the various stages of its development. There is not much of the palace visible—much has been reburied to preserve it—but the crown jewels of the site are the many mosaics that were unearthed and are now on display under cover.
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HALNAKER — Today I visited the Weald and Downland Open Air Museum just north of Chichester. Normally I try and visit two places of interest a day—one in the morning and one in the afternoon—but because the distance between Winchester and Chichester is so short, there weren’t a lot of places that appealed. This open air museum was one that did.
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ITCHEN ABBAS — I spent today on walk-about in Winchester. I entered the first car park I saw and thought “this looks full”—turned out there was a car boot sale in progress—but I managed to find a space. After having a brief look at what was on offer I started the quarter-mile walk into the town centre. I passed by the public library (sorry, Winchester Discovery Centre) just as it was opening at 10:00 am. and popped inside to see if I could use the free internet on offer to send a few belated e-mails. I found I could connect but my e-mail client didn’t want to work. The e-mails would have to wait.
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ITCHEN ABBAS — I left the Royal Yeoman in Grimstone mid-morning in glorious sunshine and headed north for Yeovil and Sherborne. I intended to visit Sherborne’s two castles and so, because it seemed logical, I chose to go Sherborne Old Castle first. Another picturesque ruin, it was originally built by one of the Bishops of Salisbury, and at one stage was owned by Sir Walter Raleigh. After taking a look around the castle grounds I drove over to the neighbouring new Sherborne Castle—which is a bit of a misnomer as it was orginally a hunting lodge—only to find that it was closed for a special event. As it was Saturday there could very well have been a wedding booked.
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GRIMSTONE — It was a slower start to the day today as breakfast was served from 8:30 am. The first destination for the day was the village of Cerne Abbas and the giant figure of a man carved into the hillside above the village. The look-out provided gives a good view of the Giant, and a nearby walk through woodland leads into the village. Other walks take you closer to the Giant but they looked like they would involve a lot of climbing far too early in the morning—so I had a quick look at the village instead.
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GRIMSTONE — Another glorious day, though a bit chilly first thing. I left Exeter the only way I knew how—via the M5. I exited at the next junction though and headed towards Sidmouth. Due to a warning that the route I intended to take was closed I decided to visit Bicton Park, a botanical garden, in order to give the accident or breakdown or whatever time to be cleared.
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EXETER — Today was a carless day. I left the car in the hotel car park and walked into the city centre of Exeter. The weather was overcast and rain looked likely so I took my umbrella with me for the fifteen minute walk. I am glad I did because it began to rain mid-afternoon—the first real rain I’ve seen on my holiday.
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EXETER — All in all, a very satisfying day today. I drove to Taunton to visit the Somerset Record Office. I managed to get myself both on and off the M5 between Exeter and Taunton, and find the record office without getting lost. I also had quite a bit of success in searching the minute books of the Somerset Society in London.
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EXETER — My stay in Wadebridge was over, time to check out of the Brookdale Bed and Breakfast. This would have to have been the best bed and breakfast experience I’ve had so far (and that includes my previous trip to the United Kingdom in 2004). The location was excellent, the room was hotel quality, and my hosts were always friendly—and the breakfasts were delicious.
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WADEBRIDGE — My last day in Cornwall was a relaxing one. I headed north to Camelford and just past the market town I turned right and headed down the road to Tregoodwell and kept going until the road ran out.
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