B2B Day 13 A Slightly Rainy Rest Day in Wells

In the morning, we heard the dog whining again. As Sara was headed to the bath, the host brought up the milk for tea and asked if we had spent the night with one of her dogs, because it was missing. Sara said we had heard a dog whining in the bedroom next door--it turned out it was not a bedroom but a storage cupboard, and the dog had been there all night. The host gave Sara the key, and Ken unlocked the cupboard; the dog seemed happy enough to go through our bedroom and down the stairs.

The cupboard door

Sara then made the unpleasant discovery that she had a tick on her leg. Ken had also had a tick when we were at Porlock, but he removed it (we think) quite soon after it attached. Sara's looked like it had been there longer. We went down to ask our host's advice, and she kindly loaned us some tweezers and Ken removed the tick perfectly. We are aware of what to watch for when it comes to Lyme disease, and the majority of ticks do not bear this disease with them. Still, it was a bit worrisome that we have both had ticks this trip, and we are now frequently checking to make sure we haven't picked up any more.

We went to the Wells museum, and could have spent much longer there. There were various things, from prehistoric bones to a display about the caves at Wookey Hole, to a library, to young girls' sewing samplers, to a World War I display, to a series of information panels on Samuel Taylor Coleridge's poem "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner."

We had a brief look at the Bishop's Garden, and then went to St. Cuthbert's to have a proper look at it. It rained hard while we were inside. 

The interior of St Cuthbert's Church, with painted roof

 We had a late lunch/tea at the Market Cafe, and then went to the Cathedral. We took the 3:00 p.m. tour with Malcolm, and he was an excellent guide, very enjoyable and enthusiastic. 

The interior of Wells Cathedral

 After the tour we waited for the evensong service at 5:15. It was beautiful, with works by Tallis and Byrd, two of Ken's favourites. We sat with Patsy at the service, since it was easiest to meet us there in order to take us to their home for dinner. 

We had a wonderful time talking with Patsy and Graham, and had a delicious dinner of lamb, vegetables, and strawberry-rhubarb crumble for dessert. We could have talked and talked, and ended up leaving around 10:00 p.m., Graham driving us back to our B&B. It was a lovely conclusion to a day of rest in Wells that had begun rather strangely.