B2B Day 21 Holt to Castle Combe: A Circuitous Journey

We had a slow start leaving Holt this morning. We visited St. Katharine's Church where we had attended the service on Sunday, because we hadn't gotten any photos then. There were two women praying there, so we joined them to pray for their church's desire to reach out to the community, and for ours to do the same. We also took a few photos.

St Katharine's, with red altar cloth for Pentecost Sunday

We journeyed onwards to Melksham, and decided to have lunch there. After looking at a few places, we ate at Warrens Bakery because the Cornish pasties looked so good. It was a cold and rainy day today, with a high of 11 C, so a hot pasty was just the thing, and the bakery was warm inside, too. We shared a large traditional Cornish pasty, and then succumbed to the temptation of sharing an Eton mess meringue (which was interestingly also labelled a white chocolate raspberry meringue in a different part of the shop). It was good, but a bit sweet. We decided we like actual Eton mess better (meringue, fruit, and whipped cream). We then walked back to the Arts Cafe we had seen, run by the Rotary Club, for a cuppa tea. It had a nice community feel (as did Warrens), with many people there enjoying tea or lunch together. We liked it. 

We had the opportunity to revisit Lacock again, but decided to go past it, since we had thoroughly seen it the day before.

We next came to Chippenham, where we rested for awhile outside on metal seats. Cold metal seats. But at least we didn't freeze to them!

We finally arrived at Castle Combe, our day's destination, around 3:00 p.m. For those of you who would trouble to look at a map (or know the area), our route from Holt to Melksham to Chippenham to Castle Combe would seem quite roundabout and circuitous. It was. You might also think our arrival time of 3:00 is remarkably swift, given the distances covered. You would be right.  

Of course . . . we did take the bus! 😊

Yesterday evening and this morning it had rained heavily. The weather forecast for today was dire, with lots of rain and wind, and we did not want to arrive at a very nice hotel, the Castle Inn in Castle Combe, exhausted and mud-covered after a 13.5 mile walk. So we did decide to take the bus instead. We were ultimately glad we did, though a bit sad that we missed what would have been a beautiful walk if it had been sunny.

For one of our trips, Ken had long wanted to "splash out" on a stay in a special hotel, and what better place to stay than in Castle Combe, one of the candidates for the most beautiful village in England? The Castle Inn certainly lived up to our expectations. It was old and quirky, but also comfortable and modern. We visited the church in Castle Combe, and above the door it said, "The rich and poor meet together; the Lord is the maker of them all."

We had been worried that as walkers with no dressy clothes we might not feel comfortable or quite right at the Castle Inn, but we felt completely at ease and welcome there. The church seemed to echo what we felt as we found rest and welcome at what was potentially a rather posh place.

We were in room 8, and our route took us up stairs and around several bends,

Part of the circuitous journey to our room—note the quirky shape of the door frame

making us obey at a couple of points signs that said "mind the step" and "mind your head" (except for Sara, whose head was low enough not to be a problem), taking us across a flight of stairs and up another few stairs to our room.

Ken going upstairs to our room (note room 1 is below us)

The room was lovely, under the roof beams with dormer windows.

Our beautiful room, complete with Combe Bear

A tub!

Sara has had a couple of things about herself confirmed on this trip: 1) she loves living in small houses/small places (like a shepherd's hut) and 2) she loves being in rooms under the roof, with sloping ceilings.

We went down to dinner at 6:30. Ken ordered the fish and chips, and also a side of broccoli in Hollandaise sauce with hazelnuts that was absolutely delicious, the best broccoli dish ever. Sara ordered the chicken. We both thought the food was really good. The portions were reasonably sized so that we had room for dessert. We shared a "warm date pudding" (which was really sticky toffee pudding by another name, but just as good) and a baked Alaska. It was the best baked Alaska Ken had ever had! This was the joke suggested by the manager who served us, because Ken had said we had never had baked Alaska before. It was the best, but also the only baked Alaska we had ever had. We both thought it was delicious, but we were also surprised to discover that the outer baked meringue tasted exactly like toasted marshmallows! 

After dinner we relaxed in a little room adjacent to one of the several dining areas. In that area, a group of golfers were dining--the "quieter" group. There was a group of about 12 golfers in a different room who seemed to be a much more boisterous group. In this little lounge we read and used the computer until it was time for bed.

In the Snug at the Castle

B2B Day 20 A Visit to Lacock

We are still staying in Holt, taking a day trip to the village of Lacock, which has appeared in many films.

We caught a bus from Holt (at the Three Lions, which must have been a former coaching inn from the looks of the building) to Melksham, 

The three lions

and were worried that we wouldn't make our connection to the next bus from Melksham to Lacock. Ken asked the driver to let us off in Melksham at the Bear, and it worked perfectly to make the connection with about two minutes to spare. We arrived early at the village before things were open, and wandered the streets seeing what seemed like countless tea shops.

The village of Lacock

We looked at and in St Cyriac's Church, which has an impressive memorial chapel to William Sherrington.

St. Cyriac's Church

Looking into the Sherrington memorial

 We then went to Lacock Abbey and got in to the grounds when it opened at 10:30 (the house opened at 11:00). We looked at the grounds, and saw sheep walking in a group in one direction, and then in another direction, and then back herded into a pen by two dogs. The dogs got all but one lamb back in the fold, but we went into the house before we saw what happened with the lamb.

Sheep going back and forth

The fact that the sundial was covered with a thin pool of water said it all about the weather, but we timed our outdoor photos before the rain really came.

Ken got some good photos of the exterior of Lacock Abbey, an Augustinian nunnery which was converted into a country house after Henry VIII's Dissolution of the Monasteries in the mid-16th century.

Inside, we looked at the parts that were the remains of the medieval abbey.

Ken in the cloister

Then we toured the "country house" part of the abbey. One of the rooms was a kitchen, and Sara especially liked the list of "household wants" that could be used and reused, including items such as coal and isinglass.

The rooms were interesting, especially the great hall at the end, which had alcoves with various unusual statues. 

Apparently a visiting student put a lump of sugar on the goat's nose as a joke, and the final owner of the house enjoyed it so much she had it left there (the sugar has apparently been replaced a few times).

Spot the sugar lump!

 We had lunch at the cafe at the Abbey, and then looked at the photography museum on the grounds, since one of the owners of Lacock Abbey, William Henry Fox Talbot, was the inventor of the photo process of creating a negative image that could be reproduced (apparently he and Daguerre vie for the title of the first person to invent modern photography). We found it more interesting than we had anticipated, and knew that Mom and our friends Matthias and Rick would have enjoyed seeing cameras they had owned in the past (including Mom's Brownie camera).

Various vintage cameras (only part of a much larger display)

We then wandered around the village because we had time to spare before we caught our bus. We thought we would while away the time at one of the many tea shops we saw, but a couple of them were closed, and we didn't see as many as we thought there were, and what we saw didn't appeal to us (including the cafe/pub that listed "bugers" among its food offerings). We ended up at the George pub, which served an amazing hot cocoa that was wonderful on a cold, rainy day. 

We caught our bus from Lacock to Melksham and then waited for our next bus. A man was also waiting for the same bus, and we chatted with him a bit. He was taking the bus to visit his mom at a care home, because she had dementia. Somehow we really enjoyed meeting him and felt we were friends when we parted. After we got off the bus at Holt, it rained heavier (as usual) before we went to the Holt super store to pick up a few things and then home for dinner.

B2B Day 19 Sunday: A Day of Rest

Tongues of fire--Pentecost

Today was a day of rest in Holt. We went to the service at St. Katharine's in Holt. It was Pentecost Sunday, and the service was lively with good singing. We both felt encouraged and strengthened during and after the service, and we enjoyed meeting people. 

We went to Courts Garden at around 12:30, and decided we should eat lunch first. We went to the cafe there, which was highly recommended. The cakes on display looked amazing, so we used our "Lincoln stratagem"--order a sandwich to share, and a piece of cake each to share. (We did this at Batty's in Lincoln, and it worked wonderfully, so that we could enjoy lots of cake but actually have something savory as well). We got a piece of chocolate raspberry torte and a strawberry cream cake which was basically Victoria sandwich.

The cakes!

We decided to take advantage of its not raining early in the afternoon, knowing that it was going to rain later, to walk to Great Chalfield Manor. We arrived around 2:00, and bought tickets for the 3:00 tour. The family still live in the house, so there are a limited number of timed tours and we were glad we could get in. Sara enjoyed wandering the gardens beforehand and visiting the church.

The bees just loved the gardens, particularly these flowers

Sara enjoying the gardens

Ken particularly liked the yew houses that had been created in the garden. They did look magical--people would suddenly appear and disappear in and out of the "doors" in the trees.

One of the yew houses

The house tour was interesting, and our guide was good. We couldn't take photos while inside, but we bought a guide book to remember it. The one thing Sara would have taken a photo of was a large old fashioned stone fireplace with a small toy stuffed ram on the mantlepiece. It was surprising and whimsical.

The rear of Great Chalfield Manor

The church and one of the yew gardens

The front of Great Chalfield House, with gathering clouds

When we emerged after the tour, it had begun to spit a bit of rain. As we walked back through the fields, it was dripping slightly, and became a heavier rain when we got into the village and to the Holt Super Store. We bought our dinner at the store, and spent the rest of the evening dry and indoors.

B2B Day 18 Bath to Holt: Along the Canal Tow-Path

Today's post is for Chris and Lisa. 😊

For an OS map of today's walk (13.97 mi; 22.5 km; 717 ft total ascent) click here.

We spent most of the day walking the canal tow-path from Bath to Holt. It increased our desire to rent a narrow boat some day for a holiday.

Ken at the lock at the start of the canal (he helped people close this gate in 2017).

We really enjoyed this walk, especially looking at the variety of canal boats, some for hire, some obviously people's homes. And we saw one that made a political statement (about which we will not comment).

At one point, there was a bit of a traffic jam, since one boat wanted to go in one direction, and there were many going in the other direction that needed to back up and wait.

The boats about to experience a traffic jam

One thing that concerned Sara was the lack of public toilets and lack of cover on the tow path (for miles). We came towards a large field full of people camping, and on the other side of a bridge there were many, many cars parked in a field. It was some kind of festival where if one looked like a hippie, one would have fit in well. Sara didn't fit in, but she did walk over the bridge to use the portable toilets. In a group espousing peace and love, she figured that they wouldn't mind. It was a fortuitous event.

We ate our lunch on the grass at the Dundas Aqueduct. We saw a repair van parked there that worked on all things to do with boats, and we watched a repair man back the boat near us and return it to the owners/renters. We also had a few visits from a friendly dog belonging to one of the boaters. Ken really liked the two aqueducts we saw, which actually carried the canal and towpath across the river!

Boats at Dundas (repairman steering; aqueduct begins in the centre of the photo)

Sara at the Dundas Aqueduct

We ended up pacing along the canal with some paddleboarders, some canoeists, and some kayakers, sometimes getting ahead of them, sometimes getting behind.

Periodically we would see narrow boats that were small cafes. Ken got a drink at this one.

Sara enjoyed seeing the occasional wildlife: ducklings

and a heron on three different occasions.

The second aqueduct was at Avoncliff.

Aqueduct at Avoncliff (the canal and path are on top)

Narrow boat going over the aqueduct

We ate at the Cross Guns pub and cafe at Avoncliff, sharing slice of sweet potato, chorizo, and spinach quiche. A kind man noticed us taking photos of each other, and offered to take one of the two of us.

At the Cross Guns at Avoncliff (aqueduct in background)

Near the end of our walk, we passed a quiet stretch with not many boats, and Ken loved the trees along one side of the canal, and the peaceful lights and shadows.

As we were about to leave the tow-path, we saw a couple come from a footpath to start walking on the canal path. Ken and I both independently were surprised at how much the woman's figure resembled Sara's, even to the way she walked. It's not often one sees one's own physical "stunt double," but she could have served as Sara's.

Ken navigated us through Hillperton to Holt, and we arrived at our B&B, The Old Stable House, around 6:05. We bought sandwiches for dinner at the Holt Super Store (look on the web--it is a small village shop, not at all like "Superstore" in Canada).

Our accommodation is nice and spacious, but we had a difficult evening. We accidentally broke a stem glass. Then Sara tried to do the laundry (being excited that there was a washer in the accommodation). She read all of the instructions, but ended up with a 90 min. rather than a 30 min. wash cycle. When the water was draining, the drain hose from the washer had slipped out of the drain pipe, so water began splashing all over the floor. The instructions said you could finish washing and then set the dryer afterwards, so Sara set the dryer for 30 min. and pressed start. It began another wash cycle. She ended up taking out the clothes, wringing them out, and drying them on the heated towel rail in the bathroom. We both felt a bit down.

B2B Day 17 A Roller-Coaster Rest Day in Bath: Lows and Highs

Although the blog has recorded what sounds like a generally idyllic trip (except for Ken's being sick, Ken and Sara's being bitten by ticks, dealing with some rain, and having to climb the occasional gate), it's sometimes been tough. In 2013, after our forty-day walk, Sara just wanted to keep walking and was sad to come back to Canada. On this walk, we are both questioning whether this is a type of walking we want to continue doing. Ken especially is ending each day with foot pain (especially his left toe joint which had the most gout attacks in the 1990s), and Sara has had off and on foot pain in the arch of the right foot. Honestly, sometimes it's just been a slog to finish the walk, get to the B&B, collapse and watch TV. Mind you, on our other trips there have always been days like that. But this trip, we're wondering at (and kind of grieving) the fact that we're not enjoying the actual walking as much as we expected.

This morning, Ken was quite sad about this change in our experience of walking. It didn't help that it was pouring rain outside. We got a slow start. Things looked up when Sara went to the hotel front desk and asked where to purchase an umbrella: the clerk found an umbrella in their lost-and-found and loaned it to us for the day. It was large, and worked well.

Sara at the Pump Room

We decided first to go to the Pump Room near the Roman Baths. We've been there twice before, and Sara has cried each time because it's so beautiful. Not that it's anything flashy. There is beautiful live music, good food, and a quiet and happy feeling pervading the room. Jane Austen mentions it--need we say more? 

Both Ken and Sara felt that they immediately recognized their server today as Matthew, the man who served them the first time they came to the Pump Room in Bath in 2004. Ken took the picture at right which happened to include him! We later asked him if he was working there in 2004, and he said he was! We told him he served us then, and he joked that he might see us again in 2034. Ken had eggs Benedict, Sara had crumpets with local honey, and we shared the Victoria sandwich and a pot of tea. The food was delicious, as always.

There was an older couple (maybe in their 80s?) at the next table who had given each other cards and were holding hands. At one point we could see a server go and talk with the pianist, and then stand near the kitchen with a cupcake and a lit candle. We didn't recognize the song that the pianist played, but it was obviously a favourite of the woman's. Everyone saw the cake and candle brought to her table, and we all clapped. It was truly sweet, and made Sara cry some more.

The wonderful pianist (Note for Dad--he had piano mouth)

We were at the Pump Room from 11:00 to 12:00, and went to Bath Abbey, which we hadn't really "toured" before. They are undergoing a major renovation called the "Footprint Project." Some of the floor was falling in because the bodies buried under the floor were making it uneven and subsiding (!); the project is helping to make things more stable and also adding under-floor heating using the natural hot water that flows constantly from the Roman Baths--an energy efficient and effective way of heating. They were just completing the first phase, restoring the floor in the choir, today.

Men working on the under-floor heating in the east end of Bath Abbey

We chatted with the Chaplain who did the noon prayer, Peter, about history and books and other things. He was delightful to talk with.

A flower arrangement Sara watched a woman create (Peter in background)

We spent about two hours in the Abbey, sitting, resting, praying, looking at this outstanding example of 16th century Perpendicular Gothic architecture. A steward named Mark brought us a binder that described all of the scenes in the stained glass windows, which we appreciated being able to use.

Bath Abbey: Choir & Fan Vaulting

We left at 2:00 to go to Sally Lunn's to experience a classic Bath culinary item: the Sally Lunn Bunn. We decided to have half a "bunn" each (which apparently must be toasted to maximize its flavour) with lemon curd on it (Ken also had clotted cream), and some tea (this was turning into a fantastic day for Sara, drinking delicious tea twice in one day). As we sat there, we were reminiscing about music we had heard, including a concert at Boston College where an Italian student sang "Mio Babbino Caro." Just after that, the music in Sally Lunn's played that same song.

Then we went back to the hotel to rest for awhile before heading back to Evening Prayer at the Abbey. It was a good service, and at the end we were all invited to enjoy looking at the East End, all cleaned up and empty because the project for that part of the church had just been completed.

We picked up dinner, ate in our hotel room, and added two days of text to this blog because we had only half an hour of free wifi, and we had spent all our money on tea and cakes (just joking!). We've now added photos to those days.

B2B Day 16 Peasedown St John to Bath--A Mile-Long Tunnel!

For an OS map of today's walk (10 mi; 16.1 km; 965 ft total ascent) click here.

We had a breakfast of cereal, toast, and scrambled eggs, folded our fresh laundry, and set off for Bath. We walked uphill (very uphill) into the village of Peasedown St John, and we thought we saw a baker walking down the hill, having just ended her morning shift at the bakery we were headed for. We bought a ham salad filled roll, and set off on a series of field paths, coming to Dunkerton church. 

Dunkerton church

Unfortunately, there was a man working inside the church, and we felt that he didn’t want to be disturbed, so we had a quick look and went outside. We had just sat down on a bench in the churchyard when two women arrived and said, “Great minds think alike!” We offered to give the bench to them, but they were happy to sit on the wall nearby. Our first path after leaving the church was alright, but then we had a long path around a huge field of grain. It seemed to take forever to skirt. 

The endless grain field with the not so great "path"

The footpath was almost non-existent, alternating between kind of a path beside the field to a path right at the edge of the field. The only ones who enjoyed it were the dragonflies, which seemed different from the usual ones we see—an electric blue body with large black wings, making them look more like moths than dragonflies (and perhaps they weren’t dragonflies at all). Many of them rose up off the tall grasses as we waded through. [Note: An information board we read the next day indicated that we might have been seeing damselflies]. We had an okay field path in the next field, then another large grain field with a poor path, then a short uphill climb up to the village of Combe Hay.
 

Sara was excited to see a 1960s Volvo PV parked on the street, the same type of car she grew up with. It was in beautiful condition. 

The Unexpected Volvo

In the village, we stopped briefly at the lovely Wheatsheaf Pub for some lemonade and crisps.

We were on a railway path right away after that. When the path took a turn, we sat on a slope of grass and ate our sandwich, crisps, bananas, and biscuits. The path was then a former canal towpath. 

The dried up canal to the left of Ken

Ken under a massive tunnel (note the tree on the right with one branch on either side of the tunnel)

We emerged from the path onto the road, and directly across the road was the Hope and Anchor pub. We didn’t resist having a drink (Ken) and a blackcurrant and clotted cream ice cream (Sara). 

At the Hope and Anchor

We then resumed walking on a railway path, and were thinking of walking through the tunnel. When we were close to the tunnel, we asked a couple of adults who were shepherding a school group what the tunnel was like. The woman said it was lovely, and easier than other ways to get into Bath. She said there was music, and that the tunnel was about a mile long. We decided to do it. 

At the entrance to the tunnel

It was a highlight of the day’s walk. There were lights all through the tunnel, though it still felt quite dark. It was also cool, and full of fresh air. When we were partway through, we could see our breath in the air because it was so cold in there. In the middle section, there was indeed music—different stringed instruments such as violin and cello, playing through rings in different glowing colours. We loved it.

 

Ken heading for the proverbial light at the end of the tunnel

We made it to the end of the tunnel

When we emerged from the tunnel, we didn’t immediately see the path we wanted to use to get off of the railway path, so we just kept going. Just before another tunnel, we asked two women about how to get off the path, and a male cyclist came along and also offered his advice. We had to go through this second tunnel (much shorter) and Ken of course found the way into Bath from there. We checked into our Travelodge and had a bit of time left before heading to Bath Abbey for Evensong. The Abbey has a major renovation project going on. We found it a bit incongruous waiting for the service to begin and seeing a man up a ladder with a Henry vacuum cleaner that was also perched on the ladder. He was vacuuming some of the woodwork in the east end, but did stop shortly before the service began. The service was lovely, with the choir singing joyously, and the prayers were meaningful and beautiful.

Bath Abbey

We then went to the Indian takeaway we had previously visited in 2017, and took dinner “home” to our hotel room, where we relaxed for the rest of the evening.