WELLS SOMERSET
Holiday 2007
On Sunday 21st October 2007, in our trusty minibus with the ever patient Pip at the wheel we set off on our annual break, how we got all that luggage plus all those people on that bus is nothing short of a miracle but we did. The hotel, lucky enough to have us this year was The Crown situated in the market place Wells. After unpacking, most of us went for a stroll around town before dinner. As is our habit we all have dinner together in the hotel on the first evening which was very nice, food was good, the wine was extremely nice. Imagine our horror when we found that the bar shuts at 10.30pm, and no late bar all week!!! Those of you familiar with BAG trips will know that we are partial to a bevy or two or five and love nothing more that to sit together well into the night conversing, tippling and being extremely sociable.
Monday we all set off to follow our guide around Wells, a very knowledgeable lady, it was a chilly morning and by the time we had returned to the market place we had all procured hats, scarves and gloves from the high street and in one case a blanket.
Tuesday we clambered onto the minibus and headed for Glastonbury. The Tor is just magnificent and evocative and dominates the landscape.
Charmouth is a lovely place, we went there on the Wednesday, fossil hunting by the sea, we did find some. On the way home we stopped off at Barrow Mump which is a sort of mini Tor.
Thursday the bus set off for Cheddar for a half day trip, a beautiful place with stunning scenery and a great carvery in the local pub.
The Crown, well the food is very nice, the staff are not unfriendly but not welcoming either, it was as if they’d got our money and that was enough. There was light fittings hanging out of walls, a one inch gap around the whole of one window so the ladies in that room were cold, no heating in another room, no replacement bottled water, little maintenance jobs that could have been sorted, we’re not picky but it just wasn’t up to scratch. However, Wells is a lovely place, the market superb; it has the best pasty shop in the world.
Janice Guyton
Membership Sec.Stratford Upon Avon
In accordance with the now familiar tradition, the usual band of intrepid travellers plus a few new ones set off for Stratford Upon Avon on 22nd October 2006. We stayed at the White Swan Hotel in Rother Street. A fine old coach-house set in the market place it was a most welcoming, friendly and well run establishment and proved itself to be everyone’s favourite so far. Stratford itself is a small and compact market town with of course it’s connection to The Bard, The river Avon was swollen when we got there and was spilling over the riverbank but the weather changed for us and was kind.
The timbered buildings were a delight and we tried to see as much as possible of the sights and yes of course we did a ghost-walk, our guide was a little over the top for our liking but we got to see the town by night. During our stay we visited Warwick Castle which was a little disappointing, in that the entrance fee was laughable and it has turned into a theme park, Kenilworth Castle which proved to be a fabulously atmospheric and a real castle even though it rained cats and dogs that day, we walked amongst the ancient Rollright Stones, we went to Anne Hathaway’s cottage, Lord Leicester’s Hospital in Warwick which was well worth the visit even just for the tearooms.
We ate well and drank some fine wine, enjoyed the full potential of The White Swan and its hospitality and would thoroughly recommend a second visit. Our holiday certainly was a resounding success, new friendships were formed, fresh air and exercise enjoyed by our fitter members, cake and coffee in vast quantities by those of us who cared to indulge and a jolly good time was had by all. Our thanks must go to the staff of The White Swan who went out of their way to ensure we enjoyed ourselves to the max!
Janice Guyton
Membership Sec.
B.A.G.
Devizes
October 2005
The cellars of the Hotel
What a lovely little town this was, with country markets,
a beautifully constructed canal system with twenty-seven locks. We stayed
at The Black Swan and were made very welcome there; the town is a great base
from which to visit many exciting and ancient sites. As always we went on
the guided town walk and of course the Ghost Walk which is always on the agenda,
our guide happened to be the same gentleman who was a real local character
and great fun. Our day visiting the very wonderful Avebury, Silbury Hill and
the Long Barrow was memorable, we all were moved by the concentration of ancient
structures crammed into this small part of England and we marvelled at our
ancestor’s skill, knowledge and diligence. Stonehenge was a must and although
we were prevented from moving amongst the towering megaliths, close up it
is still an impressive sight. Wiltshire is a unique county, with it’s profusion
of white horses carved into the landscape , it just seems to ooze atmosphere,
you can almost see people who have long gone shaping the landscape and creating
a culture whose traditions and values were important not just to them but
to be passed down to ourselves in the present. It was a brilliant holiday
which everyone enjoyed; we all agreed it was a place we would like to revisit.
Janice Guyton
Gloucester
October 2004
The Hotel we stayed in here was The New Inn, this very
famous hotel is most unusual, the whole hotel still surrounds the inner courtyard
that was used to change horses and dates back to medieval times when it is
said that Lady Jane Grey was proclaimed Queen of England in this very building
.Of course she is said to haunt it but we never saw her, even though we staked
out the oldest room in the hotel with a night vision camera. We visited the
Roman site at Wroxeter which we found quite impressive. Its size and the detailed
excavations were very interesting especially when we tagged onto a group from
the local university and its lecturer giving a guided tour. We also spent
some time at the newly refurbished docks in Gloucester which housed a very
good museum documenting the river trade and its history. The highlight of
course was the hotel itself which is steeped in history, it was a privilege
to have been there, Shakespeare plays are performed in the courtyard annually
unfortunately for us it wasn’t on the programme
when we were there. The cathedral was a delight and we visited it several
times, it’s set in the older part of the town and is very atmospheric at night.
This trip was made very special because of The New Inn and the welcome we
received there, our evenings were spent under enormous umbrellas in the courtyard
whiling away the hours in good company, music and the odd glass or four of
the local brew.
Janice Guyton.
Shrewsbury
This second foray was very
exciting as we planned to visit Iron bridge Open Museum and this location
proved to be packed full of wonderful places to explore.
We stayed at the Lion and Pheasant situated by the river,
a very nice hotel, it even had its own ghosts; those of us that are inquisitive
about spooky goings on had a ball listening to the stories of bottles flying
about on their own.
Iron Bridge proved to be as exciting as
we imagined, we changed our decimal coinage into pennies
and halfpennies, bought sweeties from the old fashioned jars, lavender soap
and liquorice sticks, watched the bakers and petted the horses. This is an
enormous site and a two day visit would be appropriate in order to enjoy it
fully, the schoolhouse is a must by the way. The Brunel Iron Bridge itself
was spectacular set within the gorge and surrounded by its village and forested
hills, a truly lovely place. Shrewsbury’s museum is extremely good and visitors
are encouraged to dress up in costumes, which of course we did.
It’s a lovely
town and there is plenty to see and do.
The Lion & Pheasant, Shrewsbury
Janice Guyton
York
September 2002
This was the
first time we had ventured away as a group.
We stayed at
The Bedford Hotel in the centre of York, it was a delightfully
Central location
from which to enjoy visits to the Shambles, the museums and
of course all
the lovely olde worlde shops.
We visited Whitby, passing through gorgeous scenery and
pretty villages, saw the Roman road across the moor and visited the breathtaking
site of Riveaux Abbey, a place we would recommend, full of atmosphere and
bursting with history. Of course the star of York is The Minster which was
stunning, we toured every inch of the inside and marvelled at its structure
on the outside, by night it is beautiful. Our two intrepid artists John and
Janice challenged each other to sketch The Minster; John actually managed
to draw the whole building. We had a great holiday, the weather was kind and
we just knew this was to become an annual event.
The Bedford Hotel, York