Lynn's Travel Adventures

Warning: Today was all about British Naval History as we spent the entire day at the Historic Shipyard. So, if you’re not interested in seeing pictures of lots of ships and artifacts, I’m not offended if you skip this. But the stuff from the Mary Rose is pretty cool so you might want to browse quickly.

We left the car at home and took the train. It was a short, 2-stop ride once we got to the train. But it was a 15-minute walk and we had to climb several flights of stairs so we ended up taking the bus home which stopped much closer to the house.

Our first stop (after getting Peter’s coffee) was the Mary Rose museum. The Mary Rose belonged to the Tudor Navy of Henry VIII. She was launched in 1511 and sank during the Battle of Solent in 1545. The battle took place in the Portsmouth Harbor while Henry was running things out of the Southsea Castle we saw yesterday (Sunday). Apparently she sunk when the crew didn’t get the gun ports closed fast enough and a strong wind blew her to the starboard (right) side and the water rushed into the open gun ports. She sunk like a rock killing 465 of the 500 crew members.

Since the right side was on the bottom, it was buried in silt which preserved that side of the ship. She was discovered in 1836 but was forgotten again until 1971. The Mary Rose was finally pulled out of the water in 1982. The entire port (left) side of the ship was destroyed during the 400+ years she was in the water and they have no plans to rebuild it. It was very dark in the museum as they want to keep the lights low to protect the ship so the next two shots aren’t the best pics.

They recovered over 18,000 artifacts and human remains from the ship.

For our next stop we fast forwarded over 250 years in British Naval history to October of 1805 and the Battle of Trafalgar. This was the HMS Victory, Admiral Nelson’s flagship. She was under scaffolding as part of a 4-year conservation program of the ship hull. Here’s a picture I found on pixabay.

We were able to tour inside the ship but had to climb up and down a few crazy scary (steep) ladders. Peter didn’t even try the last one so I went down to take a picture of where Lord Nelson was mortally wounded during that battle. After I climbed back up, we escaped out a side entrance. I guess we’re weren’t the only ones who didn’t make downstairs because they had no problem letting us out.

Next we fast forward over 100 years to WWI and the HMS M.33. These were fast gun ship built in 7 months in 1914. This is the only one still in existence. Since we had to deal with steep ladders again we didn’t even go into this one.

After about 4 1/2 hours at the Dockyard, we had finally had enough of Naval history. Besides we were both starving so we headed of the a local shopping area for lunch.

We made it home in time to do a small load of clothes and relax before tomorrow’s day trip to the Isle of Wight. I’m so looking forward to that. Our ferry doesn’t get back until after 7:00pm so I may not get to the blog until Wednesday. As always, thanks for following our adventures.

We left Brighton this morning heading for Portsmouth. We originally planned to stop at a manor house along the way but decided there was too much we wanted to see in Portsmouth so we came straight here.

Our first stop was the D-Day Story Museum. As the name implies it tells the story of D-Day from the decision of where to land to the end. It was beautifully done and we spent a very pleasant 2 hours visiting.

Our first stop in the museum was the only remaining landing craft from D-Day. Originally, there were over 800 of these craft and this is the only one left. It’s skipper was a 20-year old law student who joined the British Navy. He led a crew of 11 men.

Inside the museum was filled with different exhibits explaining the various phases of the invasion.

After getting a quick snack in the café, we briefly visited the Southsea Castle just behind the museum. It was built in the 16th century by Henry VIII and now has shops and a restaurant. We didn’t stay long and didn’t climb the stairs to walk the walls but we enjoyed our brief visit.

Then we headed to the Historic Dockyard where there are about 10 different ships and/or exhibits. We bought an Ultimate Explorer which allows us to visit any of the attractions for 12 months. In Italy, Peter got into museums free as a disabled person and I paid regular senior fare. Here, Peter is paying either regular senior or senior disabled and I’ve been getting in for free as a carer. Pretty good deal but I would prefer to pay full price if it meant he could get around a little easier.

Our first exhibit in the Dockyards was the HMS Warrior, one of the first British Ironclad ships. It was finished in 1859 and was the considered the pride of Queen Victoria’s navy. Everyone was so afraid of her, they stayed out of her way. As a result, she never fired a shot in anger.

We stayed on deck as we didn’t want to climb down the steep stairs to get belowdecks.

Our final stop of the day before heading to our new flat was to take a Portsmouth Harbor Cruise. It was part of our ticket and it was a beautiful day for a 45-minute boat ride. We went past the Navy Base where we saw 2 carriers and several other ships.

The Harbour was full of boats enjoying the beautiful Sunday afternoon.

Our flat is on the top floor of an apartment building about 10-minute drive from the Historic Dockyard. There’s a bus around the corner so I think we’ll do that tomorrow instead of taking the car out again.

We’re very happy to be in this lovely 2-bedroom apartment for the next 4 nights. We’re especially thrilled to have a king-sized bed. We’ve been managing with a double bed since we arrived. Every time one of us moves it wakes the other. This will be such a treat! It’s the little things when you travel. Talk with you tomorrow.

Note: One of our followers mentioned that no email notifications are going out again. I’m not sure what is happening because the tests work just fine. But, there’s nothing else I can do so I’m going to let it go. I post virtually every evening (mid-late morning Pacific time) so feel free to go to the site whenever you think about it. There’s probably something new posted. I apologize for any inconvenience.

Today started with a little dip in the English Channel. We drove to Pelham Beach in Hastings. It is a very rocky beach but Peter had his reef booties, so we thought he’d be okay. The layer of rock was quite deep and slippery, and the walk down was quite steep. It was slow going but we eventually made it to the water.

Here’s a short video of his walk into the water. He got his toes wet but that was about it as there was a steep drop off just a foot or so farther into the Channel.

After the beach, we drove about 15 minutes to the 1066 Battle of Hastings Museum and Battlefield. In a nutshell…

Edward the Confessor died in 1066 without a male heir. Years earlier he promised William, Duke of Normandy, the throne. He said that Edward’s brother-in-law, Harold, would go to Normandy to let William know when it was time to be crowned King. When Edward died, instead of going to Normandy to get William, Harold decided he wanted to be King and had himself crowned. Well….William wasn’t happy about that and decided to come calling and take the crown back. He landed at Pevensey Beach, just west of Hastings. William and his Norman army met Harold and his Anglo-Saxon army at Hastings. It was a gigantic battle and ended when Harold got an arrow through the eye (ouch) and died. William took the crown and that was the end of Anglo-Saxon rule of England.

After the Battlefield, we headed to Pevensey Castle just a few miles up the road. It was originally a Roman fort built in the 4th century AD. William built a castle in the ruins of the old fort. It was occupied almost continuously until the 16th century before finally being abandoned. It was reoccupied during WWII when it was garrisoned by units from the Home Guard, the British and Canadian armies as well as the U.S. Army Air Corps.  Much of what was used in WWII has been demolished so only ruins remain.

After the Castle, we headed across the street to the Oak and Castle Pub for lunch. I had another delicious meal of smoked haddock in a white wine and cream sauce. It was a starter size and just enough. The sauce was pretty rich so I didn’t even finish it. It was quite good.

Our last stop was the Seven Sisters Cliffs at Birling Gap, a series of chalk sea cliffs. They look just like the White Cliffs of Dover, they’re just not as famous. It was crazy crowded but with our handicap placard we were able to park all the way in front.

So, that was our day. We pack up tonight for our trip to Portsmouth tomorrow. We’ll be there for 4 nights and are looking forward to a couple of day trips. Have a great night everyone.

Today was an easy day as we hung around the house until about 9:30 before catching the bus for the 30 minute ride to Brighton Beach. It was a pretty drive along the coast and we didn’t have to find parking so the bus was perfect.

The main attraction is, of course the famous pier. If you’ve been to Santa Monica Pier, this one is very similar but with more arcade games. We saw a sign advertising a contest with the winner receiving an all-expense paid trip for 2 to the Santa Monica pier (we didn’t enter).

Our first stop was to get Peter coffee as he can’t figure out how to use the Keurig-like machine at the cottage. After he was fueled up, we took a stroll through the arcade house and to the end of the pier which had all the rides.

For lunch we had a pizza, which while not terrible, will not be confused with a pizza from Naples.

Then we headed back off the pier and took a stroll through town finding the Brighton Royal Palace. After seeing 7 palaces/castles in the last 10 days we took a pass on touring it but grabbed a few pics of the outside. This palace was built as a seaside getaway for King George IV who was known for his extravagance. He was an uncle to Queen Victoria.

We had a bit of a walk to get to the bus mainly because we didn’t know the route. If we had turned one street later we would have had a much, shorter walk. But, we finally found it and settled in for the 30-minute drive back to our neighborhood. We’ve had a leisurely (read lazy) afternoon. In fact, I took a short snooze before starting the blog. It has been a wonderfully relaxing day. Tomorrow, we get back into the car and head about an hour east to visit the 1066 Hastings Museum. It should be interesting. Talk then.

Before we move on to today’s adventures, a big thank you to our amazing hosts Mary and Simon who invited us to their garden last evening for drinks. Almost 5 hours and 3 bottles of wine later we said good night. Peter and I have been in a lot of Airbnb flats (Mary says it’s 46) and we’ve never had hosts as gracious as Mary and Simon. We feel like they’re friends now and we’re so sorry to leave today. But, we’ve already made plans to come back next year before heading to South Africa in May. What a wonderful experience this was!!

We had our first adventure with the car today. The car was fine and I stayed on the correct side of the road, but Gracie (our GPS) went a little crazy on us. We were heading to Churchill’s home, Chartwell, from Canterbury and it should have taken a little over an hour. But even though we followed Gracie’s directions, we kept going around in circles. After about 1 hour and 45 minutes we finally made it. Not sure what was wrong with her but she straightened herself out by the time we moved on to Brighton.

It turns out that it would have been better to visit Chartwell on our way to Canterbury rather than after. We went so far north we were only 20 miles south of London. Oh well….best laid plans.

As a gigantic Churchill fan, Peter has been looking forward to today’s visit and he was not disappointed. Winston and his wife, Clementine, bought the home in 1922 and lived there for the next 40 years until Winston’s death in 1965.

While we waited about 40 minutes for our timed ticket entry to the house, we wandered the grounds and visited Churchill’s studio. He was a prolific painter having painted over 500 pieces. Over 200 of them are at the house and/or studio.

Once in the house we went on a self-guided tour of all three floors. Two of the guest rooms have been converted into exhibition rooms filled with awards, gifts and uniforms.

After a light lunch at the Café, we decided we didn’t have enough time to visit the 1066 Battle of Hastings Museum so we headed to our new flat near Brighton instead. We’re staying in a cute little 2-room flat with a view of the English Channel. It’s small but is enough to meet our needs.

After settling in, we took a little walk along the cliff. After stopping for a few groceries, we had a little snack and drinks on our deck before dinner.

Tomorrow we plan to take the bus and hang out for the day in Brighton Beach. The weather is supposed to be nice so we’re looking forward to a relaxing day.

Today was an absolute glorious day; sunny and a temp of mid 80s. It was certainly our warmest day. But, it wasn’t just the weather. We thoroughly enjoyed our short day in Canterbury. Our hosts, Simon and Mary, told us about a park and ride just up the road where we could park for 4 pounds then take the free bus into the city center. It was a wonderful way to get into town as parking is very tight.

Once on the bus, we were in town in less than 10 minutes. Peter stopped at McDonald’s for coffee and breakfast. We didn’t have any eggs and he turned up his nose at my breakfast of Coco Pops which is the UK version of Cocoa Krispies. There wasn’t much to pick from in the mini-market by our flat in London and I love Cocoa Krispies because they make the milk chocolate. But, Peter preferred an egg sandwich at McDs so we sat for a short time while he ate.

Canterbury Cathedral is the seat of the Anglican church with the Archbishop of Canterbury being the senior bishop of the Church (the monarch is the head). There has been a Cathedral of some sort on this site since 579 and is the oldest and most famous Christian buildings in the UK.

It was difficult to decide what pictures to include as the Cathedral is so beautiful. It’s built in the gothic style but is not as ornate as some other churches. Part of the reason is that during the Reformation in the mid-17th century, the Puritans destroyed everything they could get their hands on as they preferred to worship in a more spartan environment.

The Nave

The Martyrdom

One of the most famous events happened in the Cathedral in 1170. King Henry II was good buds with Thomas Becket. Thomas wasn’t particularly religious but Henry named him Archbishop of Canterbury anyway. Once Thomas got the gig, he also got religion and continuously put the church ahead of the monarchy. Henry wasn’t too happy about that and is supposed to have said, “Will no one rid me of this turbulent priest?” Four of his knights took him literally and killed Becket in his own Church. The site at which he was murdered is known as the Martyrdom.

The Windows

Due to the Reformation, most of the windows are filled with plain glass versus ornate stained glass. Some of the original windows survived by moving them to Wales until the monarchy was restored with Charles II in 1660.

Some of the windows survived not just the Reformation, but also WWII when the town was heavily bombed. Most of the windows that were left after the Reformation and restored in 1660 were removed and taken to Wales before the Blitz in 1940. Some of them were lost but most survived.

One of the volunteer guides told us that he was a kid during the war and he remembers that the city was so thoroughly destroyed (but by some miracle the Cathedral, while damaged, remained mostly intact), it was difficult to find his way around because all the normal landmarks had been destroyed. He said that eventually the town council put up small markers to tell everyone what used to be in that spot so they knew how to get where they were going. It was fascinating to listen to his stories.

The Quire

As in every other Cathedral we’ve visited, there is the Quire which is where the Choir sits.

Royal Crypts

King Henry IV and his wife Joan of Navarre are buried in the Cathedral

As is the Black Prince, Edward of Woodstock. Edward was the eldest son and heir of King Edward III but predeceased the King by dying of dysentery in 1376. He was considered to be one of the greatest knights of his time.

Examiners have looked at the crypt with Xray and have verified that the Black Prince is in fact buried there. They have also done DNA testing on the remains and on the attributes in the Crypt beneath the Cathedral (we were able to visit but not take photos) and they DNA matches proving that those items were, in fact, worn by the Black Prince.

A last few photos

We spent about 2 hours in the Cathedral and enjoyed every minute of it. The volunteer guides are very knowledgeable and very happy to answer questions.

By the time we finished, it was time for lunch so we headed off to The Three Tuns for lunch. Pubs here have modified table service. Each table has a number so once you’ve decided what you want to eat. You go to the bar and give the bartender your order, your table number and your money. Then someone brings you the food. We haven’t left a tip at a restaurant since we got here (and they’re not expected) so by the time we get home, we’ll have to retrain ourselves to leave tips.

This pub had a senior menu which had nothing to do with age but with smaller portions. Since we usually have too much at lunch we were thrilled to have smaller portions. And, it came with either a salad appetizer or a dessert. It should come as no surprise that we picked the dessert.

After lunch we spent about 30 minutes in the Roman museum. The Romans inhabited what is now Canterbury as early as the 1st century BC. The ruins were discovered after the bombings of WWII with excavation occurring after the war.

We made it an early afternoon, getting home around 2pm. But it gave us (me) a chance to do laundry and hang clothes out in the beautiful sunshine. Tomorrow we’re off to Brighton Beach with a couple of stops along the way.

In spite of a few nervous moments in the car, we made it to our first stop without difficulty. Once on the motorway, driving was easy. It’s the surface streets that are nerve wracking.

Anyhoo….we got to Leeds Castle by about 10:30 and had a lovely time touring the beautiful old building. It was originally a fortress for about 200 years, then it became the home of kings and queens for another 300 years. The first monarch to call it home was King Edward I in 1278. Another famous resident was Henry VIII. He made a lot of improvements but preferred Hampton Court Palace. Leeds Castle is where he banished his first wife, Catherine of Aragon, when he wanted to divorce her to marry Anne Boleyn.

In the mid 16th century it was turned over to a nobleman and it was subsequently owned by 5 different families. Finally in 1926, the last family sold it to a wealthy heiress for the equivalent of 10.5 million pounds in today’s money. Lady Baillie totally renovated the castle in the Tudor style but with a 1920s flair. It was quite cool to see how such an ancient castle could look in a modern style.

After visiting the Castle, we headed to the Castle View Restaurant for lunch.

After lunch I took a deep breath and got back into the car for the drive to Dover. We went to see the famous White Cliffs of Dover and ended up spending several hours in the Dover Castle. We saw the cliffs but didn’t find a good place to stop and take a photo.

Dover Castle is administered by the English Heritage and, since we are members for a year, we got in for no charge. Of course we paid for the membership but we’ll more than make up for that with the different places we’ll see.

Dover Castle was founded in the 11th century by Henry II, who was father to Richard the Lionhearted and King John (who the nobles hated so much they made him sign the Magna Carta; we’ll see that when we get to Salisbury Cathedral next week). It has served as a major defensive fortress throughout British History, up to and including WWII.

We also toured the underground passageways and rooms that have been used for defense since the Napoleonic Wars. These rooms were used to plan and execute Operation Dynamo, the plan to rescue the trapped British and French soldiers from Dunkirk in May 1940. I thought Peter knew everything there was to know about WWII but even he didn’t know about these underground rooms.

The tour was fascinating but, unfortunately, we weren’t able to take any photos. By the time the tour was finished, we were exhausted and decided it was time to head to our new home for the evening. Our hosts, Mary and Simon, are absolutely lovely and welcomed us with open arms; not to mention a bottle of wine and other goodies. After chatting with them for a little while, we settled on our patio with wine and cookies.

Tomorrow we’re heading to Canterbury to check out the Cathedral. For now, though, it’s after 10pm and I need a shower and a bed. Talk with you tomorrow. Love to all.

So, I made it through the first day with the car and managed to stay on the correct side of the road (left), turn into the roundabouts correctly (clockwise) and 3 out of 4 times got into the car on the correct side (right). Of, course I was a wreck most of the day but all in all I did okay. I missed 2 of the turns in roundabouts, though. One of the times we almost ended up on the ferry to Calais, but I saw a turn called “emergency escape” just in time to avoid that disaster.

We are settled into our lovely flat in Kent but before I get into that let’s catch up with yesterday’s adventures. We took a Viator tour that started in Warwick Castle, a medieval castle built on the site of a fort originally built by William the Conqueror. It was owned by the Earls of Warwick until 1978 until it was sold and turned into an amusement park. It’s mainly for kids but we enjoyed touring the main home. It was staged as if it were a holiday party in the early 20th century.

Then it was on to Stratford-upon-Avon which was very crowded with tourists. We had a little time to walk around the pedestrian street before meeting our tour guide, Godfrey, for the tour through Shakespeare’s birthplace.

Our last stop before heading back to London was Oxford. We did a blitzkrieg walking tour (about 45 minutes) through town. Godfrey told us what the buildings were but without taking notes there was no way to remember. There are 38 or 39 colleges at Oxford, each with their own building(s) and libraries.

We didn’t get back to our flat until almost 8pm, so it was a very long day. But we spent a good portion of it in the bus so it wasn’t too bad. Even though we wished we had more time in Oxford, we still enjoyed the day.

Luckily, I had done most of the packing on Sunday evening so all I had to do yesterday evening was put the final bits into the suitcases for our 7:45am car pickup back to Heathrow to pick up the car. More on today in the next blog, which should be up soon.