More of our day out in the Glastonbury Area...

In the previous post I wrote about Burrow Mump...after climbing the Mump, we then headed for the nearby town of Wells. Oh boy! Were we impressed with our destination there...this huge Church precinct which includes the Bishop's Palace complete with a moat, the magnificent Wells Cathedral, a school and Vicars Close. 

The moat around the Bishops Palace...

Swans live around the moat and suddenly 2 decided to fly past to the next corner of the moat...

The main doorway into the palace...

Inside the palace gate was a lovely garden area...

And so we followed the arrow in the sign above towards the Cathedral...

Another magnificent building...

We spent quite a while exploring this beautiful building which has the most magnificent sculptures and other wonderful examples of master craftsmen's work. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wells_Cathedral

There was a service in progress while we were there which meant we heard the organ being played...very impressive!

In the garden area of the Cathedral there are remains of older buildings such as Roman and Saxon constructions on the site...wonder if the Time Team have been here?

Then our friends took us a little way on from the Cathedral and we crossed the road. All they said was that we were going to Vicar's Close...

and what a jaw-dropping experience was our first view of this intriguing street...it's a street of houses going back to the medieval era...

And after that it was time for lunch...

Catching up after 39 years...

Today DH and I spent a lovely day with a former student on mine whom I taught 39 years ago...makes me a bit oldish doesn't it? Lol

We arranged to meet Heather and her husband Andrew at a place called Burrow Mump in the county of Somerset. It is near Glastonbury where Heather and Andrew live.

When we arrived we saw this big green hill with a ruin at the top and lots of ewes with lambs grazing...

We were to discover that both 'burrow' and 'mump' mean 'hill'... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burrow_Mump

I looked up and wondered if I would be able to manage to walk up this hill without slipping and huffing and puffing too much...but I managed it quite okay.

The lambs were gorgeous...

We had to watched where we walked as there was a fair bit of sheep poo lying about! Lol

This area of Somerset was affected greatly by the recent floods. In the centre of this next photo you can see the white sandbags used to stop floodwaters entering buildings, still piled up.

All of these buildings were flooded 6 weeks or so ago...

The plaque on the church ruins at the top of Burrows Mump...

A church at the bottom of the Mump which is not a ruin...note the impressive rectory at the back!

Another view from the top of Burrows Mump...

I again wondered whether I would do a spectacular slip and slide down the damp grass! Lol

This lady kept an eye on us as we edged down the hill...'don't touch my baby' look in those eyes! 

I've had to use DH's photos as when I went to take photos of the ruined church my camera wouldn't turn on...investigation revealed that there was no battery in its compartment...it was still in the charger back in the hotel room. I had charged it overnight so it was already to go :-/. I felt like a dill with a capital D! Lol. 

Our visit to Looe...

On leaving Plymouth, we decided to visit a town called Polperro,recommended by a friend. So we set the GPS up, and off we went. We had been driving along for a little while when the GPS voice announced, 'now board the ferry'! Now that was a bit of a surprise...how much would it be we wondered...we waited at the set of lights...and eventually the light turned green for our line, and on the ferry we drove...

We were even joined on the ferry by a double decker bus!

DH took some photos once the ferry was moving and people were allowed to leave their cars...

Big chains actually pulled the ferry over...

When we got to the other side everyone drove off...and it was free apparently! 

And on the other side that's where we stumbled on the town of Looe...some very narrow streets mind you ! Oh my goodness...we have to fit through there! Lol

Er...hang on...we'll just back up a bit Mr Truckdriver...

Nearly down...

But it was so worth it when we got down to the waterfront...

We went for a walk around the town...lots of quaint shops, tea shops and cafés galore...

I just had to take a photo of the sign on this Tea Room. When I was at LGS recently we had lunch in the town of Sassafras and a group of us ate at the Miss Marples Tearoom there! 

'Dog friendly' places too...

Inns and pubs too :-)

DH and I decided to buy a Cornish pasty...

They were delicious and really warmed us up as it was a cold day. It was nice coffee too :-)

Now about Polperro...we did drive there but by then it was pouring with rain and you are not permitted to drive through the village; instead visitors have to park just before the village and all traffic is pedestrian. So we decided that we had thoroughly enjoyed Looe but we would continue on our journey to Penzance instead of also stopping at Polperro. 

Plymouth...what a beautiful city!

After Portsmouth, DH and I headed for Plymouth. What a beautiful city! We stayed in a 

Lovely hotel that was over 300 years old and a short distance from the famous Plymouth Hoe. 

On our first night in Plymouth, we took the suggestion of the hotel staff and went to the Arts' Centre to see the movie, Monuments Men, followed by supper in the restaurant upstairs...it was a great evening!

The next day DH and I walked up the hill from our hotel to the famous Plymouth Hoe, an amazing area full of history which is above the cliffs on the coast line. It features a huge swathe of parkland as well as walkwaysxwhichbrun along the coastline. The Spanish Amada was spotted from the Hoe spurring Sir FrancoscDrake into action all those centuries ago...

The bowling club which is on the way to the Hoe has a lovely display of daffodils

The Plymouth Hoe features a huge swathe of grass...

Looking back at the hotels across the road from the Plymouth Hoe...

The original Eddystone Lighthouse is now part of the Hoe area...

Looking down from the Hoe at the right...

 

The statue of Sir Francis Drake is one of a number of statues and memorials in the Hoe...

Another view across the grass...

Looking out to sea...

A self explanatory sign...

The Hoe features a huge public pool but it's not opened yet...it's not even filled yet! Lol

Looking down  from the left hand side

As we walked down along the sea wall , we saw an old cannon...a perfect back drop for a photo for DH...

After we walked down the path from the Hoe, we walked on until we came to the waterfront where we found the Mayflower Steps. The Mayflower was the shipbthatvcarriedctge first European settlers to America and they left from this wharf...they boarded the ship, 'Mayflower' by climbing down these steps! 

1620... Now that's a long time ago!

A bit of history for Australia...we saw this plaque on a hotel wall nearvthecwaterfront...

And then we walked through the charming Barbican area of quaint shops and cafés...

There was even a gin distillery in the Barbican area...

A photo taken later in the day looking towards the Plymouth Hoe...

Another lovely morning spent discovering so much history...