England: Touristy-Type Things

The trip in England was mostly vizzies with family and friends. However, we did do a coupla touristy-type things. We went to the Belton House, which was AWESOME. But first, here's a pic of a bottle of ginger beer in the cafeteria with some very-British marketing:

Offers a beacon of hope & help to stiffen your upper lip! Jolly good!

So here's the entry to the house:

The house was built in 1685 by the Brownlow family.

Mum says this looks just like the car someone in the family used to have. Sorry, can't remember who. 

Moulding on the ceilings.

I took this photo because this dog looks like Oscar, my cousin's daughter's dog. I always feel a connection to people who loved dogs (and they obviously did to have this painted on the floor). 

Private chapel in the house.

Wood carving from birch trees.

And then my camera's battery died. *sigh*  So that's all for The Belton House. There was a hedge maze there, and beautiful gardens with winding paths, of course. I really loved looking at all the portraits of the family members thru the centuries. I was particularly struck by Countess Adelaide Brownlow, who married into the family. She was the god daughter of Queen Adelaide and she married Queen Adelaide's god son. In a day when marriages were still arranged--Queen Adelaide's certainly was--it's nice to see a love match. One of the tour guides said that Countess Adelaide was very kind to the townspeople, especially during WWI. 

The library was AH-MAZING! Imagine books centuries old. Ah, the ancient print. The smell of old leather. Sorry, no photos. I'm really just writing this bit so I remember!

The next day, it was raining (quel suprise) as we headed off to Lincolnshire:

But before we left, we wanted to see Belvoir Castle. Up the road we went:

How slow are those children? DEAD SLOW.

And here's the castle!

"Belvoir" may sound French to Frenchy-types, but it's pronounced "Beaver." Which Daniel thought was very funny.

The castle is closed for the season, so we just took pix outside. Still, very impressive!

Because every castle needs a trampoline & swing set.

Moss. So mossy.

These birds were everywhere.

Better pic of  the bird.

Rowan tree!

 

And thus ends historic domiciles. 

England! Part 1

Yes, in the Finally Department!  A few pix:

We made Mum get in a wheel chair so we could have preferential treatment. 

You prolly can't read this, but this guy is waiting for Willy Wonka.

 We landed in London, rented a car and Brother Atlasta drove us to Nottingham:

FOG in England?!  Get. Out.

 We got a v. nice European diesel Volvo, very sporty. Atlasta kept saying, "No speed limits!" before passing another car. I thought we were going to die.

 I'm going to apologize because I left my fancy-pants-big-girl-camera at home. I know, right? So I just had the li'l point 'n' shoot. Which did OK.

Except when it didn't. We saw a lot of sheep. And fields. Very green. 

"Give Way" is British for "Yield."

I just took pix of things that you wouldn't see in the U.S.  Like this:

And I had a gazillion pix of this because my camera was POSSESSED & would automatically take photos:

Hehhhhhh . . . . 

 This was a sign in a bathroom:

KILL IT!

 This was a sign on the door of a bathroom stall:

Took these pix for chiro-sis:

Cool, mid-century modern building:

Starting to be autumn.

This leaf stands out. 

I saw a Rowan tree, so I had to get a photo!

Brother Atlasta with the Rowan tree.

Rowan berries.

Heart shape!

This was a revelation:

I had hot mushy peas (not spicy), without the mint sauce at every opportunity! They're kind of like split peas, only whole, larger peas. 

In the pub, holding a copy of the Nottingham Drinker magazine.

 And then I saw another Rowan tree!

The one Ruth planted in honour of Rowan is a TWIG compared to these!

Outside of pub where I had mushy peas. Is  this too much like a boring slide show from the 60's?

Old churches everywhere.

Ruddington was outside Bradmore, where Mum grew up. 

At this point, perhaps you're feeling like you've been on the trip with me.

Into Bradmore. 

I finally got OUT of the car to take a photo:

I won't show pix of my cousin's daughter's wedding, but here's their rescue dog, Oscar:

Former street dog. He's actually gained weight since they got him.

 This is just not something you'd see in America:

Written October 25, 1898.

The local pub. A bit of a low ceiling.

 Walking back to our cottage:

See the hedge on the right? The Brits are mad about their hedges!

We passed a sign on the road that said "historic Petersborough." Atlasta said, "Isn't every town pretty much 'historic'?" We don't have the same sense of history in America. There are so many buildings in the U.K. that are centuries old. We don't have anything that compares. 

I have so many photos that I'm going to do a few different posts. More to come!