|
Newsletter #40 - March 18 to 25, 1960 |
| Newsletter #40 March 18 to March 25, 1960 England and Wales Hello again, Today [march 19] we drove through the pottery center of Great Britain. This center is called Stoke-on-Trent and incorporates the towns of Hanley, Burslem, Fenton, Tunstall and Langton into one township. This township is the home of the famous Wedgewood pottery as well as of other famous potteries. We also went through the city of Liverpool - an important seaport on the banks of the River Mersey. The docks of Liverpool extend to a distance of over seven miles. Here we saw a lovely Gothic style cathedral and the Liverpool University which was founded in 1881. On the outskirts of Liverpool, we saw the home of the Grand National Races at the track called Aintree. Another town of interest was Lancaster, situated on the River Lune, which has an impressive Norman castle and a number of fine Georgian homes. Tonight we are staying in Stafford where the lovely antique Staffordshire figurines were made many years ago. This quaint town has several old churches and some lovely, preserved Elizabethan styled homes. We arrived here early in the afternoon which enabled us to take a walk into the heart of the town. We browsed about in several of their shops during our walk. It is Sunday [March 20] and at last we have a bit of pleasant sunshine. We only drove a short distance today and our drive took us through the large city of Birmingham. Birmingham is a large industrial center with a few grand cathedrals and impressive public buildings. However, the city did not possess much more that was of interest to us. After leaving here, we returned to Coventry, Kenilworth and Warwick - three most interesting small towns with many picturesque and quaint buildings. Of course, I told you about these in a previous letter. Because we were so impressed with these towns, we planned to return to them again if we had time. Therefore, we made the most of our sunshine today and took a few snaps of these enchanting towns. Several miles away we found a charming hotel at Stratford-on-Avon and retraced our tracks in this delightful city. We took pictures of the many places of interest in this area. This morning [March 21] we toured all of the Shakespearian properties because yesterday they were closed and we only took photographs. We first visited Shakespeare's birthplace on Henley Street. This house is a lovely half-timbered house containing many rare Shakespearian treasures. Our second stop was Hall's Croft in Old Town, which was a fine Tudor house with a lovely walled garden where Shakespeare's daughter, Susanna, and her husband, Dr. John Hall, lived. The third stop was New Place on Chapel Street where we saw the foundation of Shakespeare's last home. This has been preserved in an Elizabethan |
- 2 -
garden setting. The Nash House, which was the home of Shakespeare's second daughter and her lawyer husband, was next to this one. Our fourth visit was to the town of Wilmcote to visit the Mary Arden House. This was a lovely Tudor farmhouse where Shakespeare's mother lived before she married John Shakespeare. Here we also visited the old barn which contains old carriages, bicycles and farming implements of years' ago. Our last visit today took us to the town of Shottery where we visited the picturesque thatched cottage of Anne Hathaway. Here she was born and lived until her marriage to William Shakespeare. These tours were all very interesting as all five homes were furnished completely typical of that period - some was the original furniture of former homes. We left Stratford-on-Avon about 2 P.M. and drove to Worcester which is a fine old city on the Severn River. Worcester is noted for its glove making and porcelain. This city has many lovely old timbered houses, a well preserved 18th century church, a medieval cathedral, a 7th century monastery and several other lovely ancient buildings. We drove on to Shrewsbury, another very old and extremely interesting town set on land formed by the Severn River. We saw the 900-year old Shrewsbury Castle and the spacious gardens surrounding it. After leaving Shrewsbury, we were soon in the Country of Wales. We are spending tonight in the town of Ruthin in North Wales. Our hotel stands in St. Peter's Square and is a lovely Elizabethan building with seven dormer windows and a gorgeous stairway. Ruthin is in North Wales above the Vale of Clwyd. This morning [March 22] we went to see Ruthin Castle, which is a very unusual castle, made of grey and red stone and set midst a charming park. This castle has been converted into a hospital. We next saw the Clwydian Mountains, the Vale of Llangollen, Denbigh Moors and several castles which are now being used as exclusive girls' schools. We went through the town of Llangollen on the River Dee with its quaint old bridge over the river. This town is the home of the Welsh International Music Festival held in July. Later we went to Llandudno which is an attractive seaside resort on the Welsh Coast between the headlands of the Great and Little Orme. This is a very scenic place and seems to be the northern resort of Wales or the Riviera of Wales. There is a long esplanade, sandy beach, golf course and lovely park and garden area. At Conway, a town nearby, we saw another of the many fabulous castles of Wales. We drove through an exceedingly rugged, mountainous area into a town nestled among the Snowdon Mountains called Betws-y-coed. This means "Chapel in the Wood" and is a favorite artist colony because of its location in some of the loveliest glen scenery of Wales. Another lovely area in this part of Northern Wales was the Colwyn Bay section with its beautiful coastline. |
- 3 -
Today [March 23] we had two flat tires which makes us quite disgusted since this is the fifth flat we've had in the past six weeks. Meredith is getting to be an expert at changing them. The people in England and Wales stop and want to assist you which, we feel, is really being quite hospitable. During our tour today we saw Aberystwyth which is a small seaside resort in a magnificent setting on Cardigan Bay. This town is also the home of the University of Wales which was founded in 1872. From here we drove long the coast until we arrived at Swansea. This is another seaside resort which is situated on the neck of the Gower Peninsula in South Wales. Nearby we saw Mumbles, another resort with a beautiful coastline. We also saw the buildings and campus of Swansea University. About thirty-five miles beyond Swansea, we came to Cardiff, the capital and largest city of Wales. Cardiff is also a port and industrial center of Wales. We went to the Consulate where we really had a huge pile of mail that included anniversary and St. Patrick's cards among the ever-welcome mail. Again, we say thanks to all those responsible for our "scads" of mail. While in Cardiff, we saw beautiful Cardiff Castle which dates from the 13th century. We also saw the many new buildings as a great deal of Cardiff was ruined during the War. Meredith was especially interested in this area as he was stationed here for about two months in 1943. Tonight we are staying in a town called Raglan - not far from Cardiff. [March 24] We saw a lovely old castle before leaving Raglan this morning and then started through more lovely countryside along the Wales-England border. We first stopped in the old historic town of Monmouth which is on the Welsh border and has a castle, very much in ruins, which was built by William the Conqueror and was the birthplace of Henry V in 1388. Our next town was Gloucester, once an important fortified Roman city, which was associated with many colorful events in history. Henry III was crowned here in 1216 and it is the city where Edward II was murdered by his wife and her lover in 1327. Here we saw several relics of the past as we drove through the city and also a lovely cathedral which contains the tomb of King Edward II. This cathedral has lovely interiors. We next came to a picturesque Cotswold town named Burford. This town consisted of only several streets, one being lined by quaint ancient houses, inns and antique shops. We've been stopping at many antique shops (at least 30) and in this town we've at last found a warming pan with a nice brass lid and a handle in good condition. England has many antiques, but so many of them are either breakable or too difficult to ship home. After Burford, we stopped at Cheltenham, a fashionable resort town with lovely boulevards, distinctive shops and many large and elegant homes. In one of the antique shops in this town, I saw two Victorian Glass Domes with walnut bases which I've searched for in vain around York County and several other counties. However, they were 25 pounds or $75.00 in our money and, since I was sure they would break on the trip home, I had to leave them in Cheltenham. Furthermore, I didn't think they were a particular bargain. |
- 4 -
Oxford, the ancient and beautiful university city on the Thames and Cherwell rivers, was our next stop. We had been in this same city several weeks ago so we only tarried here a short time and then had a drive among lots of traffic until we reached the heart of London. Tonight we are back in the same hotel on Russell Square in which we stayed four weeks ago. We took the tube into Piccadilly Circus tonight and then walked around to see the shops until time for dinner. We ate in a restaurant we had visited on our last trip and had a very good dinner. After dinner, we went to the movies to see "The Summer of the Seventeenth Doll". The settings of this movie were all in and around Sydney, Australia and we remembered seeing many of the scenes last August. Here is it Friday [March 25] and the last day of another newsletter week. We slept late this A.M. and then drove about London doing a bit of shopping and sight-seeing. We saw the crowds in Trafalgar Square who were having mass demonstrations because of the recent South African shootings. The demonstrators are mostly students who have really been giving these London Bobbies a very bad time. Yesterday, 29 of them were arrested. We had an early dinner in town and are now doing our usual night ditties early as we plan to watch TV tonight. We now have our tickets for a 12-day cruise along the coast of Norway. This cruise will take us above the Arctic Circle and, if the snow is not too deep, we may get a tour into the area where the Laplanders live. This should prove most interesting. We had to get first class accommodations as the tourist class was completely taken. Therefore, I fear Meredith and I will look a little shabby when compared to the other passengers since we've spent eleven months in the same clothes and they certainly are showing wear. We have definitely given up the tour of Russia because we can't find the time since we want to sail on the 7th of June. Our trip to Finland will also be only a short one as we'll have to fly there without taking the car. Taking a boat would take several days and we just don't have the time. Our next three months will certainly be busy ones but then, most people take less time than this for a complete tour of Europe. Our health has still been very good and we certainly hope it will continue. Hoping this letter finds all of you in happy spirits and good health also, we remain Lovingly, Meredith & Charlotte |