On Holiday in the UK and Republic of Ireland - May 25-June 15, 2012

Day 1:  Today we flew out of Orlando, Florida, at 6:15pm for a 3-week adventure in the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland.  We lucked out and had three seats on the plane to ourselves.  Sweet!  Unfortunately, in spite of the extra space, we both still had a tough time sleeping during the flight but tried our best so we could hit the ground running when we flew into London's Gatwick airport bright and early the next morning.

Day 2:  Blimey!  We're in England.  Long live the Queen!  The flight through the night was bloody turbulent, which wasn't quite our cup of tea, but we arrived safely only 30 minutes late.  We hopped on a train and rode into Victoria Station in downtown London and then caught a taxi to our hotel.  We were able to check in early, then we gathered together our GPS, camera, and sheets with information about a few waymarking targets in the London area.  We were knackered, but determined to adjust to the new time zone as quickly as possible.

The Marine and the Tax Post

So, off we went to learn how to use the Tube in London's extensive Underground system.  It was actually very simple.  Our main target for the day was to find a rare London Coal Tax Post, which are iron posts or granite obelisks that were erected after 1861 to mark the boundary of London for taxation purposes.  These historic tax posts form a ring around the city in an approximately 15-mile radius.  There are only about 200 of them still in existence.  We read that there was supposed to be an unclaimed one in the Chigwell area of London, so we decided to try to locate it.  We walked and walked and walked and walked looking high and low, but no luck.  After a couple of hours, we finally gave up and headed to a different tax post that was reported to be in the Romford area of London.  This time we had to take not only the Underground, but also the National Rail and then more walking and walking and walking... you get the picture.  Our feet and calves were in agony.  However, we did get the rare waymark!  Woo hoo.  Yes, the Biologist is insane.  Sad, but true.  Oh, and we also found a UK Post Office.  Two new waymarking icons in one day!  Cha-ching.

Banqueting House of Whitehall Palace

Day 3:  We spent today, our second day in London, on a hop-on hop-off, double-decker bus tour and a river cruise on the Thames.  We were gobsmacked by all the traffic in London, which was apparently worse than usual because of the preparations for the Queen's 60th Jubilee, celebrating her 60 years on the throne, and a half marathon in the city.  Thankfully though, someone else was doing the driving!  We learned a lot from the tour guides on the buses, as well as the boat. We hopped off the bus in a couple of locations, including one near the former Whitehall Palace.  All that remains of the Palace is the Banqueting House, where King Charles I of England was executed on a scaffold in front of it in January 1649.  The Biologist wanted to check out this Great Building of the World just in case the potential new waymarking category for Monarch Execution Sites ever gets approved.  While we were here, we also spotted a World War II Memorial.  Then, on the way back to our hotel, we came across a Citizen Memorial, as well as a Blue Plaque for Tubby Clayton, an Anglican clergyman and the founder of Toc H, an international Christian movement.

Guard at Tower of London

Day 4:  Today, our last day in London, we stopped to check out a sign of Ancient Roman Civilization, the remnants of the London Wall, on our way to the Tower of London.  Then we skedaddled to the Tower to beat the crowds of tourists.  The Tower of London is absolutely packed with history for such a small area.  It gave us goose bumps to think that we were in the location where Anne Boleyn was held and executed to name just one piece of the history of this place.  It's also the home of the Crown Jewels of the United Kingdom, and the bling was absolutely blinding!

Victorian Post Box

After leaving the Tower, we hopped on the tube and headed to Buckingham Palace to get a better look than what we saw from the tour bus yesterday.  Unfortunately, all the preparations for the Queen's Jubilee really took away from the appearance of the Palace as they were erecting a 12,000 seat stadium right in front of it.  The good news is that we found several more waymarks while we were out and about, including a few Pictorial Pub Signs and a couple of Victorian Post Boxes (another new waymarking icon, woo hoo!).  For dinner, we headed to The Crutched Friar, a pub a stone's throw from the door of our hotel with a nice Pictorial Pub Sign, and enjoyed dinner and a couple pints.  The Marine had the Bangers and Mash, while the Biologist had the Pappardelle and Goat Cheese Pasta.  Both dishes were jolly good!


Day 5:  This morning we left London via a high speed train ride to Bath where we picked up a rental car.  The Marine took on the role of chauffeur and did a great job driving on the left side of the road from the right side of a car for the first time.  He took to it like a duck to water, although we both got a bit nervous on some of the narrower roads and he did run up against several curbs while getting a feel for the vehicle.  We joked that the car rental companies probably have to replace the tires on the left side of their cars a lot more often than the tires on the right.

Does this place really need a caption?!!

We quickly checked into our hotel, then made tracks back toward London to Stonehenge.  We could not possibly come to the U.K. and not go to Stonehenge.  This Megalithic Monument did not disappoint!  The audio tour was nicely done.  Although there were lots of tourists there, it was well worth the stop.  Plus, we found a virtual geocache here, our first cache in England.

The Raven Pub in Bath

We then headed back to Bath and went to The Raven, a great little free house pub with a wonderful Pictorial Pub Sign, for dinner.  We've finally gotten comfortable not having a waitress come take our order since in a pub you order your meal at the bar and they bring it to you when it's ready.  The Marine had a Raven Ale Pie (West Country Beef, onions, carrots, Raven ale, green peppercorns, and thyme with a Guinness and red onion gravy) on a mash, while the Biologist had a Mushroom and Asparagus Pie (wild mushrooms, asparagus, shallots, white wine, and black pepper with a vegetable gravy) on a mash.  The food was bloody fantastic.  Of course, the Marine had to try a couple pints of the Raven Dark Ale and the Raven Gold Ale, which he greatly enjoyed.  It's a good thing the pub was within a 15-minute walk of our hotel!

On our walk back to the hotel, we stopped in Queen Park, a Municipal Park, to watch some lawn bowling and check out the large Obelisk in the park that was placed in 1738.  We also stopped along the way to admire the Holy Trinity Church.  This Old Church is a former Anglo-Catholic Church.

The ancient Roman Baths

Day 6:  Before leaving the city of Bath today, we visited the Roman Baths, an historic public bathing site.  This site of Ancient Roman Civilization is extremely well preserved and had us oohing and ahhing over its beauty and history.  So of course, we had to take a Tourist Stamp Photo!  Being a Jane Austen fan, the Biologist was very excited to check out the sites associated with Miss Austen and her novels while in Bath.

The Marine and Rodney Point sign

In the afternoon, we drove southwest to Newton Abbot where we decided to lodge for the night.  Along the way, we stopped for a U.K. Trigpoint (also considered a European Historic Benchmark) located on a footpath at a public golf course.  Yea, another new waymarking icon!  After checking into our hotel, we drove down to the coast at Exmouth to check out some the sites and find some waymarks.  We spotted a wishing well, which was an International Rotary Marker, some colorful Beach Huts (new icon!), and a Miniature Golf Course.  But the highlight of the trip to Exmouth was our visit to Orcombe Point, a National Trust U.K. site (yep, it's a new icon!), where we got some spectacular views of the English Channel.  On the way to the summit, we passed a Your Name Here sign for Rodney Point, where the Marine couldn't resist hamming it up.  At the summit is a 16-foot tall Obelisk known as the Geoneedle that was sculptured from all the different types of rocks found along this lovely coastline. Also at the summit was a great Compass Rose.

Beach Huts in Exmouth

Bovey Tracey Churchyard Cross

Day 7:  This morning we left Newton Abbot and headed to the town of Bovey Tracey just outside Dartmoor National Park.  Bovey Tracey is a lovely small town well worth a walk through.  We parked the car and checked out the You Are Here Map near the parking lot to orient ourselves then made our way through the center of town on foot.  We passed by an old Water Mill with a Water Wheel before coming to the Bovey Tracey Market Cross, an ancient Christian Cross made of Dartmoor Granite (yea, new icon!) at the Town Hall.  The Market Cross now doubles as the town’s Non-Specific Veteran Memorial and has a Red Telephone Box located near it.

We continued through the town to the Parish Church of St. Peter, St. Paul and St. Thomas of Canterbury, an Anglican Church.  This Old Church, a 13th century church, is believed to have been commissioned by Sir Henry de Tracy (who later became the first Lord of the Manor of Bovey Tracey), as a means to expiate the sin of his kinsman, Sir William de Tracy, one of the four knights who murdered Thomas Becket in Canterbury Cathedral in 1170.  According to the church's website, in the 14th century the church fell into a sad state of neglect likely caused by the French wars and the Black Death.  All that remains of the 13th century church is the Bell Tower.  In the Churchyard Cemetery, a Worldwide Cemetery, is the Bovey Tracey Churchyard Cross made of Dartmoor Granite.  Adjacent to the church is the "Church Steps" cottage, a Thatch Cottage that is a grade II listed building.  As we passed back through town back to the car park, we spotted a lovely little Tearoom called the Old Cottage Tea Shop.

Church Steps, a Thatch Cottage

Hedgerows all around!

We spent the majority of the rest of the day exploring Dartmoor National Park.  The Marine had some hairy driving situations, but the moors are awesome.  We stopped at Hound Tor and climbed to its top and over to view the Hound Tor Medieval Village behind it.  Lots of fascinating history in this park.  Of course, you can hardly take a step in England without encountering a fascinating piece of history.

Okehampton Castle

After leaving Dartmoor, we visited Okehampton Castle, our first castle of the trip.  The castle has Norman origins and dates from the late 11th century.  They offer a very good audio tour and we enjoyed wandering around the castle ruins in despite a slight drizzle.  After leaving the castle, we made tracks for Wales, where we ended the day in Newport in southeastern Wales.


Day 8:  It's hard to believe we've been in the U.K. for a week already!  Time sure flies when you're not working!  Today, after checking out of the hotel, we stopped to find our first geocache in Wales, which was located only about a half-mile from our hotel.  We then visited the town of Caerleon, Wales, where we wandered around a Roman Amphitheater (90 AD), Roman barracks, and Roman baths; lots of signs of Ancient Roman Civilization here.  We also checked out a couple of Old Churches and spotted a Victorian Post Box just outside one the Church grounds.  On an old inn in town, we spotted a Blue Plaque for Lord Alfred Tennyson where he began writing his "Idylls of the King" in 1856."  Sweet!  This is also a Dead Poets' Society Memorial since Lord Tennyson was the Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom during much of Queen Victoria's reign and he still remains as one of the most popular poets in the English language.

Raglan Castle

After spending a few hours in Caerleon, we took off for Raglan Castle, which is a Cadw (Welsh Historic Monuments) site and a new icon!  This late medieval castle dates from between the 15th and early 17th centuries and was well worth a stop (we can't seem to stop saying that during this trip).

Old Gore Wayside Shrine

The stops in Caerleon and at Raglan Castle burned up most of the day so we meandered our way through some back roads to Old Gore where we came across an historic Wayside Shrine (new icon!) and then to Clifton on Teme, a small village in Worcestershire, where there's an old Automobile Association Sign (another new icon!) on the Lion Inn.  We planned to stop here and eat in the inn's pub, but they weren't serving yet. We can't get used to the strange hours for eating here.  We then made tracks to Warwick (just outside Stratford-Upon-Avon) where we checked into a hotel.  We plan to spend a couple of days here exploring Shakespeare's hometown.

Automobile Association sign in Clifton on Teme

Day 9:  This morning we had to attend to some more mundane matters... laundry.  We were starting to smell a bit rank!  We spent the afternoon taking a hop-on hop-off bus tour of Stratford-Upon-Avon where we saw Shakespeare's alleged birthplace, a restored 16th century house where it is believed that Will was born in 1564 and spent his youth.  The tour also took us by his wife Anne Hathaway's Childhood Home, a beautiful Thatch Cottage.


Day 10:  Today, we drove to Cambridge, but stopped for a few Greenwich Meridian Markers (new icon!) along the way.  Two of these markers were in the town of Somersham, where we also spotted a marker Made for the Millennium, a World War II Monument, a Red Telephone Box, a Former Schoolhouse, a Baptist Church, and a Teahouse!  Wow, lots of waymarks in a very small area here!  On our way to the third Greenwich Meridian Marker of the day, we made a stop at the St. John the Baptist Church and it's Holy Well.

Swavesey Town Sign

Back on track to Cambridge, we stopped briefly in Swavesey where we found a Pictorial Town Sign, a Pictorial Pub Sign, a U.K. Post Office, and a couple of Thatch Cottages.  After checking into our hotel in Cambridge, we drove by the University.  The traffic was very busy, but we still managed to see some of the sights.

Greenwich Meridian Marker

Day 11:  Our first stop of the day was Frampton, England, where we found another Greenwich Meridian Marker made out of a Millstone, a couple of Made for the Millennium markers, and a lovely Old Church with a Churchyard Cemetery that is the final resting place for at least one Centenarian.

Our next stop was Nottingham of Robin Hood fame.  We had lunch  at Ye Olde Trip to Jerusalem, which is the oldest inn and pub in England and the subject of a Tourist Stamp.  It was actually built into the side of a mountain with Nottingham Castle on top.  We pondered buying one of the three remaining medieval homes in town that was for sale, but the location was on a busy street so we passed!  Settled in for the night in Derby.

Gib Hill Barrow Cairn

Day 12:  Today we drove through the Peaks District National Park.  We stopped at the National Park Visitor Center in Bakewell and got some information about nearby sites.  The ranger at the Visitor Center pointed us to Arbor Low Henge and Barrow, a Megalithic Monument, and Gib Hill Barrow, a Megalithic Monument and Cairn (cha-ching!).  We had a wonderful day wandering through the park.  It's an absolutely beautiful place to visit.  We ended up in Bradford for the night and spotted a couple of Silhouette Sculptures, City Hall, Victorian Post Box, a Community Commemoration in the form of a Mural, and a Compass Rose made with Mosaic Tiles on our walk to and from dinner.  Sweet!

Day 13:  We spent all day driving today, but through some jolly good areas.  We passed through the Yorkshire Dales National Park and the Lake District National Park.  We wished we had more time and could actually stop and explore these parks, but we wanted to spend a few days in Scotland before leaving for Ireland.  Three weeks just isn't enough time!

The Biologist at Gretna Green

We stopped for the night in Gretna Green, a village in the south of Scotland, famous for elopements (the UK's Las Vegas?).  According to Wikipedia, "Gretna's famous "runaway marriages" began in 1753 when Lord Hardwicke's Marriage Act was passed in England; it stated that if both parties to a marriage were not at least 21 years old, then parents had to consent to the marriage.  The Act did not apply in Scotland, where it was possible for boys to marry at 14 and girls at 12 years old with or without parental consent.  Many elopers fled England, and the first Scottish village they encountered was Gretna Green."  Today, Gretna Green is one of the world's most popular wedding destinations.  We actually saw a couple getting married while we were there and several others all dressed up and waiting to take their vows!  Oh, and we also spotted a marker for a Railway Disaster Site and an Outdoor Maze and found our first geocache in Scotland!

Threave Castle

Day 14:  After leaving Gretna Green, we decided to take the coastal route around southeastern Scotland.  It was a beautiful drive that would have been even more beautiful if there had been any sun, but even in the rain it was pretty impressive.  We stopped along the way to see Threave Castle, which included a mile roundabout walk and a very short motor boat ride to and from the island where the castle is situated.  A very cool castle that's a listed Historic Scotland property, and yes, it's well worth the stop.

Once back on the road, we saw a sign for the CairnHoly Chambered Cairns.  These Megalithic Monuments were... you got it... well worth the stop.  A must see if you're driving around the coast here.  We passed by a few other castles without stopping.  If we stopped for every castle we saw a sign for, we'd still be in Wales!  Anyway, we spent the night in Ayr, Scotland, and ate dinner at the oldest restaurant in the city.  We've discovered that understanding the Scots with their heavy brogue accent is quite challenging.  Very charming though!

Bothwell Castle

Day 15:  Our goal today is to reach Edinburgh, Scotland.  We only made one stop on our way from Ayr and that was at Bothwell Castle, a medieval castle located on a steep bank above the River Clyde.  Construction of the castle began in the 13th century to guard a strategic crossing point of the River Clyde.  The castle played a key role in Scotland's Wars of Independence and changed hands several times over the years.

Muschat's Cairn

Day 16:  This morning we drove into Edinburgh hoping the traffic wouldn't be too bad on a Saturday morning.  We were right, traffic was light... at least when we got there.  By the time we finished exploring, the tourists and traffic abounded!  We first headed to the Holyrood Park where we found Muschat's Cairn, which according to Wikipedia "...commemorates an event on 17 October 1720 when Nichol Muschat, a surgeon, dragged his wife to a nearby spot and brutally murdered her.  He was eventually tried and hanged for this crime.  At his trial he said that he had simply tired of her."  A wee bit extreme, twasn't it?!

Robert Fergusson Memorial

Next we drove into Edinburgh's Old Town and found a spot to park the car.  Then we made our way down High Street on foot to a stop for the Edinburgh hop-on hop-off, double-decker bus tour.  We spent the next hour riding the bus around the city and learning numerous interesting tidbits about its history.  After the tour, we spent a little more time walking around High Street and spotted a Dead Poets' Society Memorial for Robert Fergusson in front of the Canongate Kirk, a Presbyterian Church.  Construction on This Old Church was completed in 1691.  In the Churchyard Cemetery, we discovered the Grave of a Famous Person (the aforementioned poet).

After a bite of lunch and a little souvenir shopping, we made our way back to the car and headed back to our hotel to get some rest before our flight to Dublin tomorrow.

Day 17:  Not much to report today.  We slept in, then had breakfast and made our way to the Edinburgh Airport to catch our flight to Dublin, Ireland.  Our flight was a bit delayed, but we eventually made it to Dublin by around 5pm.  We picked up our rental car, checked into our hotel, went out and had some dinner, and went back to our hotel to make plans for the next few days.  Tomorrow, we're off to Northern Ireland for a quick visit before heading back to the Republic of Ireland for the remainder of our holiday.

Giant's Causeway

Day 18:  We made our way to Northern Ireland this morning and headed to the north coast In Search of the Celts.  Our first stop was the Giant's Causeway, an amazing collection of about 40,000 basalt columns on the coast that resulted from volcanic activity.  The basalt rocks that flowed out during one period of volcanic eruptions left the fantastic basalt rock columns that are mostly hexagonal in shape, although some have more or less sides (up to eight).  It's hard to believe, but these columns are naturally occurring! We learned about this wonderful geologic formation during a trip to Charleston, South Carolina, where we came across one of the basalt columns (visit link).

We also stopped at the nearby Dunluce Castle,a very impressive medieval castle surrounded by very steep drops on either side.  Dunluce Castle has a rich history, which is briefly described in a Wikipedia article about it.  We also located a virtual cache at the castle!

We ended the day in Londonderry.  Tomorrow, we plan to head back into the Republic of Ireland on our way to the Ring of Kerry and the Blarney Stone!

Ballintuber Abbey

Day 19:  What an amazing day! We discovered that St. Patrick's Causeway (Tóchar Phádraig) was on the way to our next destination. St. Patrick's Causeway is the 55-km pilgrimage route St. Patrick walked from the vicinity of Ballintubber Abbey (which is located on the site where St. Patrick built one of the first of his many churches) to Croagh Patrick (a 2,057-foot cone shaped mountain where his journey ended and where he devoted himself on the summit, fasting and praying for 40 days in the cold, wind, and rain). We decided to visit various sites along this pilgrimage route, including stops at Ballintubber Abbey, which was built in 1216 and is the only working Church in Ireland founded by an Irish King, a now empty Holy Well in Aghagower that was blessed by St. Patrick as he passed through the area, and a 10th century round stone tower in Aghagower that's from a medieval church that was constructed perhaps 100 years after St. Patrick's death. While walking to the ancient well, we spotted a Town Pound as well. Sweet!

Croagh Patrick

Pump inside Patrick's Well

 Day 20:  We spent last night in Castlebar and made our way to Killarney today.  We spent most of the day driving, although we did make a short stop in Patrickswell to try to find an Automobile Association sign.  We had no luck with the sign, but did spot Patrick's Well, for which the town was named.  This ancient Holy Well dedicated to St. Patrick is the namesake for the town.  In 2002, an old Hand Operated Water Pump was placed in the well.

After checking into our hotel in Killarney, we decided to drive a small portion of the Ring of Kerry, a Celtic tourist trail through some absolutely beautiful Ireland scenery.  The rhododendrons were in bloom and it was absolutely gorgeous.  We just wish we had more time to spend here!

Along the Ring of Kerry

Blarney Castle

Day 21:  Alas, today's our last day in Ireland before flying home bright and early tomorrow morning.  Although we're sad to see the vacation coming to an end, we are excited about going home and sleeping in our own bed.  On our way from Killarney to Dublin, we stopped in Blarney to visit Blarney Castle.  It was a rainy day, but we couldn't miss the chance to see the Blarney Stone.  While neither of us chose to kiss the rock wall, we watched several people give it a smooch.  We also found a virtual cache on the castle grounds, our first cache in the Republic of Ireland.  We checked into our hotel in mid-afternoon and called it a day.  We are now officially traveled out!

Day 22:  Homeward Bound today.  We caught an early flight from Dublin to London, where we caught our connecting flight to Orlando, Florida.  The flight was a smooth one and, as on the flight to England, we had three seats to ourselves, so we could spread out and be comfortable.  It was sad to see our vacation coming to an end, but we were very excited to be getting home!  We've said it before and we'll say it again, there's no place like home.