NOW WHERE WAS I?

Monday May 17th

I swear we are getting too old for all this galivanting about.

Having arrived back in London on Sunday evening we got to bed pretty early. We'd booked on a train to Norfolk for early afternoon on Monday which gave us a chance for a sleep in.

Then we set out once again, this time for a place called Wymondham in Norfolk. Now you would think the name would be pronounced Wye-mond-ham of Wim-mond-ham wouldn't you.

Wrongggg!

It's Windum.

So we discovered from the taxi driver who picked us up at the station later in the day.

Well Wymondham (Windum) turned out to be an absolutely charming town which dates back to Saxon times and is mentioned in the Domesday Book, as an important market town even before the Normans arrived.

It is set in the middle of green pasture with grazing sheep and a winding river called the River Tiffey. The streets are very narrow with many Tudor style houses leaning out over the cobbled throughfare. In the centre of the town is the market square and in the centre of that, a "Market Cross" which was built in 1617AD.

Barbara and I were staying at the Abbey Hotel, aptly named because right across the road is The Abbey Church which was founded in 1107AD. As we were to learn, this place is steeped in history. The oldest pub, the Green Dragon, goes back to the 15th century.and even the railway station is 165 years old.

That's what we picked up in the first few hours in Wymondham. So with a full day ahead tomorrow, we enjoyed an early dinner and a few glasses of wine, before hitting the sack.

Tuesday May 18th

The next morning saw us up reasonable early, with the weather good although a little chilly. After breakfast we headed off with a view to trying to see something of the Norfolk Broads. These are large areas of wetlands and canals which criss cross this county. The lakes were formed after centuries of peat digging which left huge areas of land below sea level. These are mostly fields of pasture with long draiage creeks around them, and these in turn feed the lake areas and canals. So Norfolk is a very popular boating spot.

IOur travels took us back to the railway station, by train into Norwich (the capital) and then out to a town called Lowestoft, then another change to get a local train to the town of Beccles.

In Beccles there are a lot of people who muck around in boats. And of course there are the mandatory ancient church ruins, and narrow streets leading down to the Quay. Barbara and I lunched at a local tearooms which looked like something out of a 1950's Ealing comedy. It was all pink with chintzy decorations. But the food was cheap and nourishing. Fortified we headed down to the Quay hoping to take a boat trip on the Broads. No Luck. It was too early in the season. So we spent the next hour or so walking along the canals past moored boats of all sizes and shapes., and listening to the birds providing a twittery musical background. We stopped on a little track at one stage as a tiny field mouse suddenly appeared busily skittering around. He sisn't spot us and came almost up to us. Then at the last moment he raced off into the grass and froze under some bushes, apparently believing he couldn't be seen.

Then we strolled on and back to the quayside where we bought ice creams with Chocolate Flake bars stuck in them.

We got back to Wymondham in plenty of time for tea. Despite no boat trip, we'd enjoyed a pleasant and quite relaxing afternoon.

Wednesday May 19th

On Wednesday morning we got up early and went for a walk along the river before breakfast. The place was very quiet except for the cooing of doves and the song of thrushes and other birds. We followed the river virtually right around the town, down a very leafy green pathway, and every now and then we could see the old Abbey church against the skyline, with sheep grazing in the surrounding fields. Very rustic.

After breakfast we had only a few hours left. Our plan was to visit the Abbey and a locasl heritage museum and then with luck, try to go back through Norwich and see some of its older parts. But time caught up with us and rather than rush we decided we'd spend a little time at the museum and then the Abbey before catching our train.

The museum used to be part of what was kn own as a "Bridewell" house of correction. By all accounts they were pretty horrible places where people could be incarcerated in terrible conditions for the most petty of crimes. They were appaently reformed and rebuilt in 1785 by a reformer named, believe it or not, John Howard.

Our l;ast visit was to the Abbey, named for St Mary and St Thomas of Canterbury. It was originally meant to serve both the Benedictine monks and the people of Wymondham.

Inside you can see these high vaulted wooden ceilings, and a long nave leading to the altar at the far end. The Monks tower built in 1390, dominates the altar end but that has been blocked off

and is in disrepair. The blank wall has been decorated now with an enormous gilt screen commemorating the dead of WW1.

Our last Wymondham experience was on the actual railway station whose tearooms are a replica of the one in the forties film "Brief Encounter" by Noel Coward. I don't know if you've ever seen it but it starred Trevor Howard and Celia Johnson and was terribly terribly twee by today's standards.

Well this place had tables with seats from old LNER carriages and the walls were lined with photos of Wymondham station staff from the 20's and of course lots of photos of Trev & Celia from the movie. We had coffee there while waiting for our train, and they even sold awful old rock cakes of the sort sold back in those days. We drew the line at them however.

Thursday May 20th

Back in London and Barbara and I were off into town again, this time to meet our son Paul's family, (Paul and Katy and children Oliver and Clare) We were to meet them in Baker Street, so I took the opportunity to visit the alleged address of Sherlock Holmes, 221B Baker St. It was of course all for the tourists but I had to have my photo taken with a Victorian copper outside 221B

Then the family arrived and we set off to explore. We thought the children would enjoy the Tower of London, so they all took one of those hop-on hop-off buses to see some of the sights and we arranged to meet them at the Tower.

We had done this tour before but nonetheless it was very interesting. We all followed a Beefeater guide through the various areas of the Tower, while he explained the history of the place, mainly who lost his or her head here and why. The children were absolutely enthralled by it all. They tried on ancient helmets and examined cross bows and pikes, and listened to the grisly tales of beheadings and murders. Oliver and a couple of other boys were right up at the front when the guide told the story of the little Princes in the Tower and how years later they (and here he looked straight down at them) "dug up the bones of ...two...young.....boys".

And then of course they got to see the Crown Jewels. Clare, who goes in for princessy things, was most impressed and Barb suggested that given that the Queen has so many crowns and could only wear one at a time, she should write to her and see if she could borrow a small one.

Friday May 21st

Packing our bags again, this time heading for Southampton to catch up with some friends Roy and Carol Betteridge.

You may remember we had met them in 2008 while doing that bus tour in Europe. We hit it off with them then, and they invited us to stay with them again.

When we reached Southampton they were waiting to pick us up, and after hugs kisses and handshakes, we drove back to their house, spending the next few hours sitting in their charming garden, while the sun faded and we consumed far too much delicious wine. Oh and we also walked their dog Daisy.

Carol had prepared a superb dinner (with more wine) so there was a great deal of laughter and reminiscing and discussions about kids and the government and lots of other topics, before finally calling it a night.

Saturday May 22nd

On Saturday morning we were in the garden again in perfect Spring weather. The birds were singing and you could smell lilac. We sat and read the papers over coffee and croissants and toast (with Vegemite).

Late morning saw us driving to Salisbury to see Britain's finest 13th Century Cathedral. Even before we arrived there, we could see the steeple standing out against the sky. It is the tallest spire in the country.

Once parked we strolled past Saturday market stalls alongside the River Avon, (not the Stratford one) past the green where Ted Heath (late PM of Britain) used to live, through an ancient city gate into the precinct of the cathedral itself. Everything about this building and its surrounds is just mind blowing. The medieval Cloisters, and within them, the Cathedral Close are said to be the most beautiful in the country. Green lawns with two shady oak trees in the middle, and around them the arched windows of the cloisters It's hard to believe that monks were saying their daily prayers here 750 years ago.

Inside were the tombs of ancient Lords and Knights and Bishops and memorials to generations of benefactors over the centuries.

We spent a couple of hours ooing and ahhing over everything, especially an original copy of the Magna Carta, one of only four surviving originals (c 1215)

Roy suggested we might like to visit old Sarum, which is the old Roman name for Salisbury and there are ruins of those times outside the modern city. But first we visited the Haunch of Venison, and ancient pub for lunch. After last night's wine I only managed a half.

Old Sarum at first encounter seems like a lot of half finished stone walls stretched out over a series of hills and valleys. But in fact this is an enormous fortress which was part of the early settlement of Salisbury. There is evidence of habitation here from 3000BC but the building of fortress centering on one big hill dates to Roman times. Then came the Anglo Saxons and the Normans and they build a palace and castles here.Eleanor of Aquitaine was imprisoned in one of them in 1173. And in 1220 there was a Cathedral built but only the foundations remain today.

Once again, just when you've got your head around places 750 years old, and then you stand in the footprints of people from Roman times and even Neolithic.

Time to go home for a nap prior to going out for a final dinner with our hosts. We had a table at a Brasserie in Winchester run by a celebrity chef called Raymond Blanc.

The meal was absolutely beautiful, very French but not so much that you felt overfed. We managed three delicious courses. But the company was the main thing for us. I don't think we stopped talking until we'd had coffee at home and the late hour finally caught up.

Sunday May 23rd

One last breakfast in the morning sun, and it was time to pack again and head back to Southampton railway station. It was really hard to say goodbye again to our friends, but hopefully we'll come back again some day.

Our train took us this time to Reading where Fritha and Anthony picked us up. We had arranged a family and friends lunch in a fabulous old pub. After a bit of messing about we found "The Royal Standard of England" pub which dates back to Saxon times and has a lovely beer garden. On this fine spring day it was perfect to sit out and enjoy Sunday lunch. Paul and Katy and Oliver and Clare were there, as was Katy's best friend Katrina and husband Brenda and their two daughters, an old friend of Paul's, Terry and his partner and two children, plus Barbara and I and Fritha and Anthony.

The next two hours were filled with the sound of Aussie accents and children playing and the consumption of pints of ale and roast beef with Yorkshire pudding.

And then we drove back to London and sleep. Our trip is winding down but not quite yet. Tomorrow Barbara and I and Fritha and Anthony meet Paul & Katy for dinner at a posh London restaurant.