Tuesday 11 November 2014

Holiday snaps

No not the sort that go in crackers but photos!

There are now less than 7 weeks until Christmas, but only just over 7 weeks ago I had only just returned from our summer holiday!

So as you snuggle up today on this chilly November day, I thought you might like to see a little corner of England, first up is Shropshire.



We rented a little cottage, this one to be exact, doesn't look too thrilling from the outside, but if you have the time follow the link and take a look at the photos....not sure they quite do the charm and quirkiness justice, but I think you'll get the idea!  What a peaceful haven.

We found we were the perfect sized family for it as we are all under 5 feet 8 inches tall!  Some of the walls are 2 feet thick! There were other lovely homes in the village and the county is known for its good food.


The village is the last place in England to celebrate Oak Apple Day, originally a public holiday celebrated in England on 29 May to commemorate the restoration of the English Monarchy in May 1660.  This village now celebrates it under a new name, Arbour Day and it is now celebrated on the last Sunday in May.  The Arbour Tree is decorated with flags and the villagers celebrate.  Our cottage is Arbour Cottage, named after the tree.




 

Such a pretty village........


...with little places to paddle.......


 ....and skim stones.......



We spent about an hour here skimming and paddling.

We also ventured farther afield, our first tourist-y visit was to Ludlow and it's beautiful town with buildings such as this one having parts which date back to the 16th century......


 Isn't it gorgeous?

Ludlow Castle, of course, is much older but equally has been developed over the centuries to replace shutters with windows and other 'mod cons'!

Tiddly Toes made a run for it when we arrived and I caught up with her (attached to another family!) right up here on the highest ramparts!

But look at the view.....



That round building (centre right) is the castle Chapel and the heart of all castle life.

Here's a shot through the more modern Elizabethan windows to the older part of the castle.....


And these are the rooms, now homes and the castle entrance and shop, built into the castle wall.....


We did a good bit of climbing and discovering, we touched very old doors, admired the views from the original windows and climbed spiral staircases like this one.....


The crack extended through the whole turret and you wonder how much longer it will hang in there!

Look at the spiral staircase from below looking up....isn't it beautiful?


This is the view from the kitchen window out to the castle garden (within the main castle wall), can you see a stoned edged square to the right of that sign?  That's a dungeon......


This amazing bit of stone-masonry  and architecture is the kitchen ceiling.......


A really stunning castle and a beautiful town.

Next up was a countryside visit as we took a day out to Acton Scott Working Farm (used for the TV series Victorian Farm).

You are greeted by this handsome chap.......



 There are alot of traditional crafts practised here such as hurdle-making, charcoal burning and brick casting..........
 


This is now a traditional tea room, but it used to be the local school.....



I couldn't get too many photographs as it was a bit of a wet day....spot the raindrop on the lens?

Another must visit venue is Stokesay Castle, look......




This is the more 'modern' entrance, but isn't it stunning?

You can't see from the photos, but the wooden pegs used to hold the frame together were never cut flush so you can see how this was erected......


And this is the modern (16th Century!) bedroom extension to the 12th Century castle ......



The village also has a gorgeous church.......
 

I couldn't take any photos inside but there are original paintings and decorations on the wall so you can take a guess how old those are!

So after a week of playing the tourist and relaxing in our beautiful cottage it was time to pack up and move south, through Wales to Dorset..........




Next time I'll introduce you to Dorset.

Until then, take care,

Love
Nora
xxxx

1 comment:

  1. wow lovely pictures. you look like you had a fab time!

    ReplyDelete

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