Day 4 - Cream Tea in Malmesbury and Kent Rendezvoux (15 Dec 2022)

15 December Malmesbury and Himley

 Too soon our goodbye's had to be said! Arno and Lennie took Linea to the Swindon bus station…with a new minus temperature record…minus 9!! 

With and early morning promise to come to visit us in South Africa (Sharon, Lennie…Your word is your bond!!) we squeezed into our seven seater Ford Galaxy.  The roads were icy and the landscape snowy white. Magical!! 

 

The little back roads took us to the hamlet of Malmesbury. Once a site of an Iron Age fort, in the early mid-evil period Malmesbury became the site of a monastery, famed for it 's learning. It was later home to one of Alfred the Great's fortified borough for defence against the Vikings. Aethelstan, the first king of ALL England, was buried in Malmesbury Abbey in 939. Arno and I were just so excited to visit this Abbey, because we absolutely loved loved loved the Netflix series 'The Last Kingdom'.  The story of how England came to be. The history of Malmesbury totally connected with us!!

 

In the Middel  Ages the town was a prominent market town and also a centre for learning. Today the Abbey is still key in bringing tourists to the town. The economy hangs onto farming, tourism and the production of Dysons (hoovers!!) at a manufacturing plant.  

 

We carefully 'skated' over the holy ground, surrounding the fantastic Abbey, which was founded in 675. The first church organ was also installed here in 700 AD. In the 12th century the spire was 130m tall, but collapsed in the late 15th century. Also in the 12th century and Abbey guest house was added. Today it houses the Old Bell Hotel - which claims to be the oldest hotel in England. 

 

So guess where Family Theron went for their delicious cream-tea? You guessed it, didn't you??

The Old Bell Hotel!! 

Definition for 'cream tea' - afternoon tea consisting of tea, scones, clotted cream, jam and sometimes butter. 

 

We positioned ourselves around two little tea-tables in a Victorian decorated  drawing room, elaborate wallpaper (even in the bathrooms) and a well appreciated fire going in the hearths.  Next we ordered our cream teas and enjoy them with the appropriate pinky lifted!! This was just so special. 

 

                                         

We had a hard time  leaving this delightful  little village (population of just under 6000). But excitement was building up, for our 18hour Kent-Theron reunion!! Family Kent was flying form South Carolina, USA to Manchester and we agreed to meet up with them in Himley, just outside Brimingham.  The last time we saw each other, was in 2014, when we visited them in the States as part of our Trip Around the World. 

We checked into the Himley House Inn, after a good few hours stuck in some more traffic. Arno and I went for a great little run in the park next door…running in the snow is just such a new experience!!! 

Back at our hotel, we heard that the Kents were delayed some more…so the waiting and building up of excitement continued!! It was already dark when the family of 8, skidded to a stop in the parking bay - and children were everywhere hugging and shouting and hugging some more!! 

 

Next up - feeding 14 peeps!! We opted for a fish and chip shop nearby. Then back to Himley House. The staff were very kind to allow us to sit in a part of the restaurant to eat and chat and chat some more! Once the boys went to the boy's room and the girls went to the girl's room,us more grown-ups (and the two little ones on their 'electronic babysitting devices') talked and talked - trying to fit 8 years of catch-up into 120min.  

 

This was such a magic evening. One that will need to last us until we meet up again…whenever and where ever. 

 

Ps Billy and Rachel - do you remember our last evening together in July 2014? We were sitting with our feet in the water of a covered bug-proved swimming in Orlando, Florida. Well, I am already looking forward to the next exquisite (meaning: extremely beautiful and delicate) destination for our next catch-up.

 





 

Day 3 - Meeting up with Jane Austin in Bath (14 Dec 2022)

 14 December Bath

A very Icy cold morning, but still very warm and cosy in the Shaw home. Today everybody went back at school and work, after yesterday's little Theron-holiday!! Lennie work at home as a trader for an investment company, Sharon is a part-time Nursery Teacher at Maranatha Christian school. This is also the school Finlay attend. School start at 8:30am here in England. 

 

We depart in our rental car, just after the morning traffic rush hour, heading towards Bath. Linea is joining us again. I found the roads very confusing. So happy Arno's got a better sense for direction than I, and with the help of our GPS we were in to Park-And-Ride carpark outside Bath before we knew it! 

 

Busride into city of Bath

The City of Bath is a World Heritage Site since 1987. Why? UNESCO WORLD HERITAGE SITES are the greatest cultural and natural landscapes in the world. Bath received this status because of it's hot springs, Roman archaeology, Georgian Buildings and it’s natural landscape setting. 

 

Bath has the only hot springs in Britain. This has given Bath a unique and special history. For more than 7000 years people have been drawn here by these steaming springs…to worship, to bathe and to drink the water. 2000 years ago the Romans constructed a temple for the goddess Sulis Minerva. They believed that she watched over the steaming waters. 

 Over the years Bath has flourished into a fashionable Georgian resort. The whole city was reinvented to make it more attractive for health, wealth and entertainment. Elegant terraces, curving crescents and the circular Circus created a trendy opelant atmosphere.  

 

Although it was a record sub-zero day again, we could not help to indulged ourselves in this magical place. We stumbled upon a Heritage Centre, got the necessary info and made our way over to explore the ancient Roman Baths, or what was left of it. With our hand-held audio guides, we were entertained with interesting facts and stories about the worship of Sulis Minerva. The engineering of these Romans, is something else. Raised floors, to provide sauna rooms, natural gradient canal systems to create natural flow for the water - cold  baths, you name it!! We even got an opportunity to taste the spring water. Believes are that drinking this water, has remedial powers for the weak and cure all ailments. The 46 degree water carries up to 43 natural minerals.  

 

I saw a very cute little café and decide to go back to it for our lunch. Unknowingly, to me at least, it was one of the filming locations for a Netflix series, Bridgerton, 'The Abbey Deli'. The girls were over the moon!! We had the greatest soup there and time to defrosts our frozen hands…and of course, time to take pictures!!

 After lunch we joined with a Heritage walking tour. We were told about the ladders on the façade of the Abbey, about the  beautiful architecture and craftsmanship, about the free hospital (which will be turned into a hotel very soon).  We admire the half moon shaped weir in the river Avon and walked over the most peculiar little bridge. 

Pulteney Bridge was built to cross the river Avon, but the architects designed it in such a way, that you would not even know you are doing a water crossing. The bridge is lined with 16 little shops, which hides the river from view. Today it is one of Bath's most photographed places.

 

 We walked through narrow alleys and alongside the last piece of the original city wall. The bitter wind constantly in our necks, and the temperatures still dropping. I could see Nina was starting to turn a bit blue, so we decided to run ahead of the tour to the 'Circus' and Royal Crescent. 

The 'Circus' is a circle of terrace houses, which was design by John Wood. He gave it the same diameter as the circular ditch of Stonehenge. There are 525 different carvings above the doors and windows.  

Onwards and higher up we reached the Royal Crescent. These crescent-shaped terraced houses were built in 1767-75 and were the first of this kind in Europe. It combined the glamour of city living, with sweeping countryside views.   

 

We have seen what we came to see, so homeward bound from here - all the way down to the bus stop. Luckily we stumbled upon a sweet reminder of Jane Austen's presence 200 years ago. She took inspirations for her books, written in the Georgian times, from the people that she observed, parading through the streets of Bath in their fashionable attires. 

 Stuck in a 'little' stop-and-go tiny farm lane traffic jam…..at least we were warm inside the car!!! 

 

We scraped through the door of the Shaw-home, just in time to race a bit of pasta down, before we had to sprint over for Finlay's Christmas concert. It was so lovely to see Sharon in action with her little 3-4 year old 'lambs and 'angles'. Accompanied by mulled w
ine and delicious mince pies, we were introduced to a 'gaggle' of Shaw friends…guest what?? All South Africans!!!  

 

Everyone of these expats has a story - some just happy not to be living in SA anymore (but at the same time also not really completely happy in the UK) and then others totally homesick for SA!!! My heart was just going out to these lovely peeps. Every choice has it 's consequences. 

I was thanking God that we were so happy and contend with where we find ourselves now…and for the privilege to be making our lives in the Western Cape, and in particular, in
Riebeek Kasteel.