SS Great Britain

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SS Great Britian

We started our trip to Wales in the south, the reason was actually to go and see the Gower Peninsular, however weather prevented that and having been told by a very dear friend that it was well worth going to see the SS Great Britain in Bristol if we had the chance, we took the chance and went, and boy were they right, it is most definitely worth going to see and it was no surprise to learn that it had won awards.

Built under Brunel when it was launched in 1843 she was called ‘the greatest experiment since the Creation’.  Her enormous iron hull, her revolutionary steam-powered propeller, her massive engines, her speed under sail along with her first class luxury – for those who could afford it, and the innovations throughout the ship all made her the wonder of the age.  On top of all that she is actually very beautiful to look at.

ss Great Britain

ss Great Britain Bow

ss Great Britain Stern

ss Great Britain Deck

The ship is in the very dry dock in which she was built and part of the wonder of going to see her is the clever way in which she is displayed.  From above it look like she could very well be floating on water, the reality is that there is only about an inch of water around her while to try to prevent further damage to her hull from corrosion, a giant humidifier sits below the reinforced glass which holds the water.  If you want to know more on the technical stuff go over to Hubby’s blog, or for that matter if you just want to see what he had to say about the visit.

ss Great Britain Hull

The decision was taken not to restore but to preserve her, so around the hull you can see some of the rust that was brought about by after she was abandoned in Sparrow Cove around the Falkland Islands in 1937, (she returned to the Avon in 1970).

ss Great Britain Rust

When you are on the deck it would be easy to believe she was just a sailing ship with her six great masts dominating the weather deck and dwarfing the single funnel which was the only hint to the most powerful maritime engine of its time.

ss Great Britain Mast

It is very easy to get all romantic about her, however the reality of sailing on her to Australia would doubtless have been far from romantic for the majority of souls she bore.  Queen Victoria is said to have been horrified at the cramped conditions that passengers were expected to travel in and she most likely only saw the first class accommodation.

ss Great Britain 1st Class Promenade Salon

ss Great Britain 1st Class Dinning Room

While first class passengers enjoyed a well-lit and spacious Promenade Saloon, an exclusive section of the Weather Deck, an equally large plush dinning room (thanks to Hubby for the picture mine wasn’t too great) where the dishes cooked in the surprisingly large kitchens by the chefs were constantly being served by the crew, and cabins that housed two bunks a wash basin and a sofa.  Those in steerage class had an assigned bunk no cabins, they had to cook their own meals in a tiny scullery had no dinning room only a multi purpose table built into the side of the ship over which laundry hung  while the really unfortunate ones where within range of the pungent animal hold.  The only space they had, was a section of the Weather deck, which they shared with the chicken and duck coops and cow stalls.  One of the most ironic things about this arrangement was, in my view, the fact that only 1st class passengers got fresh eggs, milk or meat!  The weather deck was also the steerage passengers only place to wash, which was done by means of a barrel of cold water,  while first class passengers had bathrooms complete with deep roll top bath with hot water brought for them.

ss Great Britain Steerage Class Bunks

Whenever we visit places such as the ss Great Britain I despair at their shop.  Instead of thinking outside the box they go for the same lines that every souvenir shop holds, usually with a slight detour for the children’s market, this time pirate items!  Time and time again I think the people who run these attractions miss a trick in raising more income, this time was no different and as we took a tour along the river Avon afterwards the solution seemed to be right on their doorstep.  Hardly a mile from the site of the dry dock there is a local potter, why or why aren’t they using that local craftsperson to make mugs and plates with the design on the crockery from the 1st class dinning room?  I would have bought something, I am pretty sure the friend who recommended going would have, plus I would have also bought another piece for him and sorted out his birthday present to boot!

ss Great Britain 1st Class Dinning

Town Mill – Lyme Regis

In the middle of Lyme Regis there is a water mill that still produces a little flour.  The flour is made from Tamarisk Farm’s organic wheat and currently there is some dough under a wet cloth rising to make a loaf of bread from said flour.

The mill isn’t run commercially but as a tourist attraction, but don’t let that deceive you the head miller was very knowledgeable and was more than willing to give us plenty of time and tell us about the history of the mill and show us the processes.  In fact he even stopped the water wheel – an overshot for those interested in such things – so that we could see how the wheel reacted as the water slowly filled the buckets before whizzing around at great speed then slowing again before gradually building up speed again to milling speed.

Anyone who knows me will know that I am right at the very bottom of the list when it comes to appreciation of spiders, however I do appreciate the beauty of their webs.  In the mill their webs are covered in flour dust and decorate the place like some forlorn Christmas decoration that has long been forgotten.

 

Salisbury Cathedral

I had never been to Salisbury Cathedral before and what a joy it was, even though our visit was somewhat rushed. It is a splendid example of Medieval architecture, and the start of the restoration to the once colourful roof reminds me of an old fashioned carousel, in a good not a bad way, in case you were wondering.

One of the joys for me at least was the number of angels, both inside and out, here are just a few examples.

The rederos in the Chapel of St Michael and All Angels is magnificent!

We paid a quick visit to the chapter house too – no photographs allowed in there – one of the original copies of the Magna Carta is housed in that grand setting, the document itself however is small and rather unassuming. One day I hope to get back and spend some more time there.

Portland Castle

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Castles, Photography, The UK

Of course no holiday for us would be complete without visiting a castle, and while we had plans to visit three in Devon it was Portland Castle in Dorset which ended up being the only one we saw.

Portland was built by Henry VIII and is still in tact. While Hubby and I decided that it could be made into a good home, we also decided that its situation wasn’t that great. It is in a great place for a castle built low with very thick rounded walls to make it harder to hit, but it is overlooked, and who would want a castle that the proletariat could see into?

Memories Old And New

Many, many years ago my sister and I used to spend the whole of the summer holidays in Budleigh Salterton with our maternal grandparents.  The sound of waves sucking the pebbles back into the sea sent always awakens my memories of those days.  The red cliffs – I never understood why people always talked about white cliffs for me cliffs at the sea were always red; my grandparents’ beach house with the old tea tin filled with pear drops up on the shelf, and the hooks which housed our damp costumes so they would be dry for next time.  We never minded that there was no sand on the beach the sea and pebbles kept us occupied for hours.  Swimming; sitting on the shore line so that the sea pulled the pebbles from underneath us and sent our legs into the air; building stone castles; seeing how long we could stand on the stones that had been made hot by the sun; running down the big banks of stones after a storm only to find that our grandparents warning of we wouldn’t be able to get back up always came true, then crawling back up on our hands and knees taking an age as the pebbles moved beneath us.  The café where on sunny days we got our ice-cream and on colder days toasted teacakes and hot chocolate, my father seemed to always have a teacake even when the sun was out.   The house they lived in was still being built first time we visited and down its steep driveway would sit my grandmothers green mini, while the garage housed whatever new car my grandfather had got this year.

A few miles down the coast over the border and into Dorset and unknown to me at the time Hubby was spending many a happy summer holiday in Lyme Regis, the beach had sand when the tide was out, but we rarely visited Lyme, for us Budleigh was home from home. 

Today is Hubby and my second wedding anniversary, Hubby has to work today but for a surprise Hubby arranged that we would visit this old haunt together and share our old memories and make some new ones.  We stayed in Lyme Regis in a hotel overlooking the beach and the Cob, and were well looked after by the staff.  I don’t really remember much about Lyme, however it is quaint with some good shops, the bank manager certainly knew where we were!  The weather the first couple of days wasn’t too great but we finally managed a walk along ‘The Cob’ and sat in the sun watching the cormorants drying on the rocks. There is also a water mill which still produces some flour, but more of that at another time. 

 

 

 

 

Of course we visited Budleigh, even drove past my grandparents old house, a shiver went down my spine when there in the drive was a mini. 

 

 

 

For me no visit back to the area would be complete without a visit to Bicton Park, which seemed far smaller than I remembered it, I was glad the train still ran as while up at the Hermitage the rain started and we got back in the relative dry for a most enjoyable ‘cream tea’.  Then it was a wander through the glass houses as Hubby agreed with me that if money ever became no object we would have a Palm House just like the one at Bicton. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

For Hubby the caves at Beer were a must, and just as Bicton was new for him, Beer caves were new to me.  The caves were made by the mining of the rock and it is like some grand undercoft of a cathedral.  An added bonus that we weren’t expecting was that bats hibernate in the caves and some were still some greater horseshoes bats hanging like washing on a line and dotted around the caves lesser horseshoes too.  It was wonderful photo opportunity but as taking photographs of hibernating bats is prohibited one that had to pass us by.  Our guide Heather was a fount of knowledge and tales of the people and things that went on down in the caves and also in the surrounding area.

 

 

More from our travels tomorrow.