Sunday morning and what could be finer than to be on holiday in Scilly. Not too much! Looks like a fine day and we have a golf cart to go pick up and drive around. After our breakfast, we headed towards town and I stopped at the beach while hubby went on up the hill to pick up our golf cart. When he came back to get me, we stopped and bought a T shirt and then back up to the north end of the island to find some other burial sites.
We went as far as possible and parked behind another golf cart and started down the path towards the sea. Couldn't really get lost and we had two options, left or right by the sea or through the woods. We chose seaside walk. We are actually rather high above the sea but we can hear people on the beach below us, playing in the water. Nutty people because that is cold water! Trooping on, we move onto a more narrow path and pretty soon our pant legs are wet with the left over rain and mud
. Seems like we are having to walk a very long way to find this burial chamber but we finally spot some rocks on the hill about 1/4 mile ahead of us and figure that's where we are headed. Yep. that's the spot.
This is the Innisdgen Burial Chambers. According to our Scilly Cart Map, there are two chambers. We are coming from the lower seaside path and climb up the hill to the chamber we can see which has a sign designating it as the "Upper Burial Chamber". Nothing else is in view except a very, very long hanging rope swing from one of the trees.
We are standing on the north end of St. Mary's again but on the other side of the north end from where we were yesterday at the Halangy ruins. Once again, we are high on a hillside and the views are just incredible. The water below us is so clear that it's very difficult to tell how deep it is as you can see to the bottom. There are some sailboats in the breezes and a few small fishing boats just floating along doing their thing.
The actual chamber sits at the bottom of a set of rocks that have been climbed frequently for looking out to sea so I climb up the rocks and from this slightly higher view point, I can see another set of rocks further down the hill and to the right of the upper chamber
. Must be the lower chamber. So we head off in that direction. As we are going there, we pass several directional signs showing how to get to these chambers. great. had we come from the forest route, we would have known where we were going.
The lower chamber is just as interesting as the upper one and we enjoy exploring it for a bit. But by now, I've walked much more than I should have and am not looking forward to the return journey to our golf cart. We study the map to see how to get to the other trail through the forest to get back to our cart and along comes a couple with their dog. They seem to be a local couple so they point us in the right direction to get back via a simpler route. We start to follow their directions and come to a fork in the trail and haven't a clue which fork to take. Luckily, they are already coming back on their walk and point out, again, which direction to go. I'm wishing that we could keep up with them so we don't have to make a choice again on where to go but not so lucky. This trail had another two places where we could have made the wrong choice and ended up back at the ocean but we managed to suss out the correct direction and made it back to the road. We had known that we would come out about 1/4 mile away from our golf cart. Hubby went to get the cart and come back for me but there wasn't any place for me to stand and wait really so I started walking after him
.
I got to the duck pond and there were ducklings playing in a puddle. A whole pond and where do they play - in the mud puddle. There is a lot of racket down the road and some loud beeps - the large truck sounds of backing up. I get to the next corner and there is a whole crew of people cutting the verge and branches over the road and there's my hubby, steering his golf cart around them all on his way to get me!
Our bed and breakfast hostess had told us one of the best places to eat was Juliette's which is across the harbor from them and has a wonderful terrace where you can eat outside and watch the harbour. We didn't think much of having to walk over there at night and then we saw signs that said they were fully booked until Wednesday anyway (a lot of weddings on the Isles this week) but didn't look like they were booked at lunch so we thought we'd stop there.
The wind was blowing and it was a bit chilly but we were determined to sit outside with the rest of the hearty people and enjoy the harbor view
. We tucked ourselves into a table that was next to the back wall and ordered our lunch which included chips and some fancy hot coffees.
As we are sitting there watching the Scillonian Ferry arrive at the harbor and eating our food, we notice there are a great many small birds sitting around us, on the ground, on the wall, and very pointedly watching us eat our chips. I'm a sucker for just about anything that flies or is furry so pretty soon we are "accidentally dropping" bits of chips for the birds. I think they got most of our chips. And like most critters, they knew when the food was gone and went off to another table. it was a good lunch with a good view though so enjoyable.
Back to our cart and as we are driving over to Old Town, I see a potter's place and we pull in but as it is Sunday, he was closed. First time we realized what day it was. We park at Old Town Harbor and walk down to the beach and find some sea glass. Walking very slowly along the beach and bending over a lot to pick up small bits of glass is not really in my hubby's wheelhouse of favorite things to do so we finished that up quickly and headed back to Hugh Town
.
I want to stop at the Co-op grocery store (the only one in St. Mary's) for some drinks and maybe a bedtime snack. Being the only grocery store, it is so packed with people and the shelves are very empty. I fight my way into the store and around to find some drinks and a couple of other items and queue to pay. The locals must know to avoid the store on a Sunday because it looks like just a lot of tourists trying to stock up on beer before the night. When we have come in on the days when the locals shop, it is early morning when the shelves have been stocked and they fill up an entire grocery cart with their shopping. I think I would go crazy to only have this small store as my choice for all my groceries. A lot of them go once a month or so to the mainland and really stock up in Penzance.
Again, we have pretty much finished for the day so hubby takes back the cart after he drops me at the steps of our BnB and walks back by himself. Again, what a man! Some more feet up time before we head for the Bishop and Wolf for dinner tonight. There are enough places where you can eat at a different restaurant every night for a week or more, easily
. We had also seen last night that there is a fish and chips wagon that stops at the beach by the tourist information office. They aren't there on Sunday night but we think we'll eat on the beach tomorrow night.
Dinner is good and filling and then back to the BnB for another good night's sleep but no stars. In spite of only doing about one main thing a day, we are clicking off the time here at a rapid pace, it seems.
Showing posts with label views. Show all posts
Showing posts with label views. Show all posts
Sunday, August 9, 2015
Monday, January 13, 2014
Stealth Chopping
Our rental home is lovely. Truly a gem nestled in some trees and overlooking one of the many surrounding golf courses. When you open the front door, you see right through the house to the back garden and the golf course fairway expanse. Sitting in the conservatory or working in the kitchen, you have that gorgeous view. It is probably why we rented this house as other parts of it are less than stellar but we love the place and have been very thankful to live here and have a good landlord as well who is tolerant of my messing around in the garden and hanging many pictures on the walls (yes, I always do that but I always repair the walls when I leave!)
So last year, we noticed that our view was becoming a bit obstructed. There has been growth! Nature happened! Trees get taller, shrubs get bushier, ferns shoot up. Basically, nature is obstructing our view of the golf course. We love looking out there because there are no houses in the way. We see many birds and sometimes deer, and the golfers comprise some of the most interesting wildlife to hit the fairways.
There are about 12 branches that have grown over the years and are right in the middle of our view. I noticed that with the leaves gone, it's not so bad. I have 12 sticks in my view but it is easy to look around them and watch the flora and fauna that parades past our house. But come spring and summer, that is going to change and our view will again be blocked by these twelve rather leafy branches. So I determined that action must be taken.
I am fairly sure that the property upon which these branches sit is part of our house lot. I'd heard this from our neighbors but honestly I'm not totally positive as I have seen the golf course gardeners plow into these small sections of woods when the trees and such seem to be overtaking the greens. We determined that we needed to cut down the offending branches and we have the tools to do so but the timing needed to be right. I think that meant we needed to do it when no golfers would be out and about. Didn't want to disturb someone's putt with the sudden abrasive sound of a mini chain saw. We also determined that we needed to do this now, before the trees started putting out leaves and flowering for spring. I think it's better for them to be pruned in the winter - or at least that was the understanding I had from my gardener.
So we set out to trim our branches. Because of the golfers, we waited until very late in the afternoon to do it, so we wouldn't bother them. And because it's still winter, we ended up trimming them in the dark! By torchlight! It felt very stealthy to me, like we were being sneaky and underhanded to do this but it was still very important to us to do it to get our view back. We had to push our way into the holly bushes - which wasn't pleasant. Finally, we are close enough to barely reach the offending branches if I shoved as hard as I could against the prickly holly and reached as high as I could. I was just able to lop off each of the 12 branches but it wasn't a pretty job. some of them were rather chewed before they dropped. I am thinking this is also why those 12 branches managed to sprout upwards when everything around them was trimmed. They were just too hard to reach.
But we did it! Our view is back. And I am out of the holly with not too many scratches and scraps. I only hope we cut them enough that we don't have to do a repeat performance next winter.
So last year, we noticed that our view was becoming a bit obstructed. There has been growth! Nature happened! Trees get taller, shrubs get bushier, ferns shoot up. Basically, nature is obstructing our view of the golf course. We love looking out there because there are no houses in the way. We see many birds and sometimes deer, and the golfers comprise some of the most interesting wildlife to hit the fairways.
There are about 12 branches that have grown over the years and are right in the middle of our view. I noticed that with the leaves gone, it's not so bad. I have 12 sticks in my view but it is easy to look around them and watch the flora and fauna that parades past our house. But come spring and summer, that is going to change and our view will again be blocked by these twelve rather leafy branches. So I determined that action must be taken.
I am fairly sure that the property upon which these branches sit is part of our house lot. I'd heard this from our neighbors but honestly I'm not totally positive as I have seen the golf course gardeners plow into these small sections of woods when the trees and such seem to be overtaking the greens. We determined that we needed to cut down the offending branches and we have the tools to do so but the timing needed to be right. I think that meant we needed to do it when no golfers would be out and about. Didn't want to disturb someone's putt with the sudden abrasive sound of a mini chain saw. We also determined that we needed to do this now, before the trees started putting out leaves and flowering for spring. I think it's better for them to be pruned in the winter - or at least that was the understanding I had from my gardener.
So we set out to trim our branches. Because of the golfers, we waited until very late in the afternoon to do it, so we wouldn't bother them. And because it's still winter, we ended up trimming them in the dark! By torchlight! It felt very stealthy to me, like we were being sneaky and underhanded to do this but it was still very important to us to do it to get our view back. We had to push our way into the holly bushes - which wasn't pleasant. Finally, we are close enough to barely reach the offending branches if I shoved as hard as I could against the prickly holly and reached as high as I could. I was just able to lop off each of the 12 branches but it wasn't a pretty job. some of them were rather chewed before they dropped. I am thinking this is also why those 12 branches managed to sprout upwards when everything around them was trimmed. They were just too hard to reach.
But we did it! Our view is back. And I am out of the holly with not too many scratches and scraps. I only hope we cut them enough that we don't have to do a repeat performance next winter.
Friday, June 8, 2012
Cliveden House
Our women's club had a short tour of Cliveden House yesterday as the end of year tea since our year ends in June when school is over and many women are packing up and moving on to new assignments with their spouses or back to the states. Have to admit, had not really heard of Cliveden House before and I was unable to attend the lecture on it before the visit. But WOW. Sure wish I was uber-rich because how wonderful and fun it would be to live in such a place and have such famous people as friends and neighbors. Of course there is a downside to being so rich, mainly probably in finding good help and having neighbors erect their homes to spoil your view (this from Nancy Astor). But still, would be fun to try it for awhile.
We bused down there (arg! Had just spent 12 hours on a bus the day before and my knees and back and hips have yet to recover). but luckily it isn't far. We started our morning with a tea in one of the drawing rooms or parlors. Then we divided into groups of 16 and we got Gary as our guide. It is a National Trust Property as well as being a working hotel so the guides are National Trust volunteers (or maybe paid, not sure which). Gary was a great guide as he wasn't adverse to telling us some of the rumors and scandal that was associated with the home and people over the years. Spices up what could be a dull and boring rendition of history and furniture and people.
The Duke of Buckingham acquired the estate early on - 1660's - and used it as a hunting lodge and mainly for entertaining his mistress who happened to be someone else's wife. Hollywood made out that the Duke and the husband had a duel on the property with the mistress holding their horses dressed as a page. Reality has it that the duel was elsewhere with the wife/mistress ensconced in a nunnery somewhere but the result was the same in that the husband was wounded and died later from his wounds leaving the Duke free to take his mistress home with him and pack his own wife back to her father.
The house burned down a couple of times taking everything with it so that the only part surviving since the first building is the patio outside the main lodge. As a result, most of the items in the house are products of auctions and hunting down period pieces but without the actual known history behind them and without belonging originally to the house.
In 1893, William Waldorf Astor bought the house. His mother died there so he built a wall around the 300+ acres of the grounds and it was said that Waldorf owed the land and was "walled off" - play on words. but he gave the property to his son, Waldorf Astor when he married Nancy Langhorne. Nancy proved a bit of a stubborn rich lady complaining about her neighbors house which spoiled the view so she asked him how much it would cost her to tear down his house. He refused and asked her how much to tear down Cliveden!
Many of the rich and famous of the time came for visits but during the war, it was turned into a hospital by the Canadaians after the Brits thought it would be too cumbersome and expensive to convert. After the war, the rich and famouse continued to visit including Christine Keeler and Charles Profumo who created the scandal that brought down the MacMillian government in Britain. You'll have to go read that one on your own. All spy versus spy and loose women type of affairs.
Finally the house was used for students for a period of time for the University of Stanford from 1969 to 1983. In 1985 it became a hotel and is reputed to have the most expensive afternoon tea in Britain. We did not receive this tea. And I saw that the most expensive tea was only 49 pounds. surely somewhere in Britain can beat this price for expense. BUT then there is the Platinum tea which has:
""THE PLATINUM AFTERNOON TEA...
The Duke of Buckingham acquired the estate early on - 1660's - and used it as a hunting lodge and mainly for entertaining his mistress who happened to be someone else's wife. Hollywood made out that the Duke and the husband had a duel on the property with the mistress holding their horses dressed as a page. Reality has it that the duel was elsewhere with the wife/mistress ensconced in a nunnery somewhere but the result was the same in that the husband was wounded and died later from his wounds leaving the Duke free to take his mistress home with him and pack his own wife back to her father.
The house burned down a couple of times taking everything with it so that the only part surviving since the first building is the patio outside the main lodge. As a result, most of the items in the house are products of auctions and hunting down period pieces but without the actual known history behind them and without belonging originally to the house.
In 1893, William Waldorf Astor bought the house. His mother died there so he built a wall around the 300+ acres of the grounds and it was said that Waldorf owed the land and was "walled off" - play on words. but he gave the property to his son, Waldorf Astor when he married Nancy Langhorne. Nancy proved a bit of a stubborn rich lady complaining about her neighbors house which spoiled the view so she asked him how much it would cost her to tear down his house. He refused and asked her how much to tear down Cliveden!
Many of the rich and famous of the time came for visits but during the war, it was turned into a hospital by the Canadaians after the Brits thought it would be too cumbersome and expensive to convert. After the war, the rich and famouse continued to visit including Christine Keeler and Charles Profumo who created the scandal that brought down the MacMillian government in Britain. You'll have to go read that one on your own. All spy versus spy and loose women type of affairs.
Finally the house was used for students for a period of time for the University of Stanford from 1969 to 1983. In 1985 it became a hotel and is reputed to have the most expensive afternoon tea in Britain. We did not receive this tea. And I saw that the most expensive tea was only 49 pounds. surely somewhere in Britain can beat this price for expense. BUT then there is the Platinum tea which has:
""THE PLATINUM AFTERNOON TEA...
A true indulgent treat, the Platinum tea has been billed as one of the world's most expensive afternoon teas with truly special ingredients.
Presented by Executive Head Chef Carlos Martinez you can expect a lavish spread that includes world's most expensive ingredients and side dishes. Priced at £550 per couple, it includes 'white truffles at a £2,500 per kilogram, Beluga Caviar at a staggering £4,000 per kilogram and Da Hong Pao Tea, which is harvested from one thousand year old plants and is so rare that it costs over £2,000 per kilogram. The afternoon tea is washed down by a glass of Dom Perignon Rose, dubbed the King of Champagnes'. It also comes with 'Cliveden House Chocolate Cake with Gold Leaf' paired with Kopi Luwak, the world's most expensive coffee.
Another most expensive snack of the menu is the hotel's legendary Platinum Club Sandwich priced at £100 which will appear in a mini canapé version""
So not sure anyone can beat that price after all. Rooms start at only 385 pounds a night but you can go all the way to 1720 pounds for a cottage for the night. It does include breakfast.
We had a very lovely time being shown around the house and getting the history and tales behind the tapestries and suits of Armour and the carvings and looking at the Thames and the valley below. It is a beautiful place.
As I mentioned, our tea was not the Platinum Afternoon Tea but it was delightful with some wonderful sandwiches, some delightful cakes and some candy crowns. Many of the cakes were decorated with the U.K. flag.
As it was raining most of the day, only a few of us walked down to the chapel where Nancy Astor is buried but unfortunately, it didn't open until 3 p.m. and we had to leave.
So much more hisotry of Cliveden house than I can relate here but it is a grand and magnificent place and well worth a visit. One can dream and imagine all the intrigue and drama of the past and wonder how much drama and intrigue continues to this day. Another very enjoyable outing with the American Women of Surrey.
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