Thursday we split up. Nana and Grandad had a meeting set up with one of the professors at the University of Exeter. They were planning to compare notes on how they taught public history and see if there were opportunities for collaboration.
We met my friend Rachel, who is finishing up grad school here. There were three or four things on the plan for the day, depending on time. I had forgotten that going fifty miles here takes two hours, not fifty minutes. All of our excursions have involved more travel time, so we have been getting less ambitious.
Rachel got to our cottage and we got caught up while we fed her an American breakfast of fried potatoes, smoked streaky bacon, toast and scrambled eggs with cheese in them. She lent Nana and Grandad her mini and we jumped in the van for the day. It is great driving with someone who knows their way around. It made for much smoother travel.
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| This is a huge hill fort. |
We arrived at Maiden Castle soon after that. It is a giant hill fort only about fifty miles away. Nothing but green grass and dirt. Tracy was not amused. I did point out to her that I had sent her links of possible things to visit and she had approved the list. At this point it came out that she hadn't actually clicked on all of the links.
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| Artist's impression of what it might have looked like in its hey day. |
We started up the trail and immediately found that the hill was overrun by sheep. And nettles. They were both everywhere. We cautioned the boys against touching the nettles. I explained that this was the site of an ancient city and that the Romans had attacked it. They should imagine themselves climbing the hill wearing armor and with people throwing rocks and shooting arrows at them. "And throwing sheep!" said Rhys.
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| Grass and sheep. |
When we got to the top there were even more sheep. Fousands of them. It was another bright, clear day. It got to around 80 later in the afternoon. The sheep were all panting and hot. The boys practiced their sheep calls until Owyn decided he had it down and could not speak sheep. "I speak sheep and dog and human." Apparently the only word of sheep he knows is "Run Away!"
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| These ditches are still very deep even after a couple of thousand years of erosion. |
The earthworks that are left are impressive, but there is nothing else on top of that hill. It had great views and it was obvious why the Celts built up there, but other than a couple of signs there's just nothing to see. Tracy found a nettle patch to dance in, with predictable results and we headed back towards the car.
We walked along one of the parapets, making Mama nervous, though there was a fence ten feet down the slope so the little boys couldn't roll very far if they fell off. I found a bunch of snail shells, vacated by their previous inhabitants. I gave each boy a couple of the nicest ones. Rhys peed on the hill, one of his favorite pass times. Owyn ran ahead as a scout and the boys fought off waves of attacking orcs.
I had hoped for a bit more interpretation to tell you what was going on here. It was better than Tara in Ireland but not a lot. The site is magnificent. If you know what you are looking at then seeing it in person really brings the history to life.
On the way to our next stop we swung by Tesco and got diesel. Ouch. Gas is ridiculously expensive here. For fifty pounds we got half a tank of diesel. We pulled some cash but it said we were out of money. Tracy called the bank and realized that she was using Owyn's debit card, not hers. I duly turned my card over to her for the duration of the vacation.
Our next stop was lunch. We found a pub, the Frampton Arms, as we drove. We dove into the car park, noticed that they had a beer garden and a play area, and parked. The garden had dogs everywhere and a couple of play structures. The boys were in heaven. Rachel and I headed in to check out the food and drink situation. About the time I realized that I wasn't at all sure what Tracy would want, she showed up. I went out to watch the boys while the ladies took care of the catering.
We had a great little lunch, sitting in the sun enjoying an ale/cider and chatting. The boys scarfed down some food and played some more. Sweet freedom from the car. I had fish and chips, one of the two obligatory meals in the UK. The beer was great.
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| They boys were super excited. This is a Panther. I'm 71" tall. This is a big tank. |
The next stop was the Bovington Tank museum. I was super excited about this. Tracy and Rachel seemed to be a little bit less excited for some reason. It was all I had dreamed and more. At one point Tracy asked me "are you going to take a picture of every tank in here?". I just stared at her, bewildered. "Yes". The boys loved it, asking questions about everything and climbing on anything that they were allowed on.
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| Italian flame thrower tank. |
The shop was magnificent. They had toy soldiers and models and a great book store and I wanted so much that I bought nothing. The boys got a package of army men each, one the Americans vs the British and one the Americans vs the Germans. They also each got a hand grenade. They were running around the store brandishing them and cackling. A British boy picked one up and followed suit, until his Mum called him up short, "Hold that grenade properly Sidney!"
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| BMP-1. One of my favorite soviet vehicles. |
Each boy also got an ice cream. They took turns taking pictures of each other with me in front of a tank, and then Rachel found the playground. We went over there and they played and finished their ice cream. Tracy finally made it out of the shop and we loaded up into the car. We had time for one more stop.
The final leg of our trip was to Lyme Regis, famous as Monmouth's landing point in his ill favored attempt at the throne and for its fossils. We wound through the town, a beautiful little village with an amazing circular harbor. We parked at the beach and hiked up the cliffs to the top, where there were some spectacular views. Rhys' meds were wearing off and we started to see the first warning signs of a melt down.
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| A view to the East from the top of the cliffs. |
Owyn ran ahead, with Rachel trailing him closely. When he got to the top the old British couples were concerned that he was alone but were very impressed by how polite he was. We took some pictures of the coast and returned to the beach.
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| The shingle beach and stone harbor. |
I had been warning the boys that this was not a beach like Hawaii. They were not impressed by the shingle beach, instead of sand, until they realized that if you have rocks and water then you can throw rocks into the water and that is about as much fun as it is possible to have.
Rachel found a couple of fossils which she gave to the boys. Owyn threw rocks and seaweed and rocks. Rhys got soaked, got in trouble, lost his mind and got taken off the beach. We had planned to go into town and check things out, perhaps sit and have a drink by the sea. Rhys' melt down was total and catastrophic and we decided it was best to just head back to the cottage.
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| There's really no point in telling them to stay out of the water. |
It was a quick drive back to Exeter. We stopped by Marks and Spencer, the high end grocery store, and bought a couple of things we needed, primarily clotted cream. When we got back to the cottage Nana and Grandad were there, the mini was in one piece, and they had also gone to Marks and Sparks. We pulled out anit-pasti and started up the grill.
The charcoal I got is a brilliant design. It's hard wood charcoal and there are four individual bags in the normal sized bag. You place one in the grill, light all four corners and it burns down to coals. It works great. We had "steaks" for dinner. Sadly, while the package said steaks, and they were shaped like steaks, they were hamburgers. Done in by a common language again. we sliced some potatoes most of the way through, drizzled them with olive oil and sprinkled them with salt and herbs. These went on the grill as well. We also fried up some green beans in butter and garlic.
Dinner was festive and we sat around drinking with Rachel until 2300. It was nice to get in early and have time to cook a nice dinner and relax with great company.
