England 2017, Monday, 5/22/17

We are all safe and well away from Monday evening's Manchester tragedy. We learned of it overnight as we are not spending much time with a television.

Up on Monday at the normal time.  A beautiful full English breakfast for two of the Anglophiles, a breakfast of egg and Kippers for one, and a meal of cornflakes with milk and banana for the die-hard American amongst us.

Today, Tim opts to remain in our guest house accommodation to read, meander, and make use of the laundry equipment.  The remaining trio struck out north toward the Village of Cheddar and to drive the Cheddar gorge. The gorge was created during a glacial age and was caused by the movement of glaciers scouring the bed of limestone.  The Yeo River now flows, mostly underground, through the gorge.  The Bristol Waterworks tapped the river for transport of the water to supply the City of Bristol, and subsequently bought up most of the residences lining the gorge.  They now control most of the area.  There are a number of tourist trap style shops selling mostly crap - reminds one of areas around the Lake of the Ozarks!  We shopped a bit, did secure some genuine Cheddar cheese, and then drove northward through the gorge, which was very scenic.

We then drove the 15 miles back to Wells to check on Tim and deposit our cheese for further refrigeration.  Tim was happy as a porcine mammal in excrement, so the trio set off for town; a walk along the High Street and a tour of the justly famous Wells Cathedral.

Wells Cathedral construction was begun in the 12th century, completed by 1490 or thereabouts. It replaced a structure originally on the site from around 705. It is in the Early English Gothic style, encompassing much detail, over 300 sculpted figures around the exterior, and many beautiful and astonishing stained glass windows of the late 12th and early 13th century.  We were delighted to find in the main sacristy a children's choir practicing for an upcoming concert.  Most enchanting.

Afterwards, DebD came upon a gaggle of the young girls near the toilets and complimented them on their singing.  The gave her a quizzical look, so she repeated her statement.  At this point their teacher interjected, "I don't think they understand your accent!"  Another instances of a people separated by a common language.

We continued some shopping time along the streets of Wells, then journeyed back (although the driver tried to navigate with less than stellar effect) stopping along the way to purchase some crackers, chips, salami and wine to go with our genuine cheddar cheese.  We brought our supplies back and then retired to some lawn chairs on the grand lawn of the mansion for our impromptu picnic evening meal.  Beautiful views of the gardens and an enjoyable time.  DebC and DebD retired for the evening while Tim and I drove down to last night's pub for a "quick half-pint."  Another full day in jolly olde England.

An editorial note: a correspondent pointed out that I had misspelled our town of Saturday's visit.  It is Bourton-On-Water.  Apologies for any resultant confusion if you were scouring the Internet to study further for information on our exploits.