Recent holiday to the British Isles, Part 4 - Tales from the Northern Moors

I will pick my story up again from the morning of 27th December.

It had snowed overnight. Not much, though. In Milton Keynes there was all of half a centimetre, but in England that is enough snow to cause all sorts of traffic and public transport problems, so I was a little worried about how the journey to Cumbria would go. Gillian was telling me horror stories about winter-tyre-less English cars sliding about all over the place. But for the most part, the journey went smoothly.

Nanna and Gordon chose to use a toll road to skip some of the traffic jams, so (as far as I can remember) we only got caught in one. The road was either slightly slushy or just wet. We spent nearly an hour having a leisurely lunch at a road stop (or whatever they're called out that way). But because we left MK quite late, the sun went down before we got to Alston (our destination). The road that wound it's way up to the moor was covered in ice, and Gordon does not own chains, so we were travelling at about 10 mph and yet still sliding all over the show. But we got there eventually.

There was a decent amount of snow in Alston (nearly 10 cm). I wanted to look at the scenery, but because it was dark I could not see anything. But I finally got to see the cottage. It is really nice. It is so old that even the extention has latches rather than handles on the doors. The walls are thick and white-washed. The guest room has a toilet and basin, so it is very convenient.

When I woke up the next morning, I still couldn't see the view because there was a thick fog. I woke up at 8am sharp because Nanna has a clock that chimes like Big Ben on the hour. I couldn't have a morning shower because there is no shower at the cottage (no water presure). Nanna warned me that when I ran a bath it might be slightly discoloured because the water comes straight from a pond on top of the hill. Despite this warning, I was still very surprised when the water came out of the tap brown, and grit began collecting on the bottom of the bath. At first I didn't want to get into the bath, but then I remembered that I have bathed in brown water before, it's just never been in a bathtub, that's all.

That day we went grocery shopping and then had a slow evening because it was still very snowy.

On the 29th we drove over to Hexham in Northumberland. We visited Hexham Abbey. I got some lovely pictures of 12th century gothic architecture which many Japanese people have since admired when I've shown them my holiday slideshow. The part of the Abbey that I personally enjoyed the most was the crypt. It is usually closed, but the kind old nearly-deaf priest let us go down and have a look even thought it was outside of the viewing hours. The crypt is dates from before the 12th century gothic church, right back to the original 6th century saxon church. The crypt had been forgotten about for centuries and was found again in 1725 by workers who were working on the foundations. But what was really interesting about the crypt was how it was made from recycled Roman stones. They didn't care what stone they used, any stone would do. Therefore, there are random sections of Roman frieses at various points on the walls, random writing on the ceiling, and one of the door arches was carved from a bit of a shrine altar.

That evening heavy rain started to cut through the snow. The next morning the power was flickering and finally died altogether. Therefore, apart from going into town to ask about trains to Milton Keynes, we did nothing.

On the 31st I went for a walk with Gordon and Manfred (Manfred=dog). Then I saw more relatives when Christine and Layton come over for New Years. We had a dinner that very much resembled a Christmas dinner except that it was built around duck not turkey. We even pulled Christmas crackers!

Then Gordon and I went to see an old Viking ceremony being performed in a nearby town. People carried barrels of fire on their heads and then lit a big bonfire at midnight. Then everyone sang 'Auld Lang Syne.' I think Auld Lang Syne is a recent addition to the festival ;)

On the 1st I travelled back to Milton Keynes by train. I went by Virgin. It was a very comfy and very new train, but the decor was a little bit too 'Starship Enterprise on Valentines Day' for my liking.

On the 2nd I went shopping in MK central with Gillian. She introduced me to a shop called 'Lush' which sells hand-made soaps, cosmetics and (to my surprise) 'shampoo bars.' I had never before seen solid shampoo. There was one that smelled just like some scented candles I used to have, so I just had to buy a piece.

On the 3rd I went on another trip so;

Next time on Randomness, by Togiren: A Pilgrimage

(By the way, does my corny 'next time' announcement come across as purposefully done and therefore witty, or does it just sound silly and tacky? Please leave a comment).