A Trip South for Christmas 2014

Firstly I apologise to all my subscribers and to those blog owners I subscribe to for such a lack of activity in the blogosphere.

I did have a bad cold and sore throat for a number of weeks, but that is no excuse.

I think in 2015 my blog will evolve.

In the past I've concentrated on the quantity of pictures, and though quality hasn't been bad I intend to upload less images. Where scattered throughout previous posts there may well have been the same scene repeated, I will be doing less of that.

Now that Christmas is over, I can only wish.............................

So, back to Christmas and my trip south.

Before I headed off I was visited by next doors cat.

This is Jerry, he has a brother called Ben.

For Christmas I drove down to Cheltenham. The first two days I spent with Marie and Chris before moving over to Longlevens, Gloucester to stay with Sarah, Phil and the gorgeous Audrey.

The drive as always was a pain. How people can stand to travel the M6 between Manchester and Birmingham daily is beyond me. The manufacturers of Prozac and other antidepressants must have a stake in keeping it crawling along.

Anyhow, I digress I arrived safely in Cheltenham.

Over the next few days I wined and dined (overdoing it on occasions that didn't agree with my alimentary canal)  walked with the family to lovely places and enjoyed getting to know my lovely granddaughter Audrey.

There wont much dialogue, I hope you enjoy the pictures. Where required I will indicate the location.

So, it's on with the pictures. 

A seasonally lit Cheltenham

Audrey and dad

Phil, Marie, Chris, Sarah and Audrey

Leckhampton Hill Car Park.

The next dozen pictures were taken up the hill.

A quite famous building !

Back in Cheltenham

A visit to Smokey Joe's Coffee Bar

Marilyn Monroe and James Dean were the doors to the washrooms

The gorgeous girl and the gnarled granddad

A selfie in the Everyman Theatre

Fabulous food at the Bar and Wok

(Watch what side dishes you order, you might find that the portions are quite enormous)

St Matthews

A morning walk in Cheltenham

Christchurch

The continued morning walk

Cyril

Heading for Longlevens, Gloucester, via the Aviator

After settling in and sleeping off my upset tummy, we headed out on Christmas Day to climb the National Trust's May Hill, what a fantastic place for a walk

She was a happy wee girl until the bitter cold at the summit made her curl up into the warmth of mum

Belties on May Hill

Atmospheric skies over the Severn

Flush Bracket S5151 on Trig Point 4696

After climbing May Hill we had an appetite.

Christmas dinner was fabulous.

A fair variety of birds were spotted on a short morning walk round Longlevens..............

......................while back at Phil and Sarahs the Goldfinches flittered about in the trees

I'll finish this post with these.............

..............a bubbly smiling rosey cheek and a winter rose.

Thanks for a great Christmas family. 

I'll see you again soon.

I had been contemplating going across to Lincolnshire to wish my two eldest and their families a Merry Christmas, but after listening to the weather forecast decided on a night drive back to Scotland. 

A wise decision, many of Derbyshire's major roads suffered badly from the snow that night. Saturday's traffic reports of tailbacks also gave me a feeling of satisfaction.

I got back on Saturday morning, but obviously too tired to join my fellow walkers in the Wigtownshire Ramblers.

The highlight of my trip ?

Have a guess, go on !

Deerhurst

A day out in the Gloucestershire countryside saw me, Sarah and Phil visit Deerhurst.
We were going somewhere else, but this unscheduled stop proved too interesting to go elsewhere.
Deerhurst is a tiny Gloucestershire village, but remarkably home to two Saxon places of worship.
These are St Mary's Church  founded circa AD 800 , and Odda's Chapel built in 1056

After a short walk along the banks of the river Severn we made our way to the smaller of the churches.

The property alongside Odda's Chapel is Odda's Barn, a former B & B.Recently on the market for £275,000.Not a bad price down here.

The chapel is attached to a 16/17th century timber framed farmhouse.It appears to be occupied.

The inside is quite delightful.

In the quiet Severn Valley, where it seemed as if at last

Very peace had spread her wings on ev'ry hand,

Stood an old and battered farmhouse, where for generations past

Dwelt the yeomen and the tillers of the land.

Till in time, the hand of progress came to try what could be done'

Both to modernise and renovate with care,

So they chipped away the plaster of the ages dead and gone

And they found - a little Saxon Chapel there.

And I chanced upon the chapel when the world was full of strife,

Entered there, to rest in silence and alone,

And it's spirit bare me backward just as far from modern life

As the name of Odda graven on it's stone.

For the centuries were speaking thro' the lichen and the moss

Till it seemed that it was blessed but yesterday'

And I thought I saw the Saxons as they knelt before the Cross,

But I'm certain that I heard the Saxons pray.

Their petitions were as humble as the House in which they knelt,

And their faith was just as simple as their prayer,

And I knew the place was crowded, and instinctively I felt

That they always must have found an answer there.

For the truth was in it's cradle, so the word was very near;

"What I think" had yet to conquer "What I know".

And they sang a hymn together that the angels stooped to hear

In the quiet Severn Valley long ago.

And I thought of Church and Abbey, half forsaken, nearly all,

Of their splendour, and the learning and the creeds

Of the party of Apollos, or the men who followed Paul,

With their turmoil, and their striving - and their needs.

Then the sunset lit the valley like a beacon from above,

Till I seemed to hear the answer to a prayer:

"An should they pull away the plaster from the England that they love

They shall find - a little Saxon Chapel there."

The original stone is in the Ashmolean museum in Oxford.

The chapel's historic significance was realised in 1865, but the restoration of it's roof only started 100 years later in 1965.

Looking on as the sunlight from one window shines on  a wall feature.

View from the rear of the chapel.

Now we move on to St Mary's

It's known that there was a 7th Century church here of which little remains, but much of what remains dates back to the 8th century.

This is one side of a guide sheet.The other side is a bit further down. (Open in a new tab to magnify)

There's a variety of old graves with interesting epitaphs throughout the graveyard.

Here above is the 8th century angel.

The nave goes back to the 8th century.

Reverse side of the guide sheet.

The Ten Commandments.

Chest made in 1674.

Interior floor gravestone.

Above top left at the top is a dedication stone with reused roman stones 10th century.
Above top right is a saxon font, rescued in the 19th century from being used as an animal trough.
Bottom left Order of the Garter ?
Bottom right known as 'Label Stops' is a 9th century animal head.

Door memorial

Maddona and child, possibly from the 7th century.

Church entrance, bell tower and bell tower door.

Gargoyles.

We could have stayed all day exploring this fascinating look back at the past.

A lovely day guys, thanks for getting me there.