Tuesday, 18 April - Thornbury

Now that B&P have gone on their way, it's time that we got serious and learned about the local transportation.  Without a car we are going to need trains and buses.  Tuesday's plan was for us to get across town to Ruth's house and to leave from there for a trip to Thornbury.  To get to Ruth's we needed to bus to Temple Mead (the train station) and take a train across town to the "burb" where Ruth lives.  We've never been on a local bus, so the plan was to practice over the weekend and be ready for Tuesday's outing. "The best laid plans of mice and men...".  Friday through Monday was "The Easter Holiday Weekend" and only some people worked on Friday and by Monday everything was closed down - no buses.  We read everything we could find on local bus and train travel and on Tuesday morning we headed out. On the way out of the flat for the day we picked up the mail and there was "Flat Stanley".  Flat Stanley is a 3rd grade class project for Sheila's daughter, Alison.  Flat Stanley is a paper figure about 9-inches tall that will fold flat and fit into an envelope.  Flat Stanley is then mailed to friends and family of the kids in the class around the country and the world.  The friends and family are asked to take pictures of Flat Stanley in their local area and write a journal about what Stanley was doing and seeing during his visit.  It's a great learning tool for the kids' understanding of geography and living conditions in other parts of the country (and world).  We did a similar project for Sheila's other daughter, Katie, last year from Camano Island.  Flat Stanley went with us. The bus trip across town to the train station went off without a hitch.  The only problem we encountered was trying to figure out which gate to catch the train.  Apparently, the gates are listed on a reader board as we entered the station, but by the time we needed the information we were well inside the platform area.  There was an information booth, but the attendant either didn't know or thought we were idiots.  As we walked away from this booth he suggested that we try Gate 7. [we later learned that had we approached the information booth from the other direction the monitor showing the gates was above his window - no wonder he thought we were idiots]  Gate 7 was right and we were about 10 minutes early.  The train from Temple Mead to Ruth's took 8 minutes.  The bus from our flat to Temple Mead took about 35 minutes and was about one-fourth the distance of the train ride.  The bottom line is that we made it and can now add a couple of new skills to our resume.

Stanley joined the knitters - Both children and cartoons are allowed in English Pubs

Alison's Stanley

The purpose of Tuesday's outing was for Nancy and Ruth to attend a knitting group in Thornbury.  Thornbury is a small farming town just north of Bristol that is developing into a bedroom community because of its outstanding schools.  Jerry went along for the ride and disappeared once Nancy and Ruth were at the right pub.  Jerry wandered around town taking in the local sights and had a little lunch at a local bakery.  At the appointed time Jerry showed up at the pub. Ruth was ready to do whatever we wanted - the trouble was that we had no clue as to what was available. Ruth had mentioned that some of the scenes from the Harry Potter movie had been filmed locally.  Since Harry Potter would be of great interest to Flat Stanley's Seattle class, we thought that would be a great place for some Flat Stanley pictures.  Ruth had to admit that her information was wrong but we went to Thornbury Castle anyway.  It was worth the trip.  We later found that J.K. Rowling, author of Harry Potter, was born in Yate - not more than six miles from Thornbury. Thornbury Castle was everything you would expect a castle to be.  The 3rd Duke of Buckingham built the castle in about 1510. The castle had hosted King Henry VIII and his second wife Anne Boleyn.  The Duke was executed in 1521 on charges of treason - fostered for his own purposes by Cardinal Wolsey but in fact supported by no definite evidence whatsoever.  You can't get more historic than that.

Today the Thornbury Castle is a very exclusive hotel, catering to the rich and famous.  The Castle is adjacent to the Thornbury Cathedral.  Their literature reads: ?Step behind the heavy oak doors and you?ll also find a magnificent hotel with roaring fires and sumptuous bedchambers.  All are fabulously atmospheric, most with four-poster or coronet beds, tapestries and ornate ceilings.  Wake up to the view of the oldest Tudor gardens in England ? the Privy Garden and Goodly Garden.?  Not a banger and mash crowd ? definitely upscale.  They even have a helicopter pad for guests.

Thornbury Cathedral

From Thornbury, Ruth took us on a very pleasant ride through the local countryside. We eventually ended at the estuary of the River Severn (the end of the Bristol Channel).  We walked a bit along the shore and were truly impressed with how far the tide was out.  The tides can run as much as 30 feet.  The fast tide and the incredible amount of mud convinced us to be content to stand well up on the bank and look.

On the way back to the flat we passed though the industrial area of Bristol.  The Rolls Royce Aircraft Works in Bristol had built Britain's contribution to the Concord Supersonic Passenger Jet.  One of the last planes to fly has been retired to Bristol,s Filton Airfield.  We'll have to explore this further while we're here.  We eventually made it back to the flat.  Nancy made us a very nice meal and Ruth joined us.  It was a good day.

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