Return to American Civil War reenacting in England-Day two

With Sunday morning we've repeated what had become over a short time the tradition of the breakfast bap. Once again we ate breakfast prior to donning or Civil War clothing. Today's clothing choice for Antina was her summer sheer blue and red plaid and for me what I've referred to as my Gettysburg dress which is a cream and red plaid.

Once again as we were settled on site Antina and I took to taking photographs and video while the gentleman enjoyed more drill. After drill Company E decided to ham it up for the cameras and get some good advertising shots taken while they had the opportunity so with that we headed off to other portions of the site for a more natural setting. As Captain Parkin decided on some scenes to set the question was asked "who volunteers to be dead, Lloyd?" I must admit that Lloyd plays dead very well. Once the photographs were taken the boys headed back to camp while Antina and I wandered the rest of the site and buildings. At one point both of us wondered if and when the boys would realize they lost their photographers.

Upon returning to camp Mike and David set to attempt to convince the members of Company E to attempt Gettysburg in 2013 with promises of crash space and much exploration of the USA. As the time approached noon, Mike headed out to hunt Antina down for the second time with David trailing behind to attempt to find me. The boys found us both at the portion of the site which produced rockets up until 1996. The gentleman manning this portion of the museum had worked here until it was closed and now he volunteers. Therefore we were getting a very personalized tour of this part of the facility. Just prior to entering this part of the museum, the gentleman had approached us as we were attempting to figure out what was in the canal. He expertly advised us that they were the canal barges that had previously been sunk at other portions of the site and had been brought here and sunk for preservation until they could be restored properly.

From Gunpowder Mills Site

Since our men had found us they informed us that they were headed back to camp and they had a short time to get a bite to eat before they were going to need to do bayonet drill. As we wandered back to camp after having looked through one other building, we found the boys ready to do bayonet drill. But before they had too much of an opportunity to get geared up for that, some of the officers had decided to do sword drill. This put David and Mike in the opportunity to teach. It's not often you see privates teaching officers sword drill. Quite a few times you could hear someone from the class ask "can you show that one move again?" As they valiantly gave up their time to teach sword, they were excused from bayonet drill in order for them to get something to eat before having to form up for battle.

We therefore retired to the small café on site which had great pasties (we had managed to enjoy the same café yesterday as well). As the boys went off to battle Antina and I set ourselves up for more picture taking of the action. I was grateful to Antina for taking my camera as will as hers so that we could maximize our view of the battlefield while I shot video.

And now comes time for the after action report: today's battle scenario varied slightly from the previous day. This time the sharpshooters moved through the union camp, but it was only part of them. Corporal Davidson, Captain Parkin, and private Parkin performed the end round. Those that had filtered through camp opened fire on the Confederates. The sharpshooters united and headed for the Canon when one group broke off for the flight. David had decided early in the battle to take a back wound but he changed it to a leg wound while he waited for the Confederates to either capture or kill him. Neither happened and the rest of the company dragged him back where he made a miraculous recovery. Mike noted that while the rest of the company seemed to double quick forward he seemed to be stuck in waddle speed. The sharpshooters headed back to the middle of the battlefield and started to take that Canon when they decided to charge forward. At which point they needed to fall back, and then were required to charge forward again when most of them died. As you view the battlefield from the sidelines all you saw were spots of green dead reminding us of Monty Python's famous line "take out your dead." I will admit at this point that I was asking who was dead upon the field at which time Neil's magic spotting service came into use and Sergeant Hoddle informed me the green that I was asking about was in fact my husband. I was pretty embarrassed but amazed at Neil's talent as he spotted the remainder of the dead for me based upon their leggings of all things. I took the opportunity to take some close-ups as I could of the dead litter in the field. But wait, not all of the sharpshooters were dead and the remainder took that Canon after all. With all of this, the union won the second day.



The battle ended with all dead rising, all troops forming again in front of the crowd and performing the fire by company, the fire by file, and the fire by society. Mike, once again used all of his powder.

With the battle done we wandered back to camp and started collecting our things to head out. David grabbed one of the bags with mundanes in it and sent me off to the bathroom to change. As I was finished stiping out of my Civil War clothing in the bathroom I looked into the bag only to find that I had Mike & Antina's stuff instead of David and mine. I waited and hoped that Antina would realize the mistake before she or Mike got too far in changing and we could make the switch. Blessedly I didn't have long to wait before Antina entered the bathroom and passed me the correct bag while she took to undressing in the other bathroom stall.

Clothing having been sorted and us being dressed more comfortably for the ride home, we said our goodbyes and headed off. After we climbed into the vehicle, Mike and Antina asked if they could reenact over in England more often. So I'm guessing that they had a good time.

For all pictures and videos I encourage you to visit our website at http://members.aol.com/cimberann/vance/gunpowder.htm.

You would think we would be exhausted and ready to head home . .and you would be right . . but along our drive home there is the opportunity to stop and see Berkhamsted Castle. Okay, so we didn't see much of it as it was closed for the evening, but we did stop and persist until we could walk around the outside of the walls and hold the cameras up high to get the best shots we could (and we could say we'd been there).

The castle having been seen, and it now nearing towards 7 P.M. food was becoming a high priority. We stopped at a Services and enjoyed Burger King before getting back on the road. Once we arrived home the flurry began. The boys began unpacking the truck in the drizzle and handing the items to me in the dining room for me to find a spot for so they wouldn't track wet and mud into the house. Meanwhile, Antina set to work on separating out their stuff from ours so that she could start the process of packing.

Once the truck was unpacked and showers were had all around, Antina and Mike set to work on their packing with a vengence while I attempted to finish all picture downloads and transfers so that Antina and I would have a copy of each other's pictures and video. Antina did wonders on her task and managed to get everything to fit into their 2 suitcases with exception of one small box of linen which I was to mail. I managed to get all the pictures and video onto Antina's 8 GB thumb drive but it was FULL. Okay, so we were a little busy with the cameras during their trip . . but look at all the memories!

We lamented that on the morrow that David would head to work and I would be driving Antina and Mike to the airport so that they could start their journey home. How did the time pass so fast?

American Civil War reenacting in England?

It's Saturday! Today's plan has us heading to the Royal Gunpowder Mills for the American Civil War reenactment. The American Civil War Society or ACWS and in particular Company E of the First United States Sharpshooters were happy to host our guests. Since the uniforms and dresses draw so much attention we decided that we do have breakfast first then go back to the hotel to change before heading to the event. Breakfast was an easy decision, as we opted for the typical breakfast a bap.

Stomachs full it was now time to squeeze in to corsets and waistcoats. Okay so the guys are going to have as much trouble getting into their uniform with a full stomach as what ladies do getting into corsets, but that's another story completely. Antina and I had both brought a date dress for each day of the event and so what we were to wear for the day was based upon the proposed weather report. Since Sunday called for rain and Saturday was supposed to be relatively clear, we opted for our better dresses or Saturday. Which meant that Antina wore her new beautiful pink and cream plaid silk dress. This was the first I had seen of this dress and it was spectacular. I opted for by Vivian which is cream and green floral print. Not to leave the guys out, they opted for their Berdan green uniforms. Once we were mostly dressed, we gathered in David and my room for finishing touches such as hair and jewelry. It is Antina and I primped with the final touches, Mike and David packed the vehicle with the things we needed for the day.

As we exited the hotel, the staff asked if we had a wedding and we explained the event to them. As we attempted to climb into the vehicle, we had visitors from another country (not England or USA) ask us if they could take a picture with us to which we obliged. The advertising being done, we headed off to the event site.

As we pulled up to the sites and we got out of the vehicle, Antina and I received whistles of appreciation from the gentlemen of Company E as they helped us unpack the few belongings be brought. Well we got our items stowed under Company E's fly Antina showed us how to fall in a ladylike fashion as the chair folded up underneath her. Luckily she was not hurt. I must admit she did so with grace that is unparalleled and I'm not being sarcastic.

We spent most of the day enjoying the company of the unit in those camped nearby.



We took some of the time available to us to see the site itself as it produced gunpowder during our American Civil War.



Although we had plenty of free time, Mike and David were required to do drill both at the company skirmish and battalion level. But they didn't mind as it went quickly and it helped all to focus on the safety and maneuver factor.



Antina and Mike noted that they had a really good time and that reenactors are the same the world over-same attitude different accent. We all enjoyed hearing news stories and I think the storytellers enjoyed having new listeners. We enjoyed hearing stories of rabbits and squirrels and deer, oh my! Aside from the stories, several of the reenactors asked how their reenacting compared to that in the US, for which I would have to say that they do a FINE job. Mike and Antina also got to enjoy one of my favorite games, pin the accent on the state, which always comes after the clarifying question "are you from the states". I must say that they have a fine ear for they usually guess my Illinois accent as being from Ohio which in my opinion is close enough. Since Antina had recently returned from Kentucky, they had her pegged for Kentucky which means she must've brought some of the accent back with her.

For the battle, and the drill, Antina and I were busy taking photographs. If while looking through some of the pictures you see either a spectator or one of us in the way you can rest assured that shortly before or after that picture was taken you would have heard said "mind the camera".

At this point I must provide the Saturday battle after action report. The 69th in the 19th went through the camps in skirmish order while the sharpshooters did an end around to come up on the Confederate camps. At this point the sharpshooters cell opened fire and the firefight quickly erupted. At this point the sharpshooters split off and pressed back to the center to support the advancing infantry. Inadvertently some spectators wandered onto the battlefield but Captain Parkin shoot them back to the safety zones. The sharpshooters advanced and then they dealt with flanking maneuver and eventually managed to capture an artillery piece. With haste, the sharpshooters turned the artillery piece into the Confederate flank (and towards the crowd) at which time Mike made moves as if to load the gun. This maneuver surprised not only the Confederates but there was also a large gasp from the crowd as they sensed they may be in danger. It wasn't too long after that that the need was to abandon the gun and chase the Rebs from the field. When all was said and done the day ended in a Union victory.



As all shows for the ACWS end, we still had a final drill to perform for the crowd. As the entire ACWS formed ranks facing the crowd they fired first by company, then by file, and finally by society. This won them much applause from the crowd. After the field was cleared it was time for everyone to turn in any unused rounds. Mike was surprised to find that he was one of the few who had used all of his rounds. I personally took that to mean that he enjoyed himself immensely on the field

We spent some more time around camp enjoying everyone's company. The boys cleaned guns so that they wouldn't have to worry about it later in the evening or the next morning. Once we decided it was time to go we loaded ourselves up and the stealth skunk broke us out of the locked gate (Mike had the magic opening power for the lock). We decided that we would stop by Enfield manufacturing on the way back to the hotel.

Enfield was just up the canal from the Gunpowder Mills. It now exists as a small community of apartment buildings and the like. There is a very small museum to Enfield manufacturing still on-site but it is open to visitors on more of an arranged basis then with regular hours. Walking around still in our Civil War garb, we got lots of questions and therefore promoted the event for Sunday as much as we could. Well there's not much left of the manufacturing plant itself, we still enjoyed seeing the sights of what it would've looked like when it was producing Enfield rifles to ship overseas for our American Civil War. To me this was the ultimate time trip.



Definitely time to get back to the hotel and get out of this corset! Besides it's time for a good dinner at most likely to Kentucky fried chicken and there is the promise of ice cream since it will be early enough they won't be able to turn me away.

Having enjoyed dinner in the comfort of mundane clothes, we remembered that we have yet to see the monument at High Barnett. Since it is a mere 4 miles from our location and there is still light, we hopped back in the truck to make another pass. Our diligence met with success. Unfortunately the battlefield itself is long gone having been built up into houses and roads, but the monument still stands in testament to the battle that once was held here.



We take as many pictures as we could given the lateness of the hour and it's getting dark quickly. Now it was definitely time to reward ourselves with that ice cream. During the ice cream Antina and I were comparing notes and we noted the need to download our pictures off the cameras to allow for as many pictures as we could take on the morrow. During the downloads, all four of us enjoyed looking through the pictures that we had taken in the video that had been shot. As the hour approached 11 p.m. we all decided it was time to turn in so that we would be refreshed for another day of reenacting our American Civil War in England.

For all pictures and videos I encourage you to visit our website at http://members.aol.com/cimberann/vance/gunpowder.htm.

Next Stop - London!

As we'd discussed, we arose early-ish to eat at the Services. We'd opted for Breakfast Baps which are a breakfast sandwich of kinds. With our stomachs full and our backpacks empty, we headed to the train station at High Barnet.

London boasts quite a few museums, some we've seen and some that we were going to tacklet today. But first . . fabric! SCAdians in these regions rumor about Classic Textiles on Goldhawk Road in London and I had been wanting to see it. Since it was the furthest out on the Underground exits, we decided (wisdom aside) to tackle it first. Since Classic Textiles is rumored to have quite the variety of silk and it compacts rather small and light, this should not be a problem. Well we went for silk but stopped for an extended stay in their Linen Department. The silk and linen selections were without compare and bolts were 4-6 deep in places lining the walls. I felt my transisters blow about 1/2 way through the store. Since I was there for SCA clothing, I decided to stay in the linen department and make my selections from there. We bought the standard fare of linen (no less than 4 meters of any one fabric) and that meant the new guy of 3 days had to deal with us. He was incredibly good natured and very helpful, although we tested his memory something fierce since they don't have a cutting table or tablets to write the quantities on for checkout. Our fabric bought, we tried to shove, stuff, or otherwise convince it to enter the backpacks .. Thanks to the room in Antina's pack which was filled with a portion of my purchases, all the fabric was on our backs. Anyone who has felt the weight of linen knows that if you are carrying around 16 or so meters of it on your back, it does tend to weigh quite a bit. But despite the weight we were smiling at what we'd obtained.

Back onto the Underground and on toward the Wallace Collection. The Wallace Collection (http://www.wallacecollection.org/) is a large home which contains several choice art pieces and some wonderous armor and weapondry. As we entered, the nice man at the front asked us to check our bags . . which we did gratefully, thankfully and with much relief. Unforunately, the Wallace Collection closed for conservation, a portion of the arms and armor which means that we'll have to take another trip back at some point. Antina enjoyed seeing a lot of paintings that had been referenced in college "up close and personal". The boys admired the "Laughing Cavallier" which was a painting in one of the grand rooms. We all pondered what we dubbed the "Dead Hare Room" where there were several paintings on one wall which all had a dead rabbit of some kind or another in them (two of the paintings were the same painting just mirrored images). David particularly enjoyed having a look at the next Spanish Cup Hilt Rapier that he would like to have. The second unfortunate thing was that we were not allowed to take pictures . . so we bought books instead. While purusing the bookshop . .um I mean gift shop, there was one book that was interesting but misbehaved as it continued to jump off the shelf at anyone who passed by. Books purchased, we took turns utlizing the restroom facilities which were the nicest I'd ever seen anywhere. Books in hand and bladders relieved, we were ready to head out, but since the backpacks were already full, we needed to carry the new book acquisitions. Hmm, this is going to be a longer day than anticipated and I'm really regretting not just bringing along my rolling suitcase.


Having looked at the opening and closing times ahead the night before, we knew that we could reach the Guards Museum to take a quick look before they closed. We were cutting to close, but by force marching 15 minutes from the train station to the museum we managed to make it just in time. We gladly checked the bags at coat check and purchased our tickets. Since we only had 30 minutes to see the museum, they were wonderful and gave us student admission prices for our tickets. The first thing we saw as we entered the museum proper was a coat exact to what we are used to seeing Ernie wear. The braiding on all the coats was phenomonal. Feeling elated about our tour, we stopped into the gift shop where Antina picked up a Guards Bear and as we were being escorted out, I decided I wanted one as well. The gentleman letting us out was the same from the gift shop so he put the boys on patrol guarding the gate at the Guards museum went back inside to help me take another bear home.

While I purchased my Guards Bear, the Boys got to looking at the schedule again and we found that we could make the Household Cavalry museum before it closed. New agenda in mind we set off through the park where we were approached by panhandling squirrels . . no kidding, these squirrels ran right up to you and sat there looking at you waiting for you to hand them some food. Hmm, if only we knew where in our overstuffed bags the rice krispie treat was hiding.

We arrived at the Household Cavalry fields and found that we'd just missed the parade and they were now in the proces of clean up. We entered the museum which had opened since 2006 and went into the wrong door for our entrance tickets. Having straightened that around, as we were checking in and got the standard questions about how we came to be visiting, David was given the military discount which caused all kinds of confusion. To clarify the confusion when it came to Mike and Antina's ticket purchases, Antina stated "two adults, nothing special" while she threw a smile at David for having caused so much trouble, which got a laugh from all. The horses had all been de-tacked and put back into their stalls and we had the opportunity to take alook through the glass. Since our previous museum stops had not allowed photography we made the presumption that this one was the same, but when we inquired we were thrilled to find that we could take pictures as long as we didn't startle the horses. Antina was excited to see a Napoleonic Eagle and they had Breyers in the gift shop.



With that museum under our belt, we headed toward the V&A which had later hours due to it being Friday night - BRILLIANT.

First stop, the Jewelery exhibit which was closed during Antina's visit in 2007. This gave me an opportunity to see the exhibit more thoroughly and look at some pieces a little closer than before. It gave the guys an opportunity to sit in the courtyard, talk a bit, and most importantly watch the bags while we explored the museum unencumbered. Antina's Comment: "Oooo . . look at the sparkly."

Once we'd been through the Jewelery exhibit, we found ourselves nearing 7 pm and in desparate need of FOOD. We made quick use of the cafeteria area and ate in the "blue room" or the "seasonal room" which is a dining room where the walls are tiled in blue and white tiles that together around the room display the different seasons. While we ate what we each felt was the best sandwich ever made (okay it was probably the hunger talking) we discussed what else we may want to see while we're here since the place was open until 10 pm.

We went through the Japanese Exhibit and rescued the new Jewelry Exhibition books from the gift shop before deciding we were exhausted and ready to head back to the hotel.



As we got back on the underground however, Mike mentioned that he wouldn't mind seeing Picadilly Circus . .to at least say he'd been there. So we went towards Picadilly and did our Groundhog imitation, which is to say that we popped outside the Underground long enough to take a quick look to say we'd been there and then hopped back on the underground headed back to High Barnett. The new target, to finish the day with some ice cream and see if we can find the monument to High Barnet battlefield.

On our drive from the train station to the hotel, we somehow missed the monument and so we decided that we'd just head back and worry about seeing it later. We returned to the hotel and dropped off our ill gotten gains and then met at the Services for ice cream. Unfortunately it was now 10 pm and that meant that most of the places were closed. We opted for some less than satisfying ice cream and discussed our plan for tomorrow . . for on the morning we were headed to an American Civil War reenactment on English soil!

Sidetrip and Duxford

Since our next stops were going to take us near Alconbury and we no longer had a spare tire, we decided that we could take a sidetrip first thing to get the tire repaired. But first . . we slept through the alarms and awoke when our bodies told us it was time. Although it put our day slightly behind, we were all glad for the extra rest.

The packed lunch was not necesary since we were going to be on Alconbury and so we opted for American Fast Food . . Anthony's Pizza! We received some bad news when we took the tire to the garage . . they couldn't fix it by MOT standards as it was too badly worn. With the wear on that tire, they took a look at the remainder of the tires and pointed out some bad wear on all of them . . except for the spare tire. Having placed our order for 4 new tires, to be received within the next month we headed toward the food court.

Just outside the food court we noted that the new Ford Flex had arrived. Since David and I had seen it in a brochure and had debated the difference between it and the Ford Explorer, we took the oportunity to take a closer look. Then we ate pizza!!


When we arrived at Duxford, we noted that we had 2-1/2 hours to see 8 hangers and 1 Battle of Britain Operations hanger. Yikes! We got moving pretty quickly, with only minor delay observing the flying Spitfire, Dragon and Skyraider.



As we moved through the various hangers, the PA System kept giving us the countdown of how much time we had left. I'll admit spending more than I probably should have admiring the SR71 Blackbird which has always been one of my favorite planes. I also probably took too many pictures of the F15 . . but it was the closest I'd ever been to one. The museums here don't cordon you off from the exhibits so that you can only admire from afar . . these planes you could (if you weren't disiplined) reach out and touch, they were that close.

When the day was through, Antina noted that since they'd now seen Duxford, Mike was now out of the doghouse. In addition, as we swept through the giftshop, 2 pilot bears found new homes.

Duxford (and pretty much anything else of a site-seeing nature) having closed for the evening, we opted to head for our home base for the next couple of days - the Days Inn and get settled. Since the Days Inn was located at a Services location, we were able to take our pick of food options once we'd gotten settled.

As we ate, we discussed the options for Friday's events.

Oooo . . Look at all the pretties . . and battlefields too

We arose mostly refreshed on Wednesday morning and headed down to partake of the Continental Breakfast offered by the hotel. After a quick review of what was offered we noted that breakfast was heavy on sugar and someone asked them to hold the protein. We each sat down with our selection and it was noted that three of us were flakes while Mike was a crunchy nutter. Having broken our fast, we returned to our rooms for the remainder of the packing and the checkout before heading into to Leeds Royal Armoury.

Toys and pretties and movie props . . oh my! Leeds Armoury offered not only the standard museum fare of weapons

but they'd added an exhibition from WETA studios who had done some of the weapondry and armor for films like Hellboy, Lord of the Rings, the Last Samarai, and Chronicles of Narnia. Their creations were on display and were phenomonal. Although we all agreed that the armor done as a joke for a dog (including armoring his tail) was the best of the creations they offered.

We were lucky that the day's special activites also offered a historical interpreter for the battle of Towton, whose battlefield we had already planned on seeing after we finished with the Armoury since it was nearby.


We discovered that no matter where you go, Talhoffer still works the same. Some historical interpreters gave a demonstration of Talhoffer's teachings and we enjoyed seeing someone outside of our known group using the techniques. They did draw quite the crowd.



Here, Mike demonstrates one of the plates' intention as it teaches weapon forms.



By the time we'd been most of the way thru the museum and had reached the Asian rooms, Antina noted that she's pretty sure she blew a 2nd transistor. I know the guys were certainly looking a little brain-fried.


As we prepared to leave, we noted that we all must have blown a transistor or two because we were sure we saw a psudo Dalek in the education center window . . well, the picture shows we weren't seeing things but the question still remains, why?


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Leeds Slideshow

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With our previous lead in from the historical interpreter and having blown all our brain cells looking at all the historical weapons, we decided it was definately time to head on out and try to find Towton Battlefield (circa 1461). We put BB in place and headed out. Mike was double checking BB using the map and we found Towton with little challenge . .finding the battlefield however proved a little more challenging. We circled the battlefield unwittingly thanks to the DHL truck who was parked strategically to cover all signs and monuments marking the location of the battlefield.


After having found the entrance location and monument, we proceeded on foot into the battlefield itself. We compared the terrain to the stories told at Leeds and took pictures for future game terrain.


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Towton picture slideshow

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One battlefield down for the day and 2 more to go. So off to Marston Moore we head (circa 1644). We experienced slow farm traffic on the short drive from Towton to Marston Moore. We saw lots of fields on our way there, and once we arrived, we found even more fields. But this was fields with a monument. Mike was kind enough to inform all of us what happened historically at this battle and that made him our offical tour guide for this stop.

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Marston Moore slideshow

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Marston Moore behind us, we started out for Stamford Bridge (circa 1066). We had the full knowledge that the town has grown up over the battlefield and the bridge itself no longer exists, but they have a general vicinity of where the battle was and of course there is a monument. Since the monument was in the center of town, we also got to enjoy the artwork of the nice inn nearby, known as the Bay Horse Inn and coming into town we enjoyed the artwork on the sign for the Swordsman Inn. Also at the site was a corn mill, can we say "I like corn"?

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Having finished our normally scheduled stops we looked at the clock and debated whether or not Warhammer World would still be open. We decied to try our hand and take our chances so off we went into Nottingham. We were happily surprised to find that Warhammer World would actually be open later than anticipated and definately longer than we wanted to stay to still make it home. With that, Mike sat down and started filling out his and Michka's order and got some help . . from someone from Indiana who had also recently seen the WETA stuff at Leeds. What are the chances? The order placed, we went upstairs to the museum dedicated to Warhammer . . all the Golden Demon figures and many more were on display and we took several photos to remember the paint schemes.



Having returned to the main hall where the games were taking place, Antina and I noted that the only place where the gamers realized there were women in the place was in the bar . . in the main hall, they were evidently too busy gaming. We finished our tour by seeing the "Hero of Humanity" out front of the main office building. As the story was told to us, the only statues you can put up in England is for Heros and Monuments . . so Games Workshop named their space marine the "Hero of Humanity" to gain the permits to put him up.

Off to home where cameras were cleared in preparation for the next days avitivities.

Onto Leeds; Through Wales?

Well rested, and with emails sent to make sure everyone knew everyone had arrived, we packed sack lunches and headed out to Wales.

First stop was Cardiff. Antina and Mike have been enjoying the Dr. Who spinoff Torchwood, courtesy of Michka & Janna, and wanted to see the Cardiff Millenium Center. As the GPS system navigated us through the streets of Cardiff with David arguing with the feminine voice trying to direct him the wrong way down one-way streets we had the unique pleasure of almost having a semi back over us (evidently his GPS got it wrong too) which almost caused us to back over a smart car. Major disasters neatly avoided, Mike named the GPS "B***hin Betty" or "BB" for short and it's stuck.



We were happy to find dockside, finally, and got out to take the token Torchwood shots. We noted that the elevator must have been down for maintenance because although we stood outside waiting, the doors never opened. Michka will be happy to know that Mike & Antina fulfilled the mission you gave them and made note of many tall buildings in the general area.



On to our next stop - Caerphilly Castle. But first, we heard an ominous pop and handling of the truck became interesting so we needed to pull over and change a tire. Thank goodness for the excess wet-naps given at KFC recently and saved in the front of the truck because we needed them.



Tire repaired, we headed on to Caerphilly. As we passed the rest of the way through Cardiff, David pointed out the cry of "B-R-A-I-N-S"



Please understand that this is a beer, but it's logo is pasted on bars, train overpasses, and anything else you can think of .. which always makes David think of one of those old zombie horror films and thus the cry of "B-R-A-I-N-S" rang out in the car from 3 out of 4 inhabitants . . I managed to resist the urge.



We travelled through some beautiful countryside before we entered into Caerphilly. Once we were getting close to the downtown area (and therefore the castle) we inadvertently ended up following an ASDA truck as he made his home grocery deliveries, since we didn't want his same stop, we took some side roads, back alleys and anything else we could to find our way toward the castle. SUCCESS! We parked at the Morrison's and headed off on foot toward the castle.


As we toured this shell of a castle, Antina remarked that she was glad that Cromwell didn't use better powder. Wow!

The great hall was open again (it had been closed for restoration work earlier) and so we had the opportunity to enjoy that space.


The signage at Caerphilly claims this is one of the only reconstructed overhangs for the purpose of resisting siege. Ingenious.


While exploring staircases, we found a locked door and needed to retrace our steps


Finding another set of staircases, we reached what could only be considered a sitting room or a bedchamber. So how big a fire do you need to heat a place like this, well David and Mike both stepped inside the massive fireplaces to provide us a perspective.



Now it was time to let the boys play with the "toys" outside the castle walls (otherwise known as seige weapons).


With everything at this location having been explored, we opted to hit the gift shop and start on our way out. The gift shop had many small treasures (of which chocolate seemed to be a favorite) but they were lacking in Welsh Dragon representation so David and I have our orders to rescue a baby Welsh Dragon for Mike & Antina from another location in the future.



On to Hay-on-Wye. Some might say that we planned this poorly since it was going to be close to 4 PM by the time we arrive at Hay-on-Wye; however they would be the ones that are unaware of our propensity for obtaining books. In our travel toward the famed village of bookshops we were enjoying the sites in Breacon Beacon Park and opted to stop to take some pictures. Look at all the waterfalls and sheep. Definately worth the lay-by.



Back on track, we arrived in Hay-on-Wye and on the drive through town toward parking noted that there were so many bookshops that they had specialty bookshops (gardening, outdoor rec, etc.). Oh, we planned well to give us limited time to purchase reading material so that we didn't end up buying the whole town. At our first stop we picked up a map and noted 38 bookshops advertised in one village. . oh boy!



We successfully resisted the urge to spend our little bit of time on the largest store because it was open until MUCH later than the rest . . see we were thinking . . and we hit as many stores as we could as they started closing up shop. At the Castle bookshop we found many CDV's to be used for RESEARCH and so Antina and I spent some quality time reviewing them and picking up any that might be of use. Our treasurers purchased, we met a nice lady from Nova Scotia on the lawn as we departed and enjoyed conversing with her briefly before we fel the urge to hit the next shop. After much shopping and backpacks full, we returned to the car to empty our gains into the vehicle and return to the last large store. We picked up a few more odds and ends before we decided to call it a day and head towards Leeds. David's comment as we headed toward the car "We just bought more books . . and there's no more room in our library." Well, that about sums it up. With the on again and off again rain, we were pleased to see rainbows over the carpark as we returned to our vehicle.

We drove for a bit and then as it neared 9 pm we decided we were a bit peckish so we stopped off for dinner at a Little Chef. The food was reasonable but being out of the car for a bit was even better. We still had a ways to drive, so we piled back in and off we went.

As we travelled, the boys spotted a sign for Shrewsbury battlefield (circa 1403) and so we were off to see another battlefield . . at dusk . . okay it was dark. The battlefield had a pretty church (of course that was the only thing lit up so it was slightly easier to see). According to a sign nearby the church there is also a visitor's center, although we couldn't find it in the encroaching darkness so another stop must be made in lighter conditions me thinks.



Back on the road with us weary travellers and we arrive at the Holiday Inn in Leeds around 12 AM. The museum opens at 10 AM tomorrow so we make our plans to have our continental breakfast and be ready for checkout so we can get the most out of our museum visit.

What can we see before it closes?

With the delay in flight and after researching all the opening and closing times for all the items on the trip, David and I decide that we can fit in Bath but we need to say good-bye to Salisbury. With that in mind, we head across town to the airport to pick up our friends.


David dropped me off to locate them and he found a place to park. Mike met me in the corridor between the parking lot and the terminal with "We come from France." Anyone who has either seen the movie Coneheads or better yet has heard the story of Company C at Antietam realizes the joke there. They had no problems with their new flight arrangements except to realize that they were not going to have time to see any of France in their lay-over time. So to prove they'd been in France, Antina snapped this shot of the Concord. Luckily they had not been waiting long in Bristol and so we loaded them up - told them the revised plan - and headed out.



Since the gentlemen had little interest in seeing the Costume Museum and that was the item in Bath that closes early, they determined they were going to head to Bonapart's Miniatures to look at the painted figures for sale while Antina and I toured the Costume Museum. After wandering hither and yon in Bath for a bit, David got his bearings and got us to the Costume Museum and we parted company from the gentlemen for the respective sites to see.



The Costume Museum was running a special exhbition on Marilynn Monroe (or rather the designer who made most of her clothes) and so we had to go through that before they would let us at the older clothing in the museum. But no worries, the exhibition was interesting as it included not only the dresses but also their design sketches, where we might have seen them, etc. One of the dresses even still had some black marks from where she brushed up against a car tire inadvertently. Unfortunately, pictures are not allowed in special exhbits.


Audio tour in hand, we had 30-45 minutes to make it through the museum and the gift shop - whew! I fished out my camera since I'm always looking to upgrade my pictures taken previously and off we went. While we found some of the more modern clothing interesting we skipped past much of it due to time constraints. While we were just inside the museum itself the guys called to say that Bonapart's was closed and they were going to join us in the museum after all since they'd looked through the windows at Bonapart's at the toy soldiers as much as they had dared.


With the extended observation at the BEAUTIFUL 1700's gloves (once again special exhibition) and at some of the 1800's pieces we made some notes:


1. David has decided he wants a new 1700's style doublet and gloves for fencing. And he thinks I can do all the embroidery without a problem. It's lovely, but let's be real. ~smile~


2. Antina wants to learn how to paint voile like the 1860's ball gown we saw.




3. Accessories and shoes area needs labels since we didn't know which pieces went to which era for sure and they had so many nice pieces that would have been lovely to put with gowns.

4. Antina was sure she heard one of her mental transisters blow, although I attribute it to Jet Lag.

5. There just isn't enough in the clothing museum to interest the guys for very long. More men's clothing would be needed. Hmmm, I'll have to keep that in mind if/when I contact them to see if I can see pretties up close and personal for research. I'm sure they have men's things but probably don't display them figuring their audience for the mostly female variety.


With that, we tripped up to the gift shop where Antina noted there was some excellent reference material available for purchase. Some of that material stuck to both Antina and my hands and so it got to come home with us. As they shoed us out of the museum we happily noted that we had several hours and some daylight to get us to our remaining stops. So off to the Roman Baths!


We wound our way back through Bath and came across the Bath Cathedral very easily.

Photos taken, we headed into the surprisingly long que (line) for the Baths. David ducked around someone since we'd previously purchased our tickets at the Costume Museum but that person didn't provide an option for the rest of us to sneak through. While we waited one of the clerks became slightly frustrated that we were extending the que when we already had our tickets (she was joking of course) but that got us around the rest of the crowd to start our tour.


I was happy to note that the upper terrace was open today as it provides lovely viewpoints of both the Baths as well as the Cathedral.






Having been travelling for several hours, our guests thought the Baths looked inviting but resisted the urge to dip into them. Instead they settled for having a picture taken and taking several pictures throughout this unique exhibit.





Antina even managed to get a picture of David and I although David was a little reluctant and attempted escape before the picture could be taken.


As we went through, we awed at the technology, ingenuity and care that the Roman's evidently put into their architecture. Antina noted that while her and Mike had been over in 2007, the Roman Baths was their first time seeing true Roman Architecture.


Having lingered briefly in the gift shop and noting that we were loosing daylight for our last stop, we headed for the vehicle to put Bath behind us.


Lansdown Hill Battlefield was the next stop. This was a stop that Mike wanted due to the fact that they had seen it in the total darkness in 2007 and he knew they were missing something including the look at the terrain for this battle.

The boys put up with some posing so that we could get the "before daylight" versus "after daylight" effect

With the 2008 commemorative photos saved, we decided to skip the t-shirt and just take a look around. Daylight did provide a much more illuminated picture. . . including a monument that had been previously missed.


As dusk started falling quickly and our modified agenda for the day complete, we found ourselves ravenously hungry . . well, no wonder it was getting towards 8 pm. Off to Tobey's Carvery for all the good stuff, including dessert. As we filled our tummies and savored delicious desserts we started planning the next day and confirming the planned agenda.

Finally, homeward bound, the Pennocks got the LIVE versus WEB CAM tour of the Vance Abode. They rated the WEBCAM tour at a 6 while the LIVE tour rated a 9.

Exhausted, we all turned in for the night.

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Slideshow of pictures from Costume Museum


Slideshow of pictures from Roman Baths


Slideshow of pictures from Lansdown (including 2007 pictures)

Travel Arrangements

It's Sunday night and David and I are finishing up last minute tasks at home in anticipation of our latest guests' arrival. Mike & Antina are due to arrive at 0855 in Bristol on Monday and we're looking forward to seeing them. Not to mention there is a heavy schedule of things to see and do during their visit so we need to be able to pick them up at the airport and head out immediatly to try to fit in both Bath and Salisbury on the first day they are here.

As we finally finish hanging things in the house; the office having been the only room we had not decorated as of this time we receive a call from our guests. As they explain and I watch on both the check-in for their flight as well as the weather channel, there is massive storms over Newark, NJ and their flight into NJ has therefore been delayed to the point where they will miss their connecting flight to arrive in Bristol as anticipated.

They do some quick thinking and with the help of the ticket agent at the counter secure another flight into Bristol on a different airline and completely missing NJ. Their new flight itinery has them going to Charles DeGaulle Airport (France) and then into Bristol. The upside, they get to kind of visit France . . the downside, they won't arrive into Bristol now until 1455.

They hang up to make their boarding call and David and I look at the schedule to see what is feasible for their first day. Things will work out . . we're sure of it!