Through Dartmore to Fowey – May 2, 2018 (18-43)

October 7, 2018 / margaretquilts / Leave a comment

Day 7 – Road Day – Through Dartmoor to Fowey

Happy Birthday Dan! We had his celebratory birthday dinner the previous evening in Lyme Regis. We were as close as we may ever get to the Isle of Wight, he does not seem to be losing his hair, and we were very glad to be sharing this wonderful adventure. Onward to Cornwall, where Dan had planned several hiking adventures for us.

Dartmoor National Park

We chose a slightly roundabout way to Fowey by driving through Dartmoor National Park. The moors are broad uplands bisected by river valleys. Rocky ‘Tors‘ cap the high points, and much of the landscape is divided by walled and treed hedgerows. Most of the land has or is being grazed and/or farmed at some point in history. This is not a USA style National Park, with wilderness and limited access. There are roads, villages, farms and livestock as well as walking paths (hiking trails). The land is being conserved in partnership with the farmers.

Our road wound up and onto the moors. We reached a parking area at what seemed to be the top of the moor and stopped to look around. There was a trail heading off to the nearby Tor – Mel Tor. We walked along the hedgerows, around the sheep and cow enclosures, and up a path to the top of the rocky promontory. From the summit we could see moorland in every direction, and the River Dart to the south.

View across Dartmore

Nearby Bel Tor

Our path to Mel Tor – sheep ahead

Another sheep

Up the hill

Mel Tor

Birthday boy at the top

Views across Dartmore

The River Dart below

Another view on the way down

Looking back to Mel Tor

Another sheep

We continued our drive west, over the moors, planning to stop at the National Park Visitor Centre at Princetown for more information about the park. But first we had to drive through a herd of wild Dartmoor wild ponies? Apparently they range freely over the moors, and we were lucky to see them before we knew that we should look for them.

We stopped in Princetown for lunch and a visit to the National Park Visitor Centre.

Sherlock Holmes tableau in the Visitor Centre

We stopped again at a picturesque viewpoint over the moor before leaving the National Park. The landscape reminds me of the Land of Counterpane illustration from my childhood copy of the Robert Louis Stevenson book A Child’s Garden of Verses. I keep looking for that edition in used book stores but have yet to find it. The boy’s patchwork bedquilt was transformed to a land of hedgerows and fields, similar to my view here, and nothing like I see anywhere in the US. I think my love for British literature makes all the typical British scenes seem so magical to me. The western US is much different – dryer, wilder, more expansive, beautiful, but not ‘British’.

Land of counterpane

Hedgerow

Gorse

Our rental car

In Saltash we bought groceries for four days of home cooking at our self catering cottage in Fowey.

Fowey

Fowey is a Cornish village that is draped down the cliffs above the harbor on the estuary of the River Fowey. Our rented cottage was in a row of dwellings about a quarter mile above the harbor, not too far from the community carpark. The streets and lanes are very narrow and steep, and individual homes do not necessarily have car parking. We were able to park in a construction zone long enough to offload our luggage and groceries, then moved our car to the carpark and walked back down the hill via the scenic route, to the cottage.

Narrow lane down to the harbor

Upstream view of the River Fowey

View across the estuary to where we would walk tomorrow

Polruan, across the river

We walked all the way down to the harbor

Upstream view from the quay

Downstream toward the mouth of the River Fowey

Local history

We walked past this church

and around the maze of buildings and lanes, trying to get a feel for the locale. We were glad to have prepurchased our groceries – there were restaurants and Cornish pasty shops aplenty but I did not see any grocery stores. We enjoy eating out while traveling, but after a few days we miss our own cooking – simpler, cheaper and healthier. We returned to our cottage for the evening.

Our cottage

View from the window

Local artwork depicting Fowey Harbor in our cottage

Charmouth Fossils and the Lyme Regis Cobb, with another glimpse of Jane Austen/ May 1, 2018 (18-34)

August 16, 2018 / margaretquilts / 1 Comment

Tuesday, May 1st. We left Chawton and the bad weather behind and drove to the Dorset coast in search of fossils, views, and another peek at Jane Austen.

Canola fields through the car window

Canola field

The sea comes into view

and sheep! with lambs!

Ammonites, Charmouth Beach

Charmouth Beach is flanked by eroded cliffs that shed fossils. The Coast Heritage Center at Charmouth had excellent displays about the geology and the fossils to be found in the cliffs.

I always appreciate a good location map.

Geologic overview

Large ammonite

We didn’t see any of these, but we didn’t stay very long.

We had timed our visit to coincide with low tide. We walked both the east and west beaches.

Walking down to the west beach; Lyme Regis in the distance.

Beach huts

Shale cliffs along the west beach

Lots of beach glass in the sand

Walking back toward the River Char.

One of Her Majesty’s swans near the bridge over the river.

Dan walking along the east beach

Dan with his camera

Low tide

The cliffs above the fossil beach.

With a tip from a local collector, I learned to spot the cylinders of belemnites, and spirals of pyritized ammonites.

A bit of pyritize ammonite in the sand – about a half inch long.

I kept just a few tiny bits for my collection, and otherwise enjoyed a beautiful beach day.

Bits of beach glass and rock – the little snail shell is about half an inch long.

Bits of belemnites and ammonites, plus a small polished ammonite I bought at the shop near the beach.

Lyme Regis

In nearby Lyme Regis, we checked into a B&B on the hill above town, then walked down the path to the seafront. There was a great view over the coastline – where we had been in Charmouth, and where we wanted to go on the Cobb.

Lyme Regis

Lyme Regis Harbor and Cobb

The Cobb is the local name for the curved manmade breakwater around the harbor.

The walk along the Cobb has been immortalized by Jane Austen in her novel Persuasion. Teenager Louisa Musgrave flirted with Captain Wentworth by having him jump her down from the steps on the Cobb – could have been these steps,

The first set of Cobb steps – not too scary….

these steps,

The second set of Cobb steps

A little more precarious…

Looking down from the top

or these steps.

The third set of Cobb steps

The pavement at the bottom was equally hard when she jumped too soon, landed on her head, and was taken up lifeless. She recovered slowly with the help of a different sea captain, learned to appreciate poetry and curb her impulsiveness, and left Captain Wentworth free to marry our heroine Anne by the end of the story. Jane Austen lived here in Lyme Regis for a time, and must have walked along the Cobb, maybe even seen a boisterous teen be jumped down the steps.

We walked along the Cobb, on the lower, wind shielded side, to the end. I went up the steps to see the view, but the wind and sea spray made staying on the high path feel unsafe.

Looking west from the top of the Cobb

Upper Cobb views

From the far end of the lower Cobb we looked back across the harbor to the town and to Charmouth beach where we had been earlier today.

The far end of the Cobb path

Looking back to Lyme Regis

Looking across to Charmouth

After retracing our steps, we walked around the shops and gardens near the Cobb, including the rather run down Jane Austen tribute garden.

An interesting old door

Slate tiles

Persuasion gift shop

Later, we went to the lovely Harbour Inn for a delicious early birthday dinner for Dan. I had the gurnard, a local fish, and he had the vegetarian special.

As we walked back up the hill after dinner, we took in the views again, punctuated by silhouettes of the charming ammonite light posts.

The Cobb

In the morning we set off for Fowey on the southern coast of Cornwall, where we had reserved a cottage for a four day stay.

Jane Austen Day! Part 2, Winchester (18-25)

June 26, 2018June 25, 2018 / margaretquilts / 1 Comment

Winchester Cathedral, April 30, 2018

We drove the 20 miles from Chawton to Winchester to see the cathedral. After finding parking in the narrow winding streets of the cathedral town, we walked a few blocks toward the cathedral.

Walking toward Winchester Cathedral entrance

Interesting wall in the courtyard

The enormous size and architectural details on the outside of the cathedral are amazing:

North side of Winchester Cathedral

Closer view

Passage under the flying buttresses

Main entrance, Winchester Cathedral

Exterior stonework

Gargoyles

Entry detail

Once inside, we continued to marvel at scale and detail beyond comprehension: the high ceiling, the carved stone and wood, the arching windows.

The main aisle

Detail of upper windows

A side aisle

As a quilter, I was especially drawn to the patterns in the medieval floor tiles.

The Jane Austen exhibit had placards describing her life and the monuments that have been installed in her honor near her grave.

Jane Austen window and monuments in Winchester Cathedral

Jane Austen’s grave

Building stone:

Walking back toward our parking space, I particularly noted the texture and stone in the walls along the street –

which brought to mind the chalk and flint cliffs we had seen at Seven Sisters:

Chalk/flint cliffs

Chawton

Back in Chawton, we stopped for dinner at the local pub, The Greyfriar,

then spent another night at the Garden House B&B, formerly a gardener’s cottage on the Chawton House estate, though thoroughly modernized since that time. The setting up on the hill was lovely, the gardens were flowering.

Garden House B&B

Sheep!

We just happened to be here during a storm so didn’t get to explore much of the outdoor beauty, but all in all it was a satisfying day! Tuesday we were off to our next stop – Lyme Regis, to see fossils and the steps on the Cobb where Louisa Musgrave fell.

SaveSaveSaveSave

Jane Austen Day! Part 1, Chawton (18-24)

June 25, 2018 / margaretquilts / Leave a comment

Day 5, Part 1: Monday, April 30, 2018 Chawton

My top goal when planning this trip to England was to see Jane Austen’s house and quilt. The plan was to walk around Chawton to see her house, the large mansion and church at the center of her brother’s estate, and the gardens and paths in the area where the Austens would have regularly walked while living here.

Jane Austen’s House Museum

This red brick house in the heart of Chawton holds many items that belonged to Jane Austen or her family members, as well as other pieces from the Regency period that create the ambiance of her daily life. Signs explain what was original and what changes have been made since her time. The tour is self guided, with knowledgable docents that answer questions.

Timeline and Family Tree:

Furnishings:

Jane Austen’s writing table

Jane’s Father’s desk

Wallpaper:

Portraits:

Quilts:

Seeing the original quilt was a highlight of the entire trip. Having spent the past five years making a reproduction of this quilt, I really appreciated being able to sit in the room and admire the colorful though faded fabrics and tiny stitches, and think of the three pairs of hands that sewed this masterpiece. I considered the many hours involved in choosing fabrics, cutting, stitching, and keeping track of the quadrilateral symmetry of placement of all those tiny diamonds (more than 2500). More detailed information is available on the museum website.

Center medallion

Two community-made tribute quilts completed in 2018 are on view – a paper pieced patchwork quilt placed on a bed,

and an appliquéd topical quilt honoring aspects of Jane Austen’s life and work:

It was difficult to get a good photo of this quilt because it is hanging in the room showing the video of Jane Austen’s life, but thorough documentation can be found on the museum website blog.

Jewelry:

Kitchen:

View out the bedroom window:

Gardens:

After making a few purchase in the gift shop, we went on to:

Chawton House

We walked up the long drive to Chawton Great House,

now used as a museum and center for women’s literature and writing workshops. We had a delicious lunch in the tearoom,

then walked through the house. The textile furnishings in the dining room were colorful.

The upstairs docent showed us this nook where Jane Austen used to sit and write while visiting family.

From the windows we could see the surrounding land and the adjacent church.

St Nicholas Church

The church next door is where the local families attend services. Jane’s sister Cassandra and mother are both buried in the churchyard here.

St Nicholas Church

Graves of Jane Austen’s mother and sister, both named Cassandra.

Unfortunately, the weather continued blustery and rainy, so we abandoned our plan for a walk and drove twenty miles to visit Winchester Cathedral and Jane Austen’s grave. To be continued in the next blog post…

England Part 3 – White Cliffs (18-21)

June 9, 2018 / margaretquilts / Leave a comment

Day 4 – Seven Sisters/Birling Gap April 29, 2018

We took a train from Victoria Station to Brighton, and there rented a car for our next two weeks of adventures.

Our first stop was Birling Gap, East Sussex, on the English Channel. We took a short walk along the South Downs headlands toward Belle Tout Lighthouse, and had good views to the west of the Seven Sisters chalk cliffs.

Belle Tout Lighthouse

Walking back to Birling Gap

Seven Sisters chalk cliffs to the south

Half of the near building has fallen into the sea due to cliff erosion.

We went down the cliffside staircase to the beach along the white cliffs.

Bluebells!

To the north – cliff edge with half missing building above

South view from staircase

The cliffs are composed of Cretaceous chalk with flint bands and nodules. They weather to a gold color, but calve so often that they appear a beautiful stark white from a distance. Up close, the texture is flint nodules in a chalky substrate, and the beach itself is composed of wave washed nodules. I would notice these nodules later on our trip in the local building stone.

Chalk/flint cliffs

Nodules on the beach

We managed to stay just ahead of an impending storm. From Birling Gap, we drove back west to a B&B in Chawton, Hampshire. Tomorrow would be Jane Austen history day!

Astoria, Oregon; London Museums (18-19)

May 31, 2018 / margaretquilts / Leave a comment

Memorial Day weekend visit to Astoria, Oregon

May 26-28, 2018 A family member was camping at Fort Stevens State Park, so we made plans to stay in Astoria for a couple of nights and visit them. On Saturday we took a short walk to Coffenbury Lake from the campground.

Coffenbury Lake, Fort Stevens State Park

It was a beautiful evening, so we headed north to Clatsop Spit for a picnic on the beach, then visited several viewpoints to admire the clear views in every direction. We looked back toward Astoria, north toward Washington and Cape Disappointment, and west to the jetties that bound the shipping channel over the Columbia Bar.

View back to Astoria

Sadle Mountain

Bridge and column

Bird in Scotch broom

Trestle Lake

South toward Tillamook head

Clatsop Spit

Trestle Lake and Astoria

By sunset we made our way to the beach where the Wreck of the Peter Iredale slowly rusts away in the surf. This is an iconic Oregon landmark we had never visited, so I was glad to finally see it profiled against a colorful sky.

Sunday morning we drove across the Columbia River on the Astoria-Meglar Bridge to Washington.

We had once visited Cape Disappointment on a disappointingly foggy day. Today was sunny and clear. We took the short hike to the lighthouse and the Lewis and Clark Visitor Center.

Rhododendron

Cow parsley

Dead Man’s Cove

Cape Disappointment Lighthouse

Lewis & Clark Visitor Center

North Jetty

Lewis and Clark made it to this point, but did not recognize the mouth of the river because of the wide expanse of the estuary. We had beautiful views today, and interesting exhibits, including a decommissioned fresnel lighthouse lens – always so fascinating to look at.

Wallflowers and north jetty

Looking back toward the lighthouse

Map view of the mouth of the Columbia River

Later in the day we returned to Astoria and bought some fresh spring Chinook salmon to BBQ at the campground with our family members.

Monday we took a stroll along the waterfront in Astoria.

View to Washington

Cormorant on old pilings

Old pilot car

Pacific nine bark

Waiting for salmon to bite

Looking back up hill to the Astoria Column

We stopped to eat our lunch at Youngs River Falls before returning home. A pleasant weekend getaway.

England Trip Report Part 2

Day 2: London, Museums in the rain April 27, 2018

A rainy day. It was only two tube stops to the Victoria & Albert Museum in South Kensington. We didn’t even have to leave the underground – a long tunnel leads to the museum entrance. When we visited in 2011, the textile exhibit had been undergoing renovation, and I was hoping to see it this visit. But it turns out that there is no longer a textile wing. Textiles are scattered throughout the museum in various exhibits. Some highlights of our viewing:

From the Europe 1600-1815 Gallery:

And two drawing room spinning wheels:

The museum entrance has a domed ceiling with a fabulous Chihuly Glass Sculpture:

Medieval/Renaissance Sculpture Gallery

There is a Fashion Through Time exhibit:

Upstairs galleries are devoted to Ironwork, Glass, Ceramics and other decorative arts:

And Queen Victoria oversees all:

We grabbed a sandwich in the museum cafe. It was still rainy outside, so we went next door to the Natural History Museum.

This is a huge complex – one could never see it all, but we took in some dinosaurs:

We would see more of Mary Anning’s work later when we visited Lyme Regis.

Architectural details throughout the museum inspired by Natural History:

The enormous Hintze Hall:

and the Dodos.

There were tons of people and it was a bit overwhelming, but I enjoyed seeing the exhibits.

The rain had let up, so we continued walking north, past the Royal Albert Hall, the Albert Memorial,

Royal Albert Hall

Albert Memorial

and on to the gardens outside Kensington Palace.

Kensington Palace

Victoria again

This happened to be the day the name of new baby Prince Louis Arthur Charles was announced, so there was a small press pool camped out in their compound. We continued walking until we found ourselves at the Queensway station. We took the tube back to our lodging, refreshed, then found a nearby Indian restaurant for our dinner.

London, Day 3: Jane Austen’s portrait and more walking April 28, 2018

One of my goals for this trip was to see the Jane Austen portrait at the National Portrait Gallery in Trafalgar Square. Off we went on the tube to Leicester Square, followed by a short walk to the museum. We found the portrait exhibited in a specially lighted cabinet. It is the only existing picture of Jane Austen made during her lifetime – hard to imagine in these selfie days. The portrait is small and the pencil lines are faded. It was drawn by her sister Cassandra in 1810 when Jane was 35 and Cassandra was 37. I appreciated getting to spend several minutes looking at her as she was seen by the person who knew her best in the world.

Jane Austen Portrait in special case

We then took some time to explore the rest of the museum – an excellent walk through the faces of British history. As with any museum, one can’t see everything, but these portraits caught my eye:

Three views of Queen Elizabeth I:

Queen Elizabeth I

The only American in the museum:

George Washington

Some of my favorite authors:

the Bronte Sisters

Emily Bronte

George Eliot

Virginia Woolf

Charles Dickens

Robert Louis Stevenson

Rupert Brooke

Recent royalty:

Queen Elizabeth II

Princess Diana

After stopping for lunch in the National Gallery Cafe,

National Gallery

Trafalgar Square

we decided to walk across the Thames again on the Hungerford Bridge,

then walk east along the south bank as far as the Millenium Bridge. It was a busy Saturday – a bit overwhelming how many people there are in London at any one moment. Every language and ethnicity, especially in the tourist areas.

Mural hiding a construction site on the river

We crossed back to the north on the Millenium Bridge,

Tower Bridge

Non-orthagonal buildings on the skyline

the Shard

St Pauls ahead

but then felt too tired to attempt St Paul’s,

St Paul’s Cathedral

which we had visited in 2011, so we wandered back toward Blackfriars, and took the tube back to Victoria from there.

Looking back under the Millenium Bridge: Shakespeare’s Globe and the Tate Modern Museum

We found an Italian restaurant nearby – most of the patrons were getting ready to see Wicked or Hamilton playing at the two nearby theaters.

Victoria Palace Theater – we saw Billy Elliot here in 2011.

Typical tube scene

We had accomplished our sightseeing goals for London, had somewhat adjusted to the time shift, and were ready for the next phase of our journey – on to Brighton by train, then further exploration of southern England by car and trail.

SaveSave

Weldon Again/ Sasquatch sighting! And London, Day 1 (18-18)

May 23, 2018 / margaretquilts / 1 Comment

Weldon Wagon Road, Husum, WA 5/19/2018 Hike#31

We walked the Weldon Wagon Road trail again with friends who were hoping to see the blooming balsam root here, as we had last year. Instead, we were treated to a suite of later blooming flowers among the fading yellow blooms, including prolific ookow, buckwheat, wild onions, and a few new to me flowers.

May 2017

May 2018

monkey flowers

wild onion

frasera

balsam root and dogwood

bluehead gilia

balsam root, ookow and buckwheat

yarrow

ookow and bachelor buttons

deer brush

lupine

ookow

starflower

We enjoyed taking the trail slowly and catching up with friends – also saw a few creatures along the way:

butterfly on buckwheat

lizard

watchful oak tree

Sasquatch!

CRAFTING:

Not a lot of crafting this week, though many weeds were removed from the overgrown front yard. I added some sky stitches to the Elgol cross stitch.

England Trip Report, Part 1

April 23 to May 12, 2018

Some background: In June of 2011, we spent a full week in London with our three teen/young adult kids. Our rented flat in Kensington was like living in a museum. We visited many of the iconic sights – the British Museum and Library, Westminster Abbey, the Churchill War Rooms, Buckingham Palace, the V&A Museum, Hyde Park and Kensington Gardens, the London Eye, the Tower and Crown Jewels, St Pauls’ Cathedral, Covent Garden, Greenwich, Abby Road, the Tate Modern, Shakespeare’s Globe Theater, the London Eye. We didn’t see everything, but we saw a lot using the London Pass, which makes it practical to pop into some of the more expensive sights for a short look around without committing a whole day. We then spent another nine days with a rental car touring north of London, including Stratford-upon-Avon, northern Wales, Liverpool, Keswick in the Lakes District, Hadrian’s Wall, then flying home from Edinburgh.

What I missed on that trip were localities associated with my favorite author – Jane Austen. We saw her portable writing desk at the British Library, but I still wanted to get back to southern England to see more of her world.

For this trip, we started in London, and spent a few days walking around and adjusting to the time shift. Then we travelled in southern England via rented car to Jane Austen related places, and to hiking trails.

Day 1: London Thursday, 4/26/2018

We arrived in London at noon, which was 2 am Pacific time. We made an effort to sleep on the flight with some success, and managed to stay awake for the rest of the London day. A good start to our journey. We were lucky enough to be able to check in early to our room at the Premier Inn near Victoria Station, then off we went for our first day of London adventures. The weather for the next few days was predicted to be a mix of clouds and rain, and that would affect our sight seeing choices a bit.

Agatha Christie tribute near Leicester Square

Dan wanted return to Covent Garden to find the artist from whom he had purchased a hand painted tie in 2011. Luckily she was there, and he found another tie he liked. I’ll try to post a photo next week.

Covent Garden street scenes

After refreshing ourselves with a scoop of gelato, we walked down toward the Thames River as the weather was holding fair.

Thames view – Hungerford Bridge and London Eye

I noticed Cleopatra’s Needle was in our general path, so we stopped to look there, also, to see the lovely tulips blooming in Whitehall Gardens.

Whitehall Gardens

Cleopatra’s Needle -1500BC

One of two sphinxes that flank the needle

Sign identifies the WWII bomb damage to the sphinx

We crossed the river on the Hungerford Bridge, then walked along the south bank past the London Eye.

London Eye

Note the airplane threading the eye

We recrossed the river via Westminster Bridge,

Westminster Bridge, Big Ben, and Parliament

Parliament

Parliament details

A rose window of Westminster Abbey through the trees

Parliament square

then walked on into St James Park and toward Buckingham Palace.

View toward Buckingham Palace

Pelicans in the lake

Lots of waterbirds and blooming flowers:

View back toward Whitehall and the river

Victoria Memorial in front of Buckingham Palace

From there it was a short walk back to our lodging.

We passed Westminster Cathedral on the way.

Somewhat exhausted, we opted to eat dinner at our hotel restaurant – a good choice considering we could barely stay awake to eat it. We had walked about 5.5 miles including airports and underground concourses. Day one done.

To be continued…

Margaret Quilts

Quilting, Knitting, Hiking

England

Through Dartmore to Fowey – May 2, 2018 (18-43)

Day 7 – Road Day – Through Dartmoor to Fowey

Dartmoor National Park

Fowey

Charmouth Fossils and the Lyme Regis Cobb, with another glimpse of Jane Austen/ May 1, 2018 (18-34)

Ammonites, Charmouth Beach

Lyme Regis

Jane Austen Day! Part 2, Winchester (18-25)

Winchester Cathedral, April 30, 2018

Chawton

Jane Austen Day! Part 1, Chawton (18-24)

Day 5, Part 1: Monday, April 30, 2018 Chawton

Jane Austen’s House Museum

Chawton House

St Nicholas Church

England Part 3 – White Cliffs (18-21)

Day 4 – Seven Sisters/Birling Gap April 29, 2018

Astoria, Oregon; London Museums (18-19)

Memorial Day weekend visit to Astoria, Oregon

England Trip Report Part 2

Day 2: London, Museums in the rain April 27, 2018

London, Day 3: Jane Austen’s portrait and more walking April 28, 2018

Weldon Again/ Sasquatch sighting! And London, Day 1 (18-18)

Weldon Wagon Road, Husum, WA 5/19/2018 Hike#31

CRAFTING:

England Trip Report, Part 1

April 23 to May 12, 2018

Day 1: London Thursday, 4/26/2018