The Rest of England

On our way down to Ripon in the Yorkshire dales, we stop to see a piece of Hadrian's Wall and one of the Mile Castles which were all along it. It's drizzling a bit now, so we're going to get a bit wet. Strangely, there is no Tourist Information center with a gift shop here, so we just have to see it for ourselves. We even get to walk (carefully) through a cow pasture to get to the wall section. Of course, it's mostly ruins by now, but enough of it is left to give us an idea of what a huge undertaking this was. The Romans couldn't conquer the Picts and the Scots, so they just walled them off. Interesting idea. It seems that the wall held for quite some time, until the pay stopped coming from Rome, then the soldiers just sort of drifted away. Fortunately, there are public toilets here, because it's a long drive to Ripon. But we're off the main roads much of the way, so the scenery is nice.

When we get off the highway at the Ripon exit, we notice a sign that says, "Thirsk, 7 miles" (the other way). Thirsk is the Darrowby of James Herriot's books. We're 7 miles away, and we aren't going to get there. Still, I tell myself, Herriot probably got over to Ripon a few times, and we are in the same countryside, so I guess it's not all that bad. Plus, I can't get that "All Creatures" theme song out of my head. Still, it would be nice to see the actual town. Next time, definitely.

Our hotel is right on the town square. They have a tradition here which involves a watchman blowing a horn from all four corners of the square every night at 9:00 pm. They tell us that this has been going on since the 800s. I definitely have to see this one.

When we check into our room, I am interested to discover that we only have a bathtub, no shower. When we go down for supper, other members of the group tell us that they only have showers, and that there is no hot water coming out of them. No one relays this information to the front desk, so the hotel staff doesn't find out that one of their hot water heaters is out of order until the next morning.

Supper is again quite good. I have melon to start, and a nut loaf for the main dish. Kind of like a meatloaf, but vegetarian, made with nuts. Ice cream for desert, of course. It seems that the head waiter is also the owner/manager of the hotel, and most of the staff is made up of his family. It's just that kind of a hotel. Kind of old, but with a family feel. Nice and relaxing.

We all go out to the square for the hornblowing at 9:00. There's a large column-like monument on the square with a plaque on it telling the history of the tradition. They guy comes out at 9:00, in full regalia, and blows this semicircular horn (made out of some huge animal horn) from the 4 corners of the monument. Very interesting. He then begins explaining the history of the tradition, the story of the horn, and the duties that it still involves. Towards the end of his speech, he's interrupted by this guy coming across the square yelling "Hear Ye! Hear Ye!" Then something about the government killing Yorkshiremen. The watchman does his best to finish off his speech, and tells the rabble-rouser that, No, he doesn't want to talk to him. The rabble-rouser then corners a couple members of our group and continues on at some length with his complaints. I ask them later what he was talking about, but they only thing they can figure is that the guy is anti-government. I think that he may also have been a bit blitzed. Definitely odd. I wander around and get a couple more pictures of the town before going back up to the room. I think I'll save the bath for the morning. There's still nothing on TV, but I manage to keep watching for a bit before bed.

Tuesday, June 20, 1995

The last day of the big tour. This is the day that the librarians split off from the rest of the group for our conference at Newbold College. I'd best get up and enjoy the day. It starts off pretty well, a bath in the morning can be quite nice if you have the time. Fortunately, today I do. And I still have time afterwards for The Big Breakfast. Yep, looks like this other woman is the regular host and Dani was just filling in. Too bad.

A surprise at breakfast today. They have vegetarian sausages to go with our eggs and Rice Krispies. Quite good. They sort of have the texture of the Worthington (or Loma Linda) chicken frozen patties, but taste sausage-like. Well, vegetarian sausage-like, anyway.

Then it's time to load up the bus and get back to the touring again. But today, traffic is horrible. This is the sort of traffic you might expect in DC, NY or LA, but not semi-rural Britain. The bus driver takes some side roads to hurry the journey along, but all too soon we have to get back on the main highway to get to our destination. We may have been scheduled to do two sights today, but it looks like we'll only have time for the Wedgewood factory.

We finally get there a little after 11:00. We don't get the factory-floor tour here like we got in Waterford or Galashiels. Just a video presentation on the history and art techniques of Wedgewood China, then a tour through their museum. There's an area where kids can work with some clay and cut-out forms to teach them a little more about the technique, but most of the adults head right for teh shop. All kinds of opportunities to buy breakable things, but I think I'll pass on that. It's lunchtime, and I'm hungry.

Fortunately, there's a cafeteria on the grounds to cater to needs such as mine. I get the usual sandwich and stuff, but the really cool thing about this cafeteria is that all of the plates are actual Wedgewood china. Just makes the place more classy. This fact alone, I think, will make this one of the more memorable stops on the tour.

Then it's off to Shakespeare country. Stratford-upon-Avon. On the way in, we stop at the Anne Hathaway cottage. Seems she was Shakespeare's wife. I sort of knew that going in (or at least acted like I knew that), but I don't learn much else about her because we don't take the tour or the cottage. We don't have the time, and most of us probably won't want to spare the money. So we just wander around the area taking pictures. That is one skinny little house. Odd. Nice stream nearby, though.

Now we drive in to Stratford proper. This is going to be the point of separation for the librarians and the rest of the tour. They are going on to Newbold College tonight for a "Farewell Dinner," while we stay here to join the other librarians on their field trip out here and catch Romeo and Juliet tonight. We say our goodbyes and I thank the bus driver for taking such good care of us.

We walk into town and notice that the residents of this town really do realize why everyone else comes to visit. One of the most visually interesting evidences of this fact are the canal-style boats that you can rent to tool around on the Avon river in. I'm not going to do that, but it is interesting to see how many of those kinds of boats there are here.

We're supposed to see this sort of introductory "multimedia" thing, but due to our continuing traffic delays, we've missed one showing and still have some time before the next presentation, so I have time to go back to the travel agency I saw on the way in and cash another traveler's check.

I also get to meet the librarians from Newbold who are putting this whole conference together. They seem like very nice people. And they are able to tell us when and where to meet for the play.

The "multi-media" show is actually more like the presentation I saw in Salem, Mass. when I was on a New England Trip during my senior year in high school. There are various diaramas around the room and they are lighted at the appropriate times during the narration. We get to stand in the middle of the room and look around. Basic tourist stuff, but it's mostly interesting.

Afterwards, we still have some time to sightsee and eat, so I go off with a couple other librarians to see the Shakespeare sights. Everything costs money to get in, of course, so we finally decide to pay up to see inside the Birthplace house. If we're going to be here, we might as well. We see a couple of other sights, including the place where Shakespeare apparently actually lived while he was in town. Naturally, it was torn down a long time ago, and a pub stands there now. But a plaque is still up.

We meet up with a few other librarians and find this great little restaurant for supper. I get spaghetti, but no desert. A little pricey for my taste. However, they are playing this great collection of Simon & Garfunkle music in the background. I've never heard this particular selection of songs before, so I ask the management about it on the way out. They say the album title is The Definitive Simon & Garfunkle. I'll have to look for it when I get back home.

On our way to the theater, we stop at an ice cream shop for desert. Somewhat more reasonable prices, I think. Then we meet up with the rest of the librarians and go in for the play.

Romeo and Juliet isn't my favorite Shakespeare play, but then again, I don't think I've ever see a stage production of it all the way through. Plus, we're in Shakespeare's town, so it just seems right to see one of his plays in the theater here. We have alot of tickets for our group because many people said they would come. Apparently some of them didn't because we have many empty seats around us int he balcony when we get in. From the costuming, it looks like they are setting the play in 18th or 19th century Italy, which makes it a bit more interesting. It's always fun to see stuff live, so I enjoy the experience.

Afterwards, while outside waiting for the bus, I see a poster which tells me that Josie Lawrence, one of my favorite performers from the British game show "Who's Line Is It Anyway?" that they've been playing on Comedy Central, is going to be in a production of Taming of the Shrew later this year. Ah well. I'd really like to see that, but it seems unlikely.

The bus we get to ride back to the college in is somewhat older than the nice one I've been riding around the country in. I guess the tour really is over.

They take roll on the way back, and when my name is called, for some reason I decide to be cute and yell, "Jawol!" The roll-taker doesn't hear me, so I resort to the customary "Yes" when he calls again. A couple of names later, he calls the couple from the German seminary. Suddenly I feel kind of foolish for the "Jawol" thing. I guess it's because I suddenly realize that there are actually people from different countries here, so I should really try to be a bit more sensative, or something. Perhaps I'm over-reacting, but I still kinda felt like the stereotypical Stupid American Tourist there for a minute.

We are also given envelopes with our room keys for the dorm rooms we've been assigned to. I just hope my suitcase got there too, like I was promised it would.

It's a little late in the evening now, so I decide to catch a nap on the way to the college, or at least my body does. However, I am awakened a little later because the bus is filling with smoke. We have to pull over and pile out. Turns out that there was a rag left in or around the tailpipe and it started smoldering. Well, that was fun.

When we finally get to campus, I go to the dorm and down to room number 5, the number on my key. Yep, it works. However, I'm a bit startled by the female voice saying, "Yes, hello?" when I open the door. Turns out that Arthur & Andrew and I were all assigned to room 5, will Jilliene got room 3. They decided Andrew and I would take room 3 and Arthur & Jilliene would stay in room 5. They also thought they left a note for me explaining the change, but apparently the info never found me. So we finally get that all straightened out. Time for bed, finally.

Hmm. No TV, the beds are in bunks, and they only have a sheet and a blanket. Yep, I'm in a dorm room, and the days of hotels on the tour are definitely over.

On to the ASDAL Conference and Home.

Back to Edinburgh.

Back to the Trip Page.

Way back to my Homepage.

scottrel@cuc.edu