I spent the day with a new friend Jessica. She was one of the first people I met as she made a point of introducing herself to me. She is the head cook at the canteen at my school and her older two boys attend the school. Jessica was particularly keen to get to know me as she lived in South Australia for some time, being the child of some ‘Ten Pound Poms’! I now tutor her youngest son on Monday nights, and usually stay for one of Jessica’s excellent meals. She and her boys are becoming wonderful friends.

Jessica and I decided to visit the Tower of London – one of those places that just has to be done! It was an interested day, not least of which because I got to see a side of Henry VIII that hadn’t really occurred to me before. One of the biggest features of the Tower is the display of armour and weaponry, much of it from Henry VIII’s collection. It got to the point where you could pick what had belonged to his army because it was clearly the biggest or the most powerful. I began to get quite a picture of his power as a ruler, and along with it, his arrogance. His armour confirmed this, rather hilariously. I believe he was in his forties when it was made for him, and lets face it, he was not a delicate fragile man! He was rather generously proportioned. The funniest thing was… how can I put this delicately? He had a somewhat optimistic view of the protection required for his manhood! Jessica and I took one look and burst into a fit of giggles (embarrassingly, no one else was laughing…). We had just been talking quite seriously about what an arrogant self-important man he was, and this seemed to top our verdict off admirably!

From there we did the girly thing and had a peek at the crown jewels. Frankly they were a little gaudy for my taste… Okay, I admit I’m just jealous I will never have rocks like that!

One of the most interesting spots was the tower where prisoners were kept. They have preserved the graffiti carved into the walls by prisoners with clearly too much time on their hands and not a lot of entertainment options. Some of it was exquisite and well worth spending time examining closely.

All in all the Tower of London is expensive, but well worth taking a look at. We really did enjoy our day.

In the interests of having as many ‘cultural’ experiences as possible, I decided, with my friend Paula and her daughter Bethany, to spend Saturday at Crufts! These things have to be done, you know, and being a dog lover (specifically a Nancy-dog lover – I miss my poochy!) I thought it would be fun!

Crufts is held at the NEC at Birmingham, which is about a 2-hour drive from Basildon. We left early Saturday morning, and arrived at about 10am. The NEC is huge! There’s just nothing like it in Australia – it seems to go on forever! The dog show and all its accompanying paraphernalia fills two large exhibition halls. Heats for each class are carried out at various locations throughout the hall, and the main ring is reserved for things like finals and working dog trials that require a quieter space. We spent some time watching the working dogs; sheepdog trials at the Lucindale Field Days have nothing on this! In the spaces not filled with dog showing, there is stall upon stall of every possible dog-related merchandise imaginable. If you can’t buy it at Crufts, I don’t think they sell it! I admit I succumbed and bought some new ruggies and a little coat for Nancy…

My favourite part of the show was the display of all the different breeds. Every breed on show had a stall with breeding and temperament information, and you got the chance to meet the doggies and give them a cuddle. I went on a search for the Irish Wolf Hounds and found I loved them as much as I had hoped. Unfortunately I don’t think I will ever own a house and yard big enough to accommodate them – they are the size of a small pony! I also went looking for the various breeds that make up my little mongrel darling, and found the Lancashire Terrier to be the closest in many ways. Heaven knows where she got that from!

We stayed to watch the finals of one of the sections – a very interesting process. All in all it was a genuinely entertaining day!

On the last day of my holiday I went into Liverpool for the day. I had a ticket booked for a performance of Dr Faustus at the Liverpool Playhouse. I confess my main reason for attending the performance is that the star of performance, Jamie Bamber (who played Mephistopheles) is on my list of Obscure British Actors I Fancy! Some of you may know him as Kennedy from the Hornblower series (starring Ioan Gruffud, also on the OBAIF list…) but most would now know him from his role as Apollo in the new series of Battlestar Galactica. The girls on the Jamie Bamber Forum (www.jamiebamber.co.uk/jbforum) know him as their little Crumpet… but that’s another story entirely…

I thoroughly enjoyed the performance. I had never seen a performance of Dr Faustus before, and this was an impressive one (in my limited experience). The setting was a modern one, lots of corduroy and woollen pullovers. Jamie Bamber’s Mephistopheles was terrifying and vulnerable all at once, making you unable to decide whether he horrified you, or if you wouldn’t mind taking him home for a hot dinner and a comforting cuddle (are you meant to feel this way about Mephistopheles?). It was quite an athletic performance too, with lots of jumping about on tables.

The other notable performance for me was that of Michael Brown, who played the female roles, among others. While he is quite a handsome young bloke, he made quite an alarmingly beautiful Helen of Troy! Hmmm… very pretty indeed!

The finale of the performance was spectacular, with real flames used to during the burning of the library – quite dramatic, especially since I was in the front row, and could feel the heat! All in all, a satisfying introduction to Marlow for me!

I apologise that my blog is not yet up to date! Special apologies to Olwen who is still waiting with baited breath for my account of the performance of Jamie Bamber in Dr Faustus (or perhaps she has given up on me…). Rest assured I will get up to date with that and other things such as my visit to Crufts Dog Show, a visit to the Tower of London, my Easter day trips to Blenheim Palace and Dover Castle, my first taste of an English nightclub: The Pink Toothbrush (!?) in Raleigh, and my most recent visit to the theatre to see Kevin Spacey and Mary Stuart Masterson in National Anthems.

But for now you will have to be patient with me! I leave this afternoon for my two-week holiday to Ireland. I am driving to Holyhead today and catch the ferry to Dublin tomorrow morning. I will spend a couple of days in Dublin, a day in Mountmellick, two days in Galway and then will spend a day visiting St Joseph’s Secondary School in Spanish Point, Clare, which is my school’s (Clare High School) sister school. From there I will drive to Kilarney to join my Peregrine walking tour through the Ring of Kerry. It does look like I will get to use the waterproof pants which were in the ‘Very Important’ part of the recommended gear list! Oh joy!

I promise all will be updated soon after my return!

After another quick wander around the town, mainly in search of a postcard to send Jill, the librarian at my school in Australia, I began the leg of my journey to Chester. However before I could get away I had to wait for no less than 40 minutes while the woman parked behind me to come back from what ever took her so long and move her car! I had parked across the road from my B&B in a small parking area beneath the town clock. Parking is clearly at a premium as it seems to be everywhere in the UK, and no one apparently thinks anything of blocking in others as they would be ‘just a minute!’ Hmmm… Good thing I wasn’t in a hurry and was in the mood to be patient and gracious!

I began my journey north, and enjoyed wandering slowly along the twisty ‘B’ roads. The sweetest thing I cam across was a little rickety wooden toll bridge! It cost me the princely sum of 50p, collected by a little old man, for the privilege of having just crossed his bridge – a little cheaper than the Dartford Crossing!

As I was driving along I came across a sign advertising a nearby castle managed by English Heritage. Not holding our much hope that it would be open in February, I turned off and made my way to the car park. To my pleasant surprise it was opened and I made the first use of my English Heritage membership to get in for free. Stokesay Castle was very small and virtually ruined, but enough of the interior woodwork remained to make it really interested. It was snowing lightly which made it pretty cold (enough of the numb ears for heaven’s sake!). The nearby church was open and I quite enjoyed wandering through it.

I arrived in Chester late in the afternoon and again made my way to the tourist information centre to find a map. Chester was the hardest of the places I visited to navigate, but I found my way to my guesthouse eventually. I hadn’t really planned to see much of Chester as I was really only here so I could pop up to Liverpool on the train the next morning so I could see a performance of Dr Faustus at the Liverpool Playhouse.

I didn’t leave Bath straight away the following morning, because there was one thing more I wanted to do. I had found out that there was an exhibition of the art of E.H. Shepard, who did the original illustrations of Winnie-the-Pooh! I thoroughly enjoyed the exhibition, particularly the ways in which he illustrated his personal correspondence. His drawings were just beautiful!

I left Bath late in the morning and headed towards Wales. Hay-on-Wye is in England, but is very close to the Welsh border, and the most direct and interesting route was through the Black Mountains. This town had attracted my attention because it is full of second-hand bookshops! Richard Booth, who proclaimed himself ‘King of Hay’ and is the owner of Hay Castle, set up the first bookshop in 1961. He claims it is the largest second-hand bookshop in the world. Now there are over 30 bookshops, plus a few antique and craft shops. I really enjoyed wandering through the winding streets, but didn’t buy anything as I had well and truly blown my book-buying budget in Bath at the Jane Austen Centre!

I stayed in a really comfortable and beautifully decorated B&B called Clifton House with very welcoming owners. It was situated in the centre of town right near the clock tower that let me know what time it was every 15 minutes… all through the night!

I took my time driving to Bath and arrived in the early afternoon. I decided to have a wander through the town centre straight away, and parked near my guesthouse accommodation. My first port of call, as always, was the tourist information centre where I gathered maps and brochures of places of interest. I also found out about the free walking tours that run everyday and made a note to join one the following morning.

As my main reason for visiting was to continue my Jayne Austen pilgrimage, I decided to waste no time and visit the Jane Austen Centre. I spent half an hour browsing the collection of books and other goodies in an effort to be strategic on what I bought! Frankly I could have gone crazy! I left most of my purchases to the next day, when I planned to revisit, listen to their introductory talk and visit the display they had prepared. By this stage it was getting late and cold, so I decided to check into my guesthouse.

I began the next morning with the walking tour, organised by the City of Bath, and conducted at no charge by ‘The Mayor’s Corps of Honorary Guides.’ My guide was a retired gentleman with a wicked sense of humour; he kept my group entertained for 2 hours with many fascinating stories about the town and its history. He informed us of the history of the Abbey, we walked through the Pump Room, he pointed out the features of Georgian architecture, which I have to say, I really admire, and told many yarns about Beau Nash’s efforts to make Bath a ‘city of fashion’. As the only Australian in the group, he made the point of pointing out to me the house where Captain Arthur Phillip (captain of the First Fleet and first governor of New South Wales, for those of you who didn’t pay attention in your Australian History lessons) died, apparently falling from the first floor window – I believe he was ill at the time! Of course, there was the obligatory walk past the Circus and the Royal Crescent. Very elegant buildings of course, and the Circus was quite the who’s who of English society, with all the plaques stating who had lived where! The walking tour also took us past the Assembly Rooms and Great Pultney Street, the grandest street in Bath, and really quite impressive!

After the walking tour, I did the ‘Roman Baths’ thing, along with 50 screaming Year 5 students and about 30 rude American teenagers… It was interesting, but to be frank, I am less interested in the Roman history of Bath as I am in the Georgian! After lunch I walked up to the Assembly Rooms to visit the Museum of Costume, which I loved. It contained a collection of fashion from the 16th Century to the present, and was fascinating. As interesting for me was a special exhibition of costumes that had been created for the various television and film adaptations of Jane Austen’s novels. My Mum and I had always been interested in how they went about designing and creating the fabrics in particular, so this was really enjoyable! I spent some time wandering through some of the more interesting shops in Bath, and found a little one called Susannah that specialised in vintage textiles. I found the special thing for which I was looking for my Mum’s recent birthday: a patchwork bag made from a vintage Edwardian rose print and French ticking. For the record, she tells me she loves it! As my students here would say, I was well chuffed!

I finished my afternoon with another visit to the Jane Austen Centre. I listened to their introductory talk, given by a very enthusiastic woman (I was pleased to discover that I knew virtually everything she shared about Austen’s life) and then wandered slowly through the museum. I particularly liked seeing Jane Austen’s sampler that she did as a girl. I discovered after that one could buy a cross-stitch kit ‘inspired by’ the sampler; that is, they took a few bits of it and rearranged it slightly to apparently appeal to modern tastes! I confessed I succumbed, but have yet to begin it! I also purchased a number of books, mostly focussing on the background information about the settings of Austen’s novels, which should be quite useful for my teaching in Australia, as well as being of great personal interest.

By this stage it was the end of another interesting, but very, very cold day and I was grateful to return to my guesthouse.

I arrived at Lyme Regis late in the afternoon. I had a small map of the town in my Lonely Planet guide, and the street on which my B&B was located seemed quite normal – until I turned in to it – it was no more than a glorified footpath! Thankfully only one-way traffic, although I had my doubts to begin with! Lyme Regis is a tiny village tucked into the side of a valley in a little bay. The houses, all white and pastel pinks and yellows seem to tumble into each other. Being mid-winter it was very quiet, and unfortunately a few places I would liked to have visited were closed.

My B&B, Coombe House, was very pleasant, and the hosts lovely and interesting people. Hugh’s comments in their little introductory folder were very entertaining! I stayed for two nights, as I wanted to have a full day to wander about the town.

My main reason for choosing to visit Lyme Regis rather than any other adorable seas-side village was because it was one of the settings for my favourite Jane Austen novel, Persuasion. I had read that Austen visited the place with her family, and really loved the place. I had also enjoyed the film adaptation starring Amanda Root and Ciaran Hinds. I wanted to see the places that featured in both the novel and the film.

I spent the day wandering along the seashore, making my way slowly to the Cobb, the protective wall that enables the bay to be used as a port. In spite of the fact it was winter, and it was snowing wildly throughout most of the rest of England, it was a perfect day, with a clear blue sky and sunshine. The beach was pebbled, and I loved the swish the water made on the smooth rocks. I walked along the Cobb until I found the steps Louisa was supposed to have fallen down. The steps Jane Austen had in mine are called ‘Granny’s Teeth’, and were a little too precarious to tempt me to walk down them. A little way further along were another, more stable, set of steps that were used in the film adaptation.

I returned to the town to wander up the high street – a very steep climb to the top! The town seems largely unspoiled by tacky tourism, and there were some charming shops. I found a sweet little second-hand bookshop at which I found a copy of Baedeker about Italy. I had always wanted to see this book since I had read A Room With a View. I couldn’t resist buying it, although at 25 pounds, I have no immediate intention of flinging it into the Arno when I visit Florence! It came in quite cold in the late afternoon, and even began to snow a little.

I left the following morning well satisfied with my visit to Lyme Regis. I really did fall in love with the place and should love to visit again some day. My B&B host encouraged me to visit one of the local charity shops to buy the copy of Persuasion she had seen there for only a pound, particularly as I was now heading to Bath. I am glad I took her up on the suggestion as I devoured it in two weeks – being able to picture the places Austen writes about really does bring the novel alive!

I left Winchester at about 9.30am and decided to wander slowly south-west to Lyme Regis, a tiny sea-side village. It wasn’t far to Stonehenge, and it is one of those places one must ‘do’ when one comes to England. I was distracted on the way, however, by a sanctuary for birds of prey. Thinking of my father, who is a bird watcher, I stopped for a look.

I spent a wonderful (but absolutely frigid) hour wandering about the displays of owls, vultures and eagles. My favourites were the Snowy Owl (a glorious crsip white) and the Pygmy Owl (so adorably tiny). Particularly fascinating was the Secretary Bird. It is an odd looking bird, so named because they look like old-fashioned secretaries; go to this website to see a photograph. They stand about a metre tall, and have the oddest walk. They really do look like they are wearing old-fashioned breeches. I was persuaded to stay for the demonstration flights (it was so cold, it took some convincing) however it was well worth it! They began with the Barn Owl, followed by a spectacular flight by a Pergrine Falcon. Then they brought out the Secretary Bird to demonstrate how it kills snakes by stomping on it - a very determined bird! They demonstrated the habits of a group of vultures (I confess I can’t remember the species) then finished with a duck race! The children present loved this of course. After the demonstration they allowed the children to hold some of the owls. It was lovely to be so close and be able to take photos.

From the sanctuary, I drove to Stonehenge. I would never have expected to have seen as large a crowd on such a bleak and brutally cold day, but then it was a Sunday afternoon! I am afraid it was a bit hard to get excited about it when my ears were going numb! However I got some nice photos and I was glad to have seen it!

From Stonehenge I headed south towards Dorchester. I decided to take a short detour to Thomas Hardy’s cottage, where he apparently wrote Far from the Madding Crowd among other things. I have to say that after seeing his delightful cottage and walking through the peaceful nearby woods, I might actually grow to like the man (I am still emotionally scarred from having to read Tess of the D’Urbervilles and The Mayor of Casterbridge for Year 12 English!).

I arrived in Lyme Regis late in the afternoon. I discovered my B&B (another gorgeous home with interesting, welcoming hosts) tucked down a tiny path crowded at each side by tall buildings which was apparently a road! It was a bit nerve-wracking driving up it - thankfully it was one-way - although I had my doubts and was expecting to see some nutter careering down towards me!

I fell in love with Lyme Regis, but will tell you more in the next installment!

Forgive me for having taken so long to update this. I can only access the Internet at school, and life has been so busy lately, trying to mark GCSE coursework and Year 7 exams!

In February I had my first Half-term break. One glorious week to potter about the English countryside! I decided that the focus of this first opportunity to travel should be my Jane Austen pilgrimage. So I planned an itinerary that included Winchester, Lyme Regis and Bath. From there I travelled to Hay-on-Wye on the Welsh border, because I had heard of all the secondhand bookstores there. After a day there, I drove to Chester, mainly so I could get to Liverpool to see a performance of Dr Faustus.

I left early on Saturday morning, ready to tackle the M25 for the first time. I had heard many horror stories about traffic jams (apparantly it has the reputation for being the biggest car park in the northern hemisphere) however today was my lucky day and the trip was very quick.

I arrived in Winchester at about midday and immediately found the tourist information centre and a handy map to negotiate my way around the town. This became my habit in every new place, and I can recommend it - although the towns in England are so well signposted it is generally very easy to find train stations, car parks and tourist attractions.

As my purpose was to begin my Jane Austen pilgrimage, I began at the end, as it were, by visiting her tomb in Winchester Cathedral. The cathedral is quite lovely, and I was able to take photos of her tombstone and the plaque on the wall that mentions her skills as an author (the inscription on her tombstone mentions nothing of her writing).

From the cathedral, it was a short walk around the corner to the house where Jane spent the final few weeks of her life. It is a private home and was painted an unfortunate apricot colour…

There were many other things to see in this elegant city. I wondered along the water meadows where Keats was supposedly inspired to write ‘Ode to Autumn’. Couldn’t see it myself, but then it was a bleak, cold winter’s day - I will have to return in October! I enjoyed walking along the river back into town and past Wolvesey Castle - they have landscaped this area beautifully. Unfortunately castle was not yet open. Many attractions do not open until April - one of the perils of travelling through the UK in the winter. After lunch I wandered up to the Westgate, the remainder of the wall that once surrounded the city, and then to the Great Hall, the last remaining part of Winchester Castle. This contains King Arthur’s Round Table, but don’t get too excited - its a 14th Century forgery! Nevertheless it is beautiful and fascinating!

By this stage it was getting dark, so I decided to find my B&B accomodation for the night. This was to be my first B&B experience in the UK, and I have to say I love it! For a start it is one of the cheapest forms of accomodation - only youth hostels are cheaper. In addition you are usually staying with really interesting people in lovely homes. In Winchester I stayed at the home of Stephanie Boden, the recently widowed wife of an artist whose paintings covered the walls of the home. She lived just around the corner from the local cinema, so I popped around to see The Magic Roundabout, which was as surreal as I remembered it as a child! After the film, I had my first experience of eating alone in a restaurant - not my favourite part of travelling alone! Thank goodness for a good book. In the morning, over chunky slices of homemade bread and tea, Stephanie told me that Colin Firth (aka Mr Darcy) lived near Winchester, and that his parents lived ‘just up the road’. Hmmm… Could have been tempted to do some stalking, but I rose above the impulse and headed off for the next leg of my journey - the drive to Lyme Regis.