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.

My apologies for not having written for a while. I was on half term holiday last week, and have heaps to write about that – but it might end up having to wait until next week…

Today the school was closed at lunch time because it was snowing! Beautiful, soft clean snow – it actually makes the place look attractive. That is, until the kids got out into it at break time. It very quickly turned into a murky grey mush! And needless to say, the students were impossible between break and lunch. It was such a relief to get rid of them! In addition it gave me a chance to catch up on my emailing! In a minute I will head home, where hopefully there are a few piles of white fluffy snow (and yes, it really is fluffy!) to play in. Unfortunately I am in the middle of my second cold for the year… This is just a mild sniffle though, not the disgusting lung disease I had last time!

Last Friday night I braved Friday evening peak hour and took the train into London then out again to St Albans. Now I know what it feels like to be a cow on a semi-trailer, although I was going somewhere much nicer than an abattoir! I arrived at about 7pm after a 2 hour journey, having reassessed my values regarding inappropriate body contact with strangers… I can’t believe how close commuters are prepared to get!

My friends Beth and Vish and their small son Sebastian live in a small terrace house in St Albans. Beth and I were friends during our uni days. They have been living in England for about 6 years.

On Friday night Vish offered to stay at home with Sebastian, allowing Beth and I to go to the local cinema to see Ocean’s Twelve, a mildly entertaining, very indulgent film! Ah well, at least I got to see Brad Pitt in a very nicely fitted shirt! The next morning after a bit of a sleep-in (or a lie-in as they say here), Beth and I walked into town to see the sights. We walked into the market place which was full (but not seething, as it sometimes can be) of people selling and buying fish, vegetables, and clothes of indifferent quality. A battle during the War of the Roses was supposed to have occured near here, but it was hard to imagine it… From there we walked past a medieval clock tower and a Tudor inn that some dead queen’s body stayed at over night on her way to be buried in London!

Of course, the feature of St Albans is its cathedral. The church dates from 1077, but a Benedictine abbey was founded on the site in the 8th century. It is named for Alban, a Roman soldier, who was martyred for sheltering a priest in 209. The cathedral grew over time, and you can see each stage clearly as different building materials (including Roman bricks) were used. An interesting feature were the murals from the 13th century painted on the columns. They had been whitewashed during the Reformation and were not rediscovered until 1862 when they were very nearly cleaned right off! The choir ceiling was amazing; it was decorated with the red and white roses of the houses of Lancaster and York. Just beautiful. Could have almost lain right down on the (beautifully) tiled floors and stared for hours… if it hadn’t been so cold! I did take loads of photos, until my batteries ran out, but hope to get back to take more.

From there Beth and I walked past a lake, where there was a section of a Roman wall, and on to a small cosy cafe where we ate waffles. I have to say, I love waffles! Very tasty. We also wandered past reputedly the oldest pub in England, although it is not the only one to claim to be so. It also claims that Oliver Cromwell once spent the night!

Beth and Vish graciously drove me home. It only took about 45 minutes (a far cry from my 120 minute train trip) so now that I have done it once in day light I will drive next time!

I am in the middle of planning for my half term holiday which begins in a week. I am planning to go to Winchester, Lyme Regis, Bath (all of which are a part of my Jane Austen pilgrimage), Hay-on-Wye (which is apparently full of second hand book stores – can I resist?), and then on to Liverpool, mainly to see a performance of Dr Faustus starring an obscure British actor I quite fancy! I am really looking forward to my first trip away.

This weekend, I will spend most of the time going through the coursework folders of my Year 11 GCSE English class. The poor darlings have been a little neglected through many changes of teachers, so I am hoping to help them out and improve their grades. I am beginning to feel like I am connecting with them which is nice. It makes life so much easier. So it will be a quiet weekend, probably with not much to write about next weekend!

I took myself off to the theatre again on Saturday. I wasn’t sure if I would do anything much as I still wasn’t well, and walking in the cold air was doing nothing for my cough. However come Saturday morning I decided I was up to a train trip into London with minimal walking!

I went to see a matinee performance of ‘Journey’s End’ a play written by a veteran of World War I, based on his experiences. It was set in the two days leading up to a major offensive by the Germans and the only set was a bunker where a group of English soldiers were living only fifty metres from the front line. It was quite a powerful performance. Of course, they allowed us to get to know the characters, and sympathise with them, then… well I won’t give away the ending! However the most remarkable thing was the sound effects used at the final scene. They completely darkened the set and audience, and assaulted us with bomb blasts to the point where the floor vibrated. For the first time I was able to glimpse what it might have been like to have been a soldier on the front. It left me quite shaken…

On Sunday afternoon I went for my first drive out in the countryside. Yes people, I finally escaped the confines of Basildon by car! And it wasn’t anywhere near as scary as I had feared! A bit like driving in the Adelaide Hills! I am getting used to the English love affair with roundabouts (honestly can’t remember a single intersection with traffic lights…). I aimed for the medieval town of Saffron Walden. I didn’t spend much time there as it was getting late and I was anxious about getting home before dark, but intend going back to have a good look around and take some photos. I also drove through a tiny village called Thaxted. The houses were extraordinary – terraces all different shapes and sizes squashed together and in lolly pastel colours! All crooked doors and leaning walls! I will make sure I return to take photos here too!

This weekend I am off to St Albans to visit an old uni friend and her family. I am really looking forward to spending time with some Australians, and once again being a tourist!