75 England - Devizes

One last call before heading back to Salisbury and hopefully missing the Stonehenge traffic was to Devizes. 

The attraction here is the approx 16 locks along the Avon River.  Here we stopped at a cafe and watched as the Canal Boats manoeuvred their way in and out of these locks.. all done manually with brute strength and a socket tool that opens and closes the sluices. 

These long canal boats are either really beautifully maintained or left to sadly deteriorate.  These locks are certainly a contrast to the locks we pass through in the Panama Canal though the mechanics on how they work is the same... We giggled as we watch a family of swans nearly getting caught in one of the locks by they quickly hi tailed it out as the doors started to close.

What another Cream Tea!!

74 England – Bath

We arrived early evening in Bath and surprisingly easily found our hotel.  The Red Door Hotel... expectations where not high as it was fairly cheap compared to other hotels in the area.   We were worried about parking but Garry only had to do a couple rounds of the block to find a spot.  As it was Saturday evening and as the next day was Sunday, for the first time in England, parking was free.  From the name we were not surprised to hear that the fellow at reception sounded very Russian.  He explained several times in different ways that it was room only and they did not have facilities for breakfast and for free Internet we had to sit in the lounge...

Our expectations were not exceeded as the room was everything we expected it to be for the price... clean and it was quiet and close to the city centre, and nothing more.... we were happy with that..

74 a England - Bath cont

We woke early in the morning and checked out.  We already had our parking spot for the day ( and it was free ) so we just left our bags in the car and off we went exploring.

As it was early Sunday morning,  the streets were very quiet so to fill in the time before the Roman Baths opened we headed up to The Circus. A circle of apartments surrounding a very nice green in the middle.  We walked a little further around and saw the Royal Crescent that Bath is famous for.

 

We then weaved our way down some back streets until we found the square where the Cathedral and the Roman Baths were.  The Roman Baths were very impressive, a lot of work has been done to make it as interactive and interesting as possible. You follow the route around using your headset guide explaining each area you visit.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

74b England - Bath cont

By the time we left the Baths we were starting to feel a little peckish and you know there must be a cream tea to have somewhere.  Well what do you know we found a little street and right in front of us we found Sally Lunns... Sally became famous thanks to her Sally Lunn Buns.   Think of a really big hamburger bun, but lighter and airier.  The house is a museum as well as a tea house and as we walked in we were taken straight to a table.  You can get a Sally Lunn with all different types of toppings ... be it savoury or sweet... and these buns are so big you only get half...  we decided on a jam and cream sally lunn.... Der.... and a pot of tea.....  just delicious.... and filling...

After our very indulgent morning tea that ended up being lunch we went down into the cellar where the original kitchen was...

We spent the rest of the morning wandering around and taking pictures around the gardens and the river which was just lovely.

73 England - Stanton

Our last visit for the day was at Stanton... another village that we drove through and could not resist to stop for a stroll around the streets... as you walked up the street there was another beautiful cottage that you just had to take a photo of.

We stopped at the local church... as you do.... and ran into another group of Australian Travellers.... they sent us scurrying up the hill on the promise there was a lovely pub with a great view... and all we could think was LUNCH and yes I know it was about 4pm in the afternoon so it was wishful thinking.

There was the pub ... there was the view .... but there was no lunch.... it was closed till 6pm grrrr..... bet you this never would have happened to Henry VIII and his entourage if they passed through.

We decided a combined lunch and dinner was going to have to do as we still had quite a ways to get to Bath.  We finally stopped at a little pub called Royal William, where you can see I had a different take of Sausages, Mash and Yorkshire pudding!!

 

72 England - Snowshill Village

Snowshill village sits on the top of the escarpment above the villages of Broadway, Buckland, and Laverton. It is a secluded village where ancient pretty cottages and a 19th century church cluster around a small green.
Snowshill is renowned for its manor house which you can visit, but we opted to visit another popular landmark the Snowshill Arms pub.
This was another OMG moments when you just want to pick up this cute village and give it a hug... these villages are such a contrast to those we visited in Cornwall by the sea.