About the title: My tour guide really loved talking about the chimneys of England so our journey started out with their history!
60 years ago in England coal fires were banned because of the amount of smog they produced. With the rise of industries, vehicles, and other forms of pollution, all that smog just hung around in the air creating huge problems for people’s health and safety. Most heating is now gas or electric, so all of the chimneys are essentially useless, but they are still beautiful to look at!
(Example A of the cool English chimneys!)
So Laura was busy, I was bored, so what would you expect? I decided to go on an adventure! I booked a tour of the Castle of Windsor, Stonehenge and the ancient city of Bath. An exuberant guide named Mark, who is also Blue Badge tour guide, led my tour! Blue Badge tour guides are the smartest people I’ve ever met. They have to attend a special institute for two year, taking classes and exams, and are required to speak a second langue. They are so well versed in English history, tradition, and culture and can be found all over England, Scotland and Wales.
So our first stop, Windsor Castle, is about 40 minutes outside of London and near the airport and it is the largest inhabited castle in the world! You might have heard a bit about Windsor recently since this castle will be the site of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s royal wedding in May! Are Laura and I planning on going to camp out and be in the crowd? Oh yeah we are!
(One of the many parts of the castle as seen walking up to Windsor)
Anyways... Windsor was built in 1066 by William the Conqueror, and England’s two best know monarchs, King Henry VIII and King Charles I are buried at the castle. The Queen likes to get out of the city every now and then, and Windsor is her retreat. Amazingly she was also at the castle when I was there! If the Royal Standard flag is flying over Windsor or Buckingham, that’s where she is! Of course I didn’t get to see her because the residential parts of the castle are fenced off, but still! She could’ve been looking out a window and seen me, just another lowly tourist admiring the sites!
(The residential part of Windsor Castle)
Sadly we were not allowed to take pictures of the inside of the staterooms, but believe me, they were stunning! The detail and ornateness of everything was almost overwhelming! The halls were beautiful, the portraits flawless, and you really felt like you had stepped back in time! This castle really is worth the visit! You can walk around the grounds a bit, and exploring the cute little town is equally enjoyable.
And after a short two hours, we’re off to our next destination, the UNESCO World Heritage site, STONEHENGE! This Neolithic period henge (FYI: henge just means circle) of stones is thought to have been built between 3000-2000 BC. There are a total of 160 stones arranged in simple circles, with no decoration, and no real evidence as to why the stones are there or what they were used for. Most of the stones were brought from the surrounding are, but the stones that make up the inner circle are called “blue stones” and were brought from Wales, 150 km away! These rocks are huge and weigh tons, how they drug these rocks nearly 93 miles is a mystery to everyone! There is also a blue stone placed 300 yards away from the circle and the cool thing about this stone is that on the summer solstice, the sun rises directly over the stone, casting shadows across the circle. This leads one to believe that the stones were erected for some ceremony or something dealing with the solstices.
(Stonehenge in all it's rocky glory! The rock on the far right is the Blue Stone that casts shadows on the solstice.)
Another interesting (creepy) thing to know about the area is that there are around 400 different burial mounds around Stonehenge. Burial mounds were used to bury the dead, and usually included artifacts for the dead to take with them in the afterlife. The mounds were thought to be twice their current size and covered in chalk from the rolling chalk plains that surround Stonehenge, making them white. None of these mounds have been dug up, so who they belong too remains yet another mystery of Stonehenge.
I’m gonna be honest… Stonehenge was eerie! Just walking around the circle with no idea why these stones were there was a bit unsettling. I love history and I like to know the reason behind things, and to not know why this circle of stones is there is weird. This proves how little we know about some things and that there is still mystery and wonder left in our world! Somehow another two hours flew by (and all I did was look at rocks!! What?!) and we were off yet again to our final destination of the day.
(Parts of the inner circle. Who knew rocks could be so cool?! Actually I love rocks so that statement doesn't really apply to me but everyone can appreciate the granduer and mystery of Stonehenge!)
The city of Bath has a long, tumultuous, interesting, and exciting history! Bath gets its name from a natural hot water spring that produces around quarter million gallons of water a day! That’s a lot of hot water! There’s a Celtic legend about how bath came to be. The legend goes that Prince Bladud was banished from his tribe because he had leprosy. So Baldud left and went off in search of a new start. He decided to keep pigs and started a life in the country. One day he saw his pigs rolling and playing in a pond. Upon closer inspection he found the water was warm and refreshing. Baldud bathed in the water and lo and behold, his leprosy was cured! The Prince retuned to his people with everyone shocked at his recovery and he told them about the warm, mineral water that had cured him. From then on, the tribe lived near the waters and used them for their healing properties! If nothing else, it’s a fun legend!
Bath was invaded by the Romans in 43 AD and was later invaded by the Anglo Saxons in 400 AD. Now the Anglo Saxons didn’t like the Romans and avoided everything they built, so the old city of Bath and thus the Roman structures, slowly disappeared. Around 700 AD, Bath became a popular trading town and continued to flourish throughout the 1700’s as a popular resort. Bath became particularly popular for royals after Queen Anne of England came to cure her arthritis with the mineral water.
(The main bath complete with replicated roman columns and statues!)
Jane Austen lived and worked in Bath in the early 1800’s and described the city as a backwater, run down town since the nobility decided they liked the seaside as a destination spot better. It wasn’t until the late 1800’s that Bath became popular again. When a man was digging in his cellar and discovered the ancient roman bathing complexes! This discovery brought back the tourists as the ruins were excavated and restored to their ancient splendor.
Seeing the Roman baths was pretty cool! The structures are pretty neat and to see everything how it actually was, was amazing. In the museum you can walk underground a bit and see the excavations. There’s special baths, sauna rooms, and various other rooms as part of the expansive bathing complex. The history of Bath is pretty cool and I would love to go back to explore more of the city. Sadly because of the time constraints of a group tour I didn’t get to explore the river walk or the Jane Austen museum, so I guess I’ll just have to go back!
(Walking "underground" to see the ancient bath ruins)
Sorry this blog was more of a textbook but these three places had some awesome history and my guide Mark was so knowledgeable that how could I not take notes and hang off his every word?! If you come to London and want to see any of these places, I highly recommend booking a tour! It’s just easier to have transportation provided and to be guided by such a qualified individual will reward you with an informative and enjoyable experience! Windsor, Stonehenge, and Bath in one day were real quick, but very fun! I’m so glad I got to cross off some England Bucket list items!
