Hallooooooo!
Today was slightly different. No country estates to visit and ended up going to two places which weren't scheduled originally and I didn't set an alarm so the day started really slowly. I hung around in Bampton a lot longer than planned as I ended up chatting for a good 45minutes with a lady who sat in the tiny exhibition about Downton Abbey and other items. Talked about guiding and tours and where I could fit in. She even gave me her contact details and contact details of two tour groups who often bring tourists to the village... Maybe really consider getting into the the whole tourist/tour environment?
Highclere Castle...
... Is of course closed this time of year. I knew that much, but I headed over anyway just in case I was able to get a glimps of the castle. Alas, all I saw was a gate and the below sign...
On to Bampton then! Which featured in the series Downton Abbey as the local village. They only used a small part of the town, but luckily they were accommodating to the demand of film/series enthousiasts like myself. By buying the £1 Downton Abbey film locations map, I supported the funding of the new roof that the library (which is the cottage hospital in the series) is needing. Good deed done for today.
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| The exterior of the Cottage Hospital |
In the library I got chatting with the lady who was managing the little exhibition/ shop. We had a very long talk about the filming of Downton Abbey, about guiding and the tourists that stop by (the footfall is insane in summer), about the duke and duchess of Devonshire (apparently she is distant related to the late wife of the current duke of Devonshire) and eventually about how I came to be in Bampton and what I'd like to do with my future. And yes, I was talking to a stranger x) The lady eventually gave me her contact details and some contact details of tour agencies with whom she works from time to time. Needless to say it was very productive. Due to that chat I left Bampton a bit later than originally planned, but as it turned out that was absolutely no problem as my next stop appeared to be more private than I thought it would be...
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| Isobel's and Matthew's house |
Luckington Court in Luckington was the house of the Bennet family in the BBC adaptation of Pride and Prejudice in 1995. I knew the house was privately owned, but as you can hire it for weddings, I thought there might be a chance to catch a glimps and snatch a picture. As it turned out, I got a glimps of the house, but no way I was going to take any pictures. All possible access points were heavily armed with 'PRIVATE' signs. As it was a weekend day, there were more possibilities of the inhabitants of the house and the surrounding houses to be home, so I didn't dare to cross any lines. After all, I wouldn't want strangers to wander up my drive way to take pictures of my house.... I think if you contact them in advance and explain what you're trying to do they might agree for you to take a few pictures. Maybe next time ;)
I finally saw the Roman baths in Bath!
Eventhough I left Bampton later than I'd planned, I was still ahead of schedule and had an afternoon to fill... Mind you, Luckington Court was already a last minute addition to the day and I had played with the idea of visiting Chippingham or Lacock again as I was in the area. But in the end I settled for Bath. It has been more than 2 years now since I last went and I really wanted to see the Royal Cresent again and the Christmas market.
To kill two birds with one stone, I managed to take photos of two film locations from the Duchess, starring Keira Knightley and Dominic Cooper.
But actually, the highlight of the afternoon was my visit to the Roman baths. When I've visited the town more than two years ago I only visited the Assembly Rooms, the Fashion Museum and the Jane Austen Centre. I had thought about visiting the baths but then decided against it. I have to admit it, but I regret making that decision. So now that I was back in town, I had to make sure that saw them this time round, no matter what the entrance fee was.
Due to the fact that I also wanted to see the Assembly Rooms (for the Duchess film locations), stop along a few places I hadn't seen in more than two years (read: the Royal Cresent, the Circus and Jane Austen Centre shop) and the fact that about a million people were in Bath running (or should I say saunter?) across the streets, didn't really help. I also needed to find something to keep my sugar level up so hot chocolate it was. In the end I had to cram an 1h30min audio guide into 1h... So I had to skip a few areas of the Roman Baths, but I didn't mind too greatly. They did such a good job giving you an idea on how it would have looked so many years A.D. If you're ever in Bath, I highly recommend visiting them! It is thousands of years of history, right under your feet. Mind blowing. + at the end the tour you actually get to drink from the spring so you get an extra good idea of how the Romans and later the kings and queens and aristocracy would have come to Bath to take the 'cure' by drinking a glass of spring water, twice a day :)
After I'd finished the tour, I wandered around centre town for a bit, absorbing the Christmas sphere. And I found a store who specialises in leather Chesterfield sofas. I asked if they had a business card... You never know ;)
It was a bit like a 'full circle' afternoon for me. My weekend to Bath 2 years and a half ago was my first ever city trip I did alone and I had just moved to London. Now, more than 2 years and numerous trips later I was back, on my last trip as a UK tax payer (for now that is;)). I realised just how much I've changed and yet how I'm still the same. Time is a funny thing.
Although I wished I could've stayed a bit longer, I had to get back to my car in time. I had parked on a short term parking and any stay over 4 hours would be fined £250. No thanks.
So from Bath I headed to my next hotel in the Stourhead area where I had some internet issues, so hence the reason this post only goes live today.
And that is where I'm going to end this post as I have to write today's post as well :)
Thanks for reading!
xo Sara
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