The First Day of "The Life and Times of Jane Austen" Tour

We have had a fantastic start to our Jane Austen tour. What a wonderful group of people led by the gorgeous Helen Bertram.  We are in for an amazing tour!

Today we had a fabulous walking tour of Jane Austen's Bath.

We started in The Abbey Churchyard which is so spectacular!  Three different churches have occupied this site since 757 AD.  The present Abbey has beautiful stone carvings on the outside and many beautiful windows, some with stained glass and some with clear glass which gives you the feeling that you can look straight through the building and out the other side.

The west front has the unique stone carved ladders of angels, with angles ascending into heaven (and some falling down) .  Bath Abbey was the last great medieval cathedral to be built in England. 

Here is our group listening to the very informative and enthusiastic Jane Tapley who is telling us all about the history of Bath and Jane Austen's experiences here.  What a privilege to be here!

This is the outside of the Roman Baths which we will be visiting later in the week.

This is the inside of The Assembly Rooms where Balls were held three times a week during Jane Austen's time.  The chandeliers are spectacular.  How wonderful to be in the room where so many romances may have started!  Looking for Mr D'Arcy!?

We had a beautiful lunch in The Vault Room underneath the Theatre Royal which was opened in 1805. Here I am with the gorgeous Tanya.

We visited the Fashion Museum which houses a huge collection of antique clothing.  We had a private tour here and we were able to learn all about the different style of dressing over the past four centuries.  I have never seen original textiles from this far back and the way they are presented made them come alive.

The hand embroidery on many of the outfits was extraordinary.

The dress in the centre of this display was one of the mourning dresses worn by Queen Victoria herself.  Wow!

There were some striking men's garments too...

This is the Royal Crescent, a very impressive address in Bath.

We have just had a splendid dinner at the hotel. So much fun.  Time for bed so I can be ready for tomorrow.

Beatrix Potter Country

We visited the lovely property in The Lakes district owned by Beatrix Potter called Hill Top.

Beatrix purchased the house as a retreat to country life to allow her to draw and write her charming books.  It was a real treat to enter Hill Top and view a wide range of her possessions and to see the furniture and small items depicted in her drawings.

Unfortunately no photography allowed inside the house but the garden was very reminiscent of Mr McGregor's garden.

So lovely.

Visiting the Cotswolds

Such a beautiful part of the world!  We have travelled through some tiny laneways, through the hedgerows and into some of the most picturesque villages anywhere in the world.

We visited Burford and walked up the Main Street of tiny shops housed in the most gorgeous buildings from different periods including honey coloured stone and black and white timbered facades.

                                 

We also visited Bibury in Gloucestershire on the River Coln, which William Morris described as "the most beautiful village in England".  It certainly is!

There is a wonderful row of buildings called the Arlington Row built in 1380 as a monastic wool store.  In the seventeenth century they were converted into a row of delightful cottages.

There was a delightful little bridge complete with ducks and fish and me.

Here is Tracey too.

Driving through country lanes on the way to the Chedworth Roman villa, the countryside was superb.

We visited the excellent National Trust facility at the excavations of a fourth century wealthy Roman villa.  The mosaic tiled floors were so well preserved and are now protected under cover.  An amazing experience to view these, especially with my archaeological background.  Wow, wow, wow.

Loved it. We then drove into beautiful Bath to meet up with our wonderful Whitecroft Traditional Tours director Helen Bertram at the McDonald Spa Hotel.  Just enough time for a quick walk into Bath before  dinner.

Very excited to start the much anticipated "Life and Times of Jane Austen Tour".

Day Four: the Beautiful Lake District

Although Beatrix Potter's home Hill Top Farm was closed today (we have to go back tomorrow), we have had a lovely day in the gorgeous countryside of The Lakes.

This is an amazing natural wonderland of large gorgeous lakes, rugged mountains, waterfalls, stone walls and grazing sheep and cattle.  No wonder poets and artists found so much to inspire them here!

Here is a selection of photos from my day to feast your eyes on.

We visited some lovely villages for shopping and snacking and admired all the gorgeous flowers.

Natalie's dream was to see some stone circles and hope to meet Jamie from Outlander, so here she is at last at Castlerigg Stone Circle near Keswick.  Alas, no sign of Jamie.

Here is the large second stone circle we visited called "Long Meg and her daughters".

We also visited the site of the graves of William Wordsworth and his close family members in Grasmere.

Another magical day of history and scenery.  We are making our way south to Oxfordshire tomorrow.