In a recent post, founding member Ron invited our members all to share bits and pieces from your recent trips. Please welcome Peggy S. who has some delightful recommendations the next time you find yourself in London! Thanks for sharing Peggy!!
A little off the beaten track, near St. Pancras Station in London, the British Library was well worth the effort to see: it's the largest national library in the world with over 170 million items on display from many countries. We found that it contained some real treasures!
There is no entrance fee and the library is the national archive for everything published in Britain. While the library is full of various books, it is also full of everything from maps, manuscripts, newspapers, recordings, patents, drawings, and more with exhibitions throughout showcasing some of the pieces. Particularly interesting was the room with copies of Handel’s Messiah, along with works by Bach and Mozart. The "Art of The Book" display had beautiful illuminated manuscripts. I was especially impressed with the hand-written copy of the Magna Carta dating back to 1215. A popular case had works by The Beatles on display including Paul McCartney’s hand written words to the song, “Yesterday."
A very worthwhile trip out of London was our excursion by motor coach with the company, Evan Evans, to about two hours northwest of the city into the Cotswolds. The drive was filled with rolling hills, fields with sheep grazing and small villages with thatched roofed cottages. Our first stop was Warwick Castle: a medieval castle built by William the Conqueror around 1068. There was time to explore the grounds and the buildings. An interesting fact about the castle: the largest catapult in the world is housed there. Called a trebuchet, it is roughly the height of three houses and it took the title of most powerful catapult in 2006 when it launched a 29lb missile 800ft at a speed of 160mph. Occasionally the castle demonstrates the giant weapon, but unfortunately, not when we visited.
The second stop on this tour was at Stratford-upon-Avon, known for being the birth place of William Shakespeare. While there, we visited his home and in the garden behind the house we were entertained by “Hamlet”: an actor in Shakespearean garb. The town had many lovely shops along the high street and nestled into courtyards. The river Avon is worth going to see to observe the barges that travel up and down the river.
The final stop was the University town of Oxford where our guide took us on a walking tour of the beautiful buildings. Make sure to look up and check out the gargoyles that are all over the architecture: some of them are really funny!
Evan Evans Tours made the entire trip a lovely experience. The motor coach was very comfortable and our guide was able to share many interesting facts along the way.
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