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“British Highways And Byways From A Motor Car – Thomas Dowler Murphy” (Audiobook)
Genre: History book, Non-fiction book, Travel
In this chronicle of a summer’s motoring in Britain I have not attempted a guide-book in any sense, yet the maps, together with the comments on highways, towns, and country, should be of some value even in that capacity. I hope, however, that the book, with its many illustrations and its record of visits to out-of-the way places, may be acceptable to those who may desire to tour Britain by rail or cycle as well as by motor car. Nor may it be entirely uninteresting to those who may not expect to visit the country in person but desire to learn more of it and its people. (Introduction by Thomas Dowler Murphy)
[00:00:00] – 01 – A Few Generalities
[00:11:51] – 02 – In and About London
[00:29:55] – 03 – A Pilgrimage to Canterbury
[00:46:49] – 04 – A Run Through the Midlands
[01:08:07] – 05 – The Border Towns, Shrewsbury and Ludlow
[01:34:34] – 06 – London to Land’s End
[01:59:09] – 07 – From Cornwall to South Wales
[02:17:19] – 08 – Through Beautiful Wales
[02:43:24] – 09 – Chester to the ‘Hielands’
[03:05:27] – 10 – Through Historic Scotland
[03:26:06] – 11 – From Edinburgh to Yorkshire
[03:46:09] – 12 – In Old Yorkshire
[04:04:36] – 13 – A Zig-Zag Trip from York to Norwich
[04:21:40] – 14 – Peterborough, Fotheringhay, Etc
[04:37:48] – 15 – The Cromwell Country; Colchester
[04:50:51] – 16 – The Haunts of Milton and Penn
[05:05:54] – 17 – A Chapter of Divers Places and Experiences
[05:23:18] – 18 – In Surrey and Sussex
[05:40:42] – 19 – Knole House and Penshurst
[05:50:57] – 20 – Some Might-Have-Beens
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Chapter 1 of British highways and byways from a Motorcar this is a LibriVox recording all LibriVox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit librivox.org recording by Christine blashford British highways and byways from a motor car by Thomas Dowler Murphy chapter 1 a few
Generalities Stratford on aan stands first on the itinerary of nearly every American who proposes to visit the historic shrines of old England it’s associ ations with Britain’s Immortal Bard and with our own gentle Jeffrey crayon are not unfamiliar to the various Layman and no fewer than 30,000 pilgrims largely from America visit the
Delightful Old Town each year and whoever came away disappointed who if impervious to the charm of the place ever dared to own it my first visit to Stratford on aan was in the regulation fashion imprisoned in a Dusty and comfortless first class apartment first class is an irony in England when
Applied to Railroad travel a mere excuse for for charging double we shot around the curves the Glorious warshire Landscapes fleeting past in a haze or obscured at times by the drifting smoke our Ries were rudely interrupted by the shriek of the English locomotive like an exaggerated toy whistle and with a mere
Glimpse of town and river we were brought sharply up to the unattractive station of Stratford on aen we were hustled by an officious Porter into an Omnibus which rattled through the streets until we landed at the sign of the red horse and the manner of our departure was even the same
Just 2 years later after an exhilarating Drive of 2 or 3 hours over the broad well-kept Highway winding through the park lake Fields fresh from May showers between Worcester and Stratford our motor finally climbed a Long Hill and there stretched out before us lay the
Valley of the aen far away we caught The Gleam of the immortal River and rising from a group of Splendid trees we beheld Trinity Church almost unique in England for its graceful combination of massive Tower and slender Spire the liter Shrine of the English-speaking world the enchanted spot where Shakespeare sleeps
About it were clustered the clean tiled roofs of the Charming Town set like a gem in the warshire landscape famous as the most beautiful section of old England our car slowed to a stop and only the subdued hum of the motor broke the Stillness as we saw Stratford on aen
From afar conscious of a beauty and sentiment that made our former visit seem commonplace indeed but I am not going to write of Stratford on a thousands have done this before me some of them of immortal Fame I shall not attempt to describe or give details concerning a town that is probably
Visited each year by more people than any other place of the size in the world I am simply striving in a few words to give the different Impressions made upon the same party who visited the town twice in a comparatively short period the first time by Railway train and the
Last by motorc car if I have anything to say of Stratford it will come in due sequence in my story there are three ways in which a tourist May obtain a good idea of Britain during a summer’s vacation of 3 or 4 months he may cover most places of interest after the old
Manor by Railway train this will have to be supplemented by many and expensive Carriage drives if he wishes to see the most beautiful country and many of the most interesting places as Professor Goldwin Smith says Railways in England do not follow the lines of Beauty in very many cases and the opportunity
Afforded of really seeing England from a railway car window is poor indeed the tourist must keep a constant eye on the time tables and in many of the more retired places he will have to spend a day when an hour would suffice quite as well could he get away if he travels
First class it is quite expensive and the only Advantage secured is that he generally has a compartment to himself the difference in accommodations between first and third class on the longer distance Trains being insignificant but if he travels third class he very often finds himself crowded into a small
Compartment with people in whom to say the least he has nothing in common one seldom gets the real sentiment and beauty of a place in approaching it by Railway I am speaking of course of the tourist who Endeavors to crowd as much as he can into a comparatively short
Time to the one who remains several days in a place railroad traveling is less objectionable my remarks concerning railroad travel in England are made merely from the point of comparison with a pleasure journey by motor and having covered the greater part of the country in both ways I am qualified to some
Extent to speak from experience for a young man or party of young men who are traveling through Britain on a Summer’s vacation the bicycle affords an excellent and expeditious method of getting over the country and offers nearly all the advantages of the motor car provided the rider is vigorous and
Expert enough to do the Wheeling without fatigue the motorcycle is still better from this point of view and many thousands of them are in use on English raids while cyclists may be counted by the tens of thousands but the bicycle is out of the question for an extended Tour
By a party which includes ladies the amount of impedimenta which must be carried along and the many Long Hills which are encountered on the English roads will put the cycle out of the question in such cases in the motor car we have the most modern and thorough means of traversing the highways and
Byways of Britain in the limits of a single summer and it is my purpose in this book with little pretensions to literary style to show how satisfactorily this may be done by a mere Layman to the man who drives his own car and who at the outstart knows
Very little about the English roads in towns I wish to undertake to show how in a trip of 5,000 miles occupying about 50 days actual traveling time I covered much of the most beautiful country in England and Scotland and visited a large proportion of the most interesting and
Historic places in the Kingdom I think it can be clearly demonstrated that this method of touring will give opportunities for enjoyment and for gaining actual knowledge of the people and country that can hardly be attained in any other way the Motorcar affords expeditious and reasonably sure means of
Getting over the country always ready when you are ready subservient to your whim to visit some inaccessible old ruin flying over the broad main highways or winding more cautiously in the unfrequented country byways and is with all a method of locomotion to which the English people have become tolerant if
Not positively friendly further I am sure it will be welcome news to many that the expense of such a trip under ordinary conditions is not at all exorbitant or out of the reach of the average well to-do citizen those who have traveled for long distances on American roads can have no conception
Whatever of the Delights of motor traveling on the British highways I think there are more bad roads in the average County taking the states throughout than there are in all of the United Kingdom and the number of defective bridges in any County outside of the immediate precincts of a few
Cities would undoubtedly be many times greater than in the whole of Great Britain I am speaking of course of the more traveled highways and Country byways there are roads leading into the hilly sections that would not be practicable for Motors at all but fortunately these are the very roads
Over which no one would care to go while the gradients are generally easier than in the states there are in many places sharp Hills where the car must be kept well under control but the beauty of it is that in Britain one has the means of being thoroughly warned in advance of
The road conditions which he must encounter the maps are perfect to the smallest detail and Drawn to a large scale showing the relative importance of all the roads and upon them are plainly marked the hills that are styled dangerous these Maps were prepared for cyclists and many of the hills seem
Insign ific to a powerful motor however the warning is nonetheless valuable for often other conditions requiring caution Prevail such as a dangerous turn on a hill or a sharp descent into a Village Street then there is a set of books four in number published by an Edinburgh house and illustrated by profile plans
Covering about 30,000 miles of Road in England and Scotland these show the exact gradients and Supply information in regard to the surface of the roads and their general characteristics beside this the object of Interest scattered along any particular piece of road are given in brief information at once so
Desirable and complete as to be a revelation to an American there are signboards at nearly every Crossing only in some of the more retired districts did we find the crossroads unmarked with such advantages as these it is easily seen that a tour of Britain by a comparative stranger is not difficult
That a chauffeur or a guide posted on the roads is not at all necessary the average tourist with the exercise of ordinary intelligence and a little patience can get about any part of the country without difficulty one of the greatest troubles we found was to strike
The right Road in leaving a town of considerable size but this was overcome by the extreme willingness of any policeman or native to give complete information often so much in detail as to be rather embarrassing the hundreds of people from whom we sought assistance in regard to the roads were without
Exception most cheerful and willing compliance and in many places people who appeared to be substantial citizens volunteered information when they saw a stop at the Town Crossing to consult our maps in getting about the country little difficulty or confusion will be experienced generally speaking the hotel accommodations in the provincial towns
Throughout England and Scotland are surprisingly good of course there is a spice of Adventure in stopping occasionally at one of the small Wayside inss or at one of the old hostes more famous for its associations than for Comfort but to one who demands first class service and accommodations a
Little of this will go a long way generally it can be so planned that towns with stly good hotel accommodations can be reached for the night occasionally an unusually comfortable and well-ordered hotel will tempt the motorist to tr a day or two and possibly to make excursions in the
Vicinity such hotels we found at Chester and York for instance the Country Hotel Keeper in Britain is waking up to the importance of motor travel already most of the hotels were prepared to take care of this class of tourists and in many others improvements were underway it is
Safe to say that in the course of two or 3 years at the furthest there will be little to be desired in the direction of good accommodations in the better towns rates at these hotels are not low by any means at least for the motorist it is
Generally assumed that a man who is in possession of an automobile is able to pay his bills and charges and fees are exacted in accordance with this idea there is of course a wide variation in this particular and taking it right through the rates at the best hotels
Would not be called exorbitant the Motor Club of Great Britain and Ireland have many especially designated hotels where the members of this Association are given a discount these are not in every case the best in the town and we generally found Bayer’s handbook the most reliable guide as to the relative
Merits of the hotels it is a poorly appointed hotel that does not now have a garage of some sort and in many cases necessary supplies are available some even go so far as to charge the storage batteries or accumulators as they are always called in Britain and to afford
Facilities for the motorist to make repairs it goes without saying that a motor tour should be planned in advance as carefully as possible if one starts out in a haphazard way it takes him a long time to find his bearings and much valuable time is lost before crossing
The water it would be well to become posted as thoroughly as possible on what one desires to see and to gain a general idea of the road from the maps another valuable adjunct will be a membership in the ACA or a letter from the American Motor associations with an introduction
To the Secretary of the motor Union of Great Britain and Ireland in this manner can be secured much valuable information as to the main traveled routes but after all if the tourist is going to get the most out of his trip he will have to come down to a careful study of the
Country and depend partly on the guide books but more upon his own knowledge of the historical and literary landmarks throughout the kingdom end of chapter 1 chapter 2 of British highways and byways from a Motorcar by Thomas dler Murphy this LibriVox recording is in the public domain recording by Christine
Blashford chapter 2 in and about London London occurs to the average tourist as the center from which his travels in the Kingdom will radiate and this idea from many points of view is logically correct around the city cluster innumerable literary and historic associations and the points of special interest lying
Within easy reach will outnumber those in any section of similar extent in the entire country if one purposes to make the Tour by rail London is pre preeminently the center from which to start and to which one will return at various times in his travels all the principal Railways lead to the
Metropolis the number of trains arriving and departing each day greatly exceeds that of any other city in the world and the longest through journey in the island may be compassed between sunrise and sunset the motorist however finds a different problem confronting him in making London his Center I had in mind
The plan of visiting the famous places of the city and immediate suburbs with the aid of my car but it was speed speedily abandoned when I found myself confronted by the actual conditions one attempt at carrying out this plan settled the matter for me the trip which
I under took would probably be one of the first to occur to almost anybody the drive to Hampton Court Palace about 12 or 15 miles from the central part of the city it looked easy to start about 2 or 3:00 spend a couple of hours at Hampton
Court and get back to our hotel by 6:00 after trying out my car which had reached London sometime ahead of me a few times in localities where traffic was not the heavi I essayed the trip without any further knowledge of the streets than I had gained from the maps I was accompanied
By a nervous friend from Iowa who confessed that he had been in an automobile but once before he had ridden with a relative through a retired section of his native state traversed for the first time by an automobile and he had quit trying to remember how many runaways and smash-ups were caused by
The fractious horses they met on the short Journey visions of damaged suits haunted him for months thereafter in our meanderings through the London streets the fears for the other fellow which had harassed him during his former experience were speedily transferred to himself to his excited imagination we time and again escaped complete wreck
And Annihilation by a mere hair’s breath the route which we had taken I learned afterwards was one of the worst for Motoring in all London the streets were narrow and crooked and were packed with traffic of all kinds tram cars often ran along the middle of the street with
Barely room for a vehicle to pass on either side the huge motor buses came caring towards us in a manner most trying to novices and it seemed time after time that the dexterity of the drivers of these big machines was all that saved our car from being wrecked we
Obtained only the mest glimpse of Hampton Palace and the time which we had consumed made it apparent that if we expected to reach our hotel that night we must immediately retrace our way through the wild confusion we had just passed it began to rain and added to the
Numerous other dangers that seemed to confront us was that of skidding on the slippery streets when we fin finally reached our garage I found that in covering less than 25 miles we had consumed about 4 hours and we had been moving all the time the nervous strain
Was a severe one and I forth with abandoned any plan that I had of attempting to do London by Motorcar with more knowledge and experience I would have done better but a local motorist thoroughly acquainted with London told me that he wouldn’t care to undertake the Hampton Court trip by the route
Which we had traveled on Saturday afternoons and Sundays the motorist May practically have freedom of the city he will find the streets deserted everywhere the heavy traffic has all ceased and the number of cabs and motor buses is only a fraction of what it would be on business days he will meet
Comparatively few Motors in the city on Sunday even though the day be fine such as would throng the streets of Chicago or New York with cars the Englishman who goes for a drive is attracted from the city by the many fine roads which lead in every direction to pleasure Resorts
One of the most popular runs with londoners is the 50 Mi to Brighton directly Southward and and the number of Motors passing over this highway on fine Sundays is astonishing I noted a report in the papers that on a certain Sunday afternoon no less than 200 Cars passed a
Police trap and of these 35 were summoned before the magistrates for breaking the speed limit to the average American this run to Brighton would not be at all attractive compared with the many other roads leading out of London on which one would scarcely meet a motor
Car during the day and would be in no danger from the machinations of the police of course the places frequented by tourists are of often closed on Sunday or at least partially so as in the case of Windsor Castle where one is admitted to the grounds and courts but
The state departments Etc are not shown even the churches are closed to Sunday visitors except during the regular services within a radius of 30 Mi of London and outside its immediate boundaries there are numerous places well worth a visit most of them open either daily or at stated times a few of
Such places are Harrow on the hill with its famous School Kon with hallwood house the home of William pit chigwell the scene of dickens’s Barnaby rudj walam Abby Church founded in 1060 the home of Charles Darwin at down eping forest Hampton Court Ry house at brbor Hatfield house the estate of the Marquis
Of Salsbury runy me where the Magna cataa was signed St Alburn with its ancient Cathedral Church Stoke poer Church of Grey’s elegy Fame Windsor Castle NL house with its magnificent Galleries and furniture penser place the home of the sydneys John Milton’s Cottage at Chalfont St Giles the ancient
Town of Guilford in Su gads Hill Dickens home near Rochester the vicarage where ther’s grandfather lived and the old church where he preached at Mon and Hadley and wi church with handle’s original organ is also near the last named Village these are only a few of
The places that no one should miss the Motorcar affords an unequaled means of reaching these and other points in this vicinity since many are at some distance from Railway stations to go by train would consume more time than the average tourist has at his disposal while we
Visited all the places which I have just mentioned and many others close to London we made only three or four short trips out of the city returning the same or the following day we managed to reach the majority of such points by going and returning over different highways on our
Longer tours in this way we avoided the difficulty we should have experienced in making many daily trips from London since a large part of each day would have been consumed merely in getting in and out of the city our first trip into the country was made on the Sunday after
Our arrival although we started out at random our route proved a fortunate one and gave us every reason to believe that our tour of the Kingdom would be all we had anticipated during the summer we had occasion to travel three times over the same route and we are still of the
Opinion that there are few more delightful bits of Road in England we left London by the main Highway running for several miles through eping Forest which is really a great Suburban park it was a good day for cyclists for the main road to the town of eping was crowded
With thousands of of them so great was the number and so completely did they occupy the highway that it was necessary to Drive slowly and with the greatest care even then we narrowly avoided a serious accident one of the cyclists evidently to show his dexterity undertook to cut around us by running
Across the Tramway tracks these were wet and slippery and the wheels shot from under the rider pitching him headlong to the ground not 2 feet in front of our car which was then going at a pretty good rate if the cyclist did not exhibit skill in managing his wheel he certainly
Gave a wonderful display of agility in getting out of our way he did not seem to touch the ground at all and by turning two or three handsprings he avoided being run over by the narrowest margin his wheel was considerably damaged and his impedimenta scattered over the road it was with rather a
Crestfallen air that he gathered up his belongings and we went on shuddering to think how close we had come to a serious accident at the very beginning of our pilgrimage a policeman witnessed the accident but he clearly placed the blame on the careless Wheelman passing through
The forest we came to eping and from there into a stretch of open country that gave little suggestion of proximity to the world’s Metropolis several miles through a narrow but beautifully kept byway brought us to the Village of chipping angga a place of considerable Antiquity and judging from the extensive
Site of its ancient castle at one time of some military importance at onar we began our return trip to London over the road which we agreed was the most beautiful leading out of the city for the suburbs do not extend far in this Direction and one is comparatively soon
In the country the perfectly surfaced road with only gentle slopes and curves runs through the park-like fields here over a picturesque Stone Bridge spanning a clear stream there between rows of magnificent trees occasionally dropping into quiet Villages of which chigwell was easily the most delightful chigwell became known to fame through the
Writings of Charles Dickens who was greatly enamored of the place and who made it the scene of much of his story of Barnaby rudj but Dickens with his eye for the beautiful and With His Marvelous intuition for interesting situations was drawn to the Village by its unusual
Charm few other places can boast of such endorsement as he gave in a letter to his friend forer when he wrote chigwell my dear fellow is the greatest place in the world name your day for going such a delicious old in facing the church such a lovely ride such glorious scenery such
An out ofthe way rural Place such a sexon I say again name your day after such a recommendation one will surely desire to visit the place and it is Pleasant to know that the delicious old Inn is still standing and that the village is as Rural and pretty as when
Dickens wrote over 60 years since the Inn referred to the king’s head was the Prototype of the mapole in Barnaby rudge and here we were delighted to stop for our belated luncheon the in fronts directly on the street and like all English hostes its main rooms are given
Over to the bar which at this time was crowded with Sunday loafers the atmosphere wreaking with tobacco smoke and the o of Liquors the garden at the rear was bright with a profusion of spring flowers and sheltered with ornamental trees and Vines the garden side of the old house was covered with a
Mantle of Ivy and altogether the surroundings were such as to make ample amends for the rather unprepossessing conditions within one will not fully appreciate chigwell and it’s in unless he has read dickens’s story you may still see the paneled room upstairs where Mr Chester met Jeffrey haale this
Room has a splendid mantlepiece great carved open beams and beautiful leaded Windows the bar room no doubt is still much the same as on the stormy night which Dickens chose for the opening of his story just across the road from the Inn is the church which also figures in
The tail and a dark Avenue of ancient U trees leads from the gateway to the door when can easily imagine the situation which Dickens describes when the old sexon crossed the street and rang the church bells on the night of the murder at haale Hall aside from dickens’s
Connection with chigwell the village has a place of peculiar interest to Americans in the old grammar school where William Penn received his Early Education the building still stands with but little alteration much as it was in the day when the Great Quaker sat at the rude desks and conned the lessons of the
Oldtime English school boy when we invited friends whom we met in London to accompany us on a Sunday afternoon trip we could think of no Road more likely to please them than the one I have just been trying to describe we reversed our journey this time going out of London on
The way to chigwell returning we left the eping road shortly after passing through that town and followed a narrow Forest boarded byway with a few steep hills until we came to walam Abbey a small Essex Market town with an important history the stately abbey church a portion of which is still
Standing and now used for services was founded by the Saxon King Harold in 1060 six years later he was defeated and slain at Hastings by William the Conqueror and tradition has it that his mother buried his body a short distance to the east of walam church The Abbey
Gate still stands as a massive Archway at one end of the river bridge near the town is one of the many crosses erected by Edward the in memory of his wife Elena of Castile wherever her body rested on the way from Lincoln to Westminster a little to the left of this
Cross now a gateway to theobalt park stands Temple Bar stone for stone intact as it was in the days when traitor’s heads were raised above it in Fleet Street although the original wooden gates are missing walam ABI is situated on the river Lee near the point where
King Alfred defeated the Danes in one of his battles they had penetrated far up the river when King Alfred diverted The Waters from beneath their vessels and left them stranded in a Wilderness of marsh and Forest another Pleasant afternoon trip was to Monk and Hadley 25
Mil out on the great North Road Hadley church is intimately associated with a number of distinguished litery men among them theri whose grandfather preached there and is buried in the churchyard the sexon was soon found and he was delighted to point out the interesting object in the church in vicinity the
Church stands at the entrance of a Royal Park which is leased to private parties and is one of the quaintest and most picturesque of the country churches we had seen over the doors some old-fashioned figures which we had to have translated indicated that the building had been erected in
1494 it has a huge Ivy covered Tower and its interior gives every evidence of the age lasting solidity of the English churches Hadley church has a duplicate in the United States one having been built in some New York town precisely like the older structure we know noticed
That one of the stained glass windows had been replaced by a modern one and were informed that the original had been presented to the newer Church in America a courtesy that an American congregation would hardly think of and be still less likely to carry out an odd silver
Communion service which had been in use from 3 to 500 years was carefully taken out of a fireproof safe and shown us Hadley church is a delight from every point of view and it is a Pity that such lines of architecture are not oftener followed in America our church is as a
Rule are shoddy and inharmonious Affairs compared with those in England it is not always the matter of cost that makes them so since more artistic structures along the pleasing and substantial lines of architecture followed in Britain would in many cases cost no more than we
Pay for such churches as we now have our friend the seon grously assured us that thare had spent much of his time as a youth at the vicarage and insisted that a great part of Vanity Fair was written there he even pointed out the room in which he alleged the famous book was
Produced and assured us that the great author had found the originals of many of his characters such as Becky sharp and Colonel Nukem Among The Villages of Hadley all of which we took for what it was worth vyy himself told his friends jce T fields that Vanity Fair was
Written in his London house still he may have been a visitor at the Hadley vicarage and might have found pleasure in writing in The Snug little room whose windows open on the flower garden rich with dashes of color that contrasted effectively with the dark green foliage of the hedges and trees the house
Stilles does duty as a vicarage the small casement windows peep out of the ivy that nearly envelopes it and an air of coziness and quiet seems to surround it near at hand is the home where Anthony trolip the novelist lived for many years and his sister is buried in
The churchyard a short distance from Hadley is the village of edgewear with wit Church famous for its association with the musician handle he was organist here for several years and on the small pipe organ still in the church though not in use composed his oratorio Esther and a less important work the harmonious
Blacksmith the idea of the latter came from an odd character The Village Blacksmith who lived in edgewear in handle’s day and who acquired some Fame as a musician his tombstone in the churchard consists of an anvil and Hammer rought in stone afterwards handle became more widely known and was called
From wit church for larger fields of work he is buried in Westminster Abbey the road from Edge wear to the city is a good one and being Saturday afternoon it was nearly deserted Saturday in London is quite as much of a holiday as Sunday little business being transacted
Especially in the afternoon this custom prevails to a large extent all over the kingdom and rarely is any attempt made to do business on Saturday the weekend holiday as it is called is greatly prized and is recognized by the railroads in granting excursions at greatly reduced rates there is always a
Heavy Exodus of people from the city to the surrounding Resorts during the summer and Autumn months on Saturday afternoon and Sunday owing to the extreme difficulty of getting about the city we made but few short excursions from London such as I have described if one desires to visit such places in
Sequence without going further into the country it would be best to stop for the night at the hotels in the better Suburban towns without attempting to return to London each day the garage accommodations in London I found very good and the charg is generally lower than in the United States there is a
Decided tendency at grafting on the part of the employees and if it is ascertained that a patron is a tourist especially an American he is quoted a higher rate at some establishments and various exactions are attempted at the first garage where I applied a quotation made was withdrawn when it was learned
That I was an American the man said he would have to discuss the matter with his partner before making a final rate I let him carry on his discussion indefinitely for I went on my way and found another place where I secured accommodations at a very reasonable rate
Without giving information of any kind with the miserable business methods in Vogue at some of the garages it seemed strange to me if any of the money paid to him employees ever went to the business office at all there was no system and little check on sales of
Supplies and I heard a foreman of a large establishment decare that he had lost two guine which a patron had paid him I can’t afford to lose it he said and it will have to come back indirectly if I can’t get it directly in no case
Should a motorist pay a bill at a London garage without a proper receipt end of chapter 2 chapter three of British highways and byways from a Motorcar by Thomas dler Murphy this LibriVox recording is in the public domain recording by Christine blashford chapter 3 a pilgrimage to Canterbury No Place Within equal
Distance of London is of Greater interest than Canterbury and indeed there are very few cities in the entire Kingdom that canvi with the ancient cathedral town in historical importance and Antiquity it lies only 65 miles Southeast of London but allowing for the late start that one always makes from an
English hotel and the points that will engage attention between the two cities the day will be occupied by the trip especially will this be true if as in our case fully 2 hours be spent in getting out of the city and reaching the Highway south of the temps which follows
The river to Canterbury leaving Russell Square about 10:00 I followed the jam down Halburn past the bank and across London Bridge crawling along at a snail’s pace until we were well beyond the river a worse route and a more triangle one it would have been hard to select with more experience I should
Have run down the broad and little congested Kingsway to waterl Bridge and directly onto Old Kent Road in at least 1/4 the time which I consumed in my ignorance nevertheless if a novice drives a car in London he can hardly avoid such experiences detailed directions given in advance cannot be
Remembered and there is little opportunity to consult street signs and Maps or even to question the policeman in the never-ending Crush of the streets however one gradually gains familiarity with the the streets and landmarks and by the time I was ready to leave London for America I had just learned to get
About the city with comparative ease Old Kent Road which leads out of London towards Canterbury is an ancient Highway and follows nearly if not quite the route pursued by the Canterbury pilgrims of the poet cha in the main it is unusually Broad and well-kept but progress will be slow at first as the
Suburbs extend a long way in this direction and for the first 25 miles one can hardly be said to be out of the city at any time 10 Mi out the road passes Greenwich where the British Observatory is located and woolich the seat of the great government arsenals and Gunworks
Is also near this point lying directly by the river nearly midway between London and Rochester is the old town of Dartford where we enjoyed the hospitality of the bull hotel for luncheon a dingy timeworn rambling old hosti it is every odd Corner filled with stuffed birds and beasts to an extent
That suggested at a museum and as if to still further carry out the museum feature mine host had built in a small court near the entrance a large cage or birdhouse which was literally alive with specimens of feathered sers of all degrees the space on the first floor not
Occupied by these curios was largely devoted to liquor selling for there appeared to be at least three bars in the most accessible parts of the hotel however somewhat to the rear there was a comfortable coffee room where our luncheon was neatly served we had learned by this time that all well
Regulated hotels in the mediumsized towns and even in some of the larger cities as large as Bristol for instance have two dining room rooms one generally for tourists called the coffee room with separate small tables and a much larger room for commercials or traveling salesmen where all are seated together
At a single table the service is practically the same but the ratio of charges is from two to three times higher in the coffee room we found many old hotels in retired places where a coffee room had been hastily improvised an innovation no doubt brought about largely by the Motorcar trade and the
Desire to give the motorist more aristocratic rates than those charged the well posted commercials though we stopped in Dartford no longer than necessary for lunch and a slight repair to the car it is a place of considerable interest its Chief industry is a large paper mill a direct successor to the
First one established in England near the end of the 16th century and full scat paper standard throughout the English-speaking World takes its name from The Crest a fool’s cap of the founder of the industry whose tomb may still be seen in Dartford Church a short run over a broad Road bordered with
Beautiful rural scenery brought us into Rochester whose Cathedral spire and castle with its huge Norman Tower loomed into view long before we came into the town itself a few miles out of the town our attention had been attracted by a place of unusual Beauty a fine old house
Almost hidden by high Hedges and trees on one side of the road and just opposite a tangled bit of wood and Shrubbery with several of the largest Cedars we saw in England so picturesque was the spot that we stopped for a photograph of the car and party with the
Splendid trees for a background but as often happens in critical cas es the Kodak film only yielded a fog when finally developed when we reached Rochester a glance at the map showed us that we had unwittingly passed gads Hill the home where Charles Dickens spent the
Last 15 years of his life and where he died 36 years ago we speedily retraced the last four or five miles of our journey and found ourselves again at the fine old place with the cedar trees where we had been but a short time before we stopped to inquire at a
Roadside in which among the multitude of such places we had hardly noticed before and which bore the Legend the Sir John F staff a distinction earned by being The Identical place where Shakespeare located some of the pranks of his ridiculous hero the inkeeper was well posted on the literary traditions of the
Locality yes said he this is gads Hill place where Dickens lived and where he died just 36 years ago today on June the 9th 1870 but the house is shown only on Wednesdays of each week and the proprietor doesn’t fancy being troubled on other days but perhaps since you are
Americans and have come a long way he may admit you on this special anniversary anyway it will do no harm for you to try personally I could not blame the proprietor for his disinclination to admit visitors on other than the regular days and it was impressed on me more
Than once during our trip that living in the home of some famous man carries quite a penalty especially if the present owner happens to be a considerate gentleman who dislikes to deprive visitors of a glimpse of the place such owners are often wealthy and the small fees which they fix for
Admittance are only required as evidence of good faith and usually devoted to charity with a full appre appreciation of the situation it was not always easy to ask for the suspension of a plainly stated rule yet we did this in many instances before our tour was over and
Almost invariably with success in the present case we were fortunate for the gentleman who owned gad’s Hill was away and the neat maid who responded to the bell at the Gateway seemed glad to show us the place regardless of rules it is a comfortable old-fashioned house built
About 1775 and was much admired by Dickens as a boy when he lived with his parents in Rochester his father used to bring him to look at the house and told him that if he grew up a clever man he might possibly own it sometime we were
First shown into the library which is much the same as the great writer left it at his death and the chair and desk which he used still stand in their accustomed places the most curious feature of the library is the rose of dummy books that occupy some of the
Shelves and even the doors aligned with these sham leatherbacks glued to boards a whim of Dickens carefully respected by the present owner we were also accorded a view of the large dining room where Dickens was seized with the attack which resulted in his sudden and Unexpected
Death after a glimpse of other parts of the house and Gardens surrounding it the maid conducted us through an underground passage leading beneath the road to the plot of Shrubbery which lay opposite the mansion in this secluded Thicket Dickens had built a little house to which in the
Summertime he was often accustomed to retire when writing it was an ideal English June day and everything about the place showed to the best possible Advantage we all agreed that gads Hill alone would be well worth a trip from London the country around is surpassing ly beautiful and it is said that Dickens
Liked nothing better than to show his friends about the vicinity he thought the seven Mars between Rochester and Maidstone the most Charming walk in all England he delighted in taking trips with his friends to the castles and Cathedrals and he immensely enjoyed picnics and lunch in the Cherry Orchards
And Gardens a very interesting old city is Rochester with its 11th century Cathedral and massive Castle standing on the banks of the river little of the latter remains save the square Tower of the Norman keep one of the largest and most most imposing we saw in England the
Interior had been totally destroyed by fire hundreds of years ago but the Towering walls of enormous thickness still stand firm its Antiquity is attested by the fact that it sustained a Siege by William Rufus the son of the Conqueror the cathedral is not one of the most impressive of the great
Churches it was largely rebuilt in the 12th century the money being obtained from Miracles wrought by the relics of St William the Perth a pilgrim who was murdered on his way to Canterbury and who lies buried in the Cathedral Rochester is the scene of many incidents
Of Dickens stories it was the scene of his last unfinished work Edwin drud and he made many Illusions to it elsewhere the most notable perhaps in pck papers where he makes the effervescent Mr Jingle describe it thus ah Fine Place glorious pile frowning walls tottering arches dark Nooks crumbling staircases
Old Cathedral too earthy smell pilgrims feet worn away the old steps Across the River from Rochester lies chattam a city of 40,000 people and a famous Naval and Military station the two cities are continuous and practically one from here without further stop we followed the fine highway to Canterbury and entered
The town by the west gate of Cha’s tals this alone remains of the six gateways of the city wall in the poet’s day and the strong wall itself with its 21 Towers has almost entirely disappeared we followed a winding street bordered with quaint old buildings until we
Reached our hotel in this case a modern and splendidly kept hostelry the hotel was just completing an extens garage but it was not ready for occupancy and I was directed to a well equipped private establishment with every facility for the care and repair of Motors the Excellence of the service at this hotel
Attracted our attention and the head waiter told us that the owners had their own farm and supplied their own table Accounting in this way for the Excellence and freshness of the milk meat and vegetables the long English summer evening still afforded time to look about the town after dinner passing
Down the main street after leaving the hotel we found that the river and a canal wound that their way in several places between the old buildings closely bordering on each side the whole effect was delightful and So Soft with sunset colors as to be suggestive of Venice we noted that although Canterbury is
Exceedingly ancient it is also a city of nearly 30,000 population and the center of Rich farming country and as at Chester we found many evidences of prosperity and modern Enterprise freely interspersed with the quaint and timeworn landmarks one thing which we noticed not only here but elsewhere in England was the consumate architectural
Taste with which the modern business buildings were fitted in with the antique surroundings harmonizing in style and color and avoiding the discordant note that would come from a rectangular business block such as an American would have erected towns which have become known to fame and to the dollar Distributing tourists are now
Very slow to destroy or impair the old monuments and buildings that form their Chief attractiveness and the indifference that prevailed generally 50 or 100 years ago has entirely vanished we in America think we can afford to be iconic mon clastic for our history is so recent and we have so little that
Commands reverence by age and Association yet 500 years hence our successors will no doubt bitterly regret this Spirit of their ancestors just as many ancient towns in Britain Lament The Folly of their forebears who converted the historic abies and castles into HS and stone fences fortunately the Cathedral at Canterbury escaped such a
Fate and as we viewed it in the fading light we received an impression of its Grandeur and beauty that still keeps it preeminent after having visited every cathedral in the island it is indeed worthy of its proud position in the English church and its unbroken line of traditions lost in the midst of
Antiquity it is rightly the Delight of the architect and the artist but an adequate description of its magnificence has no place in this hurried record time has dealt gently with it and careful repair and restoration have arrested its Decay it stands today though subdued and stained by time as proudly as it did
When a monarch barefooted walked through the roughly paved streets to do Penance at the tomb of its martyred Arch Bishop it escaped lightly during the reformation and Civil War though becket’s Shrine was despoiled as savoring of idolatry and cromwell’s Men desecrated its sanctity by stabling their horses in the great church the
Next day being Sunday we were privileged to attend services at the Cathedral an opportunity we were always glad to have at any of the cathedrals despite the monotony of the Church of England service for the music of the superb organs the mellowed light from the stained windows and the associations of
The place were far more to us than litany or sermon the Archbishop was present at the service in state that fitted his exalted place as primate of all England and his rank which as actual head of the church is next to the king nominally head of the church as well as
Of the state he did not preach the sermon but officiated in the ordination of several priests a service full of solemn and picturesque interest the Archbishop was attired in his Crimson robe of State the long train of which was carried by young boys in white robes
And he proceeded to his throne with all the Pomp and ceremony that so Delights the soul of the English man he was preceded by several black robed officials bearing the Insignia of their offices and when he took his throne he became apparently closely absorbed in the sermon which was preached by a
Cambridge Professor we were later astonished to learn that the archbishop’s salary amounts to $75,000 per year or half as much more than that of the president of the United States and we were still more surprised to hear that the heavy demands made on him in maintaining his State and keeping
Up his Splendid Episcopal palaces are such that his income will not meet them we were told that the same situation prevails everywhere with these high church dignitaries and that only recently the bishop of London had published figures to show that he was $25,000 poorer in the three years of his
Incumbency on an annual salary of $40,000 per year it is not strange therefore that among these churchmen there exists a demand for a simpler life the bishop of norch frankly acknowledged recently that he had never been able to live on his income of $22,500 per year he expressed his conviction that the
Widespread Poverty of the Bishops is caused by their being required to maintain venerable but costly palaces he says that he and many of his fellow churchmen would prefer to lead plain and unostentatious lives but they are not allowed to do so that they would much prefer to devote a portion of their
Income to charity and other worthy purposes rather than to be compelled to spend it in useless Pomp and ceremony aside from its Cathedral Canterbury teams with unique relics of the past some anti-dating the Roman invasion of England the place of the town in history is an important one and Dean Stanley in
His Memorials of Canterbury claims that three great Landings were made in Kent adjacent to the city that of hangist and horsa which gave us our English forefathers in character that of Julia Caesar which revealed to us the Civilized world and that of St Augustine which gave us our Latin Christianity the
Tower of the cathedral dominates the whole city and the great church often overshadows everything else in interest to the visitor but one could spend days in the old world streets continually coming across fine half timbered houses with weather beaten Gables in subdued colors and Rich antique oak carvings
There are a few more pleasing bits of masonry in Britain than the great Cathedral Gateway at the foot of mercery Lane with its Rich carving weather worn to a soft blur of gray and brown tones near mercery Lane too are slight remains of the Inn of CHA Tales the checkers of
Hope and in Monastery Street stands the fine Gateway of the once rich and Powerful St Augustine’s Abbey then there is the quaint little Church of St Martin’s and dedly one of the oldest in England and generally reputed to be the oldest here in the year 600 St Augustine
Preached before the cathedral was built neither should St John’s Hospital with its fine half timbered Gateway be forgotten nor the old Grammar School founded in the 7th Century our stay in the old town was all too short but business reasons demanded our presence in London on Monday so we left for that
City about 2:00 we varied matters somewhat by taking a different return route and we fully agreed that the road leading from Canterbury to London by way of Maidstone is one of the most delightful which we traversed in England it led through Fields fresh with June vour losing itself at times in great
Forests where the branches of the trees formed an archway overhead near Maidstone we caught a glimpse of leed’s castle one of the finest country seats in Kent the main portions of the building dating from the 13th century we had a splendid view from the highway through an opening in the Trees of the
Many towered old house surrounded by a shimmering Lake and gazing on such a scene under the spell of an June day one might easily forget the present and fancy himself back in the time when Knighthood was in flower though the swirl of a motor rushing past us would
Have dispelled any such Ry had we been disposed to entertain it we reached London early and our party was agreed that our pilgrimage to can could not very well have been omitted from our itinerary end of chapter 3 chapter four of British highways and byways from a Motorcar by Thomas Dowler
Murphy this LibriVox recording is in the public domain recording by Christine blashford chapter 4 a run through the Midlands I had provided myself with letters of introduction from the American Automobile Association and motor League addressed to the Secretary of the motor Union of Great Britain and Ireland and shortly after my arrival in
London I called upon That official at the club headquarters after learning my plans he referred me to Mr the touring secretary who whom I found a courteous gentleman posted on almost every foot of Road in Britain and well prepared to advise one how to get the
Most out of a tour ascertaining the time I proposed to spend and the general objects I had in view he brought out road maps of England and Scotland and with a blue pencil rapidly traced a route covering about 3,000 mil which he suggested as affording the best
Opportunity of seeing in the time and distance proposed many of the most historic and picturesque parts of Britain in a general way this route followed the coast from London to lend through Wales north to oan and in vaness then to abedine and back to London along the eastern coast he chose the best
Roads with unerring knowledge and generally avoided the larger cities on the entire route which he outlined we found only one really dangerous grade in Wales and by keeping away from cities much time and nervous energy was saved while we very frequently diverged from this route it was nonetheless of
Inestimable value to us and other information maps road books Etc which were supplied Us by Mr Maron were equally indispensable I learned that the touring Department of the Union not only affords this service for Great Britain but has equal facilities for planning tours in any part of Europe in fact it
Is able to take in hand the full details such as providing for transportation of the car to some Port across the channel arranging for necessary licenses and supplying maps and Road information covering the different countries of Europe which the tourist may wish to visit this makes it very easy for a
Member of the union or anyone to whom it may extend its courtesy to go direct from Britain for a continental trip leaving the tourist almost nothing to provide for except the difficulties he would naturally meet in the languages of the different countries when I showed a well posted English friend the route
That had been planned he pronounced very favorably upon it but declared that by no means should we miss a run through the Midlands he suggested that I join him in Manchester on business which we had in hand allowing for an easy run of two days to that City by way of centry
On our return trip we plan to visit many places not included in our main tour among them the Welsh border towns Shrewsbury and Ludo and to run again through warshire taking in Stratford and War on our return to London this plan was adopted and we left London about
Noon with centry nearly 100 Mil away as our objective point a Motorcar is a queer and capricious creature before we were entirely out of the crush of the city the engine began to limp and shortly came to a stop I spent an hour hunting the trouble to the entertainment
And edification of the crowd of loafers who always congregate around a refractory car I hardly know to this minute what ailed the thing but it suddenly started off blly and this was the only exhibition of sulkiness it gave for it scarcely missed a stroke in our
Midland trip of 800 mil mostly in the rain nevertheless the little circumstance just at the outset of our tour was depressing we stopped for lunch at the Red Lion in the old town of St Albans 20 mil to the north of London it is a place of much historic Interest
Being a direct descendant of the ancient Roman city of very lamium and St Albans or albanus who gave his name to the town and Cathedral and who was beheaded near this spot was the first British martyr to Christianity of whom there is any record the cathedral occupies the
Highest site of any in England and the square Norman Tower which owes its red coloring to the Roman brick used in its construction is a conspicuous object from the surrounding country the Nave is of remarkable length being exceeded only by Winchester every style of architecture is represented from early
Norman to late perpendicular and there are even a few traces of Saxon work the destruction of this cathedral was ordered by the pious Henry VII at the time of his Reformation but he considerably rescinded the order when the citizens of St Albans raised money by public subscription to purchase the
Church only an hour was given to St Albans much less than we had planned but our late start made it imperative that we move onward our route for the day was over the Old Coach Road leading from London to hollyhead one of the most perfect in the Kingdom having been in
Existence from the of the Romans in fact no stretch of road of equal distance in our entire tour was superior to the one we followed from St Albans to Coventry it was nearly level free from sharp turns with perfect surface and cared for with neatness such as we would find only
In a Millionaire’s private grounds in the United States everywhere men were at work repairing any slight depression trimming the lawn-like grasses on each side to an exact line with the edges of the stone surface and even sweeping the road in many places to rid it of dust
And dirt here and there it ran for a considerable distance through beautiful Avenues of fine Elms and use the Hawthorne Hedges which boarded it almost everywhere were trimmed with careful exactness and yet amid all this Precision there bloomed in many places the sweet English wild flowers Forget Me
Nots violets wild hins and bluebells the country itself was rather flat and The Villages generally uninteresting the road was literally bordered with Wayside in or more properly ale houses for they apparently did little but sell liquor and their names were odd and fantastic itic in a high degree we noted a few of
Them the stump and Pie the hair and Hounds the plum of feathers the blue ball in the horse and wagon the horse and jockey the dog and Parson the dusty miller the Angel hotel the dun CN the Green Man the Adam and Eve and the coach
And horses are a few actual examples of the fearful and wonderful nomenclature of the roadside houses hardly less numerous than these ins were the motor supply depos along this road there is probably no other Road in England over which there is greater motor travel and supplies of all kinds are to be had
Every mile or two the careless motorist would not have far to walk should he neglect to keep up his supply of petrol or motor Spirit as they call it everywhere in Britain long before we reached Coventry we saw the famous three spes outlined against a rather threatening cloud and just as we entered
The Crooked streets of the Old Town the rain began to fall heavily the king’s head Hotel was comfortable and upto-date and the large room given us with its Fire Burning Bright in the open great was acceptable indeed after the drive in the face of a Sharp wind which had
Chilled us through and by the way there is little danger of being supplied with too many clothes and wraps when Motoring in Britain there were very few days during our entire Summer’s tour when one could dispense with cloaks and overcoats centry with its odd buildings and narrow crowded streets reminded Nathaniel
Hawthorne of Boston not the old English Boston but its big namesake in America many parts of the city are indeed quaint and ancient the finest of the the older buildings dating from about the year 1400 but these form only a nucleus for the more modern city which has grown up
Around them kentry now has a population of about 75,000 and still maintains its oldtime reputation as an important manufacturing center once it was famed for its silks ribbons and watches but this trade was lost to the French and swiss some say for lack of a protective tariff now cycles and Motorcars are the
Principal products and we saw several of the famous Daimler cars made here being tested on the streets centry has three fine old churches whose tall needle-like spires form a landmark from almost any point of view in warshire and give to the town the appalation by which it is
Often known the city of the three spes nor could we well have forgotten coventry’s unique legend for high upon one of The Gables of our hotel was a wooden figure said to represent peeping Tom who earned Eternal ignominy by his curiosity when lady gadiva resorted to her remarkable expedient to reduce the
Tax levy of Coventry our faith in the story so beautifully retold by Tennyson will not be shaken by the iconoclastic assertion that the Effigy is merely an old sign taken from an armorist shop that the legend of lady gadiva is common to half a dozen towns and that she
Certainly never had anything to do with Coventry in any event leaving centry the next day about noon in a steady rain we sought the most direct route to Manchester thereby missing nanon the birthplace and for many years the home of George Elliott and the center of some of the most
Delightful country in warshire had we been more familiar with the roads of this country we could have passed through Nan without loss of time the distance was only a little greater and over main roads whereas we traveled for a good portion of the day through narrow byways and the difficulty of keeping the
Right Road in the continual rain considerably delayed our progress we were agreeably surprised to find that the car did not skid on the wet McAdam Road and that despite the rain we could run very comfortably and quite as fast as in fair weather I had put up our Cape
Top and curtains but later we learned that it was pleasant protected by waterproof wraps to dash through the rain in the open car English spring showers are usually light and it was rather exhilarating to be able to bid Defiance to weather conditions that in most parts of the United States would
Have put a speedy end to our tour a few miles further brought us to Tamworth with its Castle lying on the border between warshire and Staffordshire the tower and town of Scotts Marian the castle of the feudal Baron chosen by Scott as the hero of his poem still
Stands in ruin and was recently acquired by the town it occupies a commanding position on a null and is surrounded by a group of fine trees a dozen miles more over a splendid Road brought in view the three spes of Lichfield Cathedral one of the smallest though most beautiful of
These great English churches built of red Sandstone rich with sculptures and of graceful and harmonious architecture there are few Cathedrals more pleasing the town of Lichfield is a comparatively small place but it has many literary and historical associ ations being the birthplace of Dr Samuel Johnson whose
House is still standing and for many years the home of Maria edworth here too once lived Major Andre whose Melancholy death in connection with the American Revolution will be recalled the cathedral was fortified during the Civil War and was sadly battered in sieges by cromwell’s Roundheads but so completely
Has it been rebuilt and restored that it presents rather a new appearance as compared with many others it occurred to us that the hour for luncheon was well passed and we stopped at at the rambling old Swan hotel which was to all appearances deserted for we wandered through narrow halls and around the
Office without finding anyone I finally ascended two flights of stairs and found a chambermaid who reluctantly undertook to locate someone in Authority which she at last did we were shown into a clean comfortable coffee room where tea served in front of a glowing fireplace was grateful indeed after our long ride
Through the cold rain it became apparent that owing to our many delays we could not easily reach Manchester and we we stopped at Newcastle and lime for the night this town has about 20,000 people and lies on the outer edge of the potteries district where Josiah Wedgwood founded this great industry over 100
Years ago the whole region comprising bam Hanley Newcastle stoon Trent and many smaller places may be described as a huge scattered city of about 300,000 inhabitants nearly all directly or indirectly connected with the manufacturer of various grades of China and earthware the Castle Hotel where we
Stopped was a very old in yet it proved unexpectedly homelike and comfortable our little party was given a small private dining room with massive antique furniture and we were served with an excellent dinner by an obsequious waiter in full dress suit and with Immaculate linen he cleared the table and left us
For the evening with the apartment as a sitting room and a mahogany desk by the Fireside well supplied with stationery afforded amends for neglected letters in the morning our breakfast was served in the same room and the bill for entertainment seemed astonishing ly low mine host will no doubt be wiser in this
Particular as motorists more and more invade the country an hour’s Drive brought us to Manchester the road by which we entered the city took us direct to the Midland Hotel which is reputed to be the finest in the Kingdom Manchester is a city of nearly a million inhabitants but its streets seemed
Almost like those of a country town as compared with the crowded thoroughfares of London it is a great Center for motoring and I found many of the garages so full that they could not take another car I event came to one of the largest where by considerable shifting they
Managed to accommodate my car but with all this Rush of business it seemed to me that the owners were in no danger of becoming plutocrats for the charge for a day’s garage cleaning the car polishing the brass and making a slight repair was 5 Shillings for half the way from
Manchester to leads the drive was about as trying as anything I found in England the road is winding exceedingly steep in places and built up on both sides with houses largely homes of Miners and mill operatives the pavement is of rough cobblestones and swarms of dogs and children crowded the way everywhere
Under such conditions the numerous steep hills narrow places and sharp turns in the road made progress slow indeed it was evident that the British motorists generally avoid this country for we met no cars and our own attracted attention that showed it was not a common spectacle however the trip was
Nonetheless an interesting one as showing a bit of the country and a phase of English life not usually seen by tourists there is little to detain one within the city of Leeds itself but there are many places of interest in its immediate vicinity there are few more picturesque spots in Yorkshire than Warf
Dale with its riotous Little River and ruins of Bolton Abbey and Bon Tower this lies about 15 mil to the Northwest and while for special reasons we went to ilkley station by train the trip is a fine motor drive over good roads the park which contains the Abbe and Castle
Is the property of the Duke of devenshire who keeps it at all times open to the public the river Warf Rippling over shingly rocks leaping in waterfalls and compressed into the remarkable Rapids called the strid only 5 or 6 feet wide but very deep and terribly Swift is the most striking
Feature of the park the forest clad Cliffs on either side rise almost precipitously from the edges of the narrow Dale and from their Summit if the climb does not deter one a splendid view presents itself the Dale gradually opens into a beautiful Valley and here the Old Abbey is charmingly situated on the
Banks of the river the were are not extensive but the crumbling walls bright with Ivy and wall flowers and with the soft Green Lawn beneath made a delightful picture in the mtled sunshine and Shadows of the English May Day on our return to leads our friend who accompanied us suggested that we spend
The next day Sunday at Harriet 15 mil to the north one of the most famous of English watering places it had been drizzling fitfully all day but as we started on the trip it began to rain in Earnest after picking our way carefully until free from the the slippery streets
In leads we found the fine McAdam Road little affected by the Deluge we were decidedly ahead of the Season at harate and there were but few people at the splendid hotel where we stopped the following Sunday was as raw and nasty as English weather can be when it wants to
Regardless of the time of year and I did not take the car out of the hotel Garage in the afternoon my friend and I walked to nbor one of the old Yorkshire towns about 3 mil distant I had never even heard of the place before and it was a
Thorough surprise to me to find it one of the most ancient and interesting towns in the Kingdom not a trace of modern Improvement interfered with its old world quaintness it looked as if it had been clinging undisturbed to the sharply Rising Hillside for centuries just before entering the town we
Followed up the Valley of the river nid to the so-called dripping well whose Waters heavily charged with Limestone drip from The Cliffs above and petrify various objects in course of time by covering them with a stone-like surface then we painfully ascended the hill not less than a 45% grade in motor parant
And wandered through the streets if such an assortment of narrow footpaths twisting around the corners may be given the courtesy of the name until we came to the site of the castle the guide book gives the usual epit for the ruined castles dismantled by orders of cromwell’s Parliament and so well was
This done that only one of the original 11 great watchtowers remains and a small portion of the Norman keep beneath which are the elaborate vaed Apartments where becket’s murderers once hid no doubt the great difficulty the crom willians had in taking the castle seemed a good reason to them for effectually
Destroying it at one time it was in the possession of the notorious peers gaveston and it was for a while the prison House of King Henry II there are many other points of interest in nbra not forgetting the cave from which mother Shipton issued her famous prophecies in which she missed it only
By bringing the world to an end ahead of schedule time but they deny in nbra she ever made such a prediction and prefer to rest her claims to infallibility on her prophecy Illustrated on a postcard by a highly colored Motorcar with the legend carriages without horses shall go
And accidents fill the world with woe altogether nesra is a town little frequented by Americans but nonetheless worthy of a visit hargate is an excellent Center for this and many other places if one is insistent on the very best and most stylish hotel accommodations that the island affords
Ripon with its Cathedral and fountains Abbey perhaps the finest ruin in Great Britain is only a dozen miles way but we visited these on our return to London from the north on Monday the clouds cleared away and the whole country was gloriously bright and fresh after the
Heavy showers we return to leads over the road by which we came to hargate and which passes haale Hall one of the finest country places in the Kingdom a large portion of the way the road is bordered by fine forests which form a great park around the Mansion we passed
Through leads to the Southward having no desire to return to Manchester over the road by which we came or in fact to pass pass through the city at all our objective point for the evening was Chester and this could be reached quite as easily by passing to the south of
Manchester Wakefield with its magnificent Church recently dignified as a cathedral was the first town of consequence on our way and about 25 miles south of leads we came to barnesley lying on the edge of the great mands in central England there is hardly a town in the whole Kingdom that does
Not have its peculiar tradition and an English friend told us that the fame of barnesley rests on the claim that no hotel in England can equal the mutton chops of the king’s head a truly unique distinction in a land where the mutton chop is standard and the best in the
World an English MO is a revelation to an American who has never crossed one and who may have a hazy notion of it from Tennyson’s verse or laad dun imagine lying in the midst of fertile fields and populous cities a large tract of brown desolate and broken land almost
Devoid of vegetation except gor and Heather more comparable to the Arizona Sage Brush Country than anything else and you have a fair idea of the dreary dreary Mand of the poet for 20 mil from barnesley our road ran through this great Mo and except for two or three
Wretched looking public houses one of them painfully misnamed the angel there was not a single town or habitation along the road the Morland Road began at peniston a desolate looking little mining town straggling along a single street that dropped down a very sharp grade on leaving the town despite the
Lonely desolation of the mo the road was excellent and followed the hills with gentle curves generally avoiding steep grades so far as I can recall we did not meet a single vehicle of any kind in the 20 mi of mland Road surely a paradise for the scorcher coming out of the mo we
Found ourselves within half a dozen miles of Manchester practically in its suburbs for Staley Bridge Stockport altringham and other large manufacturing towns are almost contiguous with the main city the streets of these towns were crowded with traffic and street car lines are numerous there is nothing of the slightest interest to the tourist
And after a belated luncheon at a really Modern Hotel in Stockport we set out on the last 40 miles of our journey after getting clear of Manchester and the surrounding towns we came to the Chester Road one of the numberless Watling streets which one finds all over England
A broad finely kept Highway leading through a delightful country north which famous for its salt mines was the only town of any consequence until we reached Chester we had traveled a distance of about 120 Mi our longest day Journey with one exception not very Swift motoring but we found that an average of
100 m per day was quite enough to thoroughly satisfy us and even with such an apparently low average as this a day’s rest now and then did not come a miss it would be better yet if one’s time permitted a still lower daily mileage not the least delightful feature
Of the tour was The Marvelous beauty of the English Landscapes and one would have a poor appreciation of these to dash along at 40 or even 25 mph there were many places at which we did not stop at all and which were accorded scant space in the guide books that
Would undoubtedly have given us ideas of English life and closer contact with the real Spirit of the people than one could possibly get in the tourist thronged towns and Villages end of chapter 4 chapter five of British highways and byways from a motor car by Thomas dler
Murphy this LibriVox recording is in the public domain recording by ch blashford chapter 5 the Border towns Shrewsbury and low I shall say but little of Chester as of every other place on the line of our journey so well known as to be on the itinerary of nearly everybody
Who makes any pretensions at touring Britain the volumes which have been written on the town and the many pages accorded it in the guide books will be quite sufficient for all Seekers after information frankly I was somewhat disappointed with chester I had imagined its quaintness that of a genuine Old
Country Town and was not prepared for the modern city that surrounds its show places in the words of an observant English writer it seems a trifle self-conscious its famous old Rose carry a suspicion of being swept and garnished for the dollar Distributing visitor from over the Atlantic and of being less
Genuine than they really are however that may be the moment you are out of these show streets of Chester there is a singular lack of charm in the environment the taint of Commerce and the smoke of the north hangs visibly on the horizon its immediate surroundings are
Modern and garish to a degree that by no means assists in the fiction that Chester is the unadulterated Old Country Town one would like to think it such a feeling I could not entirely rid myself of and even in following the old wall I could not help noting its carefully
Maintained disrepair I would not wish to be understood as intimating that Chester is not well worth a visit and a visit of several days if one can spare the time only that its charm was to me inferior to that of its more unpretentious neighbors Shrewsbury and Ludo our stay
Was only a short one since our route was to bring us to the town again still we spent half a day in a most delightful manner making a tour of the Rose and the odd Corners with quaint buildings the tourist fortified with his red-backed Bay Decker is a common sight to Chester
People and his dollar Distributing propensity as described by the English writer I have quoted is not unknown even to the smallest fry of the Town few things during our trip amused me more than the antics of a brown barefooted dirt begrimed little might not more than
Two or three years old who seized my wife skirts and hung on for dear life pouring out earnestly and volubly her unintelligible jargon we were at first at a loss to understand what our new associate desired and so grimly did she hang on that it seemed as if another
Accession to our party was assured but a light dawned suddenly on us and as the brown little hand clasped a broad English copper our self-appointed companion vanished like a flash into a neighboring shop even when touring in your wind shod car as an up-to-date English poet puts it and though your
Motor Waits you not a stone throw from your hotel you may not entirely dispense with your Antiquated eoin friend as a means of locomotion so we learned when we proposed to visit Eaton Hall The Country Place of the Duke of Westminster which lies closely adjoining Chester situated deep in the recesses of its
8,000 acre Park a conspicuous sign Motors strictly forbidden posted near the great Gateway forced us to have recourse to the Hackman whose moderate charge of 8 Shillings for a party of three was almost repaid by his Services as a guide he was valuable in his information concerning the Duke and
Especially dwelt on his distinction as the richest man in the world an honor which as good and loyal Americans we could not willingly see rested from our own John D of oleaginous Fame Eaton Hall is one of the greatest English show places but it is modern and might well
Be matched by the castles of several of our American aristocracy tame indeed seemed its swept and garnished newness its trim and perfect repair after our visits to so many time worn places the Great library with its thousands of volumes in the richest bindings and its collections of rare additions might well
Be the despair of a biblo file and the pictures and Furnishings of rare interest to The Connoisseur but these things one may find in the museums over a main road almost level and as nearly straight as any English Road merits such a description we covered the 40 miles from Chester to shrewbury without
Incident the most trying grade given in the road book is 1 in 25 and all conditions are favorable for record time in absence of police track 4 miles out of Chester we passed Ren station lying adjacent to Ren Mo where King Charles standing on the tower of
Chester wall which Bears his name saw his army defeated by the parliamentarians we made a late start from Chester but reached shrewbury in time to visit many parts of the town after dinner we found it indeed a delightful old place rich in historic traditions and the center of a country
Full of interesting places the town is built on a lofty Peninsula surrounded on three sides by the river seven and the main streets lead up exceedingly steep hills in fact many of the steepest and most dangerous Hills which we found in our travels were in the towns themselves
Where grades had been fixed by buildings long ago the clean McAdam in Shrewsbury made it possible to drive our car without chains though it rained incessantly but so Steep and winding are some of the streets that the greatest caution was necessary shrewbury is described by an English writer as a
Sweet aired genuine dignified and proud Old Market town the resort of Squires Parsons and farmers and mainly inhabited by those who minister to their wants it never dreams of itself as a show place he also adds another strong point in its claim to distinction some years ago a
Book was published by a zealous antiquarian enumerating with much detail all the families of England of a certain consequence who still occupied either the same state or Estates contiguous to those upon which they were living in the 15th century the Shire of which Shrewsbury is the capital very easily
Headed the list in this honorable competition and there thereby Justified the title of proud salopians which the more consequential of its people submit to with much complacency even though it be not always applied in a wholly serious way it is a genuine old Border Town so far unspoiled by commercialism
Modern improvements have not invaded its quaint streets to any great extent and many of those still retain their old names dog pole wild cop and shoplatch and are bordered by some of the finest half timbered houses in Britain nor is Shrewsbury wanting in famous suns in front of the old grammar school building
Is a bronze statue of Charles Darwin the man who changed the scientific thought of a world who was born here in 1809 the same grammar school was built in 1630 and is now converted into a museum of Roman relics which have been found in the immediate vicinity in its earlier
Days many distinguished men received their education here among them sir Philip Sydney and judge Jeff the Elizabeth and Market house and the council house which was visited by both Charles I and James II on different occasions are two of the the most fascinating buildings to be seen in the
Town there are scant remains principally of the keep of the castle built by the Norman Baron to whom William the Conqueror generously presented the Town St Mary is the oldest and most important church and in some particulars it surpasses the Cathedral at Chester it is architecturally more pleasing and its
Windows are among the finest examples of antique stained glass in the Kingdom we spent some time among the remarkable collection of relics in the museum and as they mainly came from the Roman city of uroni we planned a side trip to this place together with the buildwas ABI and
The old Saxon town of M Wenlock all of which are within 20 miles of Shrewsbury when we left the Raven Hotel it was raining steadily but this no longer deterred us and after cautiously descending the Steep Hill leading out of the town we were soon on the road to
Roxa the Village lying adjacent to the Roman ruins we found these of surprising extent and could readily believe the statement made in the local guide book that a great city was at one time located here only a comparatively small portion has been excavated but the city enclosed by the wall covered nearly one
Square mile one great piece of wall about 75 ft long and 20 ft in height still stands above ground to Mark the place but the most remarkable Revelations were found in the excavations the foundations of a large public building have been uncovered and the public baths to which the Romans
Were so partial are in a remarkable state of preservation the tile flooring in some cases remaining in its original position there is every indication that the city was burned and plundered by the wild Welsh tribes 1600 or more years ago a few miles further mainly through narrow byways brought us to build Wasabi
Beautifully situated near the seven evidently this fine ruin is not much frequented by tourists for we found no custodian in charge and the haunts of the old monks had been converted into a sheep fold by a neighboring farmer yet at one time it was one of the richest and most extensive monasteries in
England on our return to shrewbury we passed through much windlock a very ancient town which also has its ruined Abbey it is remarkable how thickly these monastic institutions were at one time scattered over the kingdom and when one considers what such elaborate establishments must have cost to build
And to maintain it is easy to understand why in the ages of church Supremacy the common people were so miserably poor aside from the places of historic interest that we visited on this trip the country through which we passed would have made our half day a memorable one though the continual Reign
Intercepted the much of the time yet from some of the hilltops we had vistas of the seven Valley with its winding river that we hardly saw surpassed in a country famous for lovely Landscapes we regretted later that our stay at Shrewsbury was so short for we learned
That in the immediate vicinity there are many other places which might well have occupied our attention but in this case as in many others we learned afterwards the things we should have known before our tour began late in the afternoon we started for Ludo it was still raining a
Gray day with fitful showers that never entirely ceased but only varied in intensity much of the beauty of the landscape was hidden in the gray mist and the distant Welsh Hills rich with soft coloring on clear days were entirely lost to us yet the gloomy day was not altogether without its
Compensation for if we had visited stokesay when the garish Sunshine gilded but to flaunt the ruins gray we should have lost much of the impression which we retain of the gloom and desolation that so appropriately pervaded the unique old Manor with its timbered gate house and its odd little Church
Surrounded by thickly set gravestones it was only by an accidental glance at our roadbook that we saw stok a castle as an object of interest on this road about 8 mil north of lllo This Old House is the finest example in the Kingdom of a fortified Manor as distinguished from a
Castle its defensive feature being a great crenelated tower evidently built as a later Edition when the Mana passed from a well-to-do country gentleman to a member of the nobility this is actually the case for there is on record a licensed Grant granted in 1284 to Lawrence dudo permitting him to
Crenellate his house the house itself was built nearly 200 years earlier and was later surrounded by a moat as a further means of Defense considering its age it is in a wonderfully good state of preservation the original roof still being intact we were admitted by The Keeper who lives in the dilapidated but
Delightfully picturesque half timbered Gate House the most notable feature of the old house is the banqueting hall occupying the greater portion of the first floor showing how in the good old days provision for Hospitality took precedence over nearly everything else some of the apartments on the second
Floor retain much of their elaborate Oak paneling and there are several fine mantle pieces a narrow circular stairway leads to the tower from which the beauty of the location is at once apparent situated as the Mansion is in a lovely Valley bounded by Steep and richly
Wooded Hills at whose base the river on flows through luxuriant Meadows one is compelled to admire the Judgment of the ancient founder who selected the the site it indeed brought us near to the spirit and customs of feudal times as we wandered about in the Gloom of the deserted Apartments how comfortless the
House must have been from our standard even in its best days with its rough Stone floors and rude Furnishings no fireplace appeared in the banqueting hall which must have been warmed by an open fire perhaps in the center as in the Hall of penser place how little these ancient landmarks were appreciated
Until recently is shown by the fact that for many years stokesay Manor was used as a black Smith shop and a stable for a neighboring farmer the present Noble proprietor however keeps the place in excellent repair and always open to visitors in one of the rooms of the
Tower is exhibited a collection of ancient documents relating to the founding of stokesay and to its early history after visiting hundreds of historic places during our Summer’s pilgrimage the memory of lllo with its quaint unsullied Old World Air its magnificent Church whose melodious chime of bells lingers with us yet its great
Ruined Castle red with romance and its surrounding country of unmatched interest and beauty is still the pleasantest of all I know that the town has been little visited by Americans and that in Baya that Holy RIT of tourists it is accorded a scant paragraph in small type nevertheless our deliberately
Formed opinion is still that if we could revisit only one of the English towns it would be llay Mr AG Bradley in his delightful book in the march in Borderland of Wales which everyone contemplating a tour of Welsh border towns should read gives an appreciation
Of low which I am glad to reiterate when he Styles it the most beautiful and distinguished Country Town in England he says there are towns of its size perhaps as quaint and boasting as many ancient buildings but they do not Crown an Eminence and really striking scenery nor
Yet again share such distinction of type with one of the finest medieval castles in England and one possessed of a military and political history unique in the annals of British castles it is this combination of natural and Architectural charm with its intense historical interest that gives llo such peculiar Fascination other great border
Fortresses were centers of military activities from the conquest to the Battle of Bosworth but when lllo laid aside its armor and burst out into graceful chuda architecture it became in a sense the capital of 14 counties and remained so for nearly 200 years we were indeed fortunate in lllo for everything
Conspired to give us the best appreciation of the town and were it not for the opinion of such an authority as I have quoted I might have concluded that our partiality was due to some extent to the circumstances we had been directed to a hotel by our host in shrewbury but on
Inquiring of a police officer they are everywhere in Britain on our arrival in Ludo he did us a great favor by telling us that the feathers Hotel just opposite would please us better we forth with Drew up in front of the finest old black and white building which we saw anywhere
In the kingdom and were given a room whose Diamond pained windows open toward church and castle no modern improvements broke in on our oldtime surroundings candles lighted us when the long Twilight had faded away The Splendid dark oak paneling that reached to the ceiling of the dining room and the
Richly carved mantle piece they told us were once in rooms of low Castle as we sat at our late dinner a familiar Melody from the sonorous Chimes of the church Tower came through the open window to our great Delight oh what a nuisance those bells are said the neat waiting
Maate and a bad thing for the town too why the commercials all keep away from lllo they can’t sleep for the noise do the Chimes in the night we asked at midnight and at 4:00 in the morning she said and I was fearful that we would not
Awake but we did and the melody in the Silence of the night amid the surroundings of the quaint Old Town awakened a sentiment in us no doubt quite different from that which vexed the soul of the commercial but we felt that credit was due the honest people of
Ludl who preferred the music of the sweet toned bells to sorted business and as the maid said the bells did not awaken anyone who was used to them surely a fit reward to the citizens for their high-minded disregard of mere material interests I said we were fortunate at
Lllo the gray chilly weather and almost continual rain which had followed us for the last few days vanished and the next morning dawned cool and fair with Sky of untainted blue our steps were first turned towards the castle which we soon reached there was no one to admit us the
Custodian’s booth was closed but there was a small gate in the great entrance and we walked in we had the noble ruin to ourselves and a place richer in story and more beautiful and Majestic in decay we did not find elsewhere a maze of gray walls Rose all around us but fortunately
Every part of the ruin bore a printed card telling us just what we wanted to know the crumbling walls surrounded a beautiful lawn starred with wild flowers buttercups and forget me knots and a flock of sheep grazed peacefully in the wide enclosure we wandered through the deserted roofless Chambers where
Fireplaces with elaborate stone mantels and odd bits of carving told of the pristine glory of the place the castle was of great extent covering the highest point in low and before the day of artillery must have been well nigh impregnable the walls on the side toward
The river rise from a cliff which drops down a sharp incline toward the edge of the water but leaving room for a delightful footpath between rows of fine trees the stern Square Tower of the keep the odd circular Chapel with its fine Norman entrance the Great banqueting Hall the elaborate Stone fireplaces and
The various Apartments celebrated in the story of the castle interested us most from the great tower I saw what I still consider the finest Prospect in England and I had many beautiful views from similar points of Vantage the day was perfectly clear and the wide range of vision covered the fertile valleys and
Wooded Hills interspersed with the villages the whole country appearing like a vast beautifully kept Park the story of low Castle is too long to tell here but no one who Delights in the Romance of the days of chivalry should fail to familiarize himself with it the castle was once a royal residence and
The two young princes murdered in London Tower by the Agents of Richard III dwelt here for many years in 1636 Milton’s mask of komus suggested by the youthful Adventures of the children of the Lord president was performed in the castle Courtyard the lord of the castle at one
Time was Henry Sydney father of sir philli and his coat of arms Still Remains over one of the entrances but the story of love and treason of how in the absence of the owner of the castle made Maran admitted her clandestine lover who brought a 100 armed men at his
Back to slay the inmates and capture the Fortress is the saddest and most tragic of all we saw high up in the wall frowning over the river the window of the Chamber from which she had thrown herself after slaying her recreant lover in her rage and despair a weird story it
Is but if the luckless Maiden Still haunts the scene of her blighted love an observant Sojourner who fitly writes of lllo in Poetic phrase never saw her nearly every midnight for a month he says it fell to me to Traverse the quarter of a mile of dark lonely lane
That leads beneath the walls of the castle to the Falls of the river and a spot more calculated to invite the wanderings of a despairing and guilty spirit I never saw but though the Savage gray Towers far above sha be times in the Moonlight and the tall trees below
Rustled weirdly in the night Breeze and the rush of the river over the Weir Rose and fell as is the want of falling water in the Silence of the night I looked in vain for The Wraith of the hapless maiden of the heath and finally gave up
The quest when we left the castle though nearly noon the custodian was still belated and we yet owe him six P for admittance which we hope to pay sometime in person a short walk brought us to the church the finest Parish Church in England declares one well qualified to
Judge next to the castle he says the glory of Ludo is its Church which has not only the advantage of a commanding site but as already mentioned is held to be one of the finest in the country it is built of red sandstone and is crucii
In shape with a lofty and graceful Tower which is a landmark over miles of country and Beautiful from any point of view I have already mentioned the chime of bells which flings its Melodies every few hours over the town and which are hung in this Tower The Monuments the
Stained glass windows and the imposing architecture are scarcely equaled by any other church outside of the cathedrals we had made the most of our stay in lllo but it was all Too Short The Old Town was a revelation to us as it would be to thousands of our countrymen who never
Think of including it in their itinerary but for the motorc car it would have remained undiscovered to us with the great growth of this method of touring doubtless thousands of others will visit the place in the same manner and be no less pleased than we were from low we
Had a fine run to Worcester though the road was sprinkled with short steep hills noted dangerous in the road book our fine weather was very transient for it was raining again when we reached Worcester we first directed our steps to the cathedral but when nearly there
Beheld a large sign this way to the Royal porcelain works and the cathedral was forgotten for the time by at least one member of our party the Royal porcelain works it was then for hadn’t we known of Royal Worcester long before we knew there was any Cathedral or any
Town for that matter it is easy to get to the Royal porcelain Works a huge sign every block will keep you from going astray and an intelligent guide will show you every detail of the great establishment for only a six P but it is much harder and more costly to get away
From the Royal Worster works and when we finally did we were several guine poorer and were loaded with a box of fragile wear to excite the suspicions of our amiable Customs officials nevertheless the visit was full of Interest our guide took us through the great plant from the
Very beginning showing us the raw materials clay chalk and Bones which are ground to a fine powder mixed to a paste and deafly turned into a thousand shapes by the skilled Potter we were shown how the bowl or vase was burned shrinking to nearly half its size in the process we
Followed the various steps of manufacturer until the finished wear hand painted and burned many times to bring out the colors was ready for shipment an extensive Museum connected with the works is filled with rare specimens to Delight the soul of the admirer of the keramic art there were
Samples of the notable sets of table wear manufactured for nearly every one of the crowned heads of Europe during the last century gorgeous vases of fabulous value and rare and curious pieces without number when we left the porcelain works it was too late to get into the cathedral and when we were
Ready to start in the morning it was too early so we contented ourselves with driving the car around the noble pile and viewing the exterior from every angle we took the word of honest Bay decka that the interior is one of the most elaborate and artistic in England
But largely the result of modern restoration the cathedral contains the tomb of King John who requested that he be buried here though his life was certainly not such as to Merit the distinction here too is buried the elder brother of King Henry VII Prince Arthur
Who died at lllo Castle in 1502 and had he lived to be king in place of the strenuous Henry who can say what changes might have been recorded in English History all these we missed nor did we satisfy ourselves personally of the correctness of the claim that the
Original entry of the marriage contract of William Shakespeare and Anne Hathaway is on file in the dases office near the Gateway of the cathedral along with the other notable places of the Town mentioned in the guide book as worthy of a visit is the great Factory where the
Fiery wora sources conco it but this did not appeal to our imagination as did the porcelain Works our early start and the fine nearly level Road brought us to Stratford upon aan well before noon here we did little more than revisit the shrines of Shakespeare the church the
Birth place the grammar school all familiar to the English-speaking World nor did we forget the red horse in at luncheon time finding it much less crowded than on our previous visit for we were still well in advance of the tourist season after luncheon we were lured into a shop across the street by
The broad Assurance made on an exceedingly conspicuous sign that it is the largest souvenir store on Earth here we hoped to secure a few momentos of our visit to Stratford by Motorcar we fell into a conversation with the proprietor a genial white-haired Old Gentleman who we learned had been mayor of the town
For many years and is it not a rare distinction to be mayor of Shakespeare Stratford the Old Gentleman bore his honors lightly indeed for he said he had insistently declined the office but the people wouldn’t take no for an answer it is only a few miles to war over winding
Roads as beautiful as any in England one of these leads past charlock cut famous for Shakespeare’s DS stealing episode but no longer open to the public we passed through Warick which reminded us of lllo except for the former’s Magnificent situation without pausing a thing which no one
Would do who had not visited that quaint old town sometime before in lemington 3 miles further on we found a modern city of 40,000 inhabitants noted as a resort and full of pretentious hotels after we were located at the manor house there was still time for a drive to
Kennelworth Castle 5 miles away to which a second visit was even more delightful than our previous one but the next day we had planned a circular tour of warshire but a driving all day rain and still more the indisposition of one of our party confined us to our hotel our
Disappointment was considerable for within easy reach of lemington there were many places that we had planned to visit ashow Church Stoneley Abbey George Elliott’s birthplace and home near Nunan the cottage of mariarden mother of Shakespeare rugby with its famous school and Max Stoke Castle an extensive and
Picturesque ruin are all within a few miles of lemington from lemington to London was nearly an all day’s run although the distance is only 100 miles repair to the car delayed us and we went several miles astray on the road it would have been easier to have returned
Over the hollyhead road but our desire to see more of the country led us to take a route nearly parallel to this averaging about 15 mil to the Southward much of the way this ran through narrow byways and the country generally lacked interest we passed through Banbury whose
Cross famous in nursery rhyme is only modern at werson we saw the most upto-date and best ordered Village we came across in England with a fine new hotel the Five Arrows glittering in fresh paint we learned that this Village was built and practically owned by Baron Roth’s child and just adjoining it was
The estate which he had laid out the gentleman of whom we inquired courteously offered to take us into the Great Park and we learned that he was the head landscape Gardener the palace is modern of Gothic architecture and crowns an Eminence in the park it contains a picture gallery with examples
Of the works of many great Masters which is open to the public on stated days of the week on reaching London we found that our tour of the Midlands had covered a little less than 800 miles which shows how much that distance means in Britain when measured in places of
Historic and literary importance of which we really visited only a few of those directly on the route of our journey or lying easily adjacent to it end of chapter 5 chapter six of British highways and byways from a Motorcar by Thomas dler Murphy this LibriVox recording is in the
Public domain recording by Christine blashford chapter 6 London to Land’s End the road from London to Southampton is one of the oldest in the kingdom and passes many places of historic interest in early days this highway leading from one of the main sea ports through the ancient Saxon Capital was of great
Importance over this road we began the trip suggested by the touring Secretary of the motor Union as usual we were late in getting started and it was well afternoon when we were clear of the city at Kingston on TS practically suburb filled with Villas of wealthy londoners
We stopped for lunch at the Griffin Hotel a fine old in whose Antiquity was not considered sufficient to atone for bad service which was sometimes the case Kingston has a history as ancient as that of the capital itself its name is peculiar in that it was not derived from
King’s town but from King’s Stone and at the Town Crossing is the identical Stone so says tradition upon which the Saxon Kings were crowned it would seem to one that this historic bit of rock would would form a more fitting pedestal for the English coronation chair than the old Scottish Stone from dunstaffnage
Castle after a short run from Kingston we passed down High Street Guilford which a well-qualified Authority declares is one of the most picturesque streets in England Gilford might well detain for a day or more anyone whose time will permit him to travel more leisurely than ours did William cobit
The author and philosopher who was born and lived many years nearby declared it the happiest looking town he ever knew just while I do not know the street with the huge Town clock projecting halfway across on one side the 17th century town hall with its massive Greek poro on the
Other and a queerly assorted row of many gabled buildings following its Winding Way looked odd enough but as to guilford’s happiness a closer acquaintance would be necessary shortly after leaving the town the ascent of a 2-mile hill brought us to a stretch of Upland Road which ran for several miles
Along a table land lying between pleasantly Diversified valleys sloping on either side from this a long gradual descent led directly into farum the native town of William kobit the house where he was born and lived as a boy is still standing as the Jolly farmers in
One may see the little house which was the birthplace of the Reverend Augustus top lady whose hymn Rock of Ages has gained worldwide Fame on the hill overlooking the town is the ancient castle rebuilt in the 16th century and from that time one of the Palaces of the
Bishops of Winchester here too lingers one of the ubiquitous traditions of King Charles I who stopped at Vernon House in West Street while a prisoner in the hands of the parliamentarians on their way to London a silk cap which the king presented to his host is proudly shown
By one of The latter’s Descendants who is now owner of the house one must be well posted on his route when touring Britain or he will pass many things of note in Sublime ignorance of their existence even the road book is not an infallible guide for we first knew that
We were passing through Chon when the post office sign on the Main Street of a straggling Village arrested our attention we were thus reminded that in this quiet little place the inimitable Jane Austin had lived and produced her most notable novels which are far more appreciated now than in the lifetime of
The authoress an old woman of whom we inquired pointed out the house a large Square building with tiled roof now used as the home of a working men’s club less than 2 miles from Chon though not on the Winchester Road is selborn the home of Gilbert white the naturalist and famed
As one of the quaintest and most retired villages in hire but one would linger long on the way if he paused at every Landmark on the Southampton Road we had already loitered in the short distance which we had traveled until it was growing late and with open throttle our
Car rapidly covered the last 20 miles of the fine Road leading into Winchester from an historical point of view no town in the Kingdom surpasses the proud old city of Winchester the Saxon Capital still remembers her ancient Splendor and it was with a manifest Touch of Pride
That the old virger who guided us through the cathedral dwelt on the long line of Kings who had reigned at Winchester before the Norman Conquest to him London at best was only an upstart and a usurper why when Oxford was shambles and Westminster was brambles Winchester was in her glory and her
Glory has never departed from her and never will so long as her great Cathedral stands intact guarding its agong line of proud Traditions the exterior is not altogether pleasing the length exceeding that of any cathedral in Europe together with the abbreviated Tower impresses one with a pain painful
Sense of lack of completeness and a failure of proper proportion it has not the splendid sight of Durham or Lincoln the Majesty of the massive Tower of Canterbury or the grace of the great Spire of Salsbury but its interior makes full amends no cathedral in all England can approach it in elaborate carvings
And Furnishings or in interesting relics and memorials here lie the bones of the Saxon King Ethel wolf father of Alfred the Great of Canute whose sturdy Common Sense silenced his flatterers and of many others a Scion of the usurping Norman sleeps here too in the tomb where William Rufus was buried with many
Looking on and few grieving in the north aisle a memorial stone covers the grave of Jane Austin and a great window to her memory sends its many colored shafts of light from above in the South transcept rests Ike Walton Prince of fishermen who it would seem to us must have slept more
Peacefully by some Rippling Brook during the Parliamentary Wars Winchester was a storm Center and the cathedral suffered severely at the hands of of the parliamentarians yet fortunately many of its ancient monuments and Furnishings escaped the Wrath of the roundhead iconoclasts the cathedral is one of the oldest in England having been mainly
Built in the 9th century recently it has been discovered that the foundations are giving away to an extent that makes extensive restoration necessary but it will be only restored and not altered in any way but we may not pause long to tell the story of even Winchester
Cathedral in this Hasty record of a motor flight through Britain and speaking of the motor car Ardent devotee as I am I could not help feeling a painful sense of the inappropriateness of its presence in Winchester of its rush through the streets at all hours of
The night of its clatter as it climbed the steep hills in the town of the blast of its unmusical horn and of its glaring lights falling weirdly on the old buildings it seemed an intruder in the capital of King Alfred there is much else in Winchester though the cathedral
And its associations May overshadow everything the college one of the earliest educational institutions in the kingdom was founded about 13300 and many of the original buildings stand almost unchanged The Abbey has vanished though the ground still serve as a public garden and of wolves Ley Palace a castle
Built in 1138 only the keep still stands how usual this saying only the keep still stands Becomes of English castles thanks to the old Builders who made the keep strong and high to withstand time and so difficult to tear down that it escaped the lutters of the ages a day
Might well be given to the vicinity of Winchester which teams with points of literary and historic interest in any event one should visit twiford only three miles away often known as the queen of the Hampshire Villages and famous for the finest u tree in England it is of a special interest to Americans
Since Benjamin Franklin wrote his autobiography here while a guest of Dr Shipley Vicor of St Assaf whose house a fine Elizabethan Mansion still stands for Salsbury by way of romsey is a fine Drive of about 30 Mi over good roads and through a very pleasing country long
Before we reached the town There Rose inter viiew its great Cathedral Spire the loftiest and most graceful in Britain a striking Landmark from the country for miles around following the winding road and passing through the narrow Gateway entering High Street we came directly Upon This Magnificent Church certainly the most harmonious in
Design of any in the Kingdom the situation too is unique the cathedral standing entirely separate from any other building it’s its gray walls and buttresses Rising sheer up from velvety Turf such as is seen in England alone it was planned and completed within the space of 50 years which accounts for its
Uniformity of style while the construction of most of the cathedrals ran through the centuries with various architecture in Vogue at different periods the interior however lacks interest and the absence of stained glass gives an air of coldness it seems almost unbelievable that the original stained windows were deliberately
Destroyed at the end of the 18th century by a so-called architect James Wyatt who had the restoration of the cathedral in charge to his Everlasting infamy Wyatt Swept Away screens chapels and porches desecrated and destroyed the tombs of Warriors and prelates obliterated ancient paintings flung Stained Glass by
Cartloads into the city ditch and raised to the ground the beautiful old Campanile which stood opposite the north porch that such desecration should be permitted in a civilized country only a century ago indeed seems incredible no one who visits Salsbury will forget Stonehenge the most remarkable relic of
Prehistoric man to be found in Britain nearly everyone is familiar with pictures of this solitary circle of stones standing on an Eminence of soulsbury plain but one who has not stood in the shadow of these gigantic monoliths can have no idea of their rugged Grandeur their mystery is deeper
Than that of Egypt’s Sphinx for we know something of early Egyptian history but the very memory of The Men Who reared the stones on ssbu plane is forgotten who they were why they built this strange Temple or how they brought for long distances these massive rocks that would tax modern resources to transport
We have scarcely a hint the stones stand in two concentric circles those of the inner ring being about half the height of the outer ones some of the stones are more than 20 ft high and extend several feet into the ground there are certain signs which seem to indicate that
Stonehenge was the Temple of some early Sun worshipping race and Sir Norman loia who has made a special study of the subject places the date of construction about 1680 BC no similar stone is found in the vicinity hence it is proof positive that the Builders of Stonehenge must have transported the enormous
Monoliths for many miles the place lies about 8 miles north of Salsbury we went over a rather lonely and uninteresting Road by the way of Asbury which is 2 miles from Stonehenge we returned by a more picturesque route following the river aen to Solsbury and passing through milston a quaint little village
Where Joseph Addison was born in 1672 a few miles south of Solsbury we entered New Forest an ancient Royal hunting domain covering nearly 300 square miles and containing much of the most pleasing Woodland scenery in England this is extremely Diversified but always beautiful Glades and reaches of gentle Park and Meadow and open
Heath-like stretches contrast wonderfully with the dark masses of huge Oaks and beaches under some of which daylight never penetrates we sto stopped for the night at Lindhurst directly in the center of the forest and sometimes called the capital of New Forest it looks strangely new for an English town
And the large church built of red brick and white stone shows its recent origin in this church is a remarkable alter Fresco which was executed by the late Lord Leighton the fine roads and Splendid scenery might occupy at least a day if time permitted but if like us one
Must hasten onward a run over the main roads of New Forest will give opportunity to see much of its silver Beauty our route next day through the narrow byways of dorsetshire was a Meandering one from Lindhurst we passed through Christ Church Blandford and doorchester and came for the night to YoVille we
Passed through no place of a speci special note but no day of our tour afforded us a better idea of the more retired rural sections of England by the roadside everywhere were the thatched roof Cottages with their flower gardens and here and there was an ancient Village which to all appearances might
Have been standing quite the same when the Conqueror landed in Britain often times s the byways were wide enough for only one vehicle but were slightly broadened in places to afford opportunity for passing many of the crossings lacked the familiar signboards and the winding byways with nothing but
The map for a guide were often confusing and sharp turns between High Hedges made careful driving necessary at times we passed between Avenues of tall trees and again unexpectedly dropped into some quiet Village nestling in the Dorset Hills one of the quaintest of these not even mentioned in Bay Decker is Sir Abus
A straggling Village through which the road Twisted along a little oldw world Community seemingly severed from Modern conditions by centuries it rather lacked the Cozy picturesqueness of many English Villages it seemed to us that it wanted much of the bloom and Shrubbery everywhere were the gray stone houses
With thatched roofs sagging walls and odd little windows with square or diamond shaped panes set in Iron casements nowhere was there a structure that had the slightest taint of newness the place is quite unique I do not recall another Village that impressed Us in just the same way our car seemed
Strangely out of place as it cautiously followed the Crooked Main Street of the town and the attention bestowed on it by the smaller natives indicated that a moto was not a common sight in CERN Abus indeed we should have missed it ourselves had we not wandered from the
Main road into a narrow Lane that led to the Village while we much enjoyed our day in the Dorset byways our progress had necessarily been slow in YoVille we found an Old English town apparently without any important history but a prosperous Center for a rich farming
Country the place is neat and clean and has a beautifully kept public park a feature of which the average English town appears more appreciative than the small American city from YoVille to toi through exitor with a stop at the latter place was an unusually good days run the
Road was more hilly than any we had passed over here to for not a few of the grades being styled dangerous and we had been warned by an English friend that we should find difficult roads and steep hills in Devon and Cornwall however to one who had driven over some of our
Worst American roads even the bad roads of England looked good and the dangerous Hills with their smooth surface and generally uniform grade were easy for our moderate powered motor exitor enjoys the distinction of having continuously been the site of a town or city for a longer period than is recorded of any
Other place in England during the Roman occupation it was known as a city and it is believed that the streets which are more regular than usual and which generally cross each other at right angles were first laid out by the Romans it is an important town of about 50,000
Inhabitants with thriving trade and manufactures and modern improvements are in evidence everywhere the cathedral though not one of the largest or most imposing is remarkable for the elaborate carving of the exterior the West Front is literally covered with life-sized statues set in niches in the wall but
The figures are all sadly timeworn many of them having almost crumbled away evidently The Roundheads were considerate of exitor Cathedral that such a host of eff escaped destruction at their hands and they were not very well disposed towards exitor either as it was always a royalist stronghold possibly it was spared because the
Cromwellian found it useful as a place of worship and in order to obtain peace and Harmony between the two factions of the army the cathedral was divided into two portions by a high brick wall through the center The Independents holding forth on one side and the Presbyterians on the other the road from
Exitor to toi follows the coast for some distance affording many fine views of the ocean we were now in the Limestone country and the roads are exceedingly Dusty in dry weather the dust in the form of a fine white powder covers the trees and vegetation giving the country here and
There an almost ghostly appearance no wonder that in this particular section there is considerable prejudice against the motor on account of its great propensity to stir up the dust so far as we ourselves were concerned we usually left it behind us and it troubled us
Only when some other car got in ahead of us toi is England’s Palm Beach a Sea Coast Resort town where the temperature rarely Falls below 40° thanks to the warm current of the Gulf Stream and where the sea breezes keep down the summer heat which seldom rises above 60°
It is especially a winter Resort although the hotels keep open during the year most of the town is finally situated on a high premon overlooking a beautiful Harbor studded with islands and detached rocks that half remind one of Capri from our hotel window we had a glorious Ocean View made the more
Interesting for the time being by a dozen of King Edward’s Men of War supposed to be defending toi against the enemy of a mimic Naval Warfare on the opposite side of T Bay is the quiet little fishing Village of brium the landing place of Prince William of
Orange we reached here early on a fine June day when everything was fresh after heavy showers during the night the houses rise in Terraces up the sharp Hillside fronting the harbor which was literally a forest of fishing boat masts a rather crude Stone statue of Williams
Stands on the key and a brass footprint on the shore marks the exact spot where the Dutch Prince first set foot in England accompanied by an army of 13,000 men our car attracted a number of urchins who crowded around it and though we left it unguarded for an hour or more
To go out on the seaw wall and look about the town not one of the fishal lads ventured to touch it or to molest anything an instance of the law abiding Spirit which we found everywhere in England from brixs him an hour’s drive over bad roads brought us to Dartmouth
Whether we had been attracted by the enthusiastic language of an English writer who asserts that there is scarcely a more romantic spot in the whole of England than Dartmouth spread out on one of the steep slopes of the dart it overlooks the Deep set River toward the sea steep wooded Banks rising
Out of the water’s edge give the winding of the esteres a solemn mystery which is wanting in Meadows and plowland in the midst of scenery of this character and it must have been richer still a few centuries back the inhabitants of Dartmouth made its history as we approached the town the road continually
Grew worse until it was little better than the average unimproved country Highway in America and the sharp loose Stones everywhere were ruinous on tires it finally plunged sharply down to a steamboat ferry over which we crossed the dart and landed directly in the town there are few towns in England more
Charmingly located than old Dartmouth and 100 years ago it was an important sea port dividing Hors about equally with Plymouth the road to Dartmouth was unusually trying the route which we took to Plymouth was by odds the worst of equal distance we found anywhere we began with a precipitous climb out of
The Town up a very Steep Hill over a mile long with many sharp turns that made the ascent all the more difficult we were speedily lost in a network of unmarked byways running through a distressingly poor-looking and apparently quite thinly inhabited country after a deal of studying the map
And the infrequent signboards we brought up in a desolate looking little village merely a row of gray stone slate roofed houses on either side of the way and devoid of a single touch of the picturesque which so often atones for for the poverty of the English Cottages
No plot of Shrubbery or flower garden broke the gray monotony of the place we had seen nothing just like it in England though some of the scotch Villages which we saw later matched it very well here a native gave us the cheerful information that we had come over the very road we
Should not have taken that just ahead of us was a hill where the infrequent Motorcars generally stalled but he thought that a good strong car could make it all right our car tackled the hill bravely enough but slowed to a stop before reaching the summit but by loading everybody except the driver and
With more or less coaxing and adjusting it was induced to try it again with a rush that carried it through the grade though very steep was not so much of an obstacle as the deep sand with which the road was covered we encountered many steep hills and ped Villages nearly as
Unprepossessing as the first one before we came to the main Plymouth exitor Road as excellent a highway as one could wish it was over this that our route had originally been outlined but our spirit of Adventure led us into the digression I have tried to describe it was trying
At the time but we saw a phase of England that we otherwise would have missed and have no regrets for the strenuous day in the devire byways Plymouth with the adjoining towns of devonport and Stonehouse is one of the most important sea ports in the Kingdom the combined population being about
200,000 the harbor is one of the best and affords safe Anchorage for the largest oceangoing vessels it is protected by a stupendous Granite Breakwater costing many millions and affording a delightful prominade on a fine day Plymouth is the principal Government Naval port and its ocean Commerce is gaining rapidly on that of
Liverpool to Americans it appeals chiefly on account of its connection with the pilgrim fathers who sailed from its harbor on the Mayflower in 1620 a granite block set in the pier near the oldest part of the city is supposed to Mark the exact spot of departure of the
Gallant little ship On the Hazardous Voyage whose momentous outcome was not then dreamed of I could not help thinking what a fine opportunity is offered here for some patriotic American millionaire to erect a suitable Memorial to commemorate the sailing of the little ship fraught with its wonderful Destiny
The half day spent about the old city was full of interest but the places which we missed would make a most discouraging list it made us feel that one ought to have two or three years to explore Britain instead of a single Summer’s vacation from Plymouth to penans through Truro runs the finest
Road in Cornwall Broad well-kept and with few steep grades it passes through a beautiful section and is boarded in many places by the immense Park of Country Estates in some of these the woods were seemingly left in their natural wild State though close inspection showed how carefully this appearance was maintained by judicious
Landscape gardening in many of the parks the rhed dendrons were in full bloom and their Rich masses of color wonderfully enlivened the scenery everything was fresh and bright it had been raining heavily the night before and the air was free from the dust that had previously
Annoyed us it would be hard to imagine anything more inspiring than the vistas which opened to us as we sped along the road usually followed the hills in gentle curves but at places it Rose to Splendid points of Vantage from which to view the delightful valleys then again
It lost itself under great overarching trees and as we came too rapidly down a steep hill on entering bodman the road was so heavily shaded that we were near our undoing the loose sand had been piled up by the rain and the dense shade prevented the road from drying the car
Took a frightful skid and by a mere hair’s breath escaped disastrous collision with a stone wall but we learned something after leaving Truro an ancient town with a recently established Cathedral the road to Penzance though excellent is without special interest it passes through the copper mining section
Of Cornwall and the country is dotted with abandoned mines a few are still operated but it has come to the point where as a certain Englishman has said Cornwall must go to Nevada for her copper and there are more Cornish miners in the western states than there are in
Their native Shire Penzance is another of the south of England Resort towns and is beautifully situated on mounts Bay one indeed wonders at the great number of Sea Coast resorts in Britain but we must remember that there are 40 millions of people in the Kingdom who need
Breathing places as well as a number of Americans who come to these Resorts the hotels at these places are generally excellent from the English point of view which differs somewhat from the American probably there is no one point on which the difference is greater than the precise temperature that constitutes
Personal comfort and makes a fire in the room necessary on a chilly muggy day when an American Shivers and calls for a fire in the generally diminutive grate in his room the native enjoys himself or even complains of the Heat and is astonished at his thin skinned cousin
Who must have his room according to the British notion heated to Suffocation the hotel manager always makes a very adequate charge for fires in guest rooms and is generally Cherry about warming the corridors or public parts of the hotel in one of the large London hotels which actually boasts of Steam Heat in
The hallways we were amazed on a chilly May Day to find the pipes warm and a fine fire BL blazing in the great fireplace in the lobby the chambermaid explained the astonishing phenomenon the week before several Americans had complained frequently of The Frigid atmosphere of the place without exciting
Much sympathy from the management but after they had left the hotel it was taken as an Evidence of good faith and the heat was turned on but this digression has taken me so far away from pensant that I may as well close this chapter with it end of chapter six
Chapter seven of British highways and byways from a Motorcar by Thomas dler Murphy this LibriVox recording is in the public domain recording by Christine blashford chapter 7 from Cornwall to South Wales in following a 5,000m motor journey through Britain there will be little to say of penans a pleasant
Resort town yet without anything of notable importance a mile further down the coast is Newan a fishing Village which has become a noted Resort for artists and has given its name to a school of modern painting a handsome building for a gallery and art institute and which also serves as headquarters
For the artists has recently been erected by a wealthy benefactor we walked over to the Village hoping to learn that the Fisher Fleet would be in the next morning but were disappointed a man of whom we inquired informed us that the fisherman would not bring in their
Catch until 2 days later he seemed to recognize at once that We Were Strangers Americans they all know it intuitively and left his task to show us about the immense key where the fishermen dispose of their catch at auction he conducted us out on the granite wall built by the
Government to enclose the harbor and ensuring the safety of the Fisher Fleet in fiercest storms he had been a deep sea fisherman himself and told us much of the life of these sturdy fellows and the hardships they Ure for little pay the ordinary fishing boat is manned by
Five or six men and makes two trips each week to the deep sea fishing grounds 75 to 100 Mil away the craft is rude and comfortless in the extreme and so constructed as to be nearly Unsinkable if kept off the Rocks the fish are taken by trolling great Nets and drawing them
Aboard with a special tackle the principal catch of the Newland fishermen is Herring which are pickled in the village and exported mainly to Norway and Sweden the value of the fish depends on the state of the market and the price realized is often as low as a shilling
Per hundred weight the majority of the population of Cornwall is engaged directly or indirectly in the fisheries and considering the inferiority of most of the country for agriculture and the extensive Coastline with its numerous Harbors it is not strange that so many of the natives should follow this life
In earlier days smuggling and Wrecking constituted the occupation of a large number of the cornishmen but under modern conditions these gentle Arts can no longer be successfully practiced and fishing furnishes about the only alternative just across the peninsula is stives another fishing Village even more picturesque than nin and quite as much
In favor with the artists to reach this town we turned a few miles from the main road on the following day but missed the Fisher Fleet as before the bay on which St IES is situated is the most beautiful on the Cornish coast and on the day of
Our visit the bright stretch of water sleeping placidly under the June skies and dotted with glistening sails wellmaintained its reputation for surpassing loveliness before we entered the town a man of whom we inquired the way advised us to leave our car and walk down the sharp descent to the coast
Where the village mostly lies the idea of the return trip was not pleasing and we boldly started down only to wish we had been more amable to the friendly advice for a steeper narrower crookeder Street we could not find anywhere in places it was too narrow for vehicles to
Pass a breast and sharp turns on a very steep grade in streets crowded with children made The Descent exceedingly trying however we managed to get through safely and came to a stop directly in front of the 15th century Church an astonishingly imposing structure for a village which showed more evidences of
Poverty than of anything else the church was built at a time when the Smugglers and Wreckers of Cornwall no doubt enjoyed greater prosperity and felt perhaps more anxiety for their Soul’s welfare than do their Fisher folk Descendants on reascended the hill we stopped at the castle for our Noonday
Luncheon but the castle in this instance is a fine old mansion built about a 100 years ago as a private residence and since passed into the possession of a railway company which has converted it into an excellent Hotel situated as it is in a fine park on the overlooking the
Bay few hoses at which we paused seemed more inviting for a longer sojourn 4 miles from penants is marazion and St Michael’s Mount lying near at hand takes its name from the similar but larger and more imposing Cathedral crowned Headland off the coast of France it is a remarkable granite rock connected with
The mainland by a strip of sand which is clear of the water only 4 hours of the day the rock towers to a height of 250 ft and is about a mile in circumference it is not strange that in the days of Castle Building such an isolated site
Should have been seized upon and on the Summit is a many towered structure built of granite and so carefully adapted to its location as to seem almost a part of the rock itself when we reached marazion the receding tide had left the causeway dry and as we walked leisurely the mile
Or so between the town and the mount the water was already stealthily encroaching on the pathway we found the castle more of a gentleman’s residence than a fortress and it was evidently never intended for defensive purposes it has been the residence of the St Orbin family since the time of Charles II and
The villagers were all a Gog over elaborate preparations to celebrate the golden wedding anniversary of the present proprietor The Climb is a wearisome one and we saw little of the castle being admitted only to the entrance hall and the small Gothic Chapel which was undergoing restoration but the fine view from the battlements
Alone is worth the effort the castle never figured in history and is remarkable chiefly for its unique location by the time of our return the tide had already risen several feet and we were rode to the mainland in a boat on our return to Truro we took the road
By which we came but on leaving there our road roughly followed the northern Cornish coast and at intervals we caught glimpses of the ocean for some distance we ran through a rough Morland country although the road was comparatively level and straight we passed camford which some say is the Camelot of the
Arthur Legends only 5 miles distant from the ruins of tintagel Castle on the coast and came early to Lon where the clean hospitable looking whiteart Hotel offered strong inducements to stop for the night a certain weariness of the flesh resulting from our run over the last long stretch of the Morland Road
Was an equally important factor in influencing our action lsten was one of the surprises that we frequently came across a town that we had never heard of before and doubtless one that an American seldom sees yet the massive Castle whose circular keep crowns and Eminence overlooking the town was one of
The objects that loomed into view long before we reached the place and its gloomy Grandeur as we wandered through its ruins in the fading Twilight deeply impressed us a rude stairway led to the top of the great circular Tower Rising high above the summit of the Hill which
Itself dominates the country and the view stretching away in every direction was far-reaching and varied the castle has been gradually falling into ruin for the last 600 years but in its palmy days it must have been one of the grimmest and most or inspiring of the fortresses
In the west country SC ly another ruin did we see anywhere more imposing in location and more picturesque in Decay masses of Ivy clung to the crumbling walls and all around spread a beautiful park with soft velvety Turf interspersed with Shrubbery and bright dashes of color from numerous well cared for
Flower beds not less unique is St Steven’s Church the like of which is not to be found elsewhere in Britain its walls are covered with a network of fine carving Vine and flower running riot in stone and they told us that this was done by English stone cutters though
Nearly all such carving on the cathedrals was the work of Artisans from the continent the lsten church is pointed to as an evidence that English workmen could have done quite as well had they been given the chance aside from this wonderful carving which covers almost every stone of the exterior the
Church is an imposing one and has lately been restored to its pristine magnificence lsten had its Abby too but this has long since disappeared and all that now remains of it is the finally carved Norman doorway built into the entrance of the whiteart hotel our next day’s run was short covering only 42
Miles between Lon and exitor for about half the distance the road runs along the edge of dartmore the greatest of English mands a motor trip of 2 or 3 days through the more itself would be time well spent for it abounds in romantic scenery the road which we
Followed is a good one though broken into numerous steep hills but a part of the way we might as well have been traveling through a tunnel so far as seeing the country was concerned a large proportion of the fences are made of Earth piled up four or 5 ft high and on
The top of this Ridge are planted the hedges generally reaching 3 or 4T higher there were times when we could catch only an occasional glimpse of the landscape and if such fences were everywhere in England they would be a serious deterrent upon motoring fortunately they Prevail in a
Comparatively small section for we did not find them outside of Cornwell and Devon this experience served to impress on us how much we lost when the English Landscapes were hidden that the vist which flitted past us as we hurried along were among the pleasantest features of our journey it was little
Short of distressing to have mud fences shut from view some of the most fascinating country through which we passed the greatest part of the day we spent in exitor the Rougemont hotel where we stopped for the night is spacious and comfortable and a series of stained glass windows at the head of the
Great staircase tells the story of Richard III’s connection with exitor how according to Shakespeare’s play the Rougemont of exitor recalled to the king’s superstition ious mind an ancient prophecy of his defeat at the hands of Richmond later Henry iith leaving exitor early we plan to reach Barth in the
Evening only 81 Mi over an almost perfect Road not a very long run so far as actual distance is concerned but entirely too long considering the places of unusual interest that lie along the way we passed through the little town of Wellington noted chiefly for giving his
Title to the iron jke and it commemorates its great namesake by a lofty column reared on one of the adjacent Hills no town in Britain has an ecclesiastical history more important than glastenbury whose tradition stretches back to the very beginning of Christianity in the island Legend has it that St Joseph of
ARA who begged the body of Christ and buried it came here in the year 63 and was the founder of the Abbey he brought with him tradition says the holy grail and a Thorn Tree staff which he planted in the Abbey grounds became a splendid tree revered for many centuries as the
Holy Thorn the original tree has vanished though there is a circumstantial story that it was standing in the time of Cromwell and that a Puritan who undertook to cut it down as savoring of idolatry had an eye put out by a flying chip and was dangerously wounded by his ax head
Flying off and striking him with its a inspiring traditions for which fortunately proof was not required it is not strange that glastenbury for many centuries was the greatest and most powerful ecclesiastical establishment in the Kingdom the buildings at one time covered 60 Acres and many hundreds of monks and dignitaries exerted influence
On temporal as well as ecclesiastical Affairs it is rather significant that it passed through the Norman Conquest unscathed not even the greedy conquerors dared invade the sanctity of glastenbury Abbey the revenue at that time is said to have been about 50,000 yearly and the value of a pound then would equal 25 to
50 of our American dollars however much the Normans respected the place its sanctity had no Terrors for the rapacious Henry VII the rich revenues appealed to strongly and he made a clean sweep hanging the mited Abbott and two of his monks on the top of T Hill The
Abbey is the traditional burial place of King Arthur and queen Gwen and four of the Saxon Kings sleep in unmarked Graves within its precincts considering its once vast extent the remaining ruins are scanty although enough is left to show how imposing and elaborate it must have
Been in its palmy days and there are a few places in the Kingdom where one is so impressed with the spirit of the Ancient Order of things as when surrounded by the Crum walls of glastenbury Abbey at Wells is the cathedral that gives the town an excuse for existence
Although one of the smallest of these great English churches it is in many respects one of the most symmetrical and beautiful its glory is centered chiefly in its West front with deep buttresses and many sculpted images of kings and Saints we had only an unsatisfactory glimpse of the Interior as Services
Happen to be in progress the Town of Wells is a mere adjunct to the cathedral it has no history of its own no great family has ever lived there and it can claim no glory as the birthplace of distinguished Sons still it has a distinct charm as a quiet little
Somersetshire town which has preserved its Antiquity and Fascination its name is taken from the natural Wells still found in the garden of The Bishop’s Palace B though it has the most remarkable Roman relics in the kingdom is largely modern it is now a city of 50,000 and dates its rise from the
Patronage of royalty a century and a half ago it is one of the that a motorist could scarcely Miss if he wished so many fine roads lead into it and I shall not attempt his special comment on a place so well known yet as in our case it may be a revelation to
Many who know of it in a general way but have no adequate idea of the real extent of the Roman BS these date from 50 to 100 AD and indicate a degree of civilization which shows that the Roman inhabitants in Britain must have been industrious intelligent and cleanly excavations have been conducted with
Great difficulty since the Roman remains lie directly under an important part of the city covered with valuable buildings nearly all of the BS in the vicinity of the Springs have been uncovered and found in a surprising state of perfection in many places the tiling with its Mosaic is intact and parts of
The system of piping laid to conduct the water still may be traced over the Springs has been erected the modern pump house and many of the Roman baths have been restored to nearly their original state in the pump house is a museum with hundreds of relics discovered in course
Of excavation sculpture Pottery jewelry coin and many other articles that indicate a high degree of civilization outside of the Roman Remains the most notable thing in B is its abbey church which in impressive architecture and size will compare favorably with many of the cathedrals in fact it originally was a cathedral but
In an early day the bishop brick was transferred to Wells there is no ruined Fortress or Castle in B with its regulation lot of Legends possibly in an effort to remedy the defect that has been erected on one of the hills that Overlook the town a structure which goes
By the epithet of the Sham Castle on leaving bath we followed the fine London Road as far as chiam a prosperous agricultural Town celebrated for its wool market to the north of this is malmsbury with an abbey church whose history goes back to the 9th century a
Portion of the Nave is still used for services and is remarkable for its massive pillars and Norman doorway the great arch of which has perhaps a 100 rude carvings illustrating scenes from scripture history the strong Wars of the church caused it to be used at times as
A fortress and it underwent sieges in the different Wars that raged over the kingdom the virger pointed out to us deep indentations made by cromwell’s Cannon and told us that one of the aby’s vicissitudes was its use for some years as a cloth manufacturing establishment from malmsbury we followed
The road through siren cester to chelham one of the most modern looking cities which we saw in England like B it is famous for its Springs and a large share of its population is made up of retired officers of the Army and Navy the main streets are very wide nearly straight
And bordered in many places with fine trees however its Beginnings date from only about 1700 and therefore it has little claim on the tourist whose heart is set upon ancient and historic things of much greater interest is its neighbor Gloucester about 12 mil away the two
Cities are almost of the same size each having about 50,000 people Gloucester can boast of one of the most beautiful of the cathedral whether considered from its imposing Gothic exterior or its interior rich with carvings and lighted by unusually fine stained glass windows one of which
Is declared to be the largest in the world the cathedral was begun in 1088 but the main tower was not completed until nearly 500 years later which gives some idea of the time covered in the construction of many of these great churches glester boasts of great Antiquity for it is known that the
Britains had a fortified town here which they defended against the Roman attacks and after having become possessed of it the Romans greatly strengthened it as a defense against incursions from the Welsh tribes before the Norman Conquest it was of such importance that Edward the Confessor held his court in the town
For some time being in the west country it naturally was a storm Center in the Parliamentary struggle during which time a great deal of the City was destroyed but there are many of the old portions still remaining and it has numbers of beautiful half-timbered buildings one of
These was the home of Robert Rees known to the world as the founder of the Sun School Gloucester is worthy of a longer stay than we were able to make and in arranging an itinerary one should not fail to provide for a full day in the town from Gloucester to Ross runs an
Excellent Highway though rather devoid of Interest it was thronged with motorists who generally dashed along in Sublime disregard of the speed limits we passed several who were occupied with roadside troubles and we were in for an hour or so ourselves due to a refractory vibrator the Welsh farmers who passed
Joked us goodat and one said he would stick to his horse until he had money to buy a motor then he added he wouldn’t buy it but would live on the income of the money we told him that he was a man after Solomon’s own heart suddenly the
Evil spirit left the car and she sprang away over the beautiful Road in Mad haste that soon landed Us in Ross Ross is a pretty Village situated on a green Hillside overlooking the Y and the tall graceful Spire of its Church dominates all views of the Town although it was
Growing quite late we did not stop here but directed our way to Monmouth 12 mil further on which we reached just as the long Twilight was turning into night end of chapter 7 chapter 8 of British highways and byways from a Motorcar by Thomas dler Murphy this LibriVox recording is in the
Public domain recording by Christine blashford chapter 8 through beautiful whales of no part of our tour does a pleasanter memory linger than of the 5 or 600 miles on the highways of Wales the weather was glorious and no section of Britain surpassed the Welsh landscapes in Beauty a succession of
Green Hills in places impressive enough to be styled mountains sloping away into wooded valleys with here and there a quaint Village a ruined Castle or Abbey or an imposing country Mansion breaking on The View All combined to make our journey through Wales one of our most pleasing experiences historic spots are not far
Apart especially on the border where for centuries these brave people fought English Invaders and with wonderful success considering the greatly Superior number of the aggressors I have already written of lllo and Shrewsbury on the north but scarcely less attractive and quite as important in early days are the
Fine old towns of Herford and Monmouth on the southern border we were everywhere favorably impressed with the Welsh people as being Thrifty and intelligent the roadside drinking houses were not so numerous as in England for the Welsh are evidently more temp tempate in this regard than their neighbors my observation in this
Particular is borne out by an English writer well qualified to judge he says there is of a truth very little drinking now in rural Wales the farming classes appear to be extremely sober even the village Parliament which in England discusses the nation’s Affairs in the Village public house has no serious
Parallel in Wales for the detached Cottage renting laborer who is the Mainstay of such Gatherings scarcely exists and the farmer has other interests to keep him at home evidently the Welsh farmer does attend to his business in an industrious manner for he generally has a substantial and prosperous appearance people with whom
We engaged in conversation were always courteous and obliging and almost everything conspired to heighten our good opinion of the Welsh the fusion with England is nearly complete and the Welsh language is comparatively little used except by the older people King Edward has no more loyal subjects than
The Welshman but apparently they do not greatly incline towards admitting his claims as their spiritual head the Church of England in Wales is greatly inferior in numbers and influence to the various non-conformist branches this is especially true of the more rural sections we found Monmouth an unusually interesting town on account of its
Antiquity and the numerous historic events which transpired within its walls at the king’s head hotel which of course afforded shelter to Charles I when he was touring Britain we were able with difficulty to find accommodation so crowded was the house with an incursion of English Trippers monmouth’s Chief
Glory and distinction is that it was the birthplace of King Henry V Shakespeare’s Prince Hal whom William Watson describes as the roystering prince that afterward beled his madcap Youth and proved a greatly simple Warrior Lord such as our Warrior fathers loved the scanty ruins of the castle where the prince was born
Still Overlook the town thus King Henry became the patron of Monmouth and in front of the Town Hall has been erected an inartistic effigy of a knight in full armor with the inscription Henry V born at Monmouth August 9th 1387 the old bridge over the river mono is unique with an old castellated
Gateway at one end probably intended not so much for defense as for collecting tolls after dark we wandered about the streets until the church Tower Chimes warned us of the lateness of the hour and even these church bells have their history when King Henry sailed from a
Sea port in France on one occasion the inhabitants rang the bells for Joy which so incensed the Monarch that he ordered the bells removed and presented them to his native town we saw saw too little of Monmouth for the next morning we were away early taking the fine road that
Leads directly south to Tin and chepo the Abby Builders chose their locations with unerring judgment always in a beautiful Valley near a river or lake surrounded by fertile fields and Charming scenery of the score of ruined abies which we visited there was not one that did not fulfill this description
And none of them to a greater extent possibly accepting fountains than tin turn in the words of an enthusiastic admirer tin in turn is supremely wonderful for its situation among its scores of Rivals it lies on the very brink of The River Why in a hollow of the hills of Monmouth sheltered from
Harsh winds warmed by the breezes of the channel a very Nook in an Earthly Eden somehow the winter seems to fall more lightly here the spring to come earlier the foliage to take on a deeper green the grass a greater thickness and the flowers a more multitudinous variety certainly the Magnificent church almost
Entire except for its Fallen roof standing in the Pleasant Valley surrounded by Forest clad Hills on every side well merits such enthusiastic language it is well that this fine ruin is now in the possession of the crown for it ensures that decay will be arrested and its beauty is preserved as
An inspiration to art and architecture of later times from tin turn to chepstow we followed an unsurpassed Mountain Road for 3 miles our car gradually climbed to the highest point winding along the hillside from which the Valley of the seven with its Broad River spread out
Beneath us in all the freshness of June vour while on the other hand for hundreds of feet Shear above us sloped the hill with its Rich curtain of forest trees the lighter green of the summer foliage dashed with the somber Gloom of the U just at the summit we passed the
Wind Cliff towering 500 fet above us from which one may behold one of the most famous prospects in the island then our car started down a 3M Coast over a smooth and uniform grade until we landed at the brow of the Steep Hill which dropped sharply into Chapo a rude gloomy
Fortress chepo Castle must have been in its day of Might and time has done little to soften its grim and forbidding aspect situated on a high cliff which dropped abruptly to the river it must have been well nigh Invincible in days a castle walls crumbled away before
Cannonshot it is of great extent the walls enclosing an area of about 4 Acres divided into four separate courts the best preserved portion is the keep or Tower in which the caretaker makes his home but the fine chapel and banqueting Hall were complete enough to give a good
Idea of their oldtime state we were able to follow a pathway around the top of the broad wall from which was afforded a widely extended view over the mouth of the seven towards the sea this is Martin’s Tower said our guide for in the dungeon beneath it the regicide Henry
Martin spent the last 20 years of his life and died the man spoke the word regicide as though he felt the stigma that it carries with it everywhere in England even though applied to the judge who condemned to death Charles Stewart a man who well deserved to die
And when Britain punished the regicides and restored to power the perfidious race of the Stewarts she was again putting upon herself the Yoke of misg government and storing up another day of Wrath and bloodshed from chepstow it is only a short journey to Raglin whose ruined Castle impressed us in many ways
As the most beautiful we saw in Britain it was far different from the rude Fortress at chpo in its best days it combined a military stronghold with the conveniences and artistic effects of a palace it is fortunately one of the best preserved of the castellated ruins in the Kingdom impressive indeed were the
Two square Towers flanking its great entrance yet their Stern aspect was softened by the heavy masses of Ivy that covered them almost to the top the walls though roofless were still standing so that one could gain a good idea of the original plan of the castle the fireplaces with elaborate mantel still
In place the bits of fine carvings that clung to the walls here and there the grand staircase a portion of which Still Remains all combined to show that this Castle had been planned as a superb residence as well as a fortress from the gwent tower there was an unobstructed
View stretching away in every direction toward the Horizon the day was perfect without even a haze to obscure the distance and save from Ludo Castle I saw nothing to equal the prospect which lay beneath me when standing on Ragland Tower raglan’s active history ended with its surrender August the 15th 1646 to
The Parliamentary Army under General Fairfax after a severe Siege of more than 2 months it was the last Fortress in England to hold out for the Lost Cause of King Charles and a brave record did its Gallant Defenders make against an overwhelmingly Superior Force The Marquis of Worcester though 85 years of
Age held the castle against the cromwellian until starvation forced him to surrender the old nobleman was granted honorable terms by his captors but Parliament did not keep faith and he died a year later in the Tower of London on being told a few days before his
Death that his body would be buried in Windsor Chapel he cheerfully remarked why God bless us all then I shall have a better Castle when I am dead than they took from me when I was alive after the surrender the castle was dismantled by the soldiers and the farmers in the
Vicinity emulated the Parliamentary destroyers in looting the fine edifice 17 of the stone stair cases were taken away during the interval and the Great Hall and Chapel were seriously injured enough of the massive walls is left to convey a vivid idea of the olden Grandeur of the castle the motto of the
Timeworn arms inscribed over the entrance speaks eloquently of the past expressing in Latin the sentiment I scorn to change or fear a quiet and pretentious old Border Town is Herford pleasantly located on the banks of the always beautiful y the square Tower of the cathedral is the most conspicuous
Object when the town first comes into view though dating in part from the 11th century work on the cathedral occupied the centuries until 1530 when it was practically completed as it now stands the Vandal Wyatt who dealt so hardly with Salsbury had the restoration of the cathedral in hand early in the 18th
Century he destroyed many of its most artistic features but recently his work was undone and a second restoration was completed in about 1863 the structure as it now stands is mainly Norman in style built of light brown stone and remarkably beautiful and imposing Herford Castle has entirely vanished though a contemporary writer
Describes it as one of the fairest largest and strongest castles in England the site which it occupied is now a public garden Diversified with Shrubbery and flowers an ornamental Lake indicates where once was the moat but the outlines of the walls are shown only by grass-covered ridges its history was no
Doubt as stirring as that of others of the Border castles which more fortunately escaped Annihilation despite its present atmosphere of peace and quietude Herford saw strenuous times in the fierce Warfare which raged between the English and Welsh though few relics of those days Remain the streets are unusually
Wide and with few exceptions the buildings are modern surrounding the town is a stretch of green level Meadow upon which graze herds of the red and white cattle whose Fame is wider than that of their native Shire no doubt there are many familiar with the Sleek herfords who have no idea from whence
They take their name our hotel the green dragon had recently been refurnished and brightened throughout and its excellent service was much better than we often found in towns the size of Herford its well-planned motor garage just completed showed that its Proprietors recognized the growing importance of this method of
Touring our run from Herford up the Y Valley to the Sea we agreed was one of our red letter days we passed through greatly varied scenery from the fertile level country around Herford to the rough broken Hills near the river’s Source but the view was always picturesque in the highest degree the
Road runs along the edge of the hills and the Glorious Valley with its brawling River spread out before us almost the entire day at times we ran through forests which cover the immense Parks surrounding the Country Estates along the river we saw many fine English country seats ranging from old
Castellated structures to apparently modern mansions there were also a number of ruins along the valley each with its romantic Legends at hay on the hill overlooking the town is the castle partly in Ruins and partly in such state of repair as to be the summer home of
The family that owns it a little further upon a null directly overhanging the river are crumbling piles of stone where once stood Clifford Castle the home of fair rosand whose Melancholy story Tennyson has waven into to one of his dramas as we Advanced further up the valley the country grew Wilder and more
Broken and for many miles we ran through the Towering Hills that pass from mountains in Wales these were covered with bright green Verger to their very tops and the flocks of sheep grazing everywhere lent an additional charm to the picture at the foot of the hills the road follows The Valleys with gentle
Curves and easy grades the wide wles to the meest brook and some miles before we reached the coast we passed the headwaters of the river and followed a brck flowing in an opposite Direction the road over which we had traveled is not favorable for fast time though comparatively level and with Splendid
Surface it abounds in sharp curves and in many places runs along High embankments the motor Union has recommended that 18 mph be not exceeded on this road the distance from Herford to abist withth is only 90 Mi yet we occupied the greater part of the day in
The trip and had time permitted we would gladly have broken the journey at one of the quaint towns along the way at many points of Vantage we stopped to to contemplate the beauty of this scene one would have to be a speed Maniac indeed to Scorch over the Y Valley Road abist
Withth is a seaside resort somewhat similar to pen ants it is situated on the Harbor at the foot of a high Bluff and its principal feature is the long row of hotels fronting on the ocean though mostly modern It Is by no means without history as evidenced by its
Ruined Castle overlooking the sea and vouching for the Antiquity of the town we left abist withth next morning with considerable apprehensions our books and maps showed that we would encounter by odds the worst roads of our entire tour a grade of 1 in five along the edge of
An almost precipitous Hill was not an alluring Prospect for we were little inclined toward hill climbing demonstrations shortly after leaving the town we were involved in poorly kept country byways without signboards and slippery with heavy rains of the night before after Meandering among the hills and inquiring of the natives for towns
The names of which they could not understand when we asked and we could not understand when they answered we came to din Mai where there was little else than a handsome Hotel this reminded us that in our wanderings the hour for luncheon had passed we stopped at the
Hotel but found difficulty in locating anybody to minister to our wants and so deliberate were the movements of the party who finally admitted responsibility that an hour was consumed in obtaining a very unpretentious repast the hotel keeper held out a discouraging Prospect in regard to the hills ahead of
Us he said that the majority of the motorists who attempted them were stalled and that there had been some serious accidents we went on our way with considerable uneasiness as our car had not been working well and later on trouble was discovered in a broken valve spring however we started over the
Mountain which showed on our road book to be not less than 3 mies in length there were many dangerous turns of the road which ran alongside an almost precipitous incline where there was every opportunity for the car to roll a mile or more before coming to a
Standstill if it once should get over the edge we crawled up the hill until within about 50 yards from from the top and right at this point there was a sharp turn on an exceedingly stiff grade after several trials at Great risk of losing control of the car I concluded
That discretion was sometimes the better part of valor and with great difficulty turned around and gave it up we made a detour by way of welshpool and O Wester where we came into the London and hollyhead Road bringing up for the night at lanan we found it necessary to travel
About 60 Mi to get to the point which we would have reached in 1/4 the distance had we succeeded in climbing the hill it proved no hardship as we saw some of the most beautiful country in Wales and traveled over a level road which enabled us to make very good time with the
Partly crippled car although clang Goan is a delightful Town my Recollections of it are anything but Pleasant through our failure to receive a small repair which I ordered from London we were delayed at this place for 2 days and as it usually chances in such cases at one of the
Worst hotels whose Hospitality we endured during our trip it had at one time been quite pretentious but had degenerated into a rambling dirty old Inn principally a headquarters for fishing parties and local Trippers and yet at this dilapidated oldin there were a number of guests who made great
Pretensions at style women dressed for dinner in lown necked gowns with long trains and the men attired themselves in dress suits of various degrees of antiquity while we were marooned here we visited Veil crusis Abbey about a mile distant the custodian was absent or in any event could not be aroused by
Vigorously ringing the cowbell suspended above the gate and we had to content ourselves with a very unsatisfactory view of the ruin over the stone wall that enclosed it the environments of clanin are Charming in a high degree the flower boarded Lanes lead past cottages and farmhouses surrounded by low stone
Walls and half hidden by brilliantly colored Creepers bits of Woodland are interspersed with bright green sheep pastures and high almost mountainous Bluffs overhang the valley on the very Summit of one of these is perched a ruined Castle whose inaccessible position discour nearer acquaintance the country around clang Goan was beautiful
But the memory of the hotel leaves a blight overall we were happy indeed when our motor started off again with the steady powerful hum that so Delights the soul of the driver and it seemed fairly to tremble with impatience to make up for its enforced in action though it was
8:00 in the evening it was anything to get away from clang Goan and we left with a view of stopping for the night at Betsy coed about 30 m away with our motor car racing like mad over the fine hive way there was no danger of police
Traps at that hour we did not stop to inquire about the dog that went under the wheels in the first Village we passed however the night set in suddenly and a rain began to fall heavily before we had gone half the distance we proposed we had experienced trouble
Enough in finding the roads in Wales during the daytime and the prospect of doing this by night and in a heavy rain was not at all encouraging and we perforce had to put up at the first place that offered itself a proposition to stop at one of the so-called ins
Along the road was received with alarm by the the good woman who attended the bar she could not possibly care for us and she was loud in her Praises of the Saron head at Carri oud rivian only a little further on which she represented as a particular Haven for motorists the
Appearance of our car with its rapidly vibrating engine and glaring headlights before the Saron head created considerable commotion among the large family of the host and the numerous guests who like Tom o Shanta were snug and cozy by their inel Nook while the storm was raging outside however the
Proprietor was equal to the occasion and told me that he had just come from Liverpool to take charge of the inn and that he hoped to have the patronage of motorists with commendable Enterprise he had fitted up a portion of his barn and had labeled it motor Garage in huge
Letters the stable man was also excited over the occasion and I’m sure that our car was the first to occupy the newly created garage which had no doubt been cut off from the cow stable at a very recent date the shelter of the sarens head was timely and grateful nonetheless
And no one could have been kindlier or more attentive than our hostess we had a nicely served lunch in the hotel parlor which was just across the hallway from the lounging room where the villagers assembled to indulge in such moderate drinking as welshmen are addicted to the
Public room was a fine old apartment with open beamed ceiling not the Sham with which we decorate our modern houses but real open beams that supported the floor and one end of the room was occupied by a great open fireplace with oldtime spits and Swinging cranes
Overhead was hung a supply of hams and bacon and on iron hooks above the door were suspended several dressed fouls on the theory that these improve with age we were given a small but clean and neat apartment from which I suspicion the younger members of the landlord’s family
Had been unceremoniously ousted to make room for us the distressing feature was the Abominable beds but as these prevailed in most of the country hotels at which we stopped we shall not lay this up too strongly against the sarson’s head I noticed that on one of the window panes someone had scribbled
With a diamond September the 4th 1726 which would seem to indicate that the original window was there at that time the house itself must have been considerably older if rates had been the sole inducement we should undoubtedly have become permanent borders at the sarson’s head for I think that the bill
For our party was 7 Shillings for supper room and breakfast we left kagu druvan next morning in a gray driving rain with drifting fogs that almost hid the road at times a few miles brought us to the Conway River the road closely following the stream through the picturesque
Scenery on its banks it was swollen by heavy rains and the usually in significant River was a wild torrent dashing in Rapids and waterfalls over its Rocky bed the clouds soon broke away and for the remainder of the day the weather was as fine as could possibly be
Wished for Betsy coed is the most famous of mountain towns in Wales and its situation is indeed romantic it is generally reputed to be the chief Welsh honeymoon resort and a paradise for fishermen but it has little to detain the tourist interested in historic Britain we evidently should have fared
Much differently at its Splendid hotel from what we did at k gudu ivian but we were never sorry for our enforced sour at the Saron head the road from Betsy coed to canavan is a good one but steep in places and it passes through some of the finest Mountain scenery in Wales it
Leads through the pass of Clan Baris and past Snowden the king of the Welsh mountains though tame indeed to one who has seen the Rockies Snowden the highest in the Kingdom Rises not so much as 4,000 ft above the sea level Canan Castle is conceded from many points of
View to be the finest ruin in the Kingdom it does not occupy an Eminence as did so many castles whose position contributed much to their defense but it depended more on its lofty watch towers and the stupendous strength of its outer walls these are built of solid Granite
With a thickness of 10 ft or more in vital places and it is doubtful if even the oldtime artillery would have made much impression upon them its massive construction no doubt accounts for the wonderful preservation of the outer walls which are almost entire and Canan Castle as viewed from the outside
Probably appears very much the same as it did when the builders completed the work about 1300 it was built by King Edward I as a royal residence from which to direct his operations against the Welsh which finally resulted in the conquest of that people by the English Invaders in a little dungeon-like room
Tradition declares that Edward II first prince of Wales was born this is vigorously insisted upon in the local guide book as an actual historic fact although it is quite as vigorously disputed by numerous antiquarians and influenced by canan’s interests the castle is now the property of the town
And is well looked after leaving Canan our next objective was Conway whose Castle is hardly less famous and even more picturesque than that of its neighbor though in more ruinous condition the road we followed closely skirts the coast for a great part of the distance running at times on the verge
Of the ocean in places it reminds one of the axon stas of Lake lucern being cut in the side of the cliffs overhanging the sea with here and there great masses of rock projecting over it and passes occasionally through a tunnel cut in the stone a few miles north of canavan we
Passed through banga one of the most prosperous looking towns in North Wales and the seat of one of the few Welsh Cathedrals a long low though not unpleasing building the site of this Cathedral had been continuously occupied by a church since the 6th Century although the present structure dates
From the 13th an hour’s run after leaving Banger brought us in sight of the towers of Conway Castle nowhere in Britain does the spirit of medievalism linger as it does in the ancient town of Conway it is still surrounded by its old wall with 21 watchtowers and the three
Gateways originally leading into the town have been recently restored the castle stands on the verge of a precipitous Rock and its outer walls are continuous with those of the Town it is a perfect specimen of a 13th century military Fortress with walls of enormous thickness flanked by eight huge circular
Towers it was built by Edward the in 1284 several times it was besieged by the Welsh and on one occasion came near fall falling into their hands while the king himself was in the castle it was besieged during the Parliamentary Wars but for some unaccountable reason it was
Not destroyed or seriously damaged when captured its present dilapidated state is due to the action of its owner Lord Conway shortly after in dismantling it to sell the lead and Timber of the building and it was permitted to fall into gradual Decay the castle with its eight towers and Bridge which matches it
In general style and which was built about 50 years ago is one of the best known objects in the whole Kingdom it has been made familiar to everybody through innumerable photographs and pictures when we drew our car up in front of the castle it was in Gala
Attire and was the scene of activity which we were at a loss to account for we soon learned that the Wesleyan or Welsh methodists were holding a festival in the castle and the Shilling we paid for admission included a nicely served lunch of which the Welsh strawberries were the principal feature the occasion
Was enlivened by music from the local band and songs by young girls in the old Welsh costume this led us to ask if the Welsh language were in common use among the people we were told that while the older people can speak it it does not find much favor among the younger
Generation some of whom are almost ashamed to admit knowledge of the old tongue English was spoken everywhere among the people at the Gathering and the only Welsh heard was in some of the songs by the girls we wandered about the ruin and ascended the towers which
Afford a fine view of the town and River there seems to have been little done in the way of restoration or repair but so massive are the walls that they have splendidly stood the ravages of time on leaving Conway we crossed the suspension bridge paying a goodly toll for the
Privilege it was already growing late when we left the town but the fine level Road and the unusually willing Spirit evinced by our motor enabled us to cover the 50 mies to Chester before night set in end of chapter 8 chapter n of British highways and byways from a Motorcar by Thomas dler
Murphy this LibriVox recording is in the public domain recording by Christine blashford chapter 9 Chester to the highlands Chester stands a return visit well and so does the spacious and hospitable grer Hotel it was nearly dark when we reached the city and the hotel was crowded the season now being at its
Height we had neglected to wire for reservation but our former stop at the hotel was not forgotten and this stood Us in good stead in securing accommodations so comfortably were we established that we did not take the car out of the garage the next day but spent
Our time in leisurely revisiting some of the places that had pleased us most the next day we were early away for the north I think that no other stretch of road of equal length was more positively unattractive than that we followed from Chester to pen rth even the road book
Whose objects of Interest were in some cases doubtful to say the least could name only the battlefield of 1648 near Preston and one or two minor objects in a distance of 100 miles I recalled the comment of the touring Secretary of the motor Union as he rapidly drew his
Pencil through this road as shown on the map bad Road rough pavement houses for 30 Mi at a stretch right on each side of the street crowds of children everywhere but you cannot get away from it very well all of which we verified by personal experience at starting it
Seemed easy to reach carile for the night but progress was slow and we met an unexpected delay at Warrington 20 mi north of Chester a policeman courteously notified us that the main street of the city would be closed 3 hours for a Sunday School parade we had arrived 5
Minutes too late to get across the bridge and out of the way we expressed our disgust at the situation and the officer made the conciliatory suggestion that we might be able to go on anyway he doubted if the city had any authority to close the Main Street one of the king’s
Highways on account of such a procession we hardly considered our rights so seriously infringed as to demand such a remedy and we turned into the stable yard of a nearby hotel to wait until the streets were clear in the meantime we joined the crowd that watched the parade
The main procession of five or 6,000 children was made up of Sunday schools of the Protestant churches the Church of England and the non-conformists the Catholics whose relations in England with Protestants AR strained to a much greater extent than in the United States did not join but formed a smaller
Procession in one of the side streets the parade was brilliant with flags and with huge banners bearing portraits of the king and queen though some bore the names and emblems of the different schools once small fellow proudly flourished the Stars and Stripes which was the only foreign flag among the
Thousands in the procession in this connection I might remark that one sees the American flag over here far oftener than he would traveling in America we found nothing but the kindest and most cordial feeling toward Americans everywhere and the Very fact that we were Americans secured us special
Privileges in not a few cases after the procession had crossed the bridge a policeman informed us that we could proceed we gained considerable Time by making a detour through side streets not an Al together together easy performance and after much inquiry regained the main road leading out of the city Warrington
Is a city of more than 120,000 inhabitants a manufacturing place with nothing to detain the tourist on the Main Street near the river is a fine bronze statue of Oliver Cromwell one of four that I saw erected to the memory of the protector in England our route from
Warrington LED through Wigan and Preston manufacturing cities of nearly 100,000 each and the suburbs of the three are almost continuous tram cars were numerous and children played everywhere with utter unconcern for the vehicles which crowded the streets when we came to Lancaster we were glad to stop Although our Day’s Journey had only
Covered 60 miles we knew very little of Lancaster and resorted to the guide books for something of its antd only to learn the discouraging fact that here as everywhere the Romans had been ahead of us the town has a history reaching back to the Roman occupation but it’s landmarks have been largely obliterated
In the manufacturing center which it has become Charles Dickens was a guest guest at Lancaster and in recording his Impressions he declared it a pleasant Place dropped in the midst of a Charming landscape a place with a fine ancient fragment of a castle a place of lovely walks and possessing many stayed old
Houses richly fitted with hondurus mahogany and followed with other Reflections not so complimentary concerning the industrial slavery which prevailed in the city a generation or two ago the fine ancient fragment of a castle has been built into the modern structure which now serves as the seat
Of the county Court the square Tower of the Norman keep is included in the building this in general style and architecture conforms to the old castle which excepting the fragment mentioned by Dickens has long since vanished near at hand is St Mary’s Church rivaling in size and dignity many of the cathedrals
And its massive butress walls and Tall graceful Spire do justice to its magnificent sight from the Eminence occupied by the church the Irish sea is plainly visible and in the distance the almost tropical Isle of Man rises abruptly out of of the Blue Waters the monotony of our previous day’s travel
Was forgotten in Lively anticipation as we proceeded at what seemed a snail’s pace over the fine Road leading from penrith to carile we had been warned at penrith not against the Bold Highwaymen the Border Moss Troopers or the ranting highlandman of song and story but against a plain 20th century police trap
Which was being worked very successfully along this road such was our approach in these degenerate days to Mary carile which figured so largely in the endless border Warfare between the scotch and English but why the town should have been famed as Mary carile would be hard
To say unless more than a thousand years of turmoil Bloodshed and almost ceaseless Warfare through which it passed earned it the cheerful appalation the trouble between the English and the Welsh ended early but it has been only a century and a half ago since the closing scene of the long and bitter conflict
Between the North and South was enacted at carile its Grim old castle was the scene of the imprisonment and execution of the last devoted followers of Prince Charlie and according to Scots Waverly the dashing but sadly deluded young Chieftain Fergus miva was one of those who suffered a shameful death in this
Connection one remembers that Scott’s marriage to miss Carpenter took place in carile an event that would naturally accentuate our interest in the fine old Border City as we had previously visited carile our stay was a short one but its remarkable history its connection with the stories of Walter Scott its
Atmosphere of romance and Legend and the numerous points of interest within easy reach all combined to make it a center where one might spend several days the Romans had been here also and They too had struggled with the wild tribes on the North and from that time down to the
Execution of the last adherence of the Stewarts in 1759 the town was hardly at any time in a state of quietude as described by an observant writer Every Man became a soldier and every house that was not a mere peasants Hut was a fortress a local poet of the 17th
Century summed it up in a tur if not elegant coulet as his unqualified opinion that who so then in the Border did dwell lived little happier than those in hell but carile is peaceful and quiet enough at the present time a place of considerable size and with a thriving
Commerce its Castle a plain and unimpressive structure still almost intact has been converted into military barracks and its cathedral which according to an old Chronicle in 1634 impressed three observant strangers as a great Wild Country Church has not been greatly altered in appearance since that period it suffered severely at the hands
Of the Parliamentary soers who tore down a portion of the Nave to use the materials in strengthening the defenses of the town but the story of carile could not be told in many volumes if the mere hint of its great interest which I have given here can induce any fellow
Tourist to t a little longer at Mary carile it will be enough leaving carile we crossed Solway tide and found ourselves in the land of bluebells and Heather the Bonnie Scotland of Robert Burns shortly after crossing the river a signboard pointed the way to Greta green that oldtime haven of eloping lovers who
Used to cross the Solway just as the tide began to rise and before it subsided there was little for the paternal ancestors to do but forgive and make the best of it but we missed the village for it was a mile or two off the road to dump freeze which we hoped to
Reach for the night an unexpected difficulty with the car nearly put this out of the range of possibility but by grace of the long Scotch Twilight we came into Dum free about 10:00 without finding it necessary to light our lamps our Day’s Journey had been a tiresome one and we counted ourselves fortunate
On being directed to the Station Hotel which was as comfortable and well-managed as any we found the average Railway Hotel in America is anything but an attractive proposition but in Scotland and in England conditions are almost reversed the station hotels under the control of the different Railway companies being generally the best we
Had been attracted to dump free chiefly because of its association with Robert Burns who spent the last years of his life in the town or in its immediate vicinity our first pilgrimage was to the poet’s tomb in St Michael’s churchyard a splendid Memorial marks the place but a
Visit to the small dingy house a few yards distant in which he died painfully reminded us of his last years of distress and absolute want within easy reach of dumre lie many points of interest but as our time permitted us to visit only one of these we selected K
Lao Castle The Ellen Gowan of Scots guy mannering lying about 10 Mi to the south in location and style of construction it is one of the most remarkable of the scotch ruins it stands in an almost level country near the coast and must have depended for defense on its
Enormously thick walls and the great double moat which surrounded it rather than the strength of its position the castle is built of dark brown stone and the walls Rising directly from the Waters of the moat and covered with masses of Ivy are picturesque though in a sad state of disrepair bits of
Artistic carving and beautiful Windows showed that it was a palace as well as a fortress though it seemed strange that the Builder should select such a site in common with most British castles it was finally destroyed by Cromwell and the custodian showed us a pile of cannonballs which he had gathered in the
Vicinity on one of the stones of the inner wall were the initials RB and the date 1776 which are guer Shust were cut by Robert Burns and there are certain peculiarities about the monogram which leave little doubt that it was the work of the poet from the battlements of the
Castle the old man pointed to a distant Hill where he told us the home of the cares had been for many years and where Thomas carile who was born at eek fetchen lies buried within a few miles of Dum free is ellisland Farm where Robert Burns was a tenant for several
Years and many of his most famous poems were written during that period And besides there were old ABY and castles Galore within easy reach and glad indeed we should have been had we been able to make the Station Hotel our headquarters for a week and devote our time to
Exploring but we were already behind schedule and the afternoon found us on the road to air a little more than half the distance from Dum freeze to air the road runs through the nith valley with river and Forest scenery so Charming as to remind us of the why the highway is a
Splendid one with fine surface and easy grades it passes through an historic country and the journey would consume a long time if one should pause at every point that might well repay a visit a mile on the way is lincluden Abbey in whose seclusion Burns wrote many of his
Poems the most famous of which the vision of Liberty begins with a reference to the ruin as I stood by yon roofless Tower where wall flowers scent The Dewy air where the owlet loone in her Ivy bow tells to the midnight moon her care ellisland Farm is only a few
Miles further on the road never to be forgotten as the spot where tamos Shanta was written the farm home was built by Burns himself during what was probably the happiest period of his life and he wrote many verses that indicated his joyful anticipation of Life at ellisland
Farm but alas the best lay plans of mice and men gang off the glay and the personal experience of few men has more strikingly proven the truth of the now famous lines than of Robert Burns himself many old castles and magnificent Mansions Crown The Heights overlooking
The river but we caught only glimpses of some of them surrounded as they were were by immense Parks closed to the public every one of the older places underwent many and strange vicissitudes in the long years of Border Warfare and of them all drum lry Castle founded in
1689 is perhaps the most imposing for 10 years its Builder the first Earl of Queensbury labored on the structure only to pass a single night in the completed building never to revisit it and ending his days grieving over the fortune he had squandered on this many towered pile
Of Grey Stone we may not loer along the ndale road riches in Traditions and Relics of the past our progress through such a beautiful country had been slow at the best and a circular signboard bearing the admonition 10 mph posted at each of the numerous villages on the way
Was another deterrent upon undue haste the impression that lingers with us of these small Scotch Villages is not a pleasant one rows of low Greystone slate roofed Cottages straggling along a single Street generally narrow and crooked and extending for distances depending on the size of the place made
Up the average Village utterly unrel d by the artistic touches of the English cottages and without the bright dashes of color from flowers and vines with square harsh lines and drab coloring everywhere these Scotch Villages seemed Bleak and comfortless many of them we passed through on this road among them
Sandcar with its Castle once a strong and lordly Fortress but now in a deplorable state of neglect and Decay and morshine where Burns farmed and sang before he removed to dumre it was like passing into another country when we entered air which despite its age and the Hy Traditions which cluster around
It is an up-to-date appearing sea port of about 30,000 people it is a thriving business town with an unusually good electric street car system fine hotels and not to be forgotten by motorists excellent garages and repair shops air is one of the objective points of nearly every tourist who enters Scotland its
Associations with burns his birthplace Kirk Alaway his Monument the twah Briggs the Brigadoon and the numerous other places connected with his memory and air and its vicinity need not be dwelt on here an endless array of guide books and other volumes will give more information than the tourist can absorb and his
Motorc car will enable him to rapidly visit such places as he may choose it will be of little incumbrance to him for he may leave the car standing at the side of the street while he makes a tour of the haunts of burns at Alaway or
Elsewhere it was a gloomy day when we left air over the fine Highway leading to Glasgow but before we had gone very far it began to rain steadily we passed through Kil manik the largest city in AER here a splendid Memorial to Burns has been erected and connected with it
Is a museum of relics associated with the poet as well as copies of various editions of his works this reminds one that the first volume of poems by Burns was published at Kil manik and in the cottage at air we saw one of the three existing copies which had been purchased
For the collection at an even ,000 we threaded our way carefully through glasgo for the rain which was coming down heavily made the streets very slippery and our car showed more or less tendency to the dangerous skid owing to former visits to the city we did not
Pause in Glasgow though the fact is that no other large city in Britain has less to interest than the tourist it is a great commercial City having gained in the last 100 years 3/4 of a million inhabitants its public buildings churches and other show places excepting the cathedral lack the charm of
Antiquity after striking the Dumbarton Road exit from the city was easy and for a considerable distance we passed near the Clyde shipyards the greatest in the world where many of the largest Merchant and War vessels have been constructed just as we entered Dumbarton whose Castle loomed high on a Rocky island
Opposite the town the rain ceased and the sky cleared with that changeful rapidity we noticed so often in Britain certainly we were fortunate in having fine weather for the remainder of the day during which we passed perhaps as varied and picturesque scenery as we found on our journey for the next 30
Miles the road closely followed the West Shore of Loch Lomond and for the larger part of the way we had a magnificent Panorama of the lake and the numberless green islands that rose out of its silvery Waters our view in places was cut off by the fine Country Estates that
Lay immediately on the shores of the lake but the grounds rich with shrubber and bright with flowers were hardly less pleasing than the lake itself these prevailed at the southern portion of the lake only and for at least 20 miles the road closely followed the shore leading
Around short turns on the very edges of steep embankments or over an occasional sharp Hill conditions that made careful driving necessary just across the lake which gradually grew narrower as we went North lay the low Scotch mountains their green outlines subdued by a soft blue haze but forming a striking background
To the ever varying scenery of the lake and opposite Shore near the Northern end on the far side is the entrance to the TR ax made famous by Scots Lady of the Lake the roads to this region are closed to Motors the only instance that I remember where public highways were thus
Interdicted the lake finally dwindled to a brawling Mountain stream which we followed for several miles to crean larich a rude little village nestling at the foot of the rugged Hills from here we ran Due West to Obin and for 20 miles of the distance the road was the worst
We saw in Scotland being rough and covered with loose sharp stones that were ruinous to tires it ran through a bleak unattractive country almost devoid of habitations and with little sign of Life excepting the flocks of sheep grazing on the short grasses that covered the Steep Stony hillsides the
Latter half of the distance the surroundings are widely different and excellent though winding and narrow road leading us through some of the finest scenes of the Highlands especially pleasing was the 10mile Jaun along the North Shore of Loch o with the glimpses of kilkern Castle which we caught through occasional openings in the
Thickly clustered trees on the shore ruins are more charmingly situated than kilkern standing as it does on a small island rising out of the clear waters the crumbling walls overgrown with Ivy and wall flowers the last 15 miles were covered in record time for us for it was
Growing exceedingly chilly as the night began to fall and the scotch jly day was as fresh and sharp as an American October Oban is one of the most Charming of the north of Scotland Resort towns and is becoming one of the most popular it’s situated on a little landlocked Bay
Generally white in summertime with the sails of pleasure vessels directly fronting the town just across the harbor are several ranges of Hills fading away Into the Blue Mists of the distance and forming together with the varying moods of sky and water a delightful picture overhanging the town from the East is
The scanty ruin of denol Castle little more than a shapeless pile of stone covered over with masses of Ivy viewed from the harbor the town presents a striking picture and the most remarkable feature is the great Coliseum on the hill this is known as M’s Tower and was
Built by an eccentric citizen some years ago to give employment to his fellow townsmen one cannot get an adequate idea of the real magnitude of that structure without climbing the Steep Hill and viewing it from the inside it is a circular Tower pierced by two rows of
Windows and it is not less than 300 ft in diameter the wall ranging in height from 30 to 75 ft from the ground it lends a most striking and unusual appearance to the town but among the natives it goes by the name of M’s Folly from Oban as a center numberless
Excursions may be made to Old castles Lakes of surpassing Beauty and places of ancient and curious history none of the latter are more famous than the island of Iona lying about 35 Mi distant and accessible by steamer two or 3 days of each week in summertime we never
Regretted that we abandoned the car a day for the trip to this quaint spot and its small sister Island Stafa famed for fingal’s cave and the Curious natural columns formed by volcanic action the round trip covers a distance of about 75 mil and occupies 8 or 10 hours Iona is a
Very small island with a population of no more than 50 but it was a place of importance in the early religious history of Scotland and its odd little cathedral which is now in Ruins except the Nave but recently restored was originally built in the 11th century
Weird and strange indeed is the array of memorials rudely cut from Scotch Granite that Mark the resting places of the chiefs of many forgotten Clans while a much higher degree of art is shown in the regular and even delicate designs traced on the numerous old crosses still
Standing in olden days Iona was counted sacred ground after the landing of s Columba in 563 and its Fame even extended to Sweden and Denmark whose Kings at one time were brought here for interment we were fortunate in having a fine day the sky being clear and the Sea perfectly smooth
We were thus enabled to make landing at both aisles a thing that is often Impossible on account of the weather this circular trip for the return is made by the sound of mul is a remarkably beautiful one the steamer winding in and out through the Straits among the
Islands and between Shores wild and broken they’re always picturesque and often impressive many many of the hills are crowned with ruined fortresses and occasionally an imposing modern summer residence is to be seen competent judges declare that provided the weather is fine no more delightful short Excursion
By steamer can be made on the British Coast than the one just described 3 miles from Obin lies Den staffage Castle a royal residence of the pictish Kings bearing the marks of extreme Antiquity it occupies a commanding position on a point of land extending far into the sea
And almost surrounded by water at high tide we visited it in the fading Twilight and a lonier more ghostly place it would be hard to imagine from this old castle was taken the stone of Destiny upon which the pictish kings were crowned but which is now the support of the coronation chair in
Westminster Abbey a place so rich in romantic Legend could not be expected to escape the knowledge of the wizard of the north and Scott made more than one visit to this solitary ruin as a result the story of dunstaffnage has been woven into the legend of montro as ardore and
The description may be easily recognized by anyone who visits the old castle Oben is modern a place of many and excellent hotels fronting on the bay so far only a small percent of its visitors are Americans and the indifferent roads leading to the town discourage the motorist had we adhered to the route
Outlined for us by the motor Union secretary we should have missed it altogether we had made a stop in the town 2 years before and yet there are few places in Britain that we would rather visit a third time than Obin end of chapter 9 chapter 10 of British highways and
Byways from a Motorcar by Thomas dler Murphy this LibriVox recording is in the public domain recording by Christine blashford chapter 10 through historic Scotland the north of Scotland is rapidly becoming little more than a pleasure ground for the people of the kingdom and its attractions are yearly drawing a larger number of Americans
There are practically no European visitors but that is largely true of the entire Kingdom the people of the continent consider Britain a chilly unattractive land its historic and literary Traditions so dear to the average American who holds a common language do not appeal to those who think their own country Superior to any
Other in these particulars it is only a natural consequence that Scotland outside of the three or four larger cities is becoming like Switzerland a nation of Hotel Keepers and very excellent ones they are the scotch hotels average as good as any in the world one finds them everywhere
In the highlands every Lake every ruin frequented by tourists has its Hotel many of them fine structures of native Granite substantially built and splendidly furnished we left Oban over the rout by which we came since no other was recommended to motorists our original plan to follow the Caledonian Canal to
Inv vaness was abandoned on account of difficult roads and numerous feries with poor and infrequent service after waiting 3 hours to get an accumulator which had been turned over to a local repair man 36 hours before with instructions to have it charged and returned promptly we find succeeded in
Getting off this delay is an example of those which we encountered again and again from failure to get prompt service especially when we were making an effort to get away before 10: or 11: in the morning it was no hardship to follow more leisurely than before the road past
Lo or whose sheet of limpid water lay like a mirror around kilkern Castle under the cloudless Noonday Sky a little further on at Dal Mali we paused at a pleasant Old Country Hotel where the delicious Scotch strawberries were served fresh from the garden it was a quaint clean quiet place and the
Landlord told us that aside from the old castles and fine scenery in the vicinity its Chief attraction to guests was trout fishing in neighboring streams we were 2 Days in passing through the heart of the Highlands from Obin to iness over about 200 miles of excellent Road running
Through wild and often beautiful scenery but there were few historic spots as compared with the coast country the road usually followed the edge of the hills often with a lake or Mountain stream on one hand from crane larich we followed the sparkling doar until we reached the
Shore of loc T about 20 mi distant from the mountain side we had an unobstructed view of this narrow but lovely Lake lying for a distance of 20 mil between Ridges of sharply Rising Hills white low hung clouds half hid the mountains on the opposite side of the lock giving the
Delightful effect of light and Shadow for which the scotch Highlands are famous and which the pictures of Watson Graham and faru Haren have made familiar to nearly everyone at the Northern end of the lake we caught distant glimpses of the battlemented towers of tth Castle home of the Marquis of breel Bane which
Though modern is one of the most imposing of the scotch country seats if the castle itself is imposing what shall we say of the estate extending as it does Westward to the sound of mul a distance of 100 Mil a striking example of the inequalities of the feudal system
Just before we cross the bridge over the Tay river near the outlet of the lake we noticed a gray old mansion with many Gothic towers and Gables Grand Tully castle made famous by Scott as the Tully Vilan of Waverly nearby is Kinard house where Robert Lou Stevenson wrote
Treasure Island a few miles further on we came to pit lockery a surprisingly well-built resort with excellent hotels and a mammoth hydropathic that dominates the place from a high Hill the town is situated in the very center of the Highlands surrounded by Hills that Supply the gray Granite used in its
Construction and here we broke our journey for the night our way to in vaness was through a sparsely inhabited wildly broken country with half a dozen mean-looking Villages at considerable distances from each other and an occasional Hut or Wayside in between although it was July and quite warm for
The north of Scotland the snow still lingered on many of the low mountains and in some places it seemed that we might reach it by a few minutes walk there was little along the road to remind one of the staring times or the pled and Kilted Highlander that Scott
Has led us to associate with this country we saw one old man the keeper of a little solitary Inn in the very heart of the hills arrayed in the full glory of the oldtime gar plaid tartan sporin and sko all set off by the plumed Glen Gary cap a picturesque old fellow indeed
And we met further on the way a dirty looking youth with his bag pipes slung over his shoulder in dilapidated modern gar he was anything but a fit descendant of the minstrels whose Fame has come down to us in song and story still he was glad to play for us and despite his
General resemblance to an everyday American it was something to have heard the skar of the bagpipe in the pass of Killy cranky and after all the hills the veils and the locks were there and everywhere on the low Green Mountains grazed endless flocks of sheep they lay leisurely in the roadway or
Often trotted unconcernedly in front of the car occasioning at times a speed limit even more unsatisfactory than that imposed in the more populous centers by the police traps incidentally we learned that the finest sheep in the world and vast numbers of them are produced in Great Britain when we compare them with
The class of animals raised in America it’s easy to see why our wool and mutton average so greatly inferior a clean quiet Charming city is in vaness the capital of the Highlands as the guide books have it it is situated on both shores of its broad sparkling River so
Shallow that the small boys with turned up pantaloons Wade across it in summertime while an arm of the sea defines the boundary on the northeast though tradition has it that McBeth built a castle on the site of the present structure it disappeared centuries ago and there is now little
Evidence of antiquity to be found in in the town the modern Castle is a massive rambling Brownstone building less than 100 years old now serving as a County Court the cathedral is recent having been completed in the last quarter of a century it is an imposing Church of red
Stone the great entrance being flanked by low Square top towers as a center for tourists iness is increasingly popular and Motorcars are very common the roads of the surrounding country are generally excellent and a trip of 200 mil will take one to Jon Gres the extreme Northern point of Scotland
The country around has many spots of Interest cordor castle where tradition says MC Beth murdered Duncan is on the n Road and on the way to this one may also visit codon Moore a grim shelterless waste where the adherents of Prince Charlie were defeated April 16th
1746 this was the last battle fought on British soil and the site is marked by a rude round Tower built from Stones gathered from the battlefield from inv vaness an unsurpassed Highway leads to abedine a distance of a little over 100 miles it passes through a beautiful country the northeastern Scottish
Lowlands which looked as prosperous and productive as any section we saw the smaller towns appeared much better than the average we had so far seen in Scotland Nan Huntley Forest Keith and Elgen more resembling the better English towns of similar size than Scotch towns which we had previously passed through
At Elgen are the ruins of its once Splendid cathedral which in its best day easily ranked as the largest and most imposing Church in Scotland time has dealt hardly with with it and the shattered fragments which remain are only enough to confirm the story of its magnificence fire and vandals who tore
The lead from the roof for loot having done their worst the cathedral served the unsentimental Scots of the vicinity as a stone quarry until recent years but it is now owned by the crown and every precaution taken to arrest further Decay the skies were lowering when we left in
Vaness and the latter half of the journey was made in the hardest rainstorm we encountered on our tour we could not see 10 yards ahead of us and the water poured down the Hills in Torrance yet our car ran smoothly on the fine McAdam Road being little affected
By the delug The Heavy Rain ceased by the time we reached inuri a gray Bleak looking little town closely following a winding street but the view from the High Bridge which we crossed just on leaving the place made full amends for the general ugliness of the village it
Would be hard to find anywhere a more beautiful city than abedine with her clean massively built structures of native gray Granite thickly sprinkled with mic facets that make it fairly glitter in the sunlight everything seems to have been planned by the architect to produce the most pleasing effect and
Careful note must have been taken of surroundings and location in fitting many of the public buildings into their niches we saw few more imposing structures in Britain than the new post office at abedine and it was typical of the solidity and Architectural magnificence of the Queen City of the
North but abedine will be on the route of any tourist who goes to Northern Scotland so I will not write of it here it is a great motoring center with finely built and well equipped garages as originally planned we were to go Southward from abedine by the way of
Brar and Balm moral in the very heart of the Highland Country the route usually followed by British motorists it passes through wild scenery but the country has few historic attractions the motor union representative had remarked that we should probably want to spend several days at Brar famous for its Scenic
Surroundings the Wild and picturesque Dales lakes and Hills near at hand but to Americans from the country of the Yellowstone and Yee the scenery of Scot can be only an incident in a tour from this consideration we prefer to take the Coast Road Southward which though it passes through a comparatively tame
Looking country is thickly strewn with places replete with stirring and romantic incidents of Scottish history nor had we any cause to regret our choice 15 Mi south of abedine we came in sight of denota Castle lying about 2 mi from the highway we left the car by the roadside and followed the footpath
Through the fields the ruin stands on a high precipitous headland projecting far out into the ocean and cut off from the landside by a deep irregular Ravine and The Descent and Ascent of the almost perpendicular sides was anything but an easy task a single winding footpath
Leads to the Grim old Gateway and we rang the bell many times before the custodian admitted us inside the gate the Steep Ascent continues through a rude tunnel-like passageway its sides for a distance of 100 ft or more pierced with many an Embraer for Archers or Musketeers emerging from this we came
Into the Castle Court the center of the small Plateau on the summit of the rock around us Rose the broken straggling walls bare and Bleak without a shred of Ivy or wall flower to hide their Grim nakedness the place was typical of a rude semi barbarus age an age of repine
Murder and ferocious cruelty and its story is as terrific as one would anticipate from its forbidding aspect here it was the want of Rob a Barons to retire with their prisoners and loot and later on account of the inaccessibility state and political prisoners were confined here from time to time in the
Frightful wigs Vault a semi Subterranean dungeon 160 covenants men and women were for several months confined by orders of the infamous clav house a single tiny window looking out on the desolate ocean furnished the sole lightened air for the great Cavern and the story of the suffering of the captives is too
Dreadful to tell here the Vault was ankled deep in meire and so crowded were the prisoners that no one could sit without leaning upon another in desperation and at Great risk a few attempted to escape from the window whence they clambered down the precipitous Rock but most of them were
Retaken and after frightful tortures were thrown into a second dungeon underneath the first where light and air were almost wholly excluded such was Scotland in the reign of Charles Stewart II and such a story seemed in keeping with the vast dismal old fortress but denota secluded and lonely as it was did
Not escape the far-reaching arm of the Lord protector and in 1562 his Cannon planted on the height opposite the headland soon brought the Garrison to terms it was known that the Scottish regalia the crown believed to be the identical one worn by Bruce at his coronation the Jew scepter and the sword
Of State presented to James IV by the pope had been taken for safety to denota held in repute as the most impregnable stronghold in the north the English maintained a close blockade by sea and land and were in strong hopes of securing the coveted relics the story is
That Mrs Granger the wife of a minister of a nearby Village who had been allowed by the English to visit the castle on her departure carried the relics with her concealed about her clothing she passed through the English lines without interference and the precious articles were safely disposed of by her husband
Who buried them under the flagstones in his church at KF where they remained until the restoration of 1660 the English were intensely disappointed at the loss the minister and his wife did not Escape suspicion and were even subjected to torture but they bravely refused to give information as to the
Whereabouts of the regalia we wandered about following our Rheumatic old guide who pointed out the different apartments to us and in Scotch so broad that we had to follow him very closely told us the story of The Fortress from the windows everywhere was the Placid shimmering summer sea its surface broken into
Silvery ripples by the fresh morning wind but it was left to the imagination to conceive the awful desolation of denota Castle on a gray and stormy day the old man conducted us to the keep and I looked over a Year’s record in the visitor’s book without finding a single
American registered and was more than ever impressed as to the man in which the Motorcar will often bring the tourist from the states into a comparatively Undiscovered Country the high tower of the keep several hundred feet above the sea afforded scope for a most magnificent Outlook one could get a
Full sweep of The Bleak and sterile country through which we had passed lying between abedine and ston Haven and which Scott celebrated as the mure of drumthwacket it was with a feeling of relief that we passed out of the forbidding portals into the fresh air of the pleasant July day leaving the old
Custodian richer by a few Shillings to wonder that the American Invasion had reached this secluded old fortress on the wild Headland Washed by the German ocean from Stone Haven we passed without special incident to montose following an excellent but rather uninteresting road though an occasional fishing Village and
Frequent view of the ocean broke the monotony of the flying miles montro is an ancient Town delightfully situated between the ocean and a Great Basin connected with the Sea by a broad straight over which a suspension bridge 500 ft long carried us Southward I recall that it was at montre where an
Obliging garage man loaned me an accumulator my batteries had been giving trouble scouting the idea of a deposit and I gave him no more than my agreement to return his property when I reached Edinburgh at AR broth are the ruins of the most extensive of the scotch abies
Scanty indeed but still enough to show its state and importance in the days of Faith here once reigned the good Abbot celebrated by souy in his Ballad of Ralph the Rover familiar to every school boy 10 miles off the coast is the reef where the Abbott of ABAB broak had
Placed a bell on the inchcape Rock like a boy in the storm it floated and swung and over the waves its warning rung and where the pirate out of pure malice to Vex the Abbot of ABAB brok cut the Bell from its boy only to be lost himself on
The reef a year later The Abbey was founded by William the lion in 1178 but war fire and fanaticism have left it sadly fragmentary now it is the charge of the town but the elements continue to war upon it and the brittle red Sandstone of which it is built shows
Deeply the wear of the sea wind dunde no longer the Bonnie dunde of the old ballad is a great straggling manufacturing City whose ancient landmarks have been almost Swept Away its church is a modern its one remaining Gateway of doubtful Antiquity and there is little in the city itself to detain
The tourist if its points of interest are too few to Warrant a stay its hotels should the one given in the guide book and also locally reputed to be the best really Merit this distinction will hardly prove an attraction it is a large six-story building fairly good-looking
From the outside but inside dirty and dilapidated with ill furnished and uncomfortable rooms when we inquired of the manageres as to what might be of a special interest in Dundee she considered a while and finally suggested the cemetery from our hotel window we had a fine view of the broad ester of
The tay with its Great Bridge said to be the longest in the world it recalled the previous Tay Bridge which fell in a storm in 1879 carrying down a train from which not a single one of the 70 or more passengers escaped around dande is crowded much of historic Scotland and
Many excursions worth the while may be made from the city by those whose time permits from dandi an excellent Road leads to Sterling by the way of Perth there is no more beautiful section in Scotland than this though its beauty is not the rugged scenery of the Highlands
Low Hills Rising above the wooded valleys with clear streams winding through them and usually prosperous looking farmhouses and frequent historic ruins and places all combined to make the 40 or 5050 miles a delightful Drive we did not pause at Perth a city with a long line of traditions nor at dunblaine
With its severely plain Cathedral founded in 1100 but recently restored Sterling the ancient Capital with its famous castle its memories of early Kings of Wallace Bruce and of Mary Stewart and with its wonderfully beautiful and historic surroundings is perhaps the most interesting town of Scotland no one who pretends to see
Scotland will miss it and no motat worthy of the name could be planned that would not lead through the quaint old streets from afar one catches a glimpse of the castle perched like that of Edinburgh on a mighty Rock Rising almost sheer from a delightfully Diversified plane it is a many towered structure
Piercing the blue sky and surrounded by an air of sullen inaccessibility while the Red Cross flag flying above it proclaims it a station of the king’s Army it is not by any means the castle of the days of Bruce and Wallace having been rebuilt and adapted to the purpose
Of military Barracks true many of the ancient portions remain but the long laborious climb to the summit of The Rock and the battlements of of the castle will if the day be fine be better repaid by the Magnificent Prospect than by anything else if the barck castle is
A little disappointing the wide sweep of country fading away Into the Blue Mountains on the west Ben venu Ben Le and Ben lond of the Lady of the Lake Eastward the rich lowlands running for miles and miles down the fertile Valley of the fourth dotted with many towns and
Villages the wooded Hills to the north with the massive Tower of the Wallace monument and the dim outlines of the ruins of cus kenth Abbey or near hand the Old Town under your very eye and the historic field of banck bur just adjoining will make ample amends the
Story of the Lady of the Lake pictures Sterling in its pmest days and no one who visits the castle will forget the brilliant closing scene of the poem here too the rose of Stewart’s line has left the fragrance of her name for Mary was hurried for safety to the castle a few
Days after her birth at Lin litho Palace and as a mere baby was crowned Queen of Scotland in the chapel the Parish church was also the scene of many coronations and in the the case of James I 6 later James the of England John Knox preached
The sermon one cannot go far in Scotland without crossing the path of Prince Charlie or standing in the shadow of some ancient building associated with The Melancholy memory of Queen Mary and despite the unquestioned Loyalty of the Scottish people to the present government there seems to linger
Everywhere a spirit of regret over the failure of the Chevalier to regain the Throne of his fathers Perhaps it is scarcely expressed only some word dropped in casual conversation some flash of Pride as you are pointed to the spots where Prince Charlie’s triumphs were won or some thinly veiled sentiment
In local guide books will make it clear to you that Scotland still cherishes the memory of the prince for whom her fathers suffered so much passing foler now a large manufacturing Town dingy with the smoke from its great furnaces we were reminded that near here in 1746
The prince gained one of his most decisive victories the precursor of the capture of Edinburgh by his army a few miles further on is LIN litho with its famous Palace the birthplace of the queen of of Scots this more Accords with our idea of a royal residence than the
Fortified castles for it evidently was never intended as a defensive Fortress it stands on the margin of a lovely Lake and considering its delightful situation and its comparative Comfort it is not strange that it was a favorite residence of the Scottish Kings it owes its dismantled condition to the want and
Spite of the English drons who when they retreated from lentho in face of the Highland Army in 1746 left the palace in Flames from lintho the broad Highway led us directly into Edinburgh by the way of Princess Street end of chapter 10 chapter 11 of British highways and
Byways from a Motorcar by Thomas dler Murphy this LibriVox recording is in the public domain recording by Christine blashford chapter 11 from Edinburgh to Yorkshire two men above all others and everything else are responsible for the Romantic Fame which The Bleak and largely Barren land of Scots enjoys the
English-speaking world over if Robert Burns and Walter Scott had never told the tales and sung the songs of their native land no endless streams of pilgrims would pour to its shrines and its history and traditions would be vastly second in interest to those of England and Wales but the wizard of the
North touched scotia’s rough Hills with the rosy Hues of his romance he threw the glamour of his story around its crumbling ruins through the magic of his fasile pen its Petty Chiefs and marauding Nobles assumed heroic mold and its kings and queens rulers over a mere handful of turbulent people were
Awakened into a majestic reality who would care ought for Prince Charlie or his horde of beggarly Highlanders were it not for the song of Burns and the story of Scott nor would The Melancholy fate of Queen Mary have been brought so vividly before the world but wherefore multiply instances to illustrate an
Admitted fact in Edinburgh we were near the center from which Scot’s vast influences radiated the tradition of burns overshadowed Southwestern Scotland and the memories of Scott seem to be indentified with the cities The Villages the solitary ruins the hills and veils of the eastern coast we note as we pass
Along Princess Street one of the finest thoroughfares in Britain the Magnificent Monument to the great author the most majestic tribute ever erected to a literary man a graceful Gothic Spire towering 200 ft into the sky the city is full of his memories here are many of the places he celebrated in his stories
His haunts for years years and the house where he retired after financial disaster to face a self-chosen battle with a gigantic debt which he might easily have evaded by a mere figment of the law however one can hardly afford to take from a motor tour the time which
Should rightly be given to Edinburgh for the many attractions of the Athens of the north might well occupy a solid week fortunately a previous visit by rail 2 years before had solved the problem for us and we were fairly familiar with the more Salient features of the city there
Is one side trip that no one should miss and though we had once journeyed by Railway train to Melrose Abbey and abbottford house we could not forgo a second visit to these famous shrines and to dyber ABY which we had missed before thus again we had the opportunity of
Contrasting the Motorcar and the railway train I remembered distinctly our former trip to Melrose by rail it was on a Saturday afternoon holiday when crowds of Trippers were leaving the city packed in the uncomfortable compartments like sardines in a box not one in a dozen having a chance to sit we were driven
From Melrose to abbottsford house at a snail Pace consuming so much time that a trip to dyber Abbey was out of the question though we had left Edinburgh about noon by motor we were out of the city about 3:00 and though we covered more than 80 mil we were back before
Lamp lighting time the road to dber Abbey runs nearly due south from edinb and the country through which we passed was hardly so prosperous looking as the northeastern section of Scotland much of it rather roughl looking country adapted only for sheep grazing and appearing as if it might be reclaimed Moreland the
Tomb of Walter Scott is in dber ABY and with the possible exception of Melrose it probably has more visitors than any other point in Scotland outside of Edinburgh the tourist season had hardly begun yet the caretaker told us that more than 70 people had been there
During the day and most of them were Americans The Abbey lies on the margin of the river Tweed the silver Stream So beloved of Scott and though sadly fragmentary is most religiously cared for and the decay of time and weather held in check by constant repairs and restoration the many thousands of
Admission fees every year no doubt form a fund which will keep this good work going indefinitely the weather beaten walls and arches were overgrown with masses of Ivy and the thick Green Grass of the newly moan lawn spread beneath like a velvet carpet we had reached the
Ruin so late that it was quite deserted and we felt the spirit of the place all the more as we wandered about in the evening silence Scott’s tomb that of his wife and their eldest son are in one of the Chapels whose vaed roof Still Remains in position tall iron gates
Between the Arches enclose the graves which are marked with massive sarcophagy of scotch Granite dber Abby was at one time the property of the Scott family which accounts for its use as their burial ground it has passed into other hands but interments are still made on rare occasions the spot was one which
Always interested and delighted Scott and it was his expressed wish that he be buried there we had been warned that the byways leading to The Abbey from the north of the Tweed were not very practicable for Motors and we therefore approached it from the other side this
Made it necessary to cross the river on a flimsy suspension bridge for foot path passengers only and a notice at each end peremptorily forbade that more than half a dozen people pass over the bridge at one time after crossing the river it was a walk of more than a mile to The Abbey
And as we were tempted to linger rather long it was well after 6:00 when we recrossed the river and resumed our journey Melrose is 12 Mi further on and the road crosses a series of rather sharp Hills we paused for a second glimpse of Melrose Abbey which has
Frequently been styled the most perfect and beautiful ecclesiastical ruin in Britain we were of the opinion however that we had seen at least three or four others more extensive and of Greater architectural Merit undoubtedly the High Praise given Melrose is due to the fame which it acquired from the poems and
Stories of Scott the thousands of pilgrims who come every year are attracted by this alone since the Abbey had no extraordinary history and no tomb of king or hero is to be found in its precincts were it not for the weird interest which the lay of the last
Minstral has thrown around Melrose its Fame would probably be no greater than that of the abies of jedar and Kelo in the same NE neighborhood abbottford house is only 3 mi from Melrose but it is closed to visitors after 5:00 and we missed a second visit which we should
Have liked very much upon such things the motorist must fully inform himself or he is liable to many disappointments by reaching his objective point at the wrong time we returned to Edinburgh by the way of galashiels a manufacturing town of considerable size that lay in a
Deep valley far below the road which we were following along the edges of the wooded Hills this road abounded in dangerous turns and caution was necessary When rounding sharp curves that in places almost described a circle we had a clear right of way however and reached Edinburgh before 9:00 a
Delightful feature of Summer touring in Britain is the long evening which is often the pleasantest time for traveling the highways are usually quite deserted and the Mellow effect of the sunsets and the long Twilights often lend an additional charm to the landscapes in the months of July and August in
Scotland daylight does not begin to fade away until from 9: to 10 and in Northern sections the dawn begins as early as 2 or 3:00 during our entire tour we found it necessary to light our lamps only two or three times although we were often on the road after 9:00 though Edinburgh has
Unusually Broad and well paved streets it is a trying place for a motorist the people make little effort to keep to the sidewalk but let the fellow who is driving the car do the looking out for them in no City through which we passed did I find greater care necessary
Despite all this accidents are rare owing to the fact that drivers of Motorcars in Great Britain have had the lesson of carefulness impressed upon them by strict and prompt enforcement of police regulations we left Edinburgh the next for noon with a view of making Baron Tweed our stopping place for the evening
Not a long distance in miles but a considerable one measured in spots of historical importance the road much of the way skirts the ocean and is a magnificent Highway leading through a number of quaint towns famous in Scotch song and story numerous battlefields are scattered along the way but we found it
Difficult to locate a battlefield when we passed it and generally quit trying in in fact in the days of Border Warfare the whole south of Scotland was the scene of almost continuous strife and battles of greater or less importance were fought everywhere with the English in the centuries of fierce hatred which
Existed between the two Nations the Scots held their own wonderfully well considering their greatly inferior numbers and the general Poverty of their country the union after all was brought about not by Conquest but by a scotch King going to London to assume the crown of the two kingdoms the famous Old Town
Of baric oned bore the brunt of the incursions from from both sides on the eastern coast as did carile on the west the town of Dunbar situated on the coast about midway between Edinburgh and berck was of great importance in Border history it had an extensive and strongly
Fortified Castle situated on the margin of a cliff overhanging the Ocean and which was for a Time the residence of Queen Mary after her marriage with darnley nothing now remains of this great structure save a few crumbling walls of red Sandstone which are carefully propped up and kept in the
Best possible repair by the citizens who have at last come to realize the cash value of such a ruin if such a realization had only come a hundred years ago a great service would have been done the historian and the antiquarian but this is no less true of
A thousand other towns than of Dunbar no quain to edifice did we see in all Britain than darbar’s 15th century Town Hall it seemed more characteristic of an old German Town than of Scotland this odd old building is still the seat of the city government our route from
Danbar ran for a long way between the hills of LaMore and the ocean and abounded in delightful and striking scenery we were forcibly reminded of Scott’s mournful story The Bride of LaMore as we passed Among The Familiar scenes mentioned in the book and it was the influence of this romantic tale that
Led us from the main road into narrow byways and sleepy little Coast towns innocent of modern progress and undisturbed by the rattle of Railway trains no great distance from baric and directly on the ocean stands fast Castle said to be the Prototype of the wolf’s CAG of LaMore this wild story has always
Interested me in my Bo Boyhood days and for years I had dreamed of the possibility of sometimes seeing the supposed Retreat of The Melancholy master of Ravenswood we had great difficulty in locating the castle none of the people seeming to know anything about it and we wandered many miles
Among the hills through narrow unmarked byways with little idea of where we were really going at last after Dent of inquiry We Came Upon A group of houses which we were informed where the headquarters of a large farm of about 2,000 acres and practically all the
People who worked on the farm lived with their family in these houses the superintendent knew of fast Castle which he said was in a lonely and inaccessible spot situated on a high broken Headland overlooking the ocean it was 2 or 3 miles distant and the road would hardly
Admit of taking the car any further he did not think the ruin was worth going to see anyhow it had been cared for by no one and within his memory the walls had fallen in and crumbled away either his remarks or the few miles walk discouraged me and after having traveled
Fully 30 mil to find this Castle I turned about and went on with without going to the place at all and of course I now regret it as much as anything I failed to do on a whole tour I shall have to go to fast Castle yet by motor
Car after regaining the main road it was only a short run along the edge of the ocean to Barra on Tweed which we reached early in the evening I recall no more delightful day during our tour it had been fresh and cool and the sky was
Perfectly clear for a great part of the way the road had passed within view of the ocean whose deep unruffled blue entirely unobscured by The Mists which so often hang over the northern Seas stretched away until it was lost in the pale Sapphire Hues of the Skies the
Country itself was fresh and bright after abundant rains and as hay making was in progress in many places along the road the air was Laden with the scent of the newly moan grasses altogether it was a day long to be remembered vericon Tweed lies partly in England and partly
In Scotland the river which runs through it forming the boundary line an odd Bridge built by James I connects the two parts of the town the highest point of its Archway being nearest the Scottish Shore and giving the effect of having its middle at one end as some Scotch wit
Has expressed it the town was once strongly fortified especially on the Scottish side and a castle was built on a hill commanding the place traces of the walls surrounding the older part of the city still remain it is easy to follow it throughout its entire course when the long years of Border Warfare
Ended a century and a half ago the town inside of the wall must have appeared much the same as it does today it is a town of crooked streets and quaint buildings set down without the slightest reference to the the points of the compass the site of the castle is
Occupied by the railway station though a few crumbling walls of the former structure still remain the station itself is now called the castle and reproduces on a smaller scale some of the architectural features of the ancient Fortress we started Southward from Beric the following morning over the fine Road leading through
Northumberland about 10 Mi off this road and reached by narrow byways is the pleasant little Sea Coast Village of bambra and the fame of its Castle tempted us to visit it I had often wondered why some of the oldtime castles were not restored to their pristine magnificence what we should have if
Kennelworth or Raglin were rebuilt and to their ancient Glory there were added all the modern conveniences for Comfort I found in bambra Castle a case exactly to the point Lord Armstrong the millionaire ship Builder had purchased this Castle Almost a complete ruin and when he began restoration only the
Norman Tower of the keep was intact and besides this there was little except the foundation walls Lord Armstrong entirely rebuilt the castle following the original plan and designs and the result is one of the most striking and pleasing of the palatial residences in England the situation on a high Headland
Extending into the ocean commands a view in every direction and completely dominates the Sleepy Little Village lying just beneath the castle is of great Antiquity the record showing that a fortress had been built on this side in the fifth century by Ida king of North umberland though the present
Building largely reproduces the features of the one founded in the time of the Conqueror Lord Armstrong died the year before the work on the castle was completed and it passed into the hands of his nephew it is open to visitors only one day in the week and it happened
As usual that we had arrived on the wrong day fortunately the family were absent and our plea that we were Americans who had come a long distance to see the place was quite as effective here as in other cases the housekeeper showed us the palace in detail that we
Could hardly have hoped for under other circumstances the interior is fitted in the richest and most magnificent style and I have never seen the natural beauties of woodwork brought out with with better effect how closely the oldtime construction was followed in the restoration is shown by the fact that
The great open roof of the banqueting hall is put together with wooden pins no nail having been used the castle has every modern convenience even hot water heating a rare thing in England being installed when we saw what an excellent result had been attained in the restoration we could not but wonder that
Such a thing has not oftener been done in the village churchyard is the massive gray Granite Monument erected to the memory of Grace darling who lived and died in bamra and a brass tablet in the ancient church is inscribed with the record of her heroism the lighthouse
Which was kept by her father is just off Bamber ahead and it was from this in the face of a raging storm that she launched her frail boat and saved several people from a foundering ship only four years later she succumbed to consumption but her unparalleled bravery has made the
Name of this young girl a household word wherever the English language is spoken on leaving bambra We Came as nearly getting lost in the narrow winding byways as at any time during our tour a bridge under repair on the direct route to the main road compelled us to
Resort to byways which were unmarked by signboards and in as ill condition as many American roads nor could the people of whom we inquired give us intelligent direction we finally reached the road again after a loss of an hour or more a short time afterwards we came to alwick
Whose Castle is one of the most extensive and complete specimens of medieval architecture in England in the last century it has been largely restored following out the original design of the exterior at least and is now the residence of the Duke of North umberland usually it is open to visitors
But in the confusion that followed the visit of the king the day before the castle and its Great Park had been closed until the next week we had seen the interior of so many similar places that this was not so much of a disappointment especially as we had a
Splendid view of the old fortress from the outside and also from the courtyard on the battlements of this Castle are numerous Stone figures of men in the act of hurling down missiles on the heads of foes who might besiege it this was quite common in early days and feudal bar
Perhaps thought to make up for their shortage of real men by placing these Effigies on the walls of their fortresses butwick is the only Castle on which the figures still remain the town itself was still in holiday attire in honor of its Royal guest of the preceding day the buildings were covered
With the national colors and many decorations and illuminations had been planned to celebrate the occasion alwick is one of the most typical of the English feudal towns it is owned largely by the Duke of North umberland who appears to be popular with his tenantry the latter having erected in honor of
Their Noble landlord a lofty column surmounted by the figure of a lion every view from the distance from mils around is dominated by the battlemented and many towered walls of the castle which surmounts a hill overlooking the town the story of alwick and its Castle would
Be long to tell for they bore the Brent of many scotch incursions and suffered much at the hands of the fierce Marauders from the north our afternoon’s run led us from alwick to Durham passing through Newcastle on time Newcastle is a large commercial city famous for its Mining and ship building Industries and
Has but little to engage the attention of the tourist our pause was a short one and we reached Durham in good time after a run of over 100 miles broken by several lengthy stops on the way the main street of Durham in many places is barely wide enough for two vehicles to
Pass it winds and twists through the town in such a way that one seems to be almost moving in a circle at times and constant inquiry is necessary to keep from being lost on the Main Street of a city of 15 or 20,000 the town is almost
As much of a jumble as if its red to roof buildings had been promiscuously thrown to their places from Cathedral Hill Durham is strictly an ecclesiastical Center there is little except the cathedral which in addition to being one of the most imposing occupies perhaps the finest site of any
Of the great English churches together with Durham Castle it monopolizes the summit of a hill which at its base is three quarters surrounded by the river the greater part of the cathedral dates back 7 or 800 years but additions have been made from time to time so that
Nearly all styles of architecture are represented tradition has it that it was founded by St cubber whose Chief characteristic is declared to have been his antipathy toward women of all degrees a curious relic of this peculiarity of the saint remains in a granite cross set in the center of the
Floor of the Nave Beyond which in the earlier days no woman was ever allowed to pass the interior of the church is mainly in the massive and imposing Norman style the carved Stone screen is one of the most elaborate and perfect in Britain and dates back from the 13th
Century the Virg told us of the extreme care which must be taken to preserve this Relic he said that the stone of the screen is rather soft and brittle and that in cleaning it was never touched the dust being blown away with Bellows Durham in common with most of the
Cathedrals suffered severely at the hands of the parliamentarians and Cromwell it was used as a prison for a part of the scotch Army captured at the Battle of Dunbar and as these Presbyterians had almost as much contempt for images as the cromwellian themselves many of the beautiful monuments in the cathedral were broken
Up Durham like Canterbury is a town that is much favored by the artists and deservedly so the old buildings lining the winding River and Canal form in many places delightful Vistas in soft colors almost as picturesque as bits of Venice itself the hotels however are far from
First class and one would probably be more comfortable at Newcastle speaking of hotels we did not at any time engage accommodations in advance and Durham was the only town where we found the principal hotel with all rooms taken with the rapid increase of Motoring however it will probably become
Necessary to tell graph for accommodations at the best hotels and telegraphing is an exceedingly easy thing in England a message can be sent from any post office at a cost of six P for the first 10 words end of chapter 11 chapter 12 of British highways and
Byways from a Motorcar by Thomas dler Murphy this LibriVox recording is in the public domain recording by Christine blashford chapter 12 in Old Yorkshire York is by far the largest of the English shes a widely Diversified country ranging from fertile Farmland to Broken Hills and waste mland while its
River valleys and considerable Coastline present greatly varied but always picturesque scenery the poet describes the charms of Yorkshire as yielding variety Without End sweet interchange of Hill and Valley River Wood and plain nor did we find this description at all inapt as we drove over its excellent
Roads during the fine July weather but the Yorkshire country is doubly interesting for if the landscape is of surpassing beauty the cities The Villages the castles and abies and the fields where some of the fiercest battles in Britain have been fought have intertwined their associations with
Every Hill and Valley not only the size of the Shire but its position midway between London and the Scottish border and extending almost from coast to coast made it a bullwark as it were against the incursions of the Scots and their numerous sympathizers in the extreme
North of England no part of England is more thickly strewn with attractions for the American Tourist and in no other section the conditions for motor travel average better from London to York the capital city of the Shire runs the great North Road undoubtedly the finest
Highway in all Britain it is laid out on a liberal scale magnificently surfaced and bordered much of the way by wide and beautifully kept Lawns and at times skirted with Majestic trees we saw a faximile of a broadside poster issued about a century ago announcing that the new lightning coach service installed on
This road between London and York would carry passengers the distance of 188 mi in the astonishingly short space of 4 days this coach of course traveled by relays and at what was then considered Breakneck speed over this same Highway it would now be an easy feat for a
Powerful car to cover the distance in 3 or 4 hours the great North Road was originally constructed by the Romans to maintain the quickest possible communication between London and e boram as York was styled during the Roman occupation the limitation of our time had become such that we could but feel
That our tour through Yorkshire must be of the most superficial kind not less than 2 weeks of Motoring might well be spent in the county and every day be full of genuine enjoyment the main roads are among the best in England and afford access to most of the important points
We learned however that there is much of interest to be reached only from byways but that these may lead over Steep and even dangerous Hills and are often in not much better condition than our American raids we left Durham about noon following a rather indirect route to Darlington from then through Hawthorne
Boarded byways we came to Richmond one of the quaintest and most representative of the old Yorkshire towns we happened here on Market Day and the town was crowded with Farmers from the surrounding country here we saw many types of the Yorkshire man famed for his shrewdness and fondness for what we
Would call Dickering much of the buying and selling in English towns is done on Market Day livestock produce farm implements and almost every kind of merchandise are sold at auction in the public Marketplace if if a farmer wants to dispose of a horse or to buy a mowing
Machine he avails himself of this auction and the services of a professional Auctioneer such an individual was busily playing his vocation in front of the king’s head hotel and the Roars of laughter from the farmers which greeted his SES as he cried his Wares certainly seem to indicate that the charge that Englishmen
Cannot appreciate humor at least of a certain kind is a base slander as Richmond is the center of one of the best farming districts in Yorkshire its Market day was no doubt a typical one Richmond car castle at one time was one of the most formidable and strongly
Situated of the northern fortresses it stands on an almost perpendicular Rock Rising 100 ft above the river Swale but with the exception of the Norman keep the ruins are scanty indeed there is enough of the enclosing walls to give some idea of the extent of the original Castle which covered 5 Acres its
Magnificent position commanding the whole of the surrounding country the keep is now used as a military Storehouse the soldier guard in charge was very courteous and relieved us the necessity of sec securing a pass from the commandant as was required by a notice at the castle entrance he
Conducted us to the top of the great tower from which we were favored with one of the finest views in central England and one that is almost unobstructed in every direction unfortunately a blue mist obscured much of the landscape but the guard told us that on clear days York Minster more
Than 40 Mi away could easily be seen near at hand nestling in the Valley of the Swale are the Ivy covered ruins of easby Abbey while still nearer on the hillside the great tower of gray Friar’s church is All That Remains of another once extensive Monastery in no way can
One get a more adequate idea of the park-like beauty of the English landscape than to view it from such point of Vantage as the keep of Richmond Castle Richmond church is an imposing structure standing near the castle and has recently been restored as nearly as possible to its ancient State an odd
Feature of the church is the little shop built in the base of the tower where a tobacconist now applies his trade from the castle tower looking down the luxuriant valley we noticed at no great distance half hidden by the trees the outlines of a ruined Church The easby
Abbey which I have just mentioned as one of the numerous Yorkshire ruins it is but a few furlongs off the road by which we left Richmond and the byway we entered dropped down a sharp Hill to the pleasant spot on the Riverside where the Abbey stands the location is a rather
Secluded one and the painstaking care noticeable about so many ruins is lacking it is surrounded by trees and a large Elm growing in the very midst of the walls and arches flung a network of sun and shade over the CR crumbling Stones the murmur of the nearby Swale
And the notes of the English thrushes filled the air with soft Melody amid such surroundings we hardly heard the old custodian as he pointed out the different apartments and told us the story of the palmy days of the Abbey and of its final Doom at the Relentless
Hands of Henry VII nearby is a tiny Church which no doubt had served the people of the neighborhood as a place of worship since the Abbey fell into ruin the day which had so far been fine soon began to turn cold one of those sudden and disagreeable changes that come in
England and Scotland in the very midst of summertime an experience that happens so often that one cannot Wonder at Byron’s complaint of the English winter closing in July to recommence in August at no time in the summer were we able to dispense for any length of time with
Heavy wraps and robes while on the road from Richmond we hastened away over a fine and nearly straight road to Ripon whose Chief attraction is its Cathedral speaking of cathedrals again I might remark that our tour took us to every one of these with one exception in
England and Scotland about 30 in all and the exception Beverly minster is but newly created and relatively of lesser importance Ripon is one of the smaller Cathedrals and of less importance in historical associations it occupies a magnificent site crowning a hill rising in the very center of the town and from
A distance gives the impression of being larger than it really is it presents a somewhat unfinished aspect with its three low Square top Towers once surmounted by great wooden spires which became unsafe and were taken down never to be replaced these must have added wonderfully to the dignity and proper
Proportion of the church just outside Ripon lies fountain’s Abbey undoubtedly the most striking and best preserved ecclesiastical ruin in England it is on the estate of the Marquis of Ripon adjoining the town and this nobleman takes great pride in the preservation of the Abbey the Great Park which also
Surrounds his residence is thrown open every day and one has full Liberty to go about it at pleasure it is a popular Resort and on the day of our visit the number of people passing through the gate exceeded 500 the gatekeeper assured us that a th000 visitors on a single day
Was not an uncommon occurrence The Abbey stands in a wooded Valley on the margin of a Charming Little River and underneath and around the ruin is a lawn whose green loveliness is such as can be found in England alone there is no room in this record for the description of
Such a well-known place or for its story The One feature which impressed us most and which is one of the finest specimens of Norman architecture in England is the great salarium where the monks stored their wine in the good old days the vaed roof of this vast apartment several
Hundred feet in length is in perfect condition and shows how substantially the structure must have been built Fountain zabi shared the fate of its contemporaries at the hand of Henry the8 who drove the monks from its shelter confiscating their property and revenues it was growing late when we left Ripon
For York but the road was perfect and we had no trouble in covering the 20 miles or more in about an hour we were soon made comfortable at the station hotel in York one of the oldest and most interesting of the larger cities the following day being Sunday we availed
Ourselves of the opportunity of attending services at the Minster The Splendid music of the great organ was enough to atone for the long dreary chant of the litany and the glory of the ancient Windows breaking the Gloom of the church with a thousand shafts of softened light was in itself an
Inspiration more than any sermon at least to us to whom these things had the charm of the unusual yorkminster with the exception of St Paul’s in London is the largest cathedral in England and contests with Canterbury for first place in ecclesiastical importance its greatest glory is its Windows which are
By far the finest of any in England many of them date back to the 13th and 14th centuries and when one contemplates their subdued Beauty it is easy to understand why stained glass making is now reckoned one of the lost arts these windows escaped numerous vicissitudes which imperal the cathedral among them
The disastrous fires which nearly destroyed it on two occasions within the last century the most remarkable of them all is the Five Sisters at the end of the Nave a group of five slender softly toned Windows of imposing height the numerous monuments scattered throughout the church are of little interest to the
American visitor we were surprised at the small audiences which we found at the cathedrals where we attended Services a Mia corner is large enough to care for the congregations the vast body of the church being seldom used except on state occasions though York is a city of 75,000 population I think there were
Not more than four or 500 people in attendance though the day was exceptionally fine there are numerous places within easy reach of York which one should not miss a 60-mile trip during 3 or 4 hours of the afternoon gave us the opportunity of seeing two Abbey ruins Helmsley castle and Lawrence
Stern’s Cottage at coxwald our route LED over a series of steep hills almost due north to Helmsley a town with unbroken Traditions from the time of the Conqueror its ancient castle surrendered to Fairfax with the agreement that it’ be absolutely demolished and that no Garrison Hereafter be kept by either
Party so well was this provision carried out that only a ragged fragment remains of the once impregnable Fortress which has an added interest from its connection with Scott story The Fortunes of Nigel to miles from Helmsley is rival Abbey situated in a deep secluded Valley and the narrow byway leading to the ruin
Was so Steep and rough that we left the car and walked down the hill a small village Nestles in the valley a quiet out ofth way little place whose thatched Cottages were surrounded by a riot of old-fashioned flowers and their walls dashed with the rich color of the bloom
Laden Rose Vines back of the village in lonely Grandeur stands the Abby still imposing despite Decay and neglect just in front of it is the cottage of the old custodian who seemed considerably troubled by our application to visit the ruins he said that the place was not
Open on Sunday and gave us to understand that he had conscientious Scruples against admitting anyone on that day the hint of a fe overcame his Scruples to such an extent that he intimated that the gates were not locked anyway and if we desired to go through them he did not
Know of anything that would prevent us we wandered about in the shadows of the high but crumbling walls whose extent gave a strong impression of the original glory of the place and one many well believe the statement that at the time of the dissolution r was one of the
Largest as well as richest of the English abies the old keeper was awaiting us at the Gateway and his conscientious Scruples were again awakened when we asked him for a few postcard pictures he amiably intimated his own willingness to accommodate us but said he was afraid that the old
Woman his wife wouldn’t allow it but he would find out he returned after a short interview in the cottage and said that there were some pictures on a table in the front room and if we would go in and select what we wanted and leave the
Money for them it would be all right on our return from from Helmsley we noticed a byway leading across the mland with a signboard pointing the way to Coxwell we were reminded that in this out of theeway Village Lawrence Stern the father of the English novel had lived
Many years and that his Cottage and church might still be seen a narrow road LED sharply from the beautiful Yorkshire farmlands through which we had been traveling its Fields almost ready for the Harvest into a lonely Mo almost as brown and bare as our own Western Sagebrush country it was on this
Unfrequented road that we encountered the most dangerous hill we passed over dur during our trip and the road descending it was a reminder of some of the worst in our native country they called it the bank and the story of its Terrors to motorists told us by a
Helmsley villager was in no wise an exaggeration it illustrates the risk often attending a digression into by roads not listed in the road book for England is a country of many hilly sections I had read only a few days before of the wreck of a large car in
Darbishire where the driver lost control of his machine on a gradient of 1 and three the car dashed over the embankment demolishing many yards of stone wall and coming to rest in a valley hundreds of feet beneath and this was only one of several similar cases fortunately we had
Only The Descent to make the bank dropped off the edge of the Morland into a lovely and fertile Valley where quite unexpectedly We Came Upon bands Abbey the Rival of rivo but far more fallen into Decay it stood alone in the midst of the wide Valley no caretaker hindered
Our steps to its Precinct and no effort had been made to prop its crumbling walls or to stay the green ruin creeping over it the fragment of its great window Still Standing was its most imposing feature and showed that it had been a church of no mean architectural
Pretension the locality it would seem was well supplied with abies for rival is less than 10 miles away but we learned that bonss was founded by monks from the former Brotherhood and also from furnace Abbey in Lancashire in the good old days it seems to have been a
Common thing when the monks became dissatisfied with the establishment to which they were attached for the denters to start a rival Abbey just over the way coxal is a sleepy Village Under disturbed by modern progress its thatched Cottages straggling up the crooked street that leads to the hilltop
Crowned by the Hy Church whose tall massive octagonal Tower dominates the surrounding country it seems out of all proportion to the poverty-stricken Ragged looking little village on the hillside but this is not at all an uncommon impression one will have of the churches in small English towns across
The road from the church is the oldtime vicarage reposing in the shade of towering Elms and we found no difficulty whatever in gaining admission to Shandi Hall as it is now called we were shown the little room not more than 9 ft Square where Stern when vica wrote his greatest book Tristram Shandy
The kitchen is still in its original condition with its rough beamed ceiling and huge fireplace like most English Cottages the walls were covered with climbing roses and creepers and there was the usual flower garden in the rear the tenants were evidently used to visitors and though they refused any
Gratuity our attention was called to a box near the door which was labeled for the benefit of wesle and missions 2 or 3 miles through the byways after leaving Coxwell brought us into the main road leading into York this seemed such an ideal place for a police trap that we
Traveled at a very moderate speed meeting numerous motorists on the way the day had been a magnificent one enabling us to see the Yorkshire country at its best it had been delightfully cool and clear and Lovelier views than we had seen from many of the Upland roads would be hard to imagine the
Fields of yellow grain nearly ready for harvesting richly contrasted with the prevailing bright green of the Hills and Valleys altogether it was a day among a thousand and in no possible way could one have enjoyed it so greatly as from the motorc car which dashed along slowed
Up or stopped alt together as the varied scenery happened to especially please us York abounds in historic relics odd corners and interesting places the city was surrounded by a strong wall built originally by Edward the and one may follow it throughout its entire course
Of more than 2 miles it is not nearly so complete as the famous Chester wall but it encloses a larger area it shows to even a greater extent the careful work of the restorer as do the numerous gate Towers or bars which one meets in following the wall the best exterior
Views of the Minster may be had from Vantage points on this wall and a leisurely tour of its entire length is well worthwhile the best preserved of the gate Towers is mckel gate bar from which in the War of the Roses the head of the Duke of York was exhibited to
Dismay his adherence there were originally 40 of these towers of which several still exist aside from its world famous Minster York teams with objects and places of curious and archaeological interest there are many fine old churches and much medieval architecture in a public park fragments still remain of St Mary’s
ABY a once magnificent establishment destroyed during the Parliamentary Wars but it must be said to the Everlasting credit of the parliamentarians that their commanders spared no effort to protect the Minster which accounts largely for its excellent preservation the commander-in chief General Fairfax was a native of Yorkshire and no doubt
Had a kindly feeling for the great cathedral which led him to exert his influence against its spoliation so such buildings can stand several fires without much damage since there is little to burn except the roof and the cathedrals suffered most severely at the hands of the various contending factions
Into which they fell during the Civil Wars the quaintest of oldtime York streets is the shambles a narrow Lane paved with cobblestones and only wide enough to permit the passing of one vehicle at a time it is lined on either side with queer half timbered houses and
In one or two places these have sagged to such an extent that their tops are not more than 2 or 3 fet apart in fact it is said that Neighbors in two adjoining buildings May Shake Hands Across The Street the shambles no doubt took its name from the unattractive row
Of butcher shops which still occupy most of the small store rooms on either side hardly less picturesque than the shambles is the Peter Gate and no more typical bits of oldtime England may be found anywhere than these two ancient Lanes glimpses of the cathedral Towers through the rows of odd buildings is a
Favorite theme with the artists aside from its Antiquity its old world streets and historic buildings are quite up to the best of the English cities it is an important animportant trading and Manufacturing point though the prophecy of the old saw Lincoln was London is York shall be the greatest city of the
Three seems hardly likely to be realized end of chapter 12 chapter 13 of British highways and byways from a motor car by Thomas dler Murphy this LibriVox recording is in the public domain recording by Christine blashford chapter 13 a zigzag trip from York to Norwich late in the afternoon we left
York over the great North Road for retford from whence we expected to make the duer circuit the road runs through a beautiful section and passes many of the finest of the English Country Estates it leads through Doncaster noted for its magnificent church and bort tree from whence came many of the pilgrim fathers
Who sailed in the Mayflower this road is almost level throughout and although it rained continuously the run a 50 mil was made in record time that is as we reckoned record time at Redford we were comfortably housed at the whiteart hotel a well conducted hostelry for a town of
10,000 the white heart must be a favorite among English inke Keepers for I recollect that we stopped at no fewer than seven hotels bearing this name during our tour and saw the familiar sign on many others on our arrival we learned that the juker trip must be made
By carriage and that the 50 mil would consume 2 days we felt averse to subtracting so much from our already short remaining time and when we found still further that admission was denied for the time at two of the most important Estates we decided to proceed
Without delay the motor would be of no advantage to us in visiting the Jukes for the circuit must be made in a stayed and leisurely English Victoria since this Chronicle was written however I have learned that the Embargo on motoring through the dues is at least partially raised another step showing
The trend in England in favor of the motorc car by pre-arrangement with the stewards of the various Estates permission may be obtained to take a car through through the main private roads thus the tourist will be enabled in half a day to accomplish what has previously required at least 2 days driving with
Horse and carriage in this vicinity is newstead Abbey The ancestral home of Byron and one of our greatest disappointments was our inability to gain access to it perhaps we might have done so if we had made arrangements sufficiently in advance since visitors are admitted they told us on certain
Days by special permission there has however been an increasing tendency on the part of the owner to greatly limit the number of visitors the coal mines discovered on the lands have become a great source of wealth and the Abbey has been transformed into a modern Palace in
One of the finest private parks in England the rooms occupied by Byron it is said are kept exactly as they were when he finally left newstead and there are many interesting relics of the poet carefully preserved by the present proprietor it would be a bad thing for
England if the tendency on the part of private owners of historic places to exclude visitors from their premises should become General the disposition seem somewhat on the increase and not without cause indeed I was told that in a number of instances the Privileges given had been greatly abused that
Gardens had been stripped of their flowers and Relics of various kinds carried away this vandalism was not often charged against Americans but rather against local English Trippers as they are called people who go to these places merely for a picnic or holiday no doubt this could be overcome it has been
Overcome in a number of instances notably war castle and null house by the charge of a moderate admission fee people who are willing to pay are not generally of the class who commit acts of vandalism that this practice is not adopted to a greater extent is doubtless
Due to the fact that numbers of aristocratic owners think there is something degrading in the appearance of making a commercial Enterprise out of the historic places which they possess it is only 20 mi from retford to Lincoln and long before we reached the latter town we saw the towers of its great
Cathedral which crowns a steep hill Rising sharply from the almost level surrounding country it is not strange that the cathedral Builders always with an eye to the spectacular and imposing should have fixed on this remarkable Hill as a sight for one of their churches for miles from every direction
The three massive Towers form a landmark as they rise above the tile roofs of the town in sharp outline against the sky to reach Lincoln we followed a broad beautiful Highway almost level until it comes to the town when it abruptly ascends the hill which is so steep as to
Tax the average motor the cathedral in some respects is the most remarkable and imposing in England the distinctive feature is the great towers of equal size and height something similar to those of Durham though higher and more beautifully proportioned the interior shows some of the finest Norman architecture in the kingdom and the
Great Norman doorway is said to be the most perfect of its kind near the chapel in the cathedral close is a bronze statue of Tennyson accompanied by his favorite dog this reminded us that we were in the vicinity of the poet’s birthplace and we determined that the
Next point in our pilgrimage should be summersby where the church and rectory of Tennyson’s father still stand we planned to reach Boston that evening and as there were a good many miles before us we were not able to give the time that really should be spent in Lincoln
It has many ancient landmarks the most remarkable being a section of the Roman wall that surrounded the town about 15 ad and in which the arch of one of the gateways is still entire it now appears to have been a very low Gateway but we were informed that excavations had shown
That in the many centuries since it was built the Earth had risen no less than 8 ft in the archway and along the Wall Lincoln Castle much decayed and ruinous is an appropriate feature of one of the public parks along the streets leading up Cathedral Hill are rows of quaint
Houses no doubt full of interest but a motor tour often does not permit one to go much into detail so we B farewell to Lincoln only stopping to ask the host for directions to the next town on our way generally such directions are something like this turn to the right
Around the next Corner pass two streets then turn to the left then turn to the right again and keep right along until you come to the town hall Clock Tower or or something of the kind and then straight away after you inquire two or three more times and finally come to the
Landmark you find three or four streets any one of which seems quite as straight away as the others and a consultation with a nearby policeman is necessary after all to make sure you are right when Once well into the country the Milestones together with the Fingerboards at nearly every parting of
The ways can be depended on to keep you right these conveniences however are by no means evenly distributed and in some sections a careful study of the map and Road book is NE necessary to keep from going astray the 20 miles to summersby went by without special incident this
Quaint little Hamlet it can hardly be called a village is almost hidden among the hills well off the main traveled roads and Railway we dashed through the narrow Lanes shaded in many places by great overarching trees and the road finally LED across the clear Little Brook made famous by Tennyson’s verse
After crossing the bridge we were in summersby if such an expression is allowable nothing is there except the rectory the church just across the way the Grange and half a a dozen thatched Cottages a discouraging notice in front of the Tennyson house stated positively that the place would not be shown under
Any conditions except on a certain hour of a certain day of the week which was by no means the day nor the hour of our arrival a party of English teachers came towards us having just met with a refusal but one of them said that Americans might have an exception made
In their favor anyway it was worth trying our efforts proved successful and a neat courteous young woman showed us over the rambling house it is quite large and had to be in fact to accommodate the reor family of no fewer than 12 children of whom the poet was
The fourth the oddest feature is the large dining room which has an arched roof and narrow stained glass windows and the ceiling is broken by several Black Oak arches at the base of each of these is a queer little face carved in stone and the mantle is curiously carved
In Black Oak all of this being the work of the Elder Tennison himself there is some dispute as to the poet’s birth room Our Fair guide showed us all the rooms and said we might take our choice we liked the one which opened on the oldfashioned Garden at the rear of the
House for as is often the case in England the garden side was more attractive than the front just across the road stands the tiny Church of which the Reverend Tennison was Rector for many years this was one of the very smallest that we visited and would hardly seek more than 50 people
Altogether it is several hundred years old and in the churchyard is a tall Norman cross as old as the church itself a rare thing it is to find a Burian ground around a church in England quite neglected but the one at Summers be is the exception to the rule the grave of
The poet’s father and brother were overgrown with grass and showed evidences of long neglect we expressed surprise at this and the old woman who kept the key to the church replied with some bitterness that the Tennison were ashamed to own samsbe since they had become great folks anyway it seems that
The poet never visited the place after the family left in 1837 near the church door was a box with a notice stating that the congregation was small and the people poor and asking for contributions to be used in keeping the church in repair The Grange near the
Rector is occupied by The Squire who owns the birthplace it is a weather beaten building of brick and gray stone and perhaps the gray old grain referred to in in memorium altogether summersby is one of the quietest and most Charming of places aside from its connection with
The great poet it would be well worthy of a visit as a bit of rural England scattered about are several great English Elms which were no doubt large trees during the poet’s Boyhood 100 years ago for a long distance our road from summersby to Boston ran on the
Crest of a hill from which we had a far-reaching view over the lovely lincolshire country shortly after we left the hills and found ourselves again in the fen country many miles before we reached Boston we saw the great tower of St bov’s Church in some respects the
Most remarkable in England they give it the inartistic and inappropriate appalation of the stump due to the fact that it rises throughout its height of more than 300 ft without much diminution in size so greatly does this Tower dominate the oldfashioned city that one is in danger of forgetting that there is
Anything else in Boston and though it is a place little frequented by Americans there are few quainter towns in England several hundred years ago it was one of the important sea ports but it lost its position because the river on which it is situated is navigable only by small
Vessels at high tide Boston is of special interest to Americans on account of its great namesake in this country and because it was the point from which the pilgrim fathers made their first attempt to reach America owing to pestilence and shipwreck they were compelled to return and later they
Sailed in the Mayflower on a more successful Voyage from Plymouth we get a pretty good idea of the reasons which led the pilgrim fathers to Brave everything to get away from their Homeland one may still see in the old town hall of Boston the small windowless Stone cells where the fathers were
Confined During the period of persecution against the Puritans evidently they did not lay their sufferings against the town itself or they would hardly have given the name to the one they founded in the new world Boston is full of ancient structures among them shod friers Hall one of the
Most elaborate half- timbered buildings in the Kingdom the hotels are quite in keeping with the dilap pation and un progressiveness of the town and there is no temptation to linger longer than necessary to get an idea of the old Boston and its Traditions the country through which we traveled next day is
Level and apparently productive Fanning land the season had been unusually dry and favorable to the fenland as this section is called the whole country between Boston and Norwich has scarcely a hill and the numerous drains show that it is really a reclaimed Marsh in this section English farming appeared at its
Best the crops raised in England and Scotland consist principally of wheat goats and various kinds of grasses our Indian corn will not ripen and all I saw of it was a few little garden patches the fen country faintly reminds one of Holland lying low and dotted here and
There with huge windmills as a matter of curiosity we visited one of the latter the Miller was a woman and with characteristic English courtesy she made us acquainted with the mysteries of the ancient Mill which was used for grinding Indian corn for cattle feed our route
For the day was a circuitous one as there were numerous points that we wish to visit before coming to Norwich for the night a broad level Road leads from Boston to kingslin a place of considerable size its beginning is lost in Antiquity and a recent French writer
Has undertaken to prove that the first settlement of civilized man in Britain was made at this point we entered the town through one of the gateways which has no doubt been obstructing the main Highway for several hundred years it is a common thing in the English towns to
Find on the Main Street one of the old Gates the opening through which will admit but one vehicle at a time often making it necessary to station a policeman on each side to see that there are no collisions but the gateways have been standing for ages and it would be
Sailed to think of tearing them down to facilitate traffic just outside kingslin we passed Sandringham Palace a spacious modern country house and one of the favorite homes of the royal family a few hours through winding byways brought us to the Village of Burnham Thorp the birthplace of Admiral Nelson it is a
Tiny Hamlet whose mean-looking straggling Cottages with red tiles lack the artistic beauty of the average English Village the picturesque thatched rofs and Brilliant flower Gard Gardens were entirely wanting the Admiral was the son of the village Rector but the parsonage in which he was born was pulled down many years ago still
Standing and kept in good repair is the church where his father preached the Lecter as the pulpit stand in English churches is called was fashioned of Oak taken from Nelson’s Flagship the victory the father is buried in the churchyard and a memorial to Nelson has been
Erected in the church the Tomb of the Admiral is in St Paul’s Cathedral in London from Burnham Thorp on the way to Norwich are the scant ruins of the prior of walsing in its palmy days this was one of the richest in the world and it is said that
It was visited by more pilgrims than was the shrine of Becket at Canterbury in every instance a gift was expected from the visitor and as a consequence the monks fared sumptuously among these pilgrims were many of the nobility and even Kings including Henry VII who after
Visiting the prior as a voter in the early part of his Reign ordered its complete destruction in 1539 this order was evidently carried out for only shattered fragments of the ruins remain to to show how Splendid the buildings must once have been Walsingham is an unusually quaint little village with a
Wonderful ancient Town Pump of prodigious height and a curious church with a tall Spire bent several degrees from the perpendicular near the prioria two Springs styled wishing wells which were believed to have miraculous power the legend being that they sprang into existence at the command of the Virgin
This illustrates one of the queer and not unpleasing features of Motoring in England in almost every out ofthe way Village no matter how remote or small and how seldom visited by tourists when runs across no end of quaint landmarks and historic spots with accompanying incidents and legends 20 mil more
Through a beautiful country brought us in sight of the cathedral Spire of Norwich this city has a population of about 120,000 and there is a unique charm in its blending of the medieval and modern it is a progressive City with large business and Manufacturing interests but
These have not swept away the charm of the oldtime town the cathedral is one of the most imposing in England being mainly of Norman architecture and surmounted by a graceful Spire more than 300 ft in height norch also presents the spectacle of a modern cathedral in
Course of building a thing that we did not see elsewhere in England the Roman Catholic Church is especially strong in this section and under the leadership of the Duke of Norfolk has undertaken to build a structure that will rival in size and Splendor those of the olden
Time no doubt the modern Catholics bear in mind that their ancestors built all the great English churches and Cathedrals and that these were lost to them at the time of the so-called Reformation of Henry VI religious toleration does not Prevail to any such extent in England as in the United
States and there is considerable bitterness between the various sects speaking of new Cathedrals while several are being built by the Roman Catholics only one is under construction by the church of England the first since the days of the Stewarts this is at Liverpool and the foundations have
Barely been begun the design for the cathedral was a competitive one selected from many submitted by the greatest architects in the world the award was made to Gilbert Scott a young man of only 21 and a grandson of the famous architect of the same name who had so
Much to do with the restoration of several of the cathedrals the Liverpool church is to be the greatest in the Kingdom even exceeding yorkminster and St Paul’s in size no attempt is made to fix the time when the building will be completed but the work will undoubtedly occupy several Generations in Norwich we
Stopped at the maid’s head Hotel one of the noted oldtime English hostes it has been in business as a hotel nearly 500 years and Queen Elizabeth was its guest while on one of her visits to the City of Norwich despite its Antiquity it is Thoroughly
Up to date and was one of the most comfortable ins that we found anywhere no doubt this is considerably due to a large modern Edition which has been built along the same lines as the older portion near the cathedral are other ancient structures among which are the two gateways whose ruins still faintly
Indicate their pristine Splendor of carving and intricate design the castle at one time a formidable Fortress has almost disappeared tomland and strangers Hall are the appalachi of two of the finest half- timbered buildings that we saw the newer portions of Norwich indicate a prosperous business town and
It is supplied with an unusually good street car system most of the larger English cities are badly off in this particular York for instance a place of 75,000 has but one street car line 3 or 4 miles in length on which Antiquated horse cars are run at irregular intervals end of chapter
13 chapter 14 of British highways and byways from a motorc car by Thomas Dowler Murphy this LibriVox recording is in the public domain recording by Christine blashford chapter 14 Peterborough fing K Etc the 100 miles of road that we followed from Norwich to Peterborough has hardly the suggestion
Of a hill though some of it is not up to the usual English Standard we paused Midway at darham whose remarkable old church is the only one we saw in England that had the Bell Tower built separate from the main structure though this same plan is followed in Chichester cathedral
In daram church is the grave of cper who spent his last years in the town the entire end of the Nave is occupied by an elaborate Memorial window of stained glass depicting scenes and incidents of the poet’s life and works to the rear of the church is the open Tomb of one of
The Saxon princesses and near it is a tablet reciting how this grave had been desecrated by the monks of Eli who stole the relics and conveyed them to Eli Cathedral numerous Miracles were claimed to have been wrought by the relics of the princess who was famed for her piety
The supposed value of these relics was the cause of the night raid on the tomb a practice not uncommon in the days of Monkish Supremacy the bones of Saint or martyr had to be guarded with Pious care or they were likely to be stolen by the enterprising churchmen of some rival
Establishments shortly afterwards it would transpire that Miracles were being successfully performed by the relics in the hands of the new possessors leaving the main road a detour of a few miles enabled us to visit crowland Abbey shortly before reaching Peter it is a remarkable ruin rising out of the flat
Fen country as someone has said like a lighthouse out of the sea its oddly shaped Tower is visible for miles and one wide arch of the Nave still stands so light and Airy in its gracefulness that it seems hardly possible it is built of heavy blocks of stone a portion
Of the church has been restored and is used for services but a vast deal of work was necessary to arrest the settling of the heavy walls on their insecure foundations the cost of the restoration must have been very great and the people of crowland must have
Something of the spirit of the old Abby Builders themselves to have financed and carried out such a work visitors to the church are given an opportunity to contribute to the fund a common thing in such cases crowland is a gray lonely little town in the midst of the wide Fen
Country the streets were literally thronged with children of all ages no sign of race suicide in this bit of Lincolnshire everywhere is evidence of antiquity there is much far older than the old Abbey in crowland the most notable of all is the queer three-way arched stone bridge in the center of the
Village a remarkable relic of of Saxon times it seems sturdy and solid despite the Thousand or more years that have passed over it and is justly counted one of the most curious antiques in the kingdom it was late when we left crowland and before we had replaced a
Tire casing that as usual collapsed at an inopportune moment the long English Twilight had come to an end the road to Peter however is level and straight as an arrow the right of way was clear and all conditions gave our car opportunity to do its utmost it was about 10:00 when
We reached the excellent Station Hotel in Peter before the Advent of the railroad Peterborough like Wells was merely an ecclesiastical town with little excuse for existence save its cathedral in the last 50 years however the population has increased five-fold and it has become quite an important trading and manufacturing center it is
Situated in the midst of the richest Farm country in England and its annual wool and cattle markets are known throughout the kingdom the town dates from the year 870 when the First Cathedral Minster was built by the order of one of the British Chieftain the presid magn magnificent structure was
Completed in 1237 and so far as appearance is concerned now stands almost as it left the Builder’s hands it is without Tower or Spire of considerable height and somewhat disappointing when viewed from the exterior the interior is most imposing and the great church is rich in historical associations here is buried
Katherine of aragan the first queen of Henry VII and the body of the unfortunate Queen of Scots was brought here after her execution at fing King James I when he came to the throne removed his mother’s remains to Westminster Abbey where they now rest strangely enough the Builders of the
Cathedral did not take into consideration the yielding nature of the soil on which they reared the vast structure and as a consequence a few years ago the central tower of the building began to give way and cracks appeared in the vaulting and walls something had to be done at once and at
The cost of more than half a million dollars the tower was taken down from top to Foundation every stone being carefully marked to indicate its exact place in the walls the foundations were carried 11 ft deeper until they rested upon Solid Rock and then each Stone was replaced in its original position
Restoration is so perfect that the ordinary Beholder would never know the tower had been touched this incident gives an idea of how the cathedrals are now cared for and at what cost they are restored after ages of neglect and destruction Peter bro was stripped of most of its images and carvings by
Cromwell soldiers and its windows are modern and inferior our attention was attracted to three or four windows that looked much like the crazy quilt work that used to be in fashion we were informed that these were made of fragments of glass that had been discovered and patched together without
Any effort at design merely to preserve them and to show the rich tones and colorings of the original Windows the most individual feature of Peter BR is the three great arches on the west or entrance front these rise nearly 2/3 the height of the frontage and it is almost
100 ft from the ground to the top of the pointed arches the market square of Peter bro was one of the largest we had seen another evidence of the Agricultural importance of the Town aside from the cathedral there is not much of interest but if one could linger
There is much worth seeing in the surrounding country the village of fing ha is only 9 mies to the West The Melancholy connection of this little Hamlet with the Queen of Scots brings many visitors to it every year although there are few relics of Mary and her lengthy imprisonment now remaining here
We came the next morning after a short time on winding and rather hilly byways it is an unimportant looking place this sleepy little village where 300 years ago Mary fell a victim to the machinations of her rival Elizabeth the most notable building now standing is the quaint Inn where the judges of the
Unfortunate Queen made their headquarters during her farsal trial of the gloomy castle where the fair prisoner languished for 19 long years nothing remains except a shapeless mass of grass-covered stone and traces of the oldtime moat much of the stone was built into cottages of the surrounding country
And in some of the Mansions of the neighborhood may be found portions of the windows and a few of the ancient mantle pieces the Great Oak staircase which Mary descended on the day of her execution is built into an old in at alall not far away thus the great
Fortress was scattered to the Four Winds but there is something more enduring than stone and mortar its memories linger and will remain so long as the story of English History is told King James by the destruction of the castle endeavored to show fitting respect to the memory of his mother and no doubt
Hoped to wipe out the recollection of his friendly relations with Queen Elizabeth after she had caused the death of Mary the school children of fathering hay seemed quite familiar with its history and on the lookout for strangers who came to the place two or three of them quickly volunteered to conduct us
To the site of the castle there was nothing to see after we got there but our small guides were thankful for the fee which they no doubt had in mind from the first mournful and desolate indeed seemed the straggling little village where three centuries ago a thousand
Witcheries lay Fel at one stroke one of the crul and most pitiful of the numberless tragedies which disfigure the history of England from fing hay we returned to the York Road and followed it northward for about 20 miles we passed through walls Thorp an unattractive little town whose
Distinction is that it was the birthplace of Sir Isaac Newton the thatched roof Farmhouse where he was born is still standing on the outskirts of The Village at Grandam a little further on we stopped for lunch at the Royal and Angel hotel one of the most Charming of the old timein like nearly
All of these old hos re it has its tradition of a royal guest having offered shelter to King Charles I when on his endless wanderings during the Parliamentary Wars it is a delightful old building overgrown with IV and its Diamond pained Lattis Windows set in walls of time worn stone g evidence to
Its claims to Antiquity we had paused in Grantham on our way to Belvoir Castle about 6 mil away the seat of the Duke of Rutland this is one of the finest as well as most strikingly situated of the great baronial residences in England standing on a gently Rising Hill its
Many towers and battlements looking over the forest surrounding it this vast pile more nearly fulfilled our ideas of feudal magnificence than any other we saw it is famous for its picture gallery which contains many Priceless Originals by Gainesboro Reynolds and others it has always been open to visitors every
Weekday but it chanced at the time that the Old Duke was dangerously ill so ill in fact that his death occurred a little later on and visitors were not admitted we were able to take the car through the Great Park which affords a splendid view of the exterior of the castle nearby is
The village of Botsford whose remarkable church has been the burial place of the maners family for 500 years and contains some of the most complete Monumental effigies in England these escaped the Wrath of the cromwellian for the Earl of maners was an adherent of the protector in the Market Square at Botsford stand
The old whipping post and stocks curious relics of the days when these instruments were a common means of satisfying Justice or what was then considered Justice they were made of solid oak Timbers and had withstood the Sun and Rain of two or 300 years without showing much sign of Decay although the
Whipping post and stocks used to be common things in English towns we saw them preserved only at Botsford on leaving Botsford our car dashed through the clear waters of a little river which runs through through the town and which no doubt gave it the name we found several instances where no attempt had
Been made to bridge the streams which were still forwarded as in primitive times in a short time we reached Newark where we planned to stop for the night but it turned out otherwise we paused at the hotel which the guide book honored with the distinction of being the best
In the town and a courteous policeman of whom we inquired confirmed the statement we were offered our choice of several dingy rooms but a glance at the time worn furnishings and unattractive beds convinced us that if this were newark’s best hotel we did not care to spend the
Night in Newar to the profound disgust of the land lady nearly all hotels in England are managed by women we took our car from the garage and sought more congenial quarters leaving I fear anything but a pleasant impression behind us we paused a few minutes at the
Castle which is the principal object of antiquity in Newark it often figured in early history King JN died here the best thing he ever did and it sustained many sieges until it was finally destroyed by the parliamentarians pretty effectively destroyed for there is little remaining except the walls fronting immediately on
The river though it was quite late we decided to go on to Nottingham about 20 mi further where we could be sure of good accommodation it seemed easy to reach the city before dark but one can hardly travel on schedule with a motorc car at least so long as pneumatic tires
Are used an obstinate case of tire trouble just as we got outside of Newar meant a delay of an hour or more and it was after Sunset before we were again started on our journey there is a Cathedral at southwell and as we permitted no Cathedral to escape us we
Paused there for a short time it is a great country Church of very unusual architecture elevated to the head of a dicese in 1888 the town of southwell is a retired place of evident Antiquity and will be remembered as having been the home of Lord Byron and his mother for
Some time during his youth the route which we followed to Nottingham was well off the main Highway a succession of sharp turns and steep little Hills that made us take rather long chances in our flight around some of the corners but luckily the way was clear and we came
Into Nottingham without mishap though it became so dark that we were forced to light our lamps a thing that was necessary only two or three times during our Summer’s tour our route south from Nottingham was over a splendid and nearly level road that passes through Leicester one of the most up-to-date
Business towns in the Kingdom I do not remember any place outside of London where streets were more congested with all kinds of traffic the town is of great Antiquity but its landmarks have been largely wiped out by the modern progress it has made we did not pause
Here but directed our way to lutterworth a few miles further where the great reformer John wickliff made his home the famous Theologian who translated the Bible into English and printed it 200 years before the time of Martin Luther this act together with his Fearless preaching brought him into great
Disfavor with the church but owing to the protection of Edward III who was especially friendly to him he was able to complete his work in spite of fierce opposition strangely enough considering the spirit of his time Wickliffe withstood the efforts of his enemies lived to a good old age and died a
Natural death 20 years afterward the Roman church again came into power and the remains of the reformer were exed and burned in the Public Square of lutterworth to still further cover his memory with a blowy the ashes were thrown into the clear still Little River that we crossed on leaving the town but
His enemies found it too late to overthrow the work he had begun his church A Large massive building with a great Square top Tower stands today much as it did when he used to occupy the pulpit which is the identical one from which he preached a base relief in White
Marble by the American sculptor Story commemorating the work of Wickliffe has been placed in the church at a cost of more than $10,000 and just outside a tall Granite Obelisk has been erected in his honor in cleaning the walls recently it was discovered that under several coats of paint there were some
Remarkable frescos which being slowly uncovered were found to represent scenes in the life of the great preacher himself leaving lutterworth we plann to reach Cambridge for the night on the way we passed through Northampton a city of 100,000 and a manufacturing place of importance it is known in history as
Having been the seat of parliament in the earlier days a detour of a few few miles from the main road leaving Northampton brought us to olne which for 20 years was the home of William cper his house is still standing and has been turned into a museum of relics of the
Poet such as rare editions of his books and original manuscripts the town is a quiet sleepy looking Place situated among the buckinghamshire hills it is still known as a literary Center and a number of more or less noted English authors live there at the present time
Bedford only a few miles further on the Cambridge Road was one of the best appearing English towns of the size we had seen anywhere with handsome residences and fine business buildings it is more on the plan of American towns for its buildings are not ranged along a
Single Street as is the rule in England it is best known from its connection with the immortal dreamer John bunan whose memory it now Delights to honor far different was it in his lifetime for he was confined for many years in Bedford jail and it was during this
Imprisonment that he wrote his Pilgrim’s Progress at ELO a mile from Bedford we saw his Cottage a mean-looking little Hut with only two rooms the tenants were glad to to admit visitors as probable customers for postcards and photographs the bare monotony of the place was relieved not a little by the flowers
Which crowded closely around it Cambridge is about 20 mi from Bedford and we did not reach it until after dark it was weekend holiday and we found the Main Street packed with pedestrians through whom we had to carefully thread our way for a considerable distance before we came to the university arms we
Found this hotel one of the most comfortable and Best Kept of those whose Hospitality we enjoyed during our tour Cambridge is distinctly a University Town one who has visited Oxford and gone the rounds will hardly care to make a like tour of Cambridge unless he is especially interested in English College
Affairs it does not equal Oxford either in importance of colleges or number of students it is a beautiful place lying on a river with long stretches of Still Water where the students practice rowing and where the famous boat races are held Cambridge is rich in Traditions as any
University might be that numbered Oliver Cromwell among its students its present atmosphere and influences as well as those of Oxford a vast ly different from those of the average American School of similar rank nor do I think that the Practical results attained are comparable to those of our own colleges
The road scholarship so eagerly sought after in America is not in my estimation of the value that many are inclined to put upon it aside from the fact that cast relegates the winners almost to the level of Charity students and they told us in Oxford that this is literally true
It seems to me that the most serious result may be that the student is likely to get out of touch with American institutions and American ways of doing things end of chapter 14 chapter 15 of British highways and byways from a Motorcar by Thomas dler Murphy this LibriVox recording is in the
Public domain recording by Christine blashford chapter 15 The Cromwell country Colchester a distinguished Observer Professor Goldwin Smith expressed it forcibly when he said that the Epitaph of nearly every ruined Castle in in Britain might be written destroyed by Cromwell it takes a tour such as ours to gain something of a
Correct conception of the gigantic figure of Oliver Cromwell in English History the magnitude and the far-reaching results of his work are coming to be more and more appreciated by the English people for a time he was considered a traitor and a regicide but with increasing Enlightenment and Toleration his real work for human
Liberty is being recognized by the great majority of his countrymen it was only as far back as 1890 that Parliament voted down a proposition to place a stat stat of Cromwell on the grounds of the House of Commons but two years later sentiment had Advanced so much that
Justice was done to the memory of the great protector and a colossal bronze figure was authorized and directed I know of no more impressive site in all England than this great statue standing in solitary Grandeur near the houses of Parliament representing Cromwell with sword and Bible and with an enormous
Lion crouching At His Feet it divides honor with no other monument in its vicinity and it seems to stand as a warning to kingcraft that it must observe well-defined limitations if it continues in Britain I saw several other statues of Cromwell notably at Manchester Warrington and at stives an
Incident illustrating the sentiment with which The Protector is now regarded by the common people came under my own observation with a number of other sightseers we were visiting war castle and were being shown some of the portraits and Relics relating to Cromwell when the question was raised by
Someone in the party as to his position in English History a young fellow apparently an aspirant for church honors expressed the opinion that Cromwell was a tra and the murderer of his King he was promptly taken to task by the old soldier who was acting as our guide
Through the castle he said sir I cannot agree with you I think we are all better off today that there was such a man as Cromwell that appears to be the general sentiment of the people of Great Britain and the feeling is rapidly growing that he was distinctly the defender of the
People’s rights true he destroyed many of the historic castles but such destruction was a military necessity these fortresses almost without exception were held by supporters of King Charles who used them as BAS pieces of operation against the Parliamentary Army if not destroyed when captured they were reoccupied by the royalists and the
Work had to be done over again therefore Cromwell wisely dismantled the strongholds when they came into his possession and generally he did his work so well that restoration was not possible even after the royalists regained power the few Splendid examples which escaped his wrath notably war castle fortunately happened at the time
To be in possession of adherence of parliament the damage Cromwell inflicted upon the churches was usually limited to destruction of stone images tombs and altars as savoring of idolatry this Spirit even extended to the destruction of Priceless stained glass windows the loss of which we cannot too greatly
Deplore especially since the very art of making this beautiful glass seems to be a lost one at Cambridge we were within easy reach of the scenes of the protector’s early life he was born in 1599 at Huntington 16 mil distant and was 20 years a citizen of centives only
A few miles away he was a student at Cambridge and for several years was a farmer near Eli being a tenant on the cathedral lands as Eli is only 15 Mi north of Cambridge it occurred to us to attend services at the Cathedral there on Sunday morning we followed a splendid
Road leading through a beautiful country rich with fields of grain almost ready for Harvest the cathedral is one of the largest and most remarkable in England being altogether different in architecture from any other in the Kingdom instead of a Spire it has a huge carcerated octagonal Tower and while it
Was several hundred years in building a harmonious design with was maintained throughout although it exhibits in some degree almost every style of church architecture known in England Eli is an inconsequential town of about 7,000 inhabitants and dominated from every point of view by the huge bulk of the
Cathedral only a portion of the space inside the vast building was occupied by seats and though the great church would hold many thousands of people if filled to its capacity the congregation was below the average that might be found in the leading churches of an American town
The size of Eli one of the cathedral officials with whom I had a short talk said that the congregations averaged small indeed and were growing smaller right along the outlook for Eli he did not consider good a movement being on foot to cut another dicese from the territory and to make a cathedral
Probably of the great church at Barry St Edmunds in recent years this policy of creating new dicese has been in considerable Vogue in England and of course is distasteful to the sections immediately affected the services in Eli Cathedral were simpler than usual and were through well before noon before
Returning to Cambridge we visited stives and Huntington both of which were closely associated with the life of Cromwell the former is a place of considerable Antiquity although the present Town may be said to date from 1689 at which time it was rebuilt after being totally destroyed by fire one
Building escaped a quaint Stone structure erected in the center of the stone bridge crossing the river us and supposed to have been used as a chapel by the early monks cromwell’s connection with st IES began in 1628 after he had been elected to Parliament he moved here
After the dissolution of that body and spent several years as a farmer the house which he occupied has disappeared and few relics remain of his residence in the town in the Market Square is a bronze statue of the protector with an inscription to the effect that he was a
Citizen of St Ives for several years a few miles further on is Huntington his birthplace it is a considerably larger town but none of the buildings now standing has any connection with the life of the protector doubtless the citizens of Huntington now recognized that the manor house where Cromwell was
Born which was pulled down 100 years ago would be a valuable asset to the town work it’s still standing from Huntington we returned to Cambridge having completed a circular tour of about 60 miles we still had plenty of time to drive about Cambridge and to view from the outside the colleges and other
Places of interest the streets are laid out in an irregular Manner and although it is not a large city Only 40,000 we had considerable difficulty in finding our way back to the hotel the university arms is situated on the edge of a large common called the field here in the
Evening were several open air religious Services one of these was conducted by the wans or methodists with a large crowd at the beginning but a Salvation Army with several band instruments soon attracted the greater portion of the crowd we found these Open Air Services held in many towns through England and
Scotland they were always conducted by dissenting churches the Church of England would consider such a proceeding as too undignified we wished to get an early start from Cambridge next morning hoping to reach London that night and accordingly made arrangements with the head waiter for an early breakfast we
Told him we should probably want it at 7:30 and he looked at us in an incredulous manner I repeated the hour thinking he did not understand but he said he thought at first we were surely joking however he would Endeavor to accommodate us if we would leave our
Order that evening he thought he could arrange it at the time desired but we could easily see that it was going to upset the traditions of the stayed hotel for the breakfast hour is never earlier than 9:00 however we had breakfast at 7:30 and found one other guest in the
Room undoubtedly an American he requested a newspaper and was informed that the morning papers were not received at the hotel and until halfast 10:00 although Cambridge is just 50 mi from London or about an hour by train the Curiosity which the average American manifests to know what happened on the
Day previous is almost wanting in the stayed and less excitable britisher we were away from Cambridge by 9:00 and soon found ourselves in a country quite different in appearance from any we had yet passed through our route LED through Essex to Colchester on the coast we passed through several ancient towns the
First of them being hav Hill which contributed a goodly number of the pilgrim fathers and gave its name to the town of havill in Massachusetts it is an old straggling place that seems to be little in harmony with the progress of the 20th century our route on leaving
Havill LED through narrow byways which wind among the hills with turns so sharp that a close Lookout had to be maintained we paused at Hingham where there is a great church and a partly ruined Norman Castle the town is made up largely of cottages with thatched roofs surrounded by the bright English flower
Gardens it was typical of several other places which we passed on our way I think that in no se of England did we find a greater number of picturesque churches than in Essex and a collection of photographs of these which was secured at Earl’s col we priz very
Highly Colchester is an interesting Town deserving of much longer time than we were able to stay it derived its name from King Cole the merry old soul of the familiar nursery rhyme it is one of the oldest towns in England and was of great importance in Roman times one of the
Largest collections of Roman relics in Britain is to be found in the Museum of the castle there are hundreds of specimens of coin pottery jewry statuary Etc all of which were found in excavations within the city the castle is one of the gloomiest and rudest in the kingdom and was largely built of
Roman bricks it is quadrangular in shape with high walls from 20 to 30 ft thick surrounding a small Court about 100 years ago it was sold to a contractor who planned to tear it down for the material but after half completing his task he gave it up leaving enough of the
Old fortress to give a good idea of what it was like the Grim old ruin has many dark traditions of the times when man inh Humanity to man was the rule rather than the exception even the mild non-resistant Quaker could not escape the bitterest persecution and in one of
The dungeons of Colchester Castle young George Fox was immured and suffered death from neglect and starvation this especially attracted our attention since the story had been pathetically told by the speaker at the Sunday afternoon meeting which we attended at Jordan’s and which I refer to in the following
Chapter while there is a certain feeling of melancholy that possesses one when he wanders through these mouldering ruins yet he often cannot help thinking that they deserve their fate Colchester suffered terribly in parliamentary Wars and only surrendered to Cromwell after sustaining a 76 day Siege many traces of
Which may still be seen there are two or three ancient churches dating from Saxon times which exhibit some remarkable specimens of Saxon architecture parts of Colchester appeared quite modern and up to- date the streets being beautifully kept and there were many handsome residences altogether there is a strange
Combination of the very old and the modern in Colchester we left this Highway at Chelmsford to visit the greenstead church near chipping Ona about 22 mi from London this is one of the most curious churches in all England it is a diminutive building half hidden amidst the profusion of foliage and
Would hardly attract attention unless one had learned of its unique construction and remarkable history it is said to be the only church in England which is built with wooden walls these being made from the trunks of large oak trees split down the center and roughly sharpened at each end they are raised
From the ground by a low brick foundation and inside the spaces between the trunks are covered with pieces of wood the rough timber frame of the roof is fastened with wooden pins the interior of the building is quite dark there being no windows in the wooden
Walls and the light comes in from a dormer window in the roof this church was built in the year 1010 to Mark the resting place of St Edmund the Marr whose remains were being carried from Berry to London the town of anger nearby once had an extensive castle of which
Little remains and in the chancel of the church is the grave of Oliver cromwell’s favorite daughter a house in high Street was for some time the residence of David Livingstone the great African Explorer from chipping Ona we followed for the third time the delightful Road leading to London passing through the village of
Chigwell of which I have spoken at length Elsewhere on coming into London we found the streets in a condition of chaos owing to repairs in the pavement the direct Road was quite impossible and we were compelled to get into the city through by streets not an easy task in
London the streets do not run parallel as in many of our American cities no end of inquiry was necessary to get over the 10 miles after we were in the city before we reached our hotel it was not very convenient to make inquiries either when driving in streets crowded to the
Limit where our car could not halt for an instant without stopping the entire procession we would often get into a pocket behind a slow moving truck or street car and be compelled to crawl along for several blocks at the slowest speed it was just Sunset when we stopped
In front of the hotel Russell we had been absent on our tour 6 weeks to a day and our odometer registered exactly 3,70 Mi as there were were five or six days of the time that we did not travel we had averaged about 600 mil a week during
The tour the weather had been unusually fine for England we had perhaps half a dozen rainy days but only once did it rain heavily we had now traveled a total of 4,100 mil and had visited the main points of interest in the Kingdom excepting those in the country south of
The city where we planned a short tour before sailing we remained in London a week before starting on this trip but during that time I did not take the car out of the garage I had come to the conclusion that outside of Sundays and holidays the nervous strain of
Attempting to drive an automobile in the Streets of London was such as to make the effort not worthwhile end of chapter 15 chapter 16 of British highways and byways from a Motorcar by Thomas dler Murphy this LibriVox recording is in the public domain recording by Christine blashford chapter 16 the haunts of
Milton and Penn leaving London by the har Road in course of an hour we came to the famous college town which lies about 15 Mi north of the city it is known chiefly for its boy school which was founded early in the reign of Queen Elizabeth and at which many great
Englishmen received their Early Education the school is situated on the top of a hill one of the most commanding positions in the vicinity of London and on the very Summit is the Norman Church the view from this churchyard is one of the finest in England for many miles the
Fertile Valley of the temps spreads out like a great Park exhibiting the most pleasing characteristics of an English landscape on one side The Descent is almost precipitous and at the edge in the churchyard stands a gigantic Elm now in the late stages of Decay which still
Bears the so briet of Byron’s Elm it is said that Byron during his days at Harrow would sit here for hours at a time and contemplate the beautiful scene which spread out before him a descendant of one of the poet’s friends has placed near the spot a brass tablet inscribed
With the somewhat stilted lines on a distant view from harro churchyard spot of my youth whose Hy branches sigh swept by the breeze that fans the cloudless sky oh as I trace again thy winding Hill Mine eyes admire my heart Ador thee still thou drooping Elm beneath whose
Bows I lay and frequent Muse the Twilight hours away how do thy branches moaning to the blast invite this bosom to recall the past and seem to whisper as they gently swell take while thou canst a lingering Last Farewell we reached Harrow too late to attend church as we had hoped the
Morning service is just closing as we entered the churchyard we saw everywhere numbers of students in Sunday Garb and an odd appearance these boys are from 15 to 18 presented in a costume very nearly the counterpart of an ordinary dress suit usually set off by a high silk hat
Harrow is associated with the names of many men who attained high rank in English History and literature some of whom strove in their Boyhood days to anticipate immortality by carving their names on the wooden desks among these may still be seen the rudely cut letter of the names of Byron Sheridan and Peele
The town which slopes away from the top of the hill has an up-to-date appearance and is a favorite place for Suburban residences of wealthy londoners the road leading down the hill from the church turned sharply out of view and just as we were beginning The Descent a gentleman hastened to us and cautioned
Us not to undertake it he said that numerous Motors had been wrecked in the attempt we went down by roundabout way but when we came to pass the hill at its foot we found it was not nearly so steep as some we had already passed over
2 or 3 hours over narrow and generally bad roads for England brought us to the Village of chalant St Giles where John Milton made his residence while writing Paradise Lost it is a retired little place mere Lanes leading into it the shriek of the railroad train does not
Disturb its quietude the nearest station being several miles away the village doubtless appears much as it did in Milton’s time 300 years ago and the cottage which he occupied stands practically unaltered a notice posted outside stated that the cottage would not be shown on Sunday but such announcements had little terror for us
By this time and we found no difficulty in gaining admittance to the quaint little building it is in the Elizabethan Style with half timber frame and sagging tile roof the windows have small diamond shaped panes of leaded glass set in rude iron frames and open on a typical English flower garden the villagers
Purchased the cottage by public subscription and its preservation is thus fortunately ensured the tenant acts as caretaker and apparently takes pride in keeping the place in order the poet’s room directly on the right when entering is rather dark and has a low beamed ceiling there is a wide fireplace with
The oldtime appliances accompanying it and one can imagine the blind poet sitting by his Fireside on winter days or enjoying the sweetness that in summertime came through the antique windows from the flower garden here he dictated Paradise Lost to his daughter who acted as his secretary one cannot help contrasting the unsurpassed majesty
And dignity of the great poem with the humble and even rude surroundings of the cottage Milton came here in 1665 to escape the plague which was then devastating London his eldest daughter was at that time about 17 years of age and there is reason to believe that she
Was with him during his stay in St Giles we were delighted with the place for we had seen little else more typical of oldtime England than this cottage which would have been worth seeing aside from its connection with the great epic poet in front was the garden a blaze of
Bright colors and the walls were half hidden by climbing rose vines in full bloom for the roses in England stay much later in the summer than they do with us the entrance to the cottage fronts on the garden there is no door next the street the great chimney built on the
Outside leaving no room for one we were now in the vicinity where William Penn was born and where he lies buried we had some trouble in finding Jordans the little Meeting House near which is the grave of the Quaker philanthropist many of the people of whom we inquired did
Not know of its existence and after considerable wandering through the byways we learned that we were within a mile of the place for this distance we followed a Shady Lane overarched by trees and so ill kept that it was about as rough motoring as one will find in
England directly at the foot of a steep hill We Came Upon the meeting house nestling in a wooded Valley it had in its plain Simplicity the appearance of an ordinary Cottage with the quak is there in no such thing as a church for they prefer to call their places of
Worship simply meeting houses we were surprised to find a number of people about the chapel and soon learned that we had the Good Fortune to arrive on one of the meeting days these meetings had for years been held annually but during the present summer they were being held
Once a month as the friends are not numerous in this vicinity many of the congregation had come from long distances some from London we learned this in conversation with a sweet-faced quiet mannered lady who had all the Quaker characteristics she said that she and her husband had come from London
That day most of the way on their cycles that they had been in Philadelphia and knew something of America she presented us to a benevolent looking white-bearded man who afterwards proved to be the leader of the meeting simply saying our friends are from Iowa the Old Gentleman
Pressed us to remember M as the meeting would begin immediately and we were delighted to acques there were about 40 people gathered in the little room which was not more than 15 by 20 ft in size and supplied with the plainest straight backed benches imaginable it was a
Genuine Quaker Meeting for perhaps half an hour the congregation sat in perfect silence and finally the Old Gentleman who acted as leader arose and explained largely for our benefit I think as we were the only strangers present that this was the Quaker method of worship unless a member of the congregation felt
He had something really worth saying he waited to speak only as the spirit moved him I could not help thinking that I had been in many meetings where if this rule had been followed everybody would have been better off however in the course of a few minutes he arose again and began
His talk we had attended many services in England at noted churches and Cathedrals but for genuine Christianity true brotherly love and real inspiration I think the half-hour Talk of the old Quaker was worth them all we agreed that it was one of our most fortunate experiences in the churchyard we stood
Before before the grave of William Penn marked by the plainest kind of a small headstone and identical with the few others beside it we expressed Wonder at this but the lady with whom we had previously talked explained that it would be in harmonious with the Quaker
Idea to erect a splendid Monument to any man for many years the graves had not been marked at all but finally it was decided that it would not be inappropriate to put up plain headstones all of the same style to let visitors know where the great Quaker and his
Family rest and very simple worthy inscriptions chiseled upon the stones all around the meeting house is a forest of great trees and no other building is in the immediate vicinity one might almost have imagined himself at a Quaker service in pioner times in America when the meeting houses were really as remote
And secluded as this one seemed rather than within 20 miles of the world’s Metropolis in a country teeming with towns and Villages it was about 3:00 when we left Jordans with the view of reaching Oxford still a good many miles away by Nightfall in this vicinity are the Burnham beaches made known almost
Everywhere by the camera and the brush of the artist a byway runs directly among the Magnificent trees which we found as imposing as the pictures had represented sprawling old trees many feet in circumference but none of a very great height nearby is Stoke Po’s Church whose memory is kept Alive by the elegy
Of the poet gray it is one of the best known of the English country churches and is visited annually by thousands of people the poet and his relatives are buried in the churchyard and the u tree under which he is said to have meditated upon the theme of The Immortal poem is
Still standing green and thriving the church half covered by Ivy and standing against a background of fine trees presents a beautiful picture in the immediate neighborhood a monument has been raised in memory of gray a huge bulk of stone of inartistic and unpleasing design the most appropriate
Monument of the poet is the church itself with its u tree which is now known wherever the English language is spoken 2 or 3 miles further on is Windsor with its Castle the principal residence of royalty and Eaton College its well-known school for boys this school is more exclusive and better
Patronized than Harrow and I was told that it is quite a difficult problem for the average youth to enter at all the sons of the nobility and members of the royal family are given the preference and expenses are so high as to shut out all but the wealthy Windsor Castle is
The most imposing of its kind in the world it is situated on the temps River about 20 mi from London crowning a gently Rising Hill its massive towers and battlements afford a picturesque view from almost anywhere in the surrounding country and especially from points ADV Vantage in the park where one
Can catch glimpses of the Fortress through some of the Avenues of magnificent trees on a clear day when the towers of the castle are sharply outlined against the sky and surmounted by the brightly colored Royal standards one might easily imagine himself back in The Good Old Days of Night errantry
Windsor is shown to visitors at any time when the royal family is not in Residence Queen Victoria and Albert the prince consort are buried in Frogmore park nearby but the tombs are sacredly guarded from the public the grounds surrounding the castle are laid out in flower gardens and parks and the forest
Of more than 7,000 acres is the finest in England it is one of the royal preserves where the king occasionally goes hunting but it really serves more the purpose of a great public park there are many Splendid drives through the forest open to everybody the main one leading straight away from the castle
Gates for about 4 miles and terminating at an equestrian statue of George iiii of more or less happy memory it is almost straight and without Hills of consequence it is a favorite route for motorists and at several points were stationed bicycle couriers of the motor Union to give warning for police traps
These guards patrolled the road and carried circular badges red on one side and white on the other if the white side were shown to the passing motorist the road ahead was clear but the red was a caution for moderate speed for several miles this system which we found in
Operation in many places is the means of saving motor drivers from numerous fines the bicycle career receives a fee very thankfully and no doubt this constitutes his chief source of revenue for service rendered about 10 mi from Ox we passed through Henley ons famed for the University rowing matches here the river
Lies in Broad still stretches that afford an ideal place for the contests The temps is navigable for small steamboats and house boats from London to Oxford a distance of 60 Mi and the shores of the stream throughout afford scenes of surpassing beauty just at Sunset the towers of Oxford loomed in
The distance and it was easy to recognize that of magdalin college which Rises to a height of 200 ft though Oxford is one of the older of the English towns parts of it seemed as up to- dat as any we had seen and the Randolph Hotel compared favorably with
The best we found anywhere the time which a tourist will devote to Oxford will depend upon his point of view to visit the 44 colleges in detail and to give any time to each would manifestly require several days if not weeks and especially would this be true if one
Were interested to any extent in student life in the University manifestly people touring England in a motorc car do not belong to the class described in order to get the most out of the trip there is a constant necessity for moving on by an economical use of time one may gain a
Fair idea of Oxford in a few hours this was what we had done on a previous trip and consequently we spent little time in the city on our second visit merely remaining overnight I think the method we pursued would be the most practical for anyone who desires to reach the most
Interesting points of the town in the shortest time we engaged an experienced hack driver who combined with his vocation the qualities of a well-informed guide as well we told him of our limited time and asked him to make the most of it by taking us about the universities stopping at such as
Would give us the best idea of the schools and of university life he did this to our satisfaction and as we passed the various institutions his comments gave us a general idea of each he stopped at some of the more noted colleges where we often found guides who
Conducted us about the buildings and grounds perhaps Magdalene college is as interesting as any its fine quadrangular Tower is one of the landmarks of the city and they will tell you of the quaint custom that has prevailed for many centuries of celebrating Mayday morning with music from the top of the
Tower by a choir of boys Magdalene has its Park and Gardens And Addison’s walk a pathway extending for considerable distance between an Avenue of fine trees beside a clear Little River is reputed to have been a haunt of the great essayist when a student at the University next to Magdalene the most
Celebrated colleges are new College Christ Church and meron at the first of these cesil rhods was a student and the great promoter must have had a warm feeling for the University since his bequest has thrown open the various colleges more than 100 students from all parts of the world but principally from
The United States practically all of the students have their quarters in connection with the colleges and meals are served in public dining rooms aside from its colleges there is much else of interest in and about Oxford the castle of which there are scant remains is one
Of the very oldest in England and has a varied and often stirring history during the Parliamentary War Oxford was one of the strongholds of the king and underwent many sieges from cromwell’s army which was responsible for the final destruction of the castle as a seat of
Learning the town dates from the time of Alfred who was born at wage only 20 miles away naturally Oxford was always prominent in ecclesiastical Affairs and during the reign of Mary the three Bishops of the English church suffered martyrdom there in one of the public places of the city stands a tall Gothic
Monument commemorating the services of these men and incidentally putting severe strictures on the errors of the Roman Church the language in which this latter Clause is stated caused a storm of protest when the monument was erected but it had no more effect than did the protest against the Ironclad
Anti-catholic coronation oath of the king the bodan library located in Oxford is the greatest in England with the exception of the library of the British museum end of chapter 16 chapter 17 of British highways and byways from a Motorcar by Thomas dler Murphy this LibriVox recording is in the
Public domain recording by Christine blashford chapter 17 a chapter of divers places and experiences 10 miles north of Oxford is Woodstock near which is blenham Palace the seat of The Dukes of malor this Great Estate and imposing Mansion was presented by Act of parliament to the first Duke of malur in recognition of
The victory which he won over the French at blenham the architect who prepared the plans for the great structure was the famous s John vanra who was so noted for the generally lwh heavy effect of his Creations while he was still alive a witch proposed a satirical Epitaph in
The coulet LIE heavy on him Earth for he laid many a heavy load on thee so enormous was the cost of the palace and the estate that the half million pound sterling voted by Parliament was not sufficient and more than £60,000 of the great juke’s private Fortune went into
It as well in his fondness for state and display he was quite the opposite of the other great national hero the Duke of Wellington who was satisfied with the greatest Simplicity and preferred cash to expensive palaces and great States as a consequence the Dukes of malur have been land poor for several generations
And until recently blenn and Palace seemed in a fair way to be added to the already long list of ruins in Britain something has lately been done in the way of repair and restoration but there are many evidences of Decay still apparent Blen and Palace has been shown
Of many of its Treasures among them the great Sunderland Library of 80,000 volumes sold at auction some years ago many valuable objects of art still remain especially family portraits by nearly every great artist from gainsboro to Sergeant and there is much fine statuary the tapestries in the state rooms illustrating the achievements of
The first juk are especially remarkable and were made in Belgium under his directions but from the English Viewpoint no doubt the original documents pertaining to the Duke are most notable among these is the modest note which he addressed to Queen Anne from blenham announcing his famous
Victory the park is one of the largest in England but it showed many evidences of neglect and slovenly care some of the worst looking cattle I saw in England obstructed the ornamental stone bridge that crosses the stream flowing into a large artificial Lake within the park the driveways were not kept in the
Perfect manner that is characteristic of the English private park despite these evidences of neglect the beauty of the place was little impaired there are some of the finest oak trees in England and down by the lake are groups of magnificent Cedars through whose branches the bright water shimmered in
The sunshine as we circled about the park the distant views of the palace well bore out its reputation of being one of the stateliest private homes in the Kingdom our guide pointed out the spot where once stood the manor house of Woodstock torn down about a hundred years ago in this house princess
Elizabeth was held a prisoner for a Time by her sister Queen Mary but it is best known from the story of Walter Scott who located here the principal scenes of Woodstock the town of Woodstock has a long line of traditions but shows little evidence of modern progress it is a
Quiet oldw World little place with clean streets and many fine trees tradition asserts that that the father of English poetry Jeffrey chorer was born here and the old house alleged to be his birthplace still stands in Park Street however the poet himself declares that London was his native City and the
Confiding tourist is left with the necessity of balancing the poet’s own assertion on this important Point against that of the Woodstock guide books in any event cha certainly lived in Woodstock very likely in the house assigned to him today the town was also a residence of the Saxon Kings and here
Are many Legends of Henry II and Fair rosand perhaps its most distinguished resident however was Oliver Cromwell who put up at an inn now a private house while his army battered down the old Palace as described by Scott we returned from Woodstock to Oxford and from there directed our course to wage the
Birthplace of King Alfred the Great and I might incidentally remark at that time the residents of a well-known expatriated New York City politician this latter distinction did not occur to us until after we had left the town and therefore we failed to make inquiries as to how this gentleman was regarded by
His fellow citizens of Oxfordshire in this connection soon afterwards I saw an amusing report in the newspapers stating that a Lial suit had been brought against a British magazine for having published an article in which the ex- boss was spoken of in an uncomplimentary manner the report stated that the case
Had been settled the magazine editor paying the legal costs and retracting what he had said as well as publishing an apology for the attack here we have an example of the British idea of the sacredness of private character this politician while in America was almost daily Accused by the newspapers of every
Crime in the calendar and never thought it worthwhile to enter a denial no sooner is he fairly established in England than he brings suit against a magazine whose charges appear to have been of the mildest character one seldom sees in English newspapers the violent attacks on individuals and the severe
Denunciations of public men so common in American journals if the editor forgets himself as in the case cited suit for liel is sure to be brought and often proves a serious thing while this to some extent May obstruct the freedom of the press it is nevertheless a relief to
Miss the disgraceful and unwarranted attacks on public men that continually fill The Columns of many American newspapers the road from Oxford to Wantage is a splendid one running through a beautiful country and bordered much of the way with ancient trees Wantage is a quiet Town lying at the
Foot of the hills and is chiefly noted as the birthplace of the great Saxon King a granite statute of Alfred stands in the Market Square representing the king with a charter of English Liberties in one hand and a battle axe in the other as he was born more than a
Thousand years ago there are no buildings now standing that were connected with his history The Church is probably the oldest building a fine example of early English architecture near it is buried the wife of wittington Lord mayor of London toown Dr Butler the Theologian and author of the analogy was
Born in the town and this house is still to be seen leaving wage the road to reading runs along the crest of the hills and on either side from the Breezy Uplands the green fields dashed with the gold of the ripening Harvest stretched away for many miles this was one of the
Few spots in England where the view was unobstructed by fences of any kind and while the average English hedro is not unpleasing the beauty of the landscape in this instance certainly did not suffer by its absence from Kingston onms the perfectly kept Road closely follows the river reading has a population of
About 120,000 and is a place of considerable business activity though the city has a history stretching back to ancient times most of the evidences of antiquity have disappeared in modern progress it was chosen as the seat of Elizabeth’s Parliament when the was devastating London fragments of the Old
Abbey Hall in which this Parliament met still remain and the Gateway was restored a few years ago reading offered a stout resistance to the Commonwealth and suffered severely at cromwell’s hands its Chief Industries today are biscuit making and Seed farming which give employment to 10,000 people from reading a few miles through byways
Brought us to everley a retired Village 5 miles from a railway station where the church and rectory of Charles Kingsley may be seen the church is picturesquely situated on the the hillside with an Avenue of fine U trees leading from the gate to the door the building has been
Altered a good deal since Kingsley was Rector but the pulpit from which he preached is practically the same the rectory which is directly by the church is a very old building though it has been modernized on the side fronting the road it stands in the midst of a group
Of scotch Furs which were great favorites with Kingsley their branches almost touch the Earth while their huge trunks form a strong contrast with the dense green of the foliage Kingsley and his wife are buried in the churchyard on the side nearest The Furs the graves are
Marked by a simple runic cross in White marble bearing the names the date and the legend God is love Everly and its surroundings are thoroughly typical of rural England a quieter and more retired little place could hardly Be Imagined one wonders why the great novelist and
Preacher spent so many years of his life here it may have been that the seclusion was not a little conducive to his successful literary labors 30 mil further over main traveled highways brought us for a second time to Winchester here we stopped for the night after an unusually long run an early
Start soon brought us to Southampton which is known everywhere as a port of arrival and departure of great Merchant Steamers and which aside from its commercial importance is one of the most ancient and interesting cities in the Kingdom the most notable Relic is a portion of the Saxon wall the part known
As the arcade built in a series of arches being the most remarkable close by in a little street called Blue anane is a house reputed to have been the Palace of King JN and said to be the oldest in England although several others contest that distinction at the
Head of blue ankor Lane is a picturesque tudah house once the residents of Henry VII and his Queen Anne berin this is open to visitors and we were shown every part of the house by the tenant who is also custodian with all its magnificence of carved Oak and wide fireplaces it
Must have been a comfortless dwelling measured by more modern ideas leaving the city we crossed Southampton water on a steam Ferry which was Guided by a chain stretched from bank to bank 2 or three miles to the Southward lies netley a small village with the remain of an
Abbey dating from the reign of Henry the the road to netley followed the shore closely but on nearing The Village suddenly entered an Avenue of fine trees which so effectually concealed the ruin that we stopped directly opposite the Abbey to inquire its whereabouts leaving the car standing in the road we spent a
Quarter of an hour wondering about the ruin and trying to locate the various apartments from a handbook the custodian here did not act as a guide and we were left to figure out for ourselves the intricacies of Nave refectory Closter Etc only the ivy cover walls of the
Building are now standing but these are in an unusual state of completeness the chapel or church was cruciform in shape and built in the early English style the walls of the West End have practically disappeared but the Great East window is fairly well preserved and its most remarkable feature is its two
Beautifully proportioned lights the stone tracery of which remains almost intact a legend in connection with this Abby no doubt grew out of the desire of some of the people to prevent the destruction of the beautiful building after the Abbey had been dismantled the church was sold to to a contractor who
Proceeded to tear it down for the material he was warned in a Dream by the appearance of a monk not to proceed with the work but disregarded the warning and was killed by the falling of a portion of the wall if incidents of this kind had happened more frequently England
Would no doubt be richer in historic buildings we were preparing to leave nle when a man in plain clothes approached us and Civ touching his hat inquired if I were the owner of the Motorcar I confessed that I was and he stated he was an officer and regretted that he
Would have to to report me to the police captain for leaving the car standing on a public walk I had inadvertently left the machine so that it partially obstructed the narrow gravel walk alongside the road and some of the citizens had no doubt complained to the officer we were naturally enough much
Shrined not knowing how much inconvenience and delay this incident might cause the Constable took my name and the number of the car and said I could report the circumstance myself to the captain of the police I desired him to accompany me to call on this dignitary but he did not seem at all
Anxious for the job this is the general procedure in England an arrest is very seldom made in a case of this kind the officer simply takes the name and number and the motorist can call on the proper official himself the police system is so perfect that it would be quite useless
To attempt to run away as would happen if such a system were pursued in this country if in the Judgment of the police official the case should come to trial a summons is served on the offender and the date is set this is what I feared
Might happen in this case and as it was within a week of our sailing time I could imagine that it might cause a great deal of inconvenience I found the police Captain’s office in a neatly kept public building with a flower garden in front of it I put the case to the
Captain and after he had learned all the particulars he hen to assure me that he would wave prosecution of the offense he said some of the people in netley were prejudiced against Motors and no doubt were annoyed by the numerous tourists who came there to visit the ABY thus all
The difficulties I had conjured up faded away and I had a pleasant conversation with the captain who was a thorough gentleman he said that the Motorcar was detested by many people and no doubt with reason in some cases but it had come to stay and forbearance and Common
Sense were needed on part of motorists and the public generally much of the trouble he stated is due to Reckless motorists who disregarded the rights of other people the week previous they had considerable difficulty in his district with an American who drove his car recklessly and defied regulations and it
Was such performances that were responsible for the prejudice against the motor this incident was my only personal experience with the British police in official capacity barring a friendly admonition or two in London when I managed to get on the right side of the road which is literally the wrong
Side in Britain the English police taken as a whole is unquestionably the most efficient and best disciplined in the world a policeman’s Authority is never questioned in England and his raised hand is a signal that never goes unheeded he has neither Club nor revolver and seldom has need for these
Weapons he is an encyclopedia of information and the cases where he lent us assistance both in directing us on our road and informing us as to places of interest literally numbered hundreds he is a believer in Fair Play and seldom starts out of his own accord to make
Anyone trouble it is not the policemen but the civil officials who are responsible for the police traps which in many places are conducted in a positively disreputable manner the idea being simply to raise revenue regardless of justice and without discrimination among the offenders graft among British policemen is unknown and bribery
Altogether unheard of of course their task is easier than that of the average American policeman on account of the greater prevailance of the law-abiding Spirit among the people one finds policemen everywhere even the country districts are carefully patrolled The Escape of a law breaker is a difficult if not impossible thing when
Seldom hears in England of a motorist running away and leaving the scene of an accident that he has caused another thing that greatly helps the English policeman in his work is that a captured criminal is not turned loose again as is often the case in this country Justice
Is shorer and swifter in England and as a consequence crime averages less than in most parts of the state the murders committed yearly in Chicago outnumber many times those of London which is three times as large the British system of administering Justice is one that in many particulars we could imitate to
Advantage in this country after bidding farewell to my friend the police captain and assuring him I was glad that our acquaintance terminated so quickly and happily we proceeded on our way towards chiester the road for a distance of 25 mil LED through an almost constant succession of towns and was frightfully
Dusty the weather was what the natives call beastly hot and really was as near an approach to summer as we had experienced so far the predominating feature of chicha is its cathedral which dates from about 1100 it suffered repeatedly from fires and finally underwent complete restoration beginning
In 1848 the detached Bell Tower is peculiar to the cathedral this although the most recent part of the building appeared to be crumbling away and was undergoing extensive repairs the cathedral is one of lesser importance among the great English churches though on the whole it is an imposing edifice
At Chichester we stopped for lunch at the hotel just opposite the the cathedral where we had an example of the increasing tendency of Hotel managers to recoup their fortunes by special prices for the benefit of tourists on entering the dining room we were confronted with large placards conveying the cheerful
Information that luncheon would cost 5 Shillings or about $125 each evidently the manageres desired the victims to be prepared for the worst there was another party in the dining room a woman with five or six small children and a small Riot began when she was presented with a
Bill of 5 Shillings for each of them the land lady clad in a lown necked black dress with long sweeping train was typical of many we saw in the Old Country hotels she received her guests protest with the utmost haur and when we left the altercation was still in
Progress it was not an uncommon thing in many of the dingiest and most unpretentious hotels to find some of the women guests elaborately dressed for dinner in the regulation low neck and long train in many cases the example was set by the manageres and her assistants though their attire not infrequently was
The worst for long and continuous use directly north of chicher lie the picturesque Hills of Sur which have not inaptly been described as the playground of London the country around chicher is level bordering on the coast a few miles to the north it becomes rough and broken
About 20 mil in this direction is hazelmere with many associations of George Elliot and Tennyson this together with the picturesque character of the country induced us to turn our course in that direction although we found a number of steep hills that were as trying as any we had met with on the way
We passed through Midhurst one of the quaintest of su towns situated on a hill so Steep and broken as to be quite dangerous not far from this place is the home of Richard Cobden the father of English free trade and he is buried in the churchyard near the town he was
Evidently held in high regard in his time for his house which is still standing was presented him by the nation among the Hills near the town are several stately English country houses and about half a mile distant are the ruins of cowr mansion which about 100 years ago was one of the most
Pretentious of all there was an old tradition which said that the house and and family should perish by fire and water and it was curiously enough fulfilled when the palace burned and the last lord of the family was drowned on the same day end of chapter 17 chapter 18 of British highways and
Byways from a motor car by Thomas dler merphy this LibriVox recording is in the public domain recording by Christine blashford chapter 18 in sui and Sussex 20 mil over a narrow road winding among the hills brought us to shill where George Elliot spent much of her time after 1871 a pleasant little Hamlet
Clinging to a steep Hillside the main street of the village runs up the hill from a clear little unbridged stream over whose pebbley bottom our car dashed unimpeded throwing a spray of water to either side at the hilltop close to the church is the old-fashioned many gabled cottage which George Elliot occupied as
A tenant and where she composed her best known story Middle March the cottage is still L from time to time but the present tenant was away and the maid who answered us declined to show the cottage in her mistress’s absence a rather unusual exhibition of fidelity The Village the surrounding country and the
Charming exterior of the cottage with its IV and climbing roses were quite enough to repay us for coming though we were denied a glimpse of the Interior Hazel Meir is only a mile distant a larger and unusually fine looking town with a number of good hotels it is a
Center for tourists who come from London to the hindhead district altogether one of the most frequented sections of England the country is wild and broken but in late Summer and Autumn it is a blaze with yellow gors and purple heather and the hills are covered with the graceful Scotch Furs all about are
Places of more or less interest and a week could be spent in making excursions from hazelmere as a center this country attracted Tennyson and here he built his country seat which he called Alworth George Elliot often visited him at this place place the house is surrounded by a
Park and the poet here enjoyed a seclusion that he could not obtain in his Isle of white home Alworth belongs to the present Lord Tennyson son of the poet who divides his time between it and faringford in the aisle of white and neither of the places are shown to
Visitors however a really interested party might see the house or even live in it for we saw in the window of a real estate man in hazelmere a large photograph of Alworth with a placard announcing that it was to be let furnished doubtless During the period of
The year the passes at faringford house much as we wished to trry in this vicinity our time was so limited that we were compelled to hasten on it was nearly dark when we reached arendel whose Castle the residence of the Duke of Norfolk was the stateliest private
Mansion we saw in England the old castle was almost dismantled by cromwell’s troops but nearly 100 years ago restoration was begun by the then Duke of Norfolk it was carried out as nearly as possible along the lines of the old fortress but much of the structure was
Rebuilt so that it presents as a whole an air of newness the Great Park one of the finest in England is open to visitors who may walk or drive about at will the road into the town leads through this park for many miles bordered on both sides by ancient trees
And winding between them in graceful curves it was one of the most beautiful that we had seen anywhere we had planned to stop at arendel but the promise in our guide books of a level and first class road to Brighton and the fact that a full moon would light us determined us
To proceed it proved a pleasant trip the greater part of the way we ran along the ocean which sparkled and shimmered as it presented a continual Vista of golden hued water stretching away toward the Moon it was now early in August the English Twilights were becoming shorter
And for the third time it was necessary to light the gas lamps we did not reach the hotel in Brighton until after 10:00 Brighton is probably the most noted seaside resort in England a counterpart of our American Atlantic City it is 50 Mi south of London within easy reach of
The metropolis and many London businessmen live here making the trip every day the the town has a modern appearance having been built within the past 100 years and is more regularly laid out than the average English City for 2 or 3 miles fronting the beach
There is a row of hotels some of them most palatial the grand where we stopped was one of the handsomest we saw in England it has an excellent Garage in connection and the large number of cars showed how important this branch of Hotel keeping had become there is no
Motor trip more generally favored by londoners than the run to Brighton as a level and nearly straight road connects the two cities there is nothing here to container tourist who is chiefly interested in historic England about 100 years ago the fine Sunny Beach was discovered and the fishing Village of
Bright Holm was rapidly transformed into one of the best built and most modern of the resort towns in England its present population of over 100,000 places it at the head of the exclusive watering places so far as size is concerned a little to the north of Brighton is lse
The county town of Sussex rich in relics of antiquity its early history is rather vague but it is known to have been an important place under the Saxon Kings William the Conqueror generously presented it to one of his followers who fortified it and built the castle the ruins of which Crown the hill
Overlooking the town the keep affords a vantage point for a magnificent view extending in every direction I had seen a good many English Landscapes from similar points of Vantage notably the castles of Ludo Richmond Raglin chepstow and others and it seemed strange that in such a small country there should be so
Many varying and distinctly dissimilar prospects yet all of them pleasing and picturesque the country around L is hilly and rather devoid of trees it is broken in many places by chalk Bluffs and the chalky nature of the soil was noticeable in the whiteness of the network of Country
Roads many old houses are still standing in the town and one of these is pointed out as the residence of an of cleaves one of the numerous Wives of Henry VII near the town and plainly visible from the tower is the battlefield where in 1624 the Battle of L was fought between
Henry iith and the Barons led by Simon deont for L appears to be an old old stayed and unprogressive town no doubt all the spirit of progress in the vicinity has been absorbed by the city of Brighton less than a dozen miles away if there has been any material
Improvement in L for the past 100 years it is hardly apparent to the Casual Observer we were now in a section of England rich in historic associations we were nearing the spot where William the Conqueror landed and where the battle was fought which overthrew the Saxon Dynasty which an eminent Authority
Declares to have done more to change the history of the Anglo-Saxon race than any other single event from L over crooked narrow and rather rough roads we proceeded to peny where the Normans landed nearly a thousand years ago it is one of the Sleepy and pretentious Villages that dot the
Southern coast of England but it has a history stretching far back of many of the more important cities of the kingdom it was a port of entry in early times and is known to have been in existence long before the Romans came to Britain the Romans called it anderida and their
City was situated on the site of the castle like other Sussex towns pavy lost its position as a sea port owing to a remarkable natural movement of the coastline which has been receding for centuries when the Conqueror landed the sea came up to the castle walls but now
There is a stretch of four miles of Meadowland between the coast and the town the castle rude and ruinous shows the work of many centuries and was really a great Fortress rather than a feudal residence it has been in a state of decay for many hundreds of years but
Its massive walls though Ivy grown and crumbling still show how strongly it was built it is now the property of the Duke of devire who seeks to check further Decay and opens it to the public without charge battle with its Abbey is a few miles from Peavy this Abby marks the
Site of the conflict between the Normans and the Saxons and was built by the Conqueror on the spot where Harold the Saxon King fell slain by a Norman Arrow William had piously vowed that if he gained a victory he would commemorate it by building an Abbey and this was the
Origin of battle Abbey William took care however to see that it was filled with Norman monks who were granted extraordinary privileges and treasure mostly at the expense of the conquered Saxons The Abbey is one of the best preserved of the early monastic buildings in England and is used as a
Private residence by the proprietor the church is in Ruins but the great Gateway with its crenelated towers and the main part of the monastic building are practically as they were when completed shortly after the death of the Conqueror battle Abbey since the time of our visit has passed into the possession of an
American who has taken up his residence there this case is typical of not a few that came to our attention during our stay in England many of the historic places that have for Generations been in the possession of members of the nobility have been sold to wealthy Americans or Englishmen who have made
Fortunes in business these transactions are made possible by a law that permits entailed Estates to be sold when the owner becomes embarrassed to such an extent that he can no longer maintain them and some of these places are sold at astonishingly low figures a fraction
Of their cost it is another of the signs of the changing social conditions in the British Empire a quaint Old Village is Winchell Sea on the coast about 15 mi from Battle it is a small straggling place with nothing but its imposing though ruinous church and the massive
Gateways of its ancient walls remaining to indicate that at one time it was a sea port of some consequence but here as at Peevy the sea receded several miles destroying winchel se’s Harbor its most interesting Relic is the Parish church built about 1288 the greater portion of
This is now in Ruins nothing remaining but the Nave which is still used for services in the churchard under a great tree Still Standing John Wesley preached his last open air sermon 2 miles from winch will sea is Ry another of the decayed sea ports of the Southeast coast
A few small fishing vessels still frequent its harbor but the merchant ships which used to contribute to its Prosperity are no longer seen it is larger than windsh sea and is built on a hill its steep narrow streets being lined with quaint houses these two queer
Towns seem indeed like an echo from the past it does not appear that there have been any changes of consequence in them for the past several hundred years people continue to live in such Villages because the average Englishman has a great aversion to leaving his native
Land one would think that there would be immigration from such places to The Splendid lands of western Canada but these lands are not being taken by English men although the opportunity is being widely advertised by the Canadian government and the various Transportation companies and yet one can
Hardly Wonder at the reluctance of the Native Englishmen to leave the tight little island with its trim Beauty and proud tradition for the wild unsubdued countries of the West if loyal Americans as we can rightly claim to be are so greatly Charmed with England dear indeed
It must be to those who can call it their native land winchel sea and Ry are typical of hundreds of decayed towns throughout the kingdom though perhaps they are more interesting from a historic standpoint than the others being so near the French Coast they suffered terribly in the continual
French and English Wars and were burned several times by the French in their descents upon the English Coast it was nearly dark when we reached Ry we had planned to stop there but the uninviting appearance of the hotel was a strong factor in determining us to reach
Tunbridge Wells about 30 mil away we saw a few more beautiful landscapes than those which stretched away under the soft glow of the English Twilight from the Upland Road leading out of Rye we did not have much Leisure to contemplate the beauty of the scene but such a constant succession of delightful Vistas
As we dashed along together with the exhilaration of the fresh Sea Breeze forms a pleasing recollection that will not be easily effaced the Twilight was beginning to fade away beneath the brilliancy of the full moon when we ran into the village of bodium where stands one of the most perfect of the ancient
Castellated mansions to be found in the Kingdom we paused a few minutes to view it from a distance and found ourselves directly in front of a neat looking Hotel the castle in its inviting appearance our desire to see the castle more closely and the fact that tumbridge
Wells were still a good many miles away over winding roads liberally sprinkled with steep hills led us to make bodium our stopping place there are few things that we have more reason for rejoicing over for we saw the gray walls and towers of bodium Castle under the enchanting influence of a full summer
Moon the castle was built in 1385 and appears to have been intended more as a palatial residence than a feudal Fortress its position is not a strong one for defense being situated on a level plane rather than Upon A commanding Eminence as is usually the case with fortified castles it was built
After artillery had come into use and the futility of erecting a structure that would stand against this new engine of Destruction must have been obvious the most remarkable feature is the wide moat which surrounds the castle in fact this gives it the appearance of standing
On an island in the middle of a small Lake the water of the moat was nearly covered by water lies the walls of the castle are wonderfully complete every Tower and turret retaining its oldtime battlements it is supposed never to have sustained an attack by armed forces and
Its present condition is due to neglect and Decay from our point of view it must have been an insanitary place standing in the low-lying fen in the midst of a pool of stagnant water but such reflection does not detract from it its beauty I have never seen a more romantic
Sight than this huge quadrangular pile with its array of battlements and Towers Rising abruptly out of the dark Waters of the moat and its whole aspect as we beheld it softened in outlin by the Mellow Moonlight made a picture that savored more of Enchantment than reality although the hour was late the custodian
Admitted us to the ruins and we passed over a narrow bridge which crossed the moat the pathway LED through a door in the great Gateway over which still hang suspended the iron pork CIS inside there was a gry Court surrounded by the walls and ruined Apartments of the castle I
Ascended one of the main towers by a dilapidated Stone stairway and was well repaid for the effort by the Glorious moonlit prospect that stretched out before me when we returned to the castle in we found the land lady all attention and she spared no effort to contribute
To our comfort the little Inn was cleanliest ones bodium is several miles from the railroad but few tourists visit the castle the principal business of the hotel is to cater to parties of English trip Trippers who make the neighborhood a resort for fishing and hunting an early start from bodium brought us to
Tumbridge Wells before 10:00 in the morning this city although of considerable size is comparatively modern and has little to detain tourists like hargate and B its popularity is largely due to its Mineral Springs in its immediate neighborhood however there are many places of interest and we determined to make a circular tour among
Some of these returning to Tunbridge Wells for the night a few miles from Tunbridge Wells is ofam a little outof the way Village which boasts of a queer medieval Relic the only one of the kind remaining in the Kingdom this is called a quintine post and stands in the center
Of the Village Green it consists of a revolving crossbar on the top of a tall white post one end of the bar is flattened and pierced with small holes while at the other a Billet of wood is suspended from a chain the PassTime consisted of riding on Horseback and
Aiming a lance at one of the holes in the broad end of the crossbar if the aim were true the impact would swing the club around with violence and unless the rider were agile he was liable to be unhorsed rough and dangerous sport but no doubt calculated to secure dexterity
With the Lance on Horseback this odd Relic is religiously preserved by the village and looks suspiciously new considering the long period since such a Pastime must have been practiced however this may be due to the fact that the tenant of an adjoining Cottage is required by the terms of his lease to
Keep the post in good repair a stipulation no doubt to which we owe its existence in westerham a few miles further on we saw the vicarage where General Wolf the hero of quec was born his parents were tenants of this house for a short time only and soon after his
Birth they moved to the imposing residence now known as Quebec house and here wolf spent the first 12 years of his life it is a fine Tuda mansion and has been little altered since the Boyhood of the great warrior visitors are not now admitted there are many
Relics of wolf in westerham and the spot where he received his first military commission is marked by a stone with an appropriate inscription Wolf’s memory is greatly revered in England and he is looked upon as the man who saved not not only Canada but the United States as
Well to the Anglo-Saxon race quite as closely connected with American history as Quebec house is the home of William pit near at hand holwood house as it is called is a stately Classic Building situated in a great Forest clad park it passed out of the hands of pit more than
A 100 years ago and being in possession of a private owner is no longer open to visitors passing again into the Hedge boarded byways we came to down a retired Village 4 mil from the railway station and known to fame as having been the home of Charles Darwin downhouse where
He lived is still standing a beautiful old 18th Century Place which was considerably aled by Darwin himself the house at present is evidently in the hands of a prosperous owner for it was apparent that watchful care is expended upon it but it is in no sense a show
Place and a few pilgrims who come to the town must content themselves with a glimpse from the outside to get a view of the place I surreptitiously stepped through the open Gateway the house itself being some distance from the road and partially concealed by the hedges
And trees in front of it it is a rather irregular three-story building with ltis Windows surrounded by Ivy and climbing roses it stands against a background of fur trees with a stretch of Green Lawn and flowers in front and the whole place had an air of quiet Beauty and Repose on
The front of the house was an ancient Sund dial and across it in antique letters the legend time will show I do not know whether this was placed there by Darwin or not but it is the most appropriate answer which the great scientist might have made to his hosts
Of critics has indeed shown and the quiet philosopher who lived in this retired Village has revolutionized the thought of the Civilized world end of chapter 18 chapter 19 of British highways and byways from a Motorcar by Thomas dler Murphy this LibriVox recording is in the public domain recording by Christine
Blashford chapter 19 N house and pentest one of the greatest show places of England is null house the seat of the Sackville wests near Seven Oaks the owner at the time of our visit was the Lord Sackville West who was British Ambassador at Washington where he achieved notoriety by answering a decoy
Letter advising a supposed British American to vote for Grover Cleveland as being especially friendly to England the letter created a tremendous furor in the United States and the result was the abrupt recall of the distinguished writer from his post no difficulty is experienced in a obtaining admission to
N house providing one pays the price the thousands of tourists who come annually are handled in a most business-like manner an admission fee of 2 Shillings or about 50 is charged and at numerous stands near the Gateway photographs postcards souvenirs and Guide Books Galore are sold Motorcars are allowed to
Drive right up to the great Gateway where they are assigned a position and supervised by an attendant or for the sum of one shilling however the show is well worth the price and the owner of the palace is entitled to to no small credit for making it so readily
Accessible the house is a fine example of the baronial residences erected just after the period of fortified castles when artillery had rendered these Fortress Mansions useless as a means of Defense it surrounds Three Square courts and covers about 5 Acres it contains 365 rooms and has seven great staircases
Some of them very elaborate the collection of paintings and medieval Furniture is one of the best in England the pictures are of Untold value one room being filled with Originals by gainsboro and Reynolds alone some idea of the value of these pictures may be gained from the fact that an offer of
2,000 for one of the gainsb was refused and there are other pictures quite as valuable not only by English Masters but by great Continental artists as well King James the first visited null house and preparations were made to receive him as befitted his rank the immense State room was especially furnished for
The occasion at a cost it is said of about 00,000 this this room has never been used since and it stands today just as it did when it served its Royal occupant though the gorgeous hangings and tapestries are somewhat dingy and worn from the dust and decay of 300
Years it took nearly 2 hours to go through the parts of the house that is shown although the parties were accompanied by guides who kept them moving along on the afternoon of our arrival there were quite a number of visitors five Motorcars and several carriages bringing them null house
Stands in a large Park which has the finest beaches in England and it is really more of a place than a family residence the Sackville wests are among the richest of the nobility and have other homes which are probably more comfortable than this impressive but unhomelike Palace something similar to
Null house is pener place about 10 m away but with an atmosphere and traditions quite different from the Sackville West Mansion this great palace just adjacent to the Village of pentest was built in the 13th century passing shortly after into the hands of the Sydney family with whom it has remained
Ever since of the Sydney one only is known wherever the English language is spoken the Gallant young Knight sir Phillip who when still below the age of 30 lost his life while fighting for a forlorn cause in the Netherlands of all the brilliant array of Statesmen soldiers and writers who graced the
Reign of Queen Elizabeth none gave greater promise than did Young Sydney nothing is more characteristic of him than the of told story of how when suffering from his death wound on the field of zutan he gave to a wounded soldier by his side the cup of water brought to him with the greatest
Difficulty there are few who have received a higher or a more deserved tribute than that of the poet Watson when he mused upon the perfect Knight the soldier courtier B in one Sydney that pensive hesper light of chivalry’s departed son naturally we were interested in the ancestral home of such
A man and the many historical associations which have gathered around it it was at the close of a busy day for us when we reached penshurst and learned that half an hour remained before the house would be closed for the day admission was easily gained and ample
Time given to inspect such parts of the house as were shown we entered the Great Park through a Gateway near the church where several members of the Sydney family are buried the palace stands in a large open space with a level lawn in front and the 500 years which have
Passed over it have dealt kindly with it few of the ancient places which we had seen in England were in better state of preservation nor was this due so much to Restoration as in many cases it had never been intended as a fortified castle and had escaped the ravages of
War which destroyed so many of the strongholds its most striking feature is the baronial hall with its high open rafted roof maintained in general appearance and Furnishing much as it was 500 years ago it is of great size and in early days the tables probably furnish
Cheer to hundreds of revelers at a time at one end of the room is a gallery which the musicians occupied and at the other our attention was called to a small opening through which the Lord of The Establishment could secretly witness the doings in the hall a remarkable
Feature is the fireplace situated in the center of the room and without chimney of any kind the smoke being left to find its way out through the windows or apertures in the roof as the case might be a striking example of the discomforts of the good old days when Knighthood was
In flower Queen Elizabeth who was one of the greatest Royal Travelers of her time made a visit to the home of her favorite Sydney and the drawing room which she honored as a guest is still shown with much of the handsome Furniture which was especially made for the occasion of Her
Majesty’s visit on the walls are some examples of beautifully wrought needle work and satin tapestry which tradition says is the work of the queen herself and her maidens in the picture gallery the majority of the paintings are portraits of the Sydney family from penshurst we returned to tumbridge Wells
Having covered in all about 100 miles since leaving that town not a very long distance for a day’s motoring but we had seen more things of interest perhaps than on any other day of our tour it was a fitting close to our tour since we had determined that we would at once return
To London and bid farewell to the English highways and byways the next morning we spent a short time looking about turn Bridge Welles this town has been known as a watering place since 1606 and has maintained great popularity ever since its unique feature is the prominade known as the pantiles with its
Row of stly lime trees in the center and its colonade in front of the shops it is referred to in thar Virginians and readers of that story will recall his description of the scenes on the pantiles in the time of the powdered wigs silver buckles and the fearful and
Wonderful hoop Tunbridge Wells makes a splendid Center for several excursions and one might well spend considerable time there our trip of the previous day had taken us at no time more than 30 mil from the town and had covered only a few of the most interesting places within
That distance we were ready to leave tumbridge Wells before noon and it was with feelings of mingled satisfaction and regret that we turned toward London about 30 mil away our long Summer’s pilgrimage through Britain was over despite our anxiety to return home there was after all a sense of regret that we
Had left undone much that would have been well worthwhile our last day on the English Country Road was a lovely one a light rain had fallen the night before just enough to beat down the dust and freshen the landscape we passed through a country thickly interspersed with
Suburban towns the fields had much the appearance of a well-kept park and everything conspired to make the day a pleasant recollection when we came into the immediate suburbs of London I found that the knowledge I had gained on our frequent trips gave me a great advantage
In getting into the city I was able to avoid the crowded streets and to select those where traffic was lighter thus reducing the time of reaching our hotel fully an hour there is much difference in the traffic on the eight bridges which cross the temps London Bridge
Which crosses near the bank of England is the most congested of all there is hardly an hour when it is not a compact mass of slowly moving Vehicles the bridge by Parliament House is less crowded but I should say that waterl bridge furnishes the best route for
Motorists in getting across the river it leads directly into the new Boulevard known as Kingsway which has just been completed at an expense of many millions of pounds this is the broadest Street in London and was opened by whole sale condemnation of private property it is
Little used for heavy traffic and has a fine asphalted surface it extends from the Strand to hbor the two principal business arteries of London the street now presents a rather ragged appearance on account of the buildings that were torn down to make way for it however new structures of fine architecture are
Rapidly being built and Kingsway is destined to become one of the handsomest boulevards in the world a little afternoon we reached our London hotel having spent 10 weeks in touring England Wales and Scotland we had not confined ourselves to the highways but had journeyed a great part of the distance
Through less frequented country roads in fact many of the most Charming places we had visited could be reached only from the byways and were not immediately accessible from Railway stations with the exception of the first two weeks when we had rain more or less every day we had been favored with exceptionally
Fine weather during the last seven or eight weeks of our trip only light showers had fallen and we were assured that the season had been an unusual one for England the matter of weather is not of great moment to the motorist in great Britain the roads are not affected in
The least so far as traveling is concerned and dashing through the open air in a rain is not an unpleasant experience a closed top for the car is rarely necessary plenty of waterproof coats and coverings answer the purpose very well and the open air is much pleasanter than being cooped up in a
Closed vehicle rubber tires do not slip on good McAdam roads and during our tour it was necessary to use chains on the wheels only a few times altogether the experience was worthwhile nor was it so expensive as many have imagined it to be a party of three or four people with
Their own car if one of them drives can tour Britain for less than it would cost to cover the same ground traveling First Class by Railway train as to the comparative satisfaction derived from the two methods of touring no comment whatever is needed making the trip by
Motor afford so many advantages and so many opportunities of seeing the country and of coming in touch with the people that there is really no other method that can in any way compare with it end of chapter 19 chapter 20 of British highways and byways from a motor car by Thomas dler
Murphy this LibriVox recording is in the public domain recording by Christine blashford chapter 20 some might have beans in closing this dister record of a summer’s Motoring in Britain I can easily see that a great deal was missed much of which might have been included
With little or no loss of time had we been well enough informed in advance there were cases where we actually passed through places of real interest only to learn later that we had overlooked something that might well have engaged our attention there were other points readily accessible from our
Route which we omitted because previously visited by Rail and though many of these places we should have been glad to see again our limited time forbade in order to get all that should be gotten out of a 5,000m tour by Motorcar one would have to be familiar indeed with England’s history and
Traditions as well as conversant with her literature there is little opportunity for studying handbooks as one goes along a few weeks of preparation of well selected reading and the study of Road books and Maps would make such a tour doubly valuable in Saving Time and in an intelligent
Understanding of the country and the places worth seeing what one should have done he will know far better after the trip is over and the main excuse for this modest record is that it may Supply in popular form some data from the experience of one who has been overath
Of the ground while the superb illustrations of the volume will give a far better idea of what awaits the tourist than the mere written words among the places in which our time was too short is Canterbury another day would have given us a chance to see more
Of that ancient town and a side trip of 30 Mi would have taken us to sandwich Margate and reculver we had expected to come a second time to Canterbury and to visit these three points then but were unable to carry out our plan sandwich was at one time an important sea port
But lost its position from the same cause that affected so many of the South Coast towns the receding of the sea it contains many of the richest bits of medieval architecture in England and a few hours in its quaint streets would have been well repaid reculver or
Ancient rum was a Roman city that was destroyed by the encroachments of the sea here is one of the oldest and strangest of the ruined churches in England now standing on the verge of the ocean which still continues to advance with a prospect of ultimately wiping out
The little village on our trip to Manchester we passed within two or three miles of nutsford the delightful Old Town selected by Mrs gasal as the scene of her story granford had we known of this at the time a short detour would have taken us through its quaint streets
The aisle of white is immediately across the straet from Southampton and while a Motorcar could be transported by steamer to Traverse its 50 or 60 Mi of Main Road this is not very often done it would require one or two days to visit the interesting points in the island among
Which are carisbrook castle where King Charles I was confined as a prisoner Osborne House formerly a royal residence but presented to the nation by King Edward and freshwater the home where the poet tennis and lived for many years Sherborn and chsb were both only a few
Miles off our route and had we planned rightly we could have visited with very little loss of time these two interesting towns with their great Abbey churches which rank in size and importance with many of the cathedrals 10 miles from Penzance would have brought us to Land’s End the extreme
Southwestern point of England abounding in wild and beautiful ocean shore scenery but the story of dangerous Hills deterred us though we afterwards regretted our decision nor could we pass again as we did at camford in Cornwell within 5 miles of King Arthur’s tintagel without seeing this solitary and wonderfully romantic ruin with the
Majestic even or inspiring scenery around it perhaps the most interesting trip which we missed but which would have required more time than we could give was a 2 or 3 days run through the extreme South of Wales it is only 30 mi from Monmouth to Cardiff a coal mining
Metropolis itself of little interest but with many places worth visiting in its immediate vicinity Cardiff Castle too is one of the best known of the Welsh ruins and here Henry the first confined his elder brother Robert for 20 years while he himself in reality a usurper held the
English Throne 10 mil north of Cardiff is the rude and inaccessible castle of K Philly which is reckoned the most extensive ruin in the Kingdom following the Coast Road for 100 miles one comes to the ancient town of St David’s at the extreme Southwestern point of Wales here
In the Middle Ages was a city of considerable size a great Resort of pilgrims to St David’s Shrine William the Conqueror being one of these the modern St Davids is a mere Village and its Chief attraction is its Grand Cathedral and the ruins of the once gorgeous Episcopal Palace the cathedral
Built in the 10th century is curiously situated in a deep Dell and only the great tower is visible from the village the return trip from St David’s would best be made over the same road to Karan then taking the road northward to lovery where is located one of the ruins of
What was once the greatest Abbey in southern Wales from this point the road direct to abeni is a good one and passes through much of the picturesque Hill Country of Wales from Banger in North Wales it is about 20 mi to hollyhead from which point the car could easily be
Transferred to Ireland in 2 or 3 hours this would mean an additional 2 weeks to the tour and no doubt more time could pleasantly be spent in the emerald aisle the roads in Ireland are far from equal to those of England or Scotland but the scenery especially on the coast is even
Lovier and the points of interest quite as numerous the aisle of man in the Irish channel is a famous resort of motorists and many of the speed and reliab contests have been held there it is about the only spot in the world where no speed limit is imposed the
Inhabitants of the island recognizing the financial advantage which they reap from the numerous motorists there are about 50 or 60 miles of Road in the island said to be as fine as any in the world the island is charming and interesting with ruins and Relics dating from the time it was an independent
Kingdom the two days which would have to be given it would be well spent no one who had not visited it before would miss the Lake District in the north of England a former trip trip through this section by coach caused us to emit it from our tour though we would
Gladly have seen this delightful country a second time one could depart from the main highway from Lancaster to carile at Kendall and in a single day visit most of the haunts of Ruskin colridge wedsworth and southy whose names are always associated with the English Lakes many steep hills would be encountered
But none that would present great difficulty to a moderate powered motor it would be much better however if two or three days could be given to the lakes and this time might also include furnace Abbey and L lost prior volumes have been written of the English Lakes
But with all the Vivid pen pictures that have been drawn one will hardly be prepared for the beauty of the reality the Peak District in darbishire we omitted for the same reason a previous visit at Nottingham we were within 10 or 15 miles of this section and by
Following a splendid Road could have reached Rowley station with its quain in near Chatsworth house and Haden Hall no one who makes any pretend of seeing England will miss either of these places Haden Hall is said to be the most perfect of the baronial mansion houses
Now to be found in England it is situated in a wonderfully picturesque position on a rocky Bluff overlooking the river y The Manor was originally given by the Conqueror to peol of the peak the hero of Scott’s novel The Mansion is chiefly famous for its connection with Dorothy veran who
Married the son of the Earl of Rutland in the time of Queen Elizabeth the property thus passing to the Rutland family who are still the owners the Mansion is approached by a small Bridge crossing the river whence one enters under a lofty Archway the main Courtyard in this beautiful quadrangle one of the
Most interesting features is The Chapel at the southwest corner this is one of the oldest portions of the structure almost opposite is the Magnificent porch and bay window leading into the Great Hall this is exactly as it was in the days of the Vernon and its table at
Which the lord of the feast sat its huge fireplace Timber roof and Minstrel Gallery are quite unaltered it has recently been announced that the Duke of Rutland will make repairs to this old place and occupy it as one of his residences closing Belvoir Castle his present home on account of the great
Expense of maintaining it four or 5 miles from Haden Hall is Chatsworth house The Splendid country seat of the Duke of devenshire this was built over a 100 years ago and is as fine an example of the Modern English mansion as Haden Hall is of the more ancient it is a
Great building in the Georgian style rather plain from the outside but the interior is furnished in great Splendor it is filled with objects of art presented to the family at various times some of them representing gifts from nearly every crowned head in Europe during the last 100 years its galleries
Contain representative works of the greatest ancient and modern artists even more Charming than the Mansion itself are its Gardens and grounds nowhere in England are these surpassed the mansion with its grounds is open daily to the public without charge and we were told that in some instances the number of
Visitors reaches 1,000 in a single day as I noted elsewhere the Duke of devire owns numerous other palaces and ruins all of which are open to the public without charge a fine example of the spirit of many of the English nobil who declined to make commercial Enterprises of their historic
Possessions in this immediate vicinity is buckon another of the English watering places famous for Mineral Springs the neighborhood is most romantic with towering Cliffs strange Caverns leaping cataracts and wooded valleys however the section abounds in very steep hills dangerous to the most powerful motor in Yorkshire we missed
Much chiefly on account of lack of time a single Day’s Journey would have taken us over a fine road to scabra an ancient town which has become a modern Sea Coast Resort and to Whitby with one of the finest Abbey ruins in the Shire as well as to numerous other interesting places
Between Barnard Castle lying just across the western boundary of Yorkshire was only a few miles off the road from Darlington and would have been well worth a visit these are only a few of the many places which might be seen to Advantage if one could give at least a
Week to Yorkshire from Norwich an hour or two would have taken us to Yarmouth through the series of beautiful lakes known as the Norfolk broads Yarmouth is an ancient town with many points of interest and and at present noted principally for its Fisheries on the road to Colchester we might easily have
Visited Barry St Edmonds and coming out of Colchester only 7 miles away is the imposing ruin of the unfinished Mansion of the Manis which its Builder hoped to make the most magnificent private residence in the Kingdom the death of Lord man and his son brought the project
To an end and for several hundred years this vast ruin has stood as a monument to their unfulfilled hopes it may seem that as Americans we were rather unpatriotic to pass within a few Mars of the ancestral country of the Washingtons without visiting it but such was the
Case it is not given much space in the guide books and it came to us only as an afterthought it was but 5 or six miles from Northampton through which we passed in the old church at brington is the tomb of George Washington’s great great great grandfather and also one of the
Houses which was occupied by his relatives in the same section is sulgrave Manor the home of the Washingtons for several Generations which still has over its front doorway the Washington coat of arms in the same vicinity and near The Farmhouse where George OT was born is nanan a place
Where she spent much of her life and to which numerous references are made in her novels in Scotland we also missed much but very little that we could have reached without consuming considerably more time a day trip north of Edinburgh across the F of fourth into 5 would have
Enabled us to visit Loch Levan and its castle where Queen Mary was held prisoner and was rescued by Young Douglas whom she afterward unfortunately married had we started 2 or 3 hours earlier on our trip to abbottsford and Melrose we could easily have reached Jed and Kelo at Each of which there are
Interesting Abbey ruins of course it would have been a fine thing to go to the extreme Northern point of Scotland known as Jon o Gro but this at the rate we traveled would have consumed two or 3 days the country is not specially interesting and has few historical associations tourists make this trip
Chiefly to be able to say they have covered the Kingdom from L end to Jon o greates I have said little of the larger cities we did not stop long in any of these the chief Delight of Motoring in Britain is seeing the country and the
Outof the way places in the cities where one may spend days and where the train service and other methods of transportation in the place and its suburbs are practically unlimited one can ill afford to linger with his car in the garage much of the time of London I have already spoken Liverpool Manchester
Leeds Bristol Birmingham Edinburgh and Glasgow are examples to my point we had visited nearly all of these by rail but in again planning a tour by car I should not stop at such places for any length of time and should avoid passing through them whenever practicable of course I do
Not pretend in the few suggestions I have made in this chapter to have named a fraction of the points of interest that we did not visit only the ones which appealed to me most when I had become more familiar with Britain I can only offer these few comments to show
How much more might have been compassed in the space of a week or two leaving out Ireland Jon o Gres and the ARs of white and man one week would have given ample time for us to include the places I have enumerated in planning a tour individual taste must be a large element
What will please one may not appeal so strongly to another still I am sure that the greater part of the route which we covered and which I have tried to outline will interest anyone who cares enough to give the time and money necessary to tour Britain end of chapter 20 and end of
British highways and byways from a Motorcar by Thomas dler Murphy