Friday 4/30

Day seven. It started out a different note--it was the first time that we all didn't eat breakfast together (crazy!). Of course, that meant that we got a late start, but we still had a full day.

First we drove through the Forest of Dean, which has wild pigs and stuff that run around and mess up the grass. It seemed so silly to me that they had to name their forest because there are so few trees left...it was like driving around home, except it had a fancy name. But hey, welcome to England.

After that we went to the church where the Jones' are buried, although we couldn't actually find any of their graves for whatever reason...the grass was overgrown in parts, so that certainly didn't help.

This is St. Mary's Church:

After that, we went to...a castle!! Clearly that was an awesome part of my day. Chepstow Castle is beautiful and a lot bigger than you expect. It isn't square, but instead just keeps going and going down the road, which you can't tell when you enter.


The windows are obviously reproductions, but the cool part here is that you can see a blocked-up arch from an earlier one.
The original castle doors, which hung there until 1962 or so. It's amazing that they lasted that long.
Remember those new windows? Here's the inside of that room, which they redid to give tourists an idea of what it might have looked like way back when.
The castle is built on the bank of the Wye River (I think), which is tidal. It rises and falls 40 feet each day--it's really noticeable.
The main hall, as left today. The floor is very sloped, and you can see the holes in the wall where the joints would have been to hold up the floors at different levels.
Another really cool part--the ledge on the right is supposed to show what they would have looked like originally. It would have been so different and beautiful. Castles like we see them today are really not an accurate picture--they would have been whitewashed originally. I wish I could go back in time and see them--but just for a day. I like running water and all!
An old staircase that's fallen apart. So romantic.


What a pretty view.
Sadly, we didn't get to the museum, but after lunch in the castle pub we headed out for a "cook's tour" of the places where Martha was born and grew up around Lydney, then headed to a distant cousin's house. Yeah, that sounds not so interesting...except he's 87, in charge of the Forest of Dean, is part of the family that controlled the town for decades, and even has an award from the queen.

When we drove up to his driveway, he had the American flag flying 'cause he knew I was coming. How nice! When Martha's daughter Helen visited from New Zealand, he had that flag flying for her too.
You could tell they were the big name around there...they even had the fancy drive to prove it.
Melville and his wife Jane took us on a tour of their rock garden, the pond (created by monks centuries ago when the land was owned by them), the walled garden, the old water pump, and the remains of a Roman road in the garden. Melville gave me a copy of his family's history in a book, then showed me a bunch of really old historical documents before tea and cucumber sandwiches. We went home and took the night off since I wasn't feeling great, but that was okay because it meant more snooker!

Shall we move on?