Hi everyone!
It’s been exciting hearing from people who are reading this! So stoked you are interested in what we are doing and I hope you don’t get too bored as we continue!
Sidcup & the drive
On Saturday morning we packed up our things at Sam & Lydia’s and got on our way to Sidcup to see the family. We are extremely grateful to Sam & Lydia who have lent us their car for the next couple of weeks so that we can explore! Also extremely grateful to them for having us for our first few days on the trip!
First stop was to Auntie Jill’s place for a quick catch up before heading to Kirsty & Kevin’s for lunch. It was a really nice, hot afternoon and it was so good to catch up with a whole lot of the extended family!
In the late afternoon it was time to drive to Stogumber!
Now, if you’re anything like me (before I did some research), you probably have no idea where Stogumber is or even how to say it. I’m not sure how to write its pronunciation, but St’gumber is probably my best shot at it. As to where it is, it’s located to the north-west of Taunton or somewhere between Exeter and Bristol. If you have no idea still, just google it.
It was about a 3 and a half hour drive across the country for us to get there from Sidcup. Along the way we were going to stop and find the free walking track to Stonehenge, but it started raining as we were heading through so we decided to just check it out from the road. It’s pretty amazing seeing such an ancient structure just standing there next to the main highway!
We continued on and grabbed some Maccas for dinner before finding our way into Stogumber.
We were winding down single track roads in the middle of farm land with high hedges on each side of the road before heading into roads surrounded by trees. It was a pretty cool drive!
Stogumber
We arrived at Sian & Paul’s house in Stogumber and were greeted by Sian and Jacob pointing the way into the driveway! It was all very exciting!
Sian & Paul’s house is currently under construction, but the original parts of it are amazing. The house was built in the mid 1500s and extended on 200 years later. The ceilings are low, the walls are wonky, and most of the doors are only just tall enough that I don’t bump my head when I walk through them (Miriam was fine). I get excited about old buildings that have this crazy history of people living in them over the centuries so it was very cool to be able to stay in one!
It probably would have been a good idea to get an early night because Sian had a big day planned the next day, but instead we sat around chatting all evening which was really nice!
On Sunday morning, we walked to the Stogumber train station and caught the old steam train over to Dunster. It was such a cool experience being on a steam train! You can hear it chugging as it goes up hills and you see the steam coming out the top of it.
Paul had left his car in Dunster the day before so that we could get off the train and drive into the town. Dunster is an old village with a castle on the hill which is a popular destination for tourists. I had never heard of Dunster before so it was great to be shown a new place!
We walked around the town and grabbed a beer from a pub before heading to The Luttrell Arms for dinner (which is lunch, but it’s England so it’s dinner – you follow?). I had seriously the most gigantic piece of pork on my plate. I don’t think you could fit any more meat on a plate! We all had to be rolled out onto the street once we were done eating because there was so much food and it was delicious!
Next stop (to burn off the food) was a walk up the hill to the castle. Dunster castle is a 12th-century castle that was used as a home up until the 20th century. It’s amazing seeing the architecture and details that still remain today.
After exploring the castle, we drove back to Stogumber for a cream tea. Now, if you’re like me and had no idea what a cream tea was, it’s not tea with cream in it. As far as I know now, a cream tea is scones, clotted cream (basically butter, not as gross as it sounds), jam, and tea. I swapped out the tea for a hot chocolate because I’m not a big tea fan, but my goodness it was a great experience! I am looking forward to more cream tea in the UK!
We then head back to Sian & Paul’s for a quiet evening of chatting and eating chocolate. Jacob also wanted to play me in some arcade games which he thrashed me and I feel like I had no chance! He may be 7, but he’s clearly had more practice than I have!
On Monday morning we said our goodbyes to Sian, Paul, and Jacob. Looking forward to seeing them again some time and seeing their renovations complete! If you’re reading – thanks again for having us! It was awesome.
Bath
Next stop on the list is Bath! We have a whole day planned for the ancient Roman city and I don’t think Miriam could quite believe it when we got there! The city really is incredible. The buildings are stunning, there is so much happening on the streets, and there is so much to do!
We started by having a walk through the Abbey which is a pretty stunning church right in the middle of town. At Bath Abbey you can book in for a tower tour which we booked for after lunch and it was well worth it!
On the tour, you get to climb all the way to the very top of the tower, and on the way you get to see some cool things. First stop was the bell pulling room where they showed us all the different ways that you can sound the bells in the Abbey. Next we got to sit in behind the clock face and see the mechanics of how it works. Finally, it was the walk right up to the top! The view from the top is amazing. You can see into the Roman Baths, the amazing buildings all around, and Sham Castle up on the hill. So much to look at!
After the Abbey we went into the Roman Baths. The baths were originally built by the Romans after they invaded Britain in the first century, but over the years they were built on in various forms. Most recently (130 years ago) they were re-discovered and the site was excavated to expose the original Roman baths. The crazy thing about this is that once they found them, the built the stone building that you walk around on top of them so that people could visit. It’s extremely unlikely that any archaeological dig would allow a building to be put on top of it now! The supports for the new building mould into the supports for the old one. It’s pretty crazy!
It was interesting to see that the baths had a pool, a gym, a sauna, etc, all things that we would find in a leisure centre today! I doubt they’ll be digging our ones up in years to come!
Next stop was Sally Lynn’s Bunn House! If you have been to Bath before and haven’t been to Sally Lunn’s, you’ve missed out! Kiwi’s, I know that you’re thinking of that white bun with raisins and pink icing, but you’re wrong! A Sally Lunn Bunn is somewhere between a pastry, a cake, and a bread roll and can be served sweet or savoury. The Bunn House in Bath is the original bakery where Sally Lunn came up with the recipe (1680s) and they still use the same one today! The house is actually the oldest is Bath as well dating to 1482.
Since it was afternoon tea time, we went with the Cream Tea options. I once again opted for a hot chocolate and the whole experience was amazing!
Our next and final stop in Bath was The Circus. No clowns or animals in this one, but a circle of houses. The Circus is a pretty amazing architectural feature of Bath with 30 houses built in a perfect circle. It was nice to wander around there and imagine what it would be like to live in such a city!
Bath has certainly been a highlight of the trip so far! It has so much to offer and I’ve probably forgotten parts of the day – we did so much!
At the end of the day it was time to get back in the car and drive to Cirencester where our adventure in the Cotswolds awaits! But that’s for another time. It’ll be a few more days until you hear about that!
Bye for now! 👋🏻
