Wells and Glastonbury

Today is Saturday 

Wells

We headed off reasonably early again to visit Wells, the smallest city in England.All that was once required to be a city was to have a Cathedral. Wells has one, so it is a city.
So with a population of 10,000 it is a city.





 



We found somewhere to park that was free.
Then we walked through a hole in a wall into  the most amazing street. It was called Vicars Close and it was built in 1363 as an entire street for the choir of the Cathedral. It is now the longest continually inhabited residences in Europe. So, 700 years more or less. If the same family had lived there since it was constructed they would be onto their 30th generation.

The entire street is as it was, cobblestones with stone ramps over the gutters and some amazing gates.


 
Then we reached the Cathedral, I don't know what we were expecting but it took us by surprise, it's huge.
We noticed on the front that some of the statues were missing. They were used for target practise by Cromwell's troops during the civil war in the 1600's when he used the Cathedral as a garrison.

 

 
















Tammy in the cloisters.

 





Scissor Arches, these were added to the standard arches in the 1300's to solve the problem of sinking foundations.










Wells town centre, this is a road used by traffic, very carefully.

On the way to Glastonbury we passed a building reclamation yard.
They had everything from a Russian tank to a marble bath.
Tammy wanted to by two full sized cast iron angels for the garden, apart from the weight issue they were $5,000 each.

Glastonbury

We then went in search of the Tor, a natural hill.
On the summit is St Michael's Tower, part of a 14th century church. The people of Glastonbury used to keep livestock and grow crops on it's slopes when the town flooded.
It was a bit of a climb 


 






Tammy heads back down the Tor towards Glastonbury


 

 

From the Tor we walked to Glastonbury Abbey.
The Abbey was started around the 700's and lasted until1539 when Henry VIII ordered the destruction of monasteries. The last Abbott was hanged at the Tor for concealing the Abbeys wealth. 
Supposedly, King Arthur is buried here and in the nearby lake his sword was thrown and caught by the lady of the lake. Or some such. some say, it is the lost land of Avalon.






Tammy in the Vicars Kitchen

We left Avalon and went into the town centre of Glastonbury, it is full of hippies and hippy shops. Tammy bought some new hippy clothes and went for a ride on a broomstick






















On our way out of Glastonbury the Lovely Lady found the narrowest roads possible, These are two way streets.
But before leaving we dropped into a local pub for a pint. Tammy tried the local cider from the cheddar valley, the Barmaid recommended she tried a taste first as it is not for everyone. it was orange and cloudy and flat. Tammy surprisingly enjoyed it and bought a whole pint. Then continued on her broomstick as that is all she would have been able to drive......












We found a camp site with direct access to a pub, this is Steven saying follow me, the sign in the bottom corner does indicate the way to the pub.

The 16th century pub was good, the food was good, the beer was brilliant.