England 10-15 June Wye Valley, Bracknell, London, home

Frustrated by difficulties with internet connection over the past week and inadequate maps, we left Wales with no definite plans.  We had cancelled our London accommodation in order to avoid dealing with our luggage there, deciding instead to stay further out, extend use of a car and travel into London by public transport.  David wanted us to look out for a B &B en route but this proved impossible with the weekend looming – most villages offer no convenient parking or no B & B or no vacancy signs.  On impulse, I decided we would stay somewhere in the Wye Valley, as we had never been there in the past and it had many green patches on the map. 

This choice seemed even better as we entered Tintern.  I was amazed to see Tintern Abbey towering over the town as I associated Wordsworth with Cumbria, despite learning and loving the poem years ago. 

Cistercian monks occupied the Abbey complex, obeying very strict rules of morality and praying in the Abbey 8 times a day.  Later, the Abbot acquired luxurious accommodation. During the Reformation, the Abbey was ransacked and lead from the roof sold. 

The west front was completed around 1300.

Looking towards the altar.  Monks' dormitories adjoined to the left.  This main building is 72m long.  Remains of pillars in foreground identify the original church from the twelfth century.

Looking towards the west front

Foreground shows the remains of the monks' quarters with refectory.

Left is part of the large infirmary with infirmary kitchen on the right.  A drain started at the kitchens and downstream served as a sewer.

We spent the night in Coleford, in the only accommodation available - £89 for a room with no internet, no frig, no sound-proofing ...  Royal Ascot races start on 14 June and all the good rooms everywhere were booked.

Heading north the next day we came to Ross-on-Wye, a very attractive town.

Antique shop c. 1600

Four more nights in England and a car to return to Gatwick in 2 days.  A long internet search led to accommodation at Bracknell, a place we knew nothing about but cheap, available and a £30 taxi ride from Heathrow.  Bracknell was a surprise – no old buildings, no charm in the shopping area but ringed by wonderful woodlands.  Wiki tells me that the area is very old but was designated a new town in 1949 and was due for refurbishing, now postponed since the GFC.  However, we went for a few shortened walks because of rain (muddy and/or still raining) and on the Sunday visited the Look Out Discovery Centre.  In the middle of Swinley Wood is a better-than-Brisbane Science Centre, very popular with kids and adults on this rainy day.  Adjoining were 2 adventure playgrounds; the one for older kids had an entry fee.

Part of the free section

Our last 2 days were spent in London, a one-hour comfortable train trip from Bracknell.  David's top pick was the British Museum for an hour guided tour of Ancient Iran.  Tate Modern was our next stop.  The views of London from the top were great -

Millenium Bridge

and we also enjoyed much of the art.  Some examples below:

Matisse Back II

Giacometti Annette

Giacometti Diego

Yves Tanguy The Invisibles

Seven weeks travel - our last day.  No photographs are allowed in the National Gallery where we enjoyed a free tour given by a very modern young lady who gave entertaining insights into 4 ‘old masters’.

Commissioned by Sir John Donne in Bruges, the painting features his namesakes in the side panels, him and his wife in the central panel with Saints Catherine (martyr tortured on wheel) and Barbara (martyr kept in tower) to the sides of Mary.  This was a portable altarpiece with saints in black and white on back of side panels. 

Hans Memling  The Donne Triptych late 1470s

Piero della Francesca was a mathematician and  used geometry in The Baptism of Christ (1460).  A line from the apex of the arched top runs through the beak of the foreshortened white dove of the Holy Spirit, through the trickle of water from the equally foreshortened bowl held by John, its rim catching the sunlight, down the middle of Christ’s face, and through his reverently clasped hands, ending in the heel of his right foot, on which his weight is supported. The three angels on the left wait to dry and clothe Christ, while to the right of John, a man preparing to be baptized gets undressed. The landscape reveals Piero as a master of spatial depth, as evidenced in the river Jordan winding its way into the background and mirroring the landscape around it (London National Gallery). 
 The white or green tinge to the skin colours is due to the use of a green undercoat and ageing of the pink tones.

Titian Bacchus and Ariadne

Ariadne had been left on Naxos by Theseus, whose ship is shown over her left shoulder. Bacchus  raised her to heaven - see the stars above her head. Titian referred to another popular myth by painting the man with snakes (the statue of  Laocoön and His Sons had recently been found).

After lunch at St Martin-in-the-Fields Crypt, we were tired by the time we reached the Museum of Natural History on our last afternoon.  The invertebrate displays held our interest for a while but when David wanted the Earth gallery, I chose the new Darwin Centre with its intriguing architecture, the Cocoon.  We found both our choices disappointing.  So I will finish this blog with two old but startling exhibits.

Guess who?

Opthalmosaurus icenius

We flew Singapore Airlines from London to Singapore in an A380 on the top deck, economy.  Very comfortable.  Seating was 2-4-2.  The window seat featured a roomy compartment for handbags, books, etc.

A bon voyage and good travelling to all readers!