By the numbers
12,722 steps
9.31kms
I got up early enough so that I could have breakfast before
heading for the bus. I took my trusty jumper with me as I seem to be wearing it
just about all the time even though it is apparently becoming warm. I just
shrug while wearing a jumper thinking not quite. I wasn’t sure about theweather
especially after the day before as it rained and while I was in Scotland. I
seem to have had a bit of rain everywhere I have gone just about. My boots have
held up really well especially since at the start there were problems with
blisters on one foot. That was largely due to tying my boot up too tight and
then paying for it when blisters would appear. I had one blister basically the
entire length of my little toe from around the toe nail to the first joint..
The skin has started peeling there, so it is all good and new after all this
time.
I went out on my prebooked trip to Alnwick Castle and
gardens, which I had planned to visit on the Monday as the archives I wanted to
go to were closed. So that means the next two days I will hopefully be visiting
Archive centres unless I get told I am kidding myself. I would get them to do
some research for me, but have to wait until I have my cards before that
happens. I got to the bus and I had been thinking about getting off at Morpeth
on the way back, but money saving I decided that it was cheaper to get a return
ticket after a discussion with the driver. I then thought that I would likely
be at the castle all day instead of a couple of hours. At the time I did not
realise the bus went everywhere. It went to Alnwick bus station via Morpeth and
that was a long trip, but worth it. I ended up in Alnwick just after 10am when
I left at 8am that morning. That is all good as the castle opens at 10am
anyway, so I get off to stretch my legs and to cool down as its a double decker
bus and the sun was hot through that window. Some of those roads through towns
were very narrow.
Once I found my way to the Alnwick Gardens, which was pretty
easy considering that I already had a ticket that just needed to be scanned and
I could go from there. No need to visit the ticket office. I had arrived 5 mins
before the first tour of the poison garden started and I had to get a picture
in front of the gate. They had the area closed off and you could only access it
bny guided tour. Some of the plants especially when in flower could be very
dangerous and cause death or you start bleeding just from smelling it. The
guide took us through some of the plants and that included some like yew that
was toxic when you used its wood, Rhubarb where you had to remove the leaves right
away or else the poison travels back. There were a few other plants including
Apple for the Rican thats in them and another that was berries that would make
you very sick. There was another one that you chew and is now a class A drug,
but comes from Africa and is apparently really bad as it has something to do
with the knife crime in London. Not what I want to hear. There was mention of
oleander, which apparently Australians are not allowed to burn due to some
toxins. Cant remember hearing about that one.
The rest of the garden afterwards, I took a wander around
including where the cherry trees were thinking there might be cherry flowers,
but there were nothing. I walked around the gardens as there were several
different parts including water features including fountains. I have no idea
what half the flowers would be, but there were bees everywhere flying around.
Not all the plants were flowering though and I decided after that to have lunch
before everyone else did. I had read somewhere about fish and chips, but
couldn’t find any, so thinking the bakery had pies, which it didn’t, I ended up
with a scone and a button biscuit. I wasn’t so sure about the clotted cream,
but I did get a small jar of jam, no idea if those were reused or thrown out.
After my light lunch, I walked to the castle after getting a
magnet and some books on the sites including the garden. The weather was cloudy
and then sunny, but I was hoping that it meant there would be no rain. The
castle drew closer as I walked along the path and I found I still had time to
explore before the tours that would kick off in the afternoon I took a walk
around the buildings and then went into the states rooms which were apparently
still being used by the family today especially during winter. There were a
mass amount of paintings of the family members way down the lines of Percy’s,
which I would learn about later. The library held 14,000 books and King Henry’s
second wife apparently had left her bible there, so its in the vault somewhere.
A few of the books are first editions and I did ask if the family had read any
of them and the answer was yes. One of the ancestors was implemented in the
Gunpowder plot, so had time to collect some books. The carvings on the roof
include musical instruments, but apparently one of them can be played, no one
has tried though. They have recently renovated the rooms, not all as there
isn’t the time, but replacing the carpets and even the walls, which is silk
covered boards placed on the wall, so no wallpaper, which is all interesting tidbits
that come about.
I ended up on the movie tour as I contemplated the history
if I had time. Turns out the first two Harry Potter were filmed here in
sections like the broom scenes, the whamping willow destroying the Ford Anglier
and when Hermoine walked out to the bathroom where she was then attacked by a
troll. That was all pretty cool and were shown some of the sites and even
included Downton Abbey and the Christmas specials when they visited a castle,
which was Alnwick. They were one of two that were allowed access to the inside
for filming and they were incredibly detailed as the crew made sure everything
was correct for the date they were filming. The other movie was Transformers
the Last Knight with Anthony Hopkins in the library, which is really cool. They did include Black Adder especially where Rowan Atkinson learnt to
ride a horse on the grounds, but by that time the guy finished and I joined the
history tour and there were lots of Henry’s in the list of names and they even
were involved during the Crusades, various wars with the English kings and war
with Scotland, which wasnt that far away at all only around 30 mile I think
from the border. The castle had been rebuilt and modified over time as there
are little bits that are still original, but everything is more modern if you
call it that. The current Earl wasn’t supposed to be one, but his brother died,
so he inherited it from there. There
seemed to be a history of the oldest dying and the next in line getting the
title when they have no direct line to pass onto. A lot of the stuff I picked
up on, I got while on the last tour on the inside. So three tours in a short
amount of time before the castle closed its doors for the day.
I wasn’t sure about the bus’ and wandered over to the bus
stop hoping I would not have to wait too long for the bus. I didn’t as the bus
was already there when I arrived and ready to leave. I jumped onto the first
one I seen that said Newcastle and realised I would be on another long trip
back via Morpeth. The other one was the shorter trip, but I was happy with the
longer one regardless as I was back on top even though stuck with school kids
some of the way back. They thought they were cool drinking energy drinks, as
one complained you had to be over a certain age to drink or get them. I thought
it was funny, but at least they were gone part way through the trip. I soon got
back to Newcastle after 6pm and that was what I call a very long day. One of
the people staying in the room is actually finishing off a walk tomorrow along
Haidrian’s wall, which is pretty impressive and he has done a few of the other
UK ones.
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