Travelogue: Church Yards and Abbeys

We spent our last night in Wales at the Baskerville Arms Hotel in Clyro, walking distance from Hay-on-Wye.  The hotel takes its name from the Arthur Conan Doyle story and some believe he drew his inspiration from stories in this area.I took an early morning walk through the church yard.  We had been seeing them along the drive and walked through a few with their old trees and grave markers.  This one was lovely with ivy covered stones, the view of the Welsh hills beyond, and the old village houses on all sides.

Then, it was ruined abbey day.  We started at Tintern Abbey, along the Wye River.  It’s amazingly well preserved despite the lack of a roof.  The interpretation is very good; they really help you visualize what it looked like in the 12th century.  It wasn’t crowded and I found myself waiting for the monks to come from the chapter house.  Took time to read Wordsworth’s poem out of the volume I bought in Hay-on-Wye the day before.  We had lunch at the little tea room across the road.  Despite having beautiful weather to see the Abbey, it started to rain and hail so we stayed for an extra cup of coffee and I had a slide of Banoffee Pie.  Then, it was a quick dash to our car and on to Glastonbury.

The weather was awful as we cruised the motorway.  Rain, then a little snow even.  We wondered if it was worth heading to Glastonbury but we persevered and by the time we got there it had stopped raining and the sun came out.  Glastonbury is where the monks found the supposed grave of Arthur and Guinevere and I felt like I had to make the pilgrimage.  Of course, it might have just been a 12th century hoax to bring money to an ailing community.  The site is marked even though the stone and remains are gone.  Glastonbury, like most abbeys including Tintern, was basically torn down during Henry VIII’s disolution.  All the good stuff–windows, lead, decorations–were taken and sold.  There is little left of Glastonbury but it is still an impressive ruin sitting right in the middle of town.

Because of its ties to Joseph of Arimathea and Arthur and Merlin, Glastonbury has turned into something of a new age town.  Lots of magic shops and flyers advertising healing and tarot readings.

We made it into Salisbury without incident.  We are staying at the Rokeby Guest House, an Edwardian brick house which is just a ten-minute walk to the city center.  We made the walk last night to eat at Harper’s Restaurant.  Had a lovely supper and today we are ready to explore the cathedral.