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  1. #126
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    Quote Originally Posted by strigils View Post
    I feel guilty for saying this as i know there are a lot of businesses hurting but its even nicer without the crowds.
    Was on my first trip to London some 40+ years ago

    Saw these t-shirts and found it rude

    Aqua Sulis and Cheese-200720cfd3363-1-jpg
    I get it now

  2. #127
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    Its a bit of trek

    Aqua Sulis and Cheese-r25-jpg


    Used to laugh as kids directing tourist cars across this ford to the right of the bridge, there's a dead end 1/4 mile up, we'd wave at them as they came back past pretending we didn't understand....moonrakers and all that.

    Aqua Sulis and Cheese-r29-jpg

  3. #128
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    Next week i will be sharing my experience of Ardman Aminations and the 36 hours it took moving bits of plasticine about to get a 5 second clip on a famous film they made.

  4. #129
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    ^^That's just idyllic

    (the bridge photo )

  5. #130
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    It gets deeper toward the far end, not so idyllic in a low slung sports car when they get waved through like say and Austin 3000

    EDIT

    Looking back on myself i don't really think i was very nice, in fact i suspect i was a proper little shit.
    Last edited by strigils; 02-05-2021 at 12:31 AM.

  6. #131
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    The earlier picture of Lacock Abbey is taken after the Avon River bridge, which is quite famous. As kids we used to bugger off all day going miles and on a few occasions we'd get to lLcock and the bridge and dam it partially. On one such occasion i was wearing my dads 18ct signet ring and lost it during the process of moving stones. I was mortified and searched for ages. Eventually i gave up and carried on only to find a WWI rusted revolver whilst digging in the mud for stones - i kept it for years as a reminder of what i'd lost and often thought why it found its way there, presumably some "LuckY" WWI survivor had tossed it into the river to cast his nightmares away with it. I hope it worked for him but i'll never know. I eventually threw the revolver out, it was too corroded to be of use to a museum. I assume i am the only one with it memories.

  7. #132
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    OK, apologies for the delay. An update but first some words which you can choose to skip over but it sets the context for Lacock, yellow highlights for those with ADHD.

    Lacock was first mentioned in the Domesday book in 1086 with a population of less than 200; with two small mills and a vineyard. The village's main attraction Lacock Abbey was founded on the manorial lands by Ela, Countess of Salisbury and established in 1232; in the reign of King Henry III. Lacock was granted a market and developed a thriving wool industry during the Middle Ages. Reybridge, and a pack horse ford, remained the only crossing points of the River Avon until the 17th century.


    Following the Dissolution of the Monasteries in the mid-16th century, Henry VIII of England sold it to Sir William Sharington, who converted it into a house starting in 1539, demolishing the abbey church. Few other alterations were made to the monastic buildings themselves: the cloisters, for example, still stand below the living accommodation and can be seen today, along with the main architecture. About 1550 Sir William added an octagonal tower containing two small chambers, one above the other; the lower one was reached through the main rooms, and was for storing and viewing his treasures.

    Most of the surviving houses in the village are 18th-century or earlier in construction, and people still live there today. There is a 14th-century tithe barn, a medieval church, an inn dating from the 15th century and an 18th-century lock-up and village school which is still used today.


    Lacock Abbey was later passed on to the Talbot family who built a full upstairs extension and turned it into an early-19th-century-style manor, although still leaving the original cloisters and many of the abbey rooms intact.

    In 1916 the late Henry Fox Talbot's son Charles bequeathed the Lacock estate to his niece, Matilda Gilchrist-Clark, who took the name of Talbot. During World War II many evacuees came to Lacock and lived on the estate till the latter stages of the war. The estate – comprising 284 acres (1.15 km2), the Abbey and the village – was given to the National Trust in 1944 by Matilda Talbot.


    Lacock has been admired by many, including the playwright George Bernard Shaw who was a regular visitor in his later years, mainly for his hobby of photography;there is a section about him in the Lacock museum.


    In recent times, Lacock has appeared in several films for its historic and unspoilt appearance and the abbey in particular appeared in several of the Harry Potter films. It is one of England's most visited historic villages.


  8. #133
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    ^ Actually the recent times comment is bullshit. Lacock due to the fact it has no modern buildings has been used as a film set for decades, i first went there with my parents in the 70's and then it was regularly used. We'd pop in and find the whole high street roped off, no cars and hay scattered everywhere. The George pub (more later) open and park up, mum and dad would grab a drink and off we'd pop to watch the filming. Back then it was mostly used for period dramas on TV and few films.

  9. #134
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    Pictures, alhough none of the Abbey, i couldn't be arsed to pay to get in and do all that. During our walk round i had a chat to a couple of the "locals" and we exchanged some memories.

    first pic;
    Aqua Sulis and Cheese-r26-jpg


    little road past the church to a local pottery, the timbred house is c16th Century. The village is a mix of houses covering over 500 years, some adapted and changed as fashion dictated but all old. Turn left above and you go to the ford i mentioned in the posts above.

    Aqua Sulis and Cheese-r27-2-jpg

    St Cyriac's Church above has parts dating to the c14th and later additions up to c18th. Is thought to be located on a much earlier Anglo Saxon site.

    Turned around and then started the loop round the village...there have been changes...more cars (few when i was young) and fewer pubs (more later) for a pub crawl.

    Looking ahead

    Aqua Sulis and Cheese-r28-jpg

    The silver transit van in front of the Elizabethan gabled end house middle picture, look left and there is or was the Carpenters Arms, a proper locals pub in the day, now sadly a part time eating establishment.

    Aqua Sulis and Cheese-r28-2-jpg


    Exhibit A m'lud of a sad decline in British culture...twas a proper beer and cider house in me youth.

    Walking nearer

    Aqua Sulis and Cheese-r30-2-jpg


    Walking into the small street i present the The Angel or more correctly "The Sign of the Angel", another pub.....no longer. Now a B&B and restaurant.

    Aqua Sulis and Cheese-r33-jpg
    Last edited by strigils; 03-05-2021 at 12:27 AM.

  10. #135
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    The Angel is a c15th boozer that was later converted by some rich wool trader nouveau riche in the c17th.See these cashed up idiots have been ruining the local life for centuries, its not a recent thing. Luckily when large scale woollen mills (of which there are many in the surrounding towns) made the small scale single house looms un-profitable then Angel was justly returned to being an Inn.

    I stopped and chatted to the current managers a very nice coloured British chap and his white South African partner. I told them i used to be a regular in the 80's and they invited us in. I forgot to take pics but the place hasn't really changed much just less dirty and doesn't stink of stale booze.

    I have cribbed a couple of internals of the web so you get the idea, all of Lacock retains its internal original details due to preservation through teh national trust. I remember the fire place vividly but it was much less tidy and i people have been known to get pushed into it as a laugh.

    What was the bar now restaurant.

    Aqua Sulis and Cheese-angels-1-jpg


    bedroom

    Aqua Sulis and Cheese-angels-2-jpg


    Might not have the crusty beer heads i remember but it still has some charm
    Last edited by strigils; 02-05-2021 at 11:27 PM.

  11. #136
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    Ok Last for today.

    After the Angel on the left is a really old place. Most of the wood beam houses are c15-16th and most still retain their original oak beams, they have over time moved with the wood as it shrank, twisted and aged but its character.

    Aqua Sulis and Cheese-r36-jpg


    Case in point above.

    As is was walking away a chap was walking toward me and when i said good morning he said i was going to charge you a tenner for that picture, its my place.

    I explained that i wasn't really a tourist and was reliving memories, saying i'd first walked the streets 45 years ago. He stopped demanding money with menaces and we chatted about life in Lacock.

    Here is the reality folks:

    Lacock is and has been National Trust (NT) since the 1940's as mentioned in the boring narrative at the start. Whilst the NT as an institution has been a guardian of national heritage and treasures for over 100 years and has surely saved much history from the builders bulldozer it hides an ugly truth from the public for those that live in its charitable houses.

    The whole of Lacock is NT and that means no one, not a single person who lives there owns a building, they all rent and are but temporary lodgers.

    The rents aren't exorbitant but the conditions in which you live to benefit from the bragging rights to say i live in Lacock can be underwhelming.

    The chap i talked to was bemoaning the "Overpaid Bastards in London running the shit show" who as landlords never spend a penny on the place, he insisted we look at his peeling plaster, "Confirmed" and sagging ceiling "Confirmed". It all got a bit depressing so i diverted him to the closed pubs (Angel and Carpenters) and he agreed they used to be lovely boozers in the day, once he'd got all misty eyed over his favourite the Carps i bade him farewell and reminded ourselves not to engage in any more NT discourse with locals.

    We looked back the way we came and there was the lovely couple from the Angel and that Paul McCartney song popped into my head. PW Botha would be turning in his grave.

    Aqua Sulis and Cheese-r35-2-jpg



    Lovely couple and i vowed to take us back to Lacock and abuse their hospitality when things ease COVID wise.
    Attached Thumbnails Attached Thumbnails Aqua Sulis and Cheese-r35-jpg  

  12. #137
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    Quote Originally Posted by strigils View Post
    wood beam houses
    Heaps of those around here

    1 type
    Aqua Sulis and Cheese-dsc03046-jpg

  13. #138
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    ^ Posh bastard

    It is amazing they survive but goes to show how well the materials worked. I love the curved beams or crucks which come from deliberately selected trees to yield the curves required.

  14. #139
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    Quote Originally Posted by strigils View Post
    Posh bastard
    It's a small country home

    Probably had 3 generations living there. 2 or 3 cows and a pig.

    Working class

    Today you'd never know the inside. They'll get renovated, by people tired of the suburban shitlife, where you can't piss in your own garden, so to speak

  15. #140
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    ^ Interestingly having a garden that is not overlooked offers a bloke one of lifes pleasures, namely having a bloke piss in the garden and saving having to water one less plant or two.....i'm told.

  16. #141
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    Should be possible

    Aqua Sulis and Cheese-7-jpg

  17. #142
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    Right, enough of medieval sanitary discourse, tomorrow we'll pop in a medieval boozer.

  18. #143
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    Quote Originally Posted by strigils View Post
    Right, enough of medieval sanitary discourse, tomorrow we'll pop in a medieval boozer.
    The south west is such a beautiful part of the world and I really haven't spent half as much time there as I should have done. Part of the issue is getting there though because it's not that easy/cheap to get there. I was in Exeter a few years ago - meeting a good mate who I first met in Thailand, funnily enough - and it was a pain just getting there at the weekend. Once you get off the main rail lines in that part of the country it's murder; especially so as you get to Devon and Cornwall etc.

  19. #144
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    ^ that's in the Pigs lower foreleg Hal, i am more in the top of it, shoulder if you like

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