Today was great! First, I'll post some pictures (not real sure why they're not in the order I posted them
), then talk about the trip and finish with a rant.
exterior shot of the Elizabethean manor house
another exterior shot of the Elizabethean manor house, centered on the entrance
Berry Pomeroy Castle, South Devon
Berry Pomeroy Castle with Elizabethean manor house and St Margaret's tower
Adoration of the Magi, a medieval wall painting in the gatehouse
Berry Pomeroy Castle's setting
interior shot of Elizabethean manor house
It's a 5-1/2 hour drive from North Yorkshire to South Devon--and I left the bad weather behind! It's an absolutely stunning day down here on the English Riviera. I'm not sure if the 'English Riviera' bit is a joke or not--sometimes you just can't tell. But it is pretty country down here and--today at least--the weather is fabulous!
A little while ago, I liked English Heritage on Facebook and occasionally I get pictures of some of their properties in my news feed. Early this past week (or so), they posted a picture of Berry Pomeroy Castle which looked so cool I had to check it out. It's supposedly the setting/inspiration for several Gothic novels. When I put the post code in my TomTom, I found out it was only 5-1/2 hours away; since I had a good break this time, I fugured why not?! It's summertime and we have lots of light. So I made a booking at The Sea Trout Inn (which is actually pretty well sign-posted so it was easy to find) for Sunday night and set off. I had a great drive down and the weather just got nicer and nicer the further south I went.
Berry Pomeroy is supposed to be one of the most haunted castles in England, but today--on a nice sunny day--I didn't feel anything paranormal. Bummer! Although, given what 'good vibes' I was getting, that could almost be paranormal right there. Anyway, it's a great place for a picnic, plus they have a nice tea room right there in case you get a bit peckish and didn't bring your own picnic. I decided to hit Berry Pomeroy on Sunday because the tea room is not open on Mondays, which was nice to know going in. I'm not all that impressed with the English Heritage directions but they didn't steer me wrong for this castle; I didn't get so lucky with my other choices, but that's OK--it's nice enough down here for a return visit.
I've been making a conscious effort to stay away from the news with this latest tragedy in the States, but it's hard. Between the idiots who find it amusing, the arrogant (mostly) white jerks who go on about how bad the Aurora Mall is and the whole gun ownership issue, I'm struggling with this one. The very idea of the news saying the guy had no links to terrorism! By its very definition, this guy is a domestic terrorist! I think he may replace Timothy McVeight as the poster boy for home grown, domestic terrorism. And all the posts on Facebook about 'the Supreme Court has upheld my Amendment #2 right to bear arms'--sheesh! Is this the same Supreme Court who you rag about all the time because of Roe vs Wade? I'm just trying to get this straight. It's not a smorgeous board--you don't get to pick the rulings you like and only support them! I'm actually on board with your right to own a gun--it's assault weapon ownership (and those extra capacity magazines) I have an issue with. At some point--and I hope it's soon--we're all going to have to learn how to respect each other AND our differences! It's our differences that have made us great, not everyone agreeing with a few bigots!
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