Part Nineteen – Glastonbury and Lots of History
We were able to take over the lease of the house in Glastonbury, so during the Christmas holiday period and we moved in at the end of the year. We needed a new bed, even though the house was rented furnished, so we bought a new one in Shepton Mallet on New Years Day 1979, the one we are still using. We lived in this house for about eighteen months and I drove into Wells to work every morning and took my lunch – it was only about five miles but I had to go through a couple of villages and you never knew when you were going to be held up by sheep or cattle on the road. It was no trouble and always arrived home for supper on time except on one occasion when the Somerset levels were flooded and I had to take a lengthy detour.
While living in Glastonbury we took advantage of the lore of the town, which is indicated by the sign at the entrance, calling itself the Isle of Avalon, the spot where King Arthur is supposed to have returned to die. In fact there are graves in Glastonbury Abbey reported to be of King Arthur and Queen Gwenivere, discovered in the 18th century by King Henry II. Glastonbury Abbey is an old ruin which we visited many times. It was destroyed by Henry VIII on the dissolution of the monasteries, but it was very old, said to be on the site of a church erected by Joseph of Aramethea after the Crucifixion of Christ. He was supposed to have landed on Wearyall Hill, stuck his staff in the ground which blossomed into a hawthorn tree. A cutting from the original tree is growing within the Abbey which blooms every Christmas, the only one which does at that time of year. Blooms are sent to Buckingham Palace every year.
Another prominent piece of Glastonbury is the Tor, a hill with the ruins of an ancient church on its summit. We climbed it several times. There is said to be a tunnel running from the Abbey to the hill but no one has ever found it. Near the Tor is the Chalice Well where the Holy Grail is said to be buried. There is a stream that runs from the well down the hill which is reported to have healing qualities. In the house adjacent to the well, the second floor is set aside as the upper room, set out to represent the Last Supper.
On the main street of Glastonbury is the George and Pilgrim Inn, a hostelry dating back to the 12th century. There are also numerous shops dealing with the lore of the area as well as books and articles dealing with the occult. Just below the Tor on the main road is a public house called the Rifleman’s Arms, where Joan worked for nearly a year and Linda babysat the owner’s two children.
The whole area of the levels is loaded with history and legend. At one time the levels were swampland and much of it under water which is why the hills were called islands. Just outside Glastonbury at Meers were discovered the ruins of a lake village which existed a couple of thousand years ago.
Between Street and Bridgewater is the Isle of Athelney, not really an island, but there is a statue of Alfred the Great. This is where Alfred hid out in the swamps from the Danes and where he is reputedly said to have burned the cakes. It was from here that he spied out the enemy on the Polden Hills and where he eventually defeated them and established the Kingdom of Wessex, and the Danes were confined to the north-east of England.
Just south of Glastonbury is South Cadbury, and many consider Cadbury Castle the site of the ancient Camelot. The “castle” is the ruins of an ancient Celtic hill fort on top of the hill which could probably house a thousand inhabitants.
Also west of Glastonbury is Westonzogland, and just outside is the field of Sedgemoor, the site of the last battle on English soil. It was when the Duke of Monnodt invaded to try to overthrow King James II. He advanced as far as Bath but was turned back and finally defeated at the Battle of Sedgemoor. His followers were subsequently tried in Tauton and many were hanged. It was known as the Bloody Assize presided over by Judge Jeffries.
Not far from Glastonbury was the Air Base at Yeovilton and the site of the Fleet Air Arm Museum. We attended two air shows there and Carl went to more. It was here we saw the prototype for the Concorde and the first Harrier Jump Jets with the vertical take off and landing. At one show the Band of A.M. Royal Marines, from Plymouth was there and I was able to talk to some of the players and requested a number which they played.
About 25 miles from Wells are both Bristol and Bath, both teeming with history. It was from Bath that I would take the train to London for my meetings. It was a non-stop and covered the 125 miles in a little over an hour.
Bath was known in Roman times as Aqua Sulis and was famous for its healing baths. The old Roman baths have been excavated and open to the public. Just above was the famous Pump Room where people at one time would drink the water; now it serves tea. Bath was very popular during the Georgian period and the architecture reflects that era, especially the Royal Crescent and the Royal Circus. They also have a well known Museum of Costumes in the Assembly Rooms. There is also a toy museum.
We went to Bath often as it was more interesting and easier to get around than Bristol. One time we went to Claverton Manor where we saw a re-enactment of an American Civil War Battle put on by people from the American University there.
Just behind the Baths is Bath Abbey and between the two is an open square where entertainments are put on. One time we saw a student performance of Hamlet done in 15 minutes, and when it was over they did an abridged version in about three minutes.
There were numerous trips we could take from our home here in any direction which did not require overnight accommodation. Just outside Wells to the west is Wookey Hole, one of the many series of caves in the Mendips. The Mendip Hills are of limestone which makes the formation of caves an easy matter. One of the places that is a favourite of caves is Priddy on top of which has an entrance into many unexplored caves. Nearby are the Priddy circles, stone age monuments.
Carl worked in the restaurant at Wookey Hole one summer and it was close enough for him to walk to work. We did take the tour through the caves once, an interesting experience -- not only for the caves themselves, but also for the auxiliary places of interest there. There was the fairground museum with its collection of historic fair attractions such as roundabouts and callisper. There was also Madame Tausaud’s warehouse, where were kept all of the wax heads that have been on display in the past in London. Then there was the paper making plant where paper was being made while we watched.
Further along the valley, which we have driven both above and below the hills, was the Cheddar Gorge and nearby Cheddar Caves named for the village nearby which gave its name to its famous cheese. Then there was Burrington Cormler, another small gorge which contains the famous Rock of Ages which gave its name to the well-known hymn. Other places were Rodney Stoke, the birthplace of the famous British admiral, Westbury sub-Mendip and Draycott and Axlridge. The valley is also famous for its strawberries which are plentiful and produce two crops a year.
Further along it was not far to the seaside resort of Weston-super-More with its beach and pier and the nearby nature reserve of Brean Down. Compton Bishop is the home of comedian Frankie Howard who was often seen in one of the pubs in Wells. Another resort nearby was Burnham-on-Sea, a much quieter and more sedate place than Weston which was always bustling. Between Wells and the M5 there is a hamlet called Mash which leads to the Mosk Causeway, another indication that the area was at one time under water.
The first large town encountered along the M5 was Bridgewater, which had a public library with recordings to rent and I went there often. Bridgewater is also the gateway to Exmoor. About five miles from Bridgewater is Cannington; if you turned right to the north here you came to Hinckley Point Nuclear Power Station where Gord McKenzie worked. The next place is Nether Stowey where Samuel Taylor Coleridge lived and wrote and where there is a small museum. Further along is Holford where his friend Wordsworth lived for a time. Next comes the harbour of Watchet, said to be where Colersdee composed the Ancient Mariner.
Turning left off the main road on a back road one comes to the village of Roadwater where I gave a fireside once and farther up the hills there was a cottage in the middle of nowhere where I gave another fireside. It was owned by a thatcher and there was no electricity or running water. Just outside Watchet is Blue Anchor where friends of ours, sort of contacts, lived and visited several times. The next main town is Minehead, a seaside resort with a Butlin Camp and where we held a couple of proclamations as West Somerset was one of our goals.
Going east from Wells we come to the village of Croscombe where we were at one point offered a house but it was too small. Then there is Shepton Mallet. Shepton Mallet is on the Fosse Way, one of the old Roman roads which can still be seen in places. It is also the home of Baby Chear, a kind of champagne made from pears, and also where Jill and Farhad Shahbahram, two of our Baha’is have a home and market garden. Still going east was Irlanmore with the East Somerset Railway and Nunery where there is an old castle, and then Frome, still in our Baha’I district of Mendip.
On the Mendip Hills above here are Stohe St. Michael where Jill and Farhad lived for a time and Oakhill Manor with its railway museum. Also Mells, a small village that was the home of the Horners, about whom the nursery rhyme was written. The next town is Westbury, which has another famous white horse on the hillside.
Going north from Westbury is Bradford-on-Avon where we held a proclamation and a fair exhibit at nearby Holt. Beyond that is Chippenham where there was a Baha’I who was originally a Canadian. On the way is Lacock, a National Trust village which is used in many films which need 18th and 17th century locales.
South of Westbury is Warminster where we also did some teaching. It is the UFO capital of England and more recently the site of many mysterious crop circles midway between Frome and Warminster at Longleat House.
Longleat is the stately home of the Marquis of Bath and we went there several times. It has the oldest safari park in the world and also the largest mazes. It covers a large acreage and on the hill above there is a picnic site called Heaven’s Gate which we used a couple of times.
The road from Warminster to Salisbury goes through Wilton, the original county seat of Wiltshire and the home of Wilton rugs. Salisbury Cathedral has one of the tallest spires in Britain and dominates the countryside. We toured the area but did not go inside because they charged admission. Just north of Salisbury on Salisbury Plain is Stonehenge, very famous pre-historic site, and to the east is Parton Down, the wartime bacteriological research centre, very top secret.
Southwest of Salisbury is a number of hill figures in the chalk, not really old, and Wardour Castle which we visited once.
On one occasion Wendy Momen came down and stayed with us for a few days. We took her for a drive through Dorset. We first went to Yeovil and then to Sherborne and from there south to Dorchester, the Casterbridge of Hardy’s novels. On the way we stopped to see the Cerne Abbas giant, carved in the chalk hill as an old fertility symbol. In the Dorchester area we visited Thomas Hardy’s cottage just outside the town. Further along the highway we passed through Puddletown on the river Piddle, whose name was changed by Queen Victoria. There was Tolpaddle, the site of the Tolpaddle Martyrs, during the fight for the farmers’ unions.
We then went north through Blandford Forum, the headquarters of the Royal Signal Corps, then on to Shaftesbury where we stopped for strawberries and cream, and took a picture at Gold Hill, often used in films and especially a famous commercial for Hovis Bread.
On another trip in that direction we visited Golsi Azizi in Lyndhurst in the New Forest; it was the year she and I were delegates to the National Convention in Harrogate. While in the New Forest we saw the wild ponies for which it is famous, and the place where William II (Rufus) was killed while hunting. We also saw the grave of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.
We visited Winchester (where our ABMs lived) and toured the Cathedral there. It is beautiful inside and we saw the tombs of both William II and Jane Austin who lived there most of her life. Behind the Cathedral is the famous Winchester School.
Another trip took us more or less in the same direction where we visited Corfe Castle on the Isle of Purluch. This is where King John kept his mother, Eleanor of Aquitaine, as a prisoner. We also visited Chisel Beach near Weymoleth where the Moonfleet Hotel is situated and the Abbotsbury Swanney. Further along is Lyme Regis which we visited several times. While we were in Wells, the film “The French Lieutenants Woman” was made there and the company repainted and changed the entire waterfront of the toon to make it look like the 19th century.
Between there and Wells is Axmington, another famous rug manufacturing town, and Somerton, the ancient capital of Somerset.
As a member of the teaching committee I had occasion several times to visit other places to the south including Exeter and Newton Abbott where one of the committee members lived. I also visited isolated Baha’is in Taunton and Milverton.
Along the coast of Bristol Channel west of where we lived are a series of hills called the Quantocks, the Brendon Hills and Exsmoor. They are really a continuation of each other and we have driven all around these areas at times. Along the road between Taunton and Watchet is the West Somerset Railway which at one time carried ore down to the coast where it was taken across to Wales. This part of the country is apple cider country and every January there is a Wassail ceremony among the apple trees.
We also visited several places north of Wells besides Bath and Bristol. One time we went to Badminton where they hold well known horse trials and where the game was first played. It is not far from Princess Anne and Prince Charles have their country home. This area is known as the Cotswolds, and when I had to go to meetings of the teaching committee with the chairman and secretary we met at Leamington Spa where one member lived (Patty Vicker) and the other at nearby Kenilworth. I would drive via Cirencester and such quaintly named village such as Stow-in-the-Wold, Moreton-in-the-Marsh, and Burton-on-the-Water.
I drove back one time through Broadway where I saw the horsemen and dogs getting ready for the hunt and through Evesham and Jewhesbury, both places where battles were fought by Simon de Montfort and the Wars of the Roses.
We also visited Berkeley where the castle where Edward II was murdered is located. The home of Edward Jenner is near the castle; he is the doctor who discovered the smallpox vaccine. Berkeley Castle is the oldest castle inhabited by the same family since the 12th century. At one time they owned land over which they could ride all the way to London. The last piece sold was the square in Mayfair named for them. They also produced a famous philosopher in Bishop Berkeley and one of the family founded a university in Oakland, California.
Another time we drove across the Severn Bridge by Chepstow Castle and up the Wye Valley as far as the ruins of Tintern Abbey made famous by the poet Wordsworth.
To the northeast we sometimes visited Aveberry on the A4 east of Chippenham. It is known for an ancient circle of stones about a mile in diameter. The village is in the centre of the circle and was made famous by the film “Children of the Stone”. Many are missing now but enough remain to tell where they were and also an avenue of parallel stones leading from there to Silbury Hill, the largest man-made hill known, the purpose of which remains unknown.
Not far are the East Kemeth Long Barrows, an ancient burial site. Just beyond Marlborough is Savernake Forest, in which is a church which contains the tomb of Jane Seymour, the third wife of Henry VIII. All along this part of the Wiltshire Downs are various hill figures carved in the chalk, which is very close to the surface with only a thin layer of soil and grass.
Several times we visited the Herberts, the couple who occupied the house in Glastonbury before we moved in. Christine was also a member of the National Teaching Committee, and they had moved to Brecon District as pioneers. They settled in a cottage in the village of Llangynids on the river Usk about halfway between Brecon and Abergavenny. They were usually weekend trips and about a two hour drive from Wells. We would drive through Bristol, onto the M4, the Severn Bridge and Chepstow Castle and Raglan Castle.
One time there Jeremy, who was a Board Assistant, and I went over the hill above Llangyside to Tredegar and down the valley to Blackwood and Newbridge where he contacted some of the new Baha’is who lived there. We came back by Ebbew Vale. One drive from there was into Brecon and around the Brecon Beacons to Merthyr Tedfil, then along the top of the valleys.
On one occasion they took me north past Builth Wells to the Elan Reservoirs. There are three of them and they supply most of the water for the West Midlands. The scenery throughout Wales is pretty spectacular. It was there I saw a rook for the first time, a very large type of hawk.
One time Christine took me through some back roads through the Black Mountains. We visited a church at Cewmyoy which parts have settled so it appears quite crooked on the inside. We also stopped at Llantbury Abbey. Beyond Hay Bluff where a lot of sportsmen do hang gliding, is Hay-on-Wye, which has the greatest number of book stores, new and used, in the U.K.
Back to Table of Contents
Back to Part 18
Forward to Part 20