Greetings From Merry Olde England and The Scottish Highlands and Lowlands
Hello All,
I'm typing this on the flight home. No time or energy for blogging whilst stomping about the Highlands of Scotland.
This trip has been long in coming, as our primary objective was to reconnect with Pam and Al Woodhouse, of West Lothian, Scotland. Daughter Shannon and I met Pam & Al in 1999 on the same eclipse cruise when we met Victoria and Diana. We have been trying to get up to see them, and photograph the Scottish Highlands, all these years. So it finally came to pass. But of course we don’t touchdown at Heathrow without running down to Bath to see Victoria Humphries and her husband Jeremy and their son Ben. We saw Victoria for a weekend in Sicily last spring but we had not seen the boys since 2015.
And then, as we were pulling into the unloading lanes at the St. Louis airport another major facet was added to our trip. It was then we got the word that Queen Elizabeth had just died. We would be in the UK for the most momentous occasion in the living memory of most of her subjects. Her reign had spanned 14 US Presidents-Harry Truman to Joe Biden. The reminders were immediately everywhere, from news stands to flags at half mast to little shrines with a picture of the Queen and a vase of flowers.
We landed at Heathrow and headed directly down to Bath. Within 15 minutes we got our first "You're not in Kansas anymore, Jeanne Marie" moment.
Not sure how that little car can actually pull all that through the air! Maybe the bikes are connected to the drivetrain to help in getting up hills.
My ambitions for photography on this leg of the trip were modest. For one thing, We didn’t want to push too hard when we were jet lagged, but mainly we wanted to catch up with the Humphries. Besides, their home in Lower Hamswell is so scenic that a shot of some kind will invariably jump out in front of you at some point.
For instance, their closest neighbors, just across the lane from their house, raise and race thoroughbreds. They exercise these horses on a special built track that is lined with shredded carpet. I was invited to photograph these sessions, which given my affinity for photographing horses, was a great opportunity. Massively fun!
Berrymeade Cottage
Friday evening Victoria fixed us a fabulous dinner that we enjoyed on their Covid patio. This was one of Jeremy's accomplishments during lockdown. We mostly talking about the Queen. The affection these folks hold for her was, of course, easy to understand. She was respected the world over. Even our independence minded Scottish friends held her in very high regard. It was a great privilege for us to share this momentous time with our friends.
Saturday morning, September 10th found us up in the pasture for some horse photos. Is this a gorgeous setting to go horseback riding? Amanda is the first young lady you see and she is one of the racing family. She was very gracious to us. The other two girls trailered their horses in, taking advantage of the wonderful riding track. They were very accommodating too but we didn’t learn their names. More horses on the slide show.
After the horses went home we drove up the road just a mile or so to Beckford’s Tower. This tower was built in 1827 by a rather eccentric Englishman of the same name. It claimed a great overview of Bath so we thought as close as it is we should check it out. The tower was interesting and the overlook was very nice but we were at the wrong time of day for really dramatic photos of Bath. I did find a few subjects in the graveyard on the grounds.
Victoria comes from a family of Jack Russell lovers. She has been raising them all her life. Rhubarb is two years old and Twiglet is one of her pups, now four months old. They made quite a delightful pair.
Victoria Humphries- Arctic Explorer, Mountain Climber, Puppy Breeder, Wife & Mom
And these are the Humphries-Victoria, Ben, and Jeremy
And now it's time for the game Jeanne Marie and I play on every trip to the UK (or Ireland). It's called "What's this mean?" It's usually a sign, or sometimes just an expression, that we have no clue what is being communicated. Here is the first one for this trip.
Here's a little hint. We encountered it on the parking lot (oops, car park) of a nice grocery store. There was a tidy row of recycle dumpsters along the edge of the lot. What does it mean? No fair googling. I'll give the answer in the next installment.
Sunday after church Victoria, Twiglet, Jeanne Marie, and yours truly drove across Bath to Prior Park, which is just down the hill from Ben’s school. It also has great views of Bath and a beautiful bridge that wanted its picture taken.
The Palladian Bridge at Prior Park Ben Humphries' school is in the background
City of Bath from Prior Park
Then another delicious dinner and relaxing evening at Berrymeade Cottage. The Queens’s funeral was again a prime topic, as the plans were unfolding daily. The Humphries had already procured train tickets for the following Saturday, to pass through Westminster Hall as she lie in state. They were expecting a four hour queue.
Then next morning, Monday September 12th, our hosts had to get back to real life and we off to the Lakes District in the north of England. We had resolved to drive up to Scotland but it’s 11 hours from Bath to the Highlands so a one night stay in the Lakes seemed the best way to divide that trip into manageable pieces. And there might be something there to photograph.
Slide show with more pictures below.
