We knew we had a long way to drive today so we attempted to leave
Bristol early, aiming for an 8:00am departure. We managed 8:45am!
It was difficult to see Bristol Cathedral
so close and not visit it! (Luckily we had seen it during the
2016 trip.)
First stop was at a “Service” along the motorway for breakfast. (
These are similar to the Australian version but generally much
bigger and with more shops). Not much was open there but Subway
offered what amounted to an egg and bacon roll so we opted for that.
Two hours later, we arrived at “Bear Grylls Adventure” where Satoshi
had booked a ropes course and a rock-climbing experience.
I chose a more sedate experience - Aston Hall. This is a large Jacobean
house with over 30 rooms open to the public. As nobody has actually
lived there since 1858, there is little in the way of furniture etc
in the house. At that time, it was bought by what is now the
Birmingham City Council. The ceilings in some of the rooms are
highlights because they are richly decorated. Almost every
floorboard and stair squeaked! I thoroughly enjoyed my visit.
The imressive facade of Aston Hall
The Dining Room
The damage to this staircase was caused by a cannon ball
coming through the window during the Civil War!
The Great Hall
Part of the frieze just below the ceiling in the Great Hall.
This is known as the King's Bedroom because King Charles I
slept here for one night in 1642!
The Long Gallery
The Library - all the books are fake!
After I had finished exploring Aston Hall, I still had some time
before I needed to collect Satoshi so I headed towards a large
church nearby. As I neared the entrance, I was surprised to see
literally a pile of shoes! On entering, I was even more surprised!
Inside, the church was packed with what I assume were Indian people
wearing white sari-like attire chanting away for all they were
worth! I think the people just inside the door were equally
surprised to see me so I retreated back to the café at Aston Hall
where I had a piece of Victoria Sponge and a cup of tea before
heading back to collect Satoshi.
From there we headed to Birmingham Cathedral. This is a relatively
recent building having been built from 1710 to 1725 in the Baroque
style. Unfortunately, there was some building work going on in the
sanctuary so visitor access was limited to the Nave. The claim to
fame of this Cathedral is the stained-glass windows by William
Morris and Edward Burne-Jones, members of the Pre-Raphaelite
movement. Because of the building work, it was not possible to get a
good photo of two of the windows but the others are below.
This is a photo of the cathedral in 1940
after it had been hit by incendiary bombs. Fortunately,
someone had the good sense to remove the windows previously
and hide them down a tin mine somewhere! What a lot of work it
must have been to restore it all.
We then drove to our accommodation, "The Royal
George Hotel". Unfortunately, there is nothing at all "royal"
about it and we are glad to be here only one night! The actual
room is fine but the bar below is, as Satoshi says, "a bit
rough".
After settling in, we took an Uber to the Birmingham Symphony Hall
in order to get some dinner and attend a concert. The music was the
"Academic Overture" by Brahms, "Piano Concerto No. 2" by
Rachmaninoff and "SerenadeNo.1" by Brahms. The piano soloist was
Behzod Abduraimov, the conductor was François Leleux, and the
orchestra was the Birmingham Symphony. It was an excellent concert
in every way.
