Sunday, September 07, 2008

A Wander Through Wells........


A rather grey Friday was spent by my friend and I at the American Museum at Claverton Manor in Bath. It was time again for the annual vintage textile event.
We would normally enjoy a cup of tea on the terrace with the stunning view over the gardens, but not this year....
The chilly weather did inspire me to buy this gorgeous Welsh blanket though, with its festive colour scheme. (I have plans for it....;-))

I also bought the pretty embroidered cottage picture, beautifully stitched by hand.
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Saturday, hubby and I drove into Wells, which is less than 1/2 an hour from our home.

A market is held in the high street on Saturdays and creates a bustling atmosphere. I watched a lady producing a fabulous bouquet of cut flowers, including the largest blue hydrangea heads I think I have ever seen. The £50 price tag was a little beyond my budget!
We sat with our picnic, over looking The Bishops Palace and gardens away from the crowds, before walking back to the main high street.
If you walk through the arch, to the left of the National Trust Shop, you will come face to face with the impressive Wells Cathedral, with its hundreds of carved figures across the front.
This statue had two jackdaw friends using his hands as convenient perches!


We then walked up the side of the cathedral, just in time to watch the 600 year old clock strike 1pm.
If you carry on past the cathedral you will reach 'The Vicars' Close' built in the C14th, which is said to be the oldest complete street in Europe.
The behavior of the vicars centuries ago was often scandalous with them womanizing, fighting and stealing! The vicars were formed into a college and the Vicars' Close was built to house them keeping temptation well away!
It is still lived in today.

At the bottom of the close is a stairway which took the Vicars directly to their hall giving them further protection. It is linked to the Cathedral by a covered bridge.

Hope you enjoyed the mini tour and are enjoying your weekend,
Niki x

24 comments:

  1. What a lovely treat to get a look around Wells today! Not on my list of things to do so enjoyed it all the more for that! Beautiful embroidery! Can't wait to see what you do with that blanket - snuggle up with a good book by the stove I expect!! t.xx

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  2. How lovely to live so close to such a beautiful place. I've been to Wells and particulary like the clock in the cathedral there. I have sat opposite it for ages to watch its antics.

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  3. Anonymous4:06 pm

    What a great 'virtual' tour, Niki! It seems beautiful a place to visit!
    And the embroidered cottage picture! Oh, it is divine!
    Monicaxo.

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  4. Thank you for the lovely tour! The scenery is SSOOOO different from Texas!
    Blessings,
    Lorilee

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  5. I agree, that was a lovely tour! Your pictures are always beautiful!!! I didn't mind the clouds at all and I love that embroidered cottage picture!!!!

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  6. How beautiful!
    Next time I cross the Channel I really MUST go beyond London...

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  7. Anonymous12:11 am

    Niki
    My sister Janeen sent me your link again today. I think she enjoys teasing me with your beautiful pictures. lol. I so love everything England(ish). Maybe after my 21yr old daughter gets married next year I can start saving for a visit. Until then I will live through your trips :)
    Melody

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  8. Anonymous12:13 am

    Oh how gorgeous your photos are!! I loved the tour and wish I could have walked down those amazing roads!!! Thank you for sharing, I think I shall make myself a lovely cup of tea in a china cup and take the tour again..... aahh what a way to spend the morning half way across the world!!
    Kiss Noises, have a wonderful day, Linda Lilly Cottage.

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  9. Really enjoyed the tour...We were there in April this year, brought back some wonderful memories
    Thank You Joan ((*_*))

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  10. GOsh what a beautiful Country you have Niki! I dream of visiting someday...but until then I am so glad I get to see your photos. xoxo Heather

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  11. Hi Niki

    Aren't we lucky to live so close to such a lovely City.

    I don't think I've been down Vicar's Row but have photos somewhere of me as a child watching the swans ringing the bell.

    Do you know if they still do that?

    Love the embroidery and the rug!

    Sue x

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  12. Anonymous2:29 pm

    Merci pour tes com avec ces belles photos
    bise
    rose

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  13. What a beautiful place you're so lucky to live nearby!
    Love the embroidery.
    Yvonne

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  14. I feel like you have just given me a day out, how fabulous, so kind of you to share.
    Hugs Lynn xx

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  15. Thank you very much for your mini tour! I think Great Brittain is so beautiful, too bad the pound is so expensive to us these days (you probably think it isn't that bad :-D). I love how everything is so well kept and preserved by the National Trust. My town is beautiful too, but when I see your mini tour I feel very humble and I know that my town cannot stand in the shadow of Wells though I have to say that the hydrangea's are cheaper here. (ok let me have only one advantage). Thanks for touring us around! Have a nice week!

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  16. Oh Niki - I wish I could of joined you for lunch...your neck of the woods looks divine!...still doing a little bit of family tree digging and one side of my family are from Gloucestershire...so technically we are neighbours, in a couple of generations removed kinda way...No seriously i love your part of the country and if we didnt have to go across the channel so much i would be your next door neighbour like a shot!

    Your treasures are divine...i think I would of nagged and nagged you about the blanket until you sold it to me!!Ha Ha He He!!

    OoOoh back in the day! what were they like!!! naughty monki's...!

    At the weekend i went to see 'The Duchess' they were VERY promiscuous then too! oh and did I weep - you must go and see it or have you already been?

    Hope you are well and all the family are good! speak to you behind the scenes soon!

    Love as always Happy x

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  17. Anonymous10:26 am

    First, sorry for my English, it can be terrible...
    I love your blog,these are not only words but also an award that I am very pleased to attribute to you blog as one of my favourites.
    Take care!

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  18. Wells looks BEAUTIFUL, Niki! Hubby has been there, but I haven't. It is now on my list (I just hope I don't have to wait 20 years before my next trip, or my list will include every train stop in England!) lol

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  19. Anonymous4:07 pm

    what a fab place Wells is. I have not been there for many years but i must get back for a visit. You took some really professional shots too, i love the one with the birds on the hands of the statue!

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  20. Hi Niki, brings back memories, Mr. Bloom and I stayed a weekend there a few years ago - beautiful place, a return visit will have to be made I think. Thanks for the info about Castle Coombe, I feel better about not having gone now, plus I wouldn't have got that lovely frou-frou shade for the poodle, would I!

    Lucy x

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  21. Anonymous6:46 pm

    Wow!! What a fabulous blog. I love it. And you website is just gorgeous, would love to have seen your original shop.

    Sue xx

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  22. Hello Niki. Like you I live close to Wells and was delighted to see this entry on your blog! It is the most lovely town and I hope, one day, to live even closer than I do now! I love to wander into the Cathedral and enjoy the cool splendour of it, especially if the choir happen to be practicing and a 'free' concert is had! Other favourite Wells experiences: watching the ducks and swans on the palace moat; enjoying delicious lunch at The Good Earth; any film at the excellent tiny, independent cinema and most of all, just wandering with my lovely Hubby on a Sunday afternoon. What a beautiful blog you have, and shop - all totally DESIRABLE items! Happy Autumn to you! Denise.

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  23. You sure have some great opportunities over there *pout* those places are so old and so gorgeous...I'm curious about that behind the flowers...umm...don't know what to call it a tower or some sort of building of stone...very interesting!

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  24. Anonymous6:13 am

    Such wonderful architecture!

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Thank you for finding the time to visit me...
Niki xx