Back up

Penrath: the night was bitterly cold, so cold it woke me up and I searched for extra blankets. The wakefulness at sunrise continues, which will be handy tomorrow. This morning, I have to hunt for a laundrette, fortunately, there is one. I haven't seen any second hand bookstores on my travels which is disappointing, so is the lack of Youth Hostels. But I went off after breakfast and duly did my washing. Cost: six pounds. The dryer didn't quite do my socks, or a t-shirt, so I laid the socks out on the dashboard of the car and the t-shirt on the back shelf.

I also had a brain freeze. I followed a van with a trailer down one of the streets. The van pulled in next to a truck parked on the verge, so I passed it, thinking the driver was going to the construction site. Mistake. He was actually pulling in behind the rest of the traffic lined up at the traffic light and there I was, on the wrong side of the road facing the oncoming traffic. I'm sure I was red in the face as I backed up into the space the car behind me left – yeah, I could see the smirk on the guy's face. I gave him a wave and he laughed. I did, too.

So having finished the wash, and embarrassed myself, I went off to the Cosmeston Medieval Village. It's an interesting reconstruction of a village from 1350.
A house and a barn, with an area for animals at Cosmeston, Wales.

What's of interest, is that at Cosmeston, efforts are underway to revive rare breeds of livestock that were farmed here originally. Chickens - haven't changed much - but run around all over the place, black sheep with long tails run around in a nearby, lush paddock, weathered grey and hand-woven bee hives sit on a wooden shelf behind the priest's house in the garden that grows old varieties of plants and behind this wall are two orange pigs. Yes, orange:

They're so cu-ute!

These little hamhocks were so friendly it was as if they expected to be touched. Nup. I've nothing against bacon on the hoof, but for quarantine purposes, I left them alone. I didn't want to get pinged by customs when I returned to Australia. I figured they were plenty fondled by others and they could do without my attention. Still, the temptation...

You can take the guided tour - complete with the guide in costume - but, like other places I've visited, the guide was with a group of school children; English this time and remarkable by their attentiveness. As I waited outside particular buildings, I could hear them asking questions and the guide's considered answers.

I'm glad I wasn't around during the medieval age. Apart from the lack of proper medicine, invasions, the hard farm life... no television or internet, the sanitary facilities would put me off for life. I can think of no other reason for this:

Outside amenities... without a door... and no paper... in a shared space. I'm wondering if those really are nettles...

Of course, I took lots of photos – and finally, the batteries died in the camera. Since I was done with the village, that was okay. Better yet, back at the car, my socks were dry.

At the hotel, I set the batteries into the recharger and went across the road t'pub for lunch. I love pub food. Today it was the steak and ale pie with curly fries; absolutely delish. Although the half-Guinness with the pie nigh put me to sleep. In fact, I went back to my room and had an hour cat nap. I have been sleep deprived on this trip, so the nap did me the world of good. When I got up, the batteries were recharged. I reloaded them into the camera and went for a walk in the forest to Alexandra's Park. Picked off shots of a squirrel, who manically tried not to be caught, some birds and the trees in the gentle, soft, afternoon light. I did think I was going a little mad with the camera, I've taken hundreds of photos, but... I can sort it all out when I get home.
See those two open windows set into the roof? Yep. Lugging a full backpack up those narrow stairs was a job and a half.

And I swear, the closer you got to the top, the higher each step was. But, I had a hell of a view and the hotel itself is pretty grand. I had to consider what I needed for the day very carefully. If I forgot, well it was up those stairs again to retrieve whatever it was. I'm beginning to think people take one look at how much luggage I have and think 'hey, we'll give her the highest room in the highest tower, she needs the exercise'. Maybe it was simply 'ah, nice, polite tourist from Down Under; a room with a view I think.'

Tomorrow, I take off for Ireland. I only have the afternoon and Friday to find family. Monday is a public holiday, damn it. Well, it's the last 'official' research I need to do, so from Friday night I can go where I please. Maybe a quick trip to Sligo.