Day 3
Tuesday, November 26, 1996
Touring Stratford and the "Gala"!
John's personal assistant, Dave (or as he becomes known... "Doive"), picks
me up at 8:45 am for a quick tour around historic Stratford-upon-Avon.
I get to see Anne Hathaway's cottage and Mary Arden's house.
"Doive" drops me off right at the center of Stratford so that I can do a little
sightseeing on my own.
I walk all about the town, taking several rolls of pictures.
Stratford, the birthplace of William Shakespeare, is the "perfect" English town
in my opinion.
There is so much history that I easily could have spent several days just exploring!
I get to see Shakespeare's birthplace and museum.
It is interesting to see how the actual house construction was done, since, as I
find out later, John and Marianne's home is constructed much the same way!
The beams in the infrastructure are actually made from the wood from old sailing ships.
After the ships were finished with their sailing days, the wood was re-used in the
construction of homes!
While doing some shopping, I find a handmade sweater shop and get an authentic
"wooly jumper".
Oh... translation time... that's "wool sweaters" in "American" English.
You can still smell a bit of the sheep in them!
I fire off a few more pictures and head for the center of town to meet with John.
The spiffy new Range Rover with John behind the wheel picks me up by the clock
tower in the center of town.
That is one nice vehicle!
We meet Marianne at a local pub for yet another round of lunch and the local ale!
After that, we return to King's Court to review plans and preparations for the
upcoming evening's event!
John has invited several dozen of his friends and Rover customers for (surprise!) an
absolutely wonderful dinner and a presentation by me on life at NASA afterwards.
Julian has made it up from Surrey for the evening, so he and I spend a great deal
of time cutting up and enjoying a pair of fine cigars!
The food is spectacular, as all of the meals have been, and after a showing (on a
HUGE monitor) of "The Dream Is Alive", an IMAX shuttle movie, I am introduced.
I make a 30 minute presentation on what it is like to work in
Mission Control
and how Shuttle flights are planned and executed.
Then, the floor is opened to a question and answer session.
There are some really good questions asked, and I had a wonderful time answering
them all.
Julian, of course, asks about "honey buckets"... Git!
Afterwards, John presented me with a collection of Rover medallions in a
handsome presentation box.
Each of the medallions is representative of a particular Rover car hood (or in
England... "bonnet") ornament!
They are quite lovely, and I am very touched!
As the evening wraps up (well after midnight!), we say our goodnights to the guests
and I head (or rather drag!) back to my room!
Day 4
Wednesday, November 27, 1996
Coughton Hall and touring the Cotswalds.
After a late night, I arise and enjoy a "full English breakfast"
in the hotel restaraunt.
The "full" breakfast consists of "Free Range" eggs (cooked
to your order), bacon, sausage, tomato, and fried bread!
By this time, I'm totally hooked on tea!
After finishing the meal, I head out on foot for Coughton Hall, just a mile or so
up the road form King's Court.
On the grounds of Coughton Hall are two churches, one Catholic and one Church of
England (C. of E.).
Each church has a cemetary in the rear with tombstones ranging from fairly recent to
quite old (we saw one stone from the 1500s!!).
The Catholic church was in a state of disrepair and was not open.
The C. of E. church was still "active".
I went inside, made a donation for some literature and postcards, and looked around.
There were several tombs actually inside of the church, including a very ornate one on
the altar itself!
It turns out that the Throckmorton family were owners of Coughton Hall over the years
and their patriarch and his wife were buried in the church.
The top piece of the tomb was a life size carving of Robert Throckmorton and his wife
laying together holding hands.
The tomb was carved to resemble a four-poster bed and was as beautiful as it was ornate.
As I left the church, I continued on to Coughton Hall.
As it turns out, it was closed for the winter!
I found this out as one of the caretakers opened a window and asked me, rather politely
(of course!), to leave the grounds as the Hall would not be open again until March!!!
Oh well!
I got to see the two churches and the outside of Coughton Hall!!!
I walked back to the main road that would take me back to King's Court, but went
across the street to roam around Coughton Village.
In earlier days, the small villages would form together at the common borders of
the adjoining farmlands.
In this case, it was also next to the Throckmorton's manor for protection!
John and Marianne picked me up and we went touring through the Cotswolds.
These are the central highland regions of England and, without a doubt, some of
the most breathtaking scenery we've ever seen!
One of the older towns, Broadway, has a picture-perfect main street with old
storefronts and cobbled side streets.
Looking back down the street, we were able to see farmlands stretching as far as
the eye could see!
Granted, with the normal "haziness" of the English afternoon, it wasn't all that
far, but it was still wonderfully impressive.
We enjoy yet another incredible pub lunch - this time at "The Barn Owl",
at the top of a hill.
As we were driving, we spotted a lone castle tower on top of the highest hill.
John explained that this was the "Beacon Tower", and would have a beacon fire lit at
night to provide a sense of comfort to the people in the surrounding lands.
In the fields surrounding the Beacon Tower are some of the largest, hairiest cows
we've ever seen!
It turns out that they are "Highland Cattle" and have adapted to the altitude and
cold by growing their coats so very long.
They are quite friendly and allow us to pet their muzzles.
We rush back to Mill Cottage (John and Marianne's 500 year old home!!) to pick up
Mark and continue with some more sightseeing.
We stop for (late!) afternoon tea at the Stalton Hotel, that is (supposedly) haunted!
Unfortunately (?), we see no evidence of ghosts!!
After this, I get dropped off at King's Court to dress for dinner!
Julian arrives again to stay for the rest of the week and we drove out to Mill Cottage.
We all head out for another great dinner at a local pub and return after midnight
again!
I am really living life now!!!
This way for more adventures!!!!!
return to the trench