DAY-14: From England To Wales
Day – 14: Tuesday, September 5, 2017
Starting Location: Stoke-on-Trent, England, UK
Interim Location: Gloucester, England, UK
Interim Location: Gloucester, England, UK
Ending Location: Cardiff, Wales, UK
For starters I mentioned that this hotel had an interesting story. We were up for breakfast around 9 AM. In the dining room we noticed many pieces of Wedgwood, the blue dishes with white trimming that we've all seem. And no they were not glued to the furniture to prevent pilfering.
So it turns out that this house was built by the founder or son of the founder of what would become Wedgwood. The name Upper House referred to the fact that the owner would have to take his horse "down" to the pottery and factory about a mile away. The "upper house" was situated to avoid the smoke, noise and other nuisances related to an industrial factory.
The TriTypch (3 related images I guess) depicting local scenes included the owner taking his horse from the house down to work at the factory.
With time available we made our way over to the Wedgwood factory and museum. We'd been to similar pottery sites before so much of what we saw was familiar. It's always fascinating to watch the artisans doing the hand painting to specialty pieces. After the walking tour we visited the museum.
Turns out that Wedgwood the company is like so many. It remained independent for most its history but in the late 20th century went through the typical M&A changes that happens with present day industry. Today Wedgwood and its co-owned companies including Waterford Crystal and Royal Dalton China are owned by a venture capitalist organization.
Though I was only familiar with the blue and white wedgwood pieces, we saw that they make much more. In an effort to keep up with the times and in a dwindling market for their traditional wares the company has ventured into other types of home decorating. They have a line of pottery for home planting that is pretty cool however it ain't cheap with a 6-7" pot running somewhere around 65 pounds sterling ($85+ U.S.), nice stuff though.
We departed Stoke-on-Trent in a relatively heavy rain, similar weather continued through most of the day but as with other days on occasion the sun popped out and blue skies appeared.
Our next stop was the Llanthony Secunda Priory in Gloucester, England the reported resting place of a Boone family long distant past relative (19-20 generations removed). The family link is apparently to Humphrey, the 2nd Earl of Hereford, de Bohun. Humphrey was the son of Henry V de Bohun a signatory of the Magna Carta.
We arrived in Gloucester and found the priory with little effort. The priory over the ages (~800 years) had been abandoned, left in ruins but in time revitalized only to go through the cycle again. There are actually ruins still there and currently there is a National Lottery funded restoration project underway for the priory and its grounds. No where in the ruins could I find a burial ground but the folks doing the restoration appear to have a reasonable history of the area and of the priory from which they are working.
We departed Gloucester headed for a new country for both Sheila and me. Neither of us had been to Wales but that was soon to change. From Gloucester we were on the A48 transitioning to the M4 on which we entered Wales and ultimately Cardiff.
A feature of the Wales segment of our travels will be a continuous posting of signs printed in both English and Welsh, the language with way too many consonants.
Our lodging for the next two nights was to be at the Cardiff Hilton in the center of town adjacent to the Cardiff Castle.
We were given a nice room and our services included use of the executive lounge throughout the stay. After appetizers and drinks in the lounge Sheila and I took to the streets.
In passing by Americanized food places I decided that I was in definite need of "seasoned" food, what better choice could I make than Burger King chicken tenders and a cheeseburger. For some reason Sheila did not want to partake in this different sort of dining experience.
By the way, the chicken and burger were sooooooo good!
We ended the night watching Hurricane Irma weather reports and doing other Internet things before it was lights out!
For starters I mentioned that this hotel had an interesting story. We were up for breakfast around 9 AM. In the dining room we noticed many pieces of Wedgwood, the blue dishes with white trimming that we've all seem. And no they were not glued to the furniture to prevent pilfering.
So it turns out that this house was built by the founder or son of the founder of what would become Wedgwood. The name Upper House referred to the fact that the owner would have to take his horse "down" to the pottery and factory about a mile away. The "upper house" was situated to avoid the smoke, noise and other nuisances related to an industrial factory.
The TriTypch (3 related images I guess) depicting local scenes included the owner taking his horse from the house down to work at the factory.
With time available we made our way over to the Wedgwood factory and museum. We'd been to similar pottery sites before so much of what we saw was familiar. It's always fascinating to watch the artisans doing the hand painting to specialty pieces. After the walking tour we visited the museum.
Turns out that Wedgwood the company is like so many. It remained independent for most its history but in the late 20th century went through the typical M&A changes that happens with present day industry. Today Wedgwood and its co-owned companies including Waterford Crystal and Royal Dalton China are owned by a venture capitalist organization.
Though I was only familiar with the blue and white wedgwood pieces, we saw that they make much more. In an effort to keep up with the times and in a dwindling market for their traditional wares the company has ventured into other types of home decorating. They have a line of pottery for home planting that is pretty cool however it ain't cheap with a 6-7" pot running somewhere around 65 pounds sterling ($85+ U.S.), nice stuff though.
We departed Stoke-on-Trent in a relatively heavy rain, similar weather continued through most of the day but as with other days on occasion the sun popped out and blue skies appeared.
 |
| House of de Bohun |
We arrived in Gloucester and found the priory with little effort. The priory over the ages (~800 years) had been abandoned, left in ruins but in time revitalized only to go through the cycle again. There are actually ruins still there and currently there is a National Lottery funded restoration project underway for the priory and its grounds. No where in the ruins could I find a burial ground but the folks doing the restoration appear to have a reasonable history of the area and of the priory from which they are working.
We departed Gloucester headed for a new country for both Sheila and me. Neither of us had been to Wales but that was soon to change. From Gloucester we were on the A48 transitioning to the M4 on which we entered Wales and ultimately Cardiff.
 |
| Severn River Bridge |
 |
| Welcome to Wales |
Our lodging for the next two nights was to be at the Cardiff Hilton in the center of town adjacent to the Cardiff Castle.
We were given a nice room and our services included use of the executive lounge throughout the stay. After appetizers and drinks in the lounge Sheila and I took to the streets.
 |
| The Price of Fame! |
In passing by Americanized food places I decided that I was in definite need of "seasoned" food, what better choice could I make than Burger King chicken tenders and a cheeseburger. For some reason Sheila did not want to partake in this different sort of dining experience. 
By the way, the chicken and burger were sooooooo good!
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