Back in late October (over the Hallowe'en weekend) we did a couple of fun things. On the Friday before we had a day off work and went over to Hereford, a very historical city in the west country, about 2 1/2 hours from here. Not a bad drive, as there is some lovely countryside to see in Herefordshire. The main reason for our visit was to go to the
medieval cathedral and see the '
Mappa Mundi' there. This is a world famous map, created around the end of the 1200's showing the then-known world. It was a fantastic experience for me to see this (being a cartographer by trade.) It was also interesting to see the displays which explained its significance, and the famous chain library...books on chains! We also had a good lo
ok around the city centre, an interesting and bustling place with lots of varied shops and street entertainers. Good to do a charity shop trawl as well. We spotted the scene of the recent fire that had threatened to destroy a very old timber building right in the centre. Hopefully that can be saved. We also made a a brief visit to the River Wye. Shame the weather was a bit chilly and windy...brrrr!
On the Sunday - Halloween - we went down to the
Rollright Stones, an ancient stone circle site on the Warwickshire/Oxfordshire border. This was to see the Cotswold Order of Druids perform a Samhain ceremony, and to visit somewhere that would be very atmospheric on Halloween. I was worried as we left in the rain, but it soon cleared as we headed South, and was clear but quite cold, and misty later - certainly atmospheric! On the way, we stopped off at the small town of Shipston-on-Stour, which had a very 'country' feel to it, and seemed a bit well-to-do. On our wander around the town centre, we went into an antique shop that was full of teddy bears, and then onto a deli to pick up some nice biscuits to munch!
The Rollright Stones site
was easy to find, and certainly fascinating to see. The site is actually three separate locations: the main circle of stones - 'the Kingsmen', the 'Whispering Knights', and the 'King Stone' on the other side of the road. Basically, a smaller version of Stonehenge. As the ceremony wasn't going to start for some time, we had a slow wander around the stones and chatted to some other visitors, many of which had come dressed up in pagan/druid style. Carla got her medieval style cape on later, and we also brought a drum for 'raising energy', as well as two lamps. It was amazing to watch th
e sun start to set over trees the ceremony started. Soon the ceremony started, and the druids welcomed us and guided us to enter the main stone circle from the East, where two druids (dressed in white robes) held aloft staffs for us to pass under. It looked really good as the sun set and it got dark and misty: the ring of people within the stone circle, surrounding the fire, which had lit jack-o-lanterns around it. The ceremony went on for about an hour or so. To start, the druids invoked the elemental powers by greeting the four cardinal directions of the compass, starting in the east where we entered. Next was an Anglo Saxon tale of heroism and dragons performed by a troop of alternative style morris dancers. Very entertaining! Then we had more ceremony, which included the group taking honey mead and a bit of flapjack, placing sticks into the fire, etc. These were symbolic of making a connection with ancestors and saying farewell to recently deceased family and friends. Things got a bit disorganised on their part I felt; the ceremony dragged on a bit with lots of silence, which surprised me. Oh well. The druids closed the ceremony by giving thanks to the four cardinal powers, and then as a group we all held hands and shouted in a final bout of energy releasing. A fascinating and generally enjoyable visit.
As usual I had to decorate for Halloween. Seemed to take ages to carve those pumpkins, but at least I had a few classic horror films on DVD to watch!
I got to see some fireworks on the Sunday after Bonfire Night, as usual from my kitchen window. The days before had been wet, so Sunday was actually the best day for fireworks here. The people across the green outside of our flat had their annual party.
I went to both the Memorabilia (Birmingham NEC) and Collectormania London (Olympia) shows in November. Very good events to attend. I managed to get some more autographs and chat to the usual friends. I also managed to start selling some of my old collection of film and TV memorabilia; items I no longer want, such as my old British comics got sold to a dealer. Thankfully Ebay has helped in the process as well!
r. It was also the birthplace of Sir Winston Churchill. Anyway, we had a very enjoyable few hours wandering 
around the palace (which included seeing the amazing library!) and then the gardens (designed by "Capability" Brown) which are very extensive and impressive. Highlights were 'the cascade' - a fantastic waterfall at the end of the lake, the Grand Bridge, and the walk along the lakeside in the trees which was beautiful, and having our packed lunch in a part of the gardens that gave us fantastic views of the palace on other side of the lake. It was nice weather that day as well - very mild. A shame we didn't have time to look around the neighbouring town of Woodstock, as it seemed to have some grand buildings and interesting shops. Oh well, next time.
Avon to have a look around the picturesque town centre, the river front, and go into the Shakespeare's Birthplace Museum. On the way home we stopped off at Kenilworth to visit the ruins of Kenilworth Castle, notable for its stunning setting and Elizabethan formal garden. On the Sunday, we went to the cinema to see "The Eagle", a tale set in Roman Britain about an adventure into the wild lands North of Hadrian's Wall. An enjoyable film, despite having a couple of dodgy historical aspects, and a little drawn out in the end section, but it was very well shot and the performances were solid. Less violent that I thought it would be as well.
