Worcester Cathedral, Gypsies and Snowdonia National Park

Today, Julie and I started out on the last leg of our trip. We were taking a 2 1/5 hour trip to Wales but turned it into a 5 hour trip with a stop in Worcester and photography in route. Life in in the Journey and we were reminded of this by many interesting sites along the way.

         

  We took a side step east to Worcester , as to avoid getting anywhere near Birmingham and its infamous traffic. The Worcester Cathedral is the Bishops seat for the county of Worcestershire. You probably have a crusty bottle of their sauce in your refrigerator. As Cathedrals go this is a special one in England. The Cathedral dates to the early 1200's and is the resting spot of King John of the Magna Carta fame. 

King John (Lackland John) chose to be buried in Worcester Cathedral in 1216. John wasn't liked as a king by his lords and nobles and that led to trouble in the palace . Eight hundred years ago his lords forced him to sign the Magna Carta consisting of 63 edicts which was the first set of laws to place limits on a despot. We should note however that the Magna Carta does not speak for the rights of the common man, simply the lords and their relationship with their king.  John was not real pleased and proceeded in the coming years to take vengeance on each lord that forced him to sign. The Baron's War went on for many years as rights between the lords and kings were contentious right up until the English civil war and beyound. This was the first challenge to the devine right of Kings and for that reason was annulled by Pope Innocent the III. . Though future kings would also abuse their power the Magna Carta stands as the first document limiting power of the sovereign in western civilization. The document is highly revered in the history of the United States and was referenced in arguments around the principles of our constituion. The document was used in the early formation of the constitutions of the colonies of Virginia, Pennsylvania, Maryland and Massachuetts. Magna Carta was referenced through the 15 and 16th centuries as basis for laws and the court systems of England and the colonies. One of the copies of the Magna Carta resides in the US National Archives.  In 2016 the 800th anniversary of its signing will be celebrated. Magna Carta has been referenced in my own personal family rules and regulations in the "Don't touch my Stuff" edicts of 1989. These edicts limited the rights of children in handling my stereo, musical instruments, and other essential items.

We continued our journey north and east to Wales and Snowdonia. The scenery on this sunny day was absolutely stunning. We are looking forward to exploring Wales' castles, and the beautiful little towns and villages.

We were quickly reminded that Wales has its own language and the proud Welsh are giving it a resurgence in schools and in public use. Signage is bilingual and on first observation they could use some vowels. I will never be able to pronounce any of this, so I'm lost. Julie does pretty well in understanding the signage and we were able to get to our destination.

While traveling through the valley we were startled by the sound of a very low flying fighter jet roaring through the valley. We pulled off at the next lay-by and were met by a group of friendly Welsh folk who took pleasure in demonstrating their Welsh and welcoming us to their "country". We learned that this Valley is the training ground of the US and RAF fighter pilots in low level flying. Enthusiasts come to spot the planes and photograph them from on top of the hill. The jets fly below in the valleys so you get pictures of the jets from above; very unusual. There are groups of people who use social media to find out when they are flying and assemble on the mountain top and photograph the jets as they conduct their flybys. I was immediately struck by their high end lenses and photo equipment and you could tell this was a serious hobby. Apparently we saw the last of the 20 jets fly by for the day which included F16's. The men showed me on their cameras some absolutely fantastic photos they captured that afternoon. The planes fly so low that you can see the pilots waving to them. One man had a huge American flag which they wave to cheer the pilots on to further stunts. Who would have know...there is a club for everything!

We arrived at our rented small house in the village of Tan Y Grisieu. Our accommodations are clean and cozy complete with coal fireplace but we are definitely in a spot we did't expect. We are in a slate mining village in the National Park surrounded by miner families. We will make the best of it and I'm sure it will be very interesting. It is a home base central to all the places we want to explore.

On our way through the English countryside today we happened to pass a Gypsy family camped by the side of the road. They had their horses staked to pasture and were building a fire to cook their meal. We had to smile when we saw the solar panel attached to the outside of the Gypsy caravan.; no doubt for a TV.  We were reminded of Wind and the Willows and the incredible Mr Toad.

We are looking forward to fun explorations tomorrow yet we are concerned about spending a cold night in bed. I'm not proficient in this coal stove thing!  Not too late to learn new things. Good night Brrrrr.