This is the beautiful town of Hungerford we were lucky to stay at The Bear Hotel this is one of the oldest and most historic Inns of England it is said to date back to the 13th Century. Standing on what has been called " the Crossroads of England" it has witnessed many famous events in our history.
It is recorded that in 1537, Robert Braybon, landlord, gave evidence against three highwaymen who had stayed at the Inn and were accused of robbing a merchant between Bagshot and Windsor.
Three years later, Henry VIII gave the hostelry to Queen Anne of Cleves and in 1541/2 to Queen Katherine Parr who survived him. Queen Elizabeth I visited Hungerford and it is said that one of her coachmen died at The Bear.
During the Civil Wars, Hungerford was embroiled in the fighting and Charles I made The Bear his Headquarters.
The two famous diarists of the 17th Century, John Evelyn and Samuel Pepys, both stayed at The Bear and were impressed by the quality of the fish.
From the 6th to 8th of December 1688, William, Prince of Orange, later King William III, stayed at The Bear and on the morning of 8th in his bedchamber he met the Commissioners of James III, stayed at The Bear and on the morning of the 8th in his bedchamber he met the Commissioners of James II last of the Stuart Kings, Lords Halifax, Nottingham and Godolphin bargained with the Prince all morning and in the afternoon he retired to Littlecote House. Within a short time, James Stuart had fled to France and William and Mary jointly ascended the throne.
I really feel fortunate to have been able to stay in such a wonderful place, so steeped in history.
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19 comments:
What a lovely place!I like places like that, places that have some history.
Me too Robert. Maybe they will place a plaque: Peter and Maria Birchwood stayed here. In Spain, there were many bars that had the legend: Ernest Hemmingway used to drink here. Then a new bar appeared and non plused by their rivals claims put an plaque that said: Ernest Hemmingway never drank here.
And there are probably lots of bars with notices saying "Oliver Reed drunk here."
Yes, all of them ! Funnily enough, because Hemmingway used to travel a lot, these plaques are also to be found in Cuba and Italy. There is one in Venice at the Danielly Hotel.
The room we stayed in, at The Bear Hotel had an iron balcony in front of a wooded field with silver birches and a brook meandering underneath it. Further along, it had a lovely English garden with pink roses and lavander that gave a wonderful perfumed aroma as you opened the French doors that led to the balcony. One thing I have always dreamed of having is a balcony with climbing roses along side it.
This one had a small table and two chairs and if it hadn't been because the World Cup was on, we would have had dinner served in the balcony.
In a way, I'm just like my grandmother. When she became a widow she used to travel all over Europe. She even went to Russia, and in the evenings she would write her experiences in a diary. She would describe the moment when the air-plane would take off and be so minute in her descriptions that you could almost smell the coffee in the cabin and I had the feeling that I was travelling right along side with her whenever I read her stories. Every time she went away somewhere, I would eagerly wait to read about her travels.
I don't like travelling, but I like seeing things on TV or youtube, e.g. there was some film of the South Pole. Tierra del Fuego must be a strange place, because if you look south, next stop is Antarctica.
I don't ever want to get on a plane, but I don't mind trains. Unfortunately you can't smoke on them nowadays.
Tierra del Fuego and Patagonia are strange and wonderful places Robert. In Chile you can take a day cruise that takes you to the Antarctic; and the guide explained to us that the new glaciers are aqua in colour whilst the very old, millenary glaciers are a deep emerald green, some of the crew got chunks of that ice to pour in our whisky glasses. Very sad really; before our eyes we witnessing one of these giant emerald green Icebergs crash before our eyes. The millenary glaciers are melting. I went to Chile with my dear Chilean friend Marisol, who invited me there, she wanted to show me her country; and she wanted me to see and experience, the really wonderful strange places that exist in Chile. The north is completely arid, its a desert, the middle of Chile is template and towards the south, its really cold. We also drove to see the nearly miraculous flowers that grow in the dessert dunes, these flowers growing in the sand, have attracted scientists from all over the world to study how is it possible that flowers can germinate and bloom without water in the sand, this is a phenomena! When we landed in Santiago de Chile, we got in her Jeep Tajo and drove straight down south, towards Chillan, it was quite a sight to see the continuous cordillera de Los Andes stretching all along, in what it seemed like a road to infinity and embark in a wonderful adventure, just the two of us, and it truly proved to be an experience that I will never forget for the rest of my life.
It sounds very interesting, Maria. You mentioning deserts had me puzzled, because Chile is so narrow, you're always near the sea. Maybe the moisture from the sea gets frozen over the Andes before it can fall as rain?
I wouldn't like Antarctica to melt, that would be a great shame. The only good thing though is that we'd get to see what is actually under the ice. When Victoria took her trip to Antarctica a couple of years ago, she was visiting a piece of her homeland, for I believe Antarctica and Australia were once joined together, but Antarctica broke off and floated south to where it is now.
Oh! I didn't know that Antarctica had broken off Australia that is very interesting! and you are correct, in that the flowers growing in the desert get their moisture from the sea, with the Humbolt current but its also curious that they can grow in the sand, they don't need any earth. They look like heather but in other colours: yellow, white, red and less violets. I must dig out the photos I took.
Yes, Chile is very narrow and the sea is over the Cordillera de los Andes; its so narrow, that often we found ourselves in Argentina! No kidding. There was a very curious thing.. As we were approaching Chillan, I noticed some men along the road with some gigant metal syringes and I asked Marisol what was that? She casually said: "earth shrimps"
I asked: "What? earth shimps? are you kidding me? she said: "no. I told her I had never heard of earth shrimps. She said, they used the long metal syringes to suck them out of the earth. I asked her if they tasted like sea shrimps? and she said yes and that as soon as we got to Chillan, she was going to send for some so that I could taste them. These are three times bigger than normal shrimps and the shell is harder. I brought the shell of one, which I still have as a curiosity item. I had never heard of earth shrimps in my whole life!
Chile sounds like a very strange place indeed, Maria!
It would be interesting to know what insects pollinate the flowers.
I don't know how Argentina got to have so big a share of the land. But I suppose the land settlement evolved historically, as there are no straight lines to suggest political interference, as is the case with some countries in Africa, and much of the frontier line between the USA and Canada.
Yes,Chile is a very strange place. Later on Marisol took me to the market and there I saw what looked like mushrooms but instead of being like ours, these wore like small brains. I asked my friend what was that? She said these are diguenas. Then I enquired how do you eat those. She said they are prepared with onions and radishes as a side salad, so I bought those to have them as a side salad for lunch. Marisol told me these grew on trees in the jungle, people cut them and sell them in the market. Once they are prepared, you must eat them straight away otherwise they create a sort of saliva liquid that can make you sick. I was having an animated conversation over lunch and I delayed a little in eating them, did see the saliva like liquid but my curiosity to eat them was stronger and that night I spent it throwing up! I had been warned but I didn't quite believed it until it happened to me.
Robert, I don't know how those desert flowers are polinated, I imagine that is why the scientists were there but I heard that their primary interest was to get these hardy seeds to grow them in other tough terrains. At least, when we disappear just like the dinosaurs did, these flowers will still be blooming.
Remember that Chile and all south America and North America, belong to the Spanish Empire and then countries like Britain got chunks of North America in what is now the U.S. and Canada. Brazil at one time belonged to Spain but the Pope gave that territory to Portugal. So all the answers to your queries can be found in the Spanish library in Zaragoza.
Good heavens, that's why I stick to sausages. You can't go wrong there.
There was something that Delia Smith was cooking, some kind of chilli maybe, and it would literally take the skin off your hand if you didn't prepare it right. It was acidic!
I don't know how Delia Smith was preparing that chilli Robert as it is only mince meat with chopped onions, garlic, cumin and cooked red beans. accompanied with rice. I think there are people who add hot pepper but I don't like hot pepper.
On the road to Chillan, my friend Marisol stop her jeep, she got out of the car where there was a tree with yellow flowers, she jumped up and down a few times until she snapped a small branch of this tree, then she brought it to the car and asked me to smell it. It had the most marvelous perfume and when I said that, she said: this is why the tree was called: Aromo. Then she added: "Welcome to Chile" and that was the start of our adventure
Maybe it was the pepper that was acidic. I can't remember now.
Perhaps they should bottle that perfume and sell it. As a matter of fact, I find perfumes - or rather smells - quite interesting, because they're so evocative.
So do I Robert. the smell of mirth and incense reminds me of churches. My favourite smell is orange blossoms and cinnamon, also baked bread and cut grass, coffee and roses. I was wearing the new Cristale fragrance by Channel which smells of citrous and I got stung by a bee!
Chilli also has tomatoes and tomatoes are acid, but I think it must have been the Jalapeno hot peppers Robert, without a doubt.
Well, I'm steering clear of chilli and peppers, definitely.
I find that a smell can take me right back to my earliest days. I don't know why. Just a chance smell, half-imagined, while in a shop or walking along the road.
I love the smell of old books. Also, the guide books they used to sell in stately homes and cathedrals had the most delicious smell.
Robert, I find that old books have a musty smell although their are shops that clean them with a special desinfectant. Another smell that I like is pine, lavender, and when I'm painting its turpentine. Bubble gum has also a nice smell too.
Our Victoria is in New York at the moment waiting for her plane to Tokio and I sent her your regards Robert. She spent two nights there and visited the Statue of Liberty, Central Park and Times Square. She will write me back from Tokio.
Ah, the Statue of Liberty. It's always holding a torch but just try getting it to give you a light!
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