London Diaries: Bristol, Cheddar and Bath

Seven weeks ago, on a chilly Sunday morning, I found myself at London Paddington station ready to board the 8 a.m. train that would take me to Bristol Temple Meads. The ride was a pleasant two-hour slide show of urban and rural landscapes, of which my favourite was that which had acres of green farmland dotted with large bales of hay. It almost looked like a game of giant chess being played by invisible hands.

Bristol

At the station in Bristol, I met Alison who was an excellent guide for the rest of the day and we briefly explored the city before driving to Cheddar and Bath.

Some photos from Bristol:

Bristol is a hilly city.

A view of Clifton Suspension Bridge spanning Avon Gorge, in the distance.

Clifton Suspension Bridge was completed and thrown open to the public in 1864! It was actually designed for light horse-drawn traffic and still serves today’s vehicular stampede of 11,000 to 12,000 every day. Now that’s what I call some serious foresight! Can someone forward this post to the city planning authorities of Bangalore?

On the road leading to the airport (and onwards to Cheddar), just as you’re leaving Bristol city, you come across vast open fields of green grass on either side. If you find London too expensive to live in, you should consider moving to Bristol.

Lots of open space to run around on.

I finally got to see how GPS (Global Positioning System) devices work and learnt that they aren’t 100% reliable. Like personal computers and mobile phones, these devices are prone to “freezing” too.

A Garmin GPS device in action. The interface is like that of a video game.

Cheddar

About an hour after leaving Bristol, we arrived at the village of Cheddar (yes, the same one where the delicious cheese was first made), famous for its gorge and caves. The weather was lovely with a nice clear blue sky and the sun out. Perfect for some ‘tramping’ (as New Zealanders call it) up the hills on either side of Cheddar Gorge.

After quickly refuelling on sandwiches and tea at an English inn where waitresses wore grandma frocks/aprons of yore, we began on our mission of locating the starting point. We chose the less popular approach over the hills.

Starting our climb on the path less travelled.

Wherein the shadows hide it, therein lies the gorge.

At one point during our hike, I wanted to find a cosy grass-covered spot and take a short nap as a way of legitimising my visit. Alas, when it comes to doing things on impulse, I usually am the only one interested. So, we continued walking and taking in the postcard of a view.

Cheddar Reservoir as seen from atop the hill.

It took us approximately three hours to finish the shorter version of the Cheddar Gorge walk.

Once back in the village, I was keen on seeing how “the only Cheddar made in Cheddar” was made at The Cheddar Gorge Cheese Company. So Alison and I went for the tour. Most of what I saw there, I had already seen on TV on a show called ‘Cheese Slices’ so I didn’t learn anything new or find it interesting. But I did enjoy trying out a piece of cave matured Cheddar, which has got to be the cheese with the strongest flavour I’ve ever tasted. Delicious!

Bath

We were back on the road in no time and my desire to have an afternoon nap was fulfilled, surprisingly, in the car. I started coming to, just as we entered Bath and drove up the hill to the city’s best kept secret — a park overlooking the entire city for a stunning view. I literally rubbed my eyes, stretched, yawned, opened the door and stumbled out with my camera in tow.

A view of Bath city from the park on the hill.

Bath city, closer up.

Half an hour later we were down in the city itself and walking the streets of Bath. This is what my eyes feasted upon:

Pulteney Bridge, one of few worldwide to be lined with shops.

A building with interesting architecture.

I was intrigued by how the boat would navigate this bit of the River Avon.

The most inviting city sightseeing bus I've seen yet.

Alison checking out photos from 'Earth From The Air', an exhibition by Yann Arthus-Bertrand that is showing in Bath till January 2010.

Bath Abbey next to the Roman Baths

By the time I had pressed the shutter release button on the last photograph, I was overwhelmed with visuals. Even though I hadn’t felt like I was rushing through a packed itinerary, my sponge-like brain was exhausted with all the stimuli it had to process from three different locations in a span of eight hours!

If I had to do it all again, I would give at least one whole day to each destination to absorb all of its sights and sounds properly. Well, as they say, “There’s always a next time.”