Ships, castles and spas – passing through southern England and Wales COMPLETED - Page 15 - PassPorter - A Community of Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Disney Cruise Line, and General Travel Forums
As of January 1, 2019, we have closed our forums. This is a decision we did not come to lightly, but it is necessary. The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk. The server software itself must be updated, and it cannot be without removing the forums.
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There are other changes as well.
Why? Well, the world has changed. And change with it, we must. The lyrics to "We Go On" for IllumiNations say it best:
We go on to the joy and through the tears
We go on to discover new frontiers
Moving on with the current of the years.
We go on
Moving forward now as one
Moving on with a spirit born to run
Ever on with each rising sun.
To a new day, we go on.
It's time to move on and move forward.
PassPorter is a small business, and for many years it supported our family. But the world changed, print books took a backseat to the Internet, and for a long time now it has been unable to make ends meet. We've had to find new ways to support our family, which means new careers and less and less time available to devote to our first baby, PassPorter.
But eventually, we must move on and move forward. It is the right thing to do.
So we are retiring this newsletter, as we simply cannot keep up with it. Many thanks to Mouse Fan Travel who supported it all these years, to All Ears and MousePlanet who helped us with news, to our many article contributors, and -- most importantly -- to Sara Varney who edited our newsletter so wonderfully for years and years.
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If you miss us, you can still find some of us online. Sara started a new blog at DisneyParkPrincess.com -- I strongly urge you to visit and get on her mailing list. She IS the Disney park princess and knows Disney backward and forward. And I am blogging as well at JenniferMaker.com, which is a little craft blog I started a couple of years ago to make ends meet. You can see and hear me in my craft show at https://www.youtube.com/c/jennifermaker . Many PassPorter readers and fans are on Facebook, in groups they formed like the PassPorter Trip Reports and PassPorter Crafting Challenge (if you join, just let them know you read about it in the newsletter). And some of our most devoted community members started a forum of their own at Pixie Dust Lane and all are invited over.
So we encourage you to stay in touch with us and your fellow community members wherever works best for you!
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Saturday 13 June – part one: what do you mean there’s no parking here?
We were both awake early again, not long after 6:00am, although I violently objected to the fact and tried to sleep until at least 7:00am. After all, we are on vacation! I then caught up on the trip report, until 8:30am rolled around, as that was when breakfast started. We headed in there, and here’s the breakfast room. Isn’t it neat?
A very neat teapot…
… and some neat coasters as well!
Oh my goodness, you should’ve seen the selection of hot food they had on offer. Wow, it literally went on for pages and pages! I decided to get the toasted bagel with cream cheese and smoked salmon, and they were excellent. Look at the size of the bagels!
Mark went for the traditional English grill, made up of two rashers of grilled farmhouse bacon, a farmhouse sausage, grilled cherry tomatoes, buttered mushrooms and a fried egg, and it looked decidedly on the healthy side, compared to what I was having…
I wasn’t done yet, as I also went for the simply sweet package, two homemade pancakes, served sweet with a jug of maple syrup. Oh wow, these were absolutely superb. They were beautifully rolled up inside, a sign of just how well they’d been cooked.
I really could not fault breakfast here, both the choice and the quality of food on offer… When we checked out, the guy on reception, who was different to the one who had checked us in insisted on shaking both our hands before we left. My goodness, talk about a warm welcome!
We headed out about 9:20am, thinking we’d have plenty of time to get to the Prior Park Landscape Garden.
We had a bit of a shock when we got back, as there was only disabled parking at the gardens. When I had a more careful look in the National Trust book, sure enough, it did say that, but it wasn’t highlighted at all. Very irritating!
We had a look to see if there was any parking nearby, but there wasn’t. Instead, they recommend you parking in the centre of Bath, and taking a bus up there. Ok, not in our plans today… We could’ve parked about half a mile away, but it was raining quite heavily, so that just didn’t feel like a good plan at all. We debated what to do, and eventually after looking at various options, we decided to head to another nearby National Trust property. That meant heading back through Bath, which at least gave us the chance to have one last look at it…
Our route took us out through some lovely villages, although it was tough to get photos of them, with the rain and the mist.
We were heading to the Great Chalfield Manor and Gardens,but when we got there, there was a sign that told us it was closed today. We just couldn’t believe our luck.
Fortunately, there was another National Trust property nearby, the Clouds Garden, so we made our way over there, seeing some more lovely villages on the way…
We got there just before 11:00am, which shows you the type of morning we’d had – literally we’d been on the road for an hour and 40 minutes. We parked up, and headed into the garden, seeing a sign about Wiltshire’s best keep secret, and my goodness, they were right. Talk about a secluded entrance to it!
The gardens were originally an industrial site, a woollen mill that went bankrupt. It opened in 1797 and was a four storey building linked to the main house by a bridge. It didn’t last long, and by 1885, it had ceased trading. It was left empty for several years, and then was purchased cheaply by William Davis, the grandson of the original mill owner.
However, the transformation into what you see today didn’t start until the early part of the 20th century. Doctor George Hastings moved in and only stayed three years, but made a huge impact on the garden, laying out all the paths, adding the statues and garden buildings, and planting out most of the hedges.
This is the tea room that was originally a billiard room…
With it having just rained, the flowers looked beautiful with the dew on them….
What a wonderful dinner! Aside from the obnoxious hens, it looked like a great way to end your relaxing day.
I can't believe your luck the next morning! Breakfast sounded like quite the treat, but then the dumb luck of the National Trust places! Although, maybe there is a bit of luck that you had so many nearby to choose from.....
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Tanya
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I got a little behind with your trip report. I can't believe how long the line to get into the spa was.
Sorry about the bad luck with the national Trust properties that day. The garden pictures are lovely.
Liz
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Your dinner looked delicious and so was your breakfast. Sorry your morning plans got a little mixed up, but the property you ended up touring is really beautiful!
Breakfast looked delicious! Mark's did somehow look healthier than the average English breakfast - not sure why, as it still was pretty heavy on the meat!
Too bad about the various issues with National Trust properties, but at least the gardens look like it was a good ending to the search for an open spot with parking. I love the look of rain on flowers, and you got some great shots!
What a wonderful dinner! Aside from the obnoxious hens, it looked like a great way to end your relaxing day.
I can't believe your luck the next morning! Breakfast sounded like quite the treat, but then the dumb luck of the National Trust places! Although, maybe there is a bit of luck that you had so many nearby to choose from.....
Your dinner looked delicious and so was your breakfast. Sorry your morning plans got a little mixed up, but the property you ended up touring is really beautiful!
Fortunately, pretty much every National Trust property is beautiful and worth seeing.
Breakfast looked delicious! Mark's did somehow look healthier than the average English breakfast - not sure why, as it still was pretty heavy on the meat!
Too bad about the various issues with National Trust properties, but at least the gardens look like it was a good ending to the search for an open spot with parking. I love the look of rain on flowers, and you got some great shots!
So glad the three place was open, but what a rocky start to the day. Well, except that wonderful breakfast, which looked like a very good start. The flowers do look so beautiful with dew drops.
That was quite a breakfast you had and was amazed by the beautiful teapot and those coasters with so much intricate detail in them! You can usually judge a good place with things like these! I just wanted to dive onto your plate and after that smoked salmon, which looks so good! Just love it! Sorry about the trust property situation, but seems it all worked out! Lovely photos of the gardens and the flowers!
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October 6, 2017-Enjoying an amazing dinner at Victoria & Albert's with PP's Dot and Drew
My TR from my most recent trip is now underway. Includes: Universal Studios Florida, Disney World and Sea World Orlando Trifecta TR -Updated December 10th! TR is now COMPLETED!
So glad the three place was open, but what a rocky start to the day. Well, except that wonderful breakfast, which looked like a very good start. The flowers do look so beautiful with dew drops.
I love photographing flowers after it's rained, as I agree, they just look stunning with dew on them!
That was quite a breakfast you had and was amazed by the beautiful teapot and those coasters with so much intricate detail in them! You can usually judge a good place with things like these! I just wanted to dive onto your plate and after that smoked salmon, which looks so good! Just love it!
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Saturday 13 June – part two: sleepy bees and cunning birds
When we got to the vegetable patch in the kitchen garden, we found this guy in the strawberry patch…
He’d managed to get himself stuck in there, poor thing. As we watched, a member of staff came along, so we told him, and we all tried to figure out how the bird had got in there. We couldn’t work it out, but thankfully the bird was one step ahead of us, and he got himself out, literally using his foot to force up the netting. We looked after he left, and sure enough, there was a tiny bit of slack in it. Wow – you never would’ve thought it!
We went into the Orchard Room, where they had this fascinating display about the gardeners who have looked after this place over the years…
We headed next into the sunken garden…..
Then we went across the main lawn….
I thought Mark was smelling the roses here…
… but in fact he was admiring this guy, who was fast asleep!
We carried on walking…
… and found this guy with a rather large worm!
… and made it over to the temple borders…
Next we saw the dye pool…
… before making our way over to the lily pond, which was designed to be a mirror pond, reflecting the foliage around it. Some of the varieties of water lily here have been growing since the 1920s…
With that, we were done and made our way out.
Next: shall we have a cup of tea in there to see what it’s like?
The colors are still so vibrant - even without the sun shining! Beautiful. You're right with the rain drops on the petals, it does make for a classic looking photo.
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Tanya
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I then caught up on the trip report, until 8:30am rolled around, as that was when breakfast started. We headed in there, and here’s the breakfast room. Isn’t it neat? 
I decided to get the toasted bagel with cream cheese and smoked salmon, and they were excellent. Look at the size of the bagels! 
there wasn’t. Instead, they recommend you parking in the centre of Bath, and taking a bus up there. Ok, not in our plans today… We could’ve parked about half a mile away, but it was raining quite heavily, so that just didn’t feel like a good plan at all. We debated what to do, and eventually after looking at various options, we decided to head to another nearby National Trust property. That meant heading back through Bath, which at least gave us the chance to have one last look at it… 
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You can usually judge a good place with things like these! 
Just love it! 
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