Category Archives: Away Event

The Magic Circle 2026

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On Monday 12th January 15 of us set off via train and tube to discover the Magic Circle.

We found it housed down a small quiet cobbled cul-de-sac, close to Euston Station and at 11:30 trooped in for teas and coffees.

We then split into two groups doing either the History or the Mystery part first, then changing places for a second stint.

The first magic show was performed by Chris Wood and he recruited various members of the audience to join in his close up magic involving coin, card and ball tricks.

Chris Wood

 

 

 

 

 

 

One trick involved coins which, when held inside a transparent fabric, would mysteriously escape through the cloth.

None of us had any idea of how any of the tricks were performed.

The History session was held down some stairs in an underground museum and covered the story of magic and conjuring starting with stories from ancient Egypt. We were shown a book dating from medieval times showing how some of the tricks were performed, demonstrating that magicians were ‘honest tricksters’ and not in any way witches or in league with the devil.

We were told of tragic stories in which magicians had met their end on stage through various accidents, including that of Chung Ling Soo, who died when a member of the audience tried to see whether the magician could catch a real bullet between his teeth.

Members of the Magic Circle include many top magicians, such as David Copperfield, Dynamo, Jamie Raven, Fay Presto and Penn and Teller. Other amateur members include King Charles III, Stephen Fry, Nigel Mansell – and Sooty.

Sooty is the only non-human member of the circle, and demonstrated his skills by cutting a lady (Barbie) in half live on TV.

This can be seen in this Facebook video here.

We all then proceeded upstairs to another room, this time both groups  gathered around a stage.

Here the magician Paul Reagan baffled us with a show involving cards, ropes and a handkerchief that seemed to get bigger and bigger.

Once again the magician chose members of the audience to bamboozle with his tricks, and you may recognise one of his assistants in the photograph below.


We all thoroughly enjoyed the experience, and there was talk of repeating the trip to another of their shows in the future.

October Walk in Chalfont St Giles

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We all met at Milton’s Cottage at 10am on Friday 10th October. Most of us arrived early and, as the weather was good gathered in the garden.

This pretty cottage was built in the late 15th Century for workers on the local estate, The Vache.

We were hosted by Kelly, who showed us around the cottage and described its history and the life and works of John Milton. Kelly was remarkably knowledgeable, answering all  sorts of questions as she showed around the 3 or 4 rooms open.

The cottage may be very small, but there was so much to see and read.

Milton took refuge from the plague in London by escaping to this cottage in 1665, and, although he lived here for less than two years, wrote his most famous work Paradise Lost and began Paradise Regained, whilst living here with his third wife.

Milton was a staunch republican, who wrote books and pamphlets in support of regicide, the abolition of the monarchy and divorce, but was spared from retribution during the restoration of the monarchy.

The cottage contains many of his original works as first and second editions along with artifacts from his time.

Chalfont St Giles ChurchWe then walked down the hill to the parish church of Chalfont St Giles. Here we met our guide Tony Ferguson, who is not only an author and speaker, but also a member of the St Giles watch, which helps to ensure that the church remains open to visitors.

The church itself dates back to around 1150, during the reign of Henry II, but has been remodelled several times over the following centuries. Parts of the original Norman church are clearly visible  and on the wall is a list of the rectors through the years dating back to the early 13th century.

One of the most striking features of the church is a set of 14th century wall paintings depicting scenes from the bible. These were discovered and revealed by the Victorians, but about 20 years ago suffered damage as a result of thieves taking lead from the roof.

 

Tony also pointed out ancient graffiti around the church dating back to the time of the civil war and a stained glass window with a small depiction of the devil, though he was a very small figure inside a red circle of hell!Stained Glass wondow at Chalfont St Giles Church

Outside we were shown interesting features and graves, including a method used to protect the recently buried from ‘the resurrection men’ by placing long heavy stones across the grave.

After a very interesting tour of the church, we continued our walk into the village, ending up at the pub, ‘Merlin’s Cave’ for lunch.

Thanks to Gwyndaf for arranging this interesting and informative outing.

Trip to Jesus College Oxford and Christ Church Cathedral

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Oxford Trip Report

On Wednesday 6th September, a select band of members set off for Oxford. We all went by car, using the Park & Ride at Thornhill.

We all arrived at Jesus College about 10am and were met by Simon Smith, the Conference and Events Manager.

Simon explained that Jesus is one of 38 colleges in Oxford and that there are very strict rules about what can be done with the building, particularly the exteriors.

The college dates back to 1571, during the reign of Elizabeth I, and her picture hangs in 2 places in the college. Hugh Price, lawyer, cleric and founder of the college, petitioned Elizabeth to ‘establish a college for the spread and maintenance of the Christian church in its sincerest form’

Jesus College ChapelGoing through from Turl street through the porter’s lodge we entered the Front Quadrangle, the oldest parts of the college are here and date back to the 16th century.

The chapel was added in 1619 and now serves as an location for meetings and events as well as being the chapel for the college.

 

The Hall was built about 1618, and features the first portrait of Elizabeth I. Looking round the walls there were many other portraits of famous students, staff and benefactors, including, founder Hugh Price, Harold Wilson, King Charles II and Lawrence of Arabia.

 

We then climbed the stairs to the Fellows Library, built in 1620 and rebuilt in 1679. The books used to be chained and are now slowly being digitised so that they can be consulted online.

The library has many early books in Welsh, including Bishop Morgan’s translation of the bible into Welsh (around 1588). The oldest book dates from 1467, a version of De vita Christiana by Saint Augustine, but many of the oldest books are now held in the Bodleian Library. The library contains benches at which the books can be read – they are called ’15 minute’ benches as the design has intentionally made them so uncomfortable that scholars could only bear them for 15 minutes at a time.

We then walked through the Third Quadrangle and over to the most recent addition to the college – the Cheng Yu-tung building, which is very modern and contains modern teaching rooms, student accommodation and a ‘digital hub’. The view from the top of the building is wonderful, and we stopped for a group picture.

It was then time for lunch, so we made our way back to the Hall, where a table had been reserved for us. The food was surprisingly good, but the benches were somewhat unforgiving!

After lunch we had a couple of hours to ourselves and some spent the time shopping, some doing more sightseeing and others stayed in the shadows to avoid the heat of the midday sun.

The Choir at Christ ChurchWe all met up at Christ Church Cathedral for 3pm, where we were met by our guides Anne and Steve Handsley. Christ Church is unique in that it is the college chapel and also the cathedral for the city of Oxford, and as such one of the smallest cathedrals in England. This means that the Dean of the church is also the head of the college.

 

The Jonah WindowBefore the college was built, it was the site of the church of St Frideswide’s Priory. In 1532, Cardinal Wolsey chose the church for his proposed new college – Cardinal College, but Wolsey soon fell out of favour with the king, Henry VIII for failing to secure him a divorce, and eventually the project was taken over by Henry in1532, renaming it Christ Church (Ecclesia Christi Cathedralis Oxoniensis).

More recent claims to fame include the use of parts of the building in the Harry Potter films.

There have been a good many alterations to the building over the years, but much of the building dates back to late Norman times.

St Michael's WindowChrist Church is famous for its stained glass windows, including the Becket Window from the 14th century, the Jonah Window by Abraham Van Linge in the 17th Century, the St Michael Window by Clayton and Bell in the 19th century, and the famous pre-Raphaelite Frideswide Window by Edward Burne-Jones, also from the 19th century.

The tour finished at about 4:30, and we set off to find the bus to the Park & Ride car park.

I think that everyone found the day instructive and enjoyable.

There are some more photographs on the Photo Gallery here.

 

25th October – Skittles Evening

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What a weekend of competitive sport it was. Out in Japan the Rugby World Cup semi-finals saw the All Blacks well beaten by some team playing in white, and Wales narrowly lose a very close encounter with eventual champions South Africa. But perhaps the most keenly contested sporting event was held nearer to home at Oaklands Park Golf Club on the Friday evening. It was of course our very own CDWS Skittles Evening.

Rob Britton was the chief organiser and took charge of the evening in his best courtroom manner. Thirty seven people had booked for the evening, mostly members of our Welsh Society but with a handful of welcome guests. Two were non-players, including new member Vivienne Jack who attended despite a strained wrist. Somehow Rob managed the trick of organising everyone into six teams of six.

Each team played one after the other for three rounds. In every round each player had three skittle balls to knock down the nine pins. If the player was skilled or lucky enough to knock down all nine pins using less than three balls the pins were reset so they could score more points.

We had the Oaklands Park Golf clubhouse to ourselves, with three front of house staff to serve drinks, food and help with the computer when needed. The skittle alley was laid on the floor of the lounge, leaving plenty of room for us to sit and socialise when not “skittling”. Pam Britton took charge of the computer to record scores, which were projected onto a large tv screen.

A key role fell to Pamela Jones, the other non-player. She took a special chair next to the alley, armed with a Welsh flag. Near to one end of the alley was a red line. The skittle ball had to be rolled over this rather than be thrown over it. Pamie’s job was to wave the flag to signify any foul throw that she spotted. She took to this job with gusto and nothing escaped her eagle eye.

Graham Beavan had the misfortune to captain the first team to play. The other teams learned from his team’s mistakes in the first round, as they kept Pamela Jones busy with foul throws. Clearly not everyone had listened to Rob’s instructions despite his stentorian efforts. At least Gail Thomas’s guest Maggi Newcombe had the excuse that she had got lost on the way, arrived a little late and so missed Rob’s exposition of the rules.

A variety of techniques were tried by the players. Maldwyn started as though he intended to send the pins flying. Alan Longshaw took this a step further and almost turned them into matchwood.  On the other hand, Monica Owen sent her shots gently down the alley and still managed to knock them over. Several players made the remarkable discovery that the ball was just small enough to squeeze its way through between the pins. As a result some turns scored nothing, even when the ball was rolled almost straight down the middle. I’ll mention no names for those who suffered this misfortune.

Half way through the rounds, play stopped and we enjoyed an excellent hot meal from the buffet. Good sized salmon steaks were accompanied by new potatoes and mixed vegetables and a tasty sauce. Then we could help ourselves to coffee and mints.

At the end of the evening prizes were awarded to the top scoring lady and top scoring gentleman, and to the members of the top scoring team.

Despite being probably the smallest person playing, and needing both hands to lift the ball, Pat Chapman showed off her previously undiscovered talent for skittles by winning the lady’s prize with the best individual score of the evening.  Alan Longshaw took the men’s prize with only one point less than Pat, and just one point ahead of his nearest male rivals.

The winning team was captained by Gwyndaf, and included Anthea Beavan, Lloyd Jones, Peter Johnson, Jane Morris and Pam Britton. They won by a mere two points and the result was in doubt until the very end of the sporting contest.

Thanks were given to the Oaklands Park staff for the tasty meal and their good service. Then also to Rob, for organising such an enjoyable event and adjudicating so capably when competitive feelings were running high and a riot could so easily have been triggered. The two Pam’s were also thanked, one for her work keeping the score and the other for her sterling work ensuring fair play.

Gwyndaf John

CDWS trees at Parc Mawr

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At the 2018 Christmas gathering, our hosts, Bill & Sue Jones, asked that as a gift, they would prefer a donation to the Woodland Trust for trees to be planted at Parc Mawr.

Following the Society’s Oswestry trip in June, Bill & Sue drove on to see how the trees were doing. Here is their report:

 

Parc Mawr is on the very steep easterly facing side of the Conwy valley. It is an ancient 84 acre woodland occupying a very prominent position in the landscape. Historically, the wood was managed most probably as a high forest, with gradations between upland oakwood and ash / elm with a hazel understorey. The woodland is now a valued local amenity for walking and horse-riding, boasting a network of permissive and public rights of way and fantastic views.

Woodland Trust’s focus is on thinning the exotic species introduced by humans and restocking with native woodland.

We walked up the steep path along Grove 1 which is where the 6 CDWS trees were planted. Our path went roughly North South along the steep slope and was therefore a little more manageable, crossing an old byway leading to the ancient Llangelynnin church. This is the North Wales Pilgrims Way (linking Basingwerk Abbey with Ynys Enlli (Bardsey Island)) and passes through the site from the south: a further information panel is provided near this route, at the bottom of the byway.

Along our walk we had glorious views over Conway Valley including to Dwygyfylchi (where Kay Day hails from), and Conway Castle.

The Woodland Trust had forewarned us that the trees were already planted and that they did not mark the trees in any way to preserve the natural beauty of their woods. We saw very many young trees but none that could be specifically identified as saplings.  Therefore, in the event we could not identify the CDWS new trees since they were interspersed with existing trees and growing rapidly.

So, having walked over a mile in and then back again, we did not specifically see our trees but had a glorious walk through lovely fresh woodlands listening to bird song and looking out on to wonderful views in the sunshine. Here is a map reference for the site at Parc Mawr.

https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@53.2474083,-3.859518,2605m/data=!3m1!1e3

Bill Jones

WWT Slimbridge 12th September 2019

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Slimbridge is situated north of Bristol, very close to the Severn estuary, and is home to many different types of birdlife. It was founded in 1946, by Sir Peter Scott.

Our coach arrived at Slimbridge at 11:15, giving us time to meet the others of the party who had arrived by car, to have a coffee or have an initial look around the reserve.

We split into two parties of twelve for the guided tour of the Scott’s house. The volunteers told us about Peter Scott’s earlier life, as a hunter and painter, his wartime career, as an Olympic sailing medallist, but he is best known for his passion for preserving wild life, founding the Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust, and especially for creating the World Wildlife Fund.

Scott’s whole house borders a man-made lake, where Berwick Swans and many kinds of other waterfowl were only a few yards from the windows. I looked down, and there was a snipe only four or five feet away.

We were shown the Scott’s kitchen, looking very much of the 1950’s, with its range and an old-fashioned Belling 2 ring cooker. There were hand-written notes inside the cupboards and in notebooks and it looked as though the family could return at any moment.

The Scott’s kitchen

We saw the dining room with its one long table, but were told that the Scotts usually ate on the small formica table in the bay window, where they could watch the birds.

We were also shown the study, where Lady Phillipa Scott had most of her effects and paintings.

Perhaps the most interesting room was familiar to any of us who had seen Peter Scott’s programmes on the television, with its painting easel, the wide panoramic view across the lake, and the extraordinary window which was built out in front of the house and extends about 8 feet in each direction, allowing an additional 6 of 7 people to enjoy the view, but not be in the room!

The tour took about 1 hour, and, as we were heading back to the main visitor centre, the guides asked us what we thought – as we were the first visitors to the house since the renovation! We have Peter Day (as chairman of the WWT) to thank for that privilege.

After the tour some of us went off to hear a talk about the re-introduction of the European Crane into the country (a couple of them could be seen skulking about on the other side of the pond) and then on to watch the otters being fed and playing in the water. These were North American otters rather than European, as European otters are nocturnal.

European Cranes

Other members of the party were more adventurous and walked across the flat site to one of the hides, where knowledgeable WWT volunteers pointed out interesting sites across the panorama.  These included cranes beyond the sea wall, godwits, curlew, knot, dunlin, linnet with it’s distinctive “puppet on a string” flight pattern, an array of ducks and a fantastic fly past by a skein of geese at eye height and within metres away.

The coach left Slimbridge at 3:30 and we had a swift and pleasant journey back. Jonathan Pegler thanked Peter Day and David Powell for arranging such a successful trip.

Welsh Marches Trip 2019

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Oswestry Trip 17th June 2019

We had an early start at 8am in Gerrards Cross, picking up the rest of our party at Amersham. After a brief stop on the M42 we drove on through the countryside and to Presteigne to visit the Real Wine Company for a wine tasting and paella. The company was established by Mark Hughes, who used to live in Gerrards Cross, but followed his dream to create his own specialist wine company. We sampled up to 12 delicious wines, and many of us ordered a few.

After lunch we drove north along swollen Severn. The previous weeks had rained pretty continuously and river levels were high. As we passed we saw that many of the fields were flooded.

Phil, our coach driver, drove us on to Montgomery, where we had 10 minutes to stretch our legs and to explore the market square and the Norman church with the tomb of Sir Richard Herbert (dating from the 16th century).

There followed a somewhat sleepy trip on to Oswestry as the effects of lunchtime’s wine made themselves known. We drove to Oswestry’s Premier Inn through stunning countryside, avoiding floods which had been prevalent only a few days before. That evening, some ate locally while others walked to Oswestry to sample the local restaurants.

Tuesday 18th June

The coach picked us up from the hotel, and we drove to Llanfair Caerinion station, where Jonathan had booked two carriages on the Welshpool and Llanfair Light Railway. The railway dates from 1903 and has an unusual 2’ 6” narrow gauge. We had time to look around the station and watch the engine (‘Countess’, one of the original engines) being prepared.   The first part of our journey followed the path of the valley of a small river (the Afon Banwy neu Einion), where, Jonathan said, otters and king fishers lived.  It took about 45 mins to cover the 8.5 miles to Welshpool. We crossed streams and small roads, with or without level crossing gates, admiring the countryside as we chugged along. When we arrived in Welshpool we had another chance to admire the train getting ready for the return journey. (More railway pictures.)

Our coach had driven on to meet us and we all climbed on to travel to Powis Castle. On the way there, Jonathan, acting as the most knowledgeable tour guide, gave us an extraordinary level of detail of the history of the castle, built in the 13th century by the Welsh prince (Gruffydd ap Gwenwynwyn), loyal to Edward I. By 1587 the castle was sold to the Herbert family. In 1784, heiress Lady Henrietta Herbert married Edward Clive, son of the famous Clive of India.  Their son inherited the castle, on condition that he changed his name to Herbert.  The castle remained with the Herbert family until it was passed to the National Trust.

A really impressive structure, the castle was built of local red sandstone, with wonderful views over the surrounding countryside. It was easy to see that the building was not only a castle but also a home. We entered smart drawing rooms, elegant dining rooms and formal bedrooms, all decorated with paintings of family members through the ages from the 17th century to the present day. A separate room was set aside to display some of the riches brought back from India by Clive, including Indian weapons and fine jewel encrusted figures.

The castle has beautiful gardens set within steep slopes and terraces revealing wonderful flower beds.

In the courtyard of the castle was a male peacock displaying and protecting his mate with one chick, the last remaining of clutch of 5.  (Additional photos of Powis Castle in the gallery.)

That evening, after the bus had dropped us off, Jonathan took us on a conducted tour of Oswestry including the remains of the castle which was torn down during the English Civil War. In the memorial gardens we saw a statue to one of Oswestry’s famous sons,the poet Wilfred Owen, who was tragically killed in the last week of World War 1.

The whole party then met for an evening meal in the Wynnstay Hotel, making our own way home after discussions in the hotel bar. (More pictures of our evening here.)

 

Wednesday 19th June

We set off early to visit ‘Jones the Boats’ on the Llangollen Canal, where we all boarded a canal boat to take us across the famous Pontcysyllte Aqueduct – the highest aqueduct in the world.

The bridge was built in 1805 by Thomas Telford, and stretches for 336 yards above the River Dee.

It was a strange experience to be in a boat on the canal and to be able to look down over 120 feet to see the river and fields below with the drop just inches away from the side of the boat.

Looking down from the boat on to the Dee
5 Ann(e)s on a boat

  We traveled on until we passed through the Chirk tunnel, 460 yards long, turning around just before the Chirk Aqueduct. The tunnel is narrow, with only room for one boat at a time, and boats must show lights so that they can be seen by those coming from the other direction.

(More canal pictures here)

After the canal trip, we once again boarded the coach to visit Chirk Castle. The castle was originally constructed in the late 13th century by Roger Mortimer de Chirk under the orders of Edward I, in order to guard the Dee and Ceriog valleys. It was expanded and remodeled over the years and was bought by Sir Thomas Myddelton in1595.

The interior of the castle was varied in style. It was interesting to see the different tastes in different rooms and to see areas where the Victorian designer Pugin had made changes to restyle the Georgian features into what was then considered to be a more authentic new Gothic.

The gardens at Chirk are extensive, with clipped yews, herbaceous borders, a ha-ha and views over the Ceiriog valley. As we left Jonathan had two more sights for us.

The original gates included the Myddelton crest featuring a sinister looking red hand. There are several stories about the significance of the hand, most of them somewhat gory. The coach then took us back via the Llangollen canal, where we could walk down to the tunnel we had been through that morning, and then walk across the Chirk Aqueduct, crossing from Wales to England. This is another Telford bridge, this time crossing the Ceiriog valley, 710 feet long and 70 feet above the valley, this aqueduct runs alongside a later viaduct carrying the railway.

More pictures of Chirk Castle.

Thursday 20th June

We set off to Brymbo Heritage site, which is really two sites in one. Brymbo is close to Wrexham, and is the site of an old iron works dating from about 1790. We split into two parties and were shown around the site where we were given a brief history of the development of the industry as well as being shown the original furnace and the old ruins of an even older coal mine.

Interestingly, Brymbo had another aspect. Recently, when the coal was being extracted by open cast methods, they found an ancient petrified forest beneath the coal. This originally grew as gigantic ferns and mosses over 300 million years ago, when this part of Wales lay on the equator! While walking over the site, we met some of the paleontologists working on the site. As we were talking to the leader, Dr Tim Astrop, another of his party picked up a stone lying on the ground and showed us a fossilised plant stem from 300 million years ago, saying that we were the first people ever to see this fossil specimen!

We were then driven over to Erddig Hall, another National Trust site. It was built in the late 17th century for Josiah Edisbury, but in 1733 it passed into the Yorke family. We were met by one of the guides who entertained with stories of the Yorke family (mostly Stephens and Phillips) who threw very little away, which was why the site had such a vast collection of artifacts. One of the last of the line became almost a hermit who removed the phones and the electricity. He used to sleep at night guarding the silver with a shotgun and a burglar alarm fashioned from carnation milk tins.

The Hall is also famous for its paintings, poems and stories of the servants who worked there. From the early days, portraits were made of some of the serving staff, maids, gardeners, gamekeepers and housekeepers and together with these there were descriptions or poems, often in a child’s hand, to describe the individuals.

The gardens at Erddig are extensive, based on the original 18th century formal garden. They contain a lake and a canal in addition to rose gardens, fruit trees, walled gardens and herbaceous borders.

(More Erddig pictures here)

 

 

 

Friday 21st June

We said goodbye to those of us who travelled by car and set off on the first leg of our journey, to Shrewsbury. We were met by our guides, who took us on a conducted walk around the town, looking at taverns and houses with connections to the Tudors, then a led us on a tour around St Mary’s, Shrewsbury’s oldest church, dating back to Norman times, to see the stained-glass windows. We completed the tour by looking at the medieval trades areas, after which the streets were named, and at the centre of the high street, where David III, Prince of Wales, was executed in 1283.

After lunch we boarded the coach and David Powell thanked Jonathan Pegler for all the planning and the incredible amount of information he had provided us with about the places we passed through and visited.

We finally arrived back home at around 4pm all feeling quite tired.

Thanks once again Jonathan!

Bristol Trip – 20th September

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CDWS Trip to Bristol 20th September 2018

The coach came to pick us up from Gerrards Cross at 7:45 – an early start! After picking up the rest of the party from Amersham, we set off for the two-and-a-half-hour journey to Bristol. Jonathan Pegler had planned and organised the event, and gave us an overview of what to expect and what to look out for as we travelled along the motorway.

Rain started falling as we headed west along the M4, but we were very lucky as it held off for the rest of the day, until the return journey.

Muriel & Ann with Suspension Bridge in the background

Our first stop was at the famous docks, stopping at the Cumberland Basin, in front of two massive bonded warehouses built in the style known as ‘Bristol Byzantine’ which were used for storing tobacco. Jonathan had taken us to see ‘Brunel’s Other Bridge’. Now disused, it was a swing bridge across the Avon in 1849 and predates the famous Clifton Bridge.  Jonathan explained that the floating docks were created by digging a man-made ‘cut’ to divert the Avon, and putting lock gates across the original river to create a harbour where the level of the water could be preserved.

We walked around the Basin to reach the Underfall Yard. This is a small museum, originally a boatyard, then the centre of a sluice system (the underfalls) which helped remove silt and mud. It now contains exhibits showing how the docks were used, how the locks worked and how water pressure was utilised to work cranes, locks and other machinery.

Sue & Bill Jones at the Underfall Museum

The party spent a happy half hour or so examining the exhibits and playing with the models.

Kate shows how the locks work

 

 

 

 

 

 

We then all trooped off to board our sight-seeing boat for a tour of Bristol harbour. This was fascinating. Our guide took us right through the city from the Cumberland Basin to Temple Meads Station with many detours going through crowded shopping streets, quiet residential areas and some areas where the harbour had not been developed.

SS Great Britain

 

Most of us crowded into the front of the boat to get the best view of exhibits like Brunel’s SS Great Britain, old dockside warehouses, breweries and churches, whilst we were told about the history of Bristol and its trading past.

 

 

 

 

 

The boat dropped us off at Welsh Back, which was the area which used to be where Welsh goods such as slate were traded.

Jonathan led the party up to St Nicholas Market, where we dispersed for an hour or so, grabbing a bite to eat at one of the restaurants or from the street food stalls or making the trip over to see St Mary Redcliffe church with its soaring gothic columns.

Corn Exchange Clock with 2 minute hands

 

At 2pm Jonathan re-convened the party and led us around some of the sites of central Bristol including the famous Corn Exchange, with its two minute hands showing both GMT and local time, and the ‘nails’, small columns or tables where deals were transacted, hence the term ‘paying on the nail’.

 

 

View of Bristol from the Suspension Bridge

After the tour, we climbed back onto the bus and travelled on up to Clifton, to walk over the suspension bridge and wander around the village, enjoying the coffee shops and large number of interior design studios.

 

We started our journey home with a ride around the Clifton Down area, a large open green space with great views over the Avon and across to the port at Avonmouth and some very impressive looking houses.

We set off back along the M5, with views of both Severn Bridges in the distance, and with Jonathan completing his story of Bristol with details of other sites that we hadn’t managed to fit into our schedule.

We arrived back at about 7pm and Colin Picton proposed a vote of thanks to Jonathan for putting in so much effort and planning for our trip, making it so informative and enjoyable.