Concert: A Merveillous Swevene - Dreams & Visions, & Day Trip to Glastonbury & Cheddar Gorge via Coach

Last Friday, the second of the year's concerts from Rune medieval music group, in St. Bartholomew the Great! This one was A Merveillous Swevene: Dreams & Visions, and again I booked to eat in the Old Red Cow beforehand. And wouldn't you know it, I mistook the time of the concert, and booked dinner too early - ah well, wasn't a problem to get off early!

Got buses to within walking distance - and I see the pavements are still partly blocked off, the works on Smithfield Market proceeding apace! It still just required a slight detour.. but I was a few minutes late for my booking. Got a flash of recognition from the guy behind the bar - guess that means I'm finally a regular! There was, at that point, no-one upstairs - he offered me either of the small tables, and I took the one out of the way. Classic rock on the soundtrack accompanied my dinner, which was good, and served quickly. And of course, the advantage to accidentally booking too early is I had time for dessert! I only fancied ice cream - and they only have vanilla, which made it easy. Three scoops, he gave me.

By the time I schlepped over to the church, the doors were open - as the guy said when I flashed my QR code, isn't everyone so organised these days! No scrummaging through your bag, looking for paper tickets.. and they have very flash programmes, accompanied by a text & translations booklet! I have to say, they're pretty organised themselves..

I got a drink, trying out my new debit card on a contactless payment for the first time - I'd had to use chip n pin in the pub, which was a good thing, as they didn't have that here, only an app on the phone of the person taking payment! After that, it was easy to find a seat, early as I was - I got quite near the front, and had a whole bench to myself, others just leaving their things on the edges! Perhaps it was less comfortable than the chairs - I'm not sure, although they weren't upholstered either:

As mentioned in the title, the repertoire that night focused on "dreams and visions" - religious ones, from ascetics, but also from the troubadour tradition of courtly love. And I guess that was always going to mean it was mostly sung - which meant I was in seventh heaven, I always prefer when they sing! Indeed, the first, Stetit Angelus, was in Gregorian chant, the singer stationed in the gallery, visible in the first of the church pictures above. That was one highlight - the other, for me, was a troubadour song, Floret fex favellea. Very catchy! But as always, hearing Rune perform is a special experience..

Got home just after 10pm - and had no time to blog! Because yesterday, I was with a new Meetup group called, ahem, Get a Social Life! Well, see, they were doing a daytrip to Glastonbury and Cheddar Gorge - I'd already booked my tickets for Glastonbury Abbey and the Cheddar Gorge caves, as suggested. Sadly early start - but it is a long way.. and the gorge looked amazing.

Yes, I did manage to drag myself out on time - early, in fact! and traffic was light enough, at that hour, just before 7am on a Saturday. Plus the buses weren't crowded, and we hardly stopped en route. Turns out there was a Tube strike, I think.. well, taking buses, I wouldn't know. And some trains out of action.. anyway, we'd been told to meet on Tothill Street, so that's where I arrived, nice n early. Only to find several coaches parked there.. uhh. I walked the length of it and came across a Pret, where I decided I had time to have breakfast. Plus the organiser had mentioned that in the event post, so I figured that'd be a good place to hover around.

By the time I'd eaten, a small crowd had gathered outside, so I hovered there instead - eventually asking one person eating a Pret toastie. Which, by the way, she wasn't enamoured of - thought it was a bit bland. Or, of course, it could have been the earliness of the hour. Anyway, that's how I found the group. No sign of the organiser though - and we had no idea which coach we were taking. Until someone suddenly did, and off we charged - back down to almost the other end of the street again, where we piled on board. En route, we ran into someone looking for the Cultureseekers trip to Surrey.. apparently, they were leaving from there too! I'm sure I saw her again as we drove off, still running around - hope she found them..

Wow, these were the tightest seats I've ever had the misfortune to sit on in a coach.. I wasn't the only one grumbling. Well, the organiser finally arrived - travel issues, of course. And then she waited a bit for someone who was running late - which is nice, up to a point. And then someone took the opportunity to go to the toilet, so we had to wait for her.. we finally left, half an hour late. These things happen.

It is a long drive.. I might have slept, but the radio was on a bit loud, and then the temperature was turned up, and the bus was too hot. I finally resolved my legroom issue by stretching across both seats - I was lucky not to have anyone beside me. We chatted a little on the drive.. but it was nice when we finally pulled into Glastonbury.

I should probably mention at this point that King Arthur is supposed to be buried here, and Glastonbury is supposed to be the legendary Isle of Avalon. It isn't an island now, but apparently was once surrounded by marshland.

The town is not big - this is the main square:

We had the option of going to the tor - but it just seems to be a steep hill with not a lot to see (apart from the view), and as the organiser pointed out, it might take a while to get to, and our time was limited. So instead, we had a schlep around the market - which was small enough, and reassuringly hippy, with "wellness" candles, jewellery, boho clothing.. 

After that, there was talk of wandering around the shops.. but I had a ticket for the abbey, and as it turned out, so did one other - not one other person plumped for one, considering it too expensive. There's not much to see at the entrance, but we did have a look around:

The grounds also contain a lovely little old church:

And so, two of us headed into the abbey proper, and the rest headed off to the shops. We got a free map on the way in - it's a huge site, and astounding to think how big the abbey was in its heyday, apparently second in England only to Westminster Abbey itself!

This is the Lady Chapel, the best-preserved section:

An information board beside this doorway describes the bible stories that the carvings around the arch depict - but honestly they're a bit too weathered to be able to distinguish them. 

That doorway takes you through to the ground level, above the crypt. After exploring down there as well, we walked through what would still have been part of the building - in fact, heading to the High Altar. This is the view looking back:

And looking forward. The building would have extended in this direction as far as you can see masonry:

And that's where you find King Arthur's tomb:

Very helpful, these signs:

Another view back the way we'd come:

And this whole section, which would have been behind the High Altar, was another chapel:

Dotted around the site are AI reconstructions of how it would have looked when intact, with a QR code to give a 3D representation, I think - we didn't bother:

The other intact bit of construction is the kitchen, so we moseyed on over there, coming across an arch, partly demolished, and cordoned off, because it apparently has a habit of bits falling off!

And so into the kitchen, which had a lot of mouths to feed:

They even had medieval recipes on the table..

After that, we'd seen about everything, and made our way out. It's a lovely space though, plenty of locals walking their dogs.. admission does allow for multiple entries throughout the day, and as we agreed, it'd be a lovely place for a picnic:

Back in the admissions office, we found abbots' tombs:

There's a model of the abbey at its height:

(The kitchen is bottom left, the Lady Chapel "behind" it from this angle.) How sad to think of all that's been lost.

And ah, they have costumes you can try on!

There's a bit about the Glastonbury Bible:

Anyway, we needed the loo, so repaired to The Market House, where we found another of the group, and joined him until it was time to head back to the bus - friendly service, and I don't know when I last paid so little for a glass of wine! I would have had lunch, but didn't want to rush..

Over an hour's drive, then, to Cheddar Gorge:

And so down to the nearest (and biggest) attraction, Gough's Cave (named, of course, for the man who discovered it). I have to say, the town reminded me of a ski resort, nestled among hills and all touristy as it is..

At the cave entrance (where again, most of the group didn't have tickets), when they explained to him that time was short, he gave them reduced-price tickets (£16) that just covered the cave - mine was a full-day admission ticket (£25) and covered everything. Appropriately, a picture of Mr. Gough greets visitors at the entrance:

A sign reminds us that the cave is an underground river bed - indeed, it apparently floods for days at a time!

The ground underfoot was a bit slippery, to be sure - I was glad I'd worn footwear that could deal with that. And they have handrails everywhere, so honestly, moving around isn't a problem - although there are a couple of long staircases, and one is particularly steep. We got free audio guides on the way in - point the black end at the orange spot on title boards to start the commentary for that section; you don't need headphones, the volume is low enough until you hold it to your ear. Mind you, it took a while to get some of them to work - you know it's worked if it buzzes. I skipped a lot of the audio, including the bit about Mr. Gough, so the first commentary I listened to was about Cheddar Man:

(This is a reconstruction.) Now, the commentator has a lot to say about him - so I eventually gave up and moved on. I found that you could end the commentary for that section by pressing the button in the middle of the guide.

The rock has a fantastic, Swiss-cheese effect:

Of course, the water constantly trickling through produces some spectacular effects:

A fascinating piece of commentary describes how early explorers used to insert coins in the rock to warn of shifts, and the rock expanding - if the coins fell out, you knew to get out fast for fear of a rockfall!

The usual stalactites and stalagmites:

The cave was full of Wallace & Gromit figures, doubtless for the benefit of the kids on a break from school:

Sorry, but some bits reminded me of nothing so much as the Alien films!

Now, a family had come through with hard hats - except mum. And there was a dog, looked after by mum. So I did wonder what they were up to. Well, we came across them - setting up for a freefall experience, where you are roped up and dropped from the top of a chimney-like structure! The dog whined its way through all this - whether worried about them, or wanting to join the fun, I cannot say!

Phew, it was quite the attraction, and they give you plenty to do - now, the guy at the ticket desk had estimated 45 minutes, but we were through in 20: of course, we didn't listen to all the audio, or listen to it all the way through, which would have made a difference.

Now, as the others didn't have general admission tickets, and would have had to pay extra for the other attractions, and as time was short, they (in general) opted just to explore what there was to see in the village. A couple of people did go up Jacob's Ladder - when I saw that enormous staircase later, I was so glad I didn't. Me, I decided against the other cave, and headed to the Museum of Prehistory instead. When I could get across the road! No pedestrian crossing that I could see.

The person at the gate directed me to the Stone Age settlement in the garden..

Inside is quite cool though.. oh look, more costumes!

You can spin a globe to see migratory patterns of prehistoric people around the world:

Nice animal pelt:

Kids could do their own cave paintings:

But there were also authentic ones on the wall:

A bear skeleton!

And yes, although we didn't meet any, they do have bats:

Interesting little museum! I had it to myself, and think I was the last visitor of the day. I'm glad I chose that - the other cave would have been more of the same, I felt, and I certainly didn't want to go climbing..

And so for something to eat, and I settled on the Gorge Cafe, with its steak and ale pies, just needing to be heated, and an impressive range of hot chocolates! I had the peppermint one, and took a table inside (there was a cold breeze) but inside the window. The pie was very nice, the hot chocolate VERY nice! Meandered my way back to the coach after that, arriving just as the heavens opened.

A long drive back to London and I slept a bit - couldn't do much with my phone, the battery was so low. It took a lot longer to traverse London traffic on the way back, of course - but our driver was kind enough to leave us at a stop where I could catch a bus! also convenient to Victoria, for those that wanted that. And so we wended our tired way home - it was a very good day, delighted to see what I saw, and also delighted to have met another very friendly group! Hope to see them at something again before too long.

Of course, I was too tired to blog last night. Tonight, heading to the cinema - and what's coming up is Two Prosecutors, a Russian drama set during the Stalinist era. Described as a Kafkaesque satire on bureaucracy, it does look good.. I'm heading to the Curzon Bloomsbury. I have used all my free tickets that membership entitles me to, though.. have bought their "bundle" offer to "buy" more free films. Not cost-effective for documentaries, which are cheaper, but then, this isn't a documentary.. had the usual problems with the app, which didn't even give me the option, so had to buy on a browser, then log out of the app and in again for it to register..

Had some trouble finding something to do tomorrow, then CT came up with cheap tickets to Teeth n Smiles! It's had mixed reviews, which I think is all the more reason to see it. The story of a rock n roll star. Showing in the Duke of York's Theatre, and I've booked for Cote St. Martin's Lane beforehand.

Tuesday, back with London Social & Cultural Detours for an evening late event at St. Paul's. Now sold out.

Then it's three days of film. On Wednesday, I'm thinking of heading to California Schemin' at the Curzon Aldgate. Its' a comedy about two English youngsters trying to break into hip hop, who discover it's much easier if they pretend to be from California! Looks funny.

Then two days with my somewhat neglected horror film group, The Hideout! On Thursday (first of three days with Meetup), we're seeing I Saw the TV Glow, a psychological horror that I was disappointed to miss at the time, now showing in the Prince Charles. Meeting in Victory House beforehand as usual - and yay, I've booked for Bella Italia before that. Leaving an extra hour for eating, after the rush last time and in case anyone wants to join me again - even if not, it'll mean I can have dessert.

And on Friday, we're headed to see Lee Cronin's The Mummy - details TBA, but we're apparently having a mummy quiz beforehand!

Finally, on Saturday I'm on another walk with Laurence Summers and the 45+ Not Grumpies - this one is The Backstreets of Islington. And no, the issue where the event demands prepayment with PayPal has NOT been resolved! So he's just keeping an offline list of who's going. 

And that evening, finally back with La Isla Flamenco (having had to miss a couple of theirs) for A Sip of Spain: Flamenco, Folk & Copla at Pulse & Pickle CIC.. tickets from Humanitix.