Leaving England.... almost

I suppose it was fitting that our final full day in England graced us with the weather that we had expected but fortunately didn’t experience much.

Our objectives for the day were the ruins of Jervaulx Abbey, the country home of George Calvert, , and finally a visit to a brewery before heading to Manchester where next day we would leave England for the US of A.  Early on, we decided that tromping around in wet fields in the ruin of Jervaulx wouldn’t be very enjoyable, so we bagged that, and headed for objective number two.

We had sort of an adventure getting to George’s place, encountering several obstacles

But with Andrew’s ingenuity we eventually arrived at

and bravely got out of the coach with blossoming "brollys"

And briskly hiked to the building

George Calvert, (the first Lord Baltimore) built Kiplin Hall in the early 1620’s, near the end of his career as Secretary of State to King James I. It was built as a hunting lodge, but he visited the place infrequently because of the distance from London, and some think it was sort of an ostentatious endeavor.  Shortly before his death in 1632, he obtained the charter for his colony in Mary-land, which eventually launched (our) St. Mary’s City.  Hence it was an important place for us to visit, and kind of symbolically the end of England (for us) and the beginning of Maryland. (okay a bit of a stretch, but a bit of license).

It is an impressive structure

As with most of these historic buildings successive owners have expanded and added on, but the original core was George’s.  A somewhat unique feature was that the usual “towers” were placed in the center of the walls rather than (commonly) put at the corners.  The building has had a lot of restoration work done lately, notably by the University of Maryland, College Park and is really a nice museum.  We were given a great tour by the archivist and curator (?) as Kiplin exists today which of course is not faithful to Lord Baltimore’s time.  Like other buildings in England it was pressed into service during the war ( like Downton Abbey) and they have left one room exactly as it was during that time.  Very impressive edifice and worth the trip if you're ever nearby.  Just mention Historic St. Mary's City (or Henry Miller) and you will be treated exceptionally well...

Following the tour, we had lunch in the tea room

Including, what else..... tea sandwiches!!

Following our lunch we bid farewell to the ghosts of Calvert, and went to the small town of Masham, home of the Theakston Brewery.  To me, there is just something about these small (English) towns that is harmonious with rain and damp.  Just feels right

 

MFO found a little grocery store

I can never resist produce shots.. always so pretty..

Anyway, we went on to the brewery and had a tour with one of the brew masters

Who did the usual shtick about different types of malt and hops

And we peered into the obligatory vats of various bubbling liquids, but of course the highlight is always the visit to the tasting room.  and great one it was..

We sampled their various ales from light to dark (including “Old Peculiar”).  It was a perfect end to a perfect English day.   We had a hour or so of nodding off coach ride to our hotel near the airport in Manchester.  We ate our final dinner in the hotel, and retired facing the long journey home the next morning.

 

I was going to close out this journey by this posting, but there are a couple more things I would like to say, so I’ll make one more travel entry, and then we can get back to ranting.. and maybe looking at some local eateries that are growing like mushrooms.  There are some for which you do, and some for which you do not have to

 

DFD