Saturday 7 March 2015

There be Gargoyles in Gloucester ...

Hello lovely blogging people.  A very warm welcome to my little bloglet and a smiley, wavy hello to new followers Rachel and Froogs.  

Forgive my bloggy absence - there's been a pale and wan six foot two 16 year old to attend to.  Poor KTG has had an awful bout of tonsilitis and he's still not 100% a couple of weeks later. 

Prior to this however,  Man and I took ourselves away for a night in Gloucester for Valentines Day.  Well.  It wasn't really for Valentines Day at all - we just fancied a night away and it just happened to fall on that weekend.   We stayed at the New Inn in Gloucester town centre, a delightful galleried inn which dates back to Medieval times, and, reportedly, haunted.  Well we saw no sign of ghostly goings on but from my point of view saw plenty of spirits. Tee hee.   You could tell the building was old - the modern wardrobe was leaning about 10 inches from the wall in our room!  We loved it!  Particularly when you walked up the stairs and pigeons were roosting on the landings!




We were peckish and so stopped for a spot of light lunch.  Because we are both 12 years old, we had milkshakes so deliciously thick you could stand your straw (and probably a telegraph pole actually) up in at Ed's Diner - a fabulously retro 50s diner chain establishment.  Shakes were fab.  Food was overpriced and nothing to write home about really. (my skinny chicken and salad was, in fact, half a tomato, a butterflied chicken breast in a pesto type marinade and approximately 3.5 romaine lettuce leaves - £7.70.  Grrr!).   We fared better at our evening meal which was an Indian/Thai fusion buffet style restaurant on the Quays.  








We couldn't believe the weather.  It was actually too warm for coats as we strolled around Gloucester docks.  The sky on these pics shows what a beautiful day it was. 

As the man hadn't slept after his night shift on Friday night, I left him to sleep on Saturday afternoon and took myself off exploring.  I meandered down a little alleyway where I found the shop purported to be inspiration for Beatrix Potter's The Tailor of Gloucester.  


I continued on through that arch way and then there was the Cathedral looming in front of me.  I'll have to do a couple of posts about this I'm afraid cos I took tons of pics.

I'll show you my favourites first though.  The Gargoyles, !  I stood for ages painstakingly photographing them before I went in (yes they allowed me in. And no, when I left it was still intact and the roof had not come crashing down on my head).  




These two are new additions












Aren't they all fab?

What I hadn't realised is there are about 40 Green Men in Gloucester Cathedral.  I found a leaflet about them just as we were coming away on the Sunday so I didn't have time to go in search of them.  Gutted!! 

More photographs of inside the Cathedral coming soon.  Don't touch that dial!

As an aside, if ever you are missing my inane drivel inspirational writing and photographs, you can also find me on Instagram. Chocobomb1.  That's me.  

See you soon! 
















































































































































10 comments:

  1. Hello!! I love a gargoyle!! Have you ever been to Beatrix Potter's actual house int Lakes? A good day out :-) x thanks for stopping by my little part of the tinterweb!

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    1. Hi! No I haven't - sounds like it would be a good place to visit though! Must put it on the to-do list x Thanks for dropping in!

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  2. Am loving the gargoyles....my friend was only telling me how fab Gloucester cathedral is today. Shall get there one day!
    Arilx

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    1. They're great aren't they? I'll post more pics soon - it really is a beautiful place.

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  3. I love love love gargoyles!! I would love to know the story behind some of them. Glad to hear the roof didn't crash on your head :)

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    1. Me too! I had a lucky escape me thinks! I think one of the reasons they were used was to encourage water to drain from the roof and to stop it running down the side of the buildings.

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  4. You make me realise how little of England I've actually visited. I love the look of that hotel.

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    1. It was great. Quirky and fun but nice to have a bit of history attached to it too.

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  5. Sounds like a great place to say. I've never been to Gloucester - like Cro Magnon, I haven't seen much of England (or anywhere else for that matter). It sounds like a good weekend and I enjoyed seeing all the Gargoyles. We've just books a cheap Premier Inn deal for a couple of days away in April in Lincoln. I need a change of scenery and Lincoln is another place I haven't visited before!

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    1. Ooh that sounds nice. I haven't been to Lincoln either - in fact I haven't really seen very much of England either - it's very limiting not being able to drive. Have a great time!

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I've taken a precious day of annual leave today.  I've really struggled this week with feeling so yuk and I needed the restorative ...