The adventures of Alice and Merrily in Russell-land

[Strawberry Curls]

I have opened this thread to upload pictures from the trip Merrily and I took to England this past June. We wanted to see the places and the things mentioned in the Russell books, so we only spent a few days in London before picking up a car and driving to Oxford, Devon, and Sussex. Our adventures have been chronicled on Laurie's blog -- Mutterings.

This first batch of pictures is from our stay in London. Our hotel was only a few blocks from the Baker St. tube station and we used that marvelous system to travel the city. The highlight of that stay was seeing the Baker St. sitting room set props from the Granada series starring Jeremy Brett. This room is in the Movieum, a museum devoted to television and movie productions made in Britain. We also had the opportunity to ride the London Eye, built on the Thames for the millennium celebration. The views from the enormous gondolas was spectacular.

Our tea at the Landmark Hotel was apropos as the Landmark was once the Great Western Hotel, mentioned in Doyle's stories.

[Strawberry Curls]

Here are shots from Blenheim Castle, the Randolph Hotel, and the Bodley.

[Strawberry Curls]

We spent the day exploring a wet Oxford, and taking lunch at the venerable pub, The Eagle and Child (affectionately called the Bird and Baby) where C.S. Lewis and Tolkien met and read their works.

[Strawberry Curls]

The Lewtrenchard Manor house was a lovely hotel and exploring the old building was a treat because it had been so vividly and accurately described in MOOR.

The next day we drove up on the moor and had quite an adventure, chronicled in our travel blog on Mutterings.

[Pat Floyd]

Alice, what a treasure these are. I expect to look at them again and again. Thank you.

[Strawberry Curls]

Thanks, Pat. I ran out of time and didn't finish. I have a load of pictures of Sussex and the downs to put up, but they need captions and then sorting and uploading. It takes time, but I did want to share. So few pictures were use in the travel blogs because of space.

It is very interesting to now listen to the books and have a real mental image of the countryside, the cliffs, the downs, Eastbourne, the train station, Lewes, and such. I've just finished listening to BEEK and now I'm on MREG which has a bit in Oxford, so I look forward to hearing that part and remembering the city.

[KarenB]

Wonderful, Alice! Thank you so much for sharing your adventures.

[jtb1951]

Wow, Alice!! Your photos portray a wonderful flavor of your trip; thank you very much for sharing! It looks and sounds as if you both had a terrific time, and your blog postings were marvelous. It makes me want to experience it in person some day! Thanks much!!!

John.

[Sonja]

Oh wow, how incredibly awesome these pics are! Thank you very much for sharing SC, they are amazing. I had to smile when I saw the fox and the pineapple... ;)

[LindaE]

Well done, Alice and Merrily. Great shots. Thank you very much for posting them. I love the Bridge of Sighs and the dampness really makes for a nice atmospheric quality.

[Strawberry Curls]

It seems I can only upload 30 pictures at a time, so I'll do this in two parts.

We really enjoyed Eastbourne, a lively seaside resort with its Victorian pier and lovely boulevard along the sea. Our hotel had been a number of house converted to one hotel, and our room was in the front with a view of the Channel and a huge double hung window that we opened to let in the breeze.

[Strawberry Curls]

We fell in love with the South Downs and visited it several times, seeing it in the morning mists and in bright afternoon sun. We drove to Lewes and walked its streets, visited the Wilmington Long Man and continued down the very narrow road to the lovely town of Alfriston and visited Much Ado Books -- a store Laurie recommended and with good reason, we had fun there.

One morning we drove northeast from Eastbourne and visited the town of Battle where the battle of Hastings took place. We toured the grounds and visited the remains of Battle Abby.

It was a love 6 says in Sussex, all sunshine and wonderful discoveries.

[Pat Floyd]

Again, Alice, these are absolutely lovely.

[Millie]

My Sussex...thanks Alice, for sharing these wonderful photos!