Gloucestershire: Royal Forest of Dean, Tewkesbury and Gloucester
It’s July 2010, and I’m off on what is essentially a family holiday. We start with a quick visit to my brother in Cheltenham, England (the second largest city in Gloucestershire). Then we’re off to Michael’s family reunion in Tramore, Ireland. And finally, we’re finishing with almost two weeks in Estonia, where Michael’s granny was born.
The trip started at a slower-than-expected pace. We arrived at Heathrow Airport looking forward to non-airline food and a proper bed. However, UK customs presented us with the longest queue I have ever seen in an airport. I know the Brits like to queue, but an hour and a half is ridiculous! After finally getting through customs, we realised our bags had been removed from the carousel and placed…somewhere!?! Two hours after our flight arrived, we emerged into the arrival hall, hoping my brother hadn’t given up hope.
He hadn’t. After a long drive, my sister, her daughter, my sister-in-law, and her children welcomed us to Cheltenham. Seeing my niece and nephew, Nathalie and William, was especially great, as I hadn’t seen them for over 18 months. They had grown so much!
Riding in the Royal Forest of Dean
As we had arrived on a Saturday, we could spend Sunday with everyone. Waking up at 6 am to the dulcet tones of William’s lungs, we were immediately treated to an unexpected game of ‘kickball’.
After more ‘kickball’, we drove to the Forest of Dean, the second largest Crown forest in English. In 1926, miners from the area helped King Edward I at the siege of Berwick-on-Tweed in the Scottish Wars of Independence. As a result, the King granted free mining rights to the miners and their descendants. Nowadays, while the Dean produces a sustainable yield of timber yearly, the scenery is the largest attraction.
And that’s what we enjoyed. We hired some bikes and cycled around the short family bike path. A couple of falls and slightly too many hills later, we enjoyed the trip through the old oak trees. Even the sun came out long enough to enjoy a picnic at the park and a short play in the playground.
Slimbridge Wetland Centre
The following day, we saw David off to work and Julie and Emma off on their travels. Suzy, Michael, Nathalie, William, and I went to Slimbridge Wetland Centre for a day out with the ducks, flamingos, gates, and tractors.
Slimbridge Wetland Centre is a wetland reserve halfway between Bristol and Gloucester. The centre cares for and studies ducks, geese, and swans.
Nathalie found the birds the most exciting, especially the orange flamingo.
In contrast, William found the gates more exciting, opening and closing them for family and strangers. Although, not all strangers were on the right side of the gate when it was closed.
The highlight of the day was William spotting his first-ever tractor. Delighted from a distance, the fear increased rapidly as we got closer.
Tewkesbury Tuesday
William and Nathalie spent Tuesday mornings at school, so Michael and I visited an old market town called Tewksbury.
Founded in the 7th century, the town expanded following the abbey’s construction in the 12th century.
In the Battle of Tewksbury in 1471, the House of York defeated their rivals from the House of Lancaster. Many Lancastrian nobles died, including Edward, Prince of Wales (the Lancastrian heir to the throne). The Yorkists (who had the strongest claim to the monarchy) retook the throne. They held it until the Battle of Bosworth Field when King Henry VII (of Lancastrian descent) defeated the Yorkists. Even though he was probably 18th in line, he claimed the throne and ended the War of the Roses. He then married the Yorkist heir so his first-born son (King Henry VIII) would become the official heir to the throne.
2007 Gloucestershire floods
The main reason for visiting Tewkesbury was the display showing pictures of the 2007 floods.
Tewksbury is located at the crossroads of the Rivers Severn and Avon, so flooding is common. 2007 was different. After the wettest summer since records began in 1766, 78mm fell in 12 hours, causing rapid, intense flooding. Three people died, and 3,966 houses flooded. 350,000 people were without clean water for 18 days, 48,000 lost power, and the flooding left 10,000 people stuck on the M5 overnight.
For a visual overview of the devastation, visit the Gloucestershire Shire 2007 flooding site.
Tewkesbury Town
Given that the town only has one main street, we combined the walking tour of attractions with the walking tour of alleys. By 2010, little of the 2007 devastation remained, and the town was as picturesque as ever.
Tewkesbury Abbey
Tewkesbury is famous for its abbey, and after a quick ploughman’s lunch at one of the many local pubs, we were lucky enough to catch a free tour.
In the mid-7th century, a missionary from Northumbria brought the first Christian workshop to Tewkesbury. He built his cell near a gravel spit where the Severn and Avon rivers join. In 715, the first monastery was built, and it became a priory during the 10th century. In 1087, William the Conqueror gave the manor to his cousin, who founded the present-day abbey. During the high Middle Ages, Tewkesbury Abbey became one of the richest abbeys in England.
In 1536, King Henry VIII ordered the dissolution of the monasteries to destroy Catholicism and raise some much-needed funds. The King valued the church at just £453, or the price of salvaging and melting down its bells and lead roof. The people of Tewkesbury argued that the abbey was their parish church and bought it at the valued price, saving the abbey from destruction.
Today, the abbey is considered the third-largest church in England that isn’t a cathedral and the second-largest parish church. Some believe the tower is the largest Norman tower still in existence.
Abbey Mill
Most of the Abbey’s buildings were destroyed during the Dissolution of the Monasteries. However, the Abbey Mill remains, its foundations dating from the 12th century when the River Avon was diverted through the town. The building was built in 1793, with the east side added in the 19th century.
Gloucester
From abbeys to cathedrals, we turned to Gloucester City to visit the place where the last abbot at Tewkesbury Abbey became Gloucester’s first Church of England minister.
Gloucester Cathedral
Built in 1089, Gloucester Cathedral was originally the Abbey church of a Benedictine monastery. In a side chapel is a monument in coloured bog oak to Robert Curthose, the eldest son of William the Conqueror.
The most notable monument is the canopied shrine of King Edward II, most famous for losing the Battle of Bannockburn to Robert the Bruce. In 1540, when King Henry VIII started to abolish English monasteries, the shrine’s existence meant that he couldn’t abolish Gloucester Monastery. So, it became a Cathedral, and John Wakeman, the last abbot of Tewkesbury, became its first bishop.
The cathedral has a stained-glass window containing the earliest images of golf. The window dates from 1350, over 300 years earlier than the first golf images from Scotland. There is also a carved image of people playing a ball game, believed by some to be one of the earliest images of medieval football.
Hallways of Hogwarts
More interestingly, for me anyway, Gloucester Cathedral is famous for being the hallways of the Harry Potter films. Walking around a corner and finding yourself amid Hogwarts, escaping ghosts, snakes, and hordes of excited wizards was a very strange feeling.
Gloucester Docks
We finished our trip to Gloucester with a stop at the docks. It’s famous for being the most inland and has fifteen ugly red brick Victorian warehouses standing as guardians. It also houses the National Waterways Museum, where you can learn more than your fair share of information about canals, docks, locks and boats. Did you know that most of the waterways in England are man-made?
With that, we bid farewell to Gloucestershire and headed to Wales, the home of Dr Who.
