The Alison Weir Wulfhall Tour began at 11:00 almost exactly 2 years after originally planned and paid for. So as far as my bank account knows I am on a free trip and can spend as much as I want on English souvenirs. I am only restricted by my luggage.

Day 2 got off to a lazy start. We were up a little later last night than usual. We wanted to make it past 8 but then somehow I was still up at 10:30. My first post was written during this time so any errors I blame on jet lag and for going on my 36 hour awake (other than a short little 30 minute nap on the plane right before they turned on the lights to serve breakfast). However, I am sure I will continue to have mistakes and will have no excuse so take this as a warning – grammar and spelling are not required for vacations.

We had the breakfast buffet at the hotel this morning. You know you are out of Texas when biscuits and gravy are not offered. Instead we could choose from cold cuts and several international flavors that looked way more like lunch. All served with good English tea.

We picked up our packets for the tour – name badge, luggage tags, hand sanitizer and a rapid Covid test. Nice reminder that things have changed. Anyway we got our luggage dropped off and headed out for a quick walk through Hyde Park. Our hotel is quite nicely situated and just a short walk to several sites. Hyde Park is more walking trails and green space than the flower gardens of St James Park that we walked through yesterday. There are flowers but father apart. The sun was shining so it made for a nice morning stroll. We went back by the Prince Albert’s memorial so a few more pictures of that will show up today. We also saw Diana’s fountain which is more wading lazy river than fountain. It had a nice peaceful feel to it even with the kids running through the water. We had to hurry back for the welcome lunch at the hotel. Excited to see some people from our last tour and get started.

I hate that the trip has come to an end. Not only is all the fun over and I have to start thinking about work and diets and stuff like that but I have a whole day of flying to look forward to.

I thought I had enough time in the morning to do one last thing in London but sadly our car was scheduled for 9. We did get up earlier than expected and since we were all packed we decided to have one last stroll through London.

One of the things I had planned to do was check out this old umbrella shop that was not far from my hotel. Originally I had thought that I would splurge on a fancy British umbrella for my main souvenir. I mean nothing quite says England like a big umbrella and bowler hat. Since the hat wasn’t really an option I had big plans for the umbrella. I didn’t want to get it when we first arrived and have to fit it in my suitcase but or hindsight I should have done it when I had the chance. We didn’t have any chance to make it while it was opened but this morning I thought at least I could window shop. Now I am really sad that I didn’t have time to shop. I would have loved to have brought one home. The store looked amazing from the windows. It had that I have been here forever and will be here forever feel. I doubt much has changed since it opened. It will definitely be on my list if (no when) I make it back to London.

After drilling over the umbrella we went back to the hotel to catch our ride to the airport. Even with the extra bag Val’s main bag was still overweight and we had to switch stuff around and we were left lugging our heavy carry-ons through the airport. We had time so we waited to get our tax refund. However on second thought I wouldn’t do that again. Although the line didn’t look that long everyone had wads of receipts and it took forever. You had to fill out your name,passport number and address on each receipt and it didn’t appear that anyone did that before they got in line. Most of my purchases had been small and although I splurged on the dresses they didn’t participate in the program so I couldn’t get that back. So I stood in line without air conditioned for about an hour to get $15 back. The lady beside me was getting about $800 back. I felt really stupid with my measly 2 receipts when she probably had 50. Oh well I took my $15 and got out of the way for the next person with his crumpled wad of receipts.

By then it was time to head to our gate and get on the plane. Again I am so glad we splurged for the upgraded seats. The extra leg room makes all the difference. I watched three movies listened to a couple of cds and watched some tv shows. I didn’t sleep at all.

We arrived in Atlanta on time but everything went down hill from there. Going through customs with global entry was a breeze we were basically the first ones to the baggage claim. However we were also the last ones to leave baggage claim. We waited and waited but Val’s luggage never came. I think they just hold back the bags that are marked heavy to make you squirm for a while so you won’t do it again. Finally after pretty much everyone had moved on her bags showed up.

At first I was very happy to see that we didn’t have to go back out to the airport to send our luggage back through but that happiness was soon replaced. Even though we never left the secured area we had to go back through a security checkpoint. And unlike in the main airport there was no TSA precheck. Since our bags were so late we were the last of our flight to get in line and I think a couple other planes got ahead of us as well. The line was horrific moving maybe a step a minute. For some reason this checkpoint was testing new security protocols and everyone had to pretty much take there carry-on apart and send them through in separate trays. All your books, food, electronics, shoes and liquids had to go in separate trays so everybody had at least two trays and most of had four or five. This really slowed down the process.

I of course had carefully packed my bag with books at the bottom (I had a signed book from most of the historians on the tour) and all my cups and breakable stuff on top. By the time I was through the line I had about 30 minutes to get to my plane so no time to neatly repack my bag. I am just cramming it all back in and nothing fits and it won’t close. So I have books hanging out of my purse and feel certain I am probably breaking all my souvenirs.

We have to ride their subway to get to another terminal so thankfully we don’t have to actually run through the airport. We get there right before they start pre boarding. Val has time for a bathroom stop and to grab water but that is it and we are back on a plane for our short flight to Dallas.

The flight is uneventful and I finally sleep so after all the hassle the flight went well. We did not have near the wait for our luggage in Dallas and we stepped outside to catch our ride home. The heat immediately took my breath away. It was almost 10, completely dark but still in the high 90s. So not the pleasant low 70s we had enjoyed for the last two weeks. It was not the welcome home I was looking for but it is home and after a day of flying I was glad to be back in Texas.

The tour was officially over yesterday after the tea, however since Alison was gone so much of the trip they added a free day at Hampton Court. Siobhan who we met on day one and made most of our arrangements for the tour works at Hampton Court and she and Alison gave us a tour of the palace in the morning.

It was the first time we had to negotiate our own transportation. There was a large group going and we tried to plan a bus but that turned out to be more hassle than it was worth. Some of us took ubers but a few of ventured out for the train. It wasn’t that far of a walk and the train ride was only 30 minutes so not a bad option.

The walk to the train station went well, we all were able to get tickets (some had more difficulties than others not sure why the ticket machines didn’t work for everybody but we had plenty of time so no worries) and we all arrived on time to start our tour.

Val and I had been to Hampton Court before some 25 years ago back when I was in college but we learned a bit more this time. All I remember from the earlier trip was getting lost in the maze so no problems with a repeat.

Cardinal Wolsey built Hampton Court but soon lost it to Henry VIII. It appears Henry had the same issue with palaces that he did with women. If he saw one he liked he just took it. At least he didn’t have to destroy his other palaces each time he acquired a new one. They told us how many he obtained during his reign but I can’t remember. It was a lot but not as many as Elizabeth I (of course she did have quite a few years on him so we won’t hold it against her).

Henry added on and remodeled the palace during Anne Boleyn’s heyday. Like other places we visited there was an attempt to remove all references of her after her death but like always they missed a few. I guess if they didn’t stamp everything with their banners and coats of arms it would be easier to block someone out. But if you put your symbol or name on every door, every place two points come together on the ceiling and anywhere else you can think of then of course you will miss removing a few. Little did they know 500 years later people would spend hours looking for references to Anne Boleyn.

Tudor standard

Replica of Tudor garden

The highlight of the Palace is the ceiling in the chapel. Unlike some of the other chapels we have toured this one actually is what we would think of as a chapel. It was just part of the Palace not huge but did cover two floors. The ceiling is the best surviving example of a Tudor painted ceiling. It is a dark blue with gold. All the woodwork is gold and ornate. Since you view it from the second floor you got a nice view. No photos I tried to copy some from online but it didn’t work.

Alison and Siobhan

We also saw a remake of Henry VIII’s crown. Cromwell had the crown melted down after they had overthrown the monarch and beheaded Charles I. There were several paintings of the crown and copious notes from the period detailing the stones so a replica was made and is on display in the chapel. It is more fussy than the current crown with purple velvet and multiple types of gems.

Alison led us through the rest of the Tudor portion of the Palace (William and Mary added a wing and intended to remodel all of the Tudor wing but they caught up in something else and their son and heir hated them and the palace so it fell out of favor and was left unused for a few centuries.) she explained some of the art work and the organization of the house what happened in each room and stuff like that. But having seen Windsor and it’s chapel yesterday this one fell a little flat. However that soon changed.

Earlier in the trip we had a guest historian who had found the cloth that she suspects and is trying to prove is part of one of Elizabeth’s gown. Well she works at Hampton Court and Siobhan arranged for her to show us the actual fabric.

Hampton Court is also the home to the royal trust which is a non-profit whose responsible for maintaining the royal palaces that are no longer used as residences for the monarchs and maintain artifacts including clothing. They also run Kensington Palace and put on the collection of Diana’s clothes.

Anyway they have a conservation facility at the palace that holds their treasures that are not currently on display or in various stages of conservation. So we got to go back behind the scenes to see the fabric laying on a work table and meet the women doing the work. She had taken the back off and displayed it so we could see all the colors that had been protected by the linen backing. What originally looked like muted fall colors were actually bright vibrant flowers. She explained how she painstakingly cut off all the backings by snipping each thread which she surprisingly kept in a plastic bag. She also kept all the linen squares that had been used to back it. It was exciting to see the actually piece.

She also showed us a short swing walking coat of Queen Victoria’s she wore in her early days with Prince Albert. Someone else was working on a pair of baby shoes and socks from one of Victoria’s children for a display at Kensington. Sitting to the side was a box full of shoes from Victoria’s children.

We also saw a dress of Diana’s that they were trying to remove a tea stain. She wore the dress on one of her early tours to New Zealand and there are several photos of her giving the Maori greeting in the dress (rubbing noses). So they want to be able to display it. They said if the tea stain was hers they would just leave it but back in her early days she gave away her dresses and the new owner spilled the tea. So they are trying to clean it.

We also saw a hat that are trying to connect to Henry VIII. It is a recent acquisition to the collection so they have just gotten started. The family can trace it back to their relative who was responsible for Henry’s clothes and they claim he retrieved it when Henry through it in the air in celebration of a victory and then was allowed to keep it. By today’s standards it looks much too feminine but they are sure it was a gentleman’s hat. They have tested the silk and the dyes test out to the right age and it does have a bit of silver thread so they think it must be royal but they haven’t found any mention in the records of his clothing purchases. They are still looking so who knows I might have been mere inches away from something Henry VIII and Elizabeth once wore.

Unlike the chapel we could take pictures here so you can see what I am talking about as far as the hat being feminine and the colors being much better on the backside of the cloth.

The afternoon Val and I had signed up for the “real” tennis lessons on the royal courts. We tried to back out but I am glad we didn’t. Seems tennis originated in the streets and the walls and awnings were a way of measuring points. As the game progressed courts were built but they still had the slopes sides to mimic the awnings. Our guide had run the royal court for years and was a champion of the sport in the 80s and 90s. She was very excited and really wanted us to play.

I absolutely stunk. I couldn’t hit the ball if I held it front of my racket. She had to spend time giving me some remedial lessons but I really never improved.

Anyway the sport is scored like today’s tennis but there were some crazy rules like beating the chase(and yes that is where that statement came from) and if you didn’t you lost your serve. So if they returned service regardless of whether you kept the volley going they had set the chase on what ever line closest to their original return. There were six lines numbered one through four and then door and window in reference to the original street courts. When the serving team lost a point the teams switched sides and the receivers now served (only one side of the court was set with all the slopes for returning service). The new receiving team had to hit the first serve back farther than the chase (where the original receivers hit their return volley) if they did you switched sides again and the original servers got their service back. If you didn’t then the other team kept service for the end of that set and kept it for the next set. If you’re not still following that’s okay because it was a confusing mess.

My team was horrible but Val’s wasn’t much better. They did hit two serves back so they had the serve through most of the game and easily one. I hit the ball only once and it didn’t go over the net. Oh well tennis just isn’t my sport. But I still played real tennis on a court where Kings and royals have played for centuries. It was a nice end to our Tudor tour.

The train ride back was not that eventful and all we had left to do was pack. Val had started the night before with the new suitcase she bought at TK Maxx (and yes in England it is TK and not TJ). I still had most of mine to do.

Lunch was included in our day but we decided we were a little hungry or more bored and the room was hot so we headed out for dinner. I never thought I would say this but I was tired of fish and chips and really wanted some american French fries (since texmex wasn’t an option) so we headed out to five guys for burgers and fries. I am embarrassed to say our last meal in England was an American hamburger chain but at least it wasn’t McDonald’s. By the way it was delicious. After a bunch of fancy food it was nice to just have a greasy burger and fries.

I am sad that my trip is over and we have to head home. I wish I had one more day in London to just wander the streets. Next time I will plan better.

The last official day of the tour we headed out to Windsor Castle. Alison was back on the bus along with Christopher Warwick, a royal historian. Christopher gave a talk about Windsor and all its residents with more of an emphasis on more recent history. He wrote the authorized biography of princess Margaret, the current queen’s sister. He worked closely with Princess Margaret while writing the book and had a lot of interesting stories that he shared throughout the day.

Our first stop was a guided tour of St George’s Chapel. When I say chapel I really mean large cathedral type church but since it was just the church for the residents of the castle it goes by the misnomer of chapel. They spend some time trying to break us into four groups but being all historians they do a horrible job of it. However that worked to my advantage this time. I got stuck in the middle of a row and didn’t get placed in any group. Turns out there were a few of they missed and we made up the very small fourth group. Each group got a historian but we got both Alison and Christopher with us. Altogether we were a group of 7.

Our tour guide did a great job. He really knew his stuff but also asked questions of Alison and Christopher to bring more of the story to life. One of the first things we saw was the medieval stained glass window at the back of the church. It depicted saints, popes and kings. There are 75 figures displayed in the glass and 65 date prior to 1509. Otis amazing to thing that glass has survived that long. They took it down and stored it during WWII but just taking it down and getting it back up without damage is incredible. I lose at least one Christmas ornament each year good thing their better at their jobs that I am.

The next thing we saw was a beautiful statue to honor Princess Charlotte. If any of you are watching Victoria on PBS, Charlotte was Victoria’s older cousin, daughter of the king, who died in childbirth leaving Victoria the heir. Charlotte was well-loved by the people and the statute has her rising to heaven with an angel carrying her baby. Christopher knew a lot about the story and explained that she was Lin labor for 2 days before losing the baby. Then the doctors continued to have her drink wine to strengthen her blood but all that did was make her bleed out. The world would probably have been very different had she survived. If nothing else the Victorian age would have a new name.

Christopher was not a big fan of Victoria and said she was bitch to her children. But then her mother had been horrible to her so she didn’t have the best example.

Back to the tour. As with most churches of this age the Chantries off to the side were used for tombs. We had special access to go in one from the Tudor time period. I cannot remember whose tomb/memorial they were but the carvings were amazing. There was so much detail even the headdress was carved with an intricate flower pattern. Alison was more excited than we were. She said she had often peered in the windows to see the carvings but had never been in to see them close up. She kept going on and on and pointing out each new detail she saw. She was like a kid in a candy store. So I guess you never do lose the excitement for history even when you do it for years and think you have seen everything.

The next chantry is where Queen Elizabeth’s parents are buried. There was no elaborate carving just a marble plaque on the ground. Princess Margaret’s ashes are also buried in the chantry. Christopher said when they buried the Queen Mum they added Margaret’s ashes. Christopher said she really wanted to be near her father that she absolutely adored. He also said that the queen and Philip would also be buried in the chantry. The tour guide said he was not allowed to give that information but Christopher said that the Queen had told him and he had no such restrictions.

The highlight of the tour came next. Our guide took us through an office and up some stairs that led to a chapel originally built and used by Katherine of Aragon the window looking out over the Quire (I always thought it was just choir but I should have known the English would be all fancy). From Katherine’s time forward all monarchs used the room to watch the proceedings down below. Victoria used to watch her son and heir marry his queen. Speaking of Victoria when she was older (and fatter) she didn’t like to go out in public so she had them create a walkway from her private lodgings in the castle to the chapel. They built two doorways and a walkway across the roof of the church. Our group being so small got to walk out on the roof and see the entrance to her rooms. The handrail hit me right about my knees. Having been placed for the convenience of the Queen who at this time in her life had shrunk to 4’6” it was quite low for modern standards. And yes Christopher did point out that she was as round as she was tall at this point in her life. It was very exciting to walk the path that Victoria took to church when staying at Windsor we also got to see the backside of the stained glass garden right up close which was amazing in its own way.

From there we headed back down and rejoined the rest of the crowds walking through the church. The chapel is also the home of the Order of the Garter. I mentioned and had pictures of the Garter crests that were used above the seats back at Layer Marney. This is where they came from and actually they look way out-of-place in a church. Up in the quire area each seat, 26 in total, is set for the current Order member. Above the seat is their flag and their crest resting on their helm. Each seat also has a stall plate for each Knight that held that seat. Some date back to the 1500’s and more recently like Winston Churchill. William is currently a knight of the order but Harry is still waiting his turn. He cannot be named until someone else dies and a seat comes open.

The knights of the Garter also seem to guard the royal vault or otherwise known as the tomb of kings. Henry VIII, Charles I, George III, IV, and William IV are all buried there. Along with wives and some of their children.

From the Quire we headed out to Albert’s chapel Victoria went all out on his resting place. It has the look of St Marks in Venice or the Baptistery in Florence. It also had small portraits of all her children(9 in all) looking down from various spots along the wall. I guess she wanted them to keep their father company or keep him out of trouble. It is all gold mosaic generally you can only look in from the door but when you are with Alison they roll out all the stops.

The tour of the chapel was amazing and probably one of the highlights of the trip.

The rest of the morning we had free time to see the other sites of Windsor and grab lunch. We breezed through the state apartments rather quickly. I had been before but val seemed okay with it. Of course the rooms here are grander than any I have seen. The rooms are large enough to make two life size knights on horseback look like toys. The chandeliers rival those in Versailles and Buckingham Palace but look a little out of place with some of the stone castle walls that were left present in some of the rooms. We really didn’t spend much time looking everything over. We had shopping to do and photos to take.

After the state apartments we went through the grounds taking photos. We came across the cutest group of girls on a class field trip. They all had on matching navy coats and Berets. I tried to take a picture without looking like some weird person so they are not great but I’ll include them anyway. They gave a very British feel to the place.

We had a little time to shop before we headed back down to meet up with everyone. As we left Windsor we met back up with Alison and Christopher who continued to give us royal insight. He showed us the building that was originally built as a bathroom for the royals to use just as they left the train. Victoria and her children also used it to hide from the public while waiting for a visitor to arrive.

Sadly back on the bus one last time to head back to London. Alison, Sarah and Nicola had a discussion about the women rivals for Elizabeth’s crown. It is crazy that back in the 1500s everyone who had a connection/claim to the throne was a women. Elizabeth held on tight for almost 50 years to then pass it to a man. I wonder if things would be different if another women would have followed after her.

We arrived back in London where we started the Kingsway Hall Hotel. We had afternoon tea while they unloaded the bus. It was sad to say goodby to everyone. Some would be doing the add on day tomorrow but for others including our historians this was the big finale. I really enjoyed getting to know people who spend their lives studying and writing about our history. To some extent I guess I was surprised they were so normal. I think I expected them to be out of touch with today since they spent their lives delving through the past. They were so much more fun than I expected and I am really glad I splurged for the tour

Val and I were on our own for the evening and headed out to the Potrait Gallery. By the time we arrived we realized how tired we really were and that we were really just trying to keep the trip going. We went through the Tudor room and enjoyed seeing everyone we had heard so much about over the trip. The gallery had a lot more to offer but we were too tired to enjoy it so we didn’t stay long.

Our Coach

Flowers are beautiful everywhere

We grabbed what we thought would be a quick bite and headed back to our room.

I can’t believe our trip is almost over. One more day in London then we head home.

This morning we head out for Prior’s Dean Manor. A private home that was once owned by Catherine Howard and Anne of Cleves. No one is sure if either ever visited the manor but Anne owned it for a while so they think she might have visited.

It was the smallest house that we toured and by far the most updated or most livable. The owner was very welcoming. She showed us her home and the priory next door.

The house looked like we were in spread for Country Cottage. Everything was perfect in the house. It was definitely modern furnishings but they had the right look and feel for the 500 year old house. The upstairs had this great lean to it. I am sure she didn’t love it but it made for a fun feature. It was more slanted then any fun house I have ever been in. She let us wander all through the house but sadly no pictures. I feel certain it’s bound to be in a magazine I’ll have to look.

The church was also very small. It had a connection to a previous Saxon church and still had four pillars holding up the tower from the 10 century. However not the oldest thing in the area. Right outside the church doors was a 2000 year old yew tree. The trunk was huge almost bigger around than tall. Of course not really but it wasn’t really a tall tree.

Priors Dean Manot

Yes Tree

The drive to the priory was one of our more eventful bus drives so I do need to mention it. Seems the bus driver missed the original turn to get us to our destination and all the other roads had weight limits. Deciding not to backtrack he attempted a weight posted rural road. I don’t think there was really in weight issues more of a width problem. For most of the road the bus was touching bushes on both side. We were passed just a few times and each time the car stopped and let us inch by. At one point we had to make a pretty sharp turn and it took us almost 30 minutes to make it. People had to get out and beat back the brush to make sure there was road underneath. The bus hit a tree trunk but finally made it through.

As I said this was one of the most exciting bus trips but not the most exciting one we had. The first I failed to mention. On our second night we were heading out to Penshurst and the bus was too tall to go under a bridge. Of course the driver didn’t realize that until there was nothing left to do but back up down the road. The road was a narrow twisty rural road but our driver just changed lanes and went about 3 or 4 miles driving backwards. So we were going the right direction for the lane we were in just the back of the bus was leading the way. While this was all going on Nicola never missed a beat in her discussion of Penshurst Castle.

Anyway back to Priors Dean. Alison rejoined the tour today. We hadn’t seen her since day two. I was disappointed that she wasn’t leading the whole tour but I really enjoyed the other historians she had set up. Sarah did a great job really leading the tour in Alison’s absence.

We were supposed to go into Midhurst for lunch and free time. However since we were so late to get to our first stop we were really short on time. The consensus from the bus was to skip Midhurst and just head back to the hotel to give time to pack before our big dinner that evening. I was disappointed that we were missing out on another stop. I of course was already pretty much packed up and didn’t need 2 extra hours hanging out at the hotel of course I should have used that time to catch up on my blog but instead I just lazed around.

This was our last night and what they referred to as our gala. We were driving a few hours to visit and have dinner at the Mary Rose Museum in Portsmouth. The Mary Rose is a ship in the Henry VIII armada. It went down in a battle with France in 1545. It was close to the shore, Henry watched the battle and saw the Mary Rose sink. Luckily the ship settled in the silt and half of the ship was soon buried. It was the silt that preserved all the wood. Basically in 1982 they dug up half the ship and brought it up with over 90,000 artifacts. The only surviving Tudor long bows were found on the ship. Now there are hundreds of them. The cannons all survived and they were surprisingly heavily decorated. It was crazy what survived over 400 years in the ocean. They found clothes including shoes that had straw soles. There was even ointment still in the glass jar found in the surgeon’s chest.

The museum was set up to provide the most dramatic view of the ship. It was set on one side with 3 floors adjacent to it to show what was found on that level of the ship. So as you walked down the second floor you saw deck 2 and then the artifacts from the rooms on deck 2. The lights would dim and they would flash scenes from life on the ship.

Our dinner was on the third floor overlooking the ship. It made a dramatic backdrop for our final dinner. Sarah was the historian at our table. We had a great time at dinner. I am very sad to see our trip winding down. It has been a great adventure.