Day 10 England/Paris Trip – Monday, 5/23/2011

 The New Forest and Winchester; places never found and a surprise ruin.

(Mr. Kim’s contributions are italicized.)

And so continues the seemingly never ending saga of our spring 2011 trip to England and Paris – picked up again in summer 2014!

The plan for the day was to go to see the Old Harry Rocks near Swanage, drive through the New Forest and arrive at Winchester where we were to spend one night.  And, mostly, that’s what we did.  With a few detours and surprises.  We are neither of us huge fans of recreated history – me even less than Mr. Kim.  Reenactments and ladies in hoop skirts and, for goodness sakes renaissance festivals make my teeth itch (if you haven’t noticed by now, I am a tad intolerant).  Only of the things you don’t like.  What we do love is lovingly preserved history (like all the churches we haunted on this trip) and ruins.  We adore ruins.  But we hadn’t seen any.  So when Mr. Kim happened to notice Corfe Castle ruins on a map at our Dorchester hotel, we decided to let Jeeves lead us there.  It was on our route.  And I’m so glad that we did.  Not only were there cool ruins for us to clamber about, but the ruins are set into the second most charming village (Painswick in the Cotswolds being the first) we visited.  As a matter of fact, I found my house:

 I am sure that I lived there at some point in a past life.  As soon as I spied it, I thought, “Oh, THERE it is.”  Much like the first time I laid eyes on Mr. Kim – “THERE you are, I’ve been waiting for you.”  I have even Googled it and found that it sold for almost a half a million pounds in November of 2011 – just 6 months after we were there.  Am I creepy to be stalking a HOUSE?  Anyway, lucky folks – I hope they are happy and cherishing their beautiful cottage.

The village was utterly lovely and full of beautiful houses and shops and a couple of incredibly old pubs.  Apparently the owners of the two pubs had some sort of professional disagreement, as one of the two had a large sign on the door declaring that it was the OLDEST pub in Corfe.  We could have wandered for the entire day.  But we had a ruin to get to:

The ruins of Corfe Castle loom above the village of the same name.  Looking either protective or threatening, I’d guess depending on the political or actual weather.  Corfe Castle was built by William the Conqueror in the 11^th century.  During the English Civil war (1642-1651) it belonged to a royalist, whose wife, Lady Mary Bankes defended the castle from the Roundheads.  The first defense was successful, but the second was not.  According to the Oracle of Oracles (Wikipedia):   “His wife, Lady Mary Bankes, led the defense of the castle when it was twice besieged by Parliamentarian forces. The first siege, in 1643, was unsuccessful, but by 1645 Corfe was one of the last remaining royalist strongholds in southern England and fell to a siege ending in an assault. In March that year Corfe Castle was demolished on Parliament's orders. Owned by the National Trust, the castle is open to the public and in 2010 received around 190,000 visitors. It is protected as a Grade I listed building and a Scheduled Ancient Monument.”

Fell to a siege indeed….  According to the docents, the second siege defense was also formidable.  But the Lady Bankes’ castellan, apparently not interested in smelling his neighbors for another year, betrayed his Mistress.  He offered to go parlay with the London Army on her behalf.  Taking 50 of her best defenders with him and leaving them outside as he met with the opposing commander, he made a pact with the enemy to lead 50 soldiers in his own soon-to-be-quietly-slaughtered compatriots’ garments back into the castle in exchange for amnesty, lands, and titles.  This bastard betrayed his Lady and the Crown for personal gain.

It was an exceeding blustery day, though bright with sunshine.  We had to wait below to get the OK to go up to the castle – they were testing the wind speed.  And even with the go-ahead, there were times when I, at least, felt a little unsteady.  Climbing crumbling stone stairs in a gale is a bit intimidating.  But it was magnificent.  The view from up there was breathtaking and we climbed and poked about for more than an hour marveling at the remaining construction and the beauty of the setting.  Some favorite pictures:

 I know I tend to romanticize, but there was a definite mood or spirit or stillness in this place.  The pictures do not do it justice.  So many structures of the same period are still standing elsewhere.  This castle was murdered by Cromwell’s troops, left to be forgotten.  But I think it still has something to say.

After a delightful (and hair-raising) ramble, it was time for a snack:

A natter with the locals:

And a drive down to Swanage to see the Old Harry Rocks:

Except we didn’t.  We found Swanage.  And according to our map, we just had to follow the coast north/northeast and there it would be.  White cliffs, three chalk formations – bigger than houses.  But, alas, not for us.  Either the map was wrong, or we were dense, or the whole place just Brigadooned on us.  But for whatever reason, it was not to be found.  I was sorry to miss it because I knew that Mr. Kim would be entranced, but I was determined that for this vacation there would be no regrets, no pining.  So we tossed it off and set out for the New Forest and whatever delights (including lunch) that would hold for us. 

If you look at a map of the area, you will see a little bit of water that needs to be gotten across where the English Channel meets Poole Harbor.  This is where you take a ferry boat.  When we got to the terminal, the boat was already docked and loading cars.  We got on near the end.  With all the cars ahead of us, all we could see was either side of the boat.  With some clanks and groans, the ferry got under way.  We took a few pictures:

And discussed getting out to stretch our legs, see the sights and maybe find a bar to have a pint.  Please keep in mind that we had never been here before, that we couldn’t see in front of us and that distances on maps are notoriously difficult to discern.  As we were debating our next activity, we arrived at our destination and docked.  The crossing was FOUR MINUTES long.  I Googled it.  I am so glad that we didn’t amble out of our car and wander around like we were on a cruise.  Goobers.

Bournemouth is not a particularly huge city.  Certainly bigger than we’d been in so far and other than London a much larger, busier and more congested than any place in England that Mr. Kim had had to drive in.  We didn’t get lost, exactly.  But we did see the same square block of Bournemouth a goodly number of times.  It wasn’t that we couldn’t see where we were supposed to go.   It was that we couldn’t maneuver to GET where we were supposed to go.  So Mr. Kim kept making tight left turns after left turn, hoping to catch a break to get across a six lane.  Jeeves got a bit sharp with us.  His tone when he kept having to repeat, “recalculating” was rather abrupt.  As Mr. Kim put it, “traffic, fecking traffic”.  We managed to escape the clutches of Bournemouth and were off to the New Forest.  The Forest is both a national park and an area dotted with lovely villages and towns.  It was set aside as a royal hunting ground in 1079 by William I.  There are all sorts of beasties roaming around – deer, ponies, cattle, pigs, donkeys.  Some are wild and others owned, but apparently free to graze anywhere they like.  The Forest in its wildest parts is hauntingly beautiful:

And when those wild ponies decide to amble across a road, you just sit and marvel:

We had lunch at the Old Farmhouse in Burley:

(Punch Buggy!)

Burley was a bit new agey/witchy for my tastes (there goes that intolerant thing again) – it even has a dragon’s lair.  Itchy teeth territory again.  But it was utterly charming.  And lunch was delicious.  The building that the restaurant is in was built in the 16^th century with classic thick walls and low beamed ceilings.  I had the most delicious ham – Tatchberry Farm (local) and another rendition of perfect eggs.  Not once in England did I get an egg that was cooked less than perfect.  Amazing:

Mr. Kim had English lasagna:

I finally understand Ted’s spaghetti.  He never really cared much for Momma’s spaghetti or lasagna.  He’d say it was different than he was used to.  Once, I remember, he made what he called English spaghetti.  To me, at 13, it seemed a very dull dish.  Not very tomato-y, no garlic, no oregano.  Very bland.  But the grown up me liked this version very much.  Meaty and with a much finer mince of beef, it was very savory and satisfying. 

I had seen lasagna on the menu of every pub and casual place we’d eaten.  At first I thought it was quaint, sort of an alternative grudgingly added to pub grub.  You know, like the obligatory beef or chicken dish at your average American seafood restaurant.  By this point in the trip, I had been worn down by curiosity and know I just HAD to try it once before we left.  I liked it a lot.  It was really more like a pastichio in texture than a lasagna, and was a refreshing addition to the other culinary experiences on the trip.

Then it was on to Lyndhurst – the capital of the New Forest.  We wander around the interesting New Forest Museum and Gallery and down the High street.  I found one of the things on my England wish list – Lily of the Valley talc.  Talc is really hard to find in the US, but still available at any drug store in the UK.  It may be old fashioned, but I use it every day and don’t wish to smell like Johnson’s baby powder.  In the same store we found these:

Where in the US would you still find Coty’s L’Aimant and big, butch tissues?  There was also a Maserati dealership.  Such an odd thing to come across in a small town in the middle of a national forest. 

As we stood there trying to decide which Maserati was the one we wanted to have shipped back home for us, we glanced back up the street we had just descended.  To our surprise, the view was familiar.  We quickly realized that we HAD seen that view before.  A year earlier, when we started planning the trip, I changed the background on our computer at the house.  I searched out pics for “new forest” and it yielded a nice photo that I co-opted.  We were now, apparently standing in the exact same location as the photographer that had snapped that pic:

The Forest was yet another place that we could have spent days in if we’d had more time.  I honestly don’t see how English people ever manage to get to Spain and Greece, not to mention Australia and the US with this kind of place on their doorstep.  As I said to someone, had we been to England in our 20’s – before we had so many obligations (family, financial), we would have moved heaven and earth to relocate.  I would still be an expat in a minute if I could afford it.  Um, small Corfe house, half a million pounds.  Ain’t gonna happen, unfortunately.  I don’t see why we still have a single wealthy person in the US (sorta kidding, there).

Off to Winchester.  Our accommodations thus far had been very, very nice.  From Craig’s lovely flat, to our dream house Cotswold cottage to the two very old coach house/inns we stayed at in Salisbury and Dorchester we had no cause for complaint.  All we knew from our travel agent was the name and address for the place in Winchester.  It was called Lainston House.  I had looked it up only and knew that it was a beautiful manor house.  We had already had a full day when we arrived.  Climbing around Corfe Castle ruins in a gale, that long ferry ride (smile), the drive and wander through the New Forest.  So when we drove up this half mile long drive:

Through these gates:

And saw THIS:

 Well, we felt abashed and country mousey, indeed.  We contemplated turning around and finding a posh store for new clothes to wear to check in.  

This is Lainston House.  We decided that our travel agent must have something on the owners because this absolutely gorgeous place didn’t cost us any more than any other place we stayed. It was truly luxurious – with a helipad, a spa, endless grounds, gardens, a chapel ruin and a resident falconer!!! As I sank my tired self into the 6 foot tub that night, I told Mr. Kim that I wasn’t leaving EVER.   The staff couldn’t have been friendlier or less stuffy.  We felt very welcome. 

Lainston House was built in 1683 by Christopher Wren.  It was commissioned by Charles II and was lived in by him and his mistress Louise de Keroualle until he died in 1685. 

Kim, wasn’t this room the servants’ quarters?

Our room, Hydrangea, was gorgeous.  It was way up in the attics, with slanted ceilings – possibly former servants quarters.  Though no servant ever had such a richly appointed room:

Like the room in Salisbury, this room had a cutaway to show some of the original daubing and beams from earlier days.  The Plexiglas covering it was spotless, and I couldn’t help but contemplate the number of subtle changes over the years and the folks who had seen them.  And now this room, for this moment, was OURS!

One of our views:

Even the bathroom was posh.  A walk in shower big enough to please any House Hunters participant,   marble sink, commode and bidet.  And that tub I was talking about:

It was so long that I couldn’t brace myself against the end and was in danger of drowning when it was full.  Sybaritic heaven.  But I couldn’t make good my promise to permanently reside in that tub because we were starving.  

Someone at eGullet had recommended the Chesil Rectory in Winchester for dinner, so off we went.  Because we wanted to have the freedom to be spontaneous, we made very few restaurant reservations in England – really just two in London.  We figured that if we couldn’t eat at our first choice, there was always going to be a pub and we were fine with that.  Here we found yet another example of the kindness of people.  We wander into this elegant restaurant, which specializes in fine modern English cuisine.  We are dressed decently, but not elegantly.  Our butts are dragging a bit.  And we have no reservations.  We have a policy of politeness.  We ask if something is possible – no expectations of special treatment.  We don’t have a reservation, but do they maybe have room for 2 for dinner.  They are expecting a large party very soon and really don’t.  But they fit us in at a tiny 2-top upstairs.  As we sit, the tables around begin to fill up with people who all know each other.  And the staff continues to give us excellent service.  Bringing us beautiful, scrumptious food – one of the best meals we have had in our lives.  No hurry, no rush.  We feel free to stay as long as we like.  We don’t, though I could have sat all night sipping wine and gazing at the restaurant.  The building was built in the Middle Ages, between 1425 and 1450 and is the oldest commercial property in Winchester.  The building has been owned by, among others, Henry VIII and Mary Tudor.  The front, which except for the windows, is original:

Our drive back to Lainston House included sightings of rabbits, owls and some unidentifiable birds with red faces. 

Our travels that day – even counting the getting lost not finding the Old Harry Rocks and NOT getting lost in Bournemouth totaled just about 100 miles.  It felt like much more.  We had a full day planned for the next day – more Lainston House exploration, Winchester Cathedral and back to London (sigh).  So we snuggled up and snoozed away the night in our unfamiliar, but very comfortable and luxurious surroundings. 

You’re going to stop here???  But I was going to talk about the smells when we awoke, and the gardens and….  Okay, if you’ll promise we are going to finish this tale some day, I’ll keep my powder dry ’til Day 11.

Mr. Kim Blogs: John the Barber

Today is May 31. It is a special day for John the Barber. 

John has been cutting my hair for fifteen years.  He is the sole proprietor of a nearby barbershop, and is as anachronistic as the setting itself.   The shop is something out of….. not just another time, but a combination of times.  The old yellowed linoleum floors reflect the fluorescent lighting only in a confused way now, the shiny finish long gone and pocked with cracks.  There is space for three chairs, but only one now remains.  Filling the empty space is a large HO scale model train deck that John has been working on for years.  Four trains, a dozen buildings, mountains, water, bridges, all in vivid detail.  John spends his time refining the layout in the long gaps that stretch between customers some days.  If you ask nicely and there’s no one waiting, he’ll set everything to moving for you and tell you more than you want to know about why he chose this car or that crossing, and how he just can’t seem to get the track angle quite right to be able to cleanly back up that engine without it derailing. 

Where the barbershops of my youth would have had stuffed deer heads or plastic  bass or NASCAR paraphernalia on the walls (usually accompanied by an oversized wall calendar featuring either a sketch of the barber’s church or, more commonly, a vivid photo of a somewhat clothed buxom beauty queen) John’s shop instead had a large scale model train that he occasionally fired up to circle the shop noisily, just above head level, high enough to slip past the old television mounted in the corner.  For years there has been a hand written price sheet for offered services, visible only once you are sitting in the chair, right there over the old cash register that always displayed $00.  As prices changed, the sign at first was modified with stickers to increase the posted cost rather than rewrite it.  Eventually, John just started using magic marker to cross out the old prices and write the new ones above it.  $11 became $13 became $15 over the years I have been going to John, always chasing the higher rent and electrical.  Although propriety says one doesn’t need to tip a hair cutter for services if it’s the owner of the establishment, I always did.  From all indications, John needed it more than I did.  He’d take the twenty, look at me for an extra half second and bob his head, and then pull out the small wad in his pocket and add this bill to what was probably his week’s take. 

I remember when I was a very young child, and my mom would take my brother and me up to see Mr. Locke, the barber in the then-neighborhood.  Haircuts with Mr. Locke were 25 cents for kids, 50 cents on Saturdays.  I always sat in The Chair, while brother had to sit on “the Bench”, a contraption that fit across the arms of the barber chair to raise him to Mr. Locke’s level.  Brother always whined about it, that he thought he was big enough to sit in The Chair.  I don’t recall if he ever graduated in that particular shop.  Back then I would get a haircut once every two weeks or so.  Always short short short.  Boys in the neighborhood would ask for fancy cut styles with names like The Flat Top, The Pineapple, and The Duck.  None of that nonsense for my dad’s sons, though.  Mr. Locke would always begin with the question, “Do you want a Mohawk today?” and end the session with “Okay, do you think that’s good enough for your girlfriend?”  At age 5 or 6, this was always funny.  The ritual always ended with him handing me a piece of Bazooka bubble gum.  The rare times when he handed me two were special days indeed.  As I got “older” (maybe 7, no more than 8) mom would sometimes put the quarter in my hand and let me walk up to the shop, perhaps eight blocks away through the neighborhood.  When we moved away from there to a bigger house nearer my grandparents, Mr. Locke was lost with all the friends I had made and all the childhood explores and adventures of those days.  I was ten, after all, and things were moving forward from dirt clod battles and damming up streams to things like basketball and little league.

I can recall most every barbershop that has cut my hair since those days – places with names like Tony’s, Charlie’s, Bubba’s……..  I lay in bed last night trying to recall the places that I frequented that were hair salons or what have you and couldn’t recall a single one in all the years in Alexandria, Arlington, Charlottesville, Batesville, or Salem.  Surely I got haircuts over that dozen year stretch.  But who did the cutting and where they did it have faded from memory.  Such places are soulless.  Barbershops, THEY are landmarks and social hubs.

John’s shop has soul.  It’s a reflection of a man who spends far too much time trying to make a living in a dying industry.  He practically lives at the shop.  Many times I have walked in to find him practicing his bagpipes or standing before a music stand beating on a tom tom, practicing for an upcoming parade or concert that was to include his Scottish Highlander band.  There was once a sketch of John in his kilt and pipes in a cheap frame on the counter behind the chair, though that disappeared years ago.  Men drop in to John’s shop just to sit and chat.  I was likely to be part of a conversation about a guy whom several men knew to be part of “the mafia” or what happened at the poker game in back of the hardware store last weekend, or which local character had been arrested for drunken behavior, or whose cancer had come back.  In this way, John’s barbershop is the real thing.

John is my elder, as would be expected.  There are no young barbers in the traditional sense.  He appears to be in his late 60’s although he has variously claimed to be eight years and twelve years older than my 54.  John has never been particularly consistent in his presentation of himself.  Barbers have to have the gift of gab, and perhaps the tale sometimes overcomes the reality.  I allow John the dignity and privilege of spinning his tales as he wants to that particular day.  So I am not sure if John really was a Green Beret in Viet Nam, or perhaps a cook or a barber even back then.  His reactions to current events suggest political leaning that range from Libertarian to Liberal, depending on the day and the mood.  But his disgust for politicians was universal.  He railed against the Democratic city council and the tea party congressmen with equal venom.  He’d always pause from cutting my hair and step in front of me so I could see the seriousness of his position in his furrowed brow, which was just fine with me when he had the straight razor in his grip. 

The only time I truly saw John angry was for a reason beyond any rational explanation.  His shop is adjoined to a local tavern, and one afternoon a thirty-something fellow wandered in and gushed over the train set up.  John was pleasant enough, it didn’t appear that he had seen this one before.  What was clear in seconds was that this fellow had only recently departed the tavern, though his arrival there was apparently hours earlier.  The fellow stood there and rambled on and on about a train he saw once and his friends in the western part of the state and how much John’s train set up was worth, and John’s responses got shorter and shorter.  Finally, the fellow stepped into a conversational hole no one would know was there – he made some vague reference to the Hatfields and the McCoys, comparing some trivial local confrontation to that interfamily gang war.  No sooner had the words left the fellow’s mouth than John erupted.  “You’d better shut the &#$* up!  You don’t know who the @#$& you’re talkin’ to!  My great grandfather was a McCoy!  You don’t know what you’re talkin’ about, now get out of here.  NOW!”  The entryway was vacated, and I sat there in the chair wondering what had happened, and whether I was going to lose an ear to the straight razor that day.

Clientele followed John’s personal life through all its ups and downs.   As the economy turned south several years ago he lost his house.  I imagine it was mortgaged and remortgaged as he tried to keep afloat on a barber’s income.  He talked with despair about his grown daughter’s choices and his absolute need to help her financially, and with pride about his son and his high tech job.  Both may have been true, in whole or in part.  I heard about his church life, and his health.  I saw pictures lovingly and pridefully displayed of new grandkids, and the wonder gleam in his eye, along with a bit of moisture, when you asked about them.

But today, May 31, is a special day for John the Barber.  My most recent visit was in early May, when I went in for my first summer cut, the one that as a child was the right cut for my dad’s sons:  “John, slap a #1 in the trimmer, start above the eyebrows and keep going back ‘til you hit elastic.”  He always chuckled at that.  On that day, after settling into the chair I noticed the circling train track was gone, the kids’ photos, the television.  I turned and look at John and said, “Please tell me you’re remodeling.”  He just shook his head and pointed to the price sheet, which had been replaced by a hand written note:  “On May 31, this barber shop will be closing for good.”  I groaned and turned back to him.  He forced a smile and said that he was taking his trade to an uptown barber shop on the street level of a senior living apartment building.  He told me he had been assured he could have a chair there for the rest of his life.  His grin widened.  I didn’t see any real glee behind it.  He asked me if I’d come see him there.  I harrumphed and allowed as I HAD to, that it had taken years to finally get him to the point he could cut my hair halfway decent and I had no intention of breaking in someone new.  He chuckled at that.  As I got up from the chair, he handed me his new business card, with the uptown shop’s address and his hours:  Tuesday through Saturday, 9 to 5.

I was awake early this morning, as in 3:30 AM early, and thought about the upcoming day for John.  Was he relieved to finally be free of the struggles of running a business?  Was he defeated by its demise?  Was he happy at all to just be a barber and not an owner?  Will he ever be able to enjoy retirement?  So as this day ends and I know he has locked the doors, I think about John and his life.  Whatever that life has been, he deserves to enjoy the path ahead.  Godspeed.