Liesel Grentz: Day 10 - Plymouth and Lyme-Regis

We had to get up quite early this morning to make it to Plymouth for church. We were sad to see it was cold and rainy which made packing the car rather unpleasant!

It took about 2 hours or so to reach Plymouth.

We found the church fairly easily and then had to find parking.

taken by Mom

There was an available place on the street, but we had to pay to park and had such a time getting the right coins to meet the fair. When we went into the church, they were in the middle of Sabbath School, so we took our seats on the side.

When it was time for church, we found they had planned communion that Sabbath.

It was to be the pastor’s last Sabbath before going to South Africa to his new church. First they had two baby dedications.

Grandma decided to stay in the sanctuary when the ladies went upstairs for the foot washing. The rest of the service was almost exactly like ours. The grape juice was served on a rectangular tray with holes for the glasses instead of in a plate like ours. After the service, we chatted with the congregants before leaving to find the Pilgrim Memorial erected in honor of the Mayflower which left these shores in 1620, bound for America.

taken by Mom

It took some driving to find it. We stopped and looked and asked directions multiple times until we found it. In the end, there was no good place to park, so we took turns waiting with the car, pulled over to the side, while the others went to look at the memorial.

Mayflower Memorial - taken by Mom

taken by Mom

taken - by Mom

Mayflower Steps - taken by Mom

Plaque at Mayflower Memorial - taken by Mom

Before going on, we drove the rest of the coast to have a look.

taken by Mom

Then we headed on our way to Lyme-Regis, stopping at a village along the highway where services were advertised to find something to eat. We quickly saw that the one option was a type of cafeteria in a woolen outlet. I had a vegetable panini and Mom tried a jacket potato with cheese and coleslaw. Grandma decided to try a steak pasty which she found a bit spicy from the pepper. Then it was time to get back on the road. We saw some lovely fields of yellow flower (probably mustard seed) as we had seen nearly every day of our travels.

taken by Mom

Hotel and pub/restaurant seen on the way - taken by Mom

Soon enough, we arrived in Lyme-Regis.

Fortunately, after braving yet again very narrow two-way streets, we found a place to park near the Cobb.

This area of Lyme is exactly the part I wanted to see. The town plays a role in Jane Austen's "Persuasion" where the main characters go to visit friends. There is an incident in the story where one of the girls jumps off some stairs down the side of The Cobb and strikes her head, going into a coma. In the two films based on the book, the scenes from Lyme are shot on location so I felt I had seen The Cobb already.

Anne Elliot on The Cobb - 2007 film

The Musgroves, Anne, and Captain Wentworth on the beach - 1995 film

The party on The Cobb - 2007 film

The party on The Cobb - 1995 film

Going up the steps of The Cobb - 2007 film

Louisa Musgrove unconscious on The Cobb - 1995 film

As we walked towards the Cobb, Mom and Grandma decided it was too far to walk and I went on without them, determined not to miss this landmark. As I started to walk on the Cobb, I felt I was in the film as it looked exactly like what I had seen.

Coming near to the end, I saw the very steps used in the film where Louisa Musgrove jumps and falls.

It was not a staircase at all, rather a series of stones simply sticking out of the wall. It looked dangerous! I kept walking until I came to a proper staircase and took it up to the upper level of The Cobb. It was a great view from up there out to the ocean.

The tide was fairly low at that time, so although waves were crashing against The Cobb,

they did not come up over the top like they did in the film. As I passed the infamous stairs from above, I looked down to see if I would have the courage to walk down them.

I saw a lady below wanting to take pictures, so I tried to stand back so as not to be in them! Just then, a young guy came by with a towel wrapped around his shoulders, wearing flip-flops. He turned and went straight down the stairs, like it was nothing! I looked down after him and found the lady below also staring at him in surprise! I said, "He made that look easy!" She said, "I don't think I would have the courage to do that!" After considering it for a short time, I decided to take the plunge. The first two steps were scary. After that, the wall was beside me and I had something to steady myself with. The lady below seemed impressed and I asked her to oblige me by taking my picture.

Walking down the famous steps on The Cobb - taken by Janet of the Isle of Portland; thanks Janet!

She agreed and after I came the rest of the way down, we stopped to chat. Her name was Janet and she came from the Isle of Portland, barely visible on the horizon of the coast. I told her about the significance of the stairs to me and she confessed she had not seen the film in which they were featured. She took my e-mail address so she could send me the picture she took on her camera, even though she took one with my camera. We said good-bye and I went back to find Mom and Grandma, just where I left them. Mom and taken some pictures around the area where they had been standing.

Lyme - taken by Mom

The Cobb - taken by Mom

Lyme - taken by Mom

Lyme coast - taken by Mom

Then it was time to press on to Amesbury where we were to spend the night.

As we approached Amesbury, we could see Stonehenge out the left side of the car.

Stonehenge, taken by Mom

We finally arrived at our hotel, The George.

The George - taken by Mom

taken by Mom

We check in and then go down to supper in the pub. Since we had never eaten in an English pub before, we weren’t familiar with the procedure. At last we figured out that we could sit wherever we wanted, get the menus from the bar, and place our orders there as well. For a special price we could order two dinners from a special list so we decided to do that and share the meals three ways. We ordered fish & chips and lasagna which, interestingly enough, also came with chips.

Our table's personal barmaid: me! Only water, though. Taken by Mom

Lasagna and chips (french fries)

Fish and chips with peas

We enjoyed it. Looking around the pub, we saw some interesting sights as The George has a long history.

The Pub

The George in 1955

"Water is an excellent drink - When taken with the right spirit!" - taken by Mom

taken by Mom

Commemorating Ralph Waldo Emerson's visit to The George - taken by Mom

On our way up to the room, we popped into the aviation museum which was a room in the hotel dedicated to aviation history from the region. There was an airfield nearby where the Royal Air Force did training during the World Wars.

taken by Mom

It also showed how a pilot was the one to discover Woodhenge which is something like Stonehenge only made of wood and located near to it. At that time, it was only visible from the air.