an overnighter in wiltshire and bath!

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the first monday in may is a holiday in england. ian has to study on saturdays lately (the cfa exam is coming up in just a few weeks) and we need to fulfill church responsibilities in our london congregation on sundays, but may first was a totally bonus day off! so we took a little overnight road trip through the english countryside to one of the areas i lived in when i was missionary. i served for four and a half months in the random town of trowbridge, wiltshire, and spent some time in the nearby stunning roman city of bath. it was really great to bring ian and moses to some places that are so meaningful to me, to get out of the busy city into the green hills, and to explore some new bits of the countryside.

click through to see some photos!
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^^ this is the little house i lived in with my companion, sister jenks.
we learned so much and had so many adventures together, starting from this spot! ^^
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^^ here’s the high street in trowbridge, where sister jenks and i spent countless hours
talking with people about their families and their faith. ^^
ian, moses and i had dinner on sunday evening with a dear friend i met in trowbridge, ruth, and her husband and three kids at their home near trowbridge town center. we had a wonderful time together, and i’m so mad i didn’t take a picture! you can read more about ruth and my time in trowbridge here.
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^^ we slept over in the tiny village of beckington, in a simple hotel room on the
top floor of a quintessential english pub. ^^
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^^ this was the view out our window when we woke up monday morning. ^^
while ian did some studying, moses and i went on a walk around the village,
and found some charming sights:
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^^ the way tiny flowers grow out of century-old stone walls is one of my favourite things about england. ^^
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^^ this is the primary school in the village (can you spot the globe in the window?). isn’t it just lovely?! ^^
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^^ mini daisies blooming away in the crease between the sidewalk and a building’s front wall. ^^
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after a full english breakfast, we drove to bath via bradford on avon, where i spent a good chunk of time doing missionary work. it’s a darling, darling town set in hills along the canal.
little mo was sleeping in the car, so i popped out just for a few minutes to snap some photos.
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^^ here’s a picture of me, as a missionary nearly ten years ago, on that same bridge in bradford! ^^
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we got to bath ^^ by late morning. we got to do a little bit of exploring together, and then ian studied in the rental car while moses and i strolled through the old, beautiful, lively streets of this historic town. it was fun to think of jane austen frequenting those same streets and people coming from far and wide in roman times to take a healing dip in the thermal baths fed by the nearby natural spring. the georgian architecture and gothic abbey in bath are spectacular.
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^^ i loooved the wisteria on the royal crescent! moses slept through it ;) ^^
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ian and moses had a little daddy date while i did the tower tour at bath abbey (kids under five aren’t allowed up the narrow spiral staircases!). the views were wonderful (from the top i could see right into the roman baths, which we had opted to not pay to visit!) and it was super interesting to learn about the construction of the building centuries ago and how the bell ringing has evolved over time.
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^^ seeing the back of the clock face was a highlight of the tour for me. ^^
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^^ can you spot both the ancient roman baths and the modern rooftop bath house?! ^^
our drive back to heathrow airport (where we had picked up a rental car)
was stuffed with really spectacular scenery.
i adore the bright yellow fields of rapeseed that pop up along the hills of england in the springtime.
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i love england so so much. i’ve spent nearly 15% of my life in this country. it’s where i experienced a defining, powerful personal answer to prayer at age nine, where i lived on my own for the first time at age seventeen, where i had the unparalleled and incredible experience of being a missionary at age twenty one, and where i became a mother at age thirty. england is … home.

Comments

  1. Your adventures are a dream! The scenery is just breathtaking, like ever picture you post! After a long hard day your photos are the perfect escape for me. Someday I want to visit these places.

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  3. I wonder if The Woolpack Inn was named after The Woolpack pub in the soap Emmerdale.

    Looks like you had a great time.

    And you've got another bank holiday to look forward to at the end of May. Enjoy.:)

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  4. Hi Charity, this is a random question and off topic: I`m going on my first cruise next week, I`ll be travelling along Norwegian`s coast, so it won`t be too hot. ;) Do you have any tips on what to pack and what I should absolutely do on the ship?

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    1. i've never been to norway! it's at the very very top of my list though (we were planning to go next month but recently cut that trip out). i bet layers are best! and my advice for cruise ships? take good advantage of that all you can eat thing! chow down!

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    2. Hahaha! Good advice! I LOVE good food, so this will be easy ;) I will go to the North Cape-this would be something for Ian and his love for extreme geographical points, wouldn`t it? ;) I`m sure there will be another opportunity for you to travel to Norway. I can also recommend visiting Stockholm and Uppsala, and the middle of Sweden. The cities are awesome, and the nature is so so beautiful! Anyway, thanks for your answer!

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  5. Not sure if you ever have seen it or even watch TV or Netflix but there is a BBC show called Escape to the Country. It's a quick episode about couples who are looking to buy a home in various locations in the United Kingdom countryside. Charming cottages and they give a history of the towns...you would love it! Such an education and drop dead scenery!

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    1. ooooh i might have to check this out. although it may make me obsess over places we need to visit in the uk - haha! thanks for the tip!

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  6. Everything here is BEYOND LOVELY with the glaring exception of that purple "nursing" dress with flaps. Time to burn that thing; seriously.

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    1. hahaha! i really like that dress! and it's ian's favourite. so i think we'll keep it for a while yet. i'm sorry that you don't like it, though!

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    2. You look really beautiful in that dress!!!

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