Our room in the beautiful George and Pilgrim directly looks over the corners of High Street and Magdalene Street. This is a popular convergence point where you will see just about any character you can think of meeting in one rather small locale. Witches, wizards, Goddesses, young, old, families, everyone can be seen here. On our final night I was even lucky enough to spy a pirate walk out of a taxi.
Every Tuesday there is a market held here as well. We missed this but were in for a delight on Saturday morning when we awoke to a market being set up.
The market was a lovely assortment of fresh cheeses, poultry, vegetables, strawberries, and beautiful breads. I've discovered I like the breads in England more than home. The texture is hearty and real and therefore more appealing.
The morning after our arrival we discussed our plan for the day over our first full English breakfast:
We took a quick stroll up High Street to a place called Burns the Bread. Here, we bought our lunch for the day. The Somerset region is famous for i's apples and it's cheddar so I bought an apple and cheddar sandwich on. Spelt bun.
We walk out of this fantastic shop and turn left heading down High Street and then around the corner onto Magdalene Street, and then a right onto " who knows what" street! What I can tell you is that on a mission to begin our day with a climb up The Tor, we walked clear to another town!
It's a good thing the local are so friendly. We eventually made our way there. As we are so exhausted by our efforts we made the decision to stop at the foot of The Tor first. Here you will find The Chalice Well.
It is a reflective garden surrounding a natural spring that is said to host the Holy Grail. The story has it that Jesus' Uncle, Joseph of Arimathea, a tin trader, brought over with him the grail and buried it here, at the foot of The Tor. The waters run red and never run dry, even in drought. The mineral content of the water is high and is said to have healing properties:
The gardens are magnificent and the water is a central feature in many areas. I am brought to tears that I am finally here. I don't profess to know what my beliefs are of the religious aspects of the waters but it is definitely a place where one can feel peace.
What can be better than that?
My cousin ( <3 ), had given me a necklace prior to this trip, with my children's names and birthstones, so that I may keep them close to my heart while I'm away. As I kneel before the Lion's Head of the fountain, I take off he necklace and allow the waters to run overt before i place it back on. After this, I am ready to drink from the well:
The rest and reflection serves us well and we are ready to climb The Tor.
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