Day 32: Pleasant surprises in charming Devizes

Today we did manage a return visit to Devizes whose charming museum we briefly inspected yesterday.  It was good to return to the museum and see the bits we missed - the Anglo-Saxon exhibition and the more contemporary history of Wiltshire.  It's a delightful place, small and a bit understated, but fascinating. 






You know that expression 'like chalk and cheese'? Well, I could explain it, but I feel this museum signage does it so much better.   >>>











                                        
I was also pleased to see this old sketch of some soldiers from the Wiltshire Regiment.
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My great-great great-great grandfather Isaac Newton (not the gravity chap) was in the Wiltshire Regiment for over 20 years.  After that he was a fishmonger at 103 High St Marlborough.  That premises is now a Boots chemist.  Hard to say if the chemist shop is housed in the same building where Isaac jellied his eels - I did ask about the building's history yesterday when I was buying an ankle support, but all I got was a giggle and an "I dunno" from the young missy behind the counter. Ah well, I guess it's a bit of an ask to expect a pharmacy assistant to have this information to hand.  [Susie: perhaps you should know the history of your Terry White branch at Belconnen Mall for just such an occasion.]



I was also charmed by this excellent iron cello, made by a blacksmith in nearby Milton Lilbourne and used in the parish church there for 70 years until an organ was purchased in the 1890s. 

Apparently many village church organs were destroyed during the English Civil War and so for over 200 years in those parishes, music was provided by cellos, flutes and clarinets.  When moves were afoot in the 1800s to reinstate organs, there was considerable resistance from the string and wind crowd.   

The pewter tankard at the bottom left was for communion wine. It looks to be quite a handy size for my late afternoon/evening refreshment!            

In other church news, John and Charles Wesley caused ructions in Devizes in the mid to late 1700s, when they tried to convert the Anglicans to their more austere form of Protestantism.  A few Methodists in my family cupboard, so clearly the Wesleys had some wins.





We saw some gorgeous old Georgian buildings and some that were older.  (Further pics to come but first I need to fill this space with some prattle.)

When we were in York, we saw an ancient and crooked alley called 'The Shambles' which we assumed was unique to York. The name seemed appropriate but actually related to its early origins as a market for various types of meat.  Since then we have been in several towns that have had their own "The Shambles", including Devizes.  Sadly the Devizes one seemed poorly patronised and a bit down at heel.  It mainly sold cheap socks and dodgy watches.

We thought these two buildings were beautiful. I had to work hard not to get their TV aerials in! They were next door to the Norman church, pictured yesterday.








This building is described as a "medieval hall".  Not very informative I'm afraid. It's just behind the buildings in the pic above. 

The only downer of the day was the lunch we had in a really bomby café.  I ordered a chicken sandwich and a cup of tea. Geoffy ordered soup, tea and a piece of cake for us to share. The tea and the cake arrived immediately. After 15 minutes, we decided we should drink the tea, as it was not getting any hotter. In fact it was barely luke-warm by then. Then, starving, we ate the cake. Which would have been quite nice, if we had had it with a cup of hot tea, or even cold tea. Or any liquid really.  After another 20 minutes, (and 40 minutes after we walked into the shop) our sandwich and soup arrived. My sandwich was drowning in mayonnaise so I left half of it.  I expected Geoff to go out in sympathy but he said his soup was rather nice.  Traitor.

Jist one more thing before I go.  As with their showers over bathtubs, the poms are big on front-loader washing machines. Usually in kitchens.  (Gee, why not the bath-tub, where showers are apparently so eminently suited?)  We have managed them fairly successfully thus far but have been most perplexed that the 'economy' cycle on our Buckerfield Barn washing machine goes for FOUR hours.  How could that possibly be an economy cycle?  Not to mention what it must do to one's smalls and other delicates.  We have since found a one-hour cycle.  But we zoomed in on the economy cycle because we foolishly assumed it meant 'economy' and not "world's-longest-and-most- damaging-to-your-delicates-wash-cycle".  In high but affectionate dudgeon, AA xxx

Once again, the Wiltshire Museum in Devizes proved to be an understated gem.  The worthy locals who have created and maintained it should take a bow.  We said so to our helpful front-of-house person, who today did not mistake us for New Zealanders, somewhat disappointingly.  Still, she was very helpful, and recognised us from yesterday and so allowed us free admission.  Of course, we gave a generous donation, having graciously accepted her kind offer.

Could this be from a local pub that served hand-pumped ales?

 

This is from a local pub that served hand pumped ales.  No surprises there, except that it was in use until 1987!  If only we had visited some 28 years earlier, we could have been there on the night it was given its send off.  I'm sure it was quite an occasion.

 

We had been told to keep a look out for St Johns Alley, which reputedly features some of Devizes's oldest architecture.  We would have missed it, but our generous museum hostess set us straight, and here is what we found.                    

 

 

The old(est) part is the medieval building on the right.  Astoundingly, it's now a hat shop.  I would have said a milliners, just to show I know what it means, but it just said 'hats'.  Anyway, next time you're in Wiltshire and need a hat, you know where to go.  You heard it here first.

 

 

But we're told that this one is in fact the oldest house in Devizes, dating from the 1450s.  We're not sure about our facts here, but having finally found it, we felt compelled to show the photo.  Devizes is typical of any number of English towns that is brimming over with history. 

 

 

While looking for St Johns Alley, we found this in a side street.  We think it looks like a miniature viaduct.  We'd like to be able to tell you what it is, but to be perfectly frank, we don't have a fookin clue.  But it's worth a look anyway.

 

 

The point is, you just wander around aimlessly, and this is the sort of thing you see.  Note the cobble-stoned street.  Devizes is also adjacent to a canal, where you can take a cruise on a canal boat.  It's only open on certain days, that didn't suit us, but if you're here for any length of time, and fancy a canal cruise (and why wouldn't you?), this is for you.  A highlight would be the Caen Locks, just upstream.  There are 29 of them, that rise 237 feet in 2 miles.  I won't go into any more detail, particularly as we didn't actually go there, but I'm sure it's very impressive. 

 

En route home from Devizes, we did the ritual cleaning of the car inside and out (this being the day before the Renault Captur is returned).  Not sure how successful we were (the vacuum feature wouldn't even hold a ping pong ball against the nozzle), but we can tell the Hertz person at Heathrow tomorrow that we tried our best.

 

More tomorrow.  We're thinking that our last post (so to speak) might feature some of our own personal highlights and lowlights of England.  There'll be plenty, and that's both a threat and a promise.