In October 2013 I was living in Abu Dhabi so for a short holiday I took myself off to England to see Stonehenge and Glastonbury for the first time. There is benefit sometimes in the rainy English weather it can keep the tourists away and that means you more easily get to experience what you have set out to see. That was the case for me when I took myself to Stonehenge, there were not a lot of people around so I got to enjoy walking around and seeing the stones from different angles without noisy tourists. photos below

From there I headed into to Glastonbury for a few days. I love to drive and my rental car was a beautiful Peugeot coupe, however when I ended up down a dead end street and couldn’t find the reverse in this “new fangled” car. I had to get out and approach some strangers to see if they new how to put it in reverse thankfully they did and off I went in search of my accommodation, having learnt an important lesson, “to make sure you know all the controls before driving off in a rental car”. I stayed at a BnB in the centre of the town so I could just park the car and walk around. It was nice enough but I found the owners not as welcoming as other places I have stayed.

I spent the afternoon walking around and getting acquainted with Glastonbury, found a nice Crystal shop and a place to have dinner. Lots of Pubs and delightful places to check out. I love walking around towns like this, with history everywhere you look.

Next day saw me heading to Glastonbury Abbey and Chalice Well. I was lucky it was a sunny day.

“Glastonbury Abbey was a monastery in Glastonbury Somerset England. Its ruins, a grade I listed building and scheduled ancient monument are open as a visitor attraction.

The abbey was founded in the 7th century and enlarged in the 10th. It was destroyed by a major fire in 1184, but subsequently rebuilt and by the 14th century was one of the richest and most powerful monasteries in England.

From at least the 12th century the Glastonbury area has been associated with the legend of King Arthur, a connection promoted by medieval monks who asserted that Glastonbury was Avalon. Christian legends have claimed that the abbey was founded by Joseph of Arimathea in the 1st century. – Wikipedia”

I loved being at the Abbey, the grounds are amazing and the energy was peaceful, and if you were still you could almost feel the activity that would have happened there on a daily basis.

The last photos above are from “St Patricks Chapel, in the northwest corner of the abbey precinct stands St Patrick’s Chapel, the only other roofed surviving medieval building. Built relatively late in the life of the abbey by Abbot Beere in 1512, it served as chapel to the almshouses of the poor that stood nearby.

Conservation work in 2008-9 revealed a complicated structural history that showed the chapel was partly comprised of earlier precinct walls of the 13th and 14th centuries. As part of the restoration project, local artists and volunteers recreated the kind of murals that would have adorned the chapel in the Middle Ages, depicting many of the saints that are associated with the abbey. New stained glass was commissioned that also helped return the chapel to some of its medieval ambience.” For more information check out https://www.glastonburyabbey.com/

Next it was on to Chalice Well from the Chalice Well website

” Between two hills, the Tor and Chalice Hill, in Glastonbury, Somerset, there is an ancient Spring that flows from the ground in the valley. This is the Chalice Well, sometimes called ‘The Blood Well’, whose waters constantly flow at 25,000 gallons per day (13650 litres) and at a constant temperature of 52 degrees Farenheit (11 degrees centigrade). The Well today is surrounded by beautiful gardens. Water diviners and specialists have reported that the Spring has a ‘primary’ origin coming from deep within the earth. The dowser Sig Lonegren has dowsed many sites around the world and says, ‘The water doesn’t come from above. It comes from below and so is not dependent on rainfall and begins its existence deep within the bowels of our Mother, the Earth.’ The Spring has never been known to fail and in the dry years of 1921-22 it was the sole means of saving the whole town from drought. ” https://www.chalicewell.org.uk/

Chalice Well was another peaceful site to visit, the gardens are magnificent and you can take home the water which has a slight red colour to it because of its Iron content, if you take a spare bottle with you.

I had a great trip and would love to go back the Glastonbury as its one of those good vibe places on the planet.

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#travelsinthepast #stonehenge #glastonbury #chalicewell #adventures #spiritual