Tuesday 10 March 2009

Widecombe In the Moor

We decided to take a trip out to the Moor this morning, but first we called in at The House of Marbles for a coffee and cake. This was orginally a pottery built in the 18th century.
These are the bottle kilns, where the wares were fired.

It has a wonderful collection of board games, marble games and bagatelles from the early 1600`s
And a huge collection of marbles, some very rare.
In the shop, theres a lovely array of marbles you can buy, takes you back to your school days
Its also famous for its marble runs..
It has a lovely museum of vintage china, I would have loved some of these
It sells some beautiful things, glassware, ornaments, toys, and upstairs furniture and this...



After all this gaiety and much refreshed we headed to Widecombe In the Moor
This is a lovely little village, at the bottom of a huge hill, its dominated by St Pancras church, which is known as the `Cathedral of the Moors` due to its soaring steeple
We walked round to the lych gate..
and went into the church, where the organist was playing the organ, which added to the atmosphere. It has a nice vaulted ceiling, and collection of old crosses
In the grave-yard there were lots of signs of spring
Crocus around this beautiful celtic cross.
and a lovely patch of snowdrops on the bank
and a cheeky Robin, keeping a beady eye on us.
In the centre of the village is a green, where Horse Chestnuts spread their lovely branches, and the trunks are circled by metal seats
Theres a lovely old grey stone Inn, and an old village sign depicting Old Tom Cobley
Widecombe is famous for its fair, which started 150 years ago as a place for farmers to buy stock, and after a successful market in 1850, some of the local gentry held a dinner to celebrate, and its been held every year since. Its held on the second Tuesday in September.
The old folksong `Uncle Tom Cobley` is associated with the fair, it tells of an old grey mare being borrowed, to ride to the fair by several men, but dying before it could be returned.

Tom Pearse, Tom Pearse, lend me your grey mare,
All along, down along, out along lee,
For I want for to go to Widecombe Fair,
With Bill Brewer, Jan Stewer, Peter Gurney,
Peter Davy, Dan`l Whiddon, Harry Hawke,
Old Tom Cobley and all,
Old Uncle Tom Cobley and all......

The village is surrounded by some lovely tors, with backs like Dinosaurs
and whilst we were there, this buzzard flew over, always a welcome sight....

2 comments:

JoAnn ( Scene Through My Eyes) said...

Such loveliness!!!!!

Ramblings From Spain said...

Loved the cheeky fat robin watching your moves across the Moor.. x