August 1
We drove through Bath to find Claude Avenue, which is named for my grandpa Shackell. Found it! Also found Herbert Road, which is named for grandpa’s brother. After that, we drove out to Swainswick to look at the old family home, and the churchyard where all the ancestors are. It was weird seeing so many Shackells - we didn’t see much of that name living in Canada!
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| Claude Avenue in Bath |
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| Found the sign! |
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Herbert Road in Bath
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| Swainswick Manor |
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| View of the farms from the manor |
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| Swainswick |
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| A Shackell family tombstone |
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| The church at Swainswick - built in the 12th century. |
From there, we drove to Bradford on Avon - another ancient town, to Shrewton where we saw a very tiny old jail, and several thatched cottages, and then to Devizes and Potterne on the Salisbury Plains - more thatched roofs.
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The "Blind House" in Shrewton. Village criminals were
housed here in the 18th century. Brutal little building. |
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| Love these thatched roofs |
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| Thatched roofs - very common to see in this part of the country and so pretty. |
We finally found what we were looking for - The Barge Inn on the canal where there is a flight of 29 locks on the Kennet Avon Canal known as the Caen Hill Locks. https://canalrivertrust.org.uk/directory/3044/caen-hill-locks We had to see it to believe it - wow! That would be a full day of manoeuvring up or down the canal. Hopefully we can come back and do that one day.
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| 29 locks in a row - this would be a fun day! |
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| Seen on the side of a canal boat near the 29 locks. |
On the way back to Bath, we drove to see the Westbury White Horse on the Salisbury Plains. Not only was it a beautiful drive through stunning countryside, we got to see this horse high up on the hillside. We drove up to the top of the hill to get a view of it from there as well. There are apparently a number of these horses around England, but this is the oldest . Essentially, they were carved into the chalk of the hillside. This one has been cemented over (unfortunately, in my opinion) to keep maintenance costs down. Behind the tail, and on top of the hill are the remnants of an old iron age fort. It would be hard to know it was there, but signs indicate how to see where moats and walls would have been.
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| Westbury White Horse |
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| From a little further away |
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| From a lot further away! |
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