Gotta love those Yorkshire accents.

Today marks the half-way point of the trip, so one month left. When we think of everything we’ve done and all the places we’ve visited, it doesn’t seem possible that there is this much again ahead of us. We are also on the last few days of our hire car. Returning it will be a double-edge sword; on the one hand we will lose our freedom to go wherever we want when we want, but on the other, it will relieve me of a lot of stress. It is one thing driving your own car around a different place for a month, but when you know you are driving a hire car which carries a $1500 excess for even the tiniest of scratch, regardless of whether you were at fault or not, it makes for some pretty anxious driving. 

Speaking of driving, we missed being involved in a head-on collision the other day by a few seconds. We were driving across the Yorkshire dales, which was basically roller-coaster country, traveling at 100 kph (pretty slow in the UK) when someone got impatient and attempted to overtake on a hill, without any vision of what was coming the other way. As we neared the top, a car coming in the other direction appeared, only metres from us and the overtaking vehicle. It was all over in a split second, the overtaking car braked suddenly, slipped in behind us in an instant, and avoided certain death for all of us. We did need a reminder, but this notorious section of road, the only road I’ve ever driven with completely blind crests, has claimed 75 accidents in the past three years; still, that doesn’t stop the locals from speeding. 

These are the remains of an Abbey. It was plundered by Henry VIII during the reformation and left to decay over time.

York is yet another very, very old English city, dating back to 71 AD (that’s Roman, just in case you don’t know your history). It is probably most famous for the York Minster (which is really a fancy name for a church). This one is over a thousand years old, and is built on top of a Roman fort (York has the remains of a Roman wall all around it). We also visited what is known as the Treasurer’s House, where we heard the story of the Roman ghosts which apparently live in the basement (I wasn’t scared, but I think Alison fell for it).

York Minster - pretty impressive.

The Minster, like most of York, is built 12 - 15 feet above the level of the Roman settlement.

The Treasurer's House - where we almost saw the Roman ghosts.

We certainly haven’t had much sun in the past two weeks, in fact, it has just started to rain quite heavily in York, and we were caught up the street buying some pasties for a very late lunch. The reason we were so late was a lovely trip to Beningbrough Hall and Gardens, a beautiful National Trust property about a twenty-minute drive from York. Beningbrough is early 18^th century, just at the beginning of the Georgian period. The home is spectacular and the gardens and surrounding Yorkshire country almost drove me to tears (either that, or the hayfever season has arrived early).

Beautiful Beningbrough Hall and Gardens - I put in yet another offer.

 

Part of the magnificent walled garden.

 

Somethings are too perfect to need a caption (which is my caption).

But the most amazing thing happened while we were looking around the house. The walls are literally festooned with portraits from the last three hundred years, from royals to general members of the aristocracy. While we were looking a one in particular, the guide from the National Trust excused herself and asked if I was related to the subject in the portrait, someone by the title of the Earl of Worcestershire. Although I was tempted to go along with it, a little bit of notoriety never hurting anybody, I had to admit that there was no blue blood in my family. Still, it did bear a striking resemblance to me. What was even stranger was the revelation that his full title was Edwin, Earl of Worcestershire. Now, I am a sceptic from way back, always have been, but even I had to admit there was an uncanny resemblance. Pretty soon, the guide had called over her colleagues and we were all examining the portrait in minute detail. If it wasn’t me (and I was pretty sure I’m no Earl), it sure did look related to me.

The Earl of Worcestershire - what do you think?

Now, if all this seems incredible, you are never going to believe this. Apparently, the Earl was married, and there was a portrait painted of both the Earl and the Countess, and yes, Beningbrough had this portrait as well. I’ll leave it to you to decide, but the Countess has a remarkable resemblance to someone else; the caption next to the portrait gave her name as Alison, Countess of Worcestershire. I told them I’d be back next month to reclaim my title (and the house).

The Earl and Countess of Worcestershire