Veni vidi vici

28 Jan 2024 Leave a comment

by Carole Gardiner in London trips, UK Roman Amphitheatre Quest Tags: , , , , , , ,

My final three arena visits were solo trips. I travelled to the land of my grandfather for the two amphitheatres located in Wales. The Romans moved into this fabulous part of the UK around 48 ACE, but it wasn’t called Wales then, just a part of Britannia Major. My first port of call was Carmarthen in the South West of the country, known in Roman times as Movidurium, it’s possibly the arena that’s furthest west from Rome. Only half of the original structure is visible nowadays, but built in the 2nd century ACE it was an elliptical shape with the capacity for 4500 – 5000 spectators.

After a little wander around I made my way back east towards Newport to visit a little town called Caerleon, this was the home of the 2nd Augustan legion and 5000 soldiers were based there. The site named Isca Augusta had a very impressive amphitheatre, built around 90 ACE and big enough for 6000 spectators. I have to say up to that point it was the best preserved arena I had visited, there were lots of steps, tunnels and archways to explore, it’s the most complete amphitheatre in the UK. After a good look around I wandered down to the remains of the legionnaires barracks. There is a museum and remains of the Roman baths, unfortunately I left it too late to visit so I will definitely return for a proper look.

For the very last amphitheatre on my list I headed back to London where I based myself for my visit to St Albans. When I first planned my quest I wasn’t going to go there as the arena isn’t strictly an amphitheatre, as it has a stage at one end. But it is the only one of it’s kind in the UK so it’s very worthy of a visit. Just a 20 minute train journey from London the Roman town of Verulamium lies in the centre of beautiful St Albans. The arena was built around 140 ACE and it now lies in the Gorhambury Estate, so it was the only site I needed to pay to see, but it was worth the very small fee. It’s position is alongside the famous Watling Street that ran from Londinium to Deva Victrix, ( London to Chester), and it had a capacity of 7000 spectators. After a wander around I also checked out the hypocaust with a beautiful mosaic and a mooch around the museum with a group of very unruly school children and their harassed teachers.

So that is my UK Roman amphitheatre quest finished and I have thoroughly enjoyed it. I love how reading a random post can generate a planned trek around my country to discover the history but also incorporate it into mini breaks with friends and family.

Stay tuned to discover what my next quest will be …

Thank you for being a friend

07 Nov 2023 Leave a comment

by Carole Gardiner in Uncategorized Tags: , , , , , ,

Friendship is very important to me and I’m very lucky to have core groups of fabulous friends. And what is better than fabulous friends? ….. Weekends away with those friends!!

In the past year I have been fortunate enough to partake in quite a few jollies with my gals.

The BMT drinking club is made up of 6 paediatric oncology/haematology nurses who became friends in the 90’s, working on the bone marrow transplant unit in Bristol Children’s Hospital. We had our annual weekend jaunt to New Quay in beautiful West Wales. We are lucky to have the use of a fabulous house overlooking the sea. I always feel both energised and rested by these weekends. We spent quality time walking, chatting and laughing so much, especially when playing Cards against humanity!

The Class of 83 are a group of friends who met at senior school at the age of 11. Our friendship group became stronger following a school reunion a few years ago and we have tried to meet up regularly ever since. We discovered a lovely cottage in Draycott, near Cheddar in Somerset in November last year and decided to return again in May. Whenever we get together we all laugh so much and this was especially so on our second visit to the cottage when we found the dressing up box! Very clearly provided for the children but that didn’t stop us trying to squeeze into the outfits and making it work!

The New year new challenge club is made up of 3 adrenaline junkies, well actually just me and 2 friends that get dragged along to stuff that terrifies them, like zip wiring! We are the 3 amigos namely Arrr Carole, Arrr Debb and Arrr Selena who met working in the paediatric oncology/haematology research team. When we are not doing death defying challenges, we go on weekends away. This year we took ourselves off to Liverpool to do all things Beatles, Cilla and Liver birds!

A weekend away in the Big Smoke was in order for 2 fabulous friends, Bev and Deb, who turned 60 this year. From our temporary home on Bankside, on the first night we had cocktails in the Shard with most amazing views. Then the following day, dressed in our 70’s chick best we headed to the O2 for the Mamma Mia party night. It was a fabulous weekend in old London town filled with laughs, dancing and singing all things Abba.

Last but definitely not least, not really a weekend away, but a lovely night’s stay in our own city of Bristol. My bestest bestie Jane and I went to see an outside performance of Much ado about nothing at the Orangery at Godley Hall in Hotwells. It is a very special place for Jane and her family as her daughter got married there a couple of years ago and we met up there with the happy couple, Holly and Jonny, to watch the play. As copious amounts of fizz was consumed we needed a hotel room in walking distance to stagger to, but we were bright eyed and bushy tailed the morning after for a spot of breakfast and a really good catch up and laughing till we cried session at the Clifton Lido.

Time with treasured friends is never wasted time, to maintain friendship takes effort and mutual respect, and should never be taken for granted. I value every minute I spend with all my close friends and really hope those relationships continue for many years to come.