History, our Heritage and a Gorge

Today was a day of schedule adjustments and great adventure. The priority of the morning was...laundry! We found our way to a local commercial laundromat to rinse out a few things; then we set off for Bristol to visit 'The New Room' which is the oldest methodist chapel in the world and was constructed by John Wesley and friends to meet the growing crowds of disciples who showed up for John's sermons. Also of noteworthy interest is John's brother Charles, the 'lesser known' brother who wrote between 7,000 and 9,000 hymns in his lifetime...what does a guy need to do in order to get noticed in the Wesley family?

After a tasty lunch in Bristol, it was off to Hanham Mount where the Methodist movement began in earnest as John was somewhat 'pushed' into the open-air preaching by his old Oxford chum, George Whitfield. Essentially, George had John preach to a group and then told everyone that he would be preaching out at Hanham the next morning, much to John's chagrin.

We then rode through Cheddar (yes, of the famed cheese) and the impressive Cheddar Gorge, which served as the inspiration for the Augustus Toplady "Rock of Ages" (I doubt that the Def Leppard song of the same name started here). We had a quick climb to stretch our legs as you can see here (don't forget the password is england).

Our day finished in Wells as we visited the Wells Cathedral and attended an Evensong service (evening prayer). The interesting element of this service is that almost the entire thing is sung by the choir...tonight it was the boys/mens choir which ranged in age from about 8 to 60. In addition to the service, the Early English Gothic architecture and medieval sculptures are pretty fascinating.

We are up early tomorrow morning for a hike up to the Tor led by yours truly (Holly will be opting to sleep in) and then off to Stratford-Upon-Avon. You will have to tune in tomorrow to learn the significance of this location!