“Yes, we’re still on holiday! See if you can guess where we are today…”
Paddy and Plunkett started their tour by getting lost in this Beastie-sized lavender labyrinth. Mazes like these used to be laid out in tiles in front of the city’s cathedrals, and walking the paths supposedly helped you to rack up extra “pilgrim points”, which would fast-track you to the good parts of heaven.
This place really was a hotspot for pilgrims back in the day… people came from all over Britain, and even further afield, to visit the shrine of Thomas Becket. In fact, although it’s is now one of England’s smallest cities, in pre-Plague times it fell just inside the top ten largest, and was known throughout Europe as the “home town” of a number of recently-canonised saints of the era. The flood of pilgrims making this journey even inspired one of the earliest examples of real English literature, at a time when most literary works were in French or Latin.
Did you figure it out yet?
We’re in Canterbury! Here are the boys posing in front of Canterbury Cathedral, their first port of call after Plunkett managed to extract Paddy from the maze…
Canterbury Cathedral was founded in 597, and is now part of a UNESCO World Heritage site. The city itself dates right back to Paelolithic times, and contains landmarks left behind by a pick’n’mix of past residents – it seems like everyone from the Romans to the Normans made their mark on Canterbury!
While the cathedral is mostly a hive of activity, where a pair of Beasties risk getting trampled underfoot, there are quiet spots nearby where they can spend time exploring and posing for the camera. This shady herb garden has been planted in the old dormitory of the Cathedral – perfect for a picnic lunch!
And then they took a stroll to help settle down their hearty meal of… salad leaves. Well, if you want to spend the entire summer travelling, it’s important to save money where you can!
Plunkett spotted eight of these incredible lumpy plane trees as they wandered around the city.
He wanted to photograph all of them, but someone kept getting in the way…
Now boys, no fighting please!
Hopefully they’ll be back next Friday, with the next instalment of their magical monster mystery tour. And I’ll have more new Beasties to share on Tuesday too!
Enjoy your weekend!
I’ve been to Canterbury and the cathedral a few times (Chaucer fan) but Paddy and Plunkett have done something I’ve never done because I’ve never been in the herb garden.
Perhaps it’s a relatively new addition? I do enjoy a good herb garden though… so much to see and smell! Thanks for stopping by 😀
I probably just missed it because it was raining every time I went.
Urrrrgh! Yes, several people have commented on how lucky the boys were to get such good weather!
If I entered that lavender maze I would never leave just to enjoy the scent! What a fun trip, although I think “Someone” needs to yarn bomb that tree trunk with a Beastie-esque face. 😜
Oooh, I wonder who could do that… quick, pass me some giant-size knitting needles! I love lavender too, although I reckon that I’m going to need more than one plant if I’m going to recreate that maze on my balcony!
Unless you’re very very directionally challenged. 😜
Aha! Genius! Ok, I’m going to need a few bottles of strong ale and, um, 4 lavender plants… 😵
What a marvellous tree!
Isn’t it incredible? I wonder how old they are…
Nice to see the beasties just up the road, I’ve done many a school trip to Canterbury as student & teacher. Did you manage to squeeze in the pilgrims centre or meet Rupert bear ?
If the boys made it that far, they didn’t take any pictures… I suspect Paddy spent too long in the lavender maze! It must be great to have such a rich learning resource just down the road as well – there’s so much history in Canterbury!
Another very informative post by Professors Paddy & Plunkett ~ I do have one question though …are they in cahoots with a Weather Watch Beastie ?? as all their adventures coincide with beautiful blue skies & sunshine LOL
I know, aren’t they lucky? This most recent trip seems to have been a particular success… So if you ever need them to bring a little sunshine to your neck of the woods, just say the word 😀
I think your boys must have inadvertently strayed into my neck of the woods …the heat has been insane here the last few days ..so thank them from all of us basking in the UK
Strange… It’s been nice here too! Can they have decided to travel solo for a while, perhaps? 🤔 I’ll pass on your thanks anyway, and we’ll see where they pop up next!
They must have moved on from Lincolnshire …we are back to rain LOL
*Sigh* I suppose there’s only so much they can do with the weather on these islands!
LOL