Worcester; Saturday, 29 April, 2006

I had a busy day planned for Saturday and so, after another hearty breakfast, headed off to the bus station to catch the bus to Witley.

Witley Court was once one of the finest houses in the country, and home in its time to the seventh wealthiest person in the land (and given that was the height of the Victorian period the 7th wealthiest person in the world). The mansion that existed on the site was massively expanded and elaborated upon and turned into a magnificent residence.

The family sold the house in the 1920's before disaster struck in 1937. A fire beneath the ballroom spread out of control and gutted one whole side of the building. With the insurance not coming even vaguely close to the repair costs the house was abandoned and left to rot. In the 1970's it was protected by the government and is now in the stewardship of English Heritage who are conserving the building in the state it is now in, an empty shell of a building, but still massively impressive.

The grounds have been returned to some of their former splendour and the fountains, once the talking point of the house are back in service, with the main one shooting water over 100 feet into the air every hour during weekends (alternate hours at other times).

Having spent almost three hours looking around the house and gardens I wandered back to the road to wait for the bus back into Worcester. From the bus station, I walked back to Foregate street station and caught the train south to Gloucester.

I had in my mind a far prettier and "quainter" city than what confronted me. The area around the historic docks and the cathedral are very pleasant, but the rest of the city is quite bland and looks like any other UK provincial city.

Having looked around the docks and the Cathedral I wandered back to the station slightly disappointed with the city and caught the train back to Worcester.

The train back from Gloucester terminated at Shrub Hill station so I wandered back to the B&B walking alongside the Canal for a way, which, with its refurbished and new bridges, and in the warm evening sun was very pleasant.