TRAVEL WORDS

Postcards from Around the World

Leaf Peeping in New England (2)

[Leaf peeping is an informal term in the United States and Canada for the activity in which people travel to view and photograph the fall foliage in areas where leaves change colours in autumn, particularly in northern New England]

When I was teaching it meant holidays could only be taken during the school holidays when it was more expensive and busy. And I couldn’t tag on to the OH’s conferences either. Which is why during one October half term we decided to do a fly drive holiday to the eastern side of the USA and do a spot of leaf peeping.

Collecting our hire car (a very nice black Buick) from Boston’s Logan International airport we headed north to the White Mountains in New Hampshire following the I93 as far as Franconia where we turned off onto the Daniel Webster Highway (3) before joining the 302 east to Bretton Woods where we were staying for a few nights at the Mount Washington Hotel resort. (3 hour drive without stops)

We didn’t stay at the hotel itself though we did go up to have a look around and enjoy a cocktail sitting on the balcony looking at the amazing views.

Conceived by New Hampshire native Joseph Stickney, the Mount Washington Hotel opened its doors in 1902 and immediately became one of New England’s premier resorts. The hotel welcomed guests from Boston, New York and beyond, and many families would stay for the entire summer with an entourage of staff and extended family, enjoying a respite from busy city life. It was designed by Charles Alling Gifford. In 1944, it hosted the Bretton Woods Conference, which established the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank. In December 2015, the hotel and the Bretton Woods Mountain Resort were purchased by Omni Mount Washington LLC

source: Wikipedia

Views from the hotel balcony of the Mount Washington cog railway

Just off Rte. 302 in Bretton Woods is the Mt. Washington Cog Railway (base road entrance 27.8), the world’s very first mountain climbing cog railway. When the Cog Railway was first proposed, the New Hampshire legislature was so doubtful it could be completed that they gave the builder the right to build a “railway to the moon!” Today you can ride the Cog to the top of 6,288-foot Mt. Washington, as well as see “Old Peppersass,” the world’s first mountain climbing locomotive which reached the summit on July 3, 1869. (White Mountains)

One of the covered balconies at the hotel where we relaxed with a cocktail and admired the views.

We actually stayed at the Bretton Arms Inn.

We had three nights here and unfortunately the weather didn’t remain as nice as it was on the drive up here. But we did see some amazing scenery and wonderful colours.

Next time we’ll head along the ‘Kanc’.

Words on Wednesday

Caen Hill Locks are the longest continuous straight flight of locks in the country. Completed in 1810 by the famous canal engineer John Rennie.

The 16 locks that take boaters up the steepest part of the flight are a scheduled ancient monument.

In order that boats could climb or descend the steep hill, 29 locks were built between Town Bridge and the bottom lock at Lower Foxhangers. In the middle of this is the ‘staircase’ of 16 locks known as Caen (pronounced cane) Hill with enormous side pounds that hold water to fill the locks. It has a rise of 237 feet in 2 miles.

The side ponds keep it topped up with water – each holds 1 million gallons.

There is a café at lock 44 and mooring between locks 44 and 45.

Hard work operating those locks! It takes 4 – 5 hours to navigate the entire flight. There are volunteer lock keepers to assist, but we didn’t see anyone on the small section we walked by.

The Kennet & Avon Canal runs all the way from the River Thames to the River Avon, connecting the town of Reading with the World Heritage Site of Bath and Bristol. It is 87-miles (140km) long and is made up of two lengths of navigable river linked by a 57-mile (92km) canal section.

The Canal & River Trust cares for 2,000 miles of canals and rivers across England and Wales.

Postcards from Around the World

Leaf Peeping in New England

We began our trip in Boston where we stayed in a city hotel for a couple of nights before returning to the airport to pick up the hire car.

We arrived late on the Friday – just before midnight and were shown to a very second rate room as although we had specified a late arrival it seemed our actual room had been given to someone else. We were moved to a much better room in the morning and after breakfast we headed out to explore the city, beginning with the famous Public Garden where we had hoped to see the Swan Boats, but they were closed for the season, and we completely missed the ‘Make Way for Ducklings’ sculptures. I remember reading the book of the same name by Robert McCloskey to my daughter when she was a child.

The Parkman Bandstand. Named for George F. Parkman, the bandstand was constructed following his death in 1908, in honour of a $5 million donation he had willed for the care of the Boston Common and other city parks.

From there we wandered around the Beacon Hill area, one of Boston’s oldest neighbourhoods and full of charming, narrow cobblestone streets, federal style row houses and gaslit streetlamps.

And as our visit was shortly before Halloween it was decorated with pumpkins and skeletons and all things ghostly!

It takes time to walk a block in Boston, there is so much architectural detail to see. There are a lot of tree-lined streets and parks. And cars.

After dinner we set off to find the Old State House and wander down to the harbour where we followed the harbour walk as far as the Boston Tea Party museum, which was closed, before heading back to the hotel.

Tall Ship

Wharfs along Fort Point Channel

The ‘Tender’s House’ demolished in 2008

Northern Avenue bridge, closed 2014

The Custom House Tower is a skyscraper in McKinley Square

Massachusetts State House

Old State House nestled among the towering skyscrapers of Downtown Boston

Old South Church an ornate, 1875 church housing a congregation founded in 1669

Old South Church

Along the Harbour walk

Boston Tea Party

Northern Avenue bridge, closed 2014

A lot of this will have changed by now (this visit was in 2007) I know that the Northern Avenue bridge was in danger of being demolished along with the rundown Tender’s House next to it. The bridge is unique in that it is a rotating swing bridge built in 1908.

(It was closed in December 2014. Apparently there were plans to reconstruct it as a pedestrian/cycle only bridge, but because of Covid the project came to a halt in 2020. The Tender’s House was partially demolished in 2008. The boarded up and rambling structure served for nearly a century as a home for the keepers of the rotating swing bridge – who had to be available, night and day, to let ships through. As one local said “This is demolition by neglect” )

Boston is an interesting city, though I would not like to drive in the city centre, even driving through the tunnels (a later post) was enough to give me nightmares.

Monochrome Madness | Trees

One thing that I noticed whilst living in Shropshire was the way the trees looked, especially in winter. Weirdly shaped limbs reaching for the sky, often looking as though they were leaning over to have a conversation. I called them my Ent trees.

Ents are a species of sentient beings in J. R. R. Tolkien’s fantasy world of Middle-earth who closely resemble trees; their leader is Treebeard of Fangorn forest. Their name is derived from an Old English word for “giant”.