Lachoc Abbey

Today, I went to Lachoc Abbey in the county of Wiltshire only a little over an hour from Oxford. Lachoc, most importantly, hosted film crews for the "Harry Potter" series among other movies such as: "The Other Boelyn Girl", "Moll Flanders", "Emma", "Cranford", and "Pride and Prejudice". As it happens, Lachoc was once the home and property of the first photographer ever. Pretty amazing, actually. We hoped for beautiful weather, but the skies had another idea. Despite the incessant rain and cold, we had a lovely time.

We took a train at 9 AM and a taxi from the Chippenham train station into Lachoc. Once there, it was straight to the cloister for us where, and this is the best part, the courtyard and outdoor hallway in "Harry Potter" were filmed. It looked exactly like the movie because, well, it was. I didn't realize how completely ecstatic I would be to see the places where all of those great "witches" and "wizards" walked, but I really was; a "kid in a candy shop" doesn't even do my reaction justice. We documented this leg of the adventure amply -- let me just say that it included a duel involving some pens (translation: wands), and I'll leave it at that. Next, we wandered the perimeter a bit and the "Dark Forest" nearby. We even saw a shack with a moss covered roof that, we imagined, would house Hagrid quite nicely, even though it didn't.

Tea time was at a local bakery where our professor made friends with a former clergyman and resident of Lachoc. He told us where to eat and about the town a bit, including a great anecdote about watching Judi Dench stroll the street in front of that very shop during filming! After tea, we strolled the town some more and then proceeded to a pub where we had a deliciously warm vegetable soup and a spread of cheeses, onion, tomato, bread, and chutney. By this time my lips were purple, my hands numb, and my nose an ice cube, so the warmth and sustenance came just in time.

After lunch, other stops included: a woolen shop, which is exactly what it sounds like: a place where everything is made of wool, a soap shop with varieties of handmade soaps, a potter's shop with handmade pottery, jewelry stores, and also the Village Hall. The Village Hall was my favorite because the weavers, spinners and dyers had set up shop inside as a sort of guild meeting in hopes of selling their wares. I walked into the modest room thinking it would be a huge bust, but we ended up getting to learn how to spin and weave wool. It was SO much fun and thank God I didn't bring ample amounts of cash with me because, had I, I might have bought a "traveler" (traveling spinner) right then and there. I picked it up fairly easily and this very sweet elderly lady taught me how to press the pedals while feeding the wool through the machine. Weaving was also a lot of fun because we learned about making patterns and changing the knobs to reflect them. Entertainment and education in unexpected places, I suppose. My favorite quote of the day happened at the Village Hall, as well. Our professor asked about whether or not one can actually spin dog hair, since a friend of hers had allegedly done so, and the elderly lady said very seriously,"well if you spin a dog..." and went on to describe the technique of mixing dog hair with wool. Not what I expected.

I think we drank more tea and wandered through more random shops than I have so far on this trip, and I loved it. It was quaint and the time flew by. We were sloppy and soaking, but happy. At one point, Madison (9 years old) splashed me and said "oh I'm sorry. I just splashed you because I affectionate you". That made my day complete and will make me smile every time I think of it.