Day 6: Uppingham, Grantham, Stamford and Peterborough Cathedral (Sept 21)

I don't know about you, but I love a good farmers market. Eric and I go to our local farmers market just about every Saturday during market season and whenever we go on vacation I like to check out the local market of the area we are visiting. One cool thing about England is that they have been doing farmers markets for a couple of thousands of years and they are everywhere! It's a great way to check out the local fare like produce, meat, cheese and baked goods as well as handcrafted items.We were in luck as two of the nearby towns were having market day today (Friday)!

Our first stop was the little town of Uppingham. Eric and I had spent some time wandering around the village on Sunday and had an awesome breakfast and hot chocolate so we decided to head to their market with a plan to have our breakfast at Don Paddy's ( I just really wanted another hot chocolate). 

Uppingham has a distinct Market Square, which is pretty much the middle of the village. On non market days it serves as a car park, but on market days it's transformed to the market. It's a tiny market, but was filled with fresh produce, cheese, bread, eggs, fish, etc. Austin bought some local plums that were delicious.

Uppingham Market

We thought we might wander around before eating breakfast. We had parked just up the street from market square so we started out in the other direction to explore. We walked around several blocks, taking pictures along the way and then headed back to drop off our rain jackets (as it was just a drizzle) before breakfast. As we rounded the corner, we saw a parking enforcement officer standing by our car (uh oh). Right away Eric said, "oh no, what did we do"? It seems as though we had parked in a "permit only" spot. We didn't see any signs stating as much but we certainly weren't going to argue the point. The officer was super nice and apologetic. I could tell that he genuinely felt bad that we were tourists getting a ticket. I think if we had made it back before he had submitted the ticket he would have given us a warning. He said he had waiting a while to see if someone came back to the car. He said, "I'm sorry to ruin your day". More about the ticket later in the blog...
It was a bummer, but we certainly weren't going to let it ruin our day but it did ruin our desire for breakfast so we hit the road for our next stop (no hot chocolate, boo hoo).

Stupid tourists don't know where to park!

We continued on to the village of Grantham. There was a pretty steady rain happening so we did a little bit of walking around town and then stopped off in a little cafe for a spot of tea (for me and Austin) and a pint for Eric. 

A spot of tea on a rainy day

Since we only had a short amount of time on our parking meter (and were a little paranoid about getting a ticket) we decided to head on the the town of Stamford, which is a town on the River Welland in Lincolnshire.

All three of us absolutely loved Stamford and would say it was the favorite of all the towns/villages that we visited. Much of the charm of Stamford lies in the appearance of the very well preserved stone buildings and timber framed buildings and the architecture of Saxon, Danish and Norman influence. There are five beautiful parish churches and the town has become very popular with tourists as well as film makers. On the outskirts of Stamford you will find Burghley House, former home of Lord Burghley (William Cecil), chief advisor to Queen Elizabeth 1.

It was still sprinkling a little when we made our way into town, so we decided to stop in another cafe (such is the life of vacation, lol). The particular cafe just so happened to be a chocolate cafe, yum! Finally, I got my hot chocolate! And. it. was. delicious!!

Can you say marshmallow overload??

Decisions, decisions...I'll go for the Mintchievous please!

 Hot chocolate tooth satisfied, we ventured out into the town square for the market. There were all kinds of booths set up; food, plants, clothing and trinkets. Eric had been looking for a nice flat cap, so he was very excited to see a booth with all manner of sizes and colors. 

         

         

Aside from an awesome market, Stamford also had a downtown area with lots of shops, restaurants and cafes. I can see why this town is a favorite with tourists. 
We walked by a tiny bakery that had a pretty good sized line out the door so we had to pop in and take a peek and came out with a cute little gingerbread man. 

While in one of the shops, I got to chatting with a very nice sales clerk. Of course, she asked if we were on holiday (did my American accent give it away)?? We were talking about how busy the town gets on market day and the challenge of finding parking. I happened to mention our parking ticket. She told me that her boyfriend has received a ticket recently and when he called the court, they reduced the fine...ah, why didn't I think of that?? So, as soon as we left the shop, I called the court, only to find that my citation hadn't been entered into the system yet. Instead, I decided to send an email, explaining our ignorance (etc.) and I am happy to report that a few days later, I got an email back that they were dismissing our ticket! Woo hoo!!

After spending time wandering around Stamford, doing a little shopping and exploring, we headed out to our last stop of the day, Peterborough Cathedral. 

Since we had stumbled upon Worcester Cathedral, and were so impressed, I decided that I better take a look at where all the other cathedrals in England were located. I was happy to find that Peterborough was only about 30 miles from the town of Stamform and figured it would be worth the drive, and it was!

Peterborough Cathedral (also known as St. Peters's Cathedral) was founded in the Anglo-Saxon period and following a rebuild in the 12th century, it's architecture is mainly Norman. It is one of the most important 12th century buildings in England to have remained largely intact. It is known for its Early English Gothic West Front with three enormous arches and let me tell you, it is very impressive. 

Front of Peterborough Cathedral

Of course, I am always on the lookout for Tudor connections and I was excited to find that the first wife of King Henry VIII, Catherine of Aragon, was buried at this cathedral in 1536. Catherine's story is a sad one, and her and Henry's divorce would rock the entire European world and forever change the role of the Catholic Church in England. In order to get his divorce from Catherine (known as the King's great matter) so he could marry Anne Boleyn, Henry split from the Church of Rome and created the Church of England, creating himself the Supreme Head of the Church. That way he didn't need the Pope's permission to get a divorce (after 24 years of marriage) he could just grant himself permission. Eventually, Catherine was banished from court, separated from her only child (Mary Tudor) and sent to live out her days at Kimbolton Castle. Until the end of her life, she would continue to refer to herself as the King's only lawful wife and England's only rightful Queen. 

Catherine's grave can still be seen and is still honored by visitors who decorate it with flowers and pomegranates (her symbol). It carries the legend, "Katherine Queen of England" a title she was denied at the time of her death. 

You can read more about the life of this amazing woman here, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catherine_of_Aragon

After our visit to Peterborough, it was time to head back to the room to pack up...tomorrow will be a day of new adventures!