Pope's Grotto, Twickenham, London

Pope's Grotto near Twickenham in London has been on my "to do list" for years, but as it has very limited open days I was never able to visit. Then in January 2025 I saw tickets advertised for the year so immediately bought one for 5 April.

Alexander Pope was one of England's most famous poets of his day. Born in 1688, he was a Catholic, and at the time there was religious repression. He also suffered from poor health and physical disabilities. To get away from the religious problems, Pope moved to Twickenham in 1719 and built a villa by the Thames on land he leased - Catholics weren't allowed to own land. He created a landscaped garden and dug a tunnel under the road to connect the house and garden. In 1720 Pope created the famous grotto, inspired by the styles of ancient Greece and Rome.

He was also inspired by the landscaped gardens of other mansions along the Thames, especially those with grottos decorated with shells, stones and crystals. In 1739 Pope visited a spa in Bristol. He liked the sparkling mineral rocks along the Avon Gorge and decided to adorn his grotto with minerals from all over the world. 

The villa was later demolished. A new building was erected in the 1940 and is now a school. English Heritage listed the site in 1952, the remaining traces of the gardens in 1987 and Pope's Grotto Preservation Trust set up in 2014. Since then conservation and preservation work has taken place.

The grotto is located in the Radnor School complex. Across the road is the Alexander Pope Hotel and several roads have "grotto" in their name.
Radnor School and  below the blue signboard is a plaque on the wall by the pavement mentioning the studs -

View of the Thames from inside the school grounds -

The grotto is located through the door shown above. Inside are a few information boards before the main entrance -

Inside on the left and right are 2 chambers with statues. The one on the left -

The entire walls and ceilings are covered with rocks and stones and minerals -

A wall decoration -

And on the ceiling -

The tunnel -

There are alcoves with benches in the tunnel -

This single piece of stal might have come from Wookey Hole, according to 

Old brickwork remains in place behind the walls -

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I have been to Marble Hill grotto which is nearby, and also by the Thames. This grotto has references to Alexander Pope and his grotto.

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Pope's Grotto references :

Pope's Grotto Preservation Trust , with a plan

A video on BBC from 2019

A detailed report on the Londonphile

Ianvisits 2024 report

Countrylife 2023

Tubing in Belize's Crystal Cave

 The Crystal Caves complex lie southwest of Belize City. From Belize City we took the George Price Highway, which leads to the capital Belmopan. It was a flat landscape, we passed a few karst hills in a group with Rockville Quarry. 

We turned off the highway at St. Matthew's and headed for Nohoch Che’en Caves Branch Archaeological Reserve and then on to Chukka Jaguar Paw outpost. Here we transferred to an old school bus to drive over a short hill to the outpost. Nohoch Che’en means big cave. 

We got waterproof shoes, left our things in a locker then walked in our swimsuits to have a look at the forest. I had left my camera and phone in the locker, so was unable to take any photos. Saw a kapok tree, called ceiba (saber), it is often found above caves here. A trumpet tree that has a hollow stem, and a Cohune palm.

Went to look at a cave entrance, the river flows through. Saw swallows. Then back through the compound and got life jacket and helmet with light, then our large green tube. Then about a 5 min walk up hill then down steps into the cave. It reminded me of a mini Clearwater. Lots of formations. 

The 8 tubes were tied together and our guide essentially pulled us along, upriver. We just floated along. Cave is impressive with a lot of stal and crystals, though the guide called them quartz. Saw a few very small bats. After a while we got out and walked up and over some dry land, through some formations and back to the river, then went back downstream to just beyond the put in point. We could then swim the last section but I chose to float across. Saw some small fish. We then had to carry our tubes up a lot of steps and then back to the centre. 

The cave is impressive, despite the conveyor belt of tourists. We got changed then had lunch of rice and beans with chicken. 

The caves were used by the Mayas and there are archaeological remains. 

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See photos on Trip Advisor ,

Limestone roofs in Bermuda

The islands of Bermuda sit on a long extinct volcanic seamount in the part of the North Atlantic known as the Sargasso Sea. The islands were created by mid-ocean volcanic eruptions about 35 million years ago. Today the rocks above water  are almost exclusively limestone, with the basalt volcanic core below. So Bermuda has igneous and sedimentary rocks.

Houses in Bermuda all have white stepped roofs. Bermuda has no fresh water springs, rivers or lakes so the design of the roofs is essential for collecting rainwater. This was first introduced 400 years ago. Many of the houses are made of limestone and painted in pastel colours with a white roof with steps. Bermuda has a lot of rain and the steps on the roof slows down the heavy rainfall which collects in the gutters and stored in a tank under the house. Each home is self sufficient and there is no mains water and no water rates. House building regulations state for each square foot of roof, all houses must have eight gallons of tank space. 

The roof is made of limestone, which is heavy enough not to be moved by hurricanes. In the past it was covered with lime mortar, which has antibacterial properties. Now the mortar has been replaced by white paint, this reflects ultra violet light from the sun and this helps purify the water. 

See BBC article from 2016.

In 2023 I visited Crystal Cave on Bermuda.

Cueva Pintada, Painted Cave, Gran Canaria, Canary Islands

 After visiting the cave complex Cenobio de Valeron or the Valeron Granary on Gran Canaria, we then went on to Cueva Pintada, or Painted Cave. The Cueva Pintada Museum and Archaeological Park is located at Galdar on the island of Gran Canaria in the Canary Islands, Spain. Its function is for the preservation and research of one of the most unique deposits of Gran Canaria.

Cueva Pintada, after which the deposit is named, was discovered in the mid 19th century. It is part of a group of artificial caves dug in the volcanic rock sinters. The Painted Cave has a wall of geometric motifs and is an unique representation of the Pre-Hispanic mural paintings.

It seemed a bit strange walking through a busy town and then along the pedestrianised streets to get to the archaeological park. The blue plaque on the ground marks the pilgrim's way, The Camino de Santiago, which stretches along 66 km in Gran Canaria -

As you enter the ticket hall and souvenir shop there is no indication of how extensive the site is.

Firstly you go downstairs and watch a film on the history of the people. Then there is a rather small museum, showing some of the archaeological findings that came from the deposit. These include Pre-Hispanic items along with others from late Mediaeval that were imported to the island, mostly from the Iberian Peninsula. Some of the exhibits are permanent, others are on temporary display.

You then go into a small theatre to watch another film on the history of the cave paintings. At the end the screen suddenly rises and you are looking down onto the large expanse of the archaeological park. This was a real surprise. The park is enclosed in glass windows and curtains and immediately surrounding it are houses of the modern day town. I found this quite incongruous.

A walkway goes down and around the hamlet of Cueva Pintada and you can get a closer look at the houses. Many houses have been excavated, as well as storage areas. The houses are in the shape of a cross whereas the stores are just simple rooms. Excavations in the volcanic rock sinters from 1987 to the present day have confirmed that Cueva Pintada used to be part of a village with over 50 houses and artificial caves dating back from the 6th to 16th centuries.  

The last surprise is the Painted Cave. We walked down to the platform seen in the above photo and the guide lets you in a locked door. Inside are a few steps down, enclosed by glass windows. Suddenly the lights go on in the painted cave and straight ahead are the paintings. As mentioned before, they are just geometric shapes. Unfortunately when they were first discovered, nothing was done to preserve them, so they are now quite faded. But now the conditions such as temperature and humidity etc, are strictly controlled. No photos are allowed of the paintings.

Again I found it quite surreal that this ancient site is in the middle of a modern town. 

The last part of the walkway takes you to some reconstructed houses -

Photo of the paintings as shown on the pamphlet -

See more on the Gran Canaria tourism website . This has more information and photos of the paintings.

Valeron Granary, Gran Canaria, Canary Islands

 Cenobio de Valeron at Santa Maria de Guia, on Gran Canaria, Canary Islands.

This cave complex is known as Cenobio de Valeron or the Valeron Granary. The man made caves are the largest pre-Hispanic collective granary built before Roman times and used by the island’s inhabitants until the conquest of the island at the end of the 15th century.

The site is also known as Valeron’s Monastery. The name monastery comes from the Roman belief that young noble women came here to live until they were married. It was only in the 20th century that an archaeologist realised the real use, as the cavities were similar to those in north Africa etc. The granary is one of Gran Canaria's most iconic archaeological sites.

The caves are located on a steep hill overlooking a steep ravine, and hidden from the sea it was an excellent natural fortress. View of the caves from the road, in the centre of the photo behind the tall rock , and looking back from the site -

Close up of other caves in the hill by the road -

From the ticket office steps lead up the hill and there are various notice boards and panels.

A cave showing items used by the people -

The caves were dug in the tuff using stone picks and wood tools. The cavities were excavated into the ground and along the walls of several galleries. The complex contains around 298 compartments with surfaces between 1-3 m2 and on 8 levels. They were used to store grain and foodstuffs. There are more than 350 storage places.

Looking  up at the main complex -

By the 20th century historians had discredited the idea that the caves were used as a monastery and suggested they were used as a communal grain store -

Steps up the cliff can still be seen - 

The cave walls are smooth so that no grain was wasted. The caves were shut with doors, probably made from wood. 

Surprisingly there were no pigeons roosting, the guide mentioned a high pitched hum (that we couldn’t hear) that is supposed to detract them.

The site was declared a Resource of Cultural Interest in 1978. 

See Caves of Valeron on Wikipedia.