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Champagne, balloons, birthday cake and the waiters singing to Neil at dinner marked his 70th birthday and the end of our cruise. The balloons purchased in the Azores were made in China and if the same company made condoms there would be another population explosion!
Saturday 19th April. Our week in England provides the opportunity to follow family history leads. We were pleasantly surprised to find our rental car was a zippy new BMW and headed for Winchester, discovering the Archives Office en route so I stayed there while Neil took the bags to our hotel next to the Cathedral. We had not planned for Easter and the Bank Holiday but I was able to look at documents from my Hollis family from 1802 which blew me away and the few hours there gave some answers to the composition of ancient family and posed yet more questions. (George Hollis born abt 1760 and under sheriff of Winchester for 30 years)
Walked through the ever so green Cathedral gardens and had a suitably excellent dinner to wind up Neil's big day, returning in the fading light of an English Spring past clumps off fading daffodils.
Woke to the Cathedral bells on Easter Sunday and we attended the 10 am service with all its pomp and theatre. The singing of the combined choirs, in their red gowns and white surplices, was sublime and the organ music inspiring. It was a busy day for all concerned with about four services back to back. The rain came in and we read and relaxed to the sound of bells.
Monday we drove to Lyndhurst in the New Forest, arriving early. It was a beautiful morning and a charming village. The grave stones at the church had lost their insciptions and been converted to steps and we were directed to a new cemetery located in the park. The New Forest horses checked our bags for food as we walked in this massve open park. Children and parents continued to stream into the park with balls, dogs, scooters, bikes and picnics and it was a lovely sight. We continued on to Michelmersh where "George" married Jane in 1792. The church had been originally built in about 1100 and contained an assortment of amazing artifacts from the various periods since. The village was small and the church hidden in a cul de sac and as we entered through the 1785 doors, we were met by a barking dog! We continued on to Romsey where another Hollis "Joseph Samuel"
had lived for 30 years as one of England's earliest printers and book sellers (and mayor and under sheriff). Romsey has an amazing Abbey which was home to Benedictine nuns and the resting place of Lord Mountbatten. A delicious pub lunch and on to Whitchurch near Andover and yet another medieval church.
Tuesday saw us moving from my relatives haunts to Neil's and en route to Cambridge we did a drive through of Oxford. There are limited roads for cars in this city now and we cheekily followed a bus through the main streets and admired the amazing old buildings. The drive across country was spectacular for the brightness of the green crops and yellow canola against the grey sky. White sheep and their very small black lambs; fields of 200 pigs and some horses completed the picture.
A sign to Haslingfield took us to two churchyards and one Harold Hopkins who both maintains the churchyard and a family history corner in the church where Neil's "Barnard" family are interred. There was an amazing amount of information waiting for us and it got better. A stop at the Olde Shoppe across the road to refresh tonic supplies and we were approached by Marie who heard us talking and told us she held a vast quantity of Barnard family photos. We arranged to meet at her house and subsequently obtained about 30 photos of Neil's ancestors working on their farms.
The following morning we drove to Orwell to check out the churchyard and as we had parked outside a hairdresser in this very small town and it provided a chance for Neil to have a hair cut. This lead to another conversation and another archivist and the discovery that the large house in that street was "Barnard House" with a dissenter's history dating back 300 years! We were in information overload but very happy. Six or more massive radio telescopes now sit alongside the farm of Neil's ggg grandfather and form part of the Mullard Radio & Astonomy Observatory and slow moving pheasants wander across the lanes.
Cambridge as a city was entirely different to Oxford and although there were some lovely buildings it was visually a poor second cousin to Oxford. Parking in the city is also restricted and our plan to picnic on the river bank abandoned in favour of another pub. Cambridge felt a bit like Parkville writ large but its local villages and their generous people will stay in our memory.
Thursday we meandered cross country to Diss, Norfolk where the Redgrave and Lait families are prevalent - one Sarah Charlotte Redgrave married a Hollis and lived in Geelong and Hawthorn then died in Church Street, Brighton. The only gravestone with visible writing was the people I am researching. Fate? We continued on to Ipswich but it was very depressing - forbidding blackened churches with river stones imbedded in their walls, bad architecture even in the new sections and a feeling that no one had the energy for change. In comparison to all the beautiful areas in Hampshire and Cambridgeshire it was very stark. We paused at Manningtree to see the mud flats and marooned boats. The tides are massive here and sailing or fishing would depend entirely on the high tides to exit the river. We decide to stay in Colchester and do circuits through one way streets with tiny houses built 300 years ago bordering the narrow passages. Colchester is the most ancient city of "recorded" Britain and we may visit the castle today.
In to Tonbridge tonight then a visit to Tunbridge Wells tomorrow before flying out of Gatwick to Dubai and home on Monday morning. It has been a fabulous trip for us both and we look forward to seeing family and friends soon.
- comments
John McI Glad to hear you had a great 70th Neil. Just had a memorable Anzac Day here with barely a cloud. Safe home!
helen broderick Belated Greetings to the old codger!! we raised a glass in absentia! See you soon Love Nell and Sully
Pauline Fenton Glad to hear that you have had such a successful time in England delving into both family histories and that your 70th was celebrated in style Neil - the whole holiday sounds like one big celebration!! Have a good trip home, Love P and T.
Sandra Hello there - actually have been staying in your house so thanks for being away! Stories of Oxford and Cambridge bring back memories Glad you enjoyed your birthday - sent you a card to your email but seems you have not picked up. Look forward to the birthday bash. Love and safe travels home.
Lorraine & Graham Hear hear all the above. Sounds so exciting, what a trip! We look forward to your return and celebrating the young fella's 70th !!