Day 7 - Ancestors, Richard III, and the Lake District

*Due to slow Internet speeds in the Lake District and Whitby, this post has been delayed.*

We left our B&B in Leamington Spa this morning and headed out to drive around Jephson Gardens where my great grandfather worked prior to emigrating to the US. Our sat nav (GPS) didn't understand where I was trying to go, so after driving around in a big circle, I decided to head north to Cubbington and St. Mary's church. John and Naomi Clarke, my 2nd great grandparents, are buried in this churchyard along with two of their children. I visited here 3 years ago, but feel compelled to return to say hi. St. Mary's is a small village church perched high on a hill. After arriving, I walked right to John and Naomi's grave and had to do a small amount of searching for their children. Marianne got a quick lesson on how to use my camera, but perhaps I should have taught her when I wasn't having to stare at the sun...my eyes, my eyes!

After Cubbington, we returned to Coventry with the hope of at least seeing the ruined cathedral that was bombed during WWII. Unfortunately, Coventry is a city and a little difficult to navigate, plus we were running a bit behind, so after seeing the spire of the new cathedral, we left and continued north to Leicester (pronounced as Lester, by the way). Leicester has become famous recently as a group of archeologists set out on a mission to find the old Grey Frier's building and the grave of King Richard III. They successfully found both under a car park (parking lot) in 2012. After parking in a garage, we trekked into the city centre where a Richard III visitor center has been built along with a small interpretive museum. This was an excellent stop! In fact, it made me want to be a an archeologist. At the very end of the tour through the museum,we were able to see the very hole in which they found the former king's body, which was hastily buried after his defeat in battle. He has since been reinterred into the cathedral across the street, which was unfortunately closed due to midday Eucharist. We grabbed a quick bite to eat, along with chocolate caramel shortbread, and then kept going north. This was one of our long driving days as we needed to get to the Lake District. We turned on ClassicFM (a great radio channel, by the way) and off we went for a three hour drive on the M (interstate).

Marianne has a friend in Little Rock who is originally from England. She hooked us up with one of her long-time friend (Tom) who lives in the Lake District. Tom comes to America every spring to do storm chasing and was more than happy to be our guide for a day and a half in his native area. We met him at a lay by (turnout/rest area) right off the main highway leading to the Lake District. We arrived as the sun was setting and he took us on a short hike up to Scout Scar which looks into the Lake District from the south. The view was amazing and is apparently on the flight path of planes bound to and from Boston; we saw many pass overhead. After taking in this site, Tom took us to a local pub for dinner and then got us settled into our B&B on the banks of Ullswater. Tomorrow we spend the whole day exploring with Tom and his family and I get a day off from driving!

 

Day 5 - Hay-on-Wye and Shakespeare

For the first time on our journey, we had rain today. Not just a damp, misty rain, but buckets coming down. This put a damper on our visit to Hay-on-Wye which is known for its many bookstores and outdoor bookshelves. The owner of our B&B was top notch with a tasty breakfast, fantastic rooms, and great bathroom products. We also had a wonderful conversation with him ranging from US politics to rugby to Wales and how we should visit Pembrokeshire sometime. He had excellent taste in artwork and Carolyn even tried to buy something off the wall. After checking out of our B&B, we wandered a block down to the main road and went to about 5 bookshops and a map shop. I was good and kept my wallet in my pocket, especially with the maps. It was cool, I'll admit, to see first edition Ian Fleming James Bond novels. I love visiting Wales as signs are in both English and Welsh; so fun to see! Due to the rain, no shops had books outside, but this is definitely a town I'd love to revisit. Very cool vibe!

We left Hay-onWye in heavy rain and headed to Leominster (pronounced Lemster) for lunch. Google and our GPS pointed us to a great sandwich shop in the town centre. Leaving there, we headed to the county of my great-grandfather, Warwickshire. Along the way, I did introduce my traveling companions to "services" on the M (interstate/motorway). Services are really nice rest stops that include a food court, excellent bathrooms, a small grocery store, and usually a coffe shop. It was an excellent stop and always reminds me how nice the British do things.

Shortly after, we arrived at our B&B in Leamington Spa. We had originally planned to stay in Warwick, but all the B&B owners advised us to stay away as the Japanese rugby team is staying in Warwick. We unpacked and headed for our evening of Shakespeare in Stratford-Upon-Avon. We had tickets for Henry V at the Royal Shakespeare Company theatre and I have to say it was excellent. The actor playing Henry was amazing! Funny, touching, and gripping, it was a perfect evening...followed up by perfect dessert!

Tomorrow we should see Coventry, my family sites, and maybe more in Stratford. The weather should be better to! Until then...

 

Day 14 - Clarke family and Stratford-Upon-Avon

Most of you know that I really enjoy genealogy and love visiting spots where my ancestors lived. When I decided to come to England, one of my requirements was to visit Cubbington which is where my maternal great-grandfather's family lived. My mom previously corresponded with her second cousin, Bernard, who still lives in this area. Before coming to England, I contacted him to see if he'd be available to show me the family sites; he graciously agreed!

We started our morning by meeting up with Bernard who walked us through Jephson Gardens here in Leamington Spa. Fred Webster Clarke, my great-grandfather, was the 2nd youngest child in a family of 12 children raised by John and Naomi Clarke. Fred worked as a horticulturalist at Jephson Gardens in the late 1890s and early 1900s (he lived in the next town over, Cubbington). We also saw a statue of Queen Victoria that plays a role in my family's lore. The story goes that "dignitaries from Washington, DC" were on hand for the unveiling of this statue. Somehow they met my great-grandfather and he was offered a job with the Dept. of Agriculture in the US. He took them up on the offer and by 1903 was working at the White House designing and planning gardens. Another interesting tidbit about the Victoria statue is that it was blown one inch off it's pedestal by an errant German bomb during WWII and the city never fixed it.

Our next stop was to see the house in which Fred grew up along with the house in which his parents first lived in Cubbington. We then visited St. Mary's Church where my 2nd great-grandparents (John and Naomi Clarke) and 5 of their children are buried. This is also the church in which Fred was baptized along with the rest of his family. It was quite surreal to be in this spot that played such a key role in my ancestor's lives.

Bernard and his wife Mary invited us for lunch at their house where I met thei daughter, her significant other, and another cousin. We swapped stories of life in America and England; they were fascinated to know that we don't use roundabouts (generally). Dianne's story of rural poverty where folks use fridges to raise earthworms was even more eye-opening. Bernard's daughter's "other" lived in America for many years, and I chuckled when Bernard told me that another "colonist" was joining us for lunch! I am absolutely thrilled that we met and am humbled to have trounced around my family's stomping grounds.

After lunch we headed to Kenilworth Castle which used to be surrounded by a man-made lake. The castle was expanded and really fortified by King John (Magna Carta), but it also played host to Queen Elizabeth I later. Part of the grounds were lived in until about 1930. It's amazing to me that people lived in a castle just 80 years ago! The castle was quite spacious and had a nice Elizabethan garden.

Our next stop was Stratford-Upon-Avon where a somewhat famous guy named Shakespeare was born. Being a Saturday, the town was full of visitors who were clearly shopping and enjoying the break from the rain. We saw the statue of Shakespeare near the River Avon that was somewhat recreated in the animated movie, Gnomeo and Juliet. We then approached the Royal Shakespeare Company theatre and learned that there were still tickets available for Julius Caesar at 7:30. After buying tickets, we wandered down to the house where Will was born, then we enjoyed afternoon tea and scones right across the street. Tim and Paul were then ready for some Stratford ale while Dianne, Alaine and I walked to the church in which Will is buried. Above his grave is a 3D sculpture of him and next to it is one the made me laugh because it looks like Statler and Waldorf of the Muppets.

A quick dinner and then we returned to the Royal Shakespeare Company. I'm still trying to come down off the high I experienced watching Julius Caesar. The last Shakespeare play I saw was in Tulsa as a high school student in the early 90s; I've disliked Will ever since. Tonight's performance, however, was no less than magical. Wow! The company did the play with and interesting twist: while still set in Rome, it was modernized somewhat (guns) to mimic the politics of Africa. Hard to explain in text, but suffice it to say that I am now sold on seeing Will's plays live and more convinced they shouldn't be read, but seen!

We visit Tintern Abbey and Wells tomorrow. Tintern holds a special place in Paul's heart (and Maggie Welch's too) so I'm excited to see this ruin.

Cheers from the land o' Will!