Visit to Sam in London

Last Friday saw me hurtling from Leeds to London at speeds of over 160KPH with a drink in one hand and a paper in the other. Despite what is said about the cost and reliability of UK trains there are some exceptions. And the GNER rail service was one. Clean comfortable, smooth and fast this train had me at Kings Cross in a twinkling and onto the tube to Finsbury Park and so to my 50 pound a night hotel. 50 quid is cheap in London and I got what I paid for: a run down, but relatively clean, small cell like room with an ensuite. I wasn't about to complain about value for money.

It was a joy to meet up with Sam. On Saturday we developed a pattern to get me through the day. Every day we met about 10.00ish, did our sightseeing until about 1.00pm, then had lunch. After that we split up, I went back to my hotel for a kip and then we met up again about 6 or 7 for dinner.

So Saturday morning was spent looking for and finding the houses of Sam's & Nick's Great great grand-parents near Wandsworth. Sam's & Nick's Great grandparents Gertrude & Glenelg - (Nana & Pop) - were living in these houses with their parents up until their marriage, at ages 17 & 19, in 1909. A few years later they immigrated to NZ and eventually had a family of 5 children. One of these was Sam's & Nick's Grandmother (my mother), Peggy, and another was Percy (Snow) the lad who was hidden by Greek Families during WW2. The eldest boy Ron had 3 children, and 2 are alive and kicking in NZ, Lois and Russell. Frank is deceased.
Ivan was another of the 5 and had two boys. Percy jnr lives in Brisbane and Ian is in Taumaranui.
My mother, the youngest, had 3 children, John (UK), Margaret (Martinborough) and David (Cambridge).

Anyhow the hunt for the houses was on! I had done a bit of research using Google Maps, which seem to have dramatically improved recently. By putting in the street addresses which I had from the Marriage Certificate I was able to literally pin point the locations. Thus we were armed with accurate street maps and also my new and increasingly trusty friend Elsie, our Sat/Nav.

Note: Some members of my family tend to make snide and hurtful remarks about my relationship with Elsie. I put that down to jealousy and a blatant inability on their part, to see the possibilities offered by a relationship between a well meaning but illogical human and a logical, stoical and reliable piece of technology. After all, Elsie's ability to remain calm after having to repeat "recalculating, recalculating" for the 100th time is but one of the qualities which qualify her for sainthood, if not martyrdom.

Just out of Clapham, at 65 Bedford Road was the house that used to be owned by Nana's parents.

And a fine big house it is, now on a very busy road. It was a great thrill to find it as I had heard rumours that one of the houses had been demolished to make way for a bus station.

We were unable to go inside as the whole building appeared to be now in flats.

At the end of a block of beautiful plastered period terraced houses, it is itself also beautiful but of brick and of different design detail. Thus I wonder if it is actually the original building. Maybe it has replaced an older dwelling demolished during the war. However until I check with the local council it will DO! Whatever, the location is correct.

Now we were in for a long flat walk through Clapham Common, Pop's parent's house being near the other edge of this beautiful and highly used green area. We walked through carefully kept gardens and large spaces of green grass, quite similar to the Auckland Domain. The park then changed to numerous sports fields, full of young children playing Saturday morning soccer with their parents yelling on the side line.

It bought to mind all the wonderful friends we have made doing exactly that and screaming, "That's my boy!" at 8.00ish on a cold wet winter's morning up at East Coast Bays soccer club! However today was cloudless and a comfortable 19 degrees a 11.00am.

We soon found Melody Rd which was wide, leafy and very quiet.

As we got to the gate of number 47 Elsie said soothingly, "Arriving at destination on left." Exactly right Elsie, thank you.

Pop's parents house is also part of a beautiful terraced block all of which appear to be now flats.
It, like Nana's, is in excellent repair. Because of its quiet and convenient location I imagine it would be very desirable.

I would love to live there. I reckon that if we sold all our NZ property, together with most of our shares, we could possibly afford about a third of the building!

Unlike both my Wandsworth Great grandfathers I cannot be described as a "gentleman of independent means" so that option is off the table!

Having seen the location of the two houses we imagined both Nana & Pop meeting in the nearby park on their bikes. I know that Nana definitely had a push bike. And perhaps taking an outing to Hyde Park and walking near the Serpentine, just as she had told me she had done, with her long skirts and her parasol. What a different world Auckland pre WW1 must have been.

I salute my Grandparents for making a life for themselves and their family in such a far off land, cut off from the support of their families, and for making such a huge and terrible contribution to the WW2 war effort. Three of their sons were in the NZ Armed Services during WW2. One son was killed at the age of 26 as he attempted to escape from a Prisoner of War working party in Italy, March 1944. The other 2 sons were scarred mentally and physically for the rest of their lives.

On a much brighter note, I returned to my hotel, slept for nearly three hours and was met by Sam at Aldgate Tube and taken to his flat where he made Cousin Kate and I a fabulous filo pastry, mushroom and bean pie. We washed it down with a Montana Savvy and put the world to rights. Kate donned her witch fancy dress and flew out the door minus a broomstick for a party somewhere in London.

I learned later that there had been plans to take me as Poppa Bear but mercifully Sam saw sense!

And so Sam and I explored London. On Monday we visited the Tower.

Above: A satisfied Beef Eater

In the evening we met up with a cousin of ours, Adrienne. The last time Adrienne and I had met was in 1975 at our wedding.
It was so good to catch up with her and to chew the family fat over dinner and a bottle of French white which was reminiscent of NZ Chardonnay and I'll bet was made new-world style in stainless steel vats.. We have vowed to meet regularly. It was one of the highlights of the trip to London to meet her and to introduce her to Sam. Hopefully she will be at Nick's 21st next month. She is another of these wonderful people who suddenly appear or re-appear in your life and whom you seem to have known for a long long time. As Dave of Oratia would say: an experience totalle!

The following morning, Tuesday, I caught the same train back to Leeds and arrived back at the flat tired and elated, having survived London, and more importantly, having spent such good times with Sam and Adrienne.

Some family updates

We celebrated our 32 wedding anniversary this week. Unfortunately Gina was working in Suffolk, however she is back tomorrow (Tuesday) and I have bottle of Mt Difficulty Pinot Noir sitting in the kitchen! We will never forget a fantastic lunch we had with Jenny at the vineyard in Central Otago a couple of years ago. We both still think that good NZ wine is the best there is and long may it continue! Mind you some of the Chilean and Argentinean wines are good too. Even French reds at 15 - 20 pounds a bottle don't seem to suit our palates. I'm sure it is our new- world palates and not the wine.
Anyhow we are off to the North of Scotland to near Ullapool where we hope to do a lot of walking with Brian and Judith. The weather is immaterial. We assume the worst and hope to be pleasantly surprised. We have rented a house which overlooks the sea from a cliff top so if it rains for a week we shall be happy reading, drinking and eating and looking out to sea!

We will catch up with Nick and Amy and if possible, Anna and Scott, as we will come through Edinburgh on our way back. Poor Nick has had severe tonsillitis including abscesses and has been in hospital. Just when he was starting his new job at Harvey Nichols too. Seems to be better at the moment and is on the waiting list for a tonsillectomy. Should get good care in Edinburgh. Hard to believe but he will be 21 at the end of October.

Sam is enjoying London and likes his job. He's already thinking about doing further study. Amazing how short a time it seems since he vowed not to do any more at all. Hope he got to the Notting Hill carnival this weekend. Friends are arriving from NZ just before Xmas so I think he may go flatting with them. He'll be 23 in December!

It's going to b a fabulous Xmas this year as the boys will be with us.

Malham Tarn, North Yorks

Since I don't work on Fridays and since Gina was still in Suffolk I decided that I should go for a good walk. Having just purchased a GPS I was keen to try it out. Leaving home I typed in Malham Tarn and followed the road instructions. Not sure why but the unit took me on back country roads and after about 1.5 hours I arrived at the Tarn. (Thank you Mr Garmin). The drive was stunningly beautiful in some of the most spectacular scenery in Britain, and very unusually, bright sunshine prevailed all day! We had done the Malham Cove walk a few months ago (see blog 04/29-05/06) and so I was prepared for some great walking. The tarn is a good sized lake trapped high on the Penines and around it are areas of peaty wetland with their special life forms.

I parked at the tarn field centre which is run by the National Trust,

slipped into something cool and with a light pack containing sandwiches, fruit and water I set off. The pictures tell the story.

"Malham Tarn and its associated wetlands and woodlands form a 136.5 hectare National Nature Reserve, declared by English Nature in 1922. The reserve is part of the much larger Malham - Arncliffe Site of Special Scientific interest (SSSI) - one of the most extensive areas of limestone scenery in England. The area's importance is recognised by its designation as a RAMSAR site and a Special Area of Conservation (SAC).

Nestling at an altitude of 375 metres, this is one of Yorkshire's most attractive areas of open water, even in mid-winter. The water contains ancient and rare stoneworts, a wide range of molluscs, white-clawed crayfish and shoals of bullhead. The inflow stream of the Tarn is the only UK breeding site of a flightless caddis fly Agrypnia crassicoris.

The birdlife that can be seen from the hide on the north shore includes a wide range of waders and wildfowl with good numbers of coot and great crested grebe, while an occaisional hen harrier may be glimpsed hunting over Tarn Moss."
The National Trust (2005) - MALHAM TARN National Nature Reserve. A Guide to the reserve.(Pamphlet) , Settle, North Yorkshire.

There were a few people on the walk but generally I was able to keep well out of their way and so it seemed I had the whole vast area to myself. For the most part the path follows the edge of the tarn which is a wild life refuge. The Brits are so so good at this sort of thing.

I found a lovely old shade tree to nestle up against while I had lunch and then got moving before post-lunch weariness set in. If I wait even 15 minutes after eating on a walk I find it very hard to get going!! After about half an hour I came across about 50 people all sunning themselves, having
lunch, reading the paper and sitting in deck chairs.

Just when I thought I was alone I realised that I had come to another carpark! Still in a minute of two they were behind me and it was as if they didnt exist in that vast landscape.

The last part of the walk was on a minor road, and I saw sheep farms which are the modern equivalent of the ancient farming settlements of old (very old).

So it was a peaceful flatish walk with plenty to see and lots of opportunity to appreciate the world

in general and this fantastic place in particular on a perfect summer's day.

And a bonus on the way home: cattle in the late afternoon light.

Weekend in Worcester with Sue, Pete & A Marie

We always look forward to our weekends with my cousin Sue , her husband Peter and Auntie Marie.

Auntie Marie is my father's sister and Sue's mother, & is still going strong at 90 making great fruit pies & keeping the magnificent garden under control.

We had a lovely day exploring Bewdley, & Ludlow.

Bewdley is on the River Severn a town which often floods & there was much evidence of the most recent events. Peter showed us the plates on the river bank which are used to attach flood barriers. The bridge was built by Telford in 1798. We had coffee in a charming garden around which there were exhibits of local industry, iron foundries, farming, coracle making (these were
used here mostly for transport rather than fishing.)

We admired the buildings many dating back to the 14th century. In fact the town was named then by the French who called it Beau lieu, for "Beautiful place."

En route into Shropshire & the lovely town of Ludlow we had lunch at The Castle, a lovely pub covered in Virginia Creeper.

Ludlow markets itself as a gourmet delight the food is appropriately luscious & expensive.
Ludlow castle was first developed in 1086 overlooking the Teme & Corve rivers to keep out the Welsh. In fact the Marches round here are named after the troops who used to march & protect the boundaries.

"Dinham - 'Newly Built' in 1656 after burning in the Civil War."

The town has 500 listed buildings many of them half-timbered from the Jacobean era. There are vistas down narrow streets looking out to beautiful countryside laid out like a tapestry.

Sue INSISTED that we have afternoon tea & of course she knew exactly where to go the coffee cream puffs were the biggest I have ever seen & defeated even us!!!

The next day we had a few hours in the nearby town of Stourport. Stourport-on -Severn is the only town in Britain built solely as a consequence of the canals.

James Brindley built the Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal to link the River Severn with the Trent and Mersey, in 1766. The town grew quickly and by 1783 brass and iron foundries, as well as many other industries had developed. Now we can walk & see the network of several locks on many levels as well as take in the rowing regatta on the River Severn.

Apparently there is a walk along the river path which goes into Birmingham. (so much to do so little time!).

When we got home Sue had prepared another fantastic lunch. Other friends, Richard & Sue, arrived co-incidentally from Harrogate, where they have a home when they are not working in Cyprus. We all had a lovely time.

Skipton/Carlisle Railway

On a sunny Friday morning, Judith, Brian John & I set off for our adventure on British rail.
This is a great rail journey which crosses much of the Yorkshire Dales & goes over the famous Ribble Viaduct. We don't have photos yet of the viaduct we will have to wait until we climb Penyghent to get views of this.
The train goes past the village of Dent which is the highest rail station in UK & where the film "Brief Encounter" was filmed. There is still a small museum set up for the film.
Carlisle is not the most picturesque of towns but has the distinction of being the place where Judith used to meet her boyfriend when he was studying at Lancaster & she at Durham, (this person is not now her husband so we will not speculate on what secrets Carlisle holds of those little trysts)
Carlisle is making the best of itself however with amazing flower displays all over town.
The town is on the English/Scots border & was a Roman stronghold. Hadrians wall starts here. It has a castle & I'm afraid to say a rather dismal cathedral tho' John & Brian enjoyed hearing the choir practising.

The ceiling of Carlisle Cathedral

The Cathedral is quite plain on the outside but exquisite inside.

Reservoirs we know

Well it turns out that England is full of reservoirs! Apparently there are only, and literally, 1 or 2 lakes in the whole of the country. So that meant a vast programme of reservoir construction, much of which was done in Victorian times.

Anyway we certainly have our fair share around Harrogate and the Yorkshire Water Board allows walkers and fishermen (I haven't seen a fisherlady so far), access to their perimeters. Generally the walking is superb on account of the lake like scenery, and the walks are not too hilly!

Last week I walked around Eccup Reservoir on the Harewood Estate. The walk often took me a little way from the water's edge but was a beautiful trundle through fields of wheat,

country lanes and beautiful water views.

As almost always in this crowded country human habitation is never far away, and in this case it was only about half a mile away

at Alwoody, outside Leeds.

But I could have been a hundred miles from anywhere. We often find ourselves asking where the 60,000,000 people are. The answer, of course is in the high rise and bounded cities.

Much angst is coming I think, as the Government wants to use green-belts to provide cheaper housing. And it is sobering to think that every single thing, beautiful or not, on this walk, had been created or planted by man. Maybe even the sky.