England

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Bath, Birmingham, and Milton Abbas

Tonight we write from the deep countryside of Dorset.  We are staying in the little village of Milton Abbas with a cousin’s cousin.  We are both related to the Coley and Harris lines in Halesowen, England.  Peter and Cynthia Wise have taken us in a day earlier due to the fact we are not going to Merthyr-Tydfil, Wales now.  We will be with them two days.

Yesterday went terribly wrong.  We left a little late from Walkden, got stuck in a traffic queue for 1.5 hours in Stockport meaning we had to drop our visit to Chatsworth House.  Then we decided we better drop Mattersey and Misson on my Sharp family line to at least make Sudsbury Hall.  We then found out the M1 was closed with miles of traffic queue so we had to take side roads to Nottingham.  There we saw the Robin Hood sites and made our way to Sudsbury for their manor house.  Well, all the side roads were occupied with motorway traffic so we were delayed, we got lost, and in the end missed the last time to get into the home.  We got pictures with the house but Amanda was devastated we didn’t get in.

In defeat, we made our way to Hagley, near Halesowen, near Birmingham last night.  We checked into our little hotel and ran into Halesowen where we found the church of St. John the Baptism.  Interestingly, as we wandered the cemetery, we found loads of Coley, Willetts, and Harris tombstones.  Many were modern, but there were a few in which I am sure they are cousins I have in my family history file.  That made it worth it.  The other deceased I will have to do some research on to trace them back to the family and connect them in.  Hopefully I can find another person who has done research on some of the same lines and can help me with my research.  We shall see.

Today we toured Romsley, Hayley Green, and Bromsgrove near Halesowen, more sites of Coley ancestry.  We wandered and took more pictures in St. Kenelm’s church.  There were more Coleys and Willetts found there.  I was pretty excited.  None as old as in the Halesowen church, but you never know.  We hopped on the Motorway and went through Worcester, Gloucester, and finally to Bath.  There we saw the Royal Crescent, some of the Victoria Gardens, and the Roman Baths.  It is a beautiful city.  We enjoyed ourselves.  From there we wanded to Milton Abbas way out in the countryside.  We drove several miles through one car-width lanes to this village.

We are still figuring out what we will do tomorrow.  At any rate, it should be fun.

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Manchester, England

Today Amanda and I ran away for a quick visit to Manchester.  There was not much on the agenda.  We visited the Arndale Shopping Center, Manchester Cathedral, Manchester Town Hall, Old Trafford (Manchester United football grounds), Market Street, and the Trafford Centre (glorified shopping mall).  Amanda was able to pick up her British copy of the first Harry Potter book.

This evening, the Gore’s organized a bit of a get together for some of the members of the Eccles (now Swinton) Ward.  It was very, very kind of them to do this for us.  There were several families who came and it was wonderful to catch up with them.  Leslie Walsh, Bob and Joan Wood, Alan and Margaret Griffin, Vincenzo and Dawn Santi, Alex and Gloria Brown with their son Nathan, and the Gores.  They all had such wonderful things to say to us, about me, and it was great to catch up with them.

Kevin and Jean Gore treated us to a pub dinner this evening.  It was really good food.  They also treated us to a roast duck dinner last night.  Each family has treated us very well, and provided great meals.  We certainly appreciate their generosity.

Tomorrow we head to Birmingham, the day after to Milton Abbas.  Don’t know when I will be able to get back on.

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Walkden, England

Just a quick and short update.  I uploaded photos from Scotland this morning.  I hope you find them interesting.  We will see how many more photos it will let me upload for the month.

We are now staying with the Gore family in Walkden.  We arrived later than anticipated after a day of visiting in Runcorn.  We attended church in the Runcorn Ward at the local community center since their building burned down a while back.  It was good to see so many people and that we received such a hearty welcome.  We did go visit a number of families while there.  A couple of which include the Campbell (and Young), Fleming, McWilliam, Johnson, Byrom and more.  A couple of families were not home so we did not visit with them.  It was sure good to be back in Runcorn, despite the fact that you have to drive around in circles to get anywhere you want to go.  Busways might be spectacular, but at the sacrifice of the drivers!

Saturday we made another trip into Liverpool.  The only thing really to mention is that we got lost and had lunch with Gheorghe and Claire Simion family.  Gheorghe was one of my mission companions.  We spent nearly four hours with him and his good wife.  It was convenient he lives in Liverpool now as he was originally from Romania.  It was a great meeting.

We are off to Hyde and Disley today.

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Northern Welsh Castles

First, Happy Birthday Dad.  As always, I am sure you will have all the neighbors celebrating with fireworks.  Happy Birthday Jan, I know it was a week ago, but I am still thinking of you.  Happy Birthday America.  May all of you live long!

Yesterday and today we were off visiting several castles of Northern Wales.  They are all built under the direction of Edward I in the late 1200’s.  If Amanda wasn’t sick of castles yet, hopefully we have advanced her towards such a state.

Yesterday we visited Conwy and Beaumaris castles.  There isn’t really any way for us to describe it rather than show you the photos.  Which we will have to upload.

Today we drove straight out to Caernarfon Castle and it took about 4 hours to work our way through it.  We ran into a lady named Gaby, and found out she was going to take a bus to Harlech after Caernarfon.  We invited her to go with us.  We all drove to Harlech when we finished.  It was another beautiful castle situated high above an estuary.  We spent a couple of hours there and then cut through Northern Wales.  She was going to take the train back to Chester so we volunteered to drop her off.  She effectively became our gate opener and closer as we drove through pasture after pasture in Wales.  It was beautiful!

We finally made it back to a main path near Pentre Gwynfryn and cut back down to a main road.  We took a turn at Penrhyndeudraeth and headed inland.  We went right through the Welsh Mountains and it was beautiful.  We had lunch at Blaenau Ffestiniog.  We haven’t a clue how to say it but I did get a fairly descent donner kebab.  We also drove through Mold.  We definitely have to mention that one!  We dropped off our new friend, Gaby, in Chester and came home.

Last night we went to visit some more friends who I knew as a missionary.  As a credit, they all remembered my name even though we almost 10 years on.  One of which was a man we baptized, Adam Dawson.

Anyhow, we are traveling maniacs!

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Chester, England

Some of you have already noticed, but I uploaded a whole lot of photos yesterday.  About 250 actually were in the batch.  It includes the rest of the photos from Germany, Austria, Italy, Switzerland, and France.  I did not upload any photos from Scotland or England.  They will have to wait for the next chance I get.

We are now staying with the Byrom family in Runcorn, England.  Today we went to Chester and walked the walls.  We went through the cathedral and went down the main shopping streets.  It was a beautiful day for what we were doing.  We quite enjoyed ourselves.  We each had a pasty and a vanilla finger.  She liked it but it was too much.

We stopped by Ellesmere Port on the way home at a outlet mall.  We picked out a couple of suits and bought them.  However, we were not convinced we had the best deal so we took them back.  For as much money as we were paying, I didn’t absolutely love the suits.  With our buyers remorse, we took them back.  Interestingly, on the way out, we stumbled upon another store.  I found better quality suits that were on sale for almost half of the cost for the other two suits.  Hands down, Amanda and I both liked the second store over the first.  Now I have some new suits, one of the reasons I wanted to come back to Europe.

We had dinner this evening, some amazing lasagna.  Rose has always made great lasagna.  Afterward, Rose, Amanda, and I went to visit an older lady I taught on the mission.  She was such a sweet soul and she proved to be the same.  We have all aged, but the sociality has not diminished or changed with time.  I think Amanda quite enjoyed Jane Young and her quaint little home in the English countryside.

Yesterday, we had dinner with Jack and Brenda Millington from Howe Bridge.  Jack used to cook us as missionaries some wonderful homemade pot pies.  Visiting with him on Sunday, he offered to make me and Amanda one.  We agreed and met with them yesterday.  The pot pie was as wonderful as ever, boiled cabbage, and homemade trifle.  We really had some good laughs.  Jack even sent us off with a couple of parting gifts.

There are so many people that nearly 10 years have changed nothing.  We don’t always remember each other’s names, but the feelings are still the same.  Memories seem to come back quickly, surprisingly.  What will heaven be like?

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Liverpool, England

Today was our visit to Liverpool.  It is a short report as Amanda was feeling ill most of the day.

We visited Old Rufford Hall in the morning, drove to Liverpool, and visited the Anglican Cathedral and Albert Docks.  Afterward, we drove back to Wigan through Upholland so Amanda could see the church where one of her family lines lived.

Tonight we had curry for dinner.  That was definitely a treat.

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Wigan, England

It was Sabbath in Wigan.  Therefore, not a whole lot in the way of mention of traveling or exotic places.  However, we did go to church and visit a few people.  A quick couple of thoughts.

Church was great.  Funny how even though I lived here for a couple of years, I still really struggle with some of the accents.  In Sacrament alone, I totally could not understand the second speaker.

The pure Wigan accent is simply unable to be replicated by me.  I don’t think I could even try.

We went to visit a couple of people.  Jim and Julie Monks, Dawn Rhodes, Ceri and Lorraine Jenkins, Charlotte Ainscough, Alan and Rose Aspey, Brian and Sylvia Burtonwood, and Rene Simpkin.  We had a very good visit with the Monks, Jenkins, and Aspeys.  Dawn Rhodes was unable to be found in the location we were given.  We were either given the wrong address or she has moved.  She was the only convert in the mission I felt like I really oversaw the entire thing from finding to baptism and even some of the new investigator discussions.  Alas, she is not active and it seems nobody really knows where she is.  Except for Brother Monks and she either moved or he gave me the wrong address in Aspull.  I was very disappointed.

Sadly, I found out Rene’ Simpkin passed away around Christmas of 2003.  That would explain the stopping of letters.  I am disappointed nobody ever notified me.  I will have to find her birth and death information so I have it for my records.  I really came to love the lady and she the church, but she just couldn’t give up her wine.  The Burtonwoods remembered her.  She was a fine lady.

In visiting with Alan Aspey, he let me know an Aspey from Wigan is definitely related to him.  I will have to let my Aunt Lolane know that her Margaret Aspey who came from Wigan is very likely related to him.  Interestingly, Alan also commented about his Aspeys living in Upholland and Ormskirk.  We told him about Amanda’s Ashton relations in Upholland and he knew the name as having some in his own line.  However, he knows of no relations who joined the Mormon church and moved to America.  This would be a first for him if we could show a link.

I found out from President Monks that Gheorghe Simion, my second to last companion from Romania, now lives in Liverpool.  We will have to try and find some contact information for him so we can meet up while we are near Liverpool.

Charlotte Ainscough still has the little stuffed animal I gave her when we baptized her.  I found out she named him Ross.  How sweet is that?  The Jenkins and Charlotte were very excited to see us.  They gave us their passes for the British Trust sites in England.  We will have to mail them back when we leave the country, but it includes a parking pass.  Meaning we can save well over 200 pounds with the passes for much of our travel throughout the UK in our remaining time.

It was a sweet day in Wigan.  It made me feel good so many people remembered me.  If not my name, at least my face.  They all adored Amanda and commented on how beautiful she was.  Some even recognized her from our wedding announcements.

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Preston, England

Another more relaxed day in England.

Today we received word the paperwork and everything has all been signed for our home.  The paperwork is off to Oklahoma City for the official closing on Monday.  I don’t know what could really change now.  By all accounts, we are now the proud owners of a little home in Oklahoma City.  Or at least we have a title to a home with a significant lien for a bank somewhere.  Hopefully everything continues to work out like it has so far.

We ran to the Preston England Temple today.  It is one of my favorite temples.  There is something in the simplistic beauty of it I adore.  Amanda agreed.  It is on par with the Rexburg and Vernal Temples for the simple elegance within.  We snapped a couple of pictures.  We also ran into a member I knew in the Wigan Ward.  He is now in the Temple Presidency and enjoyed a good visit with him.  We were supposed to go over and visit this evening, but our plans crowded it out in the end.  We had to reschedule it for tomorrow sometime.  We are going to work it out in church.

Afterward, Amanda and I ran into Preston.  I showed her the town center where the missionaries preached the gospel for the first time in the British Isles.  It is in Preston that the longest continuing unit of the church operates, the Preston Ward.  We ran out of time to go to the flat where Parley P Pratt and Orson Hyde were attacked by the legions of the devil.  We did not get a chance to see Avenham Park or the beautiful River Ribble where the first baptisms took place outside of North America.  We did not get over to see the apartment where President Hinckley received his famous “Forget yourself and go to work” letter on Wadham Road.  Perhaps sometime in the future.

We came back and were relaxed some more with the McCabes.  They treated us to a fine meal of South African descent.  They lived in South Africa for a number of years.  Later this year they are immigrating to Australia!  How is that for exciting.  When we make it to Australia, we know who we will be calling on!  Amanda and I made a call at Tesco today and purchased a Pavlova.  Boy, was I glad to get my hands on one.  We consumed it after dinner as one of our desserts.  Mmmmm.

I realized yesterday was the anniversary of Joseph Smith’s death.  I wonder specifically what he is doing these days.  What or where is he up to doing work?

Tomorrow we are off to attend the Wigan Ward.  Then we will go visit some of the new converts I helped bring into the church.  Sadly, I don’t think any of them are active.  But we shall find out.  I did find out Jim Monks knows where one of them lives.