A bright red beetle

Reading, I really like you. I wish you were a bit more amiable about renting us somewhere to live though. I guess we'll just have to wait until we have found ourselves jobs and try again.

We decided that we should just put the whole rental hunt on hold and see other parts of the country in case we had to alter our entire plans. So we left the cramped little icky B&B we had been staying in and got another rental car. 

The B&B was well located, close to the Thames Path, so nice riverside walks and about 1km to the town centre or maybe 2km in the opposite direction to Caversham and the best pub ! Baron of Cadogan - go there. It's a Wetherspoons pub and they have a great menu for meat eaters and non meat eaters. So great that we had dinner one night, breakfast the next day and then dinner again ! Why would you go out for breakfast when you are staying in a B&B ? Because the selection was rubbish and hardly appetising. We won't go into the other negatives like the stained linen, broken shower, bathroom door that wouldn't shut and security light outside the window which was more like a strobe light - I'm saving all that for TripAdvisor. 

We collected the car. A nice red beetle ! Very cute, but not quite as easy to get all our stuff in as the last one was. But we did it. We have been through a part of a number of counties today. Berkshire (where we started), Hampshire, Surrey, Sussex and finally Kent. 

As we left Berkshire we went here, no time to go in or look at the gardens this time though. Did you know filming has started for Series 5 ?

In Surrey we found Jane Austen's house in Chawton, where she lived for the last 10 years of her life with her mother, sister and a friend. It is lovely, and without the hordes of people in Bath visiting her home there.

Then on to Royal Tunbridge Wells for the night. I had never had it on my list of places to go but now that we are here I think I will have to make a return trip with more time. We chose it because it is close to Hever Castle which we'd like to visit and some places in Kent which have family associations. But there are heaps of things to do and see; castles, gardens, coastal towns, cathedrals...

We enjoyed a nice dinner at a local restaurant and are now relaxing watching the opening of the Commonwealth Games. The B&B we are staying in tonight is at least a 300% improvement on the last one. Superb host, great room, the promise of an amazing breakfast. We'll definitely be back here.

Curve Balls

Our week in Warwickshire is almost done. We've been to Reading twice which isn't Warwickshire at all, it's Berkshire and it is high on the list of where our new home will be. 

We've seen three places there and one was pretty good...until we got the "6 months in advance" rent thing again because it's all about having an income, not savings. C'mon people, the longer we have to pay for accommodation while we search for a rental and work the less likely we are going to have any money to pay rent for 6 months in advance.

One thing I have enquired about this week is obtaining the records for my great grandmother from the County Record Office. She was a patient at Central Hospital at Hatton for much of her adult life. We have known for many years that she was a patient there, and for more than 30 years that she was there until she died. But that looks like it might be all we ever know because of the ridiculous privacy restrictions which mean that the files are locked to the public for 100 years from the closure of the hospital. So her grandchildren are likely to never know why and what caused her to be admitted and institutionalised, and I'll be getting my old aged pension by then as well. We can pay and have someone at the record office research for us, but possibly not be allowed to tell us anything still, or we can dispute their decision. All we want is to understand her condition and circumstance. Surely in the interest of our own health as descendants we should be entitled to the files in case there is some medical benefit to our own futures. "There could be sensitive information." Sensitive to who ? She isn't here anymore and no-one who actually KNEW her is either, and it is widely known how people were treated in these institutions in the past. Do they think we might want to challenge their treatment of her or something ?

Anyway, we went today to find the old buildings that were part of the old hospital and now are part of a housing estate. Pretty amazing - I wonder if they are haunted. 

should have taken a panorama - doh !

We also went to Hatton Locks. Amazing, I didnt even know there was a staircase of locks like this here. I so want to hire a canal boat and go cruising.

You can even see the hospital buildings from there !

Anyway, enough of my 1st world problems. My heart is sore for the families afftected by this act of terror in Ukraine. Families who farewelled their loved ones as they travelled on holiday, to football matches, to conferences, to work. Families who witnessed the horror and had to assume roles they would never have thought they would need to.

And who is going to accept responsibility for the crime ? What of their families ? 

Why is peace on earth so fragile ? two hundred and ninety eight lives, eighty of them children. These were people just like us. Ordinary. So unforgivable.

Did the fields of sunflowers nodding calmy in the breeze soften their fall ? 

Shakespeare Country

We're in Warwickshire now. 

We left the rellies in Somerset and travelled up to Bristol. We went through Wells and this time the sun shone brightly. We didn't find what we were looking for though so we will have to go back another time. (Perhaps when we go back to collect any mail that has arrived at Stoke St Gregory). 

Our rental car was due to be dropped off, but we had also booked another to collect the following day. So we called in at the drop off depot at Bristol airport and were able to keep the car we had and combine the two rentals. Yay, we werent looking forward to unloading the car, lugging everything to the hotel in Bristol and then to another rental depot the next morning.

We found our way to the hotel and just blobbed for most of the afternoon. It was V-E-R-Y warm. Who knew England had summers like this ? We ordered room service and then walked to Colston Hall to hear and watch our compatriot Rhys Darby. Typically he was very funny. It was good to hear another kiwi accent too.

Next morning before we left we went to try to find the Banksy artwork that had been spotted from the car the day before. It was in Clifton. Why had we not actually found Clifton the first time we were in Bristol ? We liked it a lot, no smelly rubbish on the streets or rundown looking buildings, lots of cafes, shops, young people (and some not so young) and close to the University. Oh well.

Then it was off to meet a cousin for lunch in Wiltshire - after a detour to Compton Dando (the inspiration for someone to change careers) and then on to Shakespeare country.

On the way we caught glimpses of the Red Arrows aerobatic display at the airshow. If you like planes, now is the time to be here - there are lots of airshows scheduled this month.

We are staying at my cousin's home looking after their cats while they are on holiday and enjoying being able to feel a little more relaxed. We were left copious notes to help us settle in and have made firm friends with one cat so far and are being tolerated by the other. We will win him over though. Nothing we like better than the challenge to befriend shy felines.

Yesterday we drove to Stratford on Avon and visited Shakespeare's Birthplace along with bus loads of Japanese tourists and OAP groups, USA school groups and others. Although I have a photo of his birthplace from my last trip to the UK I don't recall going inside at all. I think we must have just gone to the Visitor Centre or the Shop that time. We also visited the Christmas Shop where Mum and Dad bought their Christmas Tree on their 1989 trip and had it shipped home to NZ and the Peter Rabbit Shop where you can buy all the Beatrix Potter books still.

Then we drove to Charlecote Manor - in for free (thanks NT membership) and had a look about. The whole experience though was ruined by an over snappy dragon of a NT volunteer who kept targeting us. "Don't use flash photography" Okay, but sometimes you need to if you are using a manual camera. Perhaps you should have signs, or include this on your fact sheet. "Don't go up that stair case. You MUST go through the billiard room first and then come back down that way" What are we ? Sheep ? Again...better signage would help. Also if you are going to be volunteers you could learn a bit from those we met at Montacute House and at Shakespeare's Birthplace. Being a volunteer and "a guide in every room" actually means you should engage with the people who have paid good money to see the property, not just sit there making sure we don't touch something we shouldn't or go the wrong way. I only saw this happen in one room while here. Very disappointing as this is a home that belongs to a family with a link to Lauren's. We wanted to study the portraits and feel the ambience and that opportunity was lost.

However, the church adjacent to the property turned out to be glorious and not an officious NT person in sight. Lots of references to the Cameron-Ramsay-Fairfax-Lucy family (imagine if you had to fill THAT out on a form everyday !)

Oxford and Banbury might be next to see as well as Leamington Spa, Warwick and some more cousins before we have to decide where to go next week.

My roots run deep in Somerset

For the past week we've been staying with some distant relatives - 6th cousin distant ! That means having to go back to the mid 1700's to find the marriage of our common ancestors.

These cousins run a farm stay on their family farm. It is in a lovely little village on the levels of Somerset where they were fortunate to be just high enough that the flooding last winter/spring did not seep into their home or cottages. There isn't much going on here, as a visitor, but it would be a great place just to sit and relax, enjoy the pool and the sunshine if you didn't want to go exploring. We've been truly spoilt while we've stayed. Last Sunday we enjoyed lunch with some other cousins (5th once removed I think) who are in their 90's but full of life and with a great sense of humour. They chatted about all sorts of family, and it was hard to keep up with who was who all the time.

We've been out everyday as well, getting lost, driving down teeny laneways and discovering the teeny places our Davys family lived and farmed before they emigrated to New Zealand...and where some still are today. Clatwothy, Selworthy, Monksilver,Brompton Ralph, Chipstable, Wiveliscombe, Milverton, Wellington, Raddington, Waterrow and more that we haven't managed to get to this time. Some are larger than I imagined, many only have a few houses and a church.

Raddington Church built c1754

We met the gentleman who owns the farm where my great-great grandparents were tenant farmers before emigrating in 1862 with their children. He was a wonderful source of knowledge and had a collection of old photographs of the village at the bottom of the lane as well as some of the house. He also had copies of all the tything allotment information. We were able to have a tour as well since it was not being used. The house is available to book - wouldn't it be great to have a family reunion there ? How else would you fill nine bedrooms ? He told us how they had uncovered the enormous fireplaces, and altered other aspects to make it a little more modern inside. Walking up the 17th century staircase was awesome, to think that "our people" had walked those same steps each day.

Kingston Farm - farmed by Thomas Davys, brother of James Davys

Hurstone - farmed by James Davys before emigrating to NZ

The view from the front steps !

On other days we've been to Exeter, Watchet, Wells (though it poured with rain so we need to go back), through Glastonbury and had a good look at Taunton and Bridgwater. We also went to Montacute (where the Cooper family came from) and East Chinnock (where the Bartlett family was from). We've even joined the National Trust.

Montacute

Today we went to the beach at Lyme Regis. It rocked ! But was very pretty and a gorgeous day for a trip to the seaside. More on that next time. Tomorrow we are off again, back to Bristol for a show and then on to see another part of the country.

Goodbye Bristol, Hello Bath (and Stoke St Gregory)

Getting a rental car here has been an interesting process, but get one I did. However, we needed to get a taxi to the airport to pick it up. They have a system here where you can pre-book a taxi which sounds great in theory, but it seems when they arrive they aren’t quite what you expected. It has happened twice now.

Today the driver only just managed to get our monster bags into his Mercedes sporty type car for the drive out to the airport which is miles away. Once we got there, there was a queue of people to pick up cars and two people working. As well as doing the paperwork for each person, they also had to man the barrier to let the completed renters exit the carpark. Thirty minutes later we had a car, and piled our bags into it relatively easily. We were off, in pretty much a brand spanking new car, with no maps – because they were a bit budget in that department.

Following signs seemed like the sensible option, and very soon we arrived in Bath. Total contrast to Bristol. It is a UNESCO World Heritage site and is absolutely stunning, and so many museums and activities to experience. Plus, all of this AND the shops are right in the heart of the city. Today as well as all the normal tourist crowd it was graduation at the university so there was extra traffic and less parking.

We parked, found a lovely place for lunch and then marvelled at the shops and soaked up the vibe. People were so much warmer than they seemed in Bristol, willing to stop and chat instead of scurrying off and avoiding eye contact. We looked at 3 flats after lunch and are going to have trouble choosing between them I think.

Then it was back to the car, with our new map book and off to Holly Farm. There were some tense moments of map reading, and a couple of instance where the driver doubted the map readers skill, and the map reader used a shouty voice instead of a SatNav voice.

But, we made it and have been made to feel most welcome. Our hosts, who are related distantly (6^th cousins to me with common ancestors who were born early 18^th century) have given us all sorts of ideas for places to visit and even other places we could consider to live. More of that as time goes on.

So, Bristol

You seem quite pretty at times, then at other times and in other places - not so much. I cant decide now if I've made the wrong choice. I don't feel completely wowed by you, like I thought I would. And you have more hills than I remember too. I want to live on the flat.

We are staying in a cute Georgian flat I found on AirBnB. Which is very lovely, except that there is no tv. I like tv so that I can keep up with the news and the rest of the world. Plus its FIFA time and Wimbledon for heaven's sake. Also its not quite in the location I thought it was either so getting about is a bit of a drag.

Today we walked a million miles - that's more than even The Proclaimers sang about so we have sore feet like you wouldn't believe. We went to see a flat which was quite nice, on the south side of the city and river. Tomorrow we are going to see 4 more in the harbourside area. This is the area we'd quite like to live. Right next to the water, with cafes's and bars and lots of things happening on the river itself. 

We caught a little ferry across the river and back for 80p each way, That was cool - and you just signal the ferry man and he'll come get you.

The rest of the place seems disjointed though. The shopping precinct feels like it is not part of the same city, and sitting people watching from a cafe their doesn't seem to be any vibrancy or heart. But maybe we are judging too harshly, too soon.

I've applied for a couple of jobs, so we'll see what happens.

Our last two days in London

No post yesterday because we didnt actually do so much...and the wifi at the hotel was having a r-e-a-l-l-y bad day. I kid you not. It was so slow it was like dial-up.

We learned two things yesterday though, weather forecasters here get things wrong too, and when it rains; it RAINS.

Storms and rain were forecast for lunchtime and the afternoon, so we set off (minus umbrellas or coats) to use our HOHO ticket and travel the alternate route since it was valid for 24 hours. We intended to go to the market at Portobello Rd and wander through Kensington on our way back, and to beat the rain.

The bus though took forever getting anywhere and while we were on it it rained. We decided to get off earlier than planned and walked through Kensington Gardens up to the Palace. No-one opened the gates for us though. 

We wandered up further and had a drink and scone with clotted cream at the cafe, all the while eyeing up the ominous black clouds. While we were in the shop looking at royal souvenirs there was another heavy shower. Anyway once it was stopped we set off on our walk again in the sun. On our way I spotted a wee squirrel. So cute.

And also this gorgeous colourful carousel.

Then we walked up toward Notting Hill Gate to get to our destination. Almost there and down came the rain. In torrents. Like a rainstorm in Sydney. We were soaked. We decided the market wouldnt be so much fun so jumped on a bus to get us back to near where we needed catch the DLR back to the hotel to dry out and blob for the rest of the day.

So today we decided we'd just use a combination of transportation to get around and see some things before we leave London tomorrow.

DLR from hotel to Tower Gateway; tube from Tower Hill to Blackfriars, then a walk along the embankment toward Westminster. A lovely elderly gentlemen saw Lauren taking photos of the London City School and stopped to give us a history lesson. We walked with him to Temple station where he was off to Lords for a picnic. He was great, told us all sorts about all sorts of places. He was lovely.

We stopped and had a cuppa at a tea shop in the Victoria Embankment Gardens, then carried on our way. So many people though once we got to Westminster Bridge and the Houses of Parliament. From there we walked up to Buckingham Palace and then alongside St James' Palace to Green Park tube station.

how funny is this - on a little laneway behind St James' Palace

From there we caught a train to King's Cross to check out Platform 9 3/4 which was a bit of a let down having become a gimmicky commercial enterprise. We managed between us to get a photo of the sign and of the luggage trolley disappearing into the wall sans the queued up posers wearing the "house scarf" held by the photographers accomplice.

From there we caught another tube to Bank and then changed to the DLR to go and check out the shops at Canary Wharf. Omigosh ! So much to look at, but nowhere to fit anymore into our luggage right now.

So we had a bite to eat at "Leon". We cant get over how many healthy option places there are here and vegetarian as well. Why had no-one told me about "Pret a Manger" "Vital" or "Leon" (plus more that seem to be dotted all over the place).

Finally the train from Canary Wharf back to the hotel. Quite a productive day I think.

And then down came the rain in torrents again. But at least we were inside this time.