Our first trip to Europe and UK

Our first trip to Europe and UK from 17 May - 18 June 2004 starts here.

Brisbane and Biloela

 day 32 Friday 18 June

Brisbane

We arrived in Brisbane at 6 am and 4 degrees.

An interesting wait outside, watching cars hoping to meet people but unable to park outside. Endless circuits for some. Deception for others.

Paul Grundy met us and drove us back to Biloela. He had been relieving in Dick's job but had received little communication in the four weeks following the reorganisation of the DPI. This continued for Dick in the ensuing weeks.

Dick was keen to get back to work after the break but I could have continued exploring the delights of the youth hostels.

We returned to Rennes in April 2007 when Jim completed his PhD.

Singapore

day 31 Thursday 17 June

Singapore

Because we had a 7 hour stopover in Singapore, we were able to take the free tour offered. This took 2 hours but some of this time was in leaving and re-entering the airport. A bus took us to Sentosa island with tourist attractions and a beach where we were able to wander for half an hour. We also saw a bit of Singapore on the bus.

Jordans

day 30 Wednesday 16 June

Our last day in UK. In the morning we went for a walk and came upon an interesting cemetery with all the headstones aligned. It turned out to be a Quaker burying ground which includes the grave of William Penn of Pennsylvania. There is also an interesting old Quaker meeting house and we wandered as far as the village.

Jordans was close to the motorway to Heathrow and we returned our hire car without a scratch - a great relief to me after I had to do all the driving for 3 weeks, Dick having lost his licence in Paris.

Ipswich and Suffolk

day

29

Tuesday 15 June

We drove from Wells to Ipswich via Norwich. We took the A14 across the Orwell Bridge on the south side of Ipswich, then the next turn left after the one to Ipswich.– it was a bit longer than I thought, but we arrived as arranged, and rang Tom Williams, who came and piloted us to his house. We liked them both – it came as a surprise to me that Jenny (nee Wellington) is a 3^rd cousin – they seemed really pleased to see us.  After coffee and talk, they took us out in his BMW to a pub on the river to the east of Ipswich – it was a very pleasant spot and we enjoyed each others’ company. 

 

We stayed on at their place for tea and cake and finally got away about 5pm and drove towards London – it was a pretty good run through to Jordans – by about 7pm. It is in a great location – a comfortable little hostel and we got our own room!  The girl was very nice to us.  It was a great spot for our last night in England.  We did not need any dinner (other than a glass of red and cheese and oatcakes) following a big pub lunch.

It was an interesting drive from Ipswich towards London, but good to exit to our last Youth Hostel at Jordans. Apart from the female Warden, there were only a couple of men so we were able to share the female dorm. It was soccer world cup so we joined the others to watch in the evening.

Melton Ross, Wrawby, Brigg, Lincoln

day 28 Monday 14 June

Melton Ross, Wrawby, Brigg, Lincoln, then on to Wells next the Sea on the Norfolk coast

Next morning, we had to escape, as Mick was talking flat out, and was after a lift to Hull, which we could not have handled. We did have a pleasant wander around the hostel and took some photos before we left.

 
 We drove over the Humber and visited Melton Ross - the church has apparently been rebuilt – and Wrawby, where we found a Foster gravestone.  The church looked pretty old.  Our ancestor John Sergeant was born here about 1770, and is apparently buried here with his wife Jane Foster who died in 1838 at Brigg, although we did not manage to find the stone. She was born at Wrawby about 1778.

 
 

Melton Ross where John Sergeant and Jane Foster are buried. We could not find the tombstone.

Wrawby, St Mary where John Sergeant married Jane Foster in 1799 and her parents are buried.

Sacred to the Memory of SUSANNA late Wife of WILLIAM FOSTER who Departed this Life January 28th 1813 {?] Aged 67 Years Also Of WILLIAM FOSTER Who Departed this Life May 28 1818 Aged 72 years

Parents of Jane Foster, and grandparents of William Foster Sergeant, who emigrated to South Australia in 1837 with his wife and seven children.

Scawby, St Hibald

Joseph Gilderdale and Mary Goodwin were married here in 1797. Her father was a merchant in Brigg.

Their daughter Catherine married William Foster Sergeant at Wrawby in 1824.

[ we did not visit this church in 2004]

The main street of Brigg, another old market town

 We then went to Brigg and rang Ann Cherry (& Trevor).  We visited for morning tea – Sally spoke to an old Peter Sergeant (about 85 years old) who talked non stop on the phone.  It would have been nice to visit him. We enjoyed the visit to the Cherrys – then left for Lincoln. 

We thought the cathedral OK, but it made Beverley look good!  It is bigger, but not necessarily better, in my view.  It was a fair drive from there to Wells next the Sea – a funny old seaside town – ugly pommy tourists down by the waterfront, but we finally found a nice pub near the YH and enjoyed a meal and a pint in the company of a 75 year old and her daughter from Fife.  We have had no e-mail contact for about a week!

Beverley

day 27 Sunday 13 June

Alston to Beverley

A lovely drive south from Alston across the high moors – it is harsh country, but gets softer as you move off the moors and to the lower levels.  We left the motorway and went east onto the Yorkshire moors – much softer and more productive than Alston.  We had lunch in the car park at Castle Howard, but decided not to go in – expensive at 9 pounds 50 p and not enough time to do justice – also too many people.  It was very pleasant under a shady tree  in the park.  We arrived in Beverley about 2pm and eventually found the priory – a fascinating old building from the 14^thC.  We visited Beverley Minster (“one of the best Gothic examples in Europe”) – very impressive, then walked the old town to St Mary’s and back via the common (cattle grazing!).  Mick was friendly but could not stop talking.  Helen at the YH was very helpful and friendly.  There were only three guests at the YH – Mick and us, so we had the ladies dormitory as a 13 bed en suite!  We all went to the choral evensong at Beverley Minster – it was beautiful!  Then dinner and talk before bed.

 Main entrance of Beverley Friary YHA office. The kitchen was downstairs to the left. Above it was the sitting room, then the girls dorm. The Mens dorm was downstairs to the right. The building to the right is an addition containing the bathrooms.

The warden, Helen, had a nice herb garden.

Rear view of the friary showing the new extension connecting to the dorms. We were upstairs, having the girls dorm, under huge rafters, to ourselves for the night.

Beverley Minster can trace its origins to 700 AD when Bishop John of York established a monastery. John, who was born locally, was a bishop and teacher. He was canonised in 1037, by Archbishop Aelfric. His body lies in the Minster's nave.
Online at http://www.beverleyminster.co.uk

Alston

day 26 Saturday afternoon 12 June

After our morning walk on the Eildon Hills with Gail, we drove along nice valleys to England and up onto the moor to Alston in Cumberland. Where did we have lunch?

We left the car at the hostel and walked into town. We asked about Spenceycroft and walked out there, then up the hill and found old Spenceycroft, then down a footpath through fields of sheep to the river and along to the town. We got some cheese from a specialty shop and a quiche on special at the supermarket.

Alston

an old town with steep cobbled streets among wild solitary fells.

The Parish church was built around 1770, and a newer church in 1869.

John Wesley came through this area preaching to lead miners and that was perhaps when our ancestors became non-conformist. Sarah Angus Dickenson met her husband Alfred Scales when he was studying at her uncle's college.

  

The South Tyne Valley/ Derwentwater Estates were granted by the Crown to the Greenwich Hospital in 1735 following the rebellion. The moor master [Thomas Dickinson] collected the rents for the Hospital.

Spenceycroft

Alston hostel overlooks the South Tyne valley on the Pennine coast-to-coast cycle route. 15 miles from Haltwhistle mentioned by Bill Bryson. I was in a separate dorm to Dick but the girl I was sharing with must have moved in with her husband and they left early next day so I had the room to myself. It had 2 women running it and a nice dining area. It was just near the cemetery and we had a beer on the terrace. We met some nice people walking a trail. They were cricket fans and had a narrow boat on a canal.

A local ale at the hostel after a day which included two hillclimbing walks.

It would be nice to stay at Langdon Beck hostel and walk to Alston – 15 miles?

Eildon Hill

day 26 Saturday 12 June

In the morning we did the Eildon Hill walk behind the hostel- about 400m! – with Gail Grimshaw from Brisbane, who we met at the YH and was travelling on her own for 6 months.  A lovely view of the Tweed Valley, the roman fort and the abbey. It was a lovely sunny day.

The Tweed Valley from the Eildon Hills

Then we drove along nice valleys to England and up onto the moor to Alston.