Europe Report Card 4

Monday

Weather - Heavy rain at times, but also showers and even some sun!

Bridgnorth - 'The Swan Hotel' - remembered that William Henry Anderson had owned this hotel, so went up to the market to take some photos.

Eymore Wood, Trimpley near Bewdley - walked for a couple of kilometers amongst the beautiful pine trees and breathed in deeply the fresh air.

Wales - Talgarth - booked into 'Old Radnor Barn' B&B - very new room - small but very nice - walked uptown to visit cousin Kay Wood

Tuesday

Talgarth - did the historical town walk - 1000 years ago Talgarth was the capital of the area, now it is a small village with a fortified building in the centre.

Brecon Beacons - walked up the mountains with cousins, Kay and her daughter Paula (and the 2 dogs), Darryl went to the top, and I went with Kay and Paula to the memorial to Kay parents.

Church - one of the oldest oak screens in the country - memorial stones inside from the 1600's

The Bell Inn - lunch with cousins Brian, and his wife Maureen, and Kay and Paula. We had Faggots, which is like a liver and kidney rissole in gravy and mushy peas...and the best hot chips I have ever eaten. Went for a walk up to the church to see where Grandpa's sisters were buried. Wanted to go for a coffee...but absolutely nothing was open so everyone came back to our B&B and we sat outside in the cold drinking coffee.

Wednesday

Weather - raining hard

Coleford - birthplace of Ann Lloyd (great-great grandmother) in 1829...took photos of the church

Upton Bishop - Ible family here from 1609 - 1800...wandered around the churchyard but couldn't find any Ible gravestones - went to "The Church Cottage" across the road and the lovely man there had a fabulous book - "Records historical and antiquarian of the parish of Upton Bishop, Herfordshire" by Francis Tebbs Havergal, written in 1883 - which had all the records of the Ible marriages as well as an Apprenticeship record! Brilliant! It proved there were no Ible stones in the churchyard.

Newent - Huggins family from here - 1680 - a beautiful old church just across the road from our hotel. Found a stone! John Huggins and his wife Mary - he died in 1850...very interesting old stones in the church - even some they believe from the 8th Century & and inside the church from 1644 - walked around town - old Tudor Market Building, and other shops in the same style, until we got sick of being wet and headed back to the hotel.

"The George Hotel" - from 1649...had dinner here - Pork in Stilton and Apple sauce which was delicious

Thursday

Weather - damp, or, in other words, overcast with light rain...all day

Offa's Dyke & Devil's Pulpit - walked to, along, and on top of Offa's Dyke - built from sea to sea by King Offa of Mercia c785 along 80 miles to keep the Celts out of England. Beautiful uphill trek through fresh forests and in the clouds. The Devil's Pulpit is a large upstanding rock below the Dyke which offered great views of the Abbey

Tintern Abbey - in the Wye Valley - Cistercian built from 1131 to 1536...now a ruin - almost broke my rule of not paying to go in as Francis Hibell as born here in 1803,  but the lady in the shop convinced me that he must have been born in the village as only monks were in the Abbey

Somerset - Watchet - a seaport with 1000 years of history, with fossils and alabaster cliffs - went for a walk around town before having Somerset Cider in "The Bell Inn" before dinner

Friday

Weather - still overcast when we woke...but cleared up by around 10am to be a beautiful day

Old Cleeve - looking for Bindon family, and this time found many graves. The church was quite beautiful, but sadly someone stole the lead from the roof last Friday. 

Nettlecombe - single lane tracks - again - to get to this church attached to the manor. No pertinent graves, but the main family appeared to be Trevellion. Most of these Norman churches were built by the Norman Knights, and there is often the Knight and his wife buried in it.

Minehead - pretty seaside place with a Butlins, so a bit touristy

Selworthy Wood - single lane - at one stage a small van was coming towards us, we backed up to a point where there was a gate into a field, there was still not enough room so I got out and opened the gate for him to drive up so we could pass, and then close the gate after he drove off and sprayed me with mud! We parked in a carpark which seemed to have lots of people coming and going - I asked and there was a flower show going on in the church. 

We walked in the forest, up a hill to Bury Castle, an Iron-age fort - really only defensive ditches. On the way back we saw a young deer grazing in the wild, up on the side of the hill. The Village has several National Trust cottages - real chocolate box views with thatches roofs

Porlock Hill - 25% grade on the road AND lots of single lane! After this was a lovely hill - 

Culbone - which had great views over the Bristol Channel to Wales. We bought ice-creams from a van and ate them while enjoying the view and sheltering from the bitter wind. 

Accommodation - Penlan House B&B at Stibb Cross in Devon - dinner at 'The Union Inn' nearby. Very nice place to stay.

Saturday

Tintagel Castle - couldn't resist going here as I had not been able to last time. I paid to go in, while Darryl waited outside for me - pretty amazing the people built a castle on this site (well two castles really - one on the mainland and one on the island) - the Arthurian legend persists in this area, and 'Merlin's Cave' is visible from the island.

Illogan - arrived to find a wedding in progress at the church...but several churches and a huge cemetery, which was really overgrown...so without knowing who was there no chance of finding any Hampton or Bray. Looked for Broad Lane, where they lived, only to discover it was the road we were driving out on. 

Gwennap - found the church...looking for many names and found lots including a stone up against the church with Ambrose Bray - it is the stone for some of his children and wife Rebecca. Plenty of Bray, Harris, Davey, and others.

Camborne - spent the night in historic Tyack's Hotel, after a brief wander through the streets

Sunday 

Redruth - exciting start to the day by going to the Laundrette to wash the clothes! Then walked around Redruth trying to find a town map, so as to locate the cemetery. Ask a man walking past ans he pointed us in the right direction (turns out his father was responsible for the establishment of the 'Cornish Studies Centre'), and we spent most of the day searching the cemetery and the graves beside the church. Looking for Bray, Carter, Cock, Dawe, Francis, Garbey, Hampton, James, Jenkin, Morcom, Paul, Polkinghorne.

Crowan - an amazing number of graves at this church, especially considering how small he village is...looking for Bray, Hampton and Glasson....a man came along, walking his dog, and talked to us for a while..he is married in to the Glassons...found lots of Glasson graves...there are many still living in the district, and some Hampton, and Bray. Darryl is wonderful with this, as the cemeteries are really overgrown with blackberries, ivy, and stinging nettle (among other weeds) - as he says it is almost like 'bush-walking'! It is nice to know there is no risk of disturbing large snakes or spiders in the long grass and weeds.