Day 1:
After the mammoth flight into Heathrow, of which I slept approximately 15 of the 13 hours in the air, we grabbed our hire car and headed, in peak school drop off traffic, toward Southall (not far from Heathrow) and our first graveyard.
I had done many hours of online research, so I was pretty sure that we would find the headstone of Jenny’s Great Great Grandfather, but I didn’t have any clue of the location of the grave.
We got to the Havelock Cemetery… (she’ a bit bigger than I anticipated)
The whole place is a contrast of lovely green grass and derelict headstones and home to a few squirrels.
We wandered around looking at names on headstones…
A lot were hidden… poor Eliza Pickering.
Then, right over in the far corner, I came across this one…
Well, hello James Garland. It’s him! Sarah Ann was James’ second wife and step mother to Jen’s G.Grandfather. James’ 1st wife Jen’s G.G. Grandmother, was buried next door behind the church but we couldn’t gain access.
I was pretty happy with this find.
While we were ‘in the area’ I wanted to visit Windsor. I’d never been there and we had a bit of time to kill before arriving at our accommodation for the next few nights.
Windsor is such a pretty little town with this whacking great castle blonked right in the middle. Have a guess what year they started to build this…
I’ll tell you – 1070! William the Conqueror built it – it took 16 years. A bit like building a house nowadays.
It’s huge with sprawling gardens and ‘cottages’ owned by Charles, but then occasionally lived in by other royals.
What’s the bet that Queen Victoria commissioned this statue of herself?
Kate has got her own pub in town – right across the road… pretty small beer garden, hoping that there is a bigger one out the back.
And check out this quirky 100s year old building… it’s probably seen straighter days.
And to finish off a very productive day, we’re sorting out our jet lag with a little nap in our very cute lodgings The Bedford Arms – just in time for the rain…
Check out the lovely Bedford Arms… I’m pretty happy with this find as well.
Cheers…. here’s to Day 2!
Wow! Great to hear that you two are on the road again (and enjoying vegemite along the way). Have a wonderful trip! x
Great to have you along for the journey Nerida!
Hi Shell & Jenny,
How wonderful & lucky you are to be able to travel across the world & walk into a big cemetery & find James Garland & his 2nd wife. Really amazing 😊 Did you have an idea of which section of the cemetery he was in or did you just keep looking !!! Well done in any case.
We visited Windsor Castle many years ago & enjoyed the tour with relies. Lovely to hear about all your travels. Keep the emails coming. Xxx
Hi Shirl, the only info I had was the top of the headstone was curved (which was hidden by the ivy) and I knew the grave had been moved from a Methodist church yard years ago…. But I wasn’t leaving till I found it.
Very well done. Your research has certainly paid off 😊