Rye has to be one of the quaintest little towns... with so many lovely, different little shops... Above that black door above says circa 1475!!!!! I mean... Simon's Pie Shop! #cuteas Purveyors of high class meat! Ashbee & Son... relatives of Kel Knight? And.... hats! I think we should bring back wearing hats. We headed... Continue Reading →
A few months back I was contacted through a DNA match by our 8th cousin who lives in East Sussex in England. He was able to fill in some gaps on Me Jen's maternal side and we, in turn, were able to fill in the gaps of what happened to our line going forward. Well... Continue Reading →
We woke up to a grey, drizzly day! Even though the UK has had one of their wettest summer's, this sort of weather behaviour is not something that we're used to, thank you very much. Our destination today is the villages of Northiam & Beckley, home to our maternal side - to be exact, my... Continue Reading →
Last weekend we met one half of my London Gang and this weekend we meet up the other half... These lovely ladies travelled out to Tunbridge Wells from London and Liverpool for the weekend. Here is a bit of history about the lovely spa town of TW In the main part of town is a... Continue Reading →
We woke to a beautiful morning, albeit a little chilly. And then started our journey to follow the south coast. This couple had clearly endured a long wet summer and were soaking up all the sunshine today. We stopped by Shoreham Fort for a little look. Then a short stop in the town of Lewes... Continue Reading →
After speaking with my mate, Kev about our family tree, he was very keen to help us look for headstones. As he lives in Salisbury and as luck would have it, 2 blocks from one of their main cemeteries. He took their dog, Spot for a wander through the graveyard and found.. Henry George and... Continue Reading →
"What is a weekend?" Dowager Countess - Downton Abbey https://youtu.be/onUkNsXks54?feature=shared I can't quite believe it... Today we went to Highclere Castle! Home to the Grantham family in Downton Abbey. If you haven't binged the entirety of all six seasons + Christmas specials + movies, then I won't give a give anything away. Me Jenny and... Continue Reading →
Today's adventure took us down the road a bit to Tilshead, Amesbury, Shrewton, Winterbourne Stoke, Elston, Orcheston - a good number of villages in the Wiltshire area that are mentioned in our family tree as far as our ancestors being born, living or dying there. They are also some of the cutest villages we've been... Continue Reading →
Since we were sort of in the area, we thought we might spend a few hours revisiting Bath. Jen and I did a bus tour years ago that took in Cornwall, Devon, The Cotswolds, Bristol and Bath, but we thought it couldn't hurt to have a refresher. Me Jen had an extensive list of all... Continue Reading →
Yesterday was a rest day for Me Jenny whilst I headed over to the lovely village of Marlborough to catch up with some of the best people I know. I met this group of lovelies in an 'old bloke's pub' called Sully's in South London almost 20 years ago. Most have moved out of London... Continue Reading →
I thought I may have bragged a bit too much the past two days about all the sunshine that we'd brought with us... today wasn't looking too flash. But luckily, there was just enough blue to patch a Dutchman's trousers! " Well, that's a weird thing to say", I can hear you all saying, but... Continue Reading →
The room we are staying in at the Bedford Arms is a relatively newish addition to the original building. They must have had some feedback before building them suggesting that the rooms needed more power points... there are hundreds! There are also switches that turn everything on and off and switches that don't do anything.... Continue Reading →
Today we woke up to this beautiful day. Would you call this 'cloudy'? Last night we made a spur of the moment decision that we would visit the Waddesdon Manor to see how the other half live. This enormous estate is owned by the Rothschild family and it was quite spectacular. Sitting high up on... Continue Reading →
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... Continue Reading →
I haven't done this in a while. My last post was in the middle of 2021. A lot has happened between now and then. There's been a pandemic, personal loss and heartbreak, a change in career, new skills learned & a few epiphanies - one being that life is short and I want to make... Continue Reading →
When you are turning 50, it's important that you spread that celebration over as many months as you can.... For me, as my actual birthday isn't until mid June - Im aiming for 3 months, but would be happy to extend... So... straight after our Larapinta Trek in Alice Springs, Madz and I flew to... Continue Reading →
Larapinta? What? Where's that? I'm so glad you asked.... Firstly, let me take you back to before the Covid ruined everything... when I had a dream to walk the Camino from France to Santiago de Compostela in Spain - an 800km pilgrimage that has been walked by religious pilgrims for centuries... However, because I'd never... Continue Reading →
Ok.... so we're sitting at the airport waiting to board which means that we are at the end of this leg and the end of the whole epic trip. I'd like to take this opportunity to thank all the people following along, all the people who commented on the blog and on Facebook - knowing... Continue Reading →
For those regular followers, you'll know that I love a door, but rather than peppering the blog with shots of doors and their knockers throughout each post, I thought I would save them all for one post at the end.... If you don't love doors, there is nothing for you to see here. Door lovers,... Continue Reading →
Today - our last full day in Barcelona, and indeed our whole trip, we went in a different direction. I like to take the backstreets. It gets you away from the crowded tourist spots and you always find hidden treasures... and today was no exception. We went out in search for shoes. Spain produces some... Continue Reading →