Day 9 - Taking the 142 to Edgeware

After we all got cleaned up and breakfasted, our kind host extended his generosity and agreed to chauffeur us around for Mum's trip down memory lane. His years as a London cabbie served him well as we weaved about the streets of Harrow, Pinner and Stanmore. We started with mum's childhood home that she and her family shared with Bob and Carols family. 38 Bedford Road.  No fewer than 9 beating hearts in a 2 floor home of about 800 square feet! It was still there and looked well cared for. At some point, there was a large addition put on and a garage added but the lane way that Mum took to school was still there. We then went off in search of Mum's primary school and found that it had been torn down. Next stop was 9 somethingbury Road which was the council house Mum moved into when she was about 8; they were awarded the spot b/c Pop was suffering with TB. He was in and out of hospital for those years but they all pitched in and managed together. Mum did not pass her 11 Plus exam so went to Camden School but did pass the 13 plus exam and was the only one in the neighborhood to don a uniform and go to a technical college: Kilburn Polytechnic. She had to take the tube to get there and was very proud to be learning business skills and getting ready for the workforce!

We enjoyed hearing about first jobs, first loves and preparations for the big adventure - moving to Canada. We saw the road where she and Sue kicked off their journey with their suitcases in their hands and butterflies in their stomachs! The plan was to go for six months but somehow that turned into 39 years - who knew that they would never move back!

In the afternoon we drove down to Hampton to meet cousin Kelda and Laura. We had a great time catching up with them and hearing about what's been going on in their lives and boring them with pictures of our kids. We also had our last pub meal - this last 10 days has not been a banner time for healthy eating so I think all of us will be happy to take a break from fried food and get a little bit back to normal. After we got back to Bob and Mildred's and spent a little time visiting with them and sharing some stories about Clayton, we had to face the inevitable. We are parting ways tomorrow morning with Beverley back to kids and house remodeling in California; Alison back to kids and work in Newmarket and Mum and Dad onto Devon for a few more days of holidays - hopefully at a slightly slower pace!

It was such a precious time for us to spend together and was a great reminder of how very fortunate we all are to have our health, strength and each other.

Happy Birthday Mom and Dad! We love you!! Xoxox

Day 8 - (Mostly hop on) Bus tour of London

Today was our one day to see London and wouldn't you know it, it was pouring rain and 7C. We pressed on tho, undeterred, and took the tube to Liverpool street station to first meet up with Natalia, mum's school friend Val's daughter. She'd taken a 2 hour journey from Norwich to meet us and we were so pleased to be able to have a nice leisurely catch up over lunch. She and her family are well and keeping busy with the girls, work and travel. Looking forward to seeing them all in Canada this summer. Be sure to pack the mosquito repellent!

After lunch we got the Hop on / Hop off bus tour of London. Taking onto account the weather and our limited time, we decided this would be the best way to see the highlights. We stopped in at Harrods to buy a few souvenirs and then reached the end of the line at Buckingham Palace. The royal standard was not flying so we felt safe to approach the Queen's residence in our soggy trainers and the plastic ponchos provided by the tour bus company. If she'd been home, she would have been mortified!

Back at Bob's, we got the photos out again and also poured through some of Auntie Winnie's correspondence leaving us wondering .... "What ever happened to Frances?"

Day 7: We're off to the races!

While we were sitting at breakfast discussing our options for the day and trying to take into account the unsettled weather forecast, it started to hail! Knowing that you can't fight the weather, especially in England, we all put an extra layer on, packed our umbrellas and set off for Windsor Castle. What we forgot to pack though was a map so we were entirely dependent on the GPS who we had affectionately nicknamed Gertie. Gertie did not have a fantastic. track record on this trip so far so we were a little nervous but we pressed on anyway. She got us safely to Windsor with only minor detours and, after a quick snack, we dashed off to enjoy the castle. This is not a museum but a working royal residence and the hustle and bustle is palpable.

After touring the castle and wrestling with Gertie to get ourselves home, we joined bob and mildred for an evening at the horse races at Sandown. It was a hoot! There were 6 races where we needed to try and pick the winner. Bob and Mildred are members and each have their own specific strategy. Bob chooses the horse that's favored to win. Mildred bets 2 each way on either the number two horse or the number seven horse. We each had our own strategies, each with varying degrees of success: Lee chose to horse whose name was most appealing; Alison choose the horse whose jockey had won the previous race; Dave chose the horse whose name had a color in it; and Bev chose the horse that had the cutest jockey! Bob was the big winner of the night but Bev and Lee broke even!

After the horse racing was over we enjoyed a concert by a band covering Jazz standards. It was a really fun evening and we were thrilled to have missed the rain.

Day 6: Roos to Uxbridge via Shepshed

We are starting to accept the reality that our actual departure time will be 90 to 120 minutes later than originally planned! Imagine how late we'd be if we had the kids with us!

This morning Beverley was serenaded awake with a slightly off key but heartfelt rendition of Happy Birthday! With Dad and Mums birthdays as well, it's birthday madness on this trip!

We enjoyed a sunny and relatively detour-free trip to London with a stop off in Shepshed for lunch at Kim's cafe. Knowing that our tendency to late departures was likely to impact the chances of us getting a full English breakfast on this trip, we decided to get it while the getting was good and have it at lunchtime. Wanting the full experience, Beverley ordered the large which came with everything: sausage, 2 eggs, mushrooms, tomato, beans and fried bread!! She added black pudding to get the whole experience. It was smashing -- we probably went through a half bottle of HP Sauce between us. The black pudding was not a big hit but everyone tried a bit and Alison even added some to her tea!

We arrived in Ickenham at Bob and Mildred's house right on schedule and found Peter Booth had already arrived from Aylesbury to join us for dinner. We capped off the day with a lovely meal out catching up with Bob, Mildred and Peter.

Day 5: "Blood, fat and all the gruesome bits"

Day 5 of our trip down memory lane luckily began earlier than the day before with some of Kath's tomato and lemon marmalade on toast and a lovely cuppa. Uncle John proudly gave us a tour of his workshop showing us all sorts of various frightening pieces of equipment and their respective attachments covered in sawdust. Beverley even tried her hand at operating a 'little' skill saw, going wiggly woggly on a piece of particle board under uncle John's watchful eye. She, and uncle John walked away with all appendages intact!

A quick aside - Uncle John's home, as are most homes in this part of the world, has name, rather than a street number. Aptly and quaintly named Yew Tree Cottage, there is a street sign at the road but only a long pebble driveway to be seen. Driving down the slim driveway with hedgerows on either side, you drive into a beautifully colourful open area for a car park with the house ahead, surrounded by greenery. What an idyllic spot! Uncle John's home was built 8 years ago (he's lived here for 3) and used to be the grounds belonging to the old rectory. There's a beautiful courtyard running the side of the house with a pond housing some good size fish, and a veritable Noah's Ark in the surrounding backyards - a rooster in one, chickens in another and 4 goats and more chickens in yet another. The sounds (but luckily, not smells) from these neighboring livestock is so bucolic and makes us fall in love with his house even more. Since it was part of the rectory, the property came with an easement to enable the vicar to take a shortcut to the rectory (and maybe the pub!) The gate at the end of this secret pathway is charmingly called a snicket and we've enjoyed taking the snicket at every opportunity just so we can say snicket!

Back to our trip - Our intrepid navigators in the back seat of the Vauxhaul Insignia sussed out the route for the day and we set off with a quick trip through the main thoroughfare of the Village of Roos - a tiny town of 1,500 people managing to support 2 pubs and a bridal shop. The long and windy (and windy) roads took us first to Mappleton, a seaside town with a sign for a viewpoint which led us to a blustery bluff overlooking the north sea. before continuing to Beverley, we visited an old church at the top of the hill across from the viewing area with four old lads making a day's work of cutting the grass.

We continued our journey to Brandesburton and stopped in to visit 'our kid' Patrick at the immaculate village butcher shop. As he gave us the highlights of the case, he insisted that we try the infamous Black Pudding BEFORE he told us what it was ACTUALLY in it. When pressed, he finally revealed the ingredients to be "blood, fat and all the gruesome bits"!! He back peddled a bit and said that it really was "quite tasty" - we will leave our close call with black pudding at that! Before we could leave, the sausage rolls looked too tempting to pass up and we enjoyed them on our stroll back to the car.
We finally arrived in Beverley (after only one or two wrong turns!) and enjoyed hitting all the tourist highlights; the North Bar, gothic and breathtaking Beverley Minster, the Wednesday market, the main pedestrian thoroughfare and all the quaint bits and bobs (like lop-sided windows) that make these historic English towns so charming. Over lunch, we learned more stories like the time he ran away from home at the tender age of 5 and ended up with the sun setting in a farmers field surrounded by what seemed like gigantic livestock to a tiny boy. Luckily, the farmer found him and he did make his way back to 7th avenue, via the police station. He doesn't remember the reunion but assures us that his mother gave him a 'quick clip around the ear' with the clear message to not ever try that again!

We wound our way back to Roos to enjoy a lovely pub dinner at the Roos Arms with John and Ina, Ina's caregiver Kath, Charlotte and her boyfriend Jordan. Then it was back to Yew Tree Cottage for another rousing round of who's that aunt.

Day 4: Long and winding trip down memory lane

The day started with a leisurely breakfast - enjoying the colorful, brotherly banter between Dad and Uncle John. We needed a family tree, a road atlas and glossary to keep up with the shared stories peppered with local slang and colloquialisms! Everyone had 2 or 3 different nicknames back then or were just referred to as 'our kid'.

We finally set off at half eleven and made our first wrong turn of the day pulling out of the driveway. We ended up in Withernsea - a well-worn seaside town that Dad remembers visiting as a lad on special Sunday school outings.

Then it was on to Hull to visit Dad's old stomping grounds. As a lad, Dad lived on Sculcoats Lane. Then, in 1940, he moved to 8 7th Avenue after his Dad's job as a caretaker on Land of Green Ginger fell through. He lived here until he left for Canada in '62.

We saw some of the pubs he used to drink at like Ye Olde White Harte and the Blue Bell but specific stories about those places were suspiciously lacking in detail. We also wandered into Hepworth's Arcade on the off chance that Dinsdale's, the joke shop that Dad visited as a lad of 11 or 12, was still there. It was still there and hardly changed from 60 years ago. The current proprietor is the grandson of the shopkeeper that Dad remembers and regaled us for 30 minutes with fun stories of the good old days and the treasures that are buried in the store room. After that we stopped in for fish & chips (with mushy peas) at the Corn Exchange.

Then it was off to Dad's old house on 7th Avenue which was a council house that was awarded to the family because living so close to the generating station on Sculcoates Lane was aggravating his Dad's TB. The neighborhood and house were a little worse for wear but it's all still there; even the bomb shelter still stands in the back garden. He remembers waking up nights being carried down the stairs and into the bomb shelter.

The All Electric Fish Restaurant is still operating on the corner of 7th and Endike Lane but just last year, Dad's school, Hull Grammar School was torn down and replaced with a shiny, new school building.

After that, we headed back to John's for dinner with Peter and Yvonne Henchliffe (old friends of Dad and John's who still live next door on 7th), Ellie and Patrick. The old photos came out as did the stories. We were up until 2:00 looking through the old pictures and trying to figure out who all the old aunties were! Dad and John were evacuated to different aunties during the war and the stories of cold baths and banishments to the attic and looking for torn pound notes at the races came out with the photos. One thing is for sure, we hope our pampered and coddled children don't know anything even close to the war years that their Grandad lived through.

Day 3 - We drove and drove and drove ....

Edinburgh to Yorkshire ...

ROAD TRIP!!

We said goodbye to Carol and David this morning and made our way from Edinburgh to Yorkshire through some spectacular scenery. Green fields with lots of sheep and the Martian landscape of the Scottish / English border. We stopped at a snack shop for treats (what, Marmite Crisps??!! Yes I will!!) and directions.

We carried on along the motorway with Alison doing a brilliant job of driving with 3 navigators in the car, giving her often contradictory instructions. Never the less, we made it safely to Yew Tree Cottage on Rectory Lane in Roos - John and Ina's home. The stiff and weary travelers were treated to a warm welcome and a lovely meal with John, Ellie and Charlotte. The 4 'young girls' ( and I use that term very loosely) then headed out for a night of clubbing on Prince's Street in Hull. John not only delivered us safely to our first stop but came in and joined us for our first round! Our club crawl continued down the road where we found a DJ spinning tunes we could actually recognize and a dance floor!! Good, good time had by all! Last stop was Valentino's for an order of chips with 'American Chip Spice'. You can bet that we were anxious to try an 'American' food phenomenon that, according to our cabbie, hasn't even made it up to Leeds!!