THREE WEEKS HOME AND STILL COUNTING

Well the 'fun' continues. I don't think I told you earlier but when we left Bury to go to Heathrow I set Deidre to take me there. OE (operator error) took a front seat. I did not realise that 'she' was set for shortest route instead of quickest route. Because of this she took us right through London. To say that things were tense for a while would be an understatement. But when I realized that Deidre knew where we were going I sat back and enjoyed! the experience. That event had a (costly) consequence this week. I received a letter from the Car Rental Company (notice how I deliberately left their name out of it). Those of you in the UK will probably guess what is coming next. For the others let me explain. There is an area in central London called the Congestion Zone or some such thing. There is a toll or tax payable if you drive thorough the zone. Yes you guessed it, I went through that zone apparently. I did not know where the boundaries of the zone were, in fact I did not even know where I was. I just followed Deidre's direction blindly and thought I was pretty clever when I arrived at Heathrow safely and on time. The letter I referred to advised me that the Car Hire Company had been approached by the authorities in relation to my 'offence'. I was advised that they had given my name and address to the authorities (whoever that may be). Here comes the best part, they had debited my card for the cost of this, not the fine, just the cost of supplying my name and address. That was equivalent to over $257 Australian!!!! And I thought that computers made this sort of thing easy! No doubt I still have a fine coming my way which will probably be another $500 or so. All because I didn't pay an eight pound ($19 approx) tax.

My insurance claim is still coming. A week ago I received an SMS message to say that it had been finalised and the details had been posted. When I had heard nothing after 5 days I phoned to see why. Even though I had been advised that it had been posted it seems that the SMS was generated by the computer after my claim had been dealt with by the case manager, it then had to go to the auditor, payment section and mailing section before it would actually be mailed. Still I wait. I am still using the borrowed monitor.

My report to the Bank about the fraudulent withdrawals from my account received very prompt attention. In a word it was my fault. It appeared to be a stock letter giving a list of reasons why it was my fault. No I'm a pretty placid bloke, some of the time anyway, but that got my hackles up. Using the information that they supplied in their letters I pointed out to them that the withdrawals were made over one and a half hours after I had reported the theft and the card should have been stopped. In about 2 days from posting the money was back in my account. Top marks to the Bank.

Well enough of my miseries.

We have settled back into 'normal' life again. Ann was due for several medical check-ups so we have spent several days doing the rounds of the medical fraternity. All the news is good, there is no evidence of any re-occurrence of her cancer. She has an appointment to go to her eye specialist soon but we know that there is nothing that can be done. We are coping OK with that but would obviously prefer not to have to.

Our summer weather is with us now, it is starting to get hot and steamy. We have also had some useful rain which is a good sign. Our summer months are our 'wet' time and we have had quite a few years with below average rainfall. I hope this year can change all that. Actually last year was better than we have had for ages so while it was below average it was still pretty good. Water rationing is now a way of life and I suspect that it will remain for ever now. That is probably a good thing as we were too wasteful with that precious resource for a long time.

I think I will leave it at that for now. Next post I hope the lap top is fixed as using this monitor is a bit awkward.

Until the next time, cheers to all and God bless. Dave and Ann.

THE FINAL ANALYSIS OF TRIP (I hope!)

It's now been 6 days back in Oz and we are starting to get back to some normality. I am unable to work out if it is jet lag or just plain laziness but by afternoon I am having trouble keeping my eyes open but come bed time and I'm wide awake and bright eyed.

I look back on the trip with very mixed emotions. The highs were unbelievably high but there were some equally incredible lows. I have listed some of these events in previous posts on the blog but have kept some of the downs secret. As I look back I am satisfied that the highs well and truly overshadow the lows. The true significance of that statement will become more clear shortly.

To have met so many relations who had been nothing more than names, and in quite a few cases not even that, was a wonderful blessing. Without exception I, make that we, were instantly made to feel welcome and part of the family. Going to meet so many 'new' family members can be a bit daunting, we are all from different life styles, different customs, different backgrounds, different surroundings and you can never be sure how we all will react with one another. All of my concerns about this were a complete waste of energy. I am truly blessed to be part of such a wonderful family, both paternal and maternal. None of the lows could come close to dampening that wonderful feeling. Two years in a row now I have met family from the other side of the globe and in every case I have come away with the same wonderful feeling. What more can I say.

Also to have visited the places where so many of my ancestors lived and worked was great. I will never cease to be a 'Dinky Di Aussie' nor will I ever have any desire to live anywhere else. I do not know if it is physcological, emotional, genetic or imagination but I did feel a bonding with the Suffolk countryside, especially the smaller villages. This was especially so when I visited some of the Churches where significant events in our family history occurred. There were times when I did feel a 'presence', maybe I'm losing the plot! As I said I have no desire to go back there to live but still did feel a kind of sadness when it was time to leave. Maybe it is a good thing I had to leave!

There was also the visit to the area of Cambridgeshire where Ann's ancestors came from. In the area around St. Neots. I know that was very special for Ann but I also thoroughly enjoyed that occasion. Now that can't be genetic but maybe it was a transmission from Ann and her pleasure in going to those places. This was certainly another high.

The Lows started before we had disembarked the 747 at Heathrow on our arrival. I refer to the failure of the air-bridge and the wait for suitable stairs to be found and brought to the aircraft. It was only an hour or so but seemed longer. I will now list the lows without dwelling on them. Suffice to say that their effects will soon be behind us, I hope!

Hire car scraped by someone unknown in shopping centre car park on the day of arrival.
Lost (temporarily thankfully) car keys.
Broken dental plate (3 times!)
Loss of 290 pounds in cash.
Car accident when hit from behind at traffic lights.
Broken screen on lap top computer.
Theft of my credit card at a ATM (teller machine)
Fraudulent withdrawal of over $1800 Australian from my account.
But by far the worst feature was the effects of Ann's failing eyesight. Because of this she was continually terrified by the sudden appearance and the apparent closeness and speed of other traffic. This made any car travel a most uncomfortable experience for her and her obvious tension and concerns had their effect on me. It also had the effect of shortening time we spent with family on occasions. To those affected by this I can only say sorry but thank you one and all for your acceptance of us and our 'ways'.

The final chapter of all this will unfold over the next few weeks as I have dealings with insurance companies. There I go again, probably worrying unnecessarily!

My final overview of the trip? I wouldn't have missed it for quids and the memories will be with me for the rest of my days. Thank you one and all for making it such a great time in my/our lives.

I am typing this with the lap top plugged into a monitor (borrowed from son in law Peter) but on Monday it will have to go in to get a quote for repairs. I am led to believe that it could be in the vicinity of $1000. Obviously it is still working with the exception of the screen which has the most amazing mosaic patten.

Until the next post, love to all. Dave and Ann

HOME AGAIN, HOME AGAIN, JIGGETY JIG.

Well we have arrived home safely, tired, jet lagged but happy to be here. We arrived about 7.oo am yesterday (Saturday) and were met by Amanda, Danah and Andrew. This will be a very short post as I am using Amanda's computer, mine is still dead. Will attempt to take steps towards its repair tomorrow (Monday). This is just to let you all know that we have arrived safely. The two day is Singapore were tiring, very muggy and were glad to get out of the heat. I will update with more information when my own electronic device is again up and running. Soon I hope, as I have mountains of new information to introduce to my family tree as a result of the trip. In spite of all the ups and downs we both enjoyed the experience and are very glad that we did it.

Until next time, Cheers, Ann and Dave.

THE LAST POST!

I mean that quite literally. Some fool about my size pulled his laptop off of the table and broke the screen so it is not unreadable. I am sending this from an internet cafe (at the Bury Tourist Information Centre) and expect this will be the last word prior to our getting home. I am a bit confused about what has happened since the previous post so will only give a rough outline of what has been happening. Today is Thursday afternoon (here) and we went for a drive to a new area (for us) this morning. Saw lots of interesting things and visited yet another Church. This one was unique in that it had a hexagonal tower. Like them all it had a very long history and was truly beautiful.

Yesterday we went a visited a 2nd Cousin who lives in Attleborough. It is about one hour away and once again was a beaut day. He is the brother of a Cuz I discovered a few years ago via my web page and who lives an Adelaide (South Aust). We had a great day and of course you got a bit of a bagging Brian! Ann is still very nervous in the car and particularly as it gets toward night so we (BOTH OF US) were glad to get home as it was after dark by that time.

Only about 4 days and we will be off to Singapore for a couple of days and then HOME! I hope I can shake the cold I have caught before the flight.

Until we get home, Love to all, Ann and Dave.

I'VE RUN OUT OF SUPERLATIVES!

As promised on Saturday I loaded the birthday girl into the car and headed off in a new (for us) direction. Another lovely drive through the Suffolk countryside found us at Colchester. A birthday lunch in a French restaurant for 'she who must be obeyed' was followed by a visit to the Colchester Castle. It is amazing to follow the development of mankind over a period of 4 or 5 thousand years. For me the most interesting information was the display of the bronze age. I was astounded by the quality of the implements cast from bronze about 1500 BC!

On Sunday we went to Church at Shelley, one of the churches we visited early in our stay here in Bury. It was a family/harvest festival service. Once again we were made most welcome by all the parishioners. The Church Warden opened the safe and produced the 'Burial Register'. In it I was able to discover the entries for my G/G/G/grandfather's and my G/G/G/grandmother's burial. Other family members were recorded in the 'Banns Register'. Over the after Church 'cuppa' one of the ladies said that she knew a Stannard who lives in Hadleigh. Her husband was sent to get the address book and I was given the 'phone number of Jimmy and Norma Stannard. On our way 'home' we had the usual stop off at Corn Craft at Monks Eleigh for lunch. After getting home I went for another walk to 'The Nutshell' which was shut.

On Monday we went to Little Waldingfield to visit with the local 'History Recorder'. Patricia has a wonderful knowledge of the area and it's history. Her position involves recording present happenings for future generations. We had a lovely morning and got a good insight into the village and the life style of previous generations. After that we went to Hadleigh to visit a 'Antiques Shop' Ann had seen as we drove through. It turned out to be a farm supplies shop! A hamburger in a Cafe and then a nice drive where we managed to get lost so Deidre was on duty to bring us home by a series of back roads. Following the disappointment of the previous day I again went for a walk. This time the Nutshell was open so I had a pint in 'my' corner of the bar. While I was there an Irishman with a very broad accent came in. I think he accent was affected by what he had consumed before he arrived! He had an interest in Australia so claimed me. He was a great fan of Slim Dusty and gave me a rendition of 'Pub with no beer' which amused all 6 or 7 patrons in the bar. He knew all the words too.

Tuesday was a partly domestic day and partly research at Suffolk Registry Office. I spent a few hours there going through records in search of new information with very limited success.

Today we went to meet Jim and Norma Stannard in Hadleigh. There are quite a few Stannards in the area so it is unlikely that there is any connection. On arrival we had the mandatory cuppa and then Jim gets out the 'Family Tree' which was given to him by some distant relative that he hardly knows. He hands it to me and I look at the first page to see if I can find any link to my tree. The first names I see are James Stannard who was married to one Ann Garwood. What can I say, these people were my G/G/G/G/grandparents! We then clapped one another on the back and called each other cousin. I now have a copy of all this information which will add lots to my tree when I get it all sorted. The family circle is growing daily! We followed that with another lunch at Corn Craft and then a visit to a antique shop in Lavenham we were told about by my new found cousin.

That's about it for today. It will soon be time to cook up a meal. The central heating is just coming on which will make things nice and cosy. That will please 'you know who'! We will probably go over to Cambridge for a look about tomorrow.

Until the next post, love and greeting to all, Ann and Dave.

THE BROWNS OF BOSTON

On Tuesday morning we headed off to visit my maternal relatives who mostly lived in the Boston (Lincolnshire) area. It was a beautiful 2 hour drive through the countryside. We arrived just in time for lunch. The couple we were staying with were related in some way I knew but was unaware of the relationship. We were warmly welcomed and once we were settled I asked the question of our hostess, "Where do you fit into the family?" "Your Grandfather was my uncle" was the reply. As Eileen was approximately my age I was a bit stunned. My mother passed away in early 2006 aged 92 and Eileen was her first cousin! Most of my family history research has been in relation to Dad's family so I really had no idea. Bob, Eileen's husband and a former Mayor of Boston has a part time job and had to leave after lunch. Eileen guided us on a local tour and took us to Frampton Church where my G/Grandfather and G/Grandmother were buried. Theirs were the first ancestors graves I have found on this trip. Most of the old grave headstones have weathered and eroded away to such an extent that they are unreadable. She then showed us where they (great grandparents) had once lived. It is now only a vacant allotment. She then showed me the farm where my grandfather (Mum's Dad) worked prior to his immigration to Australia in 1912-13.




The following morning we were escorted on a tour of Boston markets by ex-Mayor Bob while Eileen prepared lunch for a family 'get-together'. On our return the family members were beginning to arrive. By about mid-day 6 of Mum's first cousins and three of their husband's together with Ann and I were assembled. What a wonderful day ensued. Out came the photos, stories, facts AND the most wonderful family Bible. WOW! Two family members who children of some of those attending are into genealogy and sent the printed results of their work for my information. WOW! WOW! What a wonderful day. It is amazing how you can meet family members who you do not know and never even knew of their existance and feel so comfortable with them. When the meeting broke up and everyone went home I was suffering a bad case of information overload. That evening Ann and I took Bob and Eileen to the pub for a meal. What a pleasant end to an amazing day.

Thursday morning we again visited Boston to visit 'The Stump' which is the local name for the Parish Church. Parish Church! This Parish Church has a tower 272 feet high (83 metres) and the nave is 74 metres long by 32 metres wide. The area of the Church is 1864 square metres. It is sure SOME Parish Church! I think this is one of the most astounding Churches in a land of astounding Churches. It is not known for sure why it is called 'The Stump' but is suggested that it may be because the tower looks like a stump rising out of the flat ground from up to 40 kilometres away! While in the Church I found an Australian Memorial acknowledging locals who were involved in the early explorations in and of Australia. These included Joseph Banks and several men from Cooks Ship the Endeavour, both Bass and Flinders, and several other significant explorers in Australia's history. Unfortunately it was very embarrassing to see an Australian Memorial in such a shocking state of disrepair.

After that we then visited the Guild Hall, another old building with a very colourful history over a period of about 600 years. You never stop learning over here!

After a quick bite of lunch Ann and I were off for another very pleasant 2 hour drive home to The Lodge in Bury St. Edmunds. Today was another quiet one, wandering around the shops for a few hours, the supermarket to fill the larder and some necessary laundry.

Tomorrow we will head off in some new direction to see what we can find. Until the next post keep well.

Cheers and blessings from Ann and Dave.

MORE FAMILY MEETINGS

Saturday morning dawned bright and sunny and was a good start for out trip to Felixstowe to meet some more of my family members. That soon changed; on our way at the second round a bout (fitted with traffic control lights) I stopped when the light turned yellow. BAD MOVE. The car behind 'thought' I would go through the lights so instead of stopping he accelerated. The inevitable occurred. No great damage to the car (but no doubt the insurance excess will cost me!) but Ann's nerves which were settling down well were all 'shot' again. With the feelings I had after this incident I was most proud of my calm discussions with the other driver. As an infamous Australian once said, "Such is life". For the information of my non-Australian readers those were allegedly the last words of the Australian Bushranger (outlaw) Ned Kelly. At least my troubles were somewhat minor compared to his!

Following that we went to my Aunt "Mickey's" home. It was her 80th birthday. Mickey (real name Annemarie) is German born and married Dad's brother Charlie (known as Stan) when he was stationed in Germany in the RAF after the last War. There were some beaut misunderstandings about names and people. My father was Albert George, known as Bert to us in Australia and as George to his English family, Another of his brothers was Bertie Frederick, known the the family in UK as Bert and to us in Australia as Stan. What with the Berts, Stans and George it was very necessary to concentrate carefully. It was a wonderful day and it was easy for me to bond with the Aunt, 1st, 2nd and 3rd cousins. Mickey also had a Sister and other family/friends over from Germany for the occasion which not only made it a multi-cultural day but also multi-lingual. I increased my knowledge of my family origins and picked up heaps of further family stories. Like any genealogist I found these steps backward to be progress. The day ended far too soon but we did not stay late as the shock of the morning was telling on Ann.

This morning we went to Church at Elmsett. This is the Church associated with my earliest discoveries to date. There was a baptism at the service and it struck me that that was the church and font where my great/great/great/great grandfather was baptised in 1749. That really was special. Once again we were made very welcome and enjoyed a cuppa after church with the parishioners.

On the way home we stopped off at the "Rushbrook Arms' for a Sunday roast lunch. And very nice it was too!

There are no special plans as yet for tomorrow, we will see what happens. On Tuesday we will be going up to Boston (Lincolnshire) where my Mother's parents and descendants come from. We will be meeting with some of my maternal relatives there. We do not know how long we will be staying there.

That's about it for now so I will close and might go for a walk into the 'Nutshell'!

Love to all, Ann and Dave.

PUSSY CAT, PUSSY CAT, WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN?

No, we didn't see her but we did see her house! We waited patiently for her to invite us in for a 'cuppa' but it didn't happen. Maybe we should have rung to let her know we were coming!

It is a week since I last 'posted' a report. It has been a pretty full on week. On the Saturday we went looking for a Farm Shop near Needham Markets. We eventually found it (the sign was hidden by trees!) and had lunch. We then drove without help from Deidre through all sorts of back roads and villages and eventually got home to Bury. I decided to go for a walk into town, about half an hour, to visit the smallest pub in the World. The "Nutshell" is about 15 feet by 8 feet and that includes the bar and the space behind it for the bar staff. I peered through the window and decided that it was a bit crowded. I turned to leave but that didn't suit with one of the patrons. He signalled me in and in a flash there was a 'pint' in my hand. It turned out that he was a regular and a Scot to boot. Suddenly I was part of the crowd, about 15 of us, and had a great time. It is a fascinating place with all sorts of unusual decorations, like the 400 year old mummified cat hanging from the ceiling. The story goes that in days of yore it was a custom to seal cats into the walls of buildings to keep evil spirits away. This is said to be one of them. The ceiling is 'wall papered' with currency notes from all over the world. Likewise the walls have coins from all over mounted on the walls. I now feel like I am one of the regulars.

On Sunday we went to Church at Polstead. That was a great service, church and congregation. We were very cordially greeted and felt most welcome. That was the place with the thatched roof house said to be built in the 1360's. See the photo below. After that we stopped off at the Corn Craft (again) for lunch.

On Monday morning we headed off to London by 'bus. It was about a two and a half hour trip. I don't believe that they could ever pay the drivers of these buses enough. The trip into the city was a nightmare as a passenger, I'm glad I wasn't driving. We were not impressed by the appearance of the city from the bus. We were dropped off at Victoria Coach Station which is only about 100 metres from Victoria Underground Station. We needed to get a train to St. Pancras / Kingscross for our Hotel. It was a 5 stop journey and for the two of us cost 8 pounds. (About $17-70) It was about 12.30 when we got the train and it was packed like a peak hour train in Brisbane. But it sure was quick. We then had about a 10 minute walk to the Hotel. It was an old hotel but very clean and quite comfortable but the bed was a bit hard. By this time Ann had had enough for the day so I did my usual and headed off for a look around. I walked round for about 3 hours, tried to work out where my ancestors had lived in relation to the area, had a talk to a couple of Police Officers and had a look in a shopping centre for a couple of things. I then went back to the Hotel, after which I went next door to a Pub. (Just to check it's menu for tea of course!) As I walked in I was claimed by an Irishman at the bar and he forced me to have a couple of pints with him. He had previously visited Australia so we had a good discussion. We had a meal at another pub later.

Tuesday we had booked an all day 'Historic and Modern London' tour. We were to be picked up at 7.30 at the Novatel just down the road. We were eventually picked up at 8.30 and then it was another hour it horrific traffic back to near Victoria Coach Station when we joined our tour 'bus for the day. It was a great day, Royal Horse Guard Museum, Changing of the Guard at Her Majesty's house, St. Pauls Cathederal, Covent Garden, Her Majesty's Theatre, Lunch in a pub, visit to Tower of London (including seeing the Crown Jewels), cruise on the Thames. It was a very good day but oh so tiring. Both Ann and myself were totally 'had it' by the time we were dropped off, not at the Novatel where we had been picked up, but at Victoria Station. Another tube trip. KFC looked good for tea and then a bit of horizontal relaxation.

Wednesday morning saw a leisurely breakfast then a trip on the tube again into central London for further private sight seeing. During this time I met and spoke to the Police on duty at the gate of Parliament. I took photos and had my photo taken with them, the first time in my life I have had my photo taken with a Police Officer armed with a sub-machine gun! As a result of the big day on Tuesday Ann had had enough by after lunch so back to the hotel. Once Ann was safely resting I headed off on the tube searching for sites of my ancestors lives. I had quite some success too! Between Wednesday afternoon and early morning Thursday I found 4 places which I consider would be much as they were when previous generations of Stannard's lived there and one which had been obviously knocked down and council flats built. One was where Inspector George Stannard of the Metropolitan Police lived when he retired in 1898. This all gave me quite a buzz.

After breakfast Thursday we headed back into Victoria (with our baggage) which I lodged in the English equivalent of a Cloak Room. Then we went to Harrods for a look at how the other half live. I felt intimidated just looking at the price tags! The prices for some quite simple things is beyond belief. After that it was back to Victoria to await out 'bus back to Bury St. Edmund. It was good to get 'home' to The Lodge but really while we had had enough of The Big Smoke it was an experience we would not want to have missed. Today (Friday) has been very domestic, Shopping, washing and ironing. Tomorrow we are off to Ipswich to help an Auntie (by marriage) celebrate her birthday and to meet more family members.

Hopefully I can add to this on Sunday night. Cheers to all, Ann and Dave.

IS IT REALLY FIRDAY?

How time flies when you're having so much fun! It is a wet Friday afternoon in Bury so I have decided to add to the blog. It is only then that I realized that I have done nothing with it since last Sunday. Now the problem is trying to remember what we have done.

On Monday we went to the village of Elmsett (I think). That is the village where my searching has stopped with the wedding of my GGGGG/Grandfather and GGGGG/Gmother in 1742. Once again we were stunned by the age, size and beauty of the Church in such a small community. It also amazing how close together these parishes are. In Australia our small country communities are about 20 or 30 miles apart which I believe is as a result of the old horse coaches needing to change horses at about that distance. I have come to the conclusion that the distance between the churches here is set by the distance people could walk to Church. The above photo of a road sign gives some idea. Polstead, Shelley, Stoke by Nayland and Hadleigh are all relevant to my family history and Hadleigh is quite a large town and not a village in my mind. At Elmsett there is a very interesting monument opposite the Church. It is the 1935 Tithe War Memorial. The history of this is quite unbelievable. It seems that there was a law in England which compelled farmers to pay a 'tithe' to the Church. It also seems that while the term refers to a tenth of income it did not quite happen that way in practice. In the 1920's and 30's there was a very severe recession in agriculture and many farmers were going under. In spite of their failure to make ends meet the tax was still set on previous earnings and could not be met. The Rector was not in the least sympathetic and demanded the full 'tithe'. There was a revolt in one case when attempts were made to take goods and chattels (by a Court order) by force. This became known as the Elmsett Tithe War and the full story makes interesting reading. The local History Group have published a beautiful book of the village history and I have bought a copy.

Our landlord told me a about a very nice tea room/ gift shop/ restaurant at a place called Monks Eleigh (pronounced eily) On Tuesday we decided to try it out for lunch. It is worthy of being recommended. I would suggest you get used to hearing references to it because I think we will be back! After a very pleasant lunch we headed off to the village of Polstead which has also had references in out history. While it does not play a huge part in 'my story' it is a beautiful place and the most beautiful setting for a church we have found so far. The church is on hill with a view looking out over the surrounding countryside. A really lovely setting.

See what I mean.

Also in Polstead I saw a man working in his front yard hedge trimming. His house was one with a thatched roof. I asked the age of the house and he told me that he had had the roof repaired recently and the thatcher said that from the methods used in the construction of the roof he would date the house as being built about 1360. I asked if the roof was a high maintenance thing and he said that it would need servicing again in about 20 years. About the same as a tiled roof. Also the insulation properties of the roof make it much better.

By the Tuesday afternoon Ann had a bit of a sore throat and wasn't too flash on Wednesday so I decided to go into the Suffolk Records Office in Bury. I had to register and then was allowed to search from an amazing collection of records including Census, Parish Records, Wills, and all sorts of other records. And all of this is free of charge. I was like a kid in a lolly shop, I didn't know where to start. I did a bit of research for a few hours without finding anything spectacular but it has certainly got me interested. As someone once said, "I'll be back". I am working on a particular anomaly regarding my G/G/Grandfathers family. In my 'tree' and several others there is a 'son' and I now think he is not a son but a nephew. Some day I will sort it out. (I hope)

Yesterday (Thursday) we left home with the intention of visiting the village of Chattisham which is quite significant in my research. We set Deidre to take us there. She was determined to take us up the motorway and we wanted to use 'back roads' so we did our own thing. Poor old Deidre was continually telling us that she was 'recalculating' until either we got to a position where the motorway was out of the equation or she gave up! On the way we had a detour to Monks Eleigh! When we got to Chattisham we found the church is in the process of having major restoration work done. As a result everything inside is either removed or covered. Again it was no doubt a beautiful Church but unlike the others we have visited it was much smaller. I guess that it would be very 'cozy' with 100 people in there. All in all, with the back roads, the morning tea at Monks Eleigh and the visit to Chattisham, it was a pleasant day.

Today we had another walk around it town, some shopping and of course morning tea at Harriets! As I complete this the rain seems to have eased and the forecast seems better for the weekend. On Monday we are going down to London and will be there until Thursday. I will let you know about it all later.

Dave and Ann.

DUXFORD AIRSHOW AND MORE

Here we go for another 3 days of news. Friday we went into the Town Centre again for a further look around and ended up spending about 4 hours there. Luckily it's more looking than spending. The weather was a bit 'iffy' but did not cause us any problems. We are getting to know our way around (I think!) During this time we had (well at least Ann did) tea at Harriets Tea Room. As usual I had coffee. Very nice and a bit above BJ,s or Micheles. After that we went to the local supermarket and did a bit of shopping. Meat is about the same in British Pounds as it is in Australian Dollars at home, or maybe a bit more. Mince over here is as dear as fillet steak back in Oz. Fruit and veges are about the same as at home. One thing that has surprised me is bananas, as cheap or cheaper here than in Queensland! Work that one out if you can.

The Duxford Airshow was held this week-end. It is the 90th anniversary of the RAF and Duxford near Cambridge was one of many WW2 airfields. My childhood hero, Douglas Bader was stationed there at one stage in his career and I thought that I might take the opportunity to go to the airshow. It is expensive but I thought 'What the heck, this is a once in a lifetime chance, to hell with the expense." Entry (for seniors) was 24 pounds 95 pence. I headed off (on my own) intending to find the free park and ride at junction 11 on the M11. I followed the sings at junction 11 and never did see the park and ride but ended up at the airfield. What a great day!!! I have always been a bit of a Walter Mitty when it comes to aircraft and flying. I never thought that I would ever see the day when I would see 12 or 14 flight worthy Spitfires lined up on the apron, together with a Hurricane, a Messerschmidt ME109 (albeit with a Rolls Royce Merlin motor), P39, P40, P51 Mustang, F86 Sabre, Hunter, Meteor, Seafire, Nimrod, Four C 47 (or DC3, Gooney Bird, or whatever name you know them by) to name some. There was also a amazing flypast and demonstration of it flying capabilities by a Vulcan Bomber, (flown by David Thomas) built by the British to be nuclear ready and now out of service for some 10 or 15 years. That is just some of the flying aircraft, the museum displays were unbelievable including many of the WW2 bombers including ones labeled "Enola Gay" and "Memphis Belle", not the originals I daresay! There was the massive American B52 surrounded by many US Jet and older fighters, there was an F111 and what I never believed I would ever see, a "Blackbird". For those of you who do not know, this was the fastest aircraft ever built, capable of over 2000 miles per hour. I have read about the design, building, testing and use of this aircraft and it is an amazing story. I case you haven't guessed, I had a Wow of a day in spite of showers and threatening heavy rain.

This morning we went to church at Little Waldingfield, the village where my great grandfather was baptised. It was an 8 am service so that meant an early start. The Rector, David Mathews, who was to be leaving on transfer soon , (now cancelled apparently) was a lovely men and we were made very welcome by him and the whole congregation. By that I mean the other 4 people who came to the service. After that we came back to The Lodge and enjoyed a late breakfast. Then I went for a walk for an hour and half or so. As the weather was pretty ordinary in the afternoon we stayed in and listened to the thunder. It was also fairly cool so there was no incentive to do much else.

They are predicting a day or two of slightly better weather so we will play it by ear tomorrow. I have to go into town again for some business but after that, who knows.

Until the next post, Dave and Ann

THURSDAY

I got up this morning to go for a walk. I've been doing a fair bit of walking and it has had some interesting moments. On our first morning in The Lodge (don't call me Kevin) I walked outbound along the lane. Within 50 metres I saw some cute little furry critter dart across the road and into the hedge. I now know it was a squirrel and have seen a few more in various places. Another 100 metres and I met 3 deer in the stubble in a farmers paddock (field). It looked like a doe and two fawns which were about three quarters grown. Anyway back to this morning, I just got out the door and it started to rain so I cancelled that plan. After a very leisurely breakfast and wash-up we decided to go for another drive into 'ancestor country'. All the places where the ancestors that I know of lived are within about 20 miles of here. Each village or town is only about 2 to 4 miles from the last. Hadleigh is a much larger town than most and has another old and beautiful church. In there on the wall was a memorial to a former rector, Benjamin Stannard Fryer MA, Dean of Bocking who was rector for a year and a half prior to his death in 1910. He must have been very popular as the memorial is significant and he was not there long.

After that we went to Raydon where my G/G/Grandmother was baptised. This is the first Church we have visited which was locked. As we were leaving another couple came and he was taking photos. He asked me if I would take a photo of both of them (on his camera). He was obviously a yank. I made the mistake of asking if he had some significant connection to the Church. He didn't answer but proceeded to pull out his drivers license. His surname was Raydon and assured me that his ancestors gave the town its name.

Today we had a few problems with Deidre. Whenever we park the car anywhere I take her off the windscreen and put her out of sight. Yesterday in the process I dropped her. No apparent damage but today her voice was very scratchy. I played with the controls and then she went mute so she stopped talking to me. Later, after several wrong turns she must have got sick of all the mistakes because she started saying "recalculating" and then she started working OK. But we were continually getting of course. I do not know if she was giving wrong directions or I was not correct in following her instructions. Anyway after quite a few wrong turns I decided to do my own thing and headed home by what I thought was the right way. Later she seemed to agree with me and by the time we got home our relationship had been sorted out.

One thing about all the wrong turns we get to see a lot more of the country. Deidre is programmed to never do 'U' turns so every wrong turn takes us on a round about trip to get back on course. Add to the adventure.

The attached photos show the memorial mentioned.

The main through road for traffic passing through Hadleigh which is not a small village but a sizable town. The cars on the left are parked as is the truck (lorry) on the right. The car in the middle is coming from the opposite direction. Please note that the cars can park facing in either direction which takes some getting used to!

The third photo is a country road between villages, not a main road but it becomes interesting when you meet a tractor or lorry.

It looks like we are in for a few days of pretty unpleasant weather so I might have to try and get to the Records Office and do some research.

That's about it for now. Catch you all later. Dave and Ann

WEDNESDAY IN BURY

On Wednesday we decided to have a look at the Abbey Gardens in Bury (St. Edmunds) These gardens are near the Cathedral and are the site of the old Abbey and contain the ruin of many of the old buildings. These things are almost impossible to comprehend. They were built over 700 years BEFORE Cook sailed down our east coast. The gardens (and everything else) are absolutely beautiful. We walked from the multi storey car park (the only place where you can park at a price). On the way through the Town Centre we looked as some of the markets (Wed and Sat are market days), had a cup of coffee and Ann had a look through Marks and Spencers. We the walked around the gardens until lunch time. Ann wanted to have a look through the Cathedral Shop while I went to the Suffolk Records Office to see what was available there to further my research. They have all sorts of historical records, parish, wills, newspapers, etc. etc. dating back to about 1200 on micro fische and I am allowed to search them. Who knows what I will find. After that we went the cafe at the Cathedral and had lunch. We spent our time talking to an 82 year old 'Salvationist' who was there having lunch. I understand that he has recently lost his wife and suspect he goes there for a good meal and company. He was really good company and a lovely man. Danah, he plays the Euphonium (or however you spell it!) It was mid afternoon by the time we got home so we had a quiet time although I later went for a walk to the supermarket to get milk. It was a nice sunny day, one of the few we have had. While there has been very little sun, there has also been very little rain. As I type this (Thursday morning our time) there is light rain falling and the prospect is for a few days of showery weather. Well it is about time I got some breakfast for 'The Lady of the House' so I had better close this. Till the next issue, bye.

AND SUDDENLY IT'S SEPTEMBER

My most sincere apologies to all and sundry. With one thing an another I seem to never have the time to sit down and do this. In the last installment I said that we may be going to church for evensong at Dibley (It's Turville really!). We did and that increased the crowd by about 20 per cent. The Monday was a public Holiday (Bank Holiday) and we decided to keep off the road as everywhere was pretty busy. By Tuesday we were getting a bit 'stir crazy' so headed off for a day out on the roads of England. We decided to have a look at the South Coast as it is much closer to Henley than to Bury St Edmunds. Poor Ann is not coping too well with the traffic, the narrow roads and lack of places to pull off the road for any reason (read a map, take in the view, call of nature, or anything else), the volume and speed on the motorways, her poor vision, etc.etc. are keeping her too stressed for her own good. By the time we got to Brighton she was feeling a bit second hand and we drove for ages to find some where to stop. When we found a place we had to walk miles to see anything. We walked for a while but Ann's hip was playing up so she went back to the car. I went for a walk on the beach and took a few photos. I always knew the beach was pebbles, not sand but was totally unprepared for the size of the pebbles. I reckon some were the size of cricket balls. I took my glasses off and put them on the 'beach' while I took a closeup photo of the 'pebbles' and a couple of other shots. (I can see the view in the camera better without them) I started to walk off and suddenly thought "my glasses!" Panic reigned supreme for a few minutes, without the glasses my distance vision is not much chop, and in the pebbles they were perfectly hidden. There were no distinctive points on the beach and I was in real trouble. I put the camera on the beach, it is easy to see, and used it as a reference point and searched (by feel) in ever increasing circles. Eventually I found them but had obviously stood on them at some stage as they were out of shape but luckily not broken. At about this time I was ready to call Qantas and see if I could change my flight home to the next day and I'm not joking. Luckily Ann is more level headed and talked me out of it. We decided to head home (to Henley) but instead of putting the GPS on just followed the coast of the English Channel westward for a while. After a couple of hours we decided to find a B and B instead of going back to Henley. We ended up at Southsea at Portsmouth (near Southhampton) By this stage I had had enough and was starting to feel stressed also (maybe it is contagious!) As we were driving into Southsea a lineup of cars were on my tail and adding to my 'wish I wasn't here' feelings. To get rid of them I turned up a little lane and there in front of us was a neon sign "VACANCY" It was a guest house and it turned out to be a beauty. Spotlessly clean, plenty of room and only 65 Pounds for the two of us for bed and breakfast. We had to buy a couple of toothbrushes and clean 'nickers' but it was great. Ann put her feet up and I went for a walk. On the way I passed a Pub "The Florence" and noted that there was a great looking restaurant attached. We had a lovely dinner later and I or course had a couple of mandatory pints. It turned out to be a pretty good night. There was a good breakfast the following morning. The chap who owns? manages the guest house is a very likable bloke and has a picture of himself with the late Queen Mother in the lounge room. One of the other guests asked him about it and it seems he served on the Royal Yacht 'Britannia' for quite a number of years. As he was not wearing any uniform in the photo I presume he was "in service" on the ship..
When we left we had a leisurely look around Portsmouth with all of it's naval history. We visited the old Garrison Church which has no roof, the Portsmouth Cathedral and a state in memory of Nelson who spent his last night in England there. The Cathedral was awe inspiring and so steeped in history (as is everything over here). Another memorial which was particularly inspiring was a monument 'To all the seamen who gave their lives in the defence of this country and have no grave other that the sea'.
After that we gradually made our way westward to Bournemouth where we had lunch in a place that we have not seen anywhere else over here, a shopping centre. After lunch we had a visit with a cousin Mary who lives at Lymington. Her grandmother and my grandfather were brother and sister. We had a lovely couple of hours with her and then headed off back to Henley. We are most thankful for our trusty GPS "Deidre" as she keeps us on track and when we do go astray merely says "Recalculating" and tells how to get back on course. She is the best buy I have ever made. On the way home we stopped of at a pub and had 'Cumberland sausages and mash' which was pretty good.
The following day (Thursday) we telephoned the owner of the cabin at Bury St. Edmunds (Suffolk) to make sure everything was in order. He advised that the cabin was vacant so we decided to go up to Suffolk a few days early. On Friday morning (not too early to miss the peak traffic) we packed and loaded up and again put ourselves in the hands of "Deidre". About 3 hours later we arrived at "The Lodge" and were met by the owners. We are very happy with it, spotlessly clean and the owners are lovely people, his name is Dave and he is a fisherman and they are caravaners, need I say any more. The kitchen and bathroom are very small and overall it is 'cozy' but we are comfortable here. We were hardly out of the car before Dave's wife had the kettle on and came over with a cuppa. After that off to the supermarket to get in some supplies. Dave later took me for a drive around town to show me where various things were.
Saturday morning we went into the markets and walked about for a while. In the afternoon we went for a drive to a village of Little Waldingfield. That was where my great grandfather was born in 1852 and baptised in 1854. The village which was much bigger than I expected but still only a small town had this magnificent church dating back to 1200's. Like most churches over here it was open so that we could go in and look and try and comprehend the size and history of the place. I found it a very emotional and moving experience. Sunday morning we went for a drive around town and found another supermarket. Once again "Deidre" came to the rescue and got us home. In the afternoon we went to Evensong at the Edmundsbury Cathedral. Another wonderful experience.
Monday morning Ann became domesticated (washing and ironing) and I went for a look at a Pommie Hardware shop and ended up walking around the city for a couple of hours. After lunch Ann had a rest and went for a walk.
Today (Tuesday) we took some sandwiches and a flask and headed off to visit some of the other villages where various Stannard ancestors were born, lived, married, worked and died. There are several all within a couple or so miles of each other. I decided to make the first one Shelley where my g/g/grandfather was born in 1809 and my g/g/g/grandfather died in 1854. Once you get off of the 'A' roads the roads are winding, narrow (about one and a half car widths) high hedges each side, no shoulders and very few places to pull off much less stop. I sure keeps you alert!
"Deidre" took us to Shelley and I could see no church. I went up to a house, pretty modern, only about 500 years old I'd say, to be greeted by a big golden lab. The lady of the house came out and when I told her what I was about she was more excited than I was. She assured me there was a church, and paused and said, listen to the bells. Sure enough the bells were tolling. Shelley consists of 40 residents in total. She pulled on her boots and coat (it was raining) and walked off down the road with a "follow me". She led us to the church which it a big sandstone building with a big Norman Tower, clock and bells. I suspect it could comfortably seat 150 - 200 people and is in pretty good repair.. They hold weekly services there. It is amazing. We sat in the car beside the church and ate our sandwiches and then went on to Stoke by Nayland. This is a bigger town but so is the church there. It is like a Cathedral anywhere in Australia. I suspect the Norman tower is about 60 feet high and again in good nick. After that we came back to "The Lodge"
I am sorry about the long time between reports, will try to do better in the future. I'm getting weary and I think it is time I turned in. I'll be in touch. Dave and Ann

Now in the 'Olde Country'

On Thursday we did what was called a half day tour of Hong Kong Island. We were picked up from an hotel (not our own) at 8.15am and got back at about 2.30pm. We then had to then get a taxi back to our own hotel and just had time for a shower and to finish packing before we were required to vacate the room at 4.00 pm. We then had to sit about until our airport transver which was at 8.30pm. Then we did all the check in things and had to sit about until our flight which was at 12.35am. The flight to Heathrow was ok but long (13 hours) We both got a little sleep so we didn't feel too bad when we got to Heathrow. The 'plane pulled into our gate for disembarking and then we were advised that the air bridge for unloading passengers was US. We sat there waiting for them to find a suitable stairway to unload us from somewhere else at the airport and get it over so we could disembark. That only took about 1 hour!! The usual immigration queues followed. Having landed just before 6.30 we finally got our hire car at about 9.00am. The GPS I bought prooved its worth. I had no idea which way to go so I just trusted the little lady hidden in it. I only took one wrong turn (my fault, not the GPS) and she sorted me out quickly and led me straight to Ingrid and Rick's house. I must say I wasn't sad to get off the road!
After meeting Ingrid (cousin Rick (Richard) is away on tour) and the mandatory cuppa we went into town (Henley on Thames) where we picked up a few thing from the supermarket and I organized a UK mobile (NO. 0750 3710373) and enquired about prepaid wireless internet. Ricks mother (my Aunt Betty) was brought round for the vening meal and we had a great chat. She is quite a card, a bit of an old tyrant really, but we got on well. By the time we had eaten and I had a couple of rums my eyes were hanging out. When we 'hit the sack' I worked it out, it was 47 hours since we had been in bed! I don't remember my head hitting the pillow. We slept pretty well and early on Saturday morning I got up and went for a walk. Back for some breakfast and then I went and got set up for the internet. As I type this I am still having trouble with e-mail and as tomorrow is Bank Holiday Monday it will probably be Tuesday before I can get that sorted out. It had been arranged for my other Aunt (Marie) to come over by bus. As I was walking into town to sort out the internet I passed this little woman and after we had passed I thought, "I wonder if that is Aunt Betty" and looked back. As I looked back she did also and as I said "Aunt Betty?' she said, "David?" It must be genetic, we both recognized one another. Later we were all together for lunch and had a great chat. Betty had a photo album with her and she has left it with me to get copies of some of them. She had to catch her bus home at 3pm so after that Ingrid took us for a drive around the area. We saw the windmill from the movie "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang" and the villiage church used for the TV series The Vicar of Dibley. We also stopped of at a traditional old English Pub and I 'had a pint'. On the way home Ingrid took us to the ruins of an old church which has not been used for over 350 years. The whole parish was killed in the great plague in the 1660's. That was an incredible experience. I had not used the hire car all day but had put the keys in the pocket of my track suit in the morning. Later that evening I discovered that the keys were not in the pocket. It appeared that they had 'escaped' some time during the day. A thorough search of everything and every where failed to find them. I rang Hertz to report that the keys were lost to learn that they did not have any spare ones for the car and would have to buy them from Ford which they couldn't do until Tuesday because of the public holiday. It appeared that we were grounded for a few days. During all of this I have taken quite a few photos. I have taken the camera out of its case and left the case at home. This morning I went to move the case and it rattled. INSIDE IT WERE THE CAR KEYS! It's called answered prayer!
We went to the local church this morning for the 10.30 service and arrived at about 10.25 to find out that the service was at 9.30 so we got to sing the final hymn! This afternoon we will probably go the the "Dibley" church for Evensong. I will be dissapointed if Dawn French is not there to take the service!
Lunch is about to appear on the table so I had better close this for now. More later. Love to all.

Days one and two of THE TRIP.

We left Brisbane a little late owing to some hold up and had a very good flight to HK. Arrived a little late owing to dodging some weather. We have never been through Customs ANYWHERE so quickly and smoothly. We were so quick we had to wait about 20 or 30 minutes for our bags at the carousel. Our transfer from Airport to the Hotel was a labour intensive operation. We were attended in turn by about 8 different people, going from one ‘staging point’ to another and that does not count the bus driver.
Ann wanted to ‘put her feet up’ and I wanted to go shopping for a new pair of sport shoes. I had done some research on the ‘net’ and knew to go to Fa Yuen Street, known as sport shoe street. It has that name for good reason, I reckon I had passed over 20 sport shoes shops before I even got to Fa Yuen Street. I ended up getting a pair of Adidas for $320. That translates to about $46 Aust. Ann had room service bring a burger to the room and ate there. I intended to get something while I was out and about. I found it all very confusing as all the signs are in Chinese characters and I have trouble reading that! I was unsure of what that they were trying to sell me. I ended up going to KFC and even that was confusing. I had to make my choice from a picture menu and what I wanted included a cup of Pepsi. I could not convince the girl that I wanted it without the Pepsi and she then wanted to sell me the other items separately , in bigger quantities and at much higher prices. In the end I took the Pepsi!
This morning we were to go on a half day Hong Kong Island tour. The pick up point was at another Hotel so we got a taxi. The doorman at our Hotel got the cab and told him where we wanted to go. The driver could not speak English, drove like an American Nascar driver and had a never ending conversation in very loud Chinese over his mobile the whole time. He dropped us off at the Hotel, helped himself to a tip (which I didn’t realize until after I had given him another tip) and went about his business. We went into the lobby to wait as instructed and waited, and waited, and waited. Thought they must be running a bit late so we waited some more. I eventually got to doing some checking and found out that we were at the wrong hotel. The tour has now been re-scheduled for tomorrow. We thought we would have a look about where we were (the wrong hotel) and walked out into the street and the heat. After about 100 metres of less Ann was feeling off colour and decided she had better get back to our own hotel. Another thrilling taxi ride!
We had a cuppa in our room and Ann decided that she had better have a rest until she felt better. I wanted to look for a couple of items so went our walking. I wanted to see if I could find a fishfinder for my kayak and wanted to look at ipod’s and Nintendo DS’s. I don’t think that anyone in HK knows what a fishfinder is and even if they do they don’t sell them. Someone sent me to some markets which turned out to be literally gold fish markets! After trudging several miles I finally came to the conclusion that electronics are no cheaper in Hong Kong than in Brisbane. What a fizzer!
Came back and took Ann out for a sandwich for lunch (that took some finding!) and a bit of a look at the shops in Langham Place Mall. By then it was my turn to want to ‘put my feet up’ so we again returned to hotel and I even caught a few Z’s.
After that we went to the Ladies markets and Ann bought a couple of things and had a bit of a look about. We followed that with a meal and now are back in the room waiting to watch the evening lazer show which is on every night at 8pm allegedly. I will try and download this a bit later this evening. Ann is feeling a lot better now, I think she got a bet stressed over the tour mix up this morning and also something from breakfast kept repeating on her. All seems well now though we are both pretty tired and have another early start tomorrow. More later. Love to all. Dave and Ann.

Start of THE trip.

Hi,

I 'm new to this and have been convinced to 'give it a go' on the eve of 'THE BIG ADVENTURE', our trip to UK. The 'our' is yours truly and my wife Ann. We leave tomorrow and will have a two day stopover in Hong Kong to break up the trip. Should arrive in England 6.30am Friday 22nd August. I will try to add some each day to keep everyone informed on what is happening and where. The plan is to have 9 days with a Cousin and his family at Henley on Thames and then move to a small cabin in Suffolk just out of Bury St Edmunds. We have the cabin for 6 weeks. I have chosen the Suffolk area as that is where the Stannards roots are. My ancestors were farm labourers in various areas of Suffolk until my great grandfather George moved to London and joined the London Metropolitan Police. I am very excited about meeting family who have basically been 'names on Christmas cards'.

My maternal grandparents came from Lincolnshire so I hope to meet members of that side of my family and greatly expand my limited knowledge of Brown part of me.