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.