The Last Leg

The last week that Dadda and I spent in England was a great, wonderful, fast blur. We were able to squeeze a lot in just a week and here are just a few pictures of our wanderings...

The Cloke's house in Blackbourough End, King's Lynn, Norfolk. Dadda and the River Ouse in King's Lynn where we spent a weekend. Richard and Gillyan Cloke who we stayed with in King's Lynn. They lived two doors down from Dadda back in 1969 on Gadsden Avenue.

The Cloke's cat standing guard over Dadda as he slept.

Richard was a pilot in the Royal Air Force and flew the U2's when he was stationed at Edwards AFB. The only way to go to The Imperial War Museum at Duxford, which is a flight museum, is to go with a former pilot. He was able to answer all of our questions that we had and it was just so cool because we would be walking around looking at all the different planes and he would point to one and say, very nonchalantly, "Oh, I flew that one." It was awesome!

I named our rental call "Uncle Forrey" because we had a Subaru Forrester. And a great carriage he was.

Going to Liverpool was a religious experience and we of course took pictures of everything Beatles-related. Random fact for the day: Penny Lane is the most photographed street sign in the world.

Our Magical Mystery Tour guide, Neil Brannan, was amazing. He had some amazing stories that he told us while on the tour. Plus he also let slip that he knows Mr. McCartney and hangs out and drinks with him when he comes to town!!! How awesome would that be? It was unbelievable!!!!!

We were dropped off from the Magical Mystery Tour outside Matthew Street which is where the Cavern Club is located. It really is a hole in the wall and you have to be looking for it to find it. Or have a tour guide point it out to you. Either way. Dadda and his old friend Mr. John Lennon outside the Cavern Club, just hanging out. We were able to just kind of wander around once we got inside the Cavern and we totally walked on the stage!!! It was definitely a highlight of the trip to be up on that stage.

When we left Liverpool we drove north a few miles to Preston so we could see the Preston Temple. Preston is a very big church history city and it was wonderful to be able visit. It was freezing!!!! So cold in fact that the reflection pool was partially frozen! Brrrrr!!

After Liverpool we drove south to Devon which is the bit that sticks out into the Atlantic Ocean to go be on the moors, Dartmoor National Park to be specific. Such moors are featured in novels like Wuthering Heights and Hound of the Baskervilles and for two nerds like me and Dadda it was just fabulous. We were able to ride horses, Kingsman and Callum, around for a couple of hours and it was just so much fun!!

We stayed at Langworthy Farms, a B&B run by Ken and Daf Edwards and we were very fortunate to have been able to stay there. It was situated out IN the moors with horses and cows and other animals and all the open and romantic hills around. I absolutely loved being in the moors. :) :)

We had dinner every night at the pub in Widecombe (pronounced Wid-E-come) and they had a fire that we got to sit next to while we ate. Very cozy.

The clouds blew away for a little while on Wednesday night and the moon came out. Now, I've always pictured walking the moors in the moonlight and so when we saw that the moon was shining we went out and did indeed have that moonlit walk. My favorite part of being on the moors. We decided to get up early last Thursday to go wander around on the moors for sunrise. Being so far north sunrise wasn't even until 7:57 am that day so we didn't really get up all that early. And it was also one of the highlights. On the way out of town we stopped at St. Pancras church which is in the middle of Widecombe-in-the-Moor to have a look around and see a beautiful old church.

The Salisbury Plane is situated right in between London and Devon in southwest England and the Salisbury Plane is also where Stonehenge happens to be. Since we were driving right through the plane and Stonehenge really is right off the motorway we stopped off to have a look and admire Merlin's edifice. (While the quarries where the stones were taken from have been found and are actually in Wales and there is quite a bit of evidence showing that Stonehenge is actually a calendar marking the solstices, I'm sticking by the legend that it was Merlin. Cooler explanation than all those stones being put there just to mark 4 days a year.) I was glad to be able to go again and Dadda absolutely loved it. He didn't think he would ever be able to see it and I, again, was very glad that I was able to share the experience with him. We also had a quick stop over at the Salisbury Cathedral in Salisbury so Dadda could see the Magna Carta.

Now that I have made it home to Lancaster safe and sound and as I look back and think about all that I was able to accomplish and see, I am overwhelmed with gratitude to my family for supporting my decision to go and to my friends who I met while there and who helped me experience all that I was able to.

I loved every minute of every day that I was in England and I am just so glad that I was able to go.

:)