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I'm back (from outer space etc.)
Apr. 20th, 2008 10:29 pmWe arrived home from Kent at lunch time on Friday. The journey home was amazingly quick. No traffic problems apart from the usual gridlock on the M25 approaching Heathrow.
All in all it was a good trip. I'm not sure we advanced the family tree research at all but it was good to see the area in which my ancestors lived. Additionally, it was good to get away for a few days with no work or household chores to worry about.
We stayed in a 'luxury' guest house in Deal. The accomodation was clean and comfortable and the breakfasts were brilliant. There was also a lovely, fluffy tabby cat called Tigger who I made friends with straight away. Unfortunately, he liked my mum better and she isn't a fan of cats. My parents' room looked out to sea. There was just a promenade/flood defence seperating the house from the (very stoney) beach.
After we arrived we walked along the prom to Deal town centre. It was a bit cold and windy but bearable. The town centre was nice. It had a few chain shops like M&S, W H Smith and Boots but most of the shops were small and local. There were lovely butchers, bakers and book shops to look through. They also have the smallest independent department store I've ever seen. Kind of like Morgans in Cardiff but shrunken to about a tenth of the size. We went to the tourist information buerau to get a street map but there really wasn't much 'information' to be had. It doesn't seem that Deal has much history to shout about. There's a Timeball Tower which dropped cannon balls to let ships know the time. Unfortunately, it didn't open to tourists until the end of April. Nelson lodged there for a while during the Napoleonic Wars. The most recent bit of history is that the IRA blew up the Royal Marine base in 1989 killing eleven band members.
In the evening we went to Sandwich and had dinner in local restaurant. Sandwich is a really lovely little town. I'd like to go and visit again during the day.
On our second day we went to visit locations associated with our ancestors. First stop was the village of Sholden where my great-grandfather grew up. We looked around the churchyard to see whether we could find any gravestones then we wandered into the village itself. Unfortunately, it has changed significantly since the early 20th Centuary. The quaint little cottages and farms have gone and lots and lots of 1960s bungalows have been built. We couldn't figure out where abouts the photos had been taken. It was a bit of a depressing place really. Loads of bungalows, a tiny pub, a scout hut, a village hall and a cricket club. That was all. It was very far removed from my rural idyll. I'd hate to live there.
We then looked around St Leonards church in Upper Deal which is a really strange church. The tower fell down in the 1600s and was rebuilt in red tudor bricks making it quite odd to look at from the outside. Also, it has been extended to the side so the congregation sit at right angles to alter.
After lunch we went to the village of Great Mongeham where my great-grandfather was born. The church was lovely and the village seems to have a strong community identity. There are two pubs and a big parish hall (where the next event was a talk on sightings of wild big cats in the area!) but the former village shop is now a tack shop. Again, the village has changed significantly since the last centuary. We couldn't match it up to the photos we had at all.
We went to Dover for dinner that evening. It was chaos in Dover as there was a diversion due to roadworks leaving many confused foreign lorrey drivers driving round and round the town centre. It took us ages to find somewhere to eat. The normal chain restaurants we favour (Pizza Express, Ask, Zizzis etc) don't seem to have made it to East Devon yet. Eventually we stumbled on a tiny Italian restaurant down a side street called Dino's. I'd highly recommend it if anyone is ever in the area. I had the Gnocci and it was gorgeous. Dover itself wasn't very exciting. Just a ferry port, loads of nasty concrete buildings and a rather non descript pedestrianised shopping centre.
We went home the following morning. I didn't sleep too badly at the guest house despite the fact I'm generally bad at sleeping away from my own bed.
Now I'm home. I went to the chiropodist again yesterday and now have my foot strapped up again. I'm not allowed to get it wet until Thursday so I'm back to having baths with my right leg in the air. Great!
The next stop on the family history trail is the Canterbury Cathedral archives to look at some parish records.
All in all it was a good trip. I'm not sure we advanced the family tree research at all but it was good to see the area in which my ancestors lived. Additionally, it was good to get away for a few days with no work or household chores to worry about.
We stayed in a 'luxury' guest house in Deal. The accomodation was clean and comfortable and the breakfasts were brilliant. There was also a lovely, fluffy tabby cat called Tigger who I made friends with straight away. Unfortunately, he liked my mum better and she isn't a fan of cats. My parents' room looked out to sea. There was just a promenade/flood defence seperating the house from the (very stoney) beach.
After we arrived we walked along the prom to Deal town centre. It was a bit cold and windy but bearable. The town centre was nice. It had a few chain shops like M&S, W H Smith and Boots but most of the shops were small and local. There were lovely butchers, bakers and book shops to look through. They also have the smallest independent department store I've ever seen. Kind of like Morgans in Cardiff but shrunken to about a tenth of the size. We went to the tourist information buerau to get a street map but there really wasn't much 'information' to be had. It doesn't seem that Deal has much history to shout about. There's a Timeball Tower which dropped cannon balls to let ships know the time. Unfortunately, it didn't open to tourists until the end of April. Nelson lodged there for a while during the Napoleonic Wars. The most recent bit of history is that the IRA blew up the Royal Marine base in 1989 killing eleven band members.
In the evening we went to Sandwich and had dinner in local restaurant. Sandwich is a really lovely little town. I'd like to go and visit again during the day.
On our second day we went to visit locations associated with our ancestors. First stop was the village of Sholden where my great-grandfather grew up. We looked around the churchyard to see whether we could find any gravestones then we wandered into the village itself. Unfortunately, it has changed significantly since the early 20th Centuary. The quaint little cottages and farms have gone and lots and lots of 1960s bungalows have been built. We couldn't figure out where abouts the photos had been taken. It was a bit of a depressing place really. Loads of bungalows, a tiny pub, a scout hut, a village hall and a cricket club. That was all. It was very far removed from my rural idyll. I'd hate to live there.
We then looked around St Leonards church in Upper Deal which is a really strange church. The tower fell down in the 1600s and was rebuilt in red tudor bricks making it quite odd to look at from the outside. Also, it has been extended to the side so the congregation sit at right angles to alter.
After lunch we went to the village of Great Mongeham where my great-grandfather was born. The church was lovely and the village seems to have a strong community identity. There are two pubs and a big parish hall (where the next event was a talk on sightings of wild big cats in the area!) but the former village shop is now a tack shop. Again, the village has changed significantly since the last centuary. We couldn't match it up to the photos we had at all.
We went to Dover for dinner that evening. It was chaos in Dover as there was a diversion due to roadworks leaving many confused foreign lorrey drivers driving round and round the town centre. It took us ages to find somewhere to eat. The normal chain restaurants we favour (Pizza Express, Ask, Zizzis etc) don't seem to have made it to East Devon yet. Eventually we stumbled on a tiny Italian restaurant down a side street called Dino's. I'd highly recommend it if anyone is ever in the area. I had the Gnocci and it was gorgeous. Dover itself wasn't very exciting. Just a ferry port, loads of nasty concrete buildings and a rather non descript pedestrianised shopping centre.
We went home the following morning. I didn't sleep too badly at the guest house despite the fact I'm generally bad at sleeping away from my own bed.
Now I'm home. I went to the chiropodist again yesterday and now have my foot strapped up again. I'm not allowed to get it wet until Thursday so I'm back to having baths with my right leg in the air. Great!
The next stop on the family history trail is the Canterbury Cathedral archives to look at some parish records.
