On October 3 we boarded a plane from San Francisco to Heathrow. The purpose of our trip was to escort my aunt Sue back to England to visit family and friends. Sue came to the US in 1964 after graduating from a horticultural school. She and one of her classmates were hired to work for a wealthy estate owner in New York. She eventually married my uncle, hence becoming my aunt. She is now 87 and asked us to escort her back to England.
Once we were on the ground at Heathrow, Sue’s nephew Peter met us with his car and drove us around much of the south part of England.
One of our first stops was in Chelmsford, just northeast of London where we visited with Sues cousin Tricia. Tricia served us Elevenses, which is what the English call tea when served in the morning. Tricia is in the blue sweater, with her son-in-law pouring tea. Sue is on the right. From there we made our way to Witney where we visited with Margaret, with whom Sue had come to the US to work on the Greentree Estate in Manhasset, NY. The two of them eventually went on a yearlong road trip around North America after working the estate. Margaret served us a home cooked meal of venison stew. That’s Peter serving up a bowl of stew. Our trip included many stops in the south of England and Cornwall. The orange marks on the map indicate places I captured photos. I’m in the process of sorting through some 1400 photos, so there will be more stories to tell. Stay tuned.
We covered a little over 1000 miles by car and added a trip to Edinburgh where Sue had more friends to visit. Much of our traveling was on country roads over the rolling hills of Cornwall with green fields, quaint villages and hedgerows. We also managed to visit Oxford and Sherborne Abbey.
One of the highlights of the trips was visiting Mevagissey. Sue’s nephew Andrew did the driving stint to Mevagissey, where his singing group, Barrett’s Privateers were participating in a sea chanty festival. Andrew is the third person from the left. What fun!
And of course, while in Cornwall, I had to have a pasty, the national dish of Cornwall, a flakey pastry pocket filled with steak and potatoes. We did get out for a few walks in the countryside including a walk on the Camel Trail between Wadebridge and Padstow. Here’s a photo of the trail as it passes through a tunnel of trees.
