om the city and the Common (365 acres of 'common land' since the 1300s). They plan to be at our place in February next year.Two of the photos saved for this have mysteriously disappeared! One was of New Forest (hardly new - 337 sq kms put aside about 1000 years ago for hunting by William the Conqueror), 'wild' horses & foal grazing alongside the busy road; another of the huge medieval gatehouse, a remnant of the Southampton city wall, starkly contrasting the modern shops in the city centre.
You will notice that our particular interests are history and the countryside. Rather than bore you with a blow by blow description of our trippings around we will just mention the hilights. Google is a great tool if you want to know more.
The Beaulieu Palace House (below right) has been occupied by the Montagu family since the 1500s. (They must have a large heating bill!) Henry VIII mostly destroyed the Cistercian abbey nearby. His Chancellor of the Exchequer valued the House, and bought it himself, with 8000 acres, for £1340.8s.6d. (There was insider trading even in those days!) Henry also built Hurst Castle (below) as a coastal fortification & it was upgraded for use in WW2. (Didn't make the castle larger as the lighthouse & the sky looked too good!). Another hilight was Mottisfont Abbey, especially an amazing room painted by Rex Whistler in Gothic style tromp-l'oeil fantasy murals.
We took the short ferry trip to the Isle of Wight - much bigger than we expected. Osborne House (below left), was the holiday home of Queen Vic, Albert & her family of 9 kids (& 40 grandchildren, one of whom was Kaiser Bill of WW1 infamy!). Albert died when the youngest was 5. The inside was ornate, full of paintings, marble statues, etc, now owned by the Queen, of course. They have so much stuff! The gardens were a beautiful mass of tulips.
Carisbrooke Castle (right) was where Charles 1 stayed until he lost his head.A hilight of that day was missing a return ferry & so spending an hour in the pub nearby with the locals.
Southampton is a popular place for cruise ships. The Mayflower left from here & as did the Titanic (memorial pictured). This photo was taken on our way home from a very enjoyable production of 'Evita' .As a break from driving for Mike, we travelled to Brighton by train to visit relatives nearby. Below is the Indian style Royal Pavilion built by George IV in 1813 and the Pier, a huge entertainment area for nearly 100 years.
We spent 2 nights in Devon following Mike's family roots. Time in Exeter searching parish registers confirmed that his great-grandmother, Sarah, (whom he met when he was 3) was born in the pretty village of Dittisham (pop. about 150) beside the Dart River. At aged 8, she was a pauper in the Totnes Union Workhouse (1871 census) with her brother (6). Her mother was a widow with 3 other children (& 3 had left home). No benefits in those days! Sarah had a considerable journey from there to London to marry John Oldbury & come to NZ in 1884.
Perhaps Mike may be occasionally reminded of his family background!! The thought did pass through our minds we could have made a land claim, but now we know the history we did not bother.
We stayed a night in the local pub, across the road from the Church where Mike's ancestors were hatched, matched & dispatched. While in the bar we struck up a conversation with a local. When he found we were from NZ he told us he had lived in Portobello, near Dunedin. He carried on to say he rented some land off a local family called Cross - part of our son-in law's (Brendon Cross) farm!! It is amazing what a small world we live in.
While in Devon we had the opportunity to walk on Dartmoor & saw St Georges's Day being celebrated by Morris dancers at another pub (they were look alikes of our friends Ron,Wayne & Bill). Gorse hedges are a feature too, bushes smaller than the NZ ones. We even saw gorse as garden shrub! There are lots of cute villages, and rolling green & yellow (rape) fields. (The photos are still in the camera.)
Driving challenges ranged from narrow country lanes with high banks (requiring some backing up) to the multi-laned roundabouts off the M5. Having GPS was helpful when we worked out how to use & then to manage it! Driving conditions have been good. Surprisingly, today is our first really wet day.
On a detour from Devon we left some things (including the laptop) at our next home exchange in Trowbridge. We will now travel more lightly during our 2 weeks in Greece & 1 week in Poland (the latter exploring Kay's family roots). We have interesting, & quite different, times ahead!
Our next posting will be after 23 May from Trowbridge.