British Isle Cruise--Day 5

July 30, 2015—Day 5, Leominster

The London portion of our trip has come to an end, but the vacation was far from over.  We had a very important part coming up—the reason we made this trip to England:  visiting Leominster, the town my dad’s side of the family originated.

The car service I had booked picked us up at our London hotel at 7:30am and took us to the Hertz Rental Car office at Heathrow airport.  I was about to do something I hadn’t done in over 30 years—drive on the left side of the road with a steering wheel on the right.  My dad and mom both wanted to sit in the back seat so they wouldn’t have to watch, but unfortunately, some of the luggage had to go in the backseat so one of them had to sit up front.  (I half expected my dad to kiss the ground when we finally arrived.) Luckily, the car had a GPS system so at least we didn’t have to try to figure out where we were going by looking at a map (whew).  I did manage to get us where we needed to go and we all survived, so it wasn’t all bad.  Some things came back to me, like entering a roundabout (they really do make sense) and some things I appreciated like the orderly way people drive with a distinct slower lane, medium lane, and fast lane where no one passed on the left (that would be our right) and how people will actually flash their lights and allow you to change lanes (instead of speeding up and cutting you off).  Other things I had forgotten, like double roundabouts are really confusing.  (Yes, I did do the European Vacation scene of going around a roundabout more than once.)  But the main point is, we made it and my dad didn’t have a heart attack while I drove.

Our first stop was Windsor Castle, a quintessential picture postcard of a castle that evokes thoughts of King Arthur, and knights, and all the other medieval images you can think of when you picture a castle.  It is still used as a royal residence today, so it has all the comforts and conveniences of modern times, but still conforms to the castle image.  We arrived before it opened and had to wait in line to get in.  Once we entered the gates, there was a lot of walking to do to get to the castle and we were glad to be out of the cold when we finally entered (yes, another cold windy day).  We spent over an hour touring the rooms, then made our way to the exit.  It seems we were ahead of the crowds since there were only a few people there when we entered, but it was quite crowded when we left. 

Since it was almost noon, we had lunch just outside the castle, then got back in the car for the 2-1/2 hour drive to Leominster, arriving around 2:30pm.  We checked into the hotel, then headed out to explore this town where our ancestors had lived.  My dad had traced our family history and knew the address of the house some of them had lived in, as well as the church where some were buried. Leominster is a picturesque town with half timbered houses along cobbled streets; flowers were growing in window boxes and in planters along the road.  The streets were narrow and winding with some alleys for pedestrians only. 

We set out to find the “old family homestead” at 42 Etnam Street, but like many things from long ago, it was no longer there.  Instead, there were several apartments through the archway where the house should have been.  Still, it was nice to have located the area.  We then visited the Priory Church which had been around for centuries.  We even found some of the family graves just outside the church. 

We continued to walk around the town, taking pictures and imagining what it must have been like way back when our ancestors walked these streets.  The weather was sunny, and while not hot, was at least comfortably warm.  As evening approached (although the sun wouldn’t set for several hours yet), we stopped into The Dukes Head pub for dinner.  One of the ladies who worked there was really nice and explained how to order in a pub.  Each table has a number on it, and once you know what you want to order, you go up to the bar to place the order letting them know your table number.  The food is then brought out to you when it’s ready.  I decided to have the fish and chips again since I really didn’t think the one I had in London was “authentic,” but elected to have the garden peas instead of the mushy peas.  This time, the fish and chips lived up to its reputation and was really very good.

Then it was back to the Talbot Hotel.  The hotel is in a very old coaching inn (back when there were coaches and people didn’t have to think about what side of the road they should be driving on).  It’s been here for quite a while and its possible our ancestors had stopped in to have a pint or two since it’s in the center of town.  It was the perfect place to stay while visiting the town where our family originated. 

Finally, the descendants of the Leominster side of our family had returned, and my dad’s 30-year old dream to walk the streets of this town had come to fruition.