Lydia Maxon, a female member of Alfred Hempstead’s line, was born in Cuclingham and came to America around 1665. I couldn’t find such a town in England, so we went to Cucklington instead. Close eough, right? I thought we’d seen small towns on this trip, but this one was as small as can be imagined. A town hall but not a pub nor Norman church to be seen. Single lanes in and out. But it was on the plan, so there we went.
The trip started with another unplanned side trip. This time for shopping. The box that Jeff and we had sent via DHL to our ship in Split, Croatia, won’t be available to us until Monday instead of tomorrow, Saturday, as we’d planned. A Customs tie-up. So we found a shopping mall in Exeter and spent an hour getting some emergency bathing suits and water shoes, plus a coverup for Judy. Cost us a couple of hours.
After Cucklingham/ton we pursued the last objective on our plan: Stonehenge. We were apprehensive that we would need a bunch of time to do Stonehenge, but fortunately the Brits have a great setup. Pay your £27 each ($40) and they whisk you off on a bus to the rock pile. A five minute ride, maybe 30 minutes to walk around it and five minutes back. An hour with a loo break or two. Well worth the time even if the price point is a bit high.
Judy has been amused by the different words the Brits use. “Often times I think they make more sense than the words we use. Here are just a few we encountered on our trip. “
1. Dual carriage way–divided highway
2. Foot way for a path
3. Holdall is a large rectangular bag with handles
4. To let–to rent or lease
5. Cyclist Dismount
6. Cooker for stove
7. Give way for yield
8. A lorry is a truck
9. Merge in turn– meaning to what I call zipper: mere two lanes into one. They are very good at doing this.
10.Diverted traffic for detour
So that’s it for England. We visited seven ancestral stomping grounds and three major tourist attractions (Stratford-Upon-Avon, The Cotswolds and Stonehenge). More one lane roads than I care to remember and a whole bunch of friendly people. Our guide in the Cotswolds came the closest to making a political reference: “World’s in a terrible mess. Bloody awful government.” Referring to the British government, I believe. “You think you’ve got problems,” I responded. “We’ve got Trump.” “I wasn’t going to say anything, but you’re right,” he replied.
Now it’s on to Croatia, a 7:40 AM flight so we can board the ship at noon. I probably won’t blog for this segment, but I may post a picture or two. I’ve included a map of where we’re going if you’re interested.
Thanks for coming along on this journey. It’s always nice to know someone back home is following along.
