Category Family History
Sixteen Thousand Steps
My usual daily step target is 4000. I’ve upped it temporarily to 6000, in anticipation of extra walking while we’re away. I’ve been hitting this pretty easily, clocking up 10-12000 most days, just with the occasional longer walk and incidental sightseeing. But today I hit a new high, surpassing 16,000 steps. How … An investigative […]
Sheep May Safely Graze; Romans May Safely Bathe
Every morning is a touch of déjà vu, as we return in the car to yesterday’s drop off point. Neither of us lingered at Brocolitia; Ian was keen to get underway and finish a bit earlier. My plans for the day were looser. The first stop was Chesters Roman Fort, a few minutes along the […]
Ian’s Hadrian’s Wall Walk Day 1, Bowness-on-Solway to Carlisle
Hadrian’s Wall was built by the Romans across northern England nearly 2,000 years ago. The modern border between England and Scotland is close to the wall in the area west of Carlisle but far from the border on the other side of the country – the wall goes sort of straight across but the border […]
The Debatable Lands
We left Newcastle mid morning, and headed west towards Carlisle. We had a couple of hours to fill before check in time, so we diverted into Scotland (as you do). This is border country, home to Ian’s reiver ancestors (although the Dodd reivers lived near Otterburn. The Armstrongs were the major clan in what was […]
Rabaul (Sunday)
We were up on deck early again for the sail in to Rabaul’s harbour. We’d now sailed to 4 degrees north – not far away from the equator, and the temperature and humidity had reached the highest of the trip. Rabaul is dramatically situated inside a volcanic caldera, and we were able to pick the […]
Somerset Coal Towns
Drama notwithstanding, our aim today was to visit Paulton, and in particular, the Holy Trinity Church, where my 3 times great grandfather, Silas (aka Cyrus) Simes, a coal mine bailiff, married Lavinia Wheeler, on 27 December 1819. It was Silas and Lavinia’s son, David, who left Paulton for Bath, then decided to emigrate to Australia, […]
A JOURNEY’S END.
Our sojourn at the Far Moorside Farm near Hebden Bridge is over. Hebden Bridge is a very pretty little village in a deep valley in the Yorkshire Moors, with narrow roads lined with iconic Yorkshire stone walls and historic houses. It suffered major flood damage a few years ago, and roads are still in the […]
SEARCHING FOR MY ANCESTRY
Searching for my ancestry Thursday July 11th was a long, exhausting, interesting and emotional day for me. We, Ted (who was our volunteer chauffeur) and Margi, two orienteering friends and Pete and I set off early on our 500 km round trip to Rezekne, 250 kms to the east of Riga and just 60 kms […]
Sunday in the Park in Bloomsbury
Our final City Race was held in the streets, parks and squares of elegant Bloomsbury, on a pleasant Sunday morning. We started from Birkbeck University at Torrington Square – coincidentally, exactly where Ian’s great grandfather and other family members lived for many years. He could have watched the whole event from his front doorstep. No […]
City Racing
It was the annual London City Race which had drawn us here, along with the chance to revisit a place which has undergone massive changes in the past two decades; and to visit the East End places where Ian’s family once lived. Besides, no-one really needs an excuse to visit London, do they? The City […]
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