Dunster Flowers

Song - Let It Go by James Bay cover by Sierra Eagleson

 This is the little Medieval village of Dunster located in Somerset England.  It was our home base while we traveled to various villages that my dads family came from. The Luttrell Arms Hotel is the three story building on the left and the 17th Century Yarn Market is the round building on the right with the Dunster Castle sitting on top of the hill.

 While Mr. B lugged our suitcases up to the third floor, I went out into the garden to have a glass of wine.  He's pretty thoughtful in things like that!

There were beautiful Columbines growing.... 

And fluffy Clematis under the deck....

Mr. B joined me shortly and we enjoyed the garden view....

...of the rooftops and the castle atop the hill.

As the sun went down, we went inside the cozy pub for a relaxing dinner.

The English Countryside

 

The last few days we have been white knuckling through the beautiful English countryside....so green....dotted with sheep & cows...so serine but we are driving!!!  We have visited 8-10 family villages & churches, all on tiny one lane roads surrounded by hedgerows.  As on pub guy said "you can't be nosy in Somerset!"   

 

Mr. B has been amazing with his reading of many ancient headstones that might pertain to my dad's side of the family.  

 

And speaking of taking one for the team......He is even willing to order a dram so he can talk to he local barkeep to find out about any connections to my family in the village. So far it's been very colorful. 

 

Women were subservient in that generation....obviously...as she was only listed on his headstone by her first name and that she was his wife.  

Lots of 1200-1500 a.d. churches that we explored and met some amazingly nice people along the way.  

 

And even a very tired Westie named Gordon who had been walking all day was at out hotel bar.  

 

Finding my great-grandparents headstone was worth shedding a few tears.  They were very poor and somehow their daughter, Sarah Routley Tuckfield Gore managed to make it to Canada - single - with about 9 kids.  And somehow my grandmother, Violet Elizabeth Bacon Gore Crawford, moved from Montreal with my Granddad to Oakland, California to start their family. 

 

Here's to my family roots - Tea & scones at the railroad station where my great-grandfather was station master. 

Word of the Day - Brilliant = good choice in America (we hear this one a lot)!!

Somerset England

Song - This is Your Fight Song by The Piano Guys

Mr. B and I are planning a trip to England, Wales and Scotland this coming Spring and in preparation for the trip we are Binge-Watching the series Outlander.  It's a little graphic sometimes but we zip through those parts because I enjoy the costumes, settings and scenery.

Stogumber

It has been both fun and challenging to put all of our information together gathered from friends, professional trip advisors and the internet into a plan that works for us.  

The first part of the trip will be to several small villages where my father's mother came from.  As you may remember, I do enjoy working on our family genealogy. The villages are in Somerset and Devon England.

Stogumber - Crowcombe - Wiveliscombe - Bishops Nympton

My Grandma Violet's family worked for the railways.  In fact she and her twin sister were born at the railway station in Bishops Nympton.  And my Great-grandmother came from the little village of Crowcombe where the Beatles filmed part of A Hard Days Night.  Can you imaging what an upset that must have been to a village in March of 1964?

I'll keep you posted on where else we may be heading and maybe you can let me know if you have any suggestions!

"I like trains. I like their rhythm, and I like the freedom of being suspended between two places, all anxieties of purpose being taken care of: for this moment I know where I am going." -- Anna Funder