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HomeMy WebLinkAboutZurich Citizens News, 1981-08-20, Page 5Pen pals meet after 35 years Varna By Ivan McClymont A lifelong dream ca true for me as we boa our plane at Toronto fo four week trip to Scotia and England. We left Tor to at 7:30 p.m. and arrived Gatwick six and one -h hours later at 7:00 a. British time. We spent four days in Lon- don visiting the usual tourist places. such as St. Paul's Cathedral, the Tower of Lon- don, Westminster Abbey. Buckingham Palace, Houses of parliament, and many of the famous streets and squares. One morning we went o to' the Battersea district see the former home of G. Henty, the famous write We were able to see the pe sonal copies of his books th were presented to t Battersea library on h death, and had lunch in T Cornet of Horse; a pub na ed after one of his books. We then picked up our rented' car and for 24 days toured England and Scotland. We drove down to Dover to see the famous White Cliffs and then to Bat- tle Abbey near Hastings to see the site of the Battle of Hastings which took place in 1066 between the Normans and Saxons. The Abbey is supposed to be built on the spot where King Harold was killed by a Norman arrow. In looking over the peaceful green fields with the sheep grazing, it was hard to im- agine the great battle taking place that changed the history of'the English speak- ing world. On across the south of England to Salisbury and the Cathedral there. We also visited Stonehenge and marvelled at the huge stones arranged by the ancient peo- ple. We visited Doreen and Craig Douglas and girls in Somerset. Doreen spent three years in London, Ont. in the late sixties and knows quite a number of people in this area. We found the west country of Devon and Cornwall with its hedges, _ Citizens News, August 20, 1981 recsresidents enjoy trips to England stone walls, small fields and me narrow roads and streets boar quite interesting. The small r a towns and villa es close up nd on - at alf m. ut to A. shop at one m the afternoon and everybody disappears until about two -thirty when the town comes back to life. We crossed the Severn Bridge into Wales near Bristol after spending a night on a sheep and cattle farm where the farmer also had salmon fishing rights on the river. They drove poles into the riverbed and arrang- s ed a trap system that he had f to check twice a day at low tide. The season lasts about two months. c We- toured Wales and o visited Hay -on -Wye, the n M world, that was offic opened a couple of days by the Queen. We found the old walled city of York interesting overrun with tourists some of the streets, the per storeys are built out the narrow streets until almost meet. We then drove back to the west side of Eng and into Scotland, dri alongside of the old Ro for some distance. pent a night on a sh arm among the hills of Border country and the Ayr, and Greenock where ould look across the F f Clyde to the Cowal P insula, the country of Lan Lamont of which cClymonts are membe Glasgow- is a very frien city with the downto streets turned into ma We were here for the J 12th Orange Walk a watched for over th hours as thousands Orangemen and wom walked by four to ei abreast, so close together almost be treading on ea other's heels. The lodges a bands must have number in the hundreds. We .visited Stirling Cas and the Bannockbu Battlefield where Robert t Bruce with a force of 30,000 Scots defeated a combined army of 100,000 English, Irish and French and so es- tablished Scotland's Independence. From Glasgow we drove along Loch Lomond to the Cowal Peninsula in the Western Highlands and saw the ruin- ed Lamont Castles of Toward and Dunoon that were destroyed by Cromwell's forces in the civil war. Also the memorial at Dunoon for over 200 of our clan who were murdered there after being taken prisoner at the surrender of the Toward Castle. We then drove up through the beautiful Western Highlands to Oban and Fort William along Loch Lochy and Loch Ness to Inverness, then around the Moray Firth to Cromarty, back to Inverness, and the Culloden Moor Battlefield where Bon- nie Prince Charlie and his half- starved ragtag army of Highland rebels were defeated by the Government army in 1746 and the power of the Clans destroyed forever. As one looks at the rough stones marking the mass graves of the different clans. one feels a great sadness at the futile and foolish attempt to restore the Stuarts. We then went down to Aberdeen and Edinburgh. Good farming land all along the northeast of Scotland, sally though hilly in places. later" Princes Street in Edinburgh, with shops on one side and a park full of roses on the but other side, and the great cas- • In tle on the high rock In the uP- background makes a very over beautiful city. We spent they three days here visiting the Castle, Holyrood Palace, over shopping and attending the land concerts in the park. ving We then 'drove south to oman England and spent the last We ' day in Stratford before returning home: n the Despite gas at $4.00 a gallon and coffee at$1.00 a we cup, we found our trip much irth less expensive than we had en- expected. Bed and breakfast the accommodation is plentiful the and for two people ranged r. town of secondhand book r- shops, but the town is so well at known that I found nothing he for my collection. We spent is a very pleasant evening with he Mr. and Mrs. Roy Henty at m- Cheltenham. Roy is secretary of the Henty Society and a founding member and while not a descendant, is of the same family as the author. He had a very fine collection of Hen- tv's books. The next day we visited Oxford and spent a day in the Coronation village of Long •Crendan, a very picturesque place with many beam and plaster cottages with thatch- ed roofs. Two houses were in the process of being rethatched, but as we were there 'on Saturday and Sun- day, we missed seeing them work at it. We stayed with Pat and Clive Durant whom we had never met, b ut I had traded books with Clive by mail and we had their son visit us last summer. We then drove over to the east of England through Norfolk and up to Lin- colnshire. This was the best farmland we saw in Britain. Level land with large fields without the walls and hedges. Sugar beets, winter barley and potatoes seemed to be the main crops here. We crossed the Humber River on the new suspension bridge, the longest in the Miscellaneous Rumblings Continued from page 4 readers situation. Tomorrow on my wedding, I hope it does not rain. Tomorrow at the bean festival, I hope it doesn't rain. If you have no plans, or just your everyday af- fairs to conduct tomorrow, I still hope it doesn't rain. I also hope it doesn't rain on your archaeological dig. Nobody likes muddy fossils. And if you are desperately in need of rain? (or a good drink?). Tough. I can't please everyone. 1 rs. between $20.00 and $35.00 a dly 'night with a huge breakfast. Wn (note: Ivan has a large lls. collection of G.A. Henty's nd books). Pals meet ree Of Kate and Jim Keys, Kate's en sister Elizabeth and her hus- ght band Jim Bell flew to to England on July 24 where ch they enjoyed two weeks of nd travel in England, Ireland, ed Scotland and Wales. One highlight of the trip for Kate tle was a visit with her penpal rn of 35 years. Mrs. Marjorie he Lambeth, and her husband John and family who live in Dunstable, north of London. They frequently stayed in homes with bed and breakfast accommodation, and enjoyed seeing the beautiful antique furnishings many of them contained. One farm where they stayed in Ireland had a herd of 50 Fresian cows, so they were out to the barn for the morning milking. They used I;: MIDNIGHT MADNESS SUMMER CLEARANCE SALE Fri. Aug. 21 - 9 a.m. to 12 midnight Sat. Aug. 22 - 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. DISCOIJNTS on Everything n our store -411 HOTSON LIGHTING 1 mile north of Grand Bend Hwy 21 238-8240 a milking parlour system which was old-fashioned by Canadian standards. There are few upright silos, but a lot -of green haylage was fed from pit silos, and cows were generally fatter than hQre. They saw milk being deliverodoor to door in the villages, with customers fill- ing their own containers from a "churn". There is a milk marketing board. Ireland is a land of little change. The only area where they saw farmers using large machinery on big farms was in southern England. There was an ex- cellent wheat crop being harvested. There are a lot of dairy and sheep farms. In London there are 60,000_ Page 5 taxis, all individually owned, and nearly all black Bentley diesels. It was common to see a dozen at a time in a one -block area. They motored 2700 miles in the two weeks, so they saw a lot of interesting country. Personals Bob and Margaret Reid, Charles and Bernice Reid and Mrs. Belle Reid spent last week with Bill and Mary at their cottages north of Sault Ste. Marie. The folks of Goshen com- munity welcome the return of Bill and Shaeon Car- nochan and family to this area from Oakwood near Lindsay. They are living in the John Robinson house. PALS MEET — Mrs. Marjorie Lambeth of Dunstable, England on the left, and Kate Keys of Varna penpals for about 35 years, met for the first time this summer when Kate and Jim visited her. 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