This diary was created from a series of electronic "postcards" written about our genealogy trip to England from September 9th to October 6th. These postcards were e-mailed each night to our family and friends in many different countries. The purpose of this holiday trip was to meet many of Joan's English cousins, visit some of the homesites of her family and simply be tourists.

As usual, it was a frantic rush to get everything ready for the trip. We finished closing the suitcases 15 minutes before we were suppose to leave for the airport. I guess you could say we were on our normal schedule.

The flight started poorly. As we were checking in, we were told our two carry-on bags were too big for the overhead bins and had to be checked in as baggage. Well, panic set in as we quickly had to reevaluate what items we absolutely had to take on board the plane. We decided the computer, the cameras, jewelry and Joan's food for the flight were the only essentials. They gave us some hand bags to put these items in which was convenient. It wasn't too big a setback. Then after we boarded the plane, we were delayed on the ground 30 minutes while they went through the baggage compartment looking for two bags. Apparently someone checked in with their bags, but never showed up at the gate and boarded. Although it was a nuisance, I, too was glad to get those bags off of the plane. Who knows what they might have contained. Anyway, the flight on Virgin Atlantic was super. We had 100+ mph tail winds so we were able to cut the flying time down to only 9 hours and we arrived in London about a half hour early. It was interesting to follow our plane's position, flight speed, ETA and other useless pieces of data on the little individual monitor in the back of the seat in front of me. The highest tail wind I observed was 133 mph, giving us a ground speed of 715 mph. Now that is fast flying!! The food was quite tasty and ample. The only thing they forgot to do was give me any reasonable leg space. This limited our ability to sleep on the plane so our bodies were a bit beat when we arrived in Heathrow at 10:15 AM London time (2:15 AM San Francisco time). Our weather was quite pleasant on arrival. Broken clouds, but reasonably warm and nice.

We were met at the airport by Margaret Gatter, Joan's 1st cousin once removed on her father's side of the family. I was carrying a sign with Margaret's name on it so we were able to make quick contact. She did a double take, however, when she saw our luggage. Again for those of you who don't know about traveling with Joan, we don't leave anything at home and are prepared for any weather or conditions. She is not sure there will be any washing machines where we are going so we bring fresh clothes for every day. Of course I exaggerate a little, but not much. Therefore, Margaret was overwhelmed to see six suitcases plus hand bags for just the two of us. Of course, Joan is quick to point out that one suitcase contained towels for Francesca Campion, Joan's cousin. Margaret is planning to go to Australia for 2 months with one small suitcase which will give you her point of reference. Fortunately Margaret has a fairly large car and we were able to fit everything into the trunk space and half of the back seat. We then drove to her flat in Surbiton where we spend a few hours discussing their common Gatter ancestors. Unfortunately we only had a short time to become acquainted as she had plans for the evening and she is getting ready to leave on her Australian holiday on Monday. She did show us a couple of exciting things relative to Joan's great grandfather, Francis William Gatter. One was a bible that he was awarded on 24 October 1854 by the "Iron Masters & Manufactures of North Staffordshire" for having attended school for at least two years and been examined and approved by the president of the association. This would have occurred when Francis was thirteen years of age. We are not sure of all the circumstances surrounding this bible, but it does provide us with information about Francis during this time period. It was common to give Bibles as prizes at this time period. The next item of interest is his original "Ordinary Apprentice's Indenture" that was issued on the 1st day of May 1857 and lists his age as 15 years and a native of Bristol. This indenture was for 4 years and was for the sum of 30 pounds: 5 pounds paid the first year, 6 pounds the second year, 7 pounds the third year and 12 pounds the fourth year. It was signed by George Bryant Sully (Master), Francis William Gatter (apprentice) and William Gatter (Surety). It has 'Cancelled' written across it diagonally for which we currently don't know the exact meaning. She also had a picture of F.W. Gatter that was taken by a photographer named Kimball, 140 Court Street, Boston. I would estimate the date to be between 1861 and 1864, (age 20 to age 23). Another picture Margaret showed us was taken in San Francisco. I believe it is a picture of F.W. Gatter's nephew and namesake, Francis William Gatter, the son of F.W. Gatter's older brother, George Prowlin Gatter who lived in Australia. He was in poor health and came to San Francisco for health reasons in 1889. Unfortunately he never met his uncle before he sailed again for Australia. Francis William Gatter, the nephew, died less than a year later in 1890.

Later in the afternoon, Margaret delivered us to the Francesca and Geoff Campion's house in Tunbridge Wells. During the drive, Joan and I were starting to fade at this point and straining to keep our eyes open.

The Campion's house is very interesting. Their place is part of an 1874 mansion that was subdivided into 4 units and sold. Their portion was part of the servants quarters and consists of 3 stories plus a basement area. It is quite large, roomy and full of interesting nooks and crannies. Joan immediately liked it. After a light supper, Joan and I got our second wind and talked until about 10 O'clock when we decided it was time to put our heads on the pillow after a long and eventful day.

Friday, September 11^th. - Tunbridge Wells, Kent, England.

Although neither Joan or I slept well, we at least got some rest and energy returned to our bodies. The day started very nicely with broken clouds and temperature in the 60's in the morning. The day continued to improved with no rain and we were quite comfortable in short sleeves.

We just loafed in the morning doing nothing and catching up on conversation. In the afternoon, we took a short 10 mile drive to Hever Castle and had a nice tour. By coincidence, Joan and I watched a public broadcasting TV show last week about Hever Castle, so it was interesting to visit it in person. Hever Castle is where Anne Bullen was born (around 1501) and raised. Anne eventually became the second wife of King Henry VIII. He fell in love with Anne, however he was still married to his first wife, Catherine, who had not produce a male heir for him after 18 years of marriage. When Henry requested a divorce or annulment from Catherine, he was refused by the Pope. To solve the problem, he simply created the Church of England and severed religious connections with Rome. He then got his divorce and married Anne who only bore him one daughter. Anne changed the spelling of her surname to the commonly recognized 'Boleyn' just before she was crowned 'Queen of England' in 1533. Because she was unable to provide him with a male heir to the throne, she and her brother were falsely accused of having an incestuous relationship. The two of them were then beheaded and that solved Henry's problem so he could marry again, in hopes of fathering a legitimate son and heir to the throne. Because of this historical background and significance, the castle is fairly famous. William Waldorf Astor moved to England from America and bought the castle in 1903. The Astor family restored the castle to the lovely condition that we see today.

The castle is not as large as I imagined castles would be, so it didn't take too long to tour the very interesting inside. It does have some lovely outside grounds and is a delightful place to wander about. We walked through a hedge maze and became thoroughly lost, however we eventually successfully found our way to the center. Encouraged by this success, we then tried the 'water' maze. This maze consists of concrete pads spaced over the surface of a pond. If you take a wrong turn, jets spurt water up in the air, discouraging you from going that direction, or if you are very unlucky, you get wet. Well, I made a bad turn and got thoroughly drenched, much to the delight of Joan and Francesca. That concluded our tour of the castle and we drove back to Francesca's house for a lovely dinner and the end of a pleasant day.

Saturday, September 12^th. - Tunbridge Wells, Kent, England.

It was much cooler this morning and started off with some high clouds. Around 9:30 in the morning we (Francesca, her daughter Victoria, Joan and myself) departed for London on a trip to visit the house locations where Joan's relatives lived. On our way to London, it began to rain and it looked like the day was going to totally deteriorate. The rains, however, were only intermittent throughout the day with periods of nice sunshine.

Our first stop was at the district of Catford where Joan's mother was born at #2 Wildfell Road. We found the first row house was #4 with an empty lot where #2 should have been, so Joan's mother's house was taken down at one time. For interest, we took some pictures of the surrounding houses.

The next stop was at the Old Royal Observatory, which we toured. Of course we had to straddle the prime meridian and have pictures taken. I also got a certificate that verifies I was at 0 0 0 degrees latitude, N 48 27 degrees longitude at exactly 11:32 AM on 12 September 1998. It was a very interesting place to tour and see the early development of instruments to measure longitude.

Down at the bottom of the hill in Greenwich Village, we walked from one side of the Thames River to the other using the Greenwich Foot Tunnel which was opened in 1902. We know that Joan's mother would have used this tunnel when she was a child to go between the Isle of Dogs and Greenwich. This made the journey especially special and meaningful.

We then drove under the Thames River using the Blackwall Automobile Tunnel and circled back to the Isle of Dogs, looking for other places where Joan's ancestors lived. Although we found where houses should have been located at #32 Glengall Road (William Nankivell), #565 Manchester Road (James Frederick Nankivell), and #1 Roserton Street (James Frederick Nankivell), either none were present or a more modern building now occupied the space. This docklands part of London was heavily bombed during WWII, so many of the buildings were totally destroyed or were torn down for area redevelopment.

Likewise, when we drove a little north into the Poplar area, nothing was found at the addresses of 15 Grundy Street (Thomas E. Nankivell) or #3 Crisp Street (William Nankivell). Joan's ancestors lived at these addresses in the 1835's and 1850's, so it is not too surprising that the area has changed with the times and the usual business development. It was still interesting to drive and walk in the footsteps of her Nankivell and Steynor ancestors.

The next stop was the Tower Hamlets Cemetery. This is an old cemetery that has been allowed to go to ruin. Trees, vines and natural foliage have been allowed to take over and most of the grave stones are hard to see or even recognize as grave markers. Here we were looking for Joan's great grandmother's, Amelia Maria Taylor Stewart Nankivell, grave. She died on 16 January 1914. It didn't take long to realize that we could only be successful if we could find a map showing the locations of the various graves. At the small nearby public library, we determined that such a map possibly exists at the London Metropolitan Archive which we are planning to visit next week. We decided to put off further exploration until we had gathered additional information.

As far as we know, none of the American relatives (and possibly the British ancestors too) have found or visited the gravesite of Joan's grandfather, Harold Steynor. We called Charles Steynor, a nephew of Harold and he was able to provide us with the grave location in Manor Park Cemetery as common grave square B, grave #365. We got there shortly before the closing at 5 PM and were only able to explore briefly, however we did find common grave #365 which had a tall bush growing out of the middle of it. The most interesting feature of this grave area is that 6 to 8 people were buried it the same grave space that normally only one person is buried. It was weird to see 6 or so grave stones spaced about 6-12 inches apart in the middle of the grave. We did not find a marker for Harold, but took a few quick pictures as the custodian was shooing us out so he could lock the gates. Charles Steynor has the bill that was paid for Harold's funeral, so we will check with him to determine if a headstone was ever purchased for Harold. We suspicion that he was buried unmarked. If a stone was placed, we may return and look more carefully for it.

Only a few streets away was where "Uncle Bert" and "Aunt Lylie" Steynor lived for most of their lives and Joan remembered receiving many letters from them during WWII. Joan had also visited Aunt Lylie in 1957 when Joan took a European tour. The house at 12 Warwick Road looked just like she remembered it. The final stop we made was a few blocks away at 216 Monega Road in Manor Park, West Ham. This is where Joan's aunt, Mildred Steynor deLaneux, was born in 1909. It was only a year later that Joan's grandfather, Harold Steynor, received a serious injury to the head and was admitted to Bexley Mental Hospital. There he remained until his death in 1934.

The day was now over and we were tired. We headed back to Tunbridge Wells to get ready for our dinner reservations at a quaint local restaurant called "The Royal Wells Inn". We had a superb meal and was a fitting close to a very full and interesting day.

Sunday, September 13^th. - Tunbridge Wells, Kent, England.

The day was a bit colder, maybe in the low 60's. High clouds again, but no rain during the day.

The planned event for the day was a gathering of Joan and Francesca's Wren, Steynor, and Nankivell relatives. Francesca is a professional caterer and she out-did herself planning for this party with a wonderful spread of food and drink. Fifty relatives came from over 150 miles away to participate in the affair and everyone seemed to enjoy meeting each other, many for the first time. I had prepared descendant charts for each family group that were placed on the wall and became the focal point where people gathered to discover the relationships between each other. Many of the relatives brought old family albums and photographs to show and share and these became topics of conversation. It was a very successful event and Joan and I are deeply indebted to the entire Campion family for putting on this very large event. It required a lot of planning, time and energy on Francesca's part. Thanks again - Francesca.

One bit of trivia that I learned today was that Thomas Crapper was the inventor of the modern toilet and thus his name has ever since been associated with this useful hygiene tool and function. I didn't believe it at first, however there is a web site devoted to this subject. It is at http://www.theplumber.com/crapper.html

I had better close early tonight and get to bed as we are off to London again tomorrow.

Monday, September 14^th. - Tunbridge Wells, Kent, England.

The morning again began with high clouds and cool weather. No rain today, however it was in the low 60's and was quite brisk when the sun wasn't out. There was a light breeze. It was definitely coat and sweater weather.

Francesca, daughter Victoria, Joan and I caught the 9:13 British Rail train from Tunbridge Wells to Charing Cross, which is in the center of London. The trip takes about an hour. We then walked through Trafalger Square on our way to Buckingham Palace where we had 11:30 reservations for a tour of the Palace State Rooms. It was a very interesting tour. Such splendor and elegance is hard to imagine. The paintings and furniture are magnificent to see and is a 'must do' item if the palace is open for touring.

We also toured the Royal Mews which is where the Queen's horses are kept and carriages are stored. The carriages were very beautiful with lots of intricate hand work. The 'mews' were originally a place where the king's falcons were kept during their 'mewing' or the changing of their plumage. The word comes from the Latin meaning a changing, especially feathers. At one point, the falcons were relocated and the facilities were then used to house the royal horses, however the buildings were still called the 'Mews' and the name continues today.

On our way back to the train station, we decided to visit to the "Cabinet War Rooms" which was the nerve center of Britain's war effort during WWII. This was a most secret underground facility and was in constant use from the beginning of the war until August of 1945 when the war ended with the surrender of Japan. Then the lights were switched off and the doors locked. Only limited access was given to these vital war time facilities until 1981 until Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher, decided the site should be made more easily accessible for people to view this piece of history. It is fascinating to walk in this hidden underground bunker and view where Churchill and his staff conducted the war. You can view the map rooms, communications centers, and the Cabinet Room exactly the way it was when the lights were turned off at War's end. Even Churchill's bedroom can be viewed exactly as he left it. It is a worthwhile museum to visit.

With that, we took our tired feet and bodies back to the train station, boarded the train and quickly fell asleep during the ride back to Tunbridge Wells.

Tuesday, September 15^th. - Tunbridge Wells, Kent, England.

The morning was cloudy and cool, in the low 60's. By mid morning we had a few sprinkles of rain, however by day's end, the sky was mostly clear.

Off again we went London town by train, this time to do a little bit of genealogy. Our first place to visit was the London Metropolitan Archives. One of my objectives was to find information about the Tower Hamlets Cemetery where Joan's grandmother, Amelia Maria Taylor Steward Nankivell, was buried. We have an announcement card that was sent to family members announcing her death and burial in 1914 and it listed the grave site as R1051. I learned that this number indicated it was a 'public grave' and in all likelihood, no monument was installed. In fact, in public graves, a number of people are buried in the same grave. The last burial in the cemetery took place in 1966 and it was the intention of the Greater London Council to clear the cemetery and create 'open space'. Needless to say, a human cry from relatives put an end to that nonsense. Fortunately a few records remain for the cemetery. They have a record book of burials and I found her name listed. The record showed that 9 people were buried in the same grave, 7 adults and two children. Only surnames were given along with the age of the person. The entry was as follows:

At the top of the sheet, "Halls 18 feet" was written. Not knowing the meaning of this inscription, I inquired at the reference desk and found that this probably indicated the name of the grave digger and the depth of the grave. Can you imagine an 18 foot deep grave? If you allow about 1 and 3/4 feet of height for each casket plus a little dirt, with the two children placed in two small boxes end to end, then the total height of the caskets would be 1 3/4 feet times 8 caskets, or about 14 feet. This would leave a nominal 4 feet of dirt cover above the top grave. I understand the reason for this method of burial was because the cemeteries were filling up and many people were unable to pay the cost of burial in an individual plot. It is also interesting that the grave was kept "semi-open" for about two weeks while they filled it up. We know Joan's family had little money to spend on the dead as it was tough enough to keep the living clothed and fed so a common grave for Amelia is not surprising. This common grave practice is rather different for me and not common in America and one I thought some of you might find interesting to read about. Unfortunately, no maps exist of the exact burial locations for people who were placed in common graves such as this. At least, however, we were able to be reasonably close to Amelia's grave site and pay our appropriate respects.

Next we did a little searching of the records for All Saints Church in Hamlet of Poplar. Through these records we were able to find three of Joan and Francesca's great great uncle's birth and baptism dates which occurred in the 1813 to 1815 time frame. Two of the boys were baptized on the same day, but were born about 17 months apart. No baptisms for the other three children were found nor could we find the parents marriage records.

We also inquired if they had any records for Bexley Mental Hospital. They did have one set of records that started in 1913 and continued to 1921. Unfortunately, Joan's grandfather was admitted in 1910, just three years prior. We reviewed the records anyway, in hopes that it might contain on-going patient information, but this was not the case. It primarily listed the date of admission, reason for admission and in the case of people being released, their current status. Patient death's were also recorded. Too bad that this is the only surviving record for Bexley during this time period.

This facility (London Metropolitan Archives) is very modern and is well equipped. Since time was flying, as it always does, we walked a brief distance to the new "Family Records Centre" so we could do some searching of their records. This new facility houses the records (primarily the census, birth, marriage, and death records) that were once held in the old Public Records Office (PRO) and St. Catherine's House.

I have one entry for William Nankivell and his wife on the 1841 census that is most troubling because we have a death certificate for William in 1840. That is a tough trick to be enumerated in a census after you die. I searched the correct microfilm record for an hour or so, but to no avail. I am now questioning where I obtained this particular census data as I don't have the data source listed. I will need to do some further investigation when I return home. We also did some brief looking for the Nankivells in the 1860 census, however we were not able to discover any during the time we had available. I will need to order the microfilms from Salt Lake City and do some more searching.

This is a very impressive facility that houses hundreds of microfilm readers for public use. It is well organized and easy to use. Francesca ordered a missing birth certificate for one of Joan's aunts, Maude Steynor, and then we departed to catch a taxi back to the train station. Again most of us fell asleep on the return ride to Tunbridge Wells.

Wednesday, September 16^th. - Tunbridge Wells, Kent, England.

My late nights finally caught up with me and I slept in until almost 10 AM as we had nothing planned for the day. After lunch, we went into Tunbridge Wells and bought some groceries and a few cabinet hinges. It is interesting to visit the stores and look at the different items that are being offered. Some similar to those in America and many that are different. When we returned to the house, I replaced a broken hinge on a kitchen cabinet and adjusted rest of them. Figured I had to do something useful around the house. Near the end of the day, we picked up the rental car as we are heading towards Cornwall tomorrow. Great sport getting use to shifting gears again in a car, but now using my left hand. I only gave Joan one scare when I tried to take out a lamp post. She gets excited over the smallest of things. If I return the car without any bent fenders, it will be a miracle

Thursday, September 17^th - Tunbridge Wells, Kent, England.

Weather report: The weather has been improving each day. Today it was clear. We woke up and started driving due west towards Bristol. A few high clouds appeared, but it was shirt sleeve temperature, about 70 degrees F (21 C). It doesn't get much better than this.

Of course we stayed up too late talking and packing, expecting to leave around 9 AM. Wrong!!! We finally dragged our bodies out of bed, finished packing, ate breakfast and hit the road about 11:30 AM. The traffic was light as we drove through Tunbridge Wells and got on the M25 heading towards the Heathrow airport. Everything proceeded quite nicely and uneventful until we missed the M4 road heading for Bristol. Don't ask us how we missed the road as we had been anticipating it for 25 miles. Maybe it was waiting for it too long and driving too fast in the far right lane. I am amazed at the speed of the motorway. We were flying along at 80 mph and cars were passing us like we were standing still. Anyway, we missed it and didn't think it would be much of a problem to recover - Right? Wrong! We went for about 6 to 7 miles and took the next off ramp, the M40, thinking we would be able to circle over the motorway and head back to the M4. Well, it just doesn't happen that way. We went for another 6 miles on the M40 before we even found a road leading off the motorway. By looking at the map, it appeared that we could recover by going south on the A335. We tried it and it worked. After 10 miles or so we got back on the correct route (pronounced any way you like).

As we approached Bristol, we took a side detour to the 'Prettiest Village in England' called Castle Combe. We had visited this place about 15 years ago while on a business trip with our good friends, the Moores. We toured the church and, of course, Joan had to visit the gift shop, etc. There she even found they were selling 'Beanie Babies' (gag!!!). In fact, they were offering the Britannia Bear for only £10, if you bought 10 other beanie babies at £6 each, however they are back ordered until next year. Joan could hardly contain herself and had to send an immediate message to our daughter, Janet, who is a Beanie Baby addict. The place is just as pretty today as it was then.

We then continued on our journey to Bristol, taking the back roads. Things were fine until we got into the town of Bristol and then Joan just about freaked out. She claims I almost side swiped about 5 cars and the blood drained from her face. I must admit that the parking and driving habits of town roads in England are enough to un-nerve the strongest of souls. People come over the white line and drive in your lane because the cars park partially in the street. I don't find it fun driving and do find it quite stressful.

We went into the center of town and headed for the library. There we talked to the reference librarian about 'Ordinary Apprentice's Indenture' since this is what we recently discovered her great grandfather, F. W. Gatter, had signed in 1854. Unfortunately the librarian was not familiar with this type of document, nor did she have any useful suggestions. We also talked to her about Francis Gatter's bible that he was awarded when attending school for two years in 1854. She didn't know much about this particular award, but was aware that awarding bibles and certificates as prizes was a common practice of that time. We didn't learn very much from this visit to the library. Since the indenture says that Francis Gatter was living in Bridgewater at the time of the indenture, we will probably visit it on our way to Cornwall.

We next headed for the Clifton area. We managed to screw up 3 or 4 times and get sent in the wrong direction. At least we were able to see the Clifton Suspension Bridge from a number of different angles. Finally, after almost hitting 3 more parked cars and finding 2 hotels full, we simply took the next hotel that had space. It is called the 'Clifton Hotel'. It is in the middle of the college area. The evening is quite warm and the students are milling around in the streets and talking rather loud. Hopefully they will settle down in an hour or so and we can get a good night sleep.

Weather Status: It rained a little bit last night in Bristol, however it was quite minor. There were numerous clouds all day, however it was quite warm and muggy. Joan even had her sweater off and that is an indicator of the temperature. It was probably in the high 60's . On the way south, we did get a few rain drops on the wind shield, but it only lasted a few minutes.

After we got up, we took a brisk walk across the Clifton Suspension Bridge over the deep gorge and the Avon River. It was quite spectacular and is one of the highlights of Bristol. After breakfast and packing, we finally got away around noon. We are moving very slowly in the mornings. We then proceeded to the center of town looking for a church called St. Mary Redcliff. We only made one false turn, but I will claim a foul since the city was rebuilding a round-about and had it blocked off. We wanted to visit this church because this is where Joan's great grandfather, Francis William Gatter, was baptized in 1841 and her great great grandfather, William Gatter, was married. It is a very old and impressive church and we spent an hour wandering through it. It was started in the year 1280. William Penn attended this church and is buried there. He is the father of the William Penn, the Quaker who founded the state of Pennsylvania in America.

Unfortunately, none of the old baptismal records are held in the church and they are now stored in the government records offices. We didn't have time to obtain copies, but we hope to receive copies from Margaret Gatter who lives in England and is researching the English portion of the Gatter family.

We then drove over to Bath to get a flavor of the countryside. It is in Bath that Joan's great great grandfather, William Gatter, died and is probably buried there. Again we didn't take the time to do any searching, but just wanted to see the town. We found it quite interesting and will put it on our list of places to visit on our next trip to England. We then turned south and headed for Bridgewater which is in the county of Somerset. This is where her great grandfather's 'Ordinary Apprentice's Indenture" was signed in 1854. We stopped in the library and talked with reference librarians. We looked at some of the local history books and found the name of the 'master' who signed the indenture papers. He was George B. Sully who was quite prominent person in Bridgewater. He served as the mayor from 1869-1870 as well as having served as a Justice of the Peace. Sully was also listed in the 1861 city directory as a 'shipbroker, shipping and commission agent, Lloyds agent, shipowner & agent to the General Fire & Life & Marine Insurance offices'. We also learned that most of the genealogy and family histories are kept in the Somerset Studies Library of the nearby town of Taunton. Taunton is the county seat of Somerset. All local census, parish records, deeds, indentures, etc. are kept in the Somerset Records Office. As it was getting late in the day, we decided not to go to Taunton, but will leave this for another trip. When we planned this trip, we were unaware that Joan's Gatter ancestors had lived in this area of England and it was not until we met Margaret Gatter on our arrival to England that this was clearly revealed to us. All of this exploring for her Gatter ancestors was simply a little "lagniappe". She had always heard that they had come from Wales and possibly Bristol and that was about all we knew. From the maps, we now see that Newport and Cardiff, Wales, are just across the Bristol Channel.

We then drove further south and departed the main road and drove towards the town of Dartmouth. Of course, the roads immediately narrowed and my anxiety level increased. I have never experienced such narrow roads. There was one place where a sign said the road narrowed. If a sign tells you it narrows, believe it. Just my luck, of course, this is were we met another car. There were tall hedgerows on either edge of the road and the white line disappeared. Joan sucked air, gave out a gasp and we are convinced the two cars passed with inches to spare. Anyway, we made it OK with no bumps or scratches on the car - just frayed nerves! In fact, it is interesting to note that they seldom trim the hedgerows that grow next to the roads. They simply let the lorries ('trucks' to the Americans) keep the growth trimmed by brushing against the bushes as they whiz past.

We ended up in the little village of Stoke Fleming, a few miles from Dartmouth. Our hotel, called the "Stoke Lodge Hotel", is quite nice. It commands a wonderful view of the English Channel. Our dinner was quite good and they were able to take care of Joan's dietary problems nicely. With that, I will close another exciting and full day.

Saturday, September 19^th. - Stoke Fleming (near Dartmouth), Devon, England.

Weather Report: The weather today was fantastic!!! We awoke to brilliant sunshine and it was the nicest weather we have had during our stay in England. It was in the mid 70's. People were sitting in the sun everywhere we looked. The weather stayed nice all the way to Falmouth and it was very balmy in the evening. There was just a small amount of high fog that drifted in when we arrived.

Driving Report: It was not nearly as exciting today. Joan didn't squeal once and I believe I only had two or three horn honks as I negotiated the round-abouts. I keep wanting to go in a straight line and that seems to upset a few drivers who are trying to go in circles. I notice that they have a big "L" sign that is displayed on cars that are being driven by people who are learning. I need a big "T" sign, for tourist, so people can take appropriate evasive action when driving near me. I must say the British drivers are very courteous. The enforced policy of driving in the slower lanes except when passing is quite effective and would be a good addition to American rules. It is probably the rule in America, however it is not rigorously followed or enforced. As long as you stay on the "M" (marvelous) or "A" (acceptable) roads, there is no problem as these roads are adequately wide. I also now realize that the place where I met another car yesterday was a place where one car normally stops and waits while the other car proceeds. We passed each other at 30 mph! I guess I will look for the brake next time.

After we got up, we took a nice walk around the small village of Stoke Fleming. The population is probably about 200-300 people. It is very quaint. The Stoke Lodge Hotel was very nice and we would recommend it as a place to stay. After breakfast, we then drove two miles to the town of Dartmouth. We immediately fell in love with this town. It was full of quaint shops and it is extremely picturesque. We would liken it to Carmel, California in its atmosphere. We would recommend a visit to this area to anyone and would like to come back here ourselves. It was hard to drag Joan out of the shops. After a picnic lunch in the very beautiful park in the center of town, we took the ferry across the River Dart and then headed further west to the county of Cornwall, where her Nankivell ancestors probably originated.

We found the countryside to be very pretty and the drive was quite pleasant, especially with the warm weather. We stopped in the town of Truro and visited the Truro Cathedral. Wow! That is a very impressive church and worthy of a stop when in this area. Joan and I then walked around the local area and were most impressed. Truro has done an extensive job of remodeling and updating this downtown area and they have done a very good job. We would give them an A+ rating. The shops are clean, certain streets are blocked off creating a walking mall effect. We would very much like to come back and explore this area again sometime.

We continued on to Falmouth, naturally arriving later than desired. We started to look for a place to stay and found most places already booked, contrary to the wisdom expressed by several people. Of course, we would pick one of the busy weekends of the year for Falmouth as they were holding a "rowing" convention and almost everything was booked. Not to fear, we did find a room at the Falmouth Beach Resort Hotel. It is OK, but we wouldn't recommend it.

Sunday, September 20^th - Falmouth, Cornwall, England.

Weather Report: Fantastic!!! Bright blue skies when we awoke in Falmouth and it was quite warm. Short sleeves to start the day and it remained that way until evening, which was balmy. It was in the mid to high 70's.

Driving Report: I don't think anyone beeped me nor did I feel we had any close calls today. It is getting down right boring. For the American readers, I will point out that we are driving a stick shift, right hand drive car so everything is in the wrong position. It is a mid sized Hyundai - 'Accent' which is rather nimble and lively with a 5 speed transmission. Taking it through the gears reminds me of the old days when I had my TR3 sports car. Shifting with my left hand is starting to feel natural, however I continue to signal left or right turns with the windshield wiper lever.

We left Falmouth and drove south to Marazion and St. Michael's Mount. That was a beautiful sight and a lovely place to visit. The tide was out so we were able to 'walk' over to the island(?). We didn't have time to tour the castle so we will put that on the agenda for our next trip. The view of Penzance was spectacular from the Mount. We wish we had more time to explore this area.

Of course we had to drive through Penzance. It looked interesting from our brief drive along the waterfront and back out to the main road. I was disappointed to not see any pirates.

We continued on through the towns of Drift, Catchall, Crows-an-Wra on our way to Land's End. While it is quite touristy at Land's End, we felt we needed to get as close to San Francisco as we could. From there, our City is only 5025 miles away. Even though the sun was out and it was clear and bright, the wind was a bit strong. We could see why this could be a very ugly place most of the time with wind and rain pelting you. How fortunate we were to have such marvelous weather.

Leaving Land's End, we hugged the coast to St. Just and Morvah. At Morvah, we turned inland away from the coast and drove to several of the ancient Celtic stones. The first grouping was called 'Men-an-tol' stones, located about a half mile walk from the car on a very nice grassy path. This is a series of three vertical stones spaced about 8 feet apart in a westerly line. The middle stone has a hole cut through its center. The area was surrounded with a field of heather and other native plants. It was really very beautiful and worth doing on sunny days. After returning to the car, we continued a little further along the road and came to the 'Lanyon Quoit' stones. In this grouping, a large flat stone is sitting on top of three vertical stones, like a three legged stool, except that the top stone is about 6 feet off of the ground. We could see how people can get hooked looking for these stones.

Our next stop was in the town of Camborne at the Cornish Engines display. It was near closing time, but we did have time to talk with the curator and look at the engine that was used to pump water out of the mine and remove the tin ore. Earlier we has passed the Levant Mine where you can go underground and view the inner working of this 'operating' mine, but felt we didn't have the time for such a tour. We would like to do that on another trip. We understand that the last 'working' tin mine closed earlier this year, thus closing a chapter on a major industry of Cornwall.

We then proceeded to the Parish Church in the quaint town of St. Columb Major. We found the church and went inside, however we were unable to find the stain glass window that we had understood was dedicated in the memory of a Nankivel, one of Joan's namesakes. We were disappointed not to identify the window, but we did enjoy walking through this lovely church.

As it was getting late, we continued on to Bodmin and found lodgings at a place called the Westberry Hotel. Nothing fancy or worth recommending, however it did have beds in which to pour our bodies after another exhausting day.

Our general impression of Cornwall was very favorable, despite the wrinkled noses we got from people when we mentioned we were going to Cornwall. The typical comments were that it was bleak, stark, and not that interesting. That may be true if the wind is blowing a gale and it is pelting down rain, but we found this region to be very beautiful in its own right and filled with many interesting things to see and do. We would like to visit Cornwall again.

Weather Report: The day started a little cool in Bodmin with heavy dew on the car. It warmed up very quickly and it was warm all day as we drove towards Hale in New Forest. It was probably in the low 70's today, a little cooler than yesterday.

Driving Report: I guess I am finally getting the hang of 'English' driving just when we are about ready to turn in the car. We did have a few narrow roads in the country and in some of the small villages. The worst for me is in the small villages where a white line is painted down the center of the two lane road. Then they start parking cars on one side of the road with one wheel on the side walk with the rest of the car hanging out into the roadway. That barely leaves enough room for two cars to pass, however one car has to drive straddling the white line. I haven't figured out why they don't paint lines for parking and then paint a white line down the middle of the remaining roadway. Then I would clearly know what part of the road is mine to use. Oh well, the natives seem to be comfortable with the current system, but it causes me great anxiety.

We got up a little earlier today as we had a long ways to drive. From Bodmin we drove to Liskeard and Tavistock on our way to Dartmoor National Park. You know immediately when you enter the park as the scenery instantly changes. The hedgerows disappear, trees are sparse, the ground is covered with grass and sheep are grazing everywhere. You know you are on the moors. It was a very interesting contrast to the scenery through which we had just been passing. The fog was still swirling just above us providing an eerie and mysterious setting. Great fun and we found the area to have a charm of its own. An interesting sight was the ancient stone "clapper" bridge over the East Dart River which dates from the 13^th century. The word "clapper" is thought to come from a Saxon word, Cleaca, meaning large stones. The park is an open range area for ponies, sheep, and cows which are free to wander everywhere, including on the road. As we rounded one corner, there sat a sheep in the middle of the road nonchalantly chewing his cud and paying us no attention, so we simply steered our way around him. We stopped at a number of old medieval stones and monuments which were very interesting. This is another 'must see' place on our list. Our last few miles out of the park were on a much smaller road that had stretches of one-way road. We finally reached Exeter and better roads.

Later in the afternoon, we completed our 175 mile journey and reached the small village of Hale, just south of Salisbury. Hale is just inside the "New Forest" which is a protected area of the National Trust. Here we met Norman and Joyce Batten, one of Joan's first cousins, once removed. Joyce's brother, Charles Steynor, also met us there for a few days of exploration of this area. We stretched our legs with a nice walk around the village and neighboring forest where we saw free roaming ponies. We returned from the walk to a lovely dinner. After much conversation and laughter, we all retired to rest for another day.

Tuesday, September 22^nd - Hale (New Forest), Hampshire, England.

Weather Report: There was some high fog and a fresh breeze when we awoke. The sun came out and it was very nice and warm in the sun, but a sweater felt good when you stood in the shade. It was probably in the high 60's.

We all took a drive to the ancient city of Winchester. It is an important place in England, dating back to the Roman times when a settlement was established around 43 A.D. William the Conqueror built a castle and cathedral here between 1066 and 1093. It is here that the great 'round table' was used during Medieval times and the table is mounted on a wall in the Great Hall. In this hall, Sir Walter Raleigh was condemned to death, but was reprieved in 1603. Izaak Walton, author of 'The Compleat Angler' and a Winchester resident, died in 1683.

Winchester is a very interesting place to visit and explore. We enjoyed touring the cathedral. It is very impressive and has many shops and stores which Joan didn't have time to properly visit.

We next drove south to the docks of Southhampton and had afternoon refreshments of tea, coffee, hot water and Guinness. I'll let you guess what Joan and I each had to drink. It was interesting to see an unusual lighthouse ship sitting on the dock on display called the "Calshot Spit". It was about 50 feet in length, painted red and had a classic lighthouse beacon mounted amidships. In its previous life it had been anchored off of 'The Solent', which is the waterway between the Isle of Wight and mainland England. This area experiences two tides each day sweeping around the Isle of Wight. The Eling Tide Mill was built to use the ocean tides to generate power for grinding corn. It is the only functioning tide mill in the world. Famous yacht races are, also, held on The Solent.

We then drove through New Forest on our return to Hale. Joyce again prepared a very nice meal.

Wednesday, September 23^rd - Hale (New Forest), Hampshire, England.

Weather Report: The weather was very nice. The day started off with heavy dew on the car, but it quickly dried. We had glorious sunshine and 72 degrees around mid-day. The weather Gods have been looking down on us favorably.

Driving Report: This is the last driving report. I was able to successfully navigate the car back to the Avis station in Salisbury, just a few miles north of Hale. We ended up driving 763 harrowing miles, but without a nick or scratch!!

Today was culture day. After returning the car, Charles Steynor, his sister Joyce Batten and her husband, Norman, Joan and myself continued onto the old part of the city of Salisbury. The downtown area is very nice and they have done an excellent job of renovating this area, making it accessible and enjoyable for pedestrians as cars are forbidden from the central street. There are nice paths wandering along the river making it a very enjoyable place to stroll and shop. We put a short leash on Joan and all she was able to buy were some postcards and a book.

We took an hour and a half tour through the Salisbury Cathedral which is very old and houses many important items. The construction of the main cathedral began in 1220 and like all cathedrals, it is very impressive, especially when you consider the primitive tools they used to cut, polish and move the stones and then raise them into position. Placing the weather vane and cross at the top of the 404 feet spire must have been an exhilarating high point for the workers. It was completed in 38 years. The cathedral houses a Medieval clock that is the oldest working clock in England and probably the world. It doesn't have a standard clock face, but simply strikes the hours to keep time. Large stone weights are raised each day to provide the power for the clock.

The most important document in the cathedral is the Magna Carta. They have one of the four surviving original texts of the Magna Carta, the famous agreement made between King John and the barons at Runnymede in 1215. Two of the originals are in the British Museum and one at Lincoln Castle. Salisbury is another 'must see and visit' place.

We next drove two miles west of Salisbury to Old Sarum (Old Salisbury) which has had people living on this windswept hilltop for over 5000 years. During the Roman period, four Roman roads converged upon Sarum. The hilltop has a commanding view of the surrounding countryside. A castle and cathedral were started here about 1070. Although no complete buildings remain, much of the building foundations and parts of a few walls remain along with the steep dry-moat walls. As I walked around, I had a feeling that I had stepped back in history and expected to see an archer rise up before me with an arrow drawn in his bow. It was a mysterious feeling of times past. I enjoyed wandering around the grounds as we ate our picnic lunch.

Our final stop was at Wilton House, the home of the Earl of Pembroke. It has a fabulous three story doll house. The grounds and house are magnificent and worth seeing. At one time the Earl's estate comprised of some 46,000 acres in 1542. The estate has now shrunk to a mere 14,000 acres.

After a bit of ice cream, we took a nice drive and passed near Fovant where regimental badges have been carved into a large chalk hill. The white badge outlines stand out dramatically against the green grass. This custom was started by one regiment after WWI and has continued ever since. We continued west to Shaftesbury and then turned east again towards Hale. We passed through Fordingbridge and entered the New Forest. A couple of ponies and cows wandering down the road, so close to car I was able to pet them on the back as we drove past. In the New Forest, the animals are king and free to roam wherever they want and they do.

We topped the day off with fun dinner at a local pub called "The King's Head" in the nearby hamlet of Redlynch. I am taking quite a 'fancy' to the local ales. I am simply getting ready for my trip to Germany and drinking beer there.

Thursday, September 24^th - Hale (New Forest), Hampshire, England.

Weather Report: The day started off a bit cool, but soon climbed into the mid 60's. There was lots of haze or mist in the air. Charles quoted this as "the season of mists and mellow fruitfulness".

We packed Charles car to the brim and took off for Brentwood. There was barely enough space for three people. Brentwood is about 20 miles due east of London adjacent to the M25 motorway. The traffic was light and it took us just a little over 2 hours to cover the distance.

We unpacked, had a substantial lunch and then meet some of Charles' neighbors for tea, (water for Joan and coffee for me). Charles has some wonderful neighbors and they were fun to talk with. We made a few telephone calls and then went for a short drive around Brentwood, ending up at Thorndon Country Park where we parked the car and took a nice hour's walk. It would have been shorter, but Charles got us lost. Returning home we had a light supper and everyone tended to various tasks and needs.

Friday, September 25^th. - Brentwood, Essex, England.

Weather Report: Wonderful weather. Clear and warm. It was in the low to mid 70's.

After breakfast, we walked across the street with Charles and had 'tea' with his neighbor, John. John loves to build model railroad trains and he proudly showed us his latest trains and layout.

We then went to the rail station and caught the train for London. At Manor Park, we got off and went to Manor Park Cemetery. There, we went Harold Steynor's grave and showed Charles where it was located. We talked with the cemetery office staff about memorial plaques and other things that they offer. We feel it would be nice to have some memorial for Harold, the grandfather that Joan and her other American cousins never knew. We will discuss this with all the cousins when we get home. We, also, learned that the cemetery will be reusing the common grave area where Harold is buried, probably within the next 5 years. Since his grave site was not purchased, the cemetery still owns the land and by local law, they can reuse the land for other burials after 50 years. I guess you are simply 'renting' their land for 50 years. They apparently remove any gravestones and give them to the families if the families want the stones. Otherwise, the stones are sent to the crusher. At one time, cemeteries stacked the gravestones along the outer cemetery fence, but that practice is no longer followed in this cemetery. After all the stones are removed, they add some additional top soil to the sunken area and then start burying again. I talked to one of the maintenance fellows and he said that common grave burials are not done any more because the water table in the London area has risen significantly. The maximum allowed depth of a grave is now 8 feet.

Unfortunately, we didn't discover, until we got back to Brentwood, that Harold's father and mother were also buried in Manor Park Cemetery. It would have been nice to have also visited their grave sites. Harold's father was also buried in a common area, but we know nothing about the burial location of his mother. We will return to see if we can find them.

We went back to the train station and caught the next train and continued on into the Liverpool train station. Then we rode a double decker bus to the Trafalgar Square area where Charles and Joan got tickets for a play, "An Inspector Calls", on Tuesday night. Next we wandered to a wonderful map store called "Stanfords", which is suppose to be one of the largest map stores in the world. I picked up a few Ordnance Survey maps of the Isle of Dogs area that I was missing. It is a great store and I wish I had more time to simply wander around and look at all of the interesting maps. We continued on our journey and walked through Covent Gardens which was the old flower and vegetable market area of London. It has been refurbished and is a great tourist Mecca. We saw mimes and lots of other street people. Joan spotted a miniatures shop and dashed in and bought a set of utensils for her dollhouse. We then walked through the Barbican Centre which contains three cinemas, a large hall, conference suites, two theatres and exhibition areas. We headed towards Guildhall, the corporation headquarters of the town of London. I had heard that they had some nice maps and books there. After a short time in the book shop, it was closing time, so we wandered our way back to the train station and headed for Brentwood.

After dinner, I packed in preparation for my trip to Germany tomorrow. Joan remains in England

Saturday, September 26^th. - Brentwood, Essex, England.

Weather Report: The day started with mist, high fog and was cool. Later in the day there was occasional sun and in the high 60's. Somewhat muggy.

Charles and Joan took Doug to Heathrow to catch his flight to Frankfurt, Germany. Charles and Joan then drove to Windsor Castle. It was magnificent and opulent. A highlight for Joan was Queen Mary's Doll House. There are 19 rooms all exquisitely decorated. Every room is done in fine detail.

We then went in the beautiful St. George's Chapel at Windsor Castle. It is dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary, St. George and St. Edward the Confessor. It is properly called "the Queen's Free Chapel of St. George". "Free" in this sense means that it does not come under the jurisdiction of an archbishop or a diocesan bishop, but directly under the Sovereign. Another fantastic architectural achievement.

Then on to the Albert Chapel at Windsor Castle dating from 1240 which was refurbished as a memorial to Prince Albert by Queen Victoria between 1863 and 1873.

We arrived back at Charles' at 3:15 PM so we could get a dozen huge potatoes in the oven to bake for the Harvest Festival being held at his church. Charles went on ahead at 5 PM to prepare for the dinner. I came later with two of his neighbors, John and Thelma. There I met his neighbors on the left, Stan and Sally. The dinner was good and Charles was in charge of the entertainment. We did some folk dances and played a couple of funny games. It was a big success and they even made some money.

At 10:45 PM, it rained heavily until about 3 AM with lightening and thunder.

Sunday, September 27^th. - Brentwood, Essex, England.

Weather report: Cloudy, partial sun occasionally, high 60's. Somewhat muggy.

I went to church with Charles at his Brentwood United Reformed Church. It was a very nice service with a harvest theme. Everyone there was very friendly.

We took a 60 mile drive around Essex County. Lots of farm land with slightly rolling terrain. As Charles says, "Essex is flatish". We drove through several small villages, two, Finchingfield and Great Bardfield, had antique shops and were quite charming. Of course Charles whizzed right through so all I could do was get a quick glance.

We had a quiet evening watching "Last of the Summer Wine" and "Ballykissangel" on TV and made plans for the next couple of days.

Monday, September 28^th. - Brentwood, Essex, England.

Weather report: It rained in the night and was cloudy and about 65 degrees during the day and somewhat muggy.

At 9:30 AM, Charles and I went across the street to John's bungalow for coffee (and hot water). Thelma, his other neighbor, came also. This is a daily ritual for these neighbors to met at one another's houses to have tea and catch up on the daily happenings. John has twin cats, Buttons and Bows. Buttons bats a wad of paper, when thrown to her, like a ball. She can really send it flying - what a kick to watch.

We ran some errands: copying documents, post office, groceries and banking. We caught the train to Liverpool Street Station, then the central line to Holborn Station. From there, we walked a mile up Oxford Street to the British Museum. On our way we walked in one door and out the other at Selfridges Department Store. So much for shopping with Charles. At the British Museum we saw antiquities from Egypt, Greece, Rome and Western Asia; Prehistoric and Romano-British collections; and Medieval, Renaissance and Modern collections. It was amazing to see items 1000 years and more before Christ. A highlight was seeing the Rosetta Stone.

From there we walked to Manchester Square to see the Wallace Collection at the Hertford House. The collection was acquired by the third and fourth Marquesses of Hertford and by Sir Richard Wallace (1818-1890), son of the fourth Marquess. The Hertford House was the family's main London residence. The Wallace collection is a national museum bequeathed to the nation in 1897 by Lady Wallace, widow of Sir Richard Wallace. It is a fabulous collection of furniture, paintings, arms, armor, gold boxes, porcelain, clocks and miniature paintings.

We rode the bus from Oxford Street, down Regent Street, changed buses at Aldwych and on to Liverpool Street Station where we caught the train to Brentwood, arriving home at 6:30 PM.

Tuesday, September 29^th. - Brentwood, Essex, England.

Weather report: It rained in the night, but was dry and cloudy all day. Mid 60's and somewhat muggy.

I spent the morning at Charles' house while he fulfilled some commitments. We had lunch, then left for London about 1:30 PM. We took the train to the Liverpool Street Station, then took the inner circle to South Kensington Street. We walked through an underground subway to the Victoria & Albert Museum, the world's greatest museum of decorative arts. We saw the collection of dress which had fascinating attire from 1600's to present time. We also saw the fabulous jewelry and silver collection and the Henry Coe wing of watercolors. There is never enough time to do it all.

We found an Italian restaurant near the Victoria & Albert and had dinner. We walked down old Compton Street, then back to South Kensington Street. We saw some lovely 18th century town homes at Onslow Gardens. We caught the circle train at South Kensington Street to Embankment. From there we walked to the Garrick Theatre and saw J.B. Priestley's classic thriller, "An Inspector Calls". It is a mystery during the period of about 1912 with many unexpected twists. It was well done and we both enjoyed it. We walked back to the Liverpool Street Station and caught the train back to Brentwood. A long, but delightful day.

Wednesday, September 30^th. - Brentwood, Essex, England.

Weather report: It rained in the night and was mostly cloudy all day with some showers and some sun. In the 60's.

We left Charles house and drove across the Dartford Bridge over the Thames River on our way to Francescesa Campion's house in Tunbridge Wells. The three of us went to Bateman's, a lovely country home built in 1634 in the Dudwell Valley of East Sussex. It is in a picturesque, bucolic scene of rolling fields, woods and the lovely Dudwell River. On the property there is a mill and an oast-house which was converted into a cottage. An oast-house is a round brick building with a pointed roof used to dry hops.

Rudyard Kipling, the famous author, bought Bateman's in 1902 at the age of 36. At that time, he was the most famous and prosperous writer in the English speaking world. "Jungle Book" was one of his famous stories. He died there in 1936. His wife died in 1939 and left the estate to the English National Trust.

We drove on to Bodiam Castle, a fairy-tale castle surrounded by a moat. The outer walls and tower stand as they did when completed in 1388. The interior is ruined. This Medieval castle was both the fortress and residence of Sir Edward Dalyngrigge, a Sussex Knight. The knights would have contests in the surrounding fields on their horses with their lances.

Bodiam was lived in for over 250 years. Probably during the Civil War (1640-1648) the castle was captured and the interior dismantled to prevent it from being defended on behalf of the king. In 1916 it was purchased by Lord Curzon who had it carefully excavated and repaired. In 1925 he bequeathed it to the National Trust.

We returned to Fran's for dinner, then Charles left for home.

Thursday, October 1^st. - Tunbridge Wells, Kent, England.

Weather report: It rained in the night, then rained on and off during the day. Temperature in the 60's.

Fran and I went south to Brighton, a city on the English Cannel. We stopped at the sea front and ate our picnic lunch. Then we went to investigate "The Lanes", Brighton's quaint shopping area with a wide variety of shops.

Echo's of Brighton's fascinating past are evident on every street of The Lanes, the city's historic old quarter. Once the heart of the old fishing village, the area is an extraordinary mix of Regency terraces, 16th and 19th century cottages, brick-paved pedestrian streets and delightful twittens (alleys).

We looked in several shops but didn't buy anything. Doug would be proud.

Friday, October 2^nd. - Tunbridge Wells, Kent, England.

Weather report: It rained in the night. Grey and cold all day.

We had an easy morning catching up on details like making telephone calls. We called Bexley Hospital and they said all their old records were completely unorganized and are in storage. There has been fires and floods at Bexley over the years and they do not know what has survived. They hope to sort it out in the next six months. Fran will continue to call to inquire about records regarding my grandfather's, Harold Steynor, situation there.

I called Manor Park Cemetery and found that Margaret Sarah Steynor's burial site has already been reclaimed. She is my great grandmother. My great grandfather's, Charles August Steynor, burial site will be reclaimed in the next few years. I asked that we be informed so we can have his grave marker, if there is one. We will go there on Monday to see if he has a stone.

We spent the afternoon shopping in Tunbridge Wells. It is a very nice town.

Saturday, October 3^rd. - Tunbridge Wells, Kent, England.

Weather report: Cloudy and cool.

Fran and I got on the train to London, getting off at Charing Cross. We took the underground to Knightsbridge Street and emerged at Harrods Department Store. It has a myriad of lovely rooms with beautifully displayed high quality and terribly expensive merchandise. I bought a small desk calendar for five pounds ($8.75). Harrods has a very interesting food court with a vast array of foods. There was an area set aside as a memorial to Princess Diana and Dodi Fayed. Dodi's father owns the store. Nature called so I went to the loo and it cost one pound ($1.75). The facilities were nice, but not that nice for the most expensive "pee" of my life.

From there, we took the underground to Covent Gardens which was the original outdoor London flower and vegetable market. Now the market has a wide variety of craft people selling their wares. It is surrounded by many small gift and souvenir shops. I found a few goodies for the grandchildren. Again, we saw several mimes and street entertainers. Most interesting to me was a Punch and Judy Show which reminded me of my childhood.

We walked to Charing Cross Station and found a souvenir shop. There I hit the jackpot, finding gifts for the grandchildren. I was getting concerned I would not complete my shopping list.

That evening, we went to Sharon and Paul Sewell's for a lovely dinner. Sharon is my third cousin on the Steynor/Messant side. Friends of Sharon and Fran, Eugene and Sue Lines, were there also. The seven of us had a lovely evening.

Sunday, October 4^th - Tunbridge Wells, Kent, England.

Weather report: Cool and cloudy with sprinkles.

Fran and I picked up Molly Jarvis, Fran's mother, and took her to the Tunbridge Wells crematorium to look at the memory book listing Christopher Stuart Wren, her brother, who died 4 October 1993. Chris never married and always lived with Molly and her family.

Fran and I then went to the Pantiles, the old original area of Tunbridge Wells which now has nice shops and restaurants. From its humble beginnings in 1606, with the discovery of a babbling spring by a young nobleman, Dudley, Lord North, Tunbridge Wells was to grow to a fashionable spa resort - royalty and gentry being among the many visitors who came to taste the allegedly health-giving waters.

The upper and lower walks and building of the Pantiles first grew up around the spring in the mid seventeenth century and still retain their charm. The name, Pantiles, derives from the square clay tiles paving the walks.

We went home for lunch, then left for the airport to pick up Doug. He arrived on time and it was good to see him in one piece. Fran made a special Mexican dinner for Doug's return. He ate heartily, smacking his lips all the time.

Final Beanie Baby Report: Most stores laughed a little when asked if they had the Britannia Bear. One store said they had 40, two days before selling for £3.99 (about $7). Close, but no cigar. Another store said we could buy one plus 19 others at £4.99 ($8.75) whenever they might get them in (??). So, we struck out on getting the Britannia Bear.

Monday, October 5^th - Tunbridge Wells, Kent, England.

Weather Report: Weather was rather cool this morning and a bit drizzly. We had some light sprinkles late in the day.

While I was in Germany, Joan checked where her great grandfather and great grandmother were buried in Manor Park Cemetery. She thought it would be nice to see if we could find their grave sites. So, after a slow start, we headed into London. On the drive to London, we stopped at Bexley Mental Hospital, now called Bexley Hospital, so she could see where her grandfather spent the last 24 years of his life. We drove to the reception area and talked with the lady on duty and inquired where the older buildings are located that her grandfather might have be in so that we could take a photograph for nostalgic purposes. Well, you would have thought we had asked to photograph the queen. She said that she could not authorize any photographs to be taken and she would have to telephone someone with authority. It was sad to see someone so 'un-empowered'. Anyway, she came back and said all the people were out to lunch and could we come back later. We explained our situation of leaving for America tomorrow and could not wait around. She then gave us a 'token' to activate the main gate so we could drive out. I guess this is their way to keep the inmates in. Since we saw no signs posted about the prohibition of photographs, we drove around and took some pictures anyway. We knew we could claim to only understand American, not English!! :)

We drove to the Manor Park Cemetery and discussed with the office staff where the grave sites were located. We were informed that Joan's great grandmother, Margaret Sarah Messent Steynor, died in 1906 and she was buried in one of the common areas that has since been reclaimed. That area is now flat and level with a coarse grass covering. We then asked about her great grandfather, Charles Augustus Steynor, and found that he to is buried in a common grave area. We were told that it is quite overgrown and dangerous to enter with many hidden grave and animal holes. Again we ignored advice and off we went, looking for the grave site. They were not kidding when they said it was overgrown. It was so dense that it was difficult to even look at the grave stones along the perimeter of this area. Of course it had to start raining during the hunt. After getting soaked picking my way through the undergrowth of bushes and prickly brambles, I finally found a grouping of graves with burial dates close to his. In fact, one was only one day before his death, so we know we were only a few feet away. We searched the surrounding stones, but found none with his name, which is what we expected since the family would not have had the funds to afford a head stone. We took pictures of the area and decided to call it a day. We stopped by the office and told them we wanted to be notified if a head stone is discovered when they clear this area.

We returned to Tunbridge Wells, prepared dinner and packed for the return flight to San Francisco. It will be an early day tomorrow as we need to get ahead of the commute traffic on the M25 motorway going to Heathrow. We will leave Francesca's house at the un-Godly hour of 6 AM.

Tuesday, October 6^th - Tunbridge Wells, Kent, England.

Weather Report: The skies were overcast when we awoke and we had light rain by the time we got to Heathrow Airport in London. When we got home in Livermore, the temperature was 82 degrees F (28 degrees C). What a shock to ones system to return to warm temperatures. We hear the warm weather is not predicted to last long.

We started off the day by not hearing my wrist watch alarm so we didn't awake until our hostess knocked on our door 20 minutes before our limousine picked us up. I guess Fran didn't want us to miss our plane :) Tee Hee! Needless to say, Joan got a little frantic getting ready to go. It was not a major concern because we left extra early to allow extra time for the commute traffic. The drive to the airport was uneventful and it took about 90 minutes via the back roads and the M25.

Although we didn't have a big tailwind heading to San Francisco, the flight only took 10 hours and 15 minutes instead of the usual 11 hours. We left London around 11:30 AM and arrived in SFO about 1:45 PM. The flight on Virgin Atlantic was quite pleasant, considering sitting in one seat for over 10 hours. We both ended up with 'broken butt'. The food was acceptable and service was always with a smile. Upon arrival, we gathered our six suitcases, plus hand luggage, got a rental car and headed for Livermore, arriving home around 5 PM in the afternoon. Of course we had to drive around and give all four grandkids big hugs and kisses. We were glad to see them.

This concludes our wonderful trip that was made very pleasurable by the gracious hospitality of our English and German hosts and hostesses. It was fun for Joan to meet Margaret Gatter, her second cousin, once removed on her father's side of the family. We can't say enough about Fran & Geoff Campion who out-did themselves making us feel welcome and comfortable. They have promised to come to California next July and participate in the QQC in Quincy (a annual gathering of Joan's crazy first cousins). Fran did a fabulous job planning, organizing and executing the Nankivell/Steynor/Wren family gathering. It was fantastic. We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves with Charles in Brentwood and his sister, Joyce and her husband, Norman, in the New Forest.

Everyone was so helpful. Joan enjoyed seeing the play with Charles and all of the additional tours while I was in Germany. She also enjoyed the extra week with Fran and their fun excursions. Frau Else Mussler did a wonderful job of planning a sight seeing trip for me around Grosskarlbach and other villages in the Pfalz. My week with Stefan Momma far exceeded my wildest expectations and it was great to get to know him better and enjoy his company. Joan and I enjoyed it so much, we are already talking about doing another trip in a year or so. Joan is ready to go next year, however I need 6 month to a year to unravel all of the data and information gathered on the two trips we took this year. At the moment, I am not sure that Stefan and I found sufficient data to prove that my Leonard Mumma didn't come from Stolberg. A heartfelt thanks from Joan and me to everyone who made the trip so memorable!!!!!!!

As an aid to American travelers in England, Joan and I offer the following English to American translation of words and phrases. These were a few that bought a smile to our faces and made for interesting conversation.

Also, I weighed myself in England and discovered that I weigh 14 stones. For the non English readers, a stone weighs 14 pounds. 14 stones is my maximum limit!!! I can foresee a diet coming!

Health Status: I guess I should conclude with an update on my health. My cold, which I caught in Germany, is running it's typical course. Congestion in the nose and chest and my voice is a few octaves lower. I think I will survive this problem. My toe, which I neglected to tell people I broke at the Nankivell/Steynor family gathering, is still sore if I press on the wrong spot. I am surprised that it hasn't healed fully, but it really doesn't bother me that much. Joan seems to have survived with no significant complaints. I guess it is all those 'veggies' that she eats.

This is the final 'postcard' I will post a complete listing of the postcards on our Internet web site in a few weeks and will notify you when it is available. We had a wonderful time and will be ready to go again soon.

Until we meet again on our next trip, Joan and I would like to bid you adieu, auf Weidersehen, and goodbye.