Exploring Wales July 5-8

This past week we really did some Welsh adventuring. On July 5th we headed out for a day of castle exploration. We toured three of Edward I's masterpieces -- Beaumaris, Caernarvon and Harlech. At Caernarvon (see left) they were celebrating Welsh veterans day with a service, ceremony and parade (including a fly over by a WWII fighter plane). At Harlech the "Knights of Longshanks" (a reenactment group) was doing crafts and weapons demonstrations. Eric got to try on a ring mail shirt.

You can see photos of all the castles at http://picasaweb.google.com/revemw/SabbaticalPix.

On Monday and Tuesday we made a quick trip through South Wales. We went to the Gower, a peninsula near Swansea to visit the scenic beaches there (though it was still windy and cold... but the girls had a great time). Then Tuesday we visited Caerau, where Eric's dad was born. We then went to St. Fagan's museum of Welsh folklore with a "village" made up of buildings from various periods of history and parts of Wales. Later that afternoon we visited the Big Pit in Blaenavon, a coal mine that was in operation until 1980 and where visitors can now go down into the mine and learn about life as a Welsh coal miner.

Other highlights of the week:

July 3 There was a lovely party in our honor at the Brymbo cricket club hosted by the Minera deanery with a good turnout from all the local churches. We played "Beatle" which was lots of fun, but beyond my powers to describe accurately. It is kind of a cross between Bingo, hangman and Yahtzee.

July 4 Susan and I went mountain biking at Llandegla forest. We rode the "beginner" trail which was plenty exciting for us. Oooh those rocks hurt me bum! (-Susan) That evening we went to Shelagh and Gordon Watkinson's house for her birthday and an American barbecue (hamburgers, hot dogs, etc.) Margaret and Emily enjoyed playing games in the garden and Margaret helped give Shelagh's grandson, 1-yr-old Tom, a bath. She got her own shower in the process!

Update July 1

Well, we're still having problems connecting to the internet, so we apologize about the sparse updates. Lots to tell:

The girls are loving school at St. Mary's in Brymbo, as you can read from Margaret's updates. Susan and I took advantage of the first really sunny day today to go on a lovely 2 and 1/2 hour hike to the top of Hope Mountain nearby with lovely 360 degree view of the area.

While the girls were in York at Paul's ordination (photos later), I met up with an old friend named Graham from my year at college in Wales (1984-5). We went to Erddig House, a lovely late 17th century house with spectacular gardens. The day before I explored nearby Oswestry (with a lovely old church named for St. Oswald King and Martyr which has an 11th century tower) and Chirk Castle gardens (some photos are posted).

Saturday after I dropped the girls off I drove up the Wirral and through the tunnel into Liverpool and spent the day at the glorious cathedral. Had a private tour and listened to the dress rehearsal of Britten's War Requiem with the Liverpool Philharmonic orchestra and chorus and a choir from Cologne, Germany. Liverpool is the European capital of culture for the year and is having a number of events.

We had a fantastic day on Friday meeting up with cousins in Llandudno: Dolo Roberts, her husband Trevor, and her sister Meghan. Dolo and Meghan are first cousins of my dad and his brothers on his father's side. I had never met them before and it was wonderful to hear stories about that side of the family and to see the village where they were from--Dolgarrog. My grandmother was from the next village, Trefriw, and Meghan knew her side of the family as well. We are going back this week to look for the site of the old house up the hill and the graveyard.

We've also visited Llangollen, the home of the international eisteddfod, a music and cultural festival. We'll be attending some of that next week. And the nearby Pontcysyllte aqueduct, a marvel of 19th century engineering by Thomas Telford.

We've also done some actual work in the past week. Thursday both Susan and I had nursing home services. And Friday I had a funeral at All Saints' Southsea. Trevor, the lay reader, and Richard, the funeral director, made sure I kept on track.

That's it for now as our hour at the internet cafe is running out. Keep checking back for more photos at: http://picasaweb.google.com/revemw/SabbaticalPix. We'll try to update the blog as we're able.

Best,

Eric

From Margaret July 1

It i so hard to believe that it's already July! We have been really busy these last few days; having lots of fun!
School is going extremely well, all of the kids shower me with questions every day. They are being so nice!
Today was Sports Day at school, and they allowed me to jump in. My house was Robinson; all of the houses were competing is races: Skipping Race, Sack Race, Obstacle Race, Bean-bag Race, and Relay Race. The winning house would get a trophy.The houses are Wilkinson, Robinson, and Darbon. Guess who won?
This past weekend Mum (Mom) , Emily and I went to York to see Kaitlin and Paul Dominiak, who were married last summer. They are doing really well, and are soon going to get a Chocolate Lab puppy! Paul was ordained at York Minster, the largest and most beautiful church I have ever seen. He is now a deacon.
There were many placesto SHOP in York! The town that we were in was basically all SHOPPING, with a lot of history mixed in. This history includes lots of ghost stories; some people say that York is the most haunted city in the world!
During the time of the Plague, they used to board up people's houses if someone had it. This accured to one large family that killed everyone...Except the smallest little girl. People back then thought that you could get sick only from living people, so when the men came to board the houseup, they boarded her up, too.
Eventually, the little girl died of starvation. People can see the figure of the little girl, looking out the window of her house.
On a brighter note, we stayed at a bed and breakfast called the Abbingdon, which was lovely. There were two beds: One double bed and one single. We let Emily have the single because she always thrashes and kicks in her sleep.
We didn't have a car in York, we had taken a train, so we walked everywhere we went or, if it was too far, took a tour bus.
One of the streets in York is very famous for it's age. It's the Shambles, which we walked through almost every day. It now has tons of little shops and cafes, and we enjoyd it very much.

Miss you all!
Margaret

From Margaret 06-25-08

We started school today! I made a lot of friends with the girls in my class. My favorites so far are Kaitlin, Leah and Casey. They came over to us as soon as we got there to say Hi.
My teacher's name is Ms. Masters, and she's very nice. The children say their prayers before"dinner" (lunch) and before we leave school - but in Welsh. The teacher taught me a few colours in Welsh. One I haven't forgotten is "gwyth" - green. I don't even know if I spelled it right. For dinner we had two choices - cheese rolled up in a tortilla or noodles with meat sauce. I had the noodles.
We got to play outside a lot, despite the weather being cold and drizzly. For all of the kids reading this - they call Freeze Tag "Stuck in the Mud" and soccer "football" and football "rugby". It sort of confused me at first.
I miss all of my family at church dearly, and all of my friends from school. I will send you post-cards with lots of love.
Margaret

more photos

We've added more photos to our Picasa album which you can find at: http://picasaweb.google.com/revemw/SabbaticalPix

We spent Saturday in Chester doing some shopping and sightseeing. We happened to arrive during the Midsummer festival and saw a charming parade. People make elaborate costumes and wear them year to year. We also attended choral evensong at the cathedral, one of our favorite services. The choir (twelve girls and six men) did a fantastic job, though few were in attendance. We also enjoyed the Roman amphitheater and a walk on the walls of the city. After supper we went back to the cathedral for a concert by the Chester Philharmonic.

On Sunday we led the service at St. Mary's Church in Brymbo, a lovely 19th century church on a hill overlooking the valley. After a lovely roast beef dinner we were off to St. Asaph for the diocesan conference. The girls went with a family from church to an indoor activity center and had a great time.

Monday we were off to Llangollen, a nearby village that hosts the annual Internation Eisteddfod, a musical competition that brings choirs and musicians from all over the world. We rode on the Llangollen steam railroad and walked over the nearby Pontcysyllte Aqueduct, an engineering marvel constructed by Thomas Telford. Completed in 1805 it carries the Llangollen canal 126 feet over the River Dee. You can read more about it at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pontcysyllte_Aqueduct.

Photos

There's so much to tell about our trip so far and it's only been a few days. We led our first service this morning at St. Mary's Church in Brymbo, part of our two-point parish which also includes All Saints' Southsea. We also attended a diocesan conference (convention) an hour away at St. Asaph Cathedral, the smallest cathedral in Britain (and very lovely). We have met so many lovely people and have toured (so far) Wrexham, Mold, and Chester. We are gradually settling in and finding our way around the area.

You can see lots of photos of our first few days by clicking here:
http://picasaweb.google.com/revemw/SabbaticalPix

First Update from Wales-- June 20

So sorry we haven't checked in until now. We've had a terrible time getting connected to the internet. We've had a lovely time so far--lots to update. Here's the first information dump:

From Emily: Friday, June 20:
TODAY WE WENT TO THE WELSH SCHOOL WHERE WE ARE STARTING ON WEDNESDAY.NEXT WE HAD A PICNIC AND AFTER THAT,WE WENT ON A HIKE.AFTER THAT WE GOT A TOUR OF THE CHURCH WE ARE GOING TO TOMARROW.AFTER THAT WE HAD DINNER ON THE PORCH.THEN WE FED THE FISH.BUT WE SAW THAT THE FISH WERE TANGLED UP IN THE NET.SO MOM GOT KNIFE AND CAREFULLY CUT IT LOOSE.
EMILY

From Margaret: Friday, June 20, 2008
Since our Internet wasn’t working that well, we had to miss a few days. Sorry about the wait…
Today we had an interview with the principal of St. Mary’s School. We will be starting school this Wednesday and we have uniforms at the ready! There are a variety of uniforms at the school, actually. Some kids have dresses like Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz, while others have dark navy blue trousers. We are hoping to get a sweat-shirt from the school with their crest on it. We will be going to school on Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays for a few weeks.
We also toured St. Mary’s Church today. It is basically your normal, Victorian church. It’s definitely bigger than All Saints, our other church; so big that they have a microphone on the Altar! It has a graveyard in the back (large) and it has lots of grass (also large). After touring the beautiful church we went to a library, not far away from where we live. We got our own library cards, which will be a very nice souvenir. It’s very nice and quiet, and we enjoyed every minute. I am discovering that England has a variety of different books than America!
When we came home we saw lots of kids playing around! We made a new friend, Katie, who just turned 6. She has a little brother, Aled, who is almost 4. She lives right across the street and Emily will have a friend even before school starts. We saw a couple of girls who look my age and I hope I’ll get to meet them soon.
Bye! Margaret

From Susan
I’ve been trying to get a sense of “home” here in Moss, and it’s not been that hard. My body-clock adjusted right away by getting me up at 6 a.m. each morning. The first morning I went for a walk around the neighborhood. There are some nice panoramic views of the valleys in several directions. Our road, and house, are called “Bryn” which means Hill in Welsh, and we really are on a relatively high spot. The house itself is over 100 years old, with ceilings at least 9 feet high. We’re getting used to the British types of showers (not so great), electric appliances (very fast, probably due to the higher voltage) and supermarkets (it’s interesting what sorts of things are like, and unlike, ours. And pretty much everything costs more).
Thursday we met our first group of parishioners, at the smaller All Saints congregation which has an 11 a.m. service each Thurs. followed by soup lunch. This was a very warm group who clearly enjoyed each other’s company, and made us feel right at home. Thursday evening, Eric and I were treated to a fundraising event at Eaton Park Hall, owned by the Duke of Westminster (not in attendance). Wow, what a place! We Americans are used to seeing manor houses on PBS; but here was the real thing, family portraits and all. The event (benefitting Alzheimer’s Disease programs) included music by two groups of high-school age musicians who were really excellent. Wish Margaret had been along.
What strikes me most is the sense of history, a building of generation upon generation that is mostly lacking in the USA. (We just haven’t been around long enough!) We climbed the bell tower of St. Giles’ Church in Wrexham, where Elihu Yale is buried; the tower was complete in 1525 and parts of the church are from the 1100’s. About 900 years of faithful Christians, gathering and giving and working for the building up of Christ’s Body; keeping a beautiful structure intact so that a fellow beneficiary of Yale’s generosity could come from America to be among the visitors.
Gratefully, Mother Susan