Flowers, Food and Finale

The weather was iffy again - mild in temperature but threatening rain so it was very hard to know what to wear. As soon as you made a decision you almost immediately realize it was a wrong one. We wanted a quieter day and to partake in that English institution - the Sunday Lunch.

We set off for the University Botanic Garden by car. This 40 acres was set aside in 1846. Some of it is for research and some for education.



Rose Garden - history of hybridization



Dry

Dry



Dry




Dry

Wet

                                                                          We had been told that The Plough in Coton was nice for Sunday Lunch so we set about trying to find it. This is not an easy task on the Garmin but eventually we worked it out. It was a pleasant enough setting and otherwise fulfilled the requisites for the institution - slow service, bland starter, overcooked roast and overcooked veg, lukewarm gravy and limp Yorkshire pudding. Ahhh... English cooking.


We watched the EURO final between Portugal and France on the t.v. in our room. A bit of a boring game really. Tomorrow we turn in the car at Gatwick and stay overnight in Crawley. We fly out on Tuesday. Thanks for sharing our travel experiences with us.

Transportation Turmoil

Buskers at the market on Saturday

It was a bit of a "white knuckler" driving down from Lincolnshire to Cambridge because it was raining so hard that large puddles were accumulating in the slow lane of the highway. We found the B&B we had booked in Cambridge then headed off on foot to see the town. It was quite a long walk but a lot of it was along the banks of the River Cam. We wandered around and did some shopping. There were thousands of bikes everywhere - being ridden along the specially marked bike routes or being locked to every possible railing and bike stand. The inundation of large groups of foreign
students/tourist has begun. The academic year has finished and I think they rent out the college residences to them.

Entrance to King's College

Drinking at a pub beside the river and enjoying the show

We took a punting trip that unfortunately we purchased from one of the rogue companies that wander the King's Parade soliciting your business. We did get to go punting but we had to walk a short distance down to a field full of cow pies which abutted the river where six of us gingerly climbed aboard a punt.The route promised was a behind many of the colleges of Cambridge and under many of the bridges that connect them. We were sitting in the front and had a clear view of the complete mayhem on the river. We did laugh a lot. There were a great number of punts in general but the self punters in rented boats caused a lot of chaos, blocking the canal sideways - generally looking terrified and frustrated.

Mathematical bridge

Traffic jam

Bridge of Sighs

King's College

Wren's library

We were too tired to walk back to our accommodation so we took a bus - quite the transit sampling today.

Lincolnshire

Ginger and Debbie

We have been spending our time in Lincolnshire between two cousins, each from either side of my family. Debbie Buckland is from my mother's side.

Rob Munday

We had dinner on Thursday night with Rob and Hilary Munday.  Rob is from my father's side. He recorded the France vs Germany game so we came back to their little cottage to watch it.

Fruit and flower shop in Horncastle

Laurie did not attempt to look through these records

Bell for front door

We had a free day today in Scramblesby, Lincolnshire so I decided it was time we found an antique front door knocker. We had seen as we drove through Horncastle that in 2001 it had won some title such as antique centre of England. In the intervening 15 years ago it seems to have slipped to junk shop central. We plodded through shop after shop.  They had various degrees of organization. Mostly the spaces were leased by individuals so no-one knew the overall stock picture. We only found two knockers the whole day and both were incomplete and/or ugly so we bought the bell. We figured the grandsons could ring it to announce their arrival.

Lincoln

Laurie and I went into Lincoln on Wednesday to see the castle and cathedral. There was also an installation to commemorate the centenary of the commencement of WWI called a Poppy Wave which appeared at the Tower of London. In front of the cathedral there was also a memorial garden for those that lost their lives at the Battle of the Somme. We wrote Ivor Burgess (great uncle's name) on a little cross and planted it in the sand.

Tan Vats

We arrived at The Old School House on
Monday afternoon. This is Cousin Debbie and Ginger's home now but originally it was a school for 100 kids. It was built in 1950 but was decommissioned in 1985 as the population diminished. This is a farming area primarily and the tanning industry and the pubs and other services has long departed.

Living room

The hall

Their building is very different from others in England - its a timber frame building with wood cladding. Most houses here are built of stone or brick. It is a huge home with 14 rooms all on one level. A newcomer spends the first while just trying to locate his/her allocated bedroom. The house is situated on 1 3/4 acres with many outbuildings - greenhouses, motorcycle garages, caravans, sheds etc.












This area is flat; it is very fertile because it was land drained by the Romans. We went for a walk on Tuesday. There was one footpath and the rest was walking on the road which skirt fields. Walking was not a consideration when Debbie and Ginger bought this place 10 years ago. They both have disabilities and liked the fact that the house was all on one level. The closest village shops are 20 minutes away by car and Lincoln, the biggest town is 45 minutes away.

No, not likely a crop circle