We woke up this morning to thick fog - difficult to see the other side of the small campsite here at Ingbirchworth. However, after some handwashing (there is no washing machine on site), we drove to Silkstone, the village where many of John's ancestors lived up to five hundred years ago.
Silkstone has a church (All Saints) in a stunning setting, built in the 12th century, and added to in the 14th century. We were lucky enough to meet up with a couple of very friendly parishioners, and one of them opened up the church for us and gave us a guided tour for about an hour. Whilst John stayed chatting, I wandered around the churchyard looking for Moxon graves, but couldn't find any. However, I did find some Hattersley graves. Mary Hattersley of Silkstone was one of John's 3rd great grandparents, married to Joshua Moxon (b 1751).
Hattersley is still a big name in Silkstone, a village of between 4000-5000, around 6 miles from Barnsley.
We then had lunch at a very well appointed restaurant in a renovated water mill, part of a plant nursery and gift shop at Pot House Hamlet, right near All Saint's Church at Silkstone. The site has been productive since the 17th century, largely due to the Silkstone Beck, (creek). It was the first glassworks of its kind in Europe. In the 18th century a pottery took over the site. Later the site became a water mill and blacksmith.
When we got back to the campsite, we had to be rescued by another camper because we got bogged trying to position the motor home. Rain is now pounding down. There is nothing more dreary than sitting in a motor home with the rain pounding on the roof, looking out at drystone walls which are now soaking wet. Or perhaps there is - sitting on the drystone wall with the rain pounding down might be a tad more depressing. But only a tad mind you.
Our Silkstone web album can be viewed at http://picasaweb.google.com/JohnMoxon1/SilkstoneNearBarnsley
Tomorrow we head north through a hamlet called Ryecroft where we will meet a Betty Moxon, who is married to a John Moxon who is a decendant of the Joshua Moxon and Mary Hattersley mentioned earlier. Another relative found by internet. Ain't it wonderful!
And then we head for a village near Tadcaster (Kirkby Wharfe) where John's great great grandmother was born (Sarah Middleton) and where she and Isaac Moxon were married. No washing machine there either, the socks are beginning to pong (just joking).
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
Monday, May 26, 2008
Grenoside on second attempt
Yesterday - Sunday - we managed to get to Grenoside, this time very easily by motor home. A bit tricky in the village itself - getting stuck in a dead end - but eventually we found the community centre and plenty of parking.
We felt we might just as easily be in Dubbo, at the Seniors Expo! It had the same feeling. The community centre was very similar to our centres and lots of interesting seniors to talk to. The Grenoside Family History Group is a VERY well organised group, and obviously full of energetic people (just like Parramatta Computer Pals for Seniors) who contributed a lot of work to making the exhibition a success. Lots of pre-computer displays on boards - very well researched - but also people who ran a website and helped out with email queries.
Grenoside itself is situated so close to Sheffield city but surprisingly is still a village. Like Penistone, our nearest town, the commercial operators like Sainsburys haven't got there yet. Just one little corner store and a few pubs. Have a look at our gallery of photos.
Today - a bank holiday - is wild and windy so we are having a lazy day.
John might add to this blog, but this is all for now. Thanks for the comments folks. Keep them up.
We felt we might just as easily be in Dubbo, at the Seniors Expo! It had the same feeling. The community centre was very similar to our centres and lots of interesting seniors to talk to. The Grenoside Family History Group is a VERY well organised group, and obviously full of energetic people (just like Parramatta Computer Pals for Seniors) who contributed a lot of work to making the exhibition a success. Lots of pre-computer displays on boards - very well researched - but also people who ran a website and helped out with email queries.
Grenoside itself is situated so close to Sheffield city but surprisingly is still a village. Like Penistone, our nearest town, the commercial operators like Sainsburys haven't got there yet. Just one little corner store and a few pubs. Have a look at our gallery of photos.
Today - a bank holiday - is wild and windy so we are having a lazy day.
John might add to this blog, but this is all for now. Thanks for the comments folks. Keep them up.
Sunday, May 25, 2008
Ingbirchworth, near Penistone, South Yorkshire
We are currently camped at a farmyard caravan park, somewhat primitive, but the most interesting caravan park yet. It is owned and operated by a 79 year old farmer who reckons like others that you can't make a quid out of farming these days. Mind you, he's sitting on a gold mine, but only if he can develop it somehow.
The farm is in the middle of the "old village" made up of five farms, dating back to the 12-1400s. Many of the buildings have been gentrified, and the main road to Huddersfield is full of people who have moved out of towns such as Barnsley and Sheffield.
We've been able to leave the motor home at the caravan park and catch a small wheelchair accessible bus run by Sheffield Community Transport to Penistone, a dour but architecturally interesting market town of 5000 where we can connect with buses to the larger metropolis of Sheffield and also Barnsley.
Yesterday we tried to find our way to Grenoside, a suburb of Sheffield where John's ggrandfather Joshua Middleton Moxon was born. His father was an innkeeper there in 1840. We don't know which of the three inns in the original village unfortunately. The Grenoside Family History Group is holding a two day exhibition at the Community Centre.
Unfortunately, despite the bus driver's best efforts, and indeed John contacting five taxi companies, we were unable to get a connection from Chapeltown, where the bus driver left us to Grenoside. None of the buses to Grenoside were wheelchair accessible and none of the taxi companies had a suitable taxi on the road or in the area.
So we were stuck in Chapeltown, which is quite a depressing place, but fortunately we found a pub which had a great menu, and then found our way home again, via two buses. We are getting to know the operator of the small community bus very well. The bus goes on a loop through extremely beautiful farming country, through small oldy worldy villages with extensive development on its edges and then past sheep and cattle farms with barns dating back to the 1500s, contrasting with wind farms and reservoirs.
So we will try again today, being Sunday and more opportunity to park the motor home somewhere.
We had been told that we would have to do without power over the bank holiday weekend (Saturday and Sunday nights), but the old farmer seems to like us (he gave us a book of yarns about the district) and he's very laid back. When we asked when we should move the motor home, he just said "She'll be right" and when we ask when he'd like us to pay, he said "Later". Very laid back. It's only seven pound a night here. Mostly around 14-18 pound per night.
The farm is in the middle of the "old village" made up of five farms, dating back to the 12-1400s. Many of the buildings have been gentrified, and the main road to Huddersfield is full of people who have moved out of towns such as Barnsley and Sheffield.
We've been able to leave the motor home at the caravan park and catch a small wheelchair accessible bus run by Sheffield Community Transport to Penistone, a dour but architecturally interesting market town of 5000 where we can connect with buses to the larger metropolis of Sheffield and also Barnsley.
Yesterday we tried to find our way to Grenoside, a suburb of Sheffield where John's ggrandfather Joshua Middleton Moxon was born. His father was an innkeeper there in 1840. We don't know which of the three inns in the original village unfortunately. The Grenoside Family History Group is holding a two day exhibition at the Community Centre.
Unfortunately, despite the bus driver's best efforts, and indeed John contacting five taxi companies, we were unable to get a connection from Chapeltown, where the bus driver left us to Grenoside. None of the buses to Grenoside were wheelchair accessible and none of the taxi companies had a suitable taxi on the road or in the area.
So we were stuck in Chapeltown, which is quite a depressing place, but fortunately we found a pub which had a great menu, and then found our way home again, via two buses. We are getting to know the operator of the small community bus very well. The bus goes on a loop through extremely beautiful farming country, through small oldy worldy villages with extensive development on its edges and then past sheep and cattle farms with barns dating back to the 1500s, contrasting with wind farms and reservoirs.
So we will try again today, being Sunday and more opportunity to park the motor home somewhere.
We had been told that we would have to do without power over the bank holiday weekend (Saturday and Sunday nights), but the old farmer seems to like us (he gave us a book of yarns about the district) and he's very laid back. When we asked when we should move the motor home, he just said "She'll be right" and when we ask when he'd like us to pay, he said "Later". Very laid back. It's only seven pound a night here. Mostly around 14-18 pound per night.
Thursday, May 22, 2008
Donington Park - home to a great Formula 1 collection
John was in his element yesterday, spending hours in a private museum which is an absolute treasure trove of formula one racing cars, going right back to a 1903 mercedes grand prix car (they were'nt called formula one back then.
I spent about one third of the time there, the rest in the coffee shop! Along with most wives and partners according the to cafe manager. John wished he had son Bruce or mate Ken with him to discuss the races and the technical specifications.
We rounded off our four day stay in this caravan park with a meal at the Shardlow Marina pub. Two huge meals for a tenner, which is great value. They make up by charging a fortune for drinks, which didn't bother us one little bit.
Our photos of Shardlow are now on our photo gallery at http://picasaweb.google.com/JohnMoxon1/ShardlowDerbyshire
Today we set off for Penistone in the foothills of the Peak District, halfway between Sheffield and Barnsley, where John's Moxon ancestors lived for 300-400 years.
I spent about one third of the time there, the rest in the coffee shop! Along with most wives and partners according the to cafe manager. John wished he had son Bruce or mate Ken with him to discuss the races and the technical specifications.
We rounded off our four day stay in this caravan park with a meal at the Shardlow Marina pub. Two huge meals for a tenner, which is great value. They make up by charging a fortune for drinks, which didn't bother us one little bit.
Our photos of Shardlow are now on our photo gallery at http://picasaweb.google.com/JohnMoxon1/ShardlowDerbyshire
Today we set off for Penistone in the foothills of the Peak District, halfway between Sheffield and Barnsley, where John's Moxon ancestors lived for 300-400 years.
Tuesday, May 20, 2008
Shardlow Marina, off the M1 near Derby
We arrived here on Sunday after spending the afternoon on the M1 - not so tricky really for us Sydneysiders. I much prefer driving the motorways to the narrow country roads through villages, with cars parked any which way on the sides of roads, or narrow hedged roads with no passing spaces. No wonder most English people drive small cars. Mind you, petrol is about $3 per litre, so that would be another reason!
As you know our itinerary has changed considerably. If you scroll right to the bottom of this blog, you will find a calendar.
Yesterday we spent half a day back at the motor home hirer's depot getting a few things fixed and checked out. I have a bedside reading lamp at last, and we had the tail light fixed.
The Marina we are camped at has many moored canal long boats. We showed you some of these at Banbury. There is a vast network of canals and locks throughout the midlands.
We are spending four nights here, before heading for Sheffield. It has been very cold - 13C maximum for the past few days, but we have had a share of sunshine. Starts off brilliantly blue whilst we are getting the courage to get out of bed, then goes steadily overcast during the day.
Cheerio for now.
Margaret & John
As you know our itinerary has changed considerably. If you scroll right to the bottom of this blog, you will find a calendar.
Yesterday we spent half a day back at the motor home hirer's depot getting a few things fixed and checked out. I have a bedside reading lamp at last, and we had the tail light fixed.
The Marina we are camped at has many moored canal long boats. We showed you some of these at Banbury. There is a vast network of canals and locks throughout the midlands.
We are spending four nights here, before heading for Sheffield. It has been very cold - 13C maximum for the past few days, but we have had a share of sunshine. Starts off brilliantly blue whilst we are getting the courage to get out of bed, then goes steadily overcast during the day.
Cheerio for now.
Margaret & John
Saturday, May 17, 2008
Hertfordshire
Well, it was good to find comments from three members at the Computer Club just now. John Lee also reported that the meeting went well, and members were able to view the blogsite and photos. That's great. Seems you haven't forgotten us either.
Well, after a lot of trial and error, we are back on wireless broadband. There were two problems - one was that the motor home isn't too conducive to wireless broadband reception. Fortunately the modem came with an extension lead, so I have been able to put it out the window. Mind you, it's freezing outside, so there's a bit of a draft. Secondly, it pays to put the sim card in properly! We were fortunate at the last caravan park at Horsham to have unlimited free access to a wireless network. Not so here at Hoddesdon in Hertfordshire.
We left Horsham on Thursday morning, after a great night out with Linda (Tucker) and her husband Peter who have been great fun to meet. I love them dearly, and we all got on very well. Fortunately Linda "gets" John's sense of humour.
Having not had the opportunity to visit Ightham in Kent, we decided to do so on the way to Hertfordshire. It was only a little over an hour from Horsham, but unfortunately it was miserably wet, and got worse during the day and forever after (it is now Saturday).
John stayed in the motor home whilst I made a beeline for the pub in the small village of Ightham where my maternal grandmother Kitty (Kate Elizabeth Palmer)and great grandmother Annie Ashby were born. Fortunately they had a map and I found the places I needed to explore. It was great to go to the church where my ancestors were married and baptised and to see the farm where my great grandmother was born.
We drove through streets which no motor home should traverse (so narrow and no passing spots - just breath deeply and hope for the best) to see the Ightham Common where my great great grandparents lived with my grandmother.
We then drove to Seal, the next village, close to Sevenoaks which is a bigger town in West Kent that may be better known to some of you. Seal was larger than Ightham, which is off the main roads, but even prettier. There are now photos of both on Johns Photo Gallery.
I was able to brighten up the photos, thanks to Picasa! The day was very grey.
From Seal, we found our way back to the A25, the ring road around London, which is the only toll road we have experienced. We paid a pound to travel through the Dartford Tunnel under the Thames on our way to Hoddesdon. I thought that was very cheap compared to the M2!!
However, I was not impressed with the A25 leading to the tollgate. Bumper to bumper (mostly stopped) for three miles before the tunnel. And surrounded by huge trucks coming from Europe and heading north.
Surprisingly, that is our only experience of traffic worse than Sydney. Even in peak hour (rush hour), which we usually avoid the traffic is no worse. Our main problem is squeezing the motor home through narrow streets, and even on minor A roads like the A27 in Hampshire. And parking! What a nightmare. Mostly I suppose because we don't know the towns. In villages we have to park on the curb, and hope cars can squeeze past. There are many places where there is nothing between a hedge and the road.
We arrived in Hoddesdon on Thursday evening, and it was VERY tiring driving. John was not well again, so went back to bed whilst I walked into town via a public footpath - along a lane, over the railway line, through a private field with horses and into a housing estate and through to the High Street. A real short cut and pretty as well. Coming home I stuck to the roadway and wished I hadn't. The footpaths were narrow and non-existent (I had to keep crossing the road), I had to walk through a highly industrialised area and it was twice as lengthy.
However, today (Saturday)despite the weather - 15 degrees, grey with constant showers, we drove into Hoddesdon and went to the library as well as looked at the High Street. No coffee shops for John to access. All had steps. Hoddesdon is a rather "left behind" town, and although it has a Sainsbury's supermarket, it does not have a modern arcade with shops with level access, such as .
At the library we had a bit of luck. We found information about John's 4th great grandfather, one George Cheffins born in 1739 and his career as a joiner. He was reputed to have built a staircase in one of the big houses. His grandson, Caius Cheffins was bailiff to the Marquess of Salisbury in the early 1800s.
So John has a history of skilled artisans in his family, either joiners, builders or masons. He reckons he's married beneath him, since I can only find agricultural labourers, and a yeoman in those pre-industrial times.
Keep those comments coming in. We do appreciate them, from family, old friends and our many new friends at the computer club. Thanks Judy, John, Hazel and Peter for your comments.
Well, after a lot of trial and error, we are back on wireless broadband. There were two problems - one was that the motor home isn't too conducive to wireless broadband reception. Fortunately the modem came with an extension lead, so I have been able to put it out the window. Mind you, it's freezing outside, so there's a bit of a draft. Secondly, it pays to put the sim card in properly! We were fortunate at the last caravan park at Horsham to have unlimited free access to a wireless network. Not so here at Hoddesdon in Hertfordshire.
We left Horsham on Thursday morning, after a great night out with Linda (Tucker) and her husband Peter who have been great fun to meet. I love them dearly, and we all got on very well. Fortunately Linda "gets" John's sense of humour.
Having not had the opportunity to visit Ightham in Kent, we decided to do so on the way to Hertfordshire. It was only a little over an hour from Horsham, but unfortunately it was miserably wet, and got worse during the day and forever after (it is now Saturday).
John stayed in the motor home whilst I made a beeline for the pub in the small village of Ightham where my maternal grandmother Kitty (Kate Elizabeth Palmer)and great grandmother Annie Ashby were born. Fortunately they had a map and I found the places I needed to explore. It was great to go to the church where my ancestors were married and baptised and to see the farm where my great grandmother was born.
We drove through streets which no motor home should traverse (so narrow and no passing spots - just breath deeply and hope for the best) to see the Ightham Common where my great great grandparents lived with my grandmother.
We then drove to Seal, the next village, close to Sevenoaks which is a bigger town in West Kent that may be better known to some of you. Seal was larger than Ightham, which is off the main roads, but even prettier. There are now photos of both on Johns Photo Gallery.
I was able to brighten up the photos, thanks to Picasa! The day was very grey.
From Seal, we found our way back to the A25, the ring road around London, which is the only toll road we have experienced. We paid a pound to travel through the Dartford Tunnel under the Thames on our way to Hoddesdon. I thought that was very cheap compared to the M2!!
However, I was not impressed with the A25 leading to the tollgate. Bumper to bumper (mostly stopped) for three miles before the tunnel. And surrounded by huge trucks coming from Europe and heading north.
Surprisingly, that is our only experience of traffic worse than Sydney. Even in peak hour (rush hour), which we usually avoid the traffic is no worse. Our main problem is squeezing the motor home through narrow streets, and even on minor A roads like the A27 in Hampshire. And parking! What a nightmare. Mostly I suppose because we don't know the towns. In villages we have to park on the curb, and hope cars can squeeze past. There are many places where there is nothing between a hedge and the road.
We arrived in Hoddesdon on Thursday evening, and it was VERY tiring driving. John was not well again, so went back to bed whilst I walked into town via a public footpath - along a lane, over the railway line, through a private field with horses and into a housing estate and through to the High Street. A real short cut and pretty as well. Coming home I stuck to the roadway and wished I hadn't. The footpaths were narrow and non-existent (I had to keep crossing the road), I had to walk through a highly industrialised area and it was twice as lengthy.
However, today (Saturday)despite the weather - 15 degrees, grey with constant showers, we drove into Hoddesdon and went to the library as well as looked at the High Street. No coffee shops for John to access. All had steps. Hoddesdon is a rather "left behind" town, and although it has a Sainsbury's supermarket, it does not have a modern arcade with shops with level access, such as .
At the library we had a bit of luck. We found information about John's 4th great grandfather, one George Cheffins born in 1739 and his career as a joiner. He was reputed to have built a staircase in one of the big houses. His grandson, Caius Cheffins was bailiff to the Marquess of Salisbury in the early 1800s.
So John has a history of skilled artisans in his family, either joiners, builders or masons. He reckons he's married beneath him, since I can only find agricultural labourers, and a yeoman in those pre-industrial times.
Keep those comments coming in. We do appreciate them, from family, old friends and our many new friends at the computer club. Thanks Judy, John, Hazel and Peter for your comments.
Wednesday, May 14, 2008
Glued to the campsite in Barns Green
Well, we've slowed right down. We've had two attempts at driving to Kent for the day, but are either too weary or feeling crook for the third day in a row. We leave here tomorrow, and hopefully will call into Ightham, Kent on our way to Lea Valley (Hoddesdon, Hertfordshire) tomorrow.
We are having a pub tea with Linda and Peter tonight.
Cheerio for now. Margaret
PS We will be thinking of you all at the computer club on Friday. Why not put a comment or two on the blog. Hazel Labka has done so, and it is always great to hear how our blog is being received.
We are having a pub tea with Linda and Peter tonight.
Cheerio for now. Margaret
PS We will be thinking of you all at the computer club on Friday. Why not put a comment or two on the blog. Hazel Labka has done so, and it is always great to hear how our blog is being received.
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