My 6th week - July 1-7.

July 1

A very early start as the flight for the family to the US was at 9:30am. I went with them to the airport and after the goodbyes, I put my luggage in the left luggage for the day, while I explored Dublin in more depth.

Breakfast first -Cappuccino and almond croissant. 

I had decided on taking the Hop on-Hop off bus around the city, and it was a good choice. I recommend everyone to do this in an unknown city, as you get an excellent overview  of  it. There are 29 site stops to give you the opportunity to explore your favorites, and for 10 euros, it was a bargain. For most of the ride, I stayed on the bus, especially enjoying the Phoenix Park with the two White House lookalikes, one belonging to the President of  Ireland, the other of the American Ambassador to Ireland. The zoo and polo fields are also in the park, and not far from there was the Wolfe Tone Quay. On the Wolfe side of our family, we are researching the Irish branch, so this was rather exciting. I  hopped off the bus when I saw the Dublin Castle. It is still a council working environment, but the state apartments are open to the public. St. Patrick's Hall is the grandest of all with the most significant painted ceiling by Vincenzo Waldre in the 1790s. Then it was Ballroom of the British Viceregal court. Now it is the most important ceremonial room in Ireland and is used for important events and the inauguration of Ireland's President every seven years. All around are the banners of the chivalric order of the Knights of St. Patrick and plaques with crests of Irish aristocrats. There were many, and I started to look for the Wolfe plaque, but it would have taken me ages to look at each one. The guide was not up on all the names, so Maggie, it's up to us to get those magnifying glasses and see if we can find it!

Yes, this is the Queen in Dublin Castle. 

Not far from the castle are the cathedrals of Christchurch (originally inside the Castle gates, as it was during the reign of the British, the Church of Ireland, Protestant) and St. Patrick's, which was outside the gates, being Roman Catholic. I was not able to enter either of the Cathedrals as the Sunday services were in full swing in both of them. In any case, there were so many tourists in that area, I gave up, hopped on the bus and enjoyed the ride around before going back to the airport to catch my flight to Robin Hood Airport which serves Doncaster and Sheffield. Initially,  it was a good choice, but due to a crew member becoming ill in Doncaster, the return flight to Dublin to pick us up was delayed until they were able to get a replacement. We finally took off at 11pm for the one-hour flight. Clare was picking me up (thanks to messaging, she was fully aware of what was going on) but it was nearly 2am by the time we got to the house, and she had to work that morning!

July 2

It was good to rest up after a hectic week in Wales and Ireland and to catch up on family news from my aunt Noreen, Dad's baby sister. Clare and her son Marcus live with her in a lovely house built by her son Ian some years ago which is perfect for them, on the edge of a small town where Noreen and John, her husband, farmed for many years on the land further up the road, and where I learnt to ride my Granny's large bicycle! Not much has changed in the town except for the loss of my sweet Granny, Dad's mum, and his other sister, Elsie. I'm thankful to be able to visit all my UK family both old and young as the years go by, as I do in the US.  

Nothing is better than English strawberries with cream.

July 3

Clare had arranged a trip to visit Chatsworth House. I had always wanted to visit it, but it wasn't on my usual route. It was quite a drive to Derbyshire from Crowle, but I loved the scenery and it was a beautiful day for it. It's another place where to really get to know it, would take many visits, but the set-up for first-time visitors is impeccable. On reaching the house, it seems enormous, but only the staterooms are open, as the family, the Duke and Duchess of Devonshire live there permanently. For anglophile book-lovers, the previous Duchess, Deborah, was the youngest sister of Nancy Mitford, the writer.  Coming from an aristocratic if not eccentric family, the six Mitford sisters were a law unto their own, Deborah being the most establishment (ie - proper). In the heyday of the time between the first and second wars, they were the most notable young things. Well worth going to the library to read about them and especially Nancy's books.

So, getting over the enormity of beauty (landscaping) wealth (gold painted railings and window frames), paintings, beautiful objects (probably thousands of them), we took advantage of a free introduction to the house. It really should be called a palace, but that's not English, in spite of the fact that they are top aristocrats. The only thing that bothered me was the juxtaposition of an exhibition of contemporary objects together with the furnishings of the house. I felt they simply didn't fit into the setting.

                                        

Couldn't resist the pianist in the library of Chatsworth!

July 4

A family day, with a visit from cousin Paul. Almost retired, he is starting to travel to sunnier climes with friends, sadly without his wife who died some years ago. He's very proud of his daughter who is in the Police Force not far away.

In the evening, dinner at Ian and Jeanette's new house at their farm just outside Crowle. It's all very flat in that part of Lincolnshire, in fact, centuries ago, the Dutch came to build canals to drain the water so that the land could be farmed. Their son Lewis and cousin Marcus, are good pals and immediately took off to play with the latest gadgets.

A hearty roast meal with Yorkshire pudding!

Jeanette with a lamb she raised by bottle.

Some of the other lambs she raised.

Out on the patio.

Mum and son

Beautiful sunset.

July 5

A visitor in the morning, Margaret, who is a lifelong friend of Noreen and whom I have met on several occasions. Nice of her to pop in to catch up.

Later, using my photographic memory I walked around Crowle, and although I didn't get lost, it took me a while to get back to the house. Clare was a bit concerned and called me, but I made it back,  4 miles in all!  I enjoyed finding little snippets of history, and here are a couple.

This is where my grandfather (whom I never met) and later my granny, worked for the Brewery nearby. It was demolished to make room for more housing, but this plaque is on the gate of one of the new houses. 

Not too many of these Victorian post boxes are still in use. 

And of course a good meal with Yorkshire pudding to end the day.

 July 6
Marcus' school sports day. Brought back many memories. So English! What was un-English was the weather - as hot as in North Carolina, but without the humidity, even in the morning.

Marcus encouraging his mates in the relay race by jumping up and down!

Winners' race around the field. 

After the sports morning, we left Marcus getting ready for the scratch-made hot lunches made every day by the dinner ladies for the children.
Clare drove us to a very pretty town, Beverly,  north of Crowle. It's got lots of shops which she loves and I enjoyed looking around the architecture. I still wasn't able to find shoes in my size which really surprised me as there are lots of Englishwomen who have small feet.  

Beverly market Square

Closer look at monument. 

July 7

After packing up, Clare drove Noreen and me to York to meet Randy and Lynn, my hosts for the next week. Marcus stayed with his cousin which was more fun than sitting in the car. Nice photos to remember the enjoyable stay with the family in Lincolnshire.

We met Randy and Lynn in a York car park and transferred my luggage to their car. We then walked to the Minster area and had, for the most part, a very pleasant dinner at La Vecchia Scuola (The  Girls' School, now an Italian restaurant). Saturday night hen parties can get quite noisy and we had one of those near our table, so conversation at times was negligible for us. However we had a good time and I'm glad Noreen and Clare were able to meet my American friends. After dinner, we said our goodbyes to Noreen and Clare, as they were going home to pick up Marcus, and Randy, Lynn and I were going to the first  concert of the York Early Music Festival to hear our friend and teacher, Alison Crum, together with the rest of the Rose Consort and Gallicantus, a vocal ensemble with organ.

Absolutely divine singing and playing in the small church St. Michael le Belfrey adjacent to the Minster. For my viol friends, composers were Thomas Tomkins, William Lawes, Judith Bingham b.1952, and Orlando Gibbons. More on the ncviolplayerschronicle.weebly.com.

It's a good 2+ hours from York to Randy and Lynn's cottage, so it was quite late when we arrived. In spite of very late sunsets, darkness, later on, hid the magnificent views of the moors. Not to worry, I had 6 days to wander and wonder at the scenery. AND the weather was perfect.