England Road Ways - TRAVEL - HISTORY. Two on the Loose

Surname Scharfe, Yorkshire; Vikings?

2009-06-27T04:14:00.000-07:00

Yorkshire and Vikings: Northeast England, a place to visit next time. Of interest here because of Nordic history there, roots, and a recreational interest in names (ours, with Viking roots on both sides, in the names). Vikings!

Scharfes in Yorkshire. A name with Viking roots?

The Vikings began raiding in England in 787 AD. Conquest activity followed. See ://www.localhistories.org/viking.html/. Danes conquered northern England in 866 AD, and the area that once was a Roman city, York, became the capital of Viking rule. Finally in 1016, there came peace with King Canute. Read there about the history of Viking raiding and invasions in Europe, down through Germany, Russia, Eastern Europe, Iceland, Spain (the Muslims defended, kept them out), Portugal, and traded with the Byzantine Empire. In Germany, the root "scharf" in Middle High German meant energetic active person; and scharpf is sharp-cutting, see ://www.ancestry.com/facts/Scharf-name-meaning.ashx/

A blacksmith connection.

Viking craftsmen included blacksmiths, see ://www.localhistories.org/viking.html/ The root of "skarf" with all its spellings wherever the Vikings went comes from forge, or in the Orkneys, shaley place as where cormorants nested, with skarf as a term connected to cormorants (Skarfskerry, Scotland?) see Ireland Road Ways, Scarf - Scharfe - Scharf Ironworking, Norse Is that so? We are just enjoying ourselves here. Not experts.

And in the 1800's, there were four Scharfe families in Yorkshire.

Thomas in 1831,
Hadassah A. in 1837,
Agnes in 1837, and
Thomas H. in 1872. See Scharfe Family History at Ancestry.Com at ://www.ancestry.com/facts/Scharfe-family-history-uk.ashx/ This would not be our group, except in name, as our Scharf-Scharfes settled in Ireland.

A Jewish connection

There are Polish Jewish Scharfs, see ://www.shoreshim.org/en/trees/treesNamelist.asp?letter=S/
Read about Nili Scharf Gold and his research into the poet, Amichai. See ://www.brandeis.edu/information/download/jewishstudies.pdf/ and
That Hadassah Scharfe, above.

Interest in Hadassah.

Jews in England - back to the beginnings? There was a massacre of Jews in York in 1190 - there is a Hadassah Scharfe in Yorkshire in the 1890's - see ://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?rank=0&gsln=Scharfe&f1=Yorkshire&db=uki1891&gss=genfact/ That is the Hebrew name for Esther, with connections to the myrtle, used in perfume. See ://www.abarim-publications.com/Meaning/Hadassah.html/ Hadassah is also the name of the Jewish women's Zionist organization.

Jewish connections? Given the Viking wanderings, settlements, raids and conquests, that would not be unusual at all.

Looks like it. A Lauren Scharf in Ohio US gave some records to Hadassah the organization there, so is there a Jewish branch of us? See ://www.americanjewisharchives.org/aja/FindingAids/hadassah.htm/ The name comes up. Everybody intermarries with everybody all over the world, so welcome, family. Come to think of it, we were detained in 1961 from entering Israel from Egypt because the "scharfe" was thought to be what? German therefore Jewish or Jewish? We never knew. After an hour we were allowed in. Or was it going from Israel into Syria and Lebanon? Maybe that was it.

The e in our name came only in the 20th Century, to keep all the Ireland-originating Ottawa Scharfs identifiable for the post office. We still would like to know about Hadassah Scharfe.

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Side interest: "wic" means trading place, see ://www.localhistories.org/york.html/ Eastwick? Southwick? How about Pickwick? Wicca? Wickman? "Land" is a Viking word, and that became attached to the Gaelic "eire" = Ireland. Suder means South, so Sutherland (Scotland at the north). See Viking history at that allhistories site, click and find yourself at ://www.localhistories.org/viking.html/ Upper class Vikings: Earls. Farmers and craftsmen: Karls. See ://www.localhistories.org/viking.html

Stonehenge and Healing

2008-10-01T13:19:00.000-07:00

Research and archeology never stop. Now Stonehenge is seen, at least partly, as a place of healing, its own Lourdes where those with illness or deformity could come for relief.

Stonehenge

See September 2008 articles, at ://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26838058/

The early pilgrims - these being far distant prehistoric, nothing "Christian," even came from other parts of Europe, not just local. This is the Neolithic era. Some skulls even show signs of surgery (didn't the ancient Egyptians also drill through skulls successfully?), see ://www.usatoday.com/tech/science/2008-09-22-stonehenge-healing_N.htm

Currrent dating: at 2300 BCE (Before Christian Era) see://www.findingdulcinea.com/news/science/September-October/Stonehenge-Said-to-Be-Place-of-Healing.html

Comment reply - We were able to get very close - park across the highway, then follow the pedestrian tunnel underneath to the stones' side. There was a gravel walkway around a tight perimeter, with some stones nearby on the other side of the walkway as well. There was a very light wirey fence, nothing formidable, more a guide. We could not wander freely inside the main area of the stones, however. Everyone stayed on the walkway.

These are too manicured - we did not get elsewhere to famous stone sites in England, but found stone circles and standing stones in the middle of fields. Look up our Orkney and Hebrides sites at Europe Road Ways for the wilder settings for standing stones. More impressive, we thought.

Wiltshire News: Stonehenge (burials); Sarum, Salisbury area

2008-05-29T23:53:00.000-07:00

Wiltshire District -

The area is a layer cake, as this site describes parts of it - history of Sarum, see below, at ://www.timetravel-britain.com/articles/castles/sarum.shtml.

Find successive cultures, religions for the ages. Burial practices, historical developments taking place within short distances, Cathedral, little hamlets with little Norman churches (Mildenhall, for example - there are two Mildenhalls, one north of London with a military base, and then this little village they pronounce as "Minall" if you are looking).

Stonehenge: Fellow Left Just Outside the Circle

Stonehenge.

We were told that this was a place of sun worship - example ://www.english-heritage.org.uk/server/show/nav.16465. New news: With the carbon-dating of cremated remains that had been in storage, archeologists now say that the purpose of Stonehenge is clearer. It was a burial ground, and apparently for rulers that dominated the area for some 500 years. Stonehenge itself dates from about 3000 BC. See://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-stonehenge_30may30,0,3850894.story

Old Sarum: Work building the banks of the earthwork area began in about 5000 BC - town then on top. It was in use through the time of the Romans and Normans, and finally the center of life moved to Salisbury, about 1219 AD.

"The Sarum Use" is an old liturgy that formed the basis for the later Book of Common Prayer, Church of England, the Common Prayer dating from 1549. View the Sarum Use, parallel Latin and the English, here - at://ia331338.us.archive.org/0/items/theancientliturg00maskuoft/theancientliturg00maskuoft.pdfOr,Or

Or, go first to this site for an overview, and then click to view. See ://justus.anglican.org/resources/bcp/Sarum/index.html; overviews at http://www.britainexpress.com/Where_to_go_in_Britain/Destination_Library/old-sarum.htm.

A new book is coming out on that Sarum Use, says ://www.thecityandthecity.org/2008/04/new-book-on-the-sarum-use/. The liturgy is also known as the Sarum Missal. See ://justus.anglican.org/resources/bcp/Sarum/index.htm.

Good older beach book: "Sarum - A Novel of England," by Edward Rutherford, 1987.

Salisbury. Apparently people needed water and the high earthwork town did not access it easily, thus the move to Salisbury and the vast Cathedral there, see See://www.salisburycathedral.org.uk/; ://www.thetravelinsider.com/britain/salisburyintroduction.htm

Getting around. How do we cover so much in two weeks with a rented car - remember the short distances and small size of European countries. Go back to your globe and superimpose England, for example, on the US. Our car trips are not frenetic at all. They just unfold. Stonehenge, the Salisbury Plain; Old Sarum, 500 BC, see ://www.english-heritage.org.uk/server/show/nav.16426; Salisbury Cathedral, all an easy motorway drive from London and then south - short compared to the distances here. Easy to visit from London to Stonehenge, Stonehenge to Old Sarum, and then to Salisbury for the night.

Spin-Off Sites - Travelers (Gypsies, Roma) in England

2007-12-30T07:38:00.001-08:00

Each country has its own narrative about its Roma, their origins, their past and future. See the "History of Travelling" at www.travellersinleeds.co.uk/_travellers/HistoryEngland.html, for the Roma or Romani or Travellers in Leeds, England. This is a central site for Travellers, with links to various needs and interest groups. It shows by maps and pictures and chronological events where Gypsies came from, and their earliest connections to England.

In England, there is increasing unrest by the community people against the Travellers. See www.abc.net.au/abccontentsales/s1519912.htm. It looks like similar immigration issues are arising worldwide, as peoples cross old boundaries. Distrust, resentment, efforts to dislodge without a place for them to go, etc. And the healthcare provided is abominable, like here. See ://www.news-medical.net/?id=22350. Governments use lots of words about them and great plans. See //83.137.212.42/sitearchive/cre/policy/gypsies_and_travellers.html. Maybe just see that there is healthcare and sustenance and let them travel? Leave a culture alone if they want it?

Our Ireland site provides information on other areas of the British Isles, see Ireland Road Ways, Travellers post, and there is a good overview historical-social-political site at ://www.qub.ac.uk/schools/SchoolofEnglish/imperial/ireland/travellers.htm.

Roma are in the news and media now, especially with the film, "The Golden Compass," This topic is too much for one post, with the film so please visit Gypsies, Roma, Romani. The post on the film is at Golden Compass.

For Scotland and a cultural history angle, see the post on Johnny Fa, the Scottish gypsy in ballads, at 11/12/2007, Johnny Faa.

As to Johnny Faa's surname, we find no connection to the solfege do-re-mi-fa-so-la-ti system - see ://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solfege. Will keep looking. Perhaps Mother Faa sang?

Warwick Castle - A teaching castle

2007-12-16T14:22:00.001-08:00

Warwick begins with us in ignorance, and we leave knowing lots. See the scenes set inside with wax mock-ups of historical events. Put yourself there. Go to this tours and photos site for a full view. //www.google.com/firefox?client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official. Do a search for Warwick Castle panorama and you will find an interactive site for a 360 all-around tour. This place is becoming very commercialized, but is still worth it - just arrive early or late to beat the buses. Click on the history of Warwick at that site (you have searched for Warwick Castle panorama) - area built as a defense against Danes (read-Vikings), inhabited continuously until recently, home to Earls of Warwick until recently, town destroyed by 17th century disastrous fire, rebuilt, used as setting for many TV and film ventures.

Leeds - Castle. Gardens, Ducks, and Industry

2007-12-16T08:59:00.000-08:00

Leeds Castle - moat, water, gardens, great ducks. This is also a center for Roma, or Gypsies, see "Travellers in Leeds," at ://www.travellersinleeds.co.uk/_travellers/HistoryEngland.html

A place for wandering.

This particular duck is a Muscovy. See //www.ansi.okstate.edu/poultry/ducks/index.htm.

Leeds also has an industrial underbelly, see history of its feltworks and other industry and the people who worked there, in "Foreigners," by Caryl Phillips - see Hello, Fodder - Racial Fodder post, about David Oluwale, the Nigerian immigrant who died under such suspicious circumstances while in custody, and related issues of racial targeting in England. We can't point fingers here, just pointing out a good book to get an idea of what it is like. If we ever can. And, read carefully the site for Gypsies at Leeds - an overview of history, and current events.

Meanwhile, go to the gardens at the castle. The Ugly of Persecution, and the Rigidity of Thought that leads to firm, hard gardens.

Nature likes some looseness instead, I think. Something there is doesn't love a straight line.

Place names - Immigration and an English-British decoder

2007-09-16T16:34:00.000-07:00

Any map in the US may well show a place name that derives from England, or another country where the immigrants from it settled and wanted to feel at home. Paris, Maine. Berlin, Connecticut. Toledo, Ohio, etc. For British derivations, see //www.nottingham.ac.uk/english/ins/epncurrent/keytoepn; or the home page at www.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/oswebsite/freefun/didyouknow/placenames/.

Stonehenge -Winner Stone

2007-01-08T07:33:00.000-08:00

Out from London. Stonehenge.
Here is our favorite, among the standing stones. Great look.

It is also a favorite, because it is honest. It shows its reaction to the site wrecked by over-mowing, chain-link fencing, roadways. These measures may well be needed because Stonhenge is right on the motorway from London and people can get there in a blink. There is a pedestrian tunnel beneath the road for all the tourists. So there are lots of people. And among people, enough will be irresponsible, so the site suffers.

This is a stone in a zoo, its spirit gone.

Here is the predictable view.

Compare these tamed giants with the wild standing stones in the Hebrides and Orkney, that remain remote and more primitive in surroundings. See Hebrides Road Ways; and Orkney Road Ways. So much more is felt. Do see those for an idea of what the original builders were doing and responding to in their world. At least the Stonehenge managers here could let the grass grow up a little. With the current manicure, one is tempted to set up a little stand, for renting putters.

Stonehenge is a World Heritage Site, in Wilstshire, England. See Stonehenge World Heritage. Scroll down there, and follow more links there.

Mildenhall (Mendenhalls), Wiltshire; and Salisbury

2007-01-06T11:56:00.000-08:00

Mildenhall, Wiltshire. Pronounced "Minall." West and south from London. This website shows the river in Mildenhall, the Kennett River. See www.communigate.co.uk/wilts/mildenhallcommunitysite/. Here is the parish church: Norman.

It dates from the 9th century. Over the years, it expanded from the single tower and nave area.

There is another Mildenhall in Suffolk, the home of a large military base north from London. See www.oldcity.org.uk/eastanglia/towns/mildenhall.php.

Tiny. We looked up Mildenhall, and nearly went in the wrong direction. The Wiltshire Mildenhall is not on most maps, and was the home of the Mendenhall family, many of whom emigrated to the Kennett Square area, PA, close to the time of William Penn himself. There is a Mendenhall Inn there, near Toughkenamon, PA. FN 1. And a Kennett Square, known for mushrooms. Jon's mother was a Mendenhall - any reason for going anywhere is as good as any other. We like family roots places, no matter how remote.

Overnight: The Horseshoe Inn there has excellent food and is a fine central hub. Our best dinners in England were served here. On Sunday afternoons, people bring their umbrellas and blankets and chairs and picnic all afternoon on an empty area to the rear and beside. Very chummy. See www.britainexpress.com/History/english-parish-churches.

Minall as a name apparently came from the Romans' seeing Celts in homes that were dug half underground, both for climate control and for defense - the Romans called the Celts "mind-in-hole" -- and other derivations followed. The fields there are still named with the old names.

The homes there still have thatched roofs, and that is not uncommon.

It is a sensible building material. We didn't expect thatch on such large homes.

Then on to Salisbury: south of Mildenhall. The Great Cathedral, and nearby, Sarum, the site of the first church and town - were moved off the original hill because of insufficient water, I think.

Hotel lesson in Salisbury: if you like a room that faces on the main street, get a hotel room in the back, even though there are views from the front. We were there on party night, and hardly got any sleep. Or, take earplugs.

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FN 1
May I introduce Joseph Mendenhall, who bought 85 acres of the original William Penn land grant in 1847, where the homestead and now restaurant are located.

The Mendenhall Inn in Kennett Square PA provided this information, of interest to us because Jon's mother was a Mendenhall. The Mendenhalls migrated from Mildenhall, Wiltshire, and settled in Concord, Delaware County, in 1684. Our info has Mildenhall dating to Celtic times, on through the Romans, and on. The family established the first station for the underground railroad over the PA line. The old barn of the homestead became a restaurant in 1968.

There are still Mendenhalls in the area, but no longer in Mildenhall - moved recently to the next town. The family graves are at R________________. Losing my mind.

Mount St. Michael's - near Cornwall. St. Michael's Mount

2007-01-06T09:13:00.000-08:00

St. Michael's Mount

This is a monastery on an island on the way to the Cornish coast, and was inspired by Mont St. Michel in France. See France Road Ways. We were there toward the end of the afternoon, misty. It has retained more of its old character because it can only be reached by boat or walking. No causeway. They stop the walkers when the tide is coming in. We were among the last allowed to start, and we were already up to our ankles and going to the knees when we finally got across. You walk on a cobble walk that becomes fully submerged. Check the tides if you want the luxury of choosing to walk or not.

Coming back, the tides gave no choice but to hop on the little motor launches. The island is not full of shops and tourists, some, but quite quiet. See www.castlexplorer.co.uk/england/st-michaels-mount/smm.php.

Jack the Giant Killer.

Jack is supposed to have defeated the Giant Cormoran here, after making him fall into a pit. Great Cornish legends. See www.gandolf.com/cornwall/places/mountstmichael.

The full tale is worth reading, if you have your glasses because the print is small - visit Andres Lang's Fairy Books, "The History of Jack the Giant Killer", at http://www.mythfolklore.net/andrewlang/291.htmSee also Migratory Patterns of Tales, Jack the Giant Killer>

Dartmoor and Bennett Cross - and the baying of the Hound of the Baskervilles

2007-01-05T11:38:00.000-08:00

Dartmoor. People get lost out there. Its wide expanse is a national park. See the location, at Devon, near Cornwall - www.dartmoor-npa.gov.uk/.

There are paths, and we started down one of them, and found this isolated cross, with a road sign pointing to it, "Bennet's Cross." That is one of many crosses of different kinds that were used to marks certain boundaries, or provide a landmark, or is named after the person with tin rights to the area at an early time: see Bennet's Cross at www.dartmoor-crosses.org.uk/bennet.htm.

That site carries the full listing and explanation for all the Dartmoor Crosses. Vast spaces.

"The Hound of the Baskervilles," with Sherlock Holmes (by author Conan Doyle) took place here. Sherlock's statue and museum are in London, not far from Madame Tussaud's. See London post here.

Cornwall - Mousehole, Penzance, St. Ives; and Wreckers; Cornish pasties

2007-01-04T17:19:00.000-08:00

A clerk at the hotel in Salisbury spent his honeymoon at Mousehole (pronounced Mouzill), so we had to go. See it at www.chycor.co.uk/travel-tips/penzance/mousel; and its lovely harbor at www.cornwall-online.co.uk/westcornwall/mousehole. Worth the trip, but dicey parking on the steep little streets. We finally went out on the jetty. See www.chycor.co.uk/travel-tips/penzance/penzance.

We were interested in the wrecker tradition of Cornwall. We had read that people known as wreckers years ago, for centuries, went out at night with false lights to lure sailors to the rocks. Once the ships wrecked, the wreckers kill the survivors and loot them and the ship. Wonderful. Even movies about them. We heard that the practice was common also in old New Jersey, USA, and anywhere there are rocks and cliffs and lighthouses to be imitated. Wrong?

Apparently that is not all true. See www.connexions.co.uk/culture/shpwrck. That site says that nature did the wrecking on the Cornwall coast. People and false lights were not needed there at Cornwall - it was so hazardous on its own. You travel, you learn something. See the site on Cornish culture at www.connexions.co.uk/culture.htm#M.

Delights. Cornish pasties: not a burlesque, but a food: www.cornish-links.co.uk/pasty. Empanadas with an accent.

St. Ives. Hear the Mother Goose rhyme about the one going to St. Ives, who met the man with seven wives, at www.repeatafterus.com/title.php?i=1354&PHPSESSID=a06421908ce8b6bb6d487446ce9d5bf5. . Go to the dot com home page, then navigate until you identify the rest of the address.

Cornwall - Tintagel, King Arthur

2007-01-03T17:01:00.000-08:00

Tintagel. King Arthur. Camelot. We were there in the mists - many stairs, long walks to it, out and up and down. The room foundations of the castle are small. It was not really even a castle, in those days. They had wooden fortress shapes on stone foundations, and stone for other defensive parts, and the remains here show a modest geographic area for them. Walt Disney, take note. See www.archaeology.co.uk/ca/timeline/saxon/tintagel/tintagel.

This is what it really looks like - stone foundations, supporting wooden structures. The legends are many. See www.tintagelweb.co.uk/King%20Arthur.htm>. Was he really here. Where. See www.archaeology.co.uk/ca/timeline/saxon/tintagel/tintagel.htm.

And here is the view outwards.

One of the first chroniclers of King Arthur's exploits was Sir Thomas Malory in his "Morte d'Arthur (1470 or so). In Paul Gray's review of the book, "Malory, The Knight who Became King Arthur's Chronicler, " by author Christina Hardyment (HarperCollins 2006?), and in the NYTimes Review of Books Sunday 8/20/06 at page 12: the thesis is that Malory was a rapist and a thug. Wonderful. See www.harpercollins.com/books/9780066209814/Malory/index.aspx. But interesting. There is some debate as to the identity of the chronicler, but Hardyment looks persuasive that it is indeed the bad boy Malory.

Later Cornwall is known for its tin mining, from the earliest Middle Ages. Skeletons of old tin mines many places against the sky. See www.cornish-mining.org.uk/.

Wales - side trip

2007-01-02T06:32:00.000-08:00

After St. Ives, we aimed for Wales - see Wales Road Ways.

Chester - the races and half-timbers

2006-12-31T07:44:00.000-08:00

On the way back from Wales - Chester, England, on race day. Hats like pictures of Ascot. Very very. See www.bwpics.co.uk/races.

Parking. We parked fast so we could get out and enjoy, and noted we were near half-timbered buildings. Like this. However, the whole town - it seems - is half-timber. Moral: take a photo of where you are, if you have a digital camera. Or, write down the cross streets and main buildings every time. Every time. The history of Chester and virtual tours are at www.bwpics.co.uk/chesterintro.

Here is the history of half-timber construction in England. www.britainexpress.com/History/half-timber. With an abundance of oak at the time, many of these buildings survive. They are usually made of squared-off or split lumber. The site compare this resource to Romania and other countries where there was not as much hard wood - they use more whole logs. That is a good site for overall British culture and history.

We did not know if its haunted history at the time. Go ahead. See www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&q=Chester+England&btnG=Search.

Chester is in the Domesday Book, ordered in 1085 by William the Conqueror, or William I. See www.domesdaybook.co.uk/; and www.bwpics.co.uk/quotes/domesday. More about William (he won at the Battle of Hastings, among other glories, see www.royal.gov.uk/output/Page18.asp, and is buried back in Normandy, at Caen, see France Road Ways.

Nottingham and Robin Hood

2006-12-16T17:19:00.000-08:00

Robin Hood. See www.robinhood.ltd.uk/robinhood/legend. He is not glamourously featured in his town, Nottingham, and his woods, Sherwood Forest, also understate the connections now. Your browsing about can be leisurely. See www.localhistories.org/nottingham.

Robin Hood, according to the exhibits, is a generic type of name, like John Doe, used for any unknown petty criminal or other hapless individual arrested for whatever. Robin Hood this, Robin Hood that. You can see the ledgers through the years - could not have been one person. But as anywhere, stories illustrate larger truths, and may well not be true in themselves. Legend, myth. Robin Hood. See ://www.robinhood.info/robinhood/candidates.html

Perhaps the main one was Robin fitz Ooth, Earl of Huntingdon, born 1160, died 1247, Or Sir Robert Foliot, 1110-1165, or Robert Hod, or Robert de Kyme, 1210-1285, Robert Hood of the Wakefield Roles, 1290-1346, or several others not listed at //www.robinhood.info/robinhood/candidates.html. Or a collage. Once a figure is identified, religions or social, the stories collect, and soon have a life of their own.

There is the statue, and there are also in Nottingham underground caves that we did not take the time to see. We enjoyed the interactive museum-story exhibit that told the tales.

Sing it again, at users.ox.ac.uk/~archery/old/hoodf. I couldn't access the music, though, just the words.

Links, posts, archives

2006-12-15T13:38:00.000-08:00

Site references are written out, not directly linked - see issues raised at www.bitlaw.com. Will somebody please fix that so there can be protections for originators, but not by blocking direct access?

Posts - are in the order from arrival to departure, not by date of actual first posting. This makes sense to us, for a travel site. We may put new posts at the beginning to highlight them, but incorporate them later in the place they better fit.

Archives - these complete the journey, so do read. Thanks.

Technorati Profile

Bodiam Castle - best moat award

2006-12-14T07:42:00.000-08:00

Bodiam Castle. See www.nationaltrust.org.uk/main/w-vh/w-visits/w-findaplace/w-bodiamcastle.htm. It is listed on the National Trust, and was built in the 14th century. Prize for best moat. It is south of Canterbury, on the way to the Victorian resort at Brighton on the coast. Not far is Hastings, famous for its 1066 battle - William the Conqueror against King Harold, with William winning.

It is a pity that the roof was purposefully removed in the mid 1600's to keep the castle from being used by Charles I (remember the James-Charles-Charles-James sequence in high school history?) and the castle has not been used since.

Castle buffs should enjoy this site for English castles: Medieval England.

The castle is also on the Heritage Trail. It has a fine "barbican," a term seen often that means a forward extension of the gate area. See, for example, Definition of Castles.

London and Sherlock Holmes; fish 'n chips

2006-12-12T23:28:00.000-08:00

Here is Sherlock in London, not far from Madame Tussaud's.

For Sherlock, see www.sherlockian.net/. Howooo. The Sherlock Holmes Museum is in London. See www.sherlock-holmes.co.uk/. This fine statue is nearby, and there are many fish and chips places - served in newspaper with vinegar. Recipe at splendidtable.publicradio.org/recipes/fish_fishchips.html. Further hints for making this delectable tasty snack-meal are forums.egullet.org/index.php?showtopic=91475.

More on hounds: See www.bbc.co.uk/devon/outdoors/moors/hound_baskervilles.shtml

London - Bridge, Tower, Buckingham Palace, Sleeping

2006-12-12T17:01:00.000-08:00

London Bridge.

Buckingham Palace - the changing of the guard.

Sleeping - Last minute and reasonably priced accommodations can be a problem in the big cities,so aim for the main bus and train stations. Behind Victoria Station in London, for example, is a street that is all little hotels. Fine and clean and convenient.

We drove in all the big cities, on most days preferring the hassle of parking to the blind hurtling of the subways. We like learning the layout ourselves.

London Tower. For a virtual tour of London Tower, see London Tower . Our guide said that so many people, executed there and others, had been buried under the chapel, that finally the stone floor began to heave and buckle and smell so the had to exhume and rebury whoever they could find and identify.

London, Kensington Gardens, and Peter Pan

2006-12-12T08:53:00.000-08:00

Peter Pan. You can read J.M.Barrie's story at www.hoboes.com/html/FireBlade/Barrie/Peter/. The statue is in Kensington, the park in London. J.M.Barrie put it there himself, causing some controversy about self-promotion. See www.c20th.com/ppstatue.

The little statue is not easy to find, if you happen to park at the wrong end of the park. The walk is well spent, however, in duck-spotting.

The statue is very small. As it should be for a boy, and Tinkerbell, and the other children below.

Ducks; Place names; Calendar dates

2006-12-09T16:55:00.000-08:00

First, visit www.niehs.nih.gov/kids/lyrics/bekindto. Increase the volume. Remember it? Your web-footed friends. Somebody's mother.

Today we look at English ducks. Be kind. In the US, we are limited, it seems, to mallards and Canada geese. Just see what more England has to offer. Ducks everywhere, in Kensington Gardens, London; at castles, back roads, on grounds.

The one with the red on top of the beak looks like a Muscovy, see www.ansi.okstate.edu/poultry/ducks/index.

Any organizing principle can be fun for walks, and duck spotting is a fine one. Leads to the unexpected. Makes you look. Take the picture of the duck. Follow the duck. Then look it up. Also very tranquil. Quack.

Moral area? Watch out for habitats - for people, for plants, for animals. All is connected.

Literary ducks. London is a fine walking-around people and swimming duck habitat. Remember Ping? "Things are kind of cramped on the boat in the Yangtze River where Ping the duck lives with his parents, siblings and 42 cousins. That makes it all the more exciting when one day Ping wanders off all by himself." That sentence from www.kidsreads.com/lists/pic-classic.asp - "The Story About Ping." #45.

Remember the duckling-caused traffic jam in the Boston Gardens - "Make Way for Ducklings" at same list (kidsreads.com) #5. Stop, find a bench, talk about old books, rest your feet. Sing softly, about Little Ducky Duddle, at pipergrove.com/Lyrics_123.? Sing that one at #11. Etc.

More blogs about England Road Ways.

DATES: Remember how to write them. A November 21, 1961, or 11/21/61 for us, would be 21 November 1961, or 21/11/61 for them. Lawyers take note re date-writing for statutes of limitation purposes when reading documents on foreign cases. Special dates and films, other important items to England - England chronology items at www.johnowensmith.co.uk/histdate/.

NAMES. Other English items: Names. Where did Hammersmith come from? That is a hospital. Means smithy place, or forge. Westminster. West monastery. See London place names at www.krysstal.com/londname. Elephant and Castle? Not listed there. That section of London was named for a 1760 pub - castle meant the "howdah" on top of the elephant for riding www.worldwidewords.org/qa/qa-ele1.

People's names - Tekle Gerenas I met. Then a more usually named, but never forgotten, fine fellow, Robert Howard. A new school unsought. See www.newschool.edu/about.
Worldwide ducks, taught to please, and still habitat is unalterably altered. No fault to others, no ill will, but sadness. Big Ducks not wired to understand. Hurling. Sport to some. Not others.

Canterbury - Chaucer's life force; and Thomas a Becket's death

2006-12-02T08:27:00.000-08:00

Chaucer. Medieval. His famous tales recount a group of Pilgrims en route to Canterbury Cathedral: some bawdy, others just plain human interest funny or sad. Here is a splendid site on this medieval author's times. It even has background music. See Geoffrey Chaucer's Times and Tales at www.luminarium.org/medlit/chaucer.

Read his "Canterbury Tales" again yourself at www.librarius.com/cantales. As an example of one tale, The Pardoner's Tale (and the Unredeemed Dead, a topic of the times) is at www.unc.edu/depts/chaucer/zatta/pardoner. Take a virtual tour of the town of Canterbury at www.hillside.co.uk/tour/tour.

Thomas a Becket. A towering figure connected to Canterbury Cathedral. Confidante to the King, but later his adversary when issues came to a head. Thomas was stabbed in the Cathedral itself. See the story of Thomas a Becket at www.digiserve.com/peter/becket.

The beautiful cathedral, at Canterbury is a destination for pilgrimages and should also be a destination for anyone interested in both the secular and religious core of England. Take a tour here: http://www.loyno.edu/~letchie/becket/tour/default.htm.

Itinerary After The Fact - Improvised travel

2006-12-01T12:50:00.000-08:00

London, Windsor, Stonehenge, Salisbury, Mildenhall (Wiltshire), Exeter, Plymouth, Lizard, St. Michael's Mount, Mousehole, Penzance, Land's End, St. Ives, Tintagel, Bristol, Cardiff, Welshpool, Caernarfon, Beaumaris, Conwy, Chester, Nottingham, Oxford, Rochester, Canterbury, Dover, Hastings, Brighton, London.

See also www.europeroadways.com.