2017-05-29   Knighton


8:30 am

I haven't written anything on my blog since May 17 when we went to the Colosseum.  So much has happened since then.   It's all gone by in a blur.   I'll have lost all the details by now.

Today is a bit of a rainy day, so I thought I'd stay in for a while and get some writing done before I go looking for where Benjamin and Rebecca lived while in Knighton.

Arrived by train into Knighton yesterday from Ludlow.  OMG this countryside is so beautiful.  

It's a relief to be somewhere friendly, clean, quiet and not crowded with people.   I was getting a bit claustrophobic in Rome and London --- especially in Rome on the trams, where you had to cling tightly to your bags for pickpockets.   One of the New Zealanders (Darryl) caught a guy with two  fingers in his money belt.  The tram was so packed you couldn't move and Darryl didn't even feel the guy unzip the money belt which Darryl had tucked under his arm.   There was a stop right after Darryl caught him.  The guy jumped off and disappeared in the crowd.  Darryl said afterwards he wanted to punch him out, but he never had the chance.   The thief didn't get anything.

So, back to KNIGHTON...........  a beautiful town. 

I'm staying at the Horse & Jockey, a 14th century coaching inn.   The room I'm staying in was pictured online and I knew immediately I had to stay in this one.   When I was booking it, I phoned from Canada to make sure this is the room I got. 

Last night I thought I made a mistake because I'm upstairs from the courtyard of the pub, which was full last night and the noise was getting to be as bad as the city. But then everybody was shuffled out at midnight and all went quiet.    I don't usually go to bed until late anyway, so the timing was all right.  I snuggled in and got a really good sleep.

Breakfast is included.  Went down this morning and had a cooked breakfast of local sausages, eggs and fried tomato.   It was delicious.   The sausages were so good, I didn't even need ketchup.   :)   

There was "black pudding" on the menu.   I gather that's the same thing as Scottish haggis.  I don't think I'm up for trying that, especially not for breakfast.

When I got here yesterday I had a lamb dinner with Devonshire sauce and a Yorkshire pudding.  Also superb.   Trip Advisor reviews were top notch for the food in this restaurant.   This inn is family owned and everybody in the family works here. 

I'm so glad I'm staying here.   It has a perfect feeling about it.  It's not far from where the Clee's lived, so I'm imagining them walking around here 160 years ago, maybe to this very spot.

One of the cozy corners downstairs in the pub. 

Looks like the table on the left has an old sewing machine bottom on it.

2017-05-28   Ludlow, Eng to Knighton, Wales

Knighton train station

Most of the signs are written in both English and Welsh.  

I've overheard some of the welsh conversations.   Couldn't understand a word.   Sounds kind of like German to me.

2017-05-27   Ludlow


(Writing on 2017-05-29)


Found our great-great grandfather's headstone in the cemetery at St. Leonard's.  A lady was there walking her dog.   She helped me find it and took the picture for me.   Luckily I had Yani's map and photo so I knew the shape of the stone I was looking for.

The headstone is in a peaceful spot under a tree.  It's sheltered there, so the weather didn't obliterate the writing on the stone as many others in the open were. 

Rebecca was 20 years younger than Benjamin, so would have been in her 50's when he passed away.  She went to live with her daughter, Clara, and Clara's husband, William Doe.   Yani has a copy of a census from 1911 showing Rebecca at 78 years old.  At that time they lived at 13 Brooksville Avenue, Kilburn, London.

I visited Peter Doe (Clara's grandson) on 2017-05-24.

2017-05-26   London to Ludlow


(Written on 2017-05-29)

There were a lot of police at Paddington station because of the terrorist attack in Manchester on the 22nd.  They had dogs sniffing around.   I was glad to get out of town.

This is the Airbnb apartment I got in Ludlow, right in the center of town.  It was nice to have some space after the tiny little room I had in London, tripping over my suitcases.

The market square outside the living room window.

Ludlow Castle and Castle Lodge were just a few steps away.

Castle Lodge is where Catherine of Aragon lived for about a year.   (Henry VIII's first wife).

They say her ghost still lingers there.  

There was a ghost hunt there on Saturday night (9pm to 3am), where they take in all the electronic equipment to see if they can detect any presences.  I wonder if they found anything. 

I went in there on Saturday afternoon.   It was definitely a little spooky, but more so because of the old man who lives there all alone in the creaky old house.

 2017-05-25   London



My last day in London.  Had a lot to do.   Went to Kings Cross on the train and ended up walking all the way to Piccadilly Circus without getting lost.   Very hot day.

2017-05-24   London


Went on the train to Loughton, Essex to meet my cousin, Peter Doe, and his wife Janet.    Peter's grandmother was Clara Clee, sister to Henry Clee (my great-grandfather).  They were daughter and son of Benjamin & Rebecca.   (Peter was born in 1939.)

Peter's dad (William Doe) was a "draper".   

The white swatch below is a piece of silk used to make Queen Elizabeth's wedding dress.

Not sure what the pink one was.

As per the picture after this one, the purple velvet was used in making Elizabeth's crown.  I wish I had known this before, as Monica and I went to see the crown jewels on the 23rd at the Tower of London.

Peter's dad (and family) got this invitation to King George VI's funeral.  Peter was 13.

Clara Clee is sitting in the lawn chair on the bottom left.

William Doe (Peter's dad) is standing on the far right.

2017-05-23   London



Tower of London

2017-05-22   London

2017-05-22   London

2017-05-21   Rome to London

LONDON HOTEL

2017-05-20   Rome

2017-05-17   COLOSSEUM - 9:30 pm

COLOSSEUM OPENED IN THE YEAR 80 AD.

It used to be very grand, covered with marble and adorned by statues. 

Wikipedia has a good description of what happened to it and how it became what it is today.

I won't get half the information right.  

Got a ton of history crammed into my head in the last 17 days.  

COLOSSEUM BY DAY

The underground labyrinths are exposed now, but all of that used to be covered with a wooden floor with sand on top where the games took place.  

At the far end they have recreated a similar floor how it used to be.

Following is a model recreated to show how the seating was.

Compartments underground where the animals were kept.

The gladiators waited on one side, while the animals were on another.

COLOSSEUM AT NIGHT

Spooky here at night.

Down in the dungeons were the animals were kept.

***

ELEVATORS in 80 AD !!

Recreation of an elevator used by the gladiators.

Took 8 slaves to work the elevator.   They'd turn this wheel. 

This trap door lifted and the gladiator would rise from the depths onto the floor above where the spectators waited in the bleachers.

Incidentally, this door was rebuilt and paid for when they made the Gladiator movie, so it was a bonus that the Italians didn't have to pay for.    I think it was the Russell Crowe movie.   Will have to watch it again now, after having been to the Colosseum twice now.

There were one million people in Rome in the 1st century.   Each existing emperor wanted to keep the people happy and satisfied.   (Would have kept any crime down.)    Giving everybody free access to the games was part of what they did to maintain that.  When the animals died, the poorer people were offered the meat to take home.   I think the guide said they would get meat about once a year.   Lived mostly on fish and vegetables.   

Every family was given a "ticket" to get into the games.  It must have been a piece of stone.  On it was stamped a Roman Numeral, which told them what gate to come in.   You can see all the entrances they had to get in.   All the arches had a number over them.   This made the entrance orderly and kept one million people from trampling each other trying to get in. 

Example on the model below, there is X, number 10, above one door.