England, My England !

I was just a few weeks short of 12 years of age when my family left England in 1961, and finally, after more than 38 years, here I was once again about to set foot on my native turf. There was the River Thames winding its way around good old London as the plane made its descent into Heathrow Airport. My camera clicked unrelentingly !

Those cockney accents sounded so friendly and familiar as we cleared customs and found our way out to the taxi rank.

The first home I really have memories of was within walking distance of the airport, so after settling into our hotel, I couldn't contain myself any longer and absolutely had to go and try to find it.

Bill, being the 'practical' person that he is, just knew we would never find it without a proper map, but I coaxed out his spirit of adventure (!!!) and convinced him to take the plunge.

He acquired a very rough, photocopied map of the area at the reception desk, and after much perusal and with great pessimism (on his part), we set out on our mission.

I could remember as a child, walking along the enbankment of a reservoir to the airport, and here on the map was a reservoir... we must be on the right track !!

Well... to cut a very long story short... 3 hours later, when I went into a shop to ask for directions, we discovered we had been walking in the wrong direction... there were two reservoirs !

I knew that our house was directly under the flight path... but since that was 47 years ago, and Heathrow airport has expanded somewhat... well, I guess it's only logical that the flight path would have changed.

So now... at 9pm, we're several miles from our intended destination ! Thank goodness for light midsummer evenings in England ! A 20 minute bus trip found us just a 5 minute walk from my old home, which, to my great delight, had hardly changed at all. And there was still enough daylight left for a few photos.

Over the two weeks that we spent in England, I rediscovered two more homes I had lived in, also still almost exactly the same as they were way back then, the park where I used to play, my old infant and junior schools ( but unfortunately my high school has been demolished) and many other places which held fond memories of my childhood.

We also visited several of the UK's incredible old castles, and my love of waterfalls led us off the beaten track and found us scrambling over rocks and steep pathways on more than one occasion !

And as an added bonus, I met another 'net buddy, Bea, and her family, and spent a wonderful day being escorted around her part of this green and pleasant land !

Our route took us from London, north through Derbyshire and on to York. From there we diverted a little and drove half the length of Hadrian's Wall, stopping at Vindalanda to marvel at the excavation of 2000 year old Roman remains, and then on to Edinburgh, where we toured the famous castle.

Then further north to Inverness, through wild and woolly mountain ranges, the likes of which I'd never seen before. Back down south along the shores of Loch Ness to Fort William at the foot of Ben Nevis, the UK's highest mountain, which was still wearing its snowy disguise in midsummer, even though the temperature at its base was very comfortable. Unfortunately the Loch Ness monster was otherwise occupied at the time, and didn't oblige me with a photo opportunity !

Through Glasgow, the Lake District, and on to Blackpool... another scene of some of my favourite childhood memories. But did it really have to rain ?!! An overnight stop and a trip up the world famous Blackpool Tower, and on to Southport, where the Big Dipper at the fun fair used to be the biggest in the world.... when did they shrink it ?!!

Just a few miles from Southport we found the house where my Grandparents used to live, and memories of many a wonderful family gathering at Christmastime came flooding back.

And just around the corner, a reunion with a cousin, Geoff, who I hadn't seen for 38 years stirred even more emotions.

A pretty little place with the unlikely name of Betws-y-coed in North Wales has enticed me back whenever I've looked through the old holiday photos, and now that we were this close, I simply had to see it again. Three spectacular waterfalls in the area had my camera clicking away merrily again.

Heading south-east, on to Stonehenge... where I let my imagination take over with fantasies of Druids and rituals, while the rain once again relentlessly soaked us to the skin ! Oh well... it's only water !

Another cousin, Ian, lives in Dover... home of the famous White Cliffs, and his face when I knocked on the door unexpectedly after not having seen him since his visit to Oz 18 years ago, was a picture !

After some more reminiscing and catching up on gossip, we headed off to Dover castle and a fascinating tour through the underground hospital and operations centre carved through the cliffs which were a very important part of WW2 defences.

The final leg of our trip took us back towards London... in fact to Windsor... where we ... yes... you got it... toured the castle, and walked along the banks of the Thames in search of a little bridge where I'd had my photo taken with my Grandmother about 45 years ago. And it's still there, although it's now a nasty silver blue colour instead of the dark green I remembered !

And to Slough, which was the town where I'd lived for almost 8 years until leaving England. I was amazed how little had changed. When I told Bill ... "Turn right here, left at the Three Tuns Pub, right at Essex Avenue...." he looked at me as if I was mad... but there it all was... large as life.... well, actually, looking much smaller than I had remembered it all ! But then, I wasn't a very big 11 year old !

The grand finale to our UK holiday was a day spent touring London on an open top double decker bus, stopping along the way to take in all the sights and to explore.... of course.... the Tower of London !

And the day wouldn't have been complete without a cruise down the Thames past all the famous landmarks including Cleopatra's Needle, the Houses of Parliament and Big Ben, St. Paul's Cathedral and the replica of Shakespeare's Globe Theatre.

Footsore and sunburnt, our holiday over, we came to the conclusion that two weeks in England could easily have been spent in London alone ! What a fascinating, history-filled city.

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