Sunday, June 17, 2012
Charlwood home of our ancestors - and meeting up with present day family.
Today we have had a quiet day at home.
We have had evenings out the last 3 days - all great fun of course, but it seemed suitable to spend some quiet time, sorting things.
The Friday evening out was to Charlwood for a walk with a knowledgable guide.
We met at the church.
Our family ancestors were buried here - but we don't know where. Stones have been removed. One day we will ask to see the burial records maybe.
The megaphone proved to be useful because we could all hear what he was saying - even the stragglers.
I think he might have wanted to show more of Charlwood, but the stragglers made our walk a slow one.
Never mind.
The oldest house in the village is by the church - not this one.
The oldest house dates from about 1440.
But this roof must be more than 500 years old.
Another very old cottage.
The windows are new.
Charming.
This was built as one single room with a high roof.
There would have been holes in the roof to allow smoke from the fire to escape.
The chimney was added later.
The group stopped here, at the end of Glovers Road.
At the bottom of that road is another timber framed cottage.
B's father was born in Glovers Road.
Taking a footpath back to the church.
Bill's father and his aunts and uncles would have trod this path on the way to school.
We didn't actually get to the old school.
Though I did discover that the village hall, built 1852, had been the original girls' school.
This barn is over 300 years old.
The wall paintings in the church are famous.
They depict various stories.
During the Victorian renovation - which so many churches are blighted by - the murals were painted over. Much work has been done to uncover them.
I didn't mean to be disparaging about renovations - the church is the centre of life for its parishioners and adaptations are made for their needs.
For example in Slaugham church all the pews had been taken out and worshippers were provided with comfortable chairs.
I will add a couple of pictures of the family get together last evening. This for the benefit of a couple of family members who do turn to the blog, but have not yet organised being on FB.
I hope those people enjoyed seeing us meeting up with our niece from Australia last Saturday.
Our nephew and his little girl. They live in Plymouth.
Our nephew's wife.
B's sister and her 2 offspring. Such a reunion is rare. They have not been altogether for 6 years now.
But with our own sons far apart, we have not been together for over 12 years.
Thank goodness for technology!
We have had evenings out the last 3 days - all great fun of course, but it seemed suitable to spend some quiet time, sorting things.
The Friday evening out was to Charlwood for a walk with a knowledgable guide.
We met at the church.
Our family ancestors were buried here - but we don't know where. Stones have been removed. One day we will ask to see the burial records maybe.
I think he might have wanted to show more of Charlwood, but the stragglers made our walk a slow one.
Never mind.
The oldest house in the village is by the church - not this one.
The oldest house dates from about 1440.
But this roof must be more than 500 years old.
The windows are new.
Charming.
This was built as one single room with a high roof.
There would have been holes in the roof to allow smoke from the fire to escape.
The chimney was added later.
The group stopped here, at the end of Glovers Road.
At the bottom of that road is another timber framed cottage.
B's father was born in Glovers Road.
Taking a footpath back to the church.
Bill's father and his aunts and uncles would have trod this path on the way to school.
We didn't actually get to the old school.
Though I did discover that the village hall, built 1852, had been the original girls' school.
This barn is over 300 years old.
The wall paintings in the church are famous.
They depict various stories.
During the Victorian renovation - which so many churches are blighted by - the murals were painted over. Much work has been done to uncover them.
I didn't mean to be disparaging about renovations - the church is the centre of life for its parishioners and adaptations are made for their needs.
For example in Slaugham church all the pews had been taken out and worshippers were provided with comfortable chairs.
I will add a couple of pictures of the family get together last evening. This for the benefit of a couple of family members who do turn to the blog, but have not yet organised being on FB.
I hope those people enjoyed seeing us meeting up with our niece from Australia last Saturday.
Our nephew and his little girl. They live in Plymouth.
Our nephew's wife.
B's sister and her 2 offspring. Such a reunion is rare. They have not been altogether for 6 years now.
But with our own sons far apart, we have not been together for over 12 years.
Thank goodness for technology!
