Friday, August 23, 2013
Ancestors and new life in Charlwood.
Today, with fine weather, we had a short walk at Charlwood, along the tracks and footpaths that ancestors would have known.
We had a small meal in The Greyhound, an old Charlwood pub - which those ancestors may well have known. It has been taken over by a chain - a bit like Wetherspoons really. But Wetherspoons would have made much more of Charlwood history; today's pub was rather lacking in soul, I thought.
We walked down Chapel Road to the cottage where Bill's great grandfather, Abraham Monk lived at the end of his life.
Earlier he had been at Fulbrooks Farm.
I don't know which one was his.
A little further down the road turns into a track, unmade and leading to the fields.
And there we find Providence Chapel.
The character of the building is so unlike other old Charlwood buildings - more New England, Amish style,
.JPG)
It is no longer used as a place of worship on a regular basis.
Indeed it has been offered for sale with many provisos about its use and continued use as a graveyard.
The Charlwood Society are now trustees and I am sure can be trusted to ensure that the character is retained.
We know that Bill's great uncle John and wife, Susan were regular worshippers at the chapel. But there is only one family grave that I can find......in the foreground of this picture.
You can just make out the name, William Monk.
This William was Great Uncle John's cousin. He died in 1923.
His wife, Charlotte is also here.
There are two dates when the chapel will be open in September and I have marked the dates in the diary.
We continued our stroll around the fields until we reached the C of E church - where the majority of the Monk Family were baptised, married and buried.
Having spent an hour or so walking in the footsteps of ancestors, it was fitting to discover that as we walked there had been a new arrival on the family tree.
Our great niece/nephew number 38 was born.
Nancy Fay arrived in style.
It had been thought she would be born yesterday, but the hospital said "not yet".
Today young Nancy decided to skip the hospital facilities and arrived on her grandmother's bed at home.
Here she is - about 3 hours old.
Welcome to the family Nancy.
We had a small meal in The Greyhound, an old Charlwood pub - which those ancestors may well have known. It has been taken over by a chain - a bit like Wetherspoons really. But Wetherspoons would have made much more of Charlwood history; today's pub was rather lacking in soul, I thought.
We walked down Chapel Road to the cottage where Bill's great grandfather, Abraham Monk lived at the end of his life.
Earlier he had been at Fulbrooks Farm.
I don't know which one was his.
A little further down the road turns into a track, unmade and leading to the fields.
And there we find Providence Chapel.
The character of the building is so unlike other old Charlwood buildings - more New England, Amish style,
.JPG)
It is no longer used as a place of worship on a regular basis.
Indeed it has been offered for sale with many provisos about its use and continued use as a graveyard.
The Charlwood Society are now trustees and I am sure can be trusted to ensure that the character is retained.
We know that Bill's great uncle John and wife, Susan were regular worshippers at the chapel. But there is only one family grave that I can find......in the foreground of this picture.
This William was Great Uncle John's cousin. He died in 1923.
His wife, Charlotte is also here.
There are two dates when the chapel will be open in September and I have marked the dates in the diary.
We continued our stroll around the fields until we reached the C of E church - where the majority of the Monk Family were baptised, married and buried.
Having spent an hour or so walking in the footsteps of ancestors, it was fitting to discover that as we walked there had been a new arrival on the family tree.
Our great niece/nephew number 38 was born.
Nancy Fay arrived in style.
It had been thought she would be born yesterday, but the hospital said "not yet".
Today young Nancy decided to skip the hospital facilities and arrived on her grandmother's bed at home.
Here she is - about 3 hours old.
Welcome to the family Nancy.
