UK for Christmas 2007

[OATEK]

In line with some other recent attempts to keep this non-frequent flying community from being totally swamped by the virus, I have decided to produce a "historical" rather than current trip report.

This one occurred long before joining AFF, in the pre-arthritic era when I still flew Y. At the time I had both daughters living in London, and so Mrs Oatek and I decided we would join them for the festive season. The plan was to spend some time exploring the family "seat" in Cornwall, and then the rest to be mainly spent around London.

The flights were with CX, with A330 to from HKG, and sitting together in a row of two right at the back of the 747 (where it narrowed and so row reduced from 3 to 2 seats) to enjoy a little extra room for HKG-LHR-HKG. No pics of the flights, food etc as this was long before I stumbled across AFF. Just a shot of HKG near gate 1 to set the scene.


Once in London we spent a couple of days getting over jet lag before heading off to Cornwall. The first photo is at Clapham Junction, the Falcon.

Covent Garden near the Transport Museum (returned for a look inside later).

Covent Garden



Pretty quiet in early December.

 

[Antoallison]

2007 !
I often want to travel back in time .. I am onboard for your nostalgic Xmas trip.

 

[OATEK]

We headed off to Cornwall, staying a night in Exeter en-route. Our first stop out of London was at Chawton, where Jane Austin lived for a time.

From there it was on to Exeter, where long before hearing of Drron I captured this sunset.

And the Cathedral.

Down by the river Exe.


And our hotel for the night.

 

[OATEK]

My great Grandfather came to Australia in the early 1900s. A former travelling salesman in the rag trade, he had developed something of a drinking problem. He decided to come here to AUS, and live in a small community far from temptation, where he succeeded in kicking his addiction. He brought his eldest son, and was later joined by two more sons, the youngest of which was my grandfather. All these sons were born in and around London, apart from one who was born in Weston-Super-Mare, presumably while the family was on holidays. For a long time I had assumed origins from around London, one of the great cities of the world; I was wrong.

GGF William's story began in a tiny hamlet on the Lizard peninsula in Cornwall known as Gunwalloe. I only learned of the origins when a family photo was sent to me by a distant cousin, a daughter of one of the other brothers. It showed the family in the 1890s, in a get-together on the beach in Gunwalloe, and led to my beginning a concerted effort to trace the family origins.

The real buried treasure was not the photo, it was that on the back was the name of everyone present. The family patriarch was the blacksmith in Chyanvounder, which overlooks Gunwalloe Fishing Cove. William who came to AUS in 1903 is second from the left in the back row. Nearly everyone in the photo lived in London, and were down to spend time with the blacksmith in summer, 1891. The family line in Gunwalloe (and surrounding parishes of Cury & Mullion) can be traced back to the the 1600s, where the trail goes cold.

So here I was, in the place where it all started, the Parish of Gunwalloe. Not particularly famous, unless you are a devotee of the Wycliffe TV series (the last episode was filmed at Gunwalloe Church Cove) or perhaps a Daniel Silva reader, as his chief character Gabriel Allon spent some time here.

This is the Halzephron Inn, these days named after the nearby cliffs. This was know as the Ship Inn at the time the previous photo was taken (above).

We stayed in the Inn. I was most excited to find that there were remnants of the old Blacksmith Shop still here, but converted solely to domestic use. This photo has the Inn on the left, and the building on the right of the road is the former Blacksmiths.

 

[OATEK]

Once I became involved in the family history side if things, I became part of what is now the Cornwall Online Parish Clerks - who provide genealogy records, help etc. The parish Church, from which the records are the primary source until 1832, is set in a unique position behind a small headland. There is a detached bell tower, supposed to be built over the cave where the first priest lived - St Winwalloe, from Brittany. Most of the Lizard Churches have Breton saints names, and anyone who has been to both areas will know the connections through Mont St Micel and St Michaels Mount.
The Bell Tower

The Church

The Interior

The last photo is a section of the Rood Sceen that once separated the alter area from the body of the church. The panels are reputed to be from a shipwreck off Dollar Cove from the 1600s.

 

[OATEK]

Nearby Dollar Cove got its name from a shipwreck that carried a vast quantity of coins. There have been several attempts to recover these in pre-aqualung days. One group tunneled under the ship, but when they came to the surface underneath the ship instead of coins falling in their lap, it was sea water - who would have thougt!!! This story was the subject for one of the episodes of the aforementioned Wycliffe TV series. The cove still produces coins, and is popular for those with metal detectors.
The retreat for Gabriel Allon, the famous art restorer turned spy of the Daniel Silva books was on the edge of the cliffs at Halzephron. While the residence is fictional, this is the rough location.

 

[OATEK]

The Lizard Peninsula has lots f interesting coves, with Churches and Inns, and the lighthouse at the point.

These are a few photos from around the area, starting with Church Cove Landewednack.




The Old Inn at Mullion, and Mullion Cove.

 

[OATEK]

Soon it was time to return to London, and get ready for Christmas Day festivities. First we returned to Coven Garden so that I could play with some trains (full sized).



There were some omnibus and horse drawn vehicles as well.


Even a snazzy tram.

 

[RooFlyer]

I became part of what is now the Cornwall Online Parish Clerks - who provide genealogy records, help etc

I've used them! Redruth and Penryn ... , so thank you!

 

[VPS]

I love Cornwall and I forgotten about the Daniel Silva books - I'm sure I haven't read all of them so will have to put them on my list

 

[OATEK]

The eldest daughter was working at Buckingham Palace, so we were able to obtain invites to the Royal Household Christmas Carol service held in the Queen's Chapel. Photos inside were strictly prohibited. The Royals, not the Queen who was at Norfolk) sat upstairs in a gallery. Mostly dukes, duchesses - but as we sat underneath could not really get a glimpse. The household, with such notables as the Deputy Master of the Household, Keeper of the Privy Purse, the Royal Chamberlain etc were in the main area, with the service conducted by the Queens Chaplain. There was a boys choir from Windsor and the service was one of those amazing experiences.

The Chapel is just opposite the parade ground for St James' Palace (where the changing of the Guard parade starts).



The photos were taken on a different day, as security there was very tight on the evening of the service.
While the Queen was not present, she sent along some Christmas goodies to show she had't forgotten us.

 

[OATEK]

Happily there was time for some football matches, and the first of which was a visit to the new Emirates Stadium for the "North London Derby" between coughnal and Spurs.
The coughnal fans (of which I am one) head to the ground from the eponymous station.

The Stadium



Manuel Almunia is swamped by grateful team mates after saving a penalty attempt from Robbie Keane when the match was 1-1. Straight after, coughnal went up the other end and were awarded a corner. Wenger sent on Nicklas Bendtner who scored the winning goal with his first touch, a header from the corner.

coughnal captain William Gallas came over to celebrate as they took a 2-1 winning lead.

 

[OATEK]

I won't post the Christmas festivities with our girls, as they are entitled to their privacy. We had two dinners, one at Collier's Wood and the other at Clapham South.

The photos are shown merely as a prop, as there is NO public transport in London on Christmas Day. We had to pre-book cars to ferry us around, but managed it quite well.

 

[OATEK]

One of the great traditions of the UK is the Boxing Day football match. While we have a test match down under in Melbourne that day, there is a full round of football in the UK. We went as a family group to see West Ham vs Reading, as the then Socceroos skipper Lucas Neill played for West Ham at the famous Boleyn Ground. Other notable players for the Hammers were Freddy Ljungberg & Matt Upson (ex-gunners), Scott Parker and Dean Ashton (Deano was a cult figure), Nobby Solarno, Carlton Cole and the current captain of the Irons -Mark Noble. Australian goalkeeper Adam Federici was on the bench for Reading. The match ended 1-1.


Lucas Neill (2)

The team benches

Dean Ashton (9)

The tube to carry us home from Upton Park.

 

[OATEK]

We had a few days left to fill-in in London (before heading home via HKG) and did so very happily.

Our youngest daughter bought us tickets to Agatha Christie's famous play.


A day out to Richmond

Harrods for the sales

 

[OATEK]

Eventually we had to leave our girls and head home. We took a few days out in Hong Kong on the way.

Day 1

 

[OATEK]

Hong Kong Day 2

Our final flight home.

 

[LadyC]

I have Cornish heritage so your posts about Cornwall were very interesting. Thanks for your report!

 

[RooFlyer]

Wonderful crisp photos from what i assume was a lower-resolution camera in those days.

 

[OATEK]

Wonderful crisp photos from what i assume was a lower-resolution camera in those days.

Yes, a Sony Cybershot at about 2mp.