Blogs from Cambridgeshire, England, United Kingdom, Europe

Three Weeks. Five Countries. Eleven Flights. I've decided to keep a blog of my holiday for people to follow without having to worry about the privacy of Facebook or flooding my twitter feed. Only two and a half days until I leave for the first of many flights and things are starting to get real. All flights and hostels booked, now I just have to wait. I've created a montage of the predicted weather for each location. One week is better than here, one week the same and one week worse than home. Two days I wanted sunny are cloudy. But Accuweather isn't the most accurate, especially the further into the future you go so I'm keeping my finger crossed. ... read more

August 27 Cambridge – Addenbrooks Hospital - I did some extensive research on the internet and at local resources and figured out that the hospital that Mom trained at during the war in Cambridge before going to London to work as a nurse there was at the AddenBrooks Hospital which had its name changed during the war to First Eastern General Hospital. It is now the Judges Institute. The building has been repainted and remodeled a bit but is still essentially the same. I am sure it was nowhere near as colorful during the war. Judges Institute formerly Addenbrooks Hospital renamed First Eastern General Hospital during the war(which was the name Mom recognized when I called her today). People in Cambridge call it Old Addenbrooks since a new Addenbrooks Hospital has been built in another part ... read more

August 25 Saturday Liverpool to Cambridge This morning I got up early and went down to the lunchroom and had a banana and my tea for breakfast. I had intended to have some of my Muesli but someone had pinched it from my bag in the cabinet in the kitchen. It was clearly marked with my name and room number so there was no chance of a mistake. So I had tea and a banana and some yogurt for breakfast. I had intended on leaving for the station later but after finishing my tea I rearranged things a bit in my bags and then just called a cab to take me to Lime Street Station. It was only a bit after 8 when I arrived at the station so I waited a bit and then noticed ... read more

Here's a mansion home with an unusual history. It's a history related to us by the owner, Christopher Vane Percy (a descendant of Thomas Percy of failed 1605 'Gunpowder Plot' fame), and his wife, Lady Linda (a member of the noble Grosvenor family) when we visited Island Hallwith friends last week. First, though, a word about the location of this delightful house. It's in the pretty little town of Godmanchester, which stands on the River Great Ouse in the county of Cambridgeshire. It's about 90 kms (55 miles) north of London. It's surprising what you can discover simply by looking at a town's sign. The one seen here depicts the River and a "Chinese" Bridge that spans it, a Roman legionnaire, a Danish longboat, St Mary's Chur... read more

Well it has finally happened. The rain held off and the day was perfect. The blessing service was held in the chapel of The Peterborough School (Victoria's old school) and the reception in a marquee of the grounds.We spent Friday and Saturday morning setting up the marquee. Vicky's Aunty Margaret supplied 130 china place settings that she has collected over the years as well as providing the flowers that decorated the tables. It all looked beautiful. Friends from all over the world gathered and enjoyed the service and reception. For those familiar with the story Victoria and Todd were married in 2009 in Las Vegas as that was where they met. For them to be together Todd needed a visa to be in England so marriage in Las Vegas was the obvious answer knowing that the ... read more