Climbing The Family Tree

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Day Four-May 12,2010


Today was the day that began the root of my trip. A few years ago,my mother had acquired some historical documents and traced part of her family back to England-specifically a town in northern England called Thornley. When I was deciding to take another transatlantic journey,I chose London with the idea of visiting this town in mind. Some preliminary research indicated that Thornley was a suburb of Durham,a college town two hours north of London (by train).

I planned a day trip up to Durham,and in order to get the most out of the day,I had to get a train leaving quite early.I found that the hotel was prompt with their wake up calls and was on the tube for Kings Cross Station at 0615. For some frustrating reason,the Circle Line doesn't go the entire path nonstop,and had to transfer two stops into the ride at Edgeware Rd. I was getting a bit concerned about timing,especially since the station at Kings Cross/St Pancras is pretty convoluted to get around,but was able to get my tickets printed and found the train with some time to spare.

I've never really traveled on trains before,and it looked a little nicer than I had expected-the seats were lined up similar to those on a plane,but some were facing different directions,and some were set up in a foursome around a table.When I reserved the tickets,I chose a table seat for some reason-should've put more thought into that one. The table seats are a little crowded when two people are sharing the table,let alone four,and a little awkward if they're all strangers. I found my table seat,and there was someone sitting on the other side of the table doing paperwork.I was okay with it,since I didn't care if I had the seats to myself or not for a two hour ride. Apparently,my tablemate didn't share this view,and gave me a frosty glance as I sat across from her.I pulled out my book,hopefully reassuring her that I wasn't going to attempt to befriend her.

The train left at the exact minute it was scheduled-too bad flights can't operate on the same concept! there was a guy walking around passing out surveys.I tried to ignore him until he approached my seat and offered one to my tablemate,who snapped at him that she was there to do HER work,not his. The guy looked a little stung,so I took a survey from him (never did fill it out though). Once we came to our first stop,and three other people came on and claimed the other seats next to us,she collected her briefcase in a huff and flounced over to another seat.My new seatmates turned to me wide eyed.Thinking they were offended at the other woman's behavior,I smiled. I was proven wrong when they told me that I was welcome to move if I "wanted a seat to myself." I told them that this was my reserved seat,and didn't think I could take any others. "Oh just sit anywhere,they won't care," the man told me. I took the hint and found a set of two seats a few rows up,wondering what the point of assigning a seat was if it was just a free for all.

The rest of the ride was actually pretty relaxing.I took some pics of the countryside,read,and ventured to the snack car for breakfast,where I made the mistake of ordering the "English breakfast special." I received an egg buried under some baked beans and two round black objects that resembled something I'd find after walking my dogs.Luckily,there was a biscuit that managed to escape the rest of the mess.

When the train pulled into Durham,I got my stuff together and tried to figure the best way into the town. I found a taxi stand,and after asking for a ride into the town's center,was told to walk down the hill,where the town was a couple minutes away. I found a little path that went along the front of the station,down a few steps and straight into town.The views of the town with the old cathedral,castle and river were amazing-the whole town looked like it should be on a postcard.

Much like London,the town had signposts indicating where tourist attractions and such were located. I found the tourist center easily,and they gave me much information on the bus routes I needed to get to thornley,as well as where the county records office was,and other places of interest. I headed to the records office first,where it seemed like everyone and their brother was researching their ancestry.They were very nice though,and took time to demonstrate how to search the records and use the microfiche machines. I spent a couple of hours there. As I was leaving,the man that had been assisting me the most asked where I was from.When I told him Ohio,he nodded politely and asked if that was in Canada or the U.S. In reply to my initial moment of silence,he explained that he didn't want to insult me.

"I could tell you had a North American accent,but its hard to tell Americans and Canadians apart,and I know how you hate to be confused with each other."

Yeah. That was it.

After informing him that Ohio was indeed in the U.S, I thanked him for his help and was on my way.

I walked back into town and the bus station,saw that I had an hour before the next suburban bus left on the route to Thornley,and decided to get some real food. The first pub I found was directly across from the station,but set away from the street a bit.After spying signs on the entrance warning customers the consequences of rape,I decided to keep looking. Luckily,there were more pubs further down the street in an area with stores around. At this pub,I continued on my quest to sample British cuisine,and tried the bangers and mash plate.It wasn't bad-at least the Yorkshire pudding bread with potatoes wasn't.The sausage wasn't horrible,its just not one of my favorite foods.

Once I was done,I headed back to the bus station.Upon arriving,I had three minutes to spare,and realized that i left a bag of stuff I had purchased back at the pub. I weighed the risk of hoping that the pub would save it vs. waiting another hour for a bus. As the bus pulled up,I dashed outside,back to collect my possessions(they had saved it). I came outside in just enough time to see the bus pass me on the street. Sigh.

I bit the bullet and found a few taxis nearby,and shelled out for the trip to Thornley. The cabbie asked me which college I went to and if I commuted from Thornley.After explaining that I was actually from the States(didn't even bother with which one this time), he proceeded to give me a little tour guide talk about the town as we drove. As we headed out of town and into a VERY rural area, I began to get a little concerned-according to my web research,it appeared like Thornley was a suburban area. Just as visions of horror movies began to fill my mind,the cab pulled up to a sign saying THORNLEY. "Here we are!" the cabbie said cheerfully,unaware that my plans for an afternoon wandering the town were quickly vanishing.

After I got out,I looked around,and other than a few houses,saw an expanse of green fields. I decided to make the most of it,and walked around a couple of neighborhood streets.A few people were in their yards giving me odd glances. I looked at my watch and saw that the return suburban bus was due in twenty minutes. Just enough time for some picture taking and more random walking. At least I was able to enjoy the countryside scenery on the way back,since I wasn't preoccupied with being murdered this time.

Back in Durham,I had planned on touring either the Durham Castle or Cathedral,but time was limited for a tour,so instead I just walked around the town.It seemed like a bunch of classes were just released,and the streets were filled with kids in uniforms.There were two major shopping areas that I wandered through but didn't really buy anything.I ended up going to a little French cafe down by the river and hanging out there for awhile.

It was getting close to time to head back to the train station,so I took a walk along the River Wear for a bit then headed back to the station.Durham's station was much smaller,so it was kind of boring waiting for the train.

The train arrived,and once again I found my assigned seat to be taken by someone.This time,the guy(whose wife and child were across the table) looked at me and asked if I REALLY wanted the window seat(no,I didn't care) or if the aisle was okay. I said the aisle was fine,and went to sit down awkwardly,waiting for him to move his brefcase. When he moved it closer to the armrest,but not off the seat completely,I told him that I would find another seat. The moral of the story? Dont bother reserving seats.

The ride back to London was uneventful,and we got to Kings Cross at about 8:15 p.m. I made my way back to the hotel,and was getting ready to head out and find a nearby place to eat,when I received a voicemail from an unknown number.

It was from Ashley (on Jen's cell)-apparently their original flight had been cancelled,and after frantic calls to American Airlines,they were rebooked on a flight leaving Cleveland earlier,but connecting through DALLAS. In the rush to get to the airport earlier,poor Ash had left her phone behind! Luckily they had at least one phone between the two. It sounded like they wouldn't be getting into London until at least an hour or two later than planned.

After talking to them for awhile and getting the new flight info,I decided to order a snack in from room service. For some reason,when I called,I had to wait for the restaurant to call me back. 30 minutes later,I gave up and went to sleep. About an hour after that I received a call from them,but told them to disregard. I was pretty worn out,and wanted to wake up fairly early to fit in a few things before they arrived.

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Photos

English countryside
View from the train

View of Durham
Walkway from train station

I made it!
Thornley,England,where my great x4 grandparents lived

Streets of Thornley
This was pretty much it...

Random English House
Cute gardens in the front yard-this was pretty much the only thing to photograph in Thornley.

Down by the river
Taken from the cafe