Blogs from Bedford, Bedfordshire, England, United Kingdom, Europe

So, here we are again... One day to go. That familiar swell of excitement mixed with the flutters of anxiety invading my every thought. There's been a lot of planning and organisation gone into every aspect of this trip, but I can't help but worry about what's been missed. This trip has been in the planning stages for the better part of three years. It's been in the back of our minds slowly gaining momentum while we've been getting on with the routine of everyday life. Thankfully we've had plenty of distractions to keep our thoughts occupied, but during those short periods of tranquillity that are so rare when you have two small children, we were forever dreaming and slowly putting the plan into action. The gap between trips wasn’t supposed to be so long but ... read more

Despite all our misgivings about the hotel it eventually turned out all right and we managed to find 25 boys and 5 dads pretty much where they should have been in the morning. Everyone was out of bed at the traditional 7:30 for a (fairly average) breakfast around 8. The big concern of the day was whether the laundry would get washed, dried and returned it time - recent history would show that we were likely to be seriously disappointed by the hotel but we were still mildly optimistic. On the bus at 9 we headed first for Old Trafford to see the traditional home of Manchester United and see if we could learn a thing or two from them - after the Chelsea game I had my doubts but, again, mild optimism was prevalent. It ... read more

The reason that I am able to live and work in Britain is because my grandmother was born here and that has entitled me to have an "Ancestory Visa". Yesterday I set out in search of the birth place of my grandmother Mabel Haultain nee Dean (mother of my beautiful and inspirational mother). Nana was born in the small working class village of Bedford (about 100km) north of London in 1896. Well a little under three hours after leaving home (Finchley Central), on a cold (3 degrees), drizzly Sunday morning and with only one wrong turn, I found the tiny two bedroom house that housed my great grandparents and their three daughters. At 27 Bower Street, Off Castle Street, about 1 mile out of Bedford and a mere 50 metres from the Gordon Arms stands the ... read more

Hi all, Well that is our holiday over. We have lots of photographs and lots and lots of memories which may end up in a book!! Well you never know, they say everyone has a book in them and this may just be David's. As promised, a photograph of the Calypso Inn, it was just around the corner from our hotel although we had to go into a travel information shop to find it (the lady was quite bemused at our enquiry as we didn't look like the general run-of-the-mill backpackers). And the one you have been waiting for of David in his teletubby outfit. If anyone is thinking of doing a trip to foreign parts and not backpacking we suggest they take a laptop. Most of the hotels have only one Internet acess machine and ... read more

Well the adventure is now beginning and we are starting to pack ready for our departure from go old Blighty. We needed a couple fo heavyweights to sit on one case. I'll leave you to guess whose, the backsack was just too easy. All baggage has been weighed so we are now ready to start, hopefully the next entry will be from Sydney.... read more