This day was a travel day out of London: I took a train from London Paddington station, and headed north to the city of Worcester, to spend a few days with my friends Nick and Pat Beeching.
Before leaving for the train station, I decided to attend a Communion Service at Westminster Abbey, before it became crawling with tourists. I inquired at the West Door as to where the Service was being held, and was directed to St Faith's Chapel, very close by Poets' Corner. I was greeted at the chapel door by the presiding priest and his assistant, and an elderly Anglican nun, and then found a place facing a simple altar with a lovely medieval image standing above. We were soon joined by two gentlemen, who might have been office or Government workers. But it was a wonderfully intimate (if I can use the word) small gathering.
No music was used; the prayers and responses were all spoken, and I simply followed the others' lead. We were easily able to 'share the Peace' with each other, and the priest gave me a firm, but not crunching, handshake. One of the men actually WINKED at me!
When it came time to receive the Communion elements, we all moved to the small sanctuary, and sat on padded benches on either side. We then stood in a small semicircle as the priest and his assistant offered the elements in both species (bread and wine). It was an awesome moment for me personally; I haven't attended a church service, nor received Communion, in a very long time. The silence within that small chapel was immense! It filled the room with a sense of peace I've not felt in many years. And it also gave me a sense of being part of the Abbey's nearly-thousand-year-old worshiping community. It was a wonderful gift from God!
After the Service was over, I had a chance to chat briefly with the priest, whose name was Nick; I tried to explain to him the feelings I had at that moment. I was probably yammering senselessly (how does one explain the unexplainable??). But Nick understood what I was trying to say; and I also told him I would be returning for the Remembrance Sunday service on 14 November. I thanked him again for the lovely service, and made my way out of the Abbey--pausing again at the Tomb of the Unknown Warrior.
It was now almost 9 am, and I made my way back to my hotel to gather my suitcase, and get to Victoria Station, to catch my train to Worcester. The hotel got a taxi for me, and I climbed aboard.
The London taxis are so cool: they have no boot (or rear trunk, as we say in the States), so they have tons of seating room in back. My driver was a Canadian man, from Halifax, Nova Scotia. He told me he comes to the UK three months out of the year, to drive a London taxi; he said his father and grandfather did the same thing!
It was a short drive to Victoria Station. On the way, we went the opposite end of Buckingham Gate, and I discovered the road ended up right beside Buckingham Palace!!! I made a mental note to go see the palace when I returned from Belgium, and to the Crowne Plaza St James Hotel.
When I got to Victoria Station, I paid my taxi fare and went to the Underground station, to catch the Tube to London Paddington for my Worcester train; I had quite an adventure dragging my heavy bag down a couple of flights of stairs. But a couple of commuters saw my dilemma, and kindly assisted me with the darned thing. I must have held up lots of foot traffic in my struggles. But the British people I encountered were understanding and patient, which was a great blessing. I found the right platform, and got aboard for my short trip to Paddington station.
I think I was in the station for about an hour, and I had a nice chat with an American college student, who was in London on her college's Studies Abroad program (Arcadia College in Pennsylvania); she'd been in London since August, and also told me that her father is British. We helped an elderly British lady watch her baggage while the latter went to the "Loo", and generally passed the time pleasantly. Eventually, my Worcester train arrived, and I found the right platform and got aboard. I put my big bag in a nearby storage spot, and settled back for my journey northward.
The train journey was overall quite enjoyable. It was a gray day in London, but still dry. But as the train left Paddington, it started to become foggy and drizzly. The further we got from London, the more mist and fog we saw. But through the drizzle, I did manage to see some still-green countryside, filled with sheep flocks (LOTS of sheep!), some horses....and something I've not seen for a long time: pheasants!! They mingled amongst the sheep, or in the now-bare fields, pecking away, looking for food. I must have seen around 12-15 ring-necked pheasants all told.
The fields are enclosed by hedgerows; not as large as those found in Normandy in June 1944, during the Second World War--but just tall enough to discourage most farm animals from straying. The horses were small and sturdy, and a bit on the shaggy side, with their winter coats, or wearing thermal blankets. Some of the sheep had black faces. But they all looked like cotton-puffs against the green fields.
We passed by several cities and towns on our journey. The largest ones were Reading and Oxford; others were smaller, such as Evesham and Moreton-in-Marsh. I love the names like the latter, and wonder how they got those names!
It was now steadily raining, by the time I reached Worcester in the late afternoon. When I got through the station to the taxi-stand area, I called my friend Nick Beeching on my mobile, to let him know I'd arrived. And before I knew it, he came to the station (turned out he lived not far from it!). He gave me a welcoming hug, and we caught a taxi back to his home. It was on a narrow and winding street: St Dunstan's Crescent (photo below), and the house is a lovely Victorian-era brick building: cozy high-ceilinged front parlor and library on the ground floor, with spacious kitchen in the back, and a nice-sized walled garden.
Nick took my bag, and helped me deposit it in the upstairs computer room, which doubles as a guest room. It is literally lined with BOOKS on so many subjects: British and World History, both World Wars, the Cold War, the American and English Civil Wars, the American Revolution....and not just in the computer room. The downstairs front parlor, the corridor to the kitchen, the library, the upstairs corridor and back room are filled to the brim with books---collected both by Nick, and his lovely wife Pat. I'd venture to guess that there must be a couple thousand books altogether--enough for a good-sized public library!
Around 5 pm, Nick and I left the house, to walk into Worcester and meet Pat and her boss from her law office at a local pub. We literally walked downhill in the continuing drizzle to a local pub, the Olde Talbot--(photo left) where we sat and waited for Pat and her boss to arrive. When Pat walked in, she greeted me with a big smile and a friendly hug, and we sat down and ordered drinks (Nick had a beer, Pat ordered wine, and I had an orange juice). Pat's boss, Penny, came in shortly thereafter, and we all had a wonderful chat.
We passed by several cities and towns on our journey. The largest ones were Reading and Oxford; others were smaller, such as Evesham and Moreton-in-Marsh. I love the names like the latter, and wonder how they got those names!
It was now steadily raining, by the time I reached Worcester in the late afternoon. When I got through the station to the taxi-stand area, I called my friend Nick Beeching on my mobile, to let him know I'd arrived. And before I knew it, he came to the station (turned out he lived not far from it!). He gave me a welcoming hug, and we caught a taxi back to his home. It was on a narrow and winding street: St Dunstan's Crescent (photo below), and the house is a lovely Victorian-era brick building: cozy high-ceilinged front parlor and library on the ground floor, with spacious kitchen in the back, and a nice-sized walled garden.
Nick took my bag, and helped me deposit it in the upstairs computer room, which doubles as a guest room. It is literally lined with BOOKS on so many subjects: British and World History, both World Wars, the Cold War, the American and English Civil Wars, the American Revolution....and not just in the computer room. The downstairs front parlor, the corridor to the kitchen, the library, the upstairs corridor and back room are filled to the brim with books---collected both by Nick, and his lovely wife Pat. I'd venture to guess that there must be a couple thousand books altogether--enough for a good-sized public library!
Over a cup of tea in the kitchen, Nick and I chatted about historical subjects. We first 'met' online, when he visited my Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain Web site in the late 1990s (he is an American Civil War enthusiast, and admirer of General Chamberlain). Since then, we've chatted online about modern British life, the First and Second World Wars, and many other interesting subjects. Nick works for the National Health Service (NHS) in IT, and his wife Pat is a lawyer.
At the moment, Nick is also doing research on the Worcestershire Regiments in the First World War--mainly on the socioeconomic backgrounds of the men, rather than on what campaigns they were involved in. He is also working with a mentor at the University of Birmingham, who specializes in the First World War, and hopes to put his research in writing for publication.
At the moment, Nick is also doing research on the Worcestershire Regiments in the First World War--mainly on the socioeconomic backgrounds of the men, rather than on what campaigns they were involved in. He is also working with a mentor at the University of Birmingham, who specializes in the First World War, and hopes to put his research in writing for publication.
Pat is originally from Scotland, and she and Nick met while at Oxford University. They both love history, and have visited the US on several American Civil War battlefield tours. They've visited Gettysburg; Richmond, VA; Georgia, and Franklin, TN--and the battlefields of Antietam in Maryland, and Spotsylvania Court House in Virginia, as well as Washington DC (they particularly enjoyed the Smithsonian Institution's Air and Space Museum). Both Nick and Pat inquired about how I was enjoying my UK visit so far.
Penny is also a delightful lady; she is from Cornwall, and had also done some traveling in the US. She visited Boston, so I was particularly interested in how a British visitor sees, and feels, about the sites related to the American Revolution. The conversation also turned to what life was like in the UK during the Second World War, especially in 1940, when the danger of imminent Nazi invasion was very real. We could have chattered on and on all night long!
Eventually, our chat-time came to an end, so we wished Penny good-night, and headed back up the hill to the Beechings' home. By now, my big toes were in some pain (I definitely picked the wrong shoes to wear, for all the walking I was doing!), but I made it safely. Pat led the way; Nick came second, and I was the straggler of the bunch!
It was now around 7 pm, and we were all famished! Pat changed her work clothes, and went to the kitchen to prepare supper: haddock and chips! I offered to help, but she assured me she had things under control, so I sat at the kitchen table and chatted with her and Nick. Supper was awesome: huge baked haddock and chips, with green beans and peas. We also had chocolate pudding--but not the sort of 'pudding' we Americans think of: British pudding is baked in the oven, and tastes like a crunchy cake! Ours was topped off with clotted cream, and it was washed down with wine (I even took a glass!).
Our supper conversation covered a wide range of subjects: their parents and grandparents (Nick has some Jewish ancestry--including a relative who served in the French Resistance in WW2!), their American Civil War travels, and films like "Gettysburg". Nick and Pat have walked the field of "Pickett's Charge" at Gettysburg--in the heat of a Pennsylvania summer! I also shared with them my UK travel experiences so far, and the anticipation of meeting Sir Martin Gilbert in London, and Churchill College Archivist Allen Packwood in Cambridge later in the trip. All in all, it was a fantastic evening: it felt like we had known each other for years!
Eventually, we bid each other good-night, and I went upstairs to write, and eventually crash. The next day, Nick would take me round Worcester, to see the sights.
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