England: A Personal History & Travelogue (Part II)

There are many ways to document and remember a trip:  photographs, postcards, emails, matchbooks, journals, and lists of all kinds.  Instead of a traditional travelogue, I thought I'd share a sensory list I wrote during our trip to transport you to England.  And a few photos for visuals at the end... 

Colors of England

Suffolk’s pink cottages with thatched roofs

Bright yellow fields of rape seed

Honey-colored stone houses in the Cotswolds

Lavender and dark purple lilacs

Purple wisteria

White horse in a green, green field

Red-brown pointer dogs and spaniels

Ivory-colored sheep and the occasional black lamb

Painted pub signs

Green room in Chatsworth House with the hand-painted Chinese wall-paper of birds and vines

Plentiful and vibrantly-colored pheasants in the fields

Warm glow of lights from Dunsley Hall as we walked back in the dusk from Sandsend Beach

Red sky and full moon rising walking back to Easterside Farm from the Hawnby Inn Pub

Sounds of England

Tolling church bells

Boys choir at Evensong at King’s College in Cambridge

Lambs bleating in the pastures

Streams rushing through the countryside

Birdsong – so much more than at home

Horses neighing

The absence of traffic noise

Steam train whistle and train wheels on the track

Seagulls in Whitby and Robin Hood’s Bay on the North Yorkshire coast

Smells of England

Lilacs

Rain

Grass

Wet lamb

Dung in the pastures

Honeysuckle

Sea air on the coast

Fish and Chips in Whitby

Bacon and eggs and full English Breakfast

Earl Grey or Yorkshire Tea steeping

Textures of England

Wind the Willows

Xavier blowing dandelions and tickling his face

Laying in the grass in the meadow by the River Cam after a Sunday lunch at the pub

Walking through the steam from the engine on the train station platform

Sunlight through the ruins of Rieveleaux Abbey

Fine misty rain interspersed with slants of late afternoon sunlight, mud, dripping grand old trees,

Lambs among the sculptures at the Yorkshire Sculpture Park

Running through a hedge maze at Chatsworth House

Dogs lying at their masters’ feet next to the fire in the pubs

Tweed-clad men of all ages walking with walking sticks and hunting dogs

Flavors of England

Cucumber Sandwiches

Welsh Rarebit (glorified cheese on toast)

Scottish Smoked Salmon with scrambled eggs

Chelsea Buns

Wensleydale Cheese

Marmalade

Oatcakes and shortbread cookies

Stinking Bishop cheese

Scones with clotted cream and raspberry jam

Local crisp asparagus

Aspel Cider

Hooky Ale (A “real” ale)

Black Pudding

Wild garlic soup and Lamb shops at the Hawnby Inn

Kippers for breakfast

Toast soldiers with Dippy eggs

Black Sheep Yorkshire Cask Ale

Sautéed samphire (known in America as sea beans)

Brown crab salad and England’s “best fish and chips” at the Magpie in Whitby

Steak and Ale Pie

Sticky Toffee Pudding

Steak and Yorkshire Pudding

Stow-By-Nayland

Visiting our friend Mac in Maldon

Rapeseed Fields (from which we get Canola Oil)

Xavier on an antique rocking horse in the nursery of Audley End

Punting on the River Cam

Lounging in the meadow on the way from Sunday Lunch in Grantchester

Lots of time to frolic in the grass

Cotswold sheep known as the "Cotswold Lion"

New friends in the pastures

Stopping to let Xavier stretch his legs during a hike to Winchecombe to catch the steam train

Every trip we take I find a house I want - this one looks just right.

Riding the rails

Not sure who was more excited, Xavier or Christian.

Posing like garden statuary

Feeding "our" lambs at Easterside Farm in Hawnby

And snuggling our kittens

Hiking to the ruins of Riveleaux Abbey

We had tea while it rained and then the sun came out.

Walkers have the "Right to Roam" throughout the entire country.

More steam trains on the North Yorkshire Rail - we are feeding Xavier's obsession.

Ruins of Whitby Abbey on the North Yorkshire coast.

Robin Hood's Bay

Beach time - and then we went to get pints of ale and ice cream.

Yorkshire Sculpture Garden

...where sheep and art coexist in harmony in the loveliest pastoral setting.

We had the medieval Hadden House all to ourselves.

The Broadway Folly, which William Morris and Edward Burne-Jones used as a studio retreat.

Hooky Ale at the pub in Chipping Campden

Helmsley Castle