Rather than an 8£ pound continental breakfast ($16 US), we drove to the local garden center where they have a large café. Breakfast- fried egg and toast with a latte was only $8 for two (although, one piece of toast did cost $1.00)
Our first stop was in Blunham at St Edmund's Parish Church. This is one of the earliest known Spencer churches, serving the Spencers of South Mylls. John Dunne ("For Whom the Bell Tolls") was a one time rector of this parish church.
From Blunham, we drove to Edworth to the Church of St. George, just south of Biggleswade.
Our first stop was in Blunham at St Edmund's Parish Church. This is one of the earliest known Spencer churches, serving the Spencers of South Mylls. John Dunne ("For Whom the Bell Tolls") was a one time rector of this parish church.
From Blunham, we drove to Edworth to the Church of St. George, just south of Biggleswade.
To get to the church, which is now decommissioned, you have to pass through the farm of the Smyth family. They have a 4000 acre farm that has been in the family for over 173 years. The farm house was a beautiful Georgian surrounded by lovely gardens. The Smyths have the key to the old church.
This church has the oldest known connections with the New England Spencers. John and Ann Spencer have a memorial brass plaque on the wall of the church.
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The church was built using clunch, a porous local stone, which over the years has been penetrated by water, causing considerable damage.
We stopped at the White Horse Pub across from the Whitbred Estate. We had another boring English lunch – tomato soup for a mere $8. We tried to get to the Whitbred Estate but the office administration people explained that it would take mountains of paperwork and approval from the family. So, we snapped a photo from the driveway and we were on our way. The Whitbreds who remained in England became one of Bedfordshire's most prominent families. Samuel Whitbread, the former Whitbred brewery chairman, is now the Queen's representative in Bedfordshire.
Our last family church was in Upper Gravenhurst, St Gile's Church. We arrived to find that it had just been decommissioned in July and it's fate was unknown. At this church, Alice Whitbred married Gerard Spencer in 1600. They were the parents of the Spencers of the Great Migration.
As we were taking photos outside the church, the incredibly talkative man walked by and told us the story of the town's attempt to save the church and then proceeded to tell us all about his travels in the U.S. With an excuse that we had to meet friends, we left Upper Gravenhurst and headed for the tiny village of Cople.
The All Saint's Church in Cople didn't have direct Spencer family connections- it was the church of the Spencers who migrated to Virginia. There was a funeral just departing the church so we got a chance to see the inside before they locked it up.
We stopped at the White Horse Pub across from the Whitbred Estate. We had another boring English lunch – tomato soup for a mere $8. We tried to get to the Whitbred Estate but the office administration people explained that it would take mountains of paperwork and approval from the family. So, we snapped a photo from the driveway and we were on our way. The Whitbreds who remained in England became one of Bedfordshire's most prominent families. Samuel Whitbread, the former Whitbred brewery chairman, is now the Queen's representative in Bedfordshire.
Our last family church was in Upper Gravenhurst, St Gile's Church. We arrived to find that it had just been decommissioned in July and it's fate was unknown. At this church, Alice Whitbred married Gerard Spencer in 1600. They were the parents of the Spencers of the Great Migration.
As we were taking photos outside the church, the incredibly talkative man walked by and told us the story of the town's attempt to save the church and then proceeded to tell us all about his travels in the U.S. With an excuse that we had to meet friends, we left Upper Gravenhurst and headed for the tiny village of Cople.
The All Saint's Church in Cople didn't have direct Spencer family connections- it was the church of the Spencers who migrated to Virginia. There was a funeral just departing the church so we got a chance to see the inside before they locked it up.
After a brief visit, we stopped at the Five Bells Pub across the street for a drink.
We met a wonderful couple from the next village in for their nightly drink – Jenny and Tom Tonsell. We were craving Indian and asked the pub owner where the closest restaurant was. He brought out a take-away menu and offered to serve our take-away in his restaurant. He also owns a restaurant in Kathmandu and one of his employees, Hari Bagale was in the UK. We agreed that a trip to Nepal would be part of our India adventure
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