Over hill and dale, with sheep

We arrived back in Canada late on Friday night, on yet another 2-hour delayed flight. This time it wasn't due to a suspicious customs inspection, but instead was the fault of 200 mile-an-hour headwinds that necessitated a landing in Ottawa for refueling before heading on to Toronto. This was a delay that I could get behind. So, my head didn't hit the pillow until 1:00 am Saturday morning (that's 6:00 am UK time). And, I was woken at 3:00 am by a little person at my bedside saying, "You home Mom?" He had to stay awake for the next hour and a half to make sure this was actually true. So, between the jet lag, lack of sleep, a wedding reception, Thanksgiving, and laundry, I haven't had time to finish up the tale of the English leg of our adventure.

We left off after our day-long drive through the Lake District. Monday was a down day, which was nice to have since we'd be on the go for over a week. The big thing (literally) we saw that day was the Anglican Cathedral in Liverpool. This cathedral was relatively new, started in 1904 and finished in the 1980s (a couple of world wars sort of set them back a bit). But, it definitely had the wow factor of many of the older ones. It's hard to describe how big it was, as it was even hard to comprehend when you were standing in it. The best part was this very cool little chapel off the main cathedral called The Lady Chapel with stained glass images honouring British women from all walks of life.

Tuesday was the first day of our three day trip through the Peak District, up to York and back through the Yorkshire Dales. The trip was to see the sights, but also to visit the ghosts of our ancestors. Unfortunately, Tuesday started out as our only day of rain. Pouring rain. Oh, and fog. Cynthia drove us into the Peak District over the Cat and Fiddle through thick, thick fog. I was in the passenger seat navigating and pleasantly lulled by the fog. Mom, however, was in the back seat popping drugs and trying not to picture the sheer drop hidden in the mist. The "27 bikers killed or injured in the last 5 years on this road" signs all over the place didn't help either.

Our first stop was Buxton, an old spa town, where my great-great-grandparents met when they were both working as apprentices at a "drapery" - basically a fabric store. We ate lunch at the Lee Wood Hotel, an old place in town, that my great-great aunt used to manage.

Then it was on to Bakewell, a picturesque English town that is the home of "Bakewell pudding". I could have walked around this town all day, but the pouring rain made it a little difficult. So, we popped into a cafe for some pudding and scones with cream and jam. Cream that was as thick as butter!

That night we stayed in Calver, in a little valley in yet another cute town, where we had yet another great dinner and Mom got the biggest fish'n'chips meal of the trip. I, on the other hand, had soup...victim of a cold that I fought for the next couple of days.

Wednesday we headed to Winster...yet another picturesque little town where we saw my great-great-great grandfather Cantrell's house, and his surgery next door. (Surgery = dr's office in the UK.) We hit the church graveyard to find the old family gravestone as well. (Strangely enough, I like to wander around taking pictures in graveyards. Call me creepy.)

After this we got completely lost and headed up taking another goat path up a mountain (at least, a mountain to those of us from the flatlands) hoping that we didn't meet another car and gasping alternately at the great views and the thin road ("Breathe in!"). We ended up at a pub in Youlgreave asking for directions. After we got back on track, we landed in Kniveton at The Red Lion for lunch. Next, we headed up to the local church, which is about 1000 years old, to check out another family plot that included a grave for the unfortunate John Cantrell. This poor guy fell off his horse one winter in the 1800s and ended up buried at Kniveton. The unfortunate part is that he was buried alive. He was able to climb out of his coffin, but not dig himself out of the grave. What a way to go.

Next we took at leisurely drive through the heart of the Peak District National Park. Breathtaking views once again.

Thursday we headed up to York for a visit to York Minster cathedral. We did the Park n Ride thing, which I'd highly recommend if you ever visit York. We could have spent days in this city seeing the sights, but unfortunately we only had a few hours. We took an entertaining tour of the Minster, which included an explanation of the old practice of buying your way into heaven more quickly by paying for services to be said in your name. As the guide said, they hoped to be "wafted up to heaven on a cloud of incense and prayer." York Minster has a stunning collection of stained glass windows. We unfortunately didn't get to see the largest stained glass window in the place (size of a tennis court). The 100,000 pieces of glass had been taken out for restoration. In its place was a life-size replica photograph...a wise investment as it's going to take 15 years to restore. Mom, Marg and I have made a note in our calendars to return.

After York, we headed up to a little town called Pickhill, for another dead relative. Then, we drove across to the Yorkshire Dales National Park to visit Kettlewell (my mom's maiden name). We did the drive at sunset and the colors over the hills and in the dales were fantastic. The Yorkshire Dales is basically one big sheep and cow farm as you can't do much else there. We even had a sheep jump out into the road in front of us! I spent most of this drive loving the views and clutching the door handle for dear life as we drove up and down and around, and around, and around. (Being back home now, I have a much better appreciation for wide open, flat spaces.)

Kettlewell is a pretty little town set in a valley with a river running through the center of it (also famous for being the setting of Calendar Girls). We didn't stay too long, as it was getting dark, but Mom and I snapped pictures like crazy and then zipped back to the car to drive out of the national park area and back to civilization.

And so ended our trip...well except for the packing and the airport and the plane ride. It was truly amazing, and great to go through it all with my aunt and mom.