A Nostalgic Return to England, 2006

This narrative was created ten years after returning from our trip.

Contents

Whittington
Warwick and Coventry
Leeds and Leeds University
Ilkley Moor

Gordon had been feeling pangs of nostalgia recently, which prompted an urge to revisit the sites of his youth. Two years earlier we had visited Nova Scotia, where he spent a year in his early 20s (see travelogue - site opens in a separate window). Now it was time to return to earlier stomping grounds.

We aranged with Gordon's sister Bunty and her husband Hiag to meet in the village of Whittington. This was where we grew up, and where Gordon began and ended his unsuccessful career as a cricket player. We met them, of course, at one of the local pubs, The Dog, where we enjoyed a good lunch. Then we set off to explore the village.

The older part of the house where we lived, Whittington Holt, has been torn down and replaced with ugly modern buildings, but the newer part remains. The garage, on the right. is a new addition though.

Other changes were obvious. Our elementary school is no longer a school, and several of the poorer cottages have been spruced up or gentrified. The local railiway line is no longer used by steam engines. These have been replaced by sleek electric trains.

We took a walk into the surrounding countryside, and followed the canal that we had explored as children. We enjoyed checking out the brightly painted boats moored along the banks, or watched as they sailed past. The sight prompted a desire to cruise the canals ourelves, a desire that was fulfilled five years later. (Site opens in a separate window)

Exhausted and quite chilled by our walk, we ended up at the village's other major pub, The Bell Inn. We recovered with a pint or two, and chatted with some of the locals.

The closest town of any size is Lichfield, where both Gordon and Bunty had attended grammar school. Lichfield is an interesting town, full of quaint old buildings. The phone booth is almost as quaint, but not quite so old.

Lichfield is best known for its cathedral, which is celebrated for its three spires. Surrounding the cathedral close are a number of half-timbered houses, and behind them is the Minster pool, where one can relax and watch the ducks.

We stopped by King Edward VI school, Gordon's former grammar school, where Gordon could feel just like a schoolboy again. Very little seemed to have changed in the last 50 years, except, of course, for the school now being co-educational. This meant that Bunty's former school, The Friary, was a school no longer.

After saying farewell to Bunty and Hiag, we drove to Warwick for a short visit. Warwick was not really part of Gordon's youth, but it is an interesting old town. Several buildings date back to Elizabethan times. Some are quite grand; others are simple residences.

From Warwick we went on to Coventry to visit the cathdral there. We had seen it before, but it is well worth multiple visits.

A major air raid on Coventry during the war had effectively destroyed the cathedral. However, remnants were lovingly preserved as soon as the air raid was over. After the war a new cathedral was built. An entry was created next to the remins of the old one. The new entry was constructed of glass, with engravings of saints and angels designed by John Hutton.

Also on the west wall is a sculpture by Jacob Epstein, Saint Michael defeating the devil. Gordon was especially inspired by the sculpture. We spent many years looking for something like it to adorn a wall in our house - without success.

Inside the cathedral every item was chosen carefully to represent the best of British 20th century art. Behind the high altar is a tapestry designed by Graham Sutherland.

In contrast to the majestic high altar are two small, intimate chapels. The Chapel of Christ the Servant features mosaics by Steven Sykes. It seemed to be a great place for aspiring artists. The Chapel of Christ in Gethsemanie is especially noteworthy. It was designed by students from the University of Warick.

The stained glass windows contain a number of interesting modern designs, some very elaborate, some quite simple.

Last stop on the nostalgia tour was the city of Leeds, and in particular Leeds University.

During Gordon's last year there he lived in an attic apartment that he remembers fondly. He was a student in the psychology department, which at the time was housed in two row houses. Now, next door to the row houses is a sparkling new building.

While in Leeds we visited the National Museum of Arms and Armor at the Royal Armory. The museum had been built long after Gordon left, but it offers a number of very interesting displays. Our favorite was an exhibition of medieval tournaments.

The exhibition began with an introduction by the announcer, her microphone adding an interesting anachronistic touch to her otherwise elegant Elizabethan costume.

Other participants then proceded to illustrate the finer points of pig stabbing with sword. The same poor pig was then subjected to an exhibition of pig sticking with lance. In a fine display of horsemanship, a "knight" demonstrated the backhand chop technique for decapitating an enemy.

The same knight displayed remarkable skills with his lance, charging at speed and successfully spearing a small ring. Not to be outdone by the male sex, a fine lady galloped in on her own steed, and matched her knight ring for ring. (Although somehow it was hard to believe that Elizabethan ladies did this sort of thing very often)

Any return to Leeds University has to include a day trip to Ilkley Moor, where Gordon enjoyed hiking many years ago. We drove to the town of Ilkley, and took a footpath away from the town and up onto the moor.

So we spent a few hours exploring the moor. Gordon felt impelled to go bart 'at, at least for part of the time (although mid-March, it was still very cold). JoAnn, more sensibly, preferred to remain with 'at.

We reached an overlook that offered lovely views back to the town. We continued on past well-known landmarks, the cow and calf.

The moor is criss-crossed by several streams, most of which were still very icy. Any time we needed to cross a stream we had to take great care not to miss our footing.

We managed to navigate our way across streams and down icy steps without serious incident. Gordon'a nostalgia finally satified, we packed up and left for home.

On our return to Heathrow Airport we took a short side trip to re-visit Fetcham, a small town in Surrey where we had lived for a while 36 years earlier. Much had changed, but our old house on Meadow Lane looked much as we remembered it.

Other Pitz Vacations