England Part 3: The Evens

At this point in the trip Graham returned to Texas to go back to work, and it will become obvious that he's much better at remembering to take photos than I am. Although I did try hard to get one or two of all the important people that Toby met. Chief among those, of course, were his grandparents on his mother's side. So here's Toby with Grandpa:

And with Grandma, in the back garden. That's rhubarb over against the fence, which made its way into a rather nice dessert while I was staying (mmmm).

We went for a walk to Hambledon lock and weir, on the River Thames, and Grandma and Grandpa got some exercise by pushing Toby up and down a rather steep hill. As you can see, it was a rather damp day, but had actually stopped raining by the time we started walking.

Just a snapshot of some typical English countryside - hedges, fields, and rolling hills. Why do hills roll, anyway? Makes it sound like they go around turning somersaults.

Back at home, and Toby looking very snuggly after a bath. We washed him in a little tub which gradually became more and more of a tight fit as the trip went on. By the end it must have felt like being back in the womb.

He isn't crawling yet, but is getting decidedly more mobile. You never knew what position you'd find him in when you went to get him up in the mornings. This looked horribly uncomfortable but he seemed happy enough.

Toby got to meet a good portion of my family, including his great-aunt and -uncle, great-aunt, great-great-aunt and -uncle, and, um, whatever you call your great-great-aunt and -uncle's daughter and her two children. Let's just stick with cousins. Close enough, especially as he doesn't have any first cousins yet, so Amy and Finlay are the next best thing. They enjoyed each other's company.

Mom and Dad had to work while I was staying with them, so Toby and I amused ourselves with a few walks around the countryside. This is the River Loddon, or a branch thereof - it's the kind of river that splits and rejoins and meanders around until you have no idea which bit you're walking by.

An old bridge and some spring blossom.

Toby and Grandma admiring the daffodils.

Just one more entry to go...

Comments

Kristal Dawn Evens said…

Sorry we haven't come up with any first cousins for toby yet...! Quit rushing us! J

20 April 2011 at 17:23

Trent Valley: the march of the pylons

In the 1980s, the River Trent supplied the cooling water for fifteen coal-fired power stations, each one gobbling up coal from the local mines and quenching its heat with gallons of river water. The area was known as Megawatt Valley . As the 20th century gave way to the 21st, the mines closed, the coal trains stopped running, and the iconic cooling towers, one by one, fell to the ground. The high-voltage electricity lines which connected the stations to the grid are still there, however, and they dominated the walk I did today. The stately silhouettes of pylons stalked across the landscape, carrying fizzing power lines which sliced up the sky. At one point, I was within view of two of the remaining sets of cooling towers. Diving further back into history, I parked by Swarkestone Lock on the Trent & Mersey Canal, walked past St James' Church, and arrived at Swarkestone Bridge, a 14th-century causeway which still, remarkably, carries traffic today. It was famously the southernmos...

Trent Valley: Twyford, both ways

To complete my loop along the Dove Valley from the mouth at Newton Solney up to Dovedale at Thorpe, across to Matlock on the Limestone Way , and back south along the Derwent Valley , I needed to walk one last section along the River Trent from Derwent Mouth to Repton. Originally I planned to do it in that direction. But for various reasons I ended up doing it the other way. The walk from Repton to Ingleby was completed weeks ago, at the beginning of June, and, for the sake of completeness, I also, later, walked from Findern to Twyford, on the other bank of the river. If I had done the walk sixty years or more ago, I could have crossed the river by ford or ferry at Twyford, and that would have been my most direct route home. the Trent at Twyford Walk 1: Repton to Ingleby Starting from the centre of Repton, I made my way out of the village and crossed the fields to Milton. Wystan Arboretum Milton The Trent Rivers Trust has been busy establishing the Trent Valley Way . This sect...

The Churnet Way: a wonderful walk

The loop from Oakamoor to Froghall and back was one of the most enjoyable walks I've done in a long time. It had a bit of everything: woods, ponds, rivers and railways; steep climbs and sweeping views; an unusual church, an ex-industrial wharf, and, as a final bonus, car parks with toilets. Of course, the sunny weather helped too. I parked in Oakamoor and set off along a quiet lane called Stoney Dale. This is the route of the Churnet Way, which deviates away from the river for a couple of miles. After a while I turned right and climbed up through the woods on a gravelly path, then dropped down to the B5417. a spring in Oakamoor Crossing the road, I entered Hawksmoor Nature Reserve. It has some fine gateposts commemorating John Richard Beech Masefield, "a great naturalist". I found a photo of the opening of the gateway in 1933; unsurprisingly, the trees have grown a lot since then! A track took me down through the woods to East Wall Farm. Lovely view! Nice duck pond as ...

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