Visit to Littleport

Hello Everyone ,Well Jean and Pete came to pick me up around ten am yesterday morning,and off we went to Littleport,we found the place the open day was being held ,and we were  made very welcome ,we met Mr Bruce Frost ,and with the aid of documents,Pete had taken with him it was soon established ,Pete is a decendant of the rioters,and not the branch of the Harleys of  Harley Davidson fame ,Bruce explained there are two branches of the family name ,and he would dearly like to find a connection to the two familys ,hes sure there is one but though he has  records going back to the seventeen hundreds , still hasnt found one ,but hasnt given up hope .

The Littleport riots came about in 1816,when at the end of The Napolonic war in 1815....the ordinary man was working hard to support a family on farm labourers wages ,it was said The Farmer /land owner was spending as much on a shirt for him self,as it cost to pay three mens wages,and to cut a long story short ,the men decided to rebel and went on a tour of the village taking from those better off than themselves ,whilst some few succeeded in getting away,many were caught it is believed to be approxamately fourtyfive (possibly one woman ?)they were tried in Ely,and recieved sentances,ranging from prison sentences  varying lengths,deportation to Australia,and five were hung, Isaac Harley (Pete's ancester )was one of the five ....As you will see we found the' Barn'which is indeed a council conferance room ,and took pictures of the plaque and the model ,we then left to go on to Denver Sluice ,another story another day .....but we then  saw the church ,and found the grave stone for The father of the motor bike Harley who went to America,and teamed up with the Davidson bros ,and the rest as they say is history ,opposite the church St George,stood the best of all  a stainless full size model of the first Harley Davidson ,glinting in the sunshine ...apparently in 2003 ,Littleport was host to thousands of motor bike fans to mark the hundred years of the partnership ...

We went on to Denver and watched the boats coming through the locks ,motor boats, sail boats and the lovely long boat I have photographed ,and just as if she knew Donna offered this lovely graphic this morning what a bonus ! thankyou so much Donna, Donna can be found in my side bar ...

I hope you enjoy the pictures and the story and account of our day .there is more but I will save it for another time, Have a Blessed Sunday everyone ....With Love

                                                       

 

The Littleport riots

Those of you who read my journal regularly ,will know I am interested in the history of the fens ,and have been looking at various things since we moved here nearly two years ago ,and I have shared much of it with you ,Remember I told you about the posts that had been sunk in the Holme fen ,in the eighteen hundreds and are now about fifteen feet above ground proveing how much the fens are shrinking ...I looked at bog oaks ,and a fen blow ,we recently went to Ely cathedral affectionately called the ship of the fens ......well now we have our noses into something else ,which is interesting us ........

 You will remember last month we went to my cousin Alans birthday lunch in Northampton, Maurice was talking to my late cousin Doff's son David ,they were talking motor bikes,Maurice had recently sold our Dragstar ,but David still rides,they were talking about shows and rallys ,Pete (Pete is my sister Jeans husband )introduced to the conversation ,he thought somehow he might be related to the famous Harleys ,of Harley Davidson . A Harley went to America after some riots at Littleport,near Ely.

This fired Maurices imagination,so with the help of his friend Chris ,and armed with facts from Pete (Harley is the maiden name of Petes late mum ),they checked electoral registers ,and yes we think we may have a connection !

As you know we went to Ely cathedral ,affectionately known as ,'the ship of the fens 'and when we went in ,we were greeted by a delightful Lady welcoming us to the cathedral ,Maurice was chatting to her ,about the cathedral and the area and in the course of conversation Littleport came up and the riots and she told us there was was a gentleman called Bruce Frost who lives in Littleport who could tell us more,and that there is a  plaque in the church yard of St Marys church ,near the cathedral ,to the men who had been hung ,after the cathedral ,we went to look around the church ,and though we searched, we didnt find the plaque.......

The following Monday ,I looked up and found the telephone number for Mr Bruce Frost ,and what an interesting man he is ,he told me lots of interesting things ,and that there was to be an open day ,of a Historical society,that he participates in ,is world wide and he invited us to join ,which I plan to do ,the open day is tomorrow and church records will be on view plus lots of data ,and he told me the plaque at St Marys was a replica ,he will show us were the original is, in a barn in Littlport ,that I'm sure we will find interesting ,unfortunately Maurice has to work,but Pete has offered to take Jean and I....so watch this space        Well I hope you all have a great weekend  .....

With Love From Jan xx

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Is it Thursday ?

Some time ago I commented ,I probably asked Angie,what a black eyed susan was ,well here is what she posted this morning ,arent they lovely ? Thank you Angie,Jeannette (travels added we have them here) ,well yes we do ,dont we?I didnt realise that was the name .Now I want to grow some .

Jean came over on the bus on Tuesday ,and we had a lovely day together ,we wandered round our few shops ,apart from that and prepare the dinner ,for our fishermen ,we didnt do alot apart from talk drink coffee ,juice and more coffee and oh yes talk ,it was so hot ,to hot to do any thing,but we enjoyed our day together ,then when our red men came home we had dinner on the patio ,on the pictures you can see the dregs of our dinner ,but Scooby was so funny he waited until we were done then went under the table to sit with the men

I have had the computer off most of the last two days ,We had thunder and lightening ,and yes alot of rain (and Maurice has been off work ,)the TV ,hasnt been on either and guess what ? we have discovered the art of conversation ,we were chatting ,last night until gone one o clock ,he has gone back to work now ,for three nights ,so his days off went quickly ....at least tonight, as last night, I dont have to water the garden ,apparently we have had five inches of rain in the last two days and it is so much fresher...so tonight I plan to just chill out  ,and if we dont have any storms I will watch TV (I turn TV and PC off in a storm )So now I will go and make some thing to eat ,feed the dog ,So have a good evening everyone ,With Love From And .....

                                           Jan xx

 

Visiting Day

Good morning Everyone ,another sunny day ,like the bright sunny graphic kindly made by Chris ,I'm doing this entry a bit earlier today ,Maurice, still on holiday, has gone off early to meet Pete ,my brother in law ,at some fishing lakes,Jean my sister is coming over later to spend the day with me ,Pete and Maurice will come back here later where we will all have dinner (dont know yet what we will have )Jean and I will spend the day ,doing whatever it is sisters do ,when they get together mainly chatting ,Ithink !

Maurice and I had a busy day yesterday ,we went to  Peterborough ,first to the fishing equipment shop ,to buy various stuff he needed for today ,including hooks ,oh and he bought a new pod he'd been after (for resting rods on !) and some baits including maggotts !

We then went to see Aunty Kitty ,who was asleep when we got there ,as we woke her she gave us a lovely smile ,she is gently confused ,so we made conversation ,best we could ,the topic she hit on yesterday was school ! Where did we go to school ?Itold her where I went ,but of course it meant nothing to her ,then Maurice told her the name of his school ,and her face lit up , 'good school  with the Sisters?',Yes says Maurice pulling a face at me ,some of them had been ,well ....very strict ! He then asked her where she went ,could she remember ?She tried a few things then ,her face lit up ,and she says ....in her genteel Irish accent 'I went to Heffing school ..and thats near Heffing church ',with a wicked sparkle in her eye ,we still see the remains of her sense of humour ,wonder how many times she has cracked that little joke ?Heffing (not sure if its spelt with an H ) is a little village near Limmerick ,in Ireland ,where she was brought up .Before she grew up ,and came to England ,and went on to become a nurse and eventually a Matron ,and now she is a confused little lady .living out her days in a nursing home ,but where I was pleased to note the room was pleasantly cool ,in comparison to the searing heat outside ,and they all had cool drinks by their side ,and cups of tea were  being served as we left .

Our next port of call was to pop in to see Kate and the boys who are now on holiday ,from school ,after a coffee for me and a cup of tea for Maurice ,and a natter of course .We then went on to see Maurices brother Mike and Jackie his wife ,Mike had been painting up stairs (in this weather !)we could hear Dean Martin singing to him as he worked !,so after catching up with all the family news ,we left for home ,then after dinner I caught up ,with all my alerts ,whilst watching tele out of the corner of my eye (good at multi tasking me !)and before retiring ,we....yes you've guessed it, watered the garden,....and so on that happy note I will wish you all a very nice day with love from .....

                

This lovely sig graphic ,with the cooling drink was made by Cherry ...Thankyou its lovely ...Cherry2sweet 2eat

It rained in our Gap !

Saturday ,woke to another ,very hot day ,we decided ,to go into Huntingdon,but on route Maurice wanted to book the Shogun in to get some work done on it ,he went in search of the guy... Im sitting in the car ,and there it was in the door way ,A mobile canteen ,I jumped out, with my ever ready camera ,what a photo oportunity ! whilst Maurice was booking the car in the fellow kindly opened up the back for me to look inside ,it was actually the owner of the garage who owned it and he said once he had closed up ,which he planned to do ,when he'd sorted out Maurices appointment for next Thursday ,he was off to drive it in a parade ,in fact his wife turned up just then with a change of clothes for him ,Isnt it a gem ?

  So off we went to Huntingdon ,where amongst other things we bought some new floor covering for the bathroom ,and some shelves for the kitchen .Pictures of which I'm sure you will see in due course ,We had a milk shake and a burger ,more for the excuse to sit ,than anything ,it was over poweringly hot ,We then made our way back to the car ,I even walked straight past Next ,who had a sale on ! so fed up was I with the heat ! As we drove home ,we noticed big black clouds forming and following us ,but still no rain ! ! we got home and heard ....Thunder ,then a wind got up ,it was blowing and swirling everything ,We took down the garden brolleys and Maurice even,took the hanging baskets down ...

Just as well he did ,it saved them from getting blown and dashed ,speaking to Jean (my sister) on the phone today ,she tells me Pete and her had been for a cycle ride ,and didnt get back in time,and their gazebo ,remember we sat in it,on Tueday on my visit , was blown around and damage that shes not sure can be fixed ! We got in doors just in time to sit and watch the rain ,come pouring down,                            I  unplugged the PC because we had lightening too....When it passed it was so lovely to breath fresh air ,the garden looks so much better for a drink ..I have been keeping out of the way Maurice has been fitting the vinyl whilst I do this entry ,I had better think about sorting out some food now ...so I hope you are all enjoying your Sunday ....With Love and

                 Jan xx

My FRIEND LEIGH

Good afternoon every one,The picture above is of my friend Leigh ,who lives in the Rhondda Valleys in South Wales ,we often chat on IM ,I know alot of you already know him ,but he feels  as though no one is reading his journal ,so I'm reintroducing him to J-Land ,I have mislaid my fan ,the one I put on my journal the day before yesterday,Well if you care to go over to Leighs journal ,you will see he has borrowed it to cool his pet Lion down ! ;>)http://journals.aol.co.uk/edwardssoapy/LeighsWorld/

Leigh is one plucky young man ,with Cerebral Palsy,which is not curable,there are three classifications ,and Leigh has Ataxia,which affects his hips and legs he used to get around in his 'lecy' wheel ,now he is mobile with the aid of one stick ,he finds it hard to do things like do up buckles and shoe laces ,and writes slowly ,but none of this stands in the way of the range of things Leigh gets up too ,see from the picture he is sailing ,and I understand he makes a mean lasagne ,His motto is 'Dont judge a book by its cover ' Well leigh mate your cover is blown !....We dont  !all we judge you by is what you are telling us on your journal ,which is always an interesting read ,colourful and newsy .I know Leigh has some exciting news to share ,Iam so pleased for you mate and havent forgotten to put those hints on you know what into an E-Mail for you ,Leigh is my buddy sometimes he calls me 'Aunty Jan' ,another time I'm his 'Granny Jan ' but most of all he's my friend ,so please give him a visit ,and tell him I asked you to call.....With love  and    Jan xx

Still no Rain!

 

Yet another hot day ! Some rain and storms had been forecast for Thursday ,but said the weather man,there may be some gaps ,I can only assume we live in a gap! because the rain passed us by yet again ,Maurice said they had a downpour in Peterborough ,last night ,but nothing here in our gap ! I watered the garden last evening and that will need to be my job when I have finished this entry.

Quite an exciting morning ,first the postman delivered my postcard from Linda in Washington ...a picture of Tacoma Washington ,the old train depot,Union Station,and the Tacoma Dome with Mt Rainier towering in the distance ,Thankyou Linda ,this is fun ,and also the chair I ordered,on line on Monday arrived ,it is green to match the room ,not quite as green as it looks in the picture ,it tucks away under the desk when computer not in use ,is comfortable,and much neater .Well when Maurice comes home tomorrow morning he will be off for six days ,so we will be going out some of that time .I will of course let you know..Well it cant be put off any longer I must stop now and water the garden ! Have a restful night everyone ,with love 

                Jan xx                 

The hottest day

 

Another lovely Gazebo ,and look at the sparkling  stream doesnt it look cool ,Donna made this lovely graphic I wish I was there. Dont you ?Well as I told you I went to see Jean yesterday ,and we had a lovely day together .As you will imagine alot of nattering was done !

I caught the bus to Peterborough ,and took a couple of pictures ,from the bus window as you will see this weather is perfect for getting in the harvest ,I got to P'boro had a short wait untill the bus took me to her house ,she came to meet me because I had rung her from the bus ,We sat in the garden with lovely drinks ,we decided coffee was what we wanted ,We then got brave and went for a walk ,to the shopping precinct near where she lives ,we managed to find some bargains ,and then Pete picked us up ,so we didnt have to walk back .

By this time Maurice had finished work,and was at Jeans house where ,yes ,she did feed us ,we had a delicious salad and then trifle which believe me was yummy ,After tea ,we went into the garden again where the men were planning a fishing trip,Jean and I naturally continued to chat/gossip/natter as Sisters do  ,until it was time for Maurice and I to go home ,Maurice is now at work ,he's on nights for two, then off for six days ,he is taking some much needed holiday .

I am sure by now you all know that today has been the hottest July day since records began ,I hope you are coping with the temperatures ,Have a good cool?evening everyone ,and hope you manage to sleep....with love

                Jan xx

Mad dogs and English men go out in the midday sun !

Jeannette (travels sent me this picture) and the above pictures are the real Scooby .....Who, is not enjoying this heat wave at all ,hence the saying dog days! He is lieing in the hall hoping to get a draught ,except there isnt one,there is a fan on and that is creating a bit of breeze,hes certainly not in the sun  ,I have bought some door beads too ,as the flys even are slow and lazy ,and they just stroll over you as you sit and type UGH .The pictures above are not taken in the midday sun as Maurices colour suggests,and any way he's an Irish man so I dont know whether the above title applys lol ....And what do mad English women do ?well you know I'm whappy ! so before the sun comes round to the lounge window ,door beads up, fan blowing ,I have done my ironing! yes all of it ,and dont you have alot this weather ,keep changeing dont we ?Lots of skirts and tee shirts ! and the lovely crisp white work shirts look so much better on hangers after ironing ,than folded up in the basket waiting, Oh I am a hero ! Sorry to go on ,but I feel so good about it lol .Actually I am going to see Jean tomorrow to spend the afternoon with her ,then Maurice will come after work and then if we are lucky they will feed us lol ...so I am in effect clearing the decks before I have a day out, So folks ,I will save you anymore of my waffling ,have a good day and keep cool 

                        Jan xxxx   

The Ship of the Fens

This is the only view I had ,had of Ely Cathedral from the train from Peterborough to Cambridge ,so  imagine my delight when Maurice suggested we go to Ely on Thursday last . We set off on a dull day that really threatened rain ,in the event it never did and the sun came out to welcome us ,as did a very full car park !we drove round a couple of times ,and then managed to park ,we walk over to an  adjoining old peoples compex,where they were selling books to raise money for the Air Ambulance ,we had a browse and were told fill a bag for fifty pence Wow ,well we managed to select a few ?Maurice gave them a fiver ,and took the books back to the car ,we walked on still in the versility of the old folks Bungalows,and was greeted with the four Bungalows you see in the first picture ,just ablaze with colour,What a fantastic first impresion ,some one told us ,the lady in the first bungalow is over eighty ,what a gardener !

Ely Cathedral began as a monastery in AD 673 founded by St Etheldreda.
The Danes destroyed it and Abbot Simeon rebuilt it in 1081.
The central tower fell in 1322.
Alan of Walsingham rebuilt it in the design of the Octagon. The story of Ely Cathedral begins in Saxon Times with the life of its founder, St. Etheldreda.

Etheldreda, a Saxon princess, was born in AD630 at Exning near Newmarket.

Etheldreda knew that God had called her to the religious life. For political reasons she was forced to marry twice, but keeping her vocation in mind, she maintained her virginity which was highly prized in early Christian times. Her first husband gave her the Island of Ely.

I looked up ,this informatiom  on the net ,for you .Well as you will imagine,we had a lovely day ,We finished the day with fish and chips ,I do hope you enjoy the entry ,as you know I tried to doall this yesterday ,but never mind it looks as though today I have been lucky...Have a Blessed Sunday everyone with love from       

 

Third time lucky !

Good afternoon every one ,this is not the entry I had planned for today, However here goes AGAIN !!    Maurice went off to work at five thirty this morning, by six o clock I knew I wasnt going to get off to sleep again so up I got ,I made my self a coffee ,and settled down to read my alerts for your entrys,I saw Kate was on line so I chatted to her via MSN  for a while ,she said Sam had ,had a great time but was absolutely worn out so thats a good indication he'd enjoyed himself ...On Thursday Maurice and I went to Ely ,and had a really lovely day ,we went to visit the Cathedral there I took lots of pictures,

 

Well I  started the entry ,as you do ,Found an opening graphic etc ,I clicked to add pictures ,selected about sixty I suppose ,,they started to load and got stuck on twelve !!,no way was it going to budge ! Ugh ! made myself another cup of coffee,had a ciggy..as you do ! and started again ...I added the opening graphic put in the title and mood ?added my pictures,looking good ,I added the subtitles ,and guess what the whole lot cut out on me again !! Afew Anglo Saxon Expletives were used ........

I now  set off to the town ,with trusty trolley ,and ,bought lots of lovely farm fresh fruit and veg from the market stall  the one redeeming factor of the day ,I have bought a French Lavendar I have been seaching for ,called Papallion,from the plant and flower stall ,called in at Somerfields ,then the bakers and the postoffice ,and home ,with a full trolley load ,I had stripped the bed before I left so I pegged out the washing ,before vacuaming everywhere and then washing all the laminate flooring ,and skirting boards,I'd like to say AOL did me a favour ,I'm sure I worked better because I was cross , but it  is soul destroying  when you do a long entry and lose it ,to say nothing of the time it takes ....

I did take time out to sit with my book and a sandwich in the sun ,see top picture .I will however try again tomorrow ,with the Ely pictures ,So as Maurice will soon be home I will stop now and prepare some dinner ,Have  Lovely Saturday Evening Everyone

With Love and       Jan xx

Happy Birthday Sam

Happy Birthday ,to my second youngest Grandson, Samuel James ,Who is eleven today ,he has been away since Wednesday on an activity holiday with his school ,at a place called Kingswood near Norwich ,so his Mum ,my daughter Kate will be pleased to see her 'baby 'home again for his Birthday .Of course he will be disgusted to have me call him that ! He wouldnt even let her go to school to wave him off ,He is off to his secondry school in September ,has already been for a look and likes what he sees,his big brother Matt is already there and a couple of cousins which is reasuring ,Sam you will remember is the one who enjoys fishing  ,and likes to go off with Maurice for the day ,he did very well ,when he went last time caught a really big fish .He hates having his picture taken so we are lucky to have these recent ones .Sam is very much his own man ,he hates a fuss,so I'm not sure how hes going to react to this birthday greeting from his Gran ,but since I've done it for the others I could hardly leave him out ,Have a lovely day Fellow and we'll see you soon   With love to everyone xxx

                             Thank you Donna for my sig today

Happy Birthday Ally

                    Look who has a Birthday today ! Many of you know her ,she is a lovely lady ,she lives in Norfolk ,with her daughter Lynn,surrounded by their lovely family ,Ally has a journal ,where she tells us about all sorts of interesting things ,Where ever you go in J-land Ally can be found making her comment and she has the gift of saying ,just the right thing everytime ,She is a compassionate ,caring ,kind lady ,and on her Birthday today ,what better chance to say ..love you Ally ,have a very Happy Birthday ,and many Happy returns of the day xxx

  With Love From   Jan xxxxxxxxxx  http://journals.aol.co.uk/ally123130585918/Lifewithally/

Is it really Monday again ?

I was going to post this evening when Maurice had gone to work ,but then it wouldnt make sense to use this pretty graphic , Bidding  you all good morning  .I hope you have all had a good weekend, I have, even though Maurice was at work last night ,our weekend will be Wednesday and Thursday this week !

Well the football is over,isnt that sad ?......'No' I could have respected it more, if they hadnt thrust it at us whether,we wanted it or not,and the channel whose turn it wasnt to show football ,would show a favourite Detective drama ,but a repeat !!....did they think we wouldnt notice ?Perhaps they are going to give us a rebate on our licences !

I dont know if you are able to see the little cherry tomatoes ,in the hanging basket ,I keep watering them and everything else in the garden we still havent had any rain,I shall have  like Sandra says , extra long arms carrying watercans ! And the other picture is of a willow pattern jug ,that was for sale on a bric a brac table at the Methodist Hall ,where we had our tea ,last Thursday ,I dont know if its old but the crazy cracks are genuine,and I'm quite pleased with it ...

Well folks, thats Monday under way ,have a lovely day .Lots of Love from

                                xxx

 

Sunday Evening

Isnt she lovely? Donna calls her Watering Angel,she is welcome in my garden ,we keep getting clouds over head ,but then the strong wind that we have at the moment ,blows the rain clouds away again,We had one shower the day before yesterday,but that is all ,so like the Angel in Donnas lovely graphic ,I will be weilding my water can again this evening ......

I have had a busy few days ,on Wednesday I went off to the over sixties club ,where we were entertained by eighteen little girls from a nearby school,and their teachers ,two lovely young ladies ,who dont look much older than their pupils,have you noticed how teachers, Policemen and mothers pushing prams ,all look so young these days ,or is it me getting older lol ?The school choir was so talented ,and sang a range of songs ,some we knew and were invited to join, in some we didnt ,some funny ones ,and some in the round ,can you remember doing that at school ?I can .....I helped with the tea ,and enjoyed myself ,made lots of new friends too .

The next day ,we all went to Oakham ,a lovely drive through lots of pretty villages ,and then a little wander round Oakham ,a very county town ,no big shops ,lots of smaller nice (expensive ) ones but enjoyed window shopping,stumbled across delightful thatched cottage ,in the picture above ,then we all met at the Methodist hall ,for a delcious home made  afternoon tea ,sandwiches ,scones and cakes that were very very yummy ,much more than we could eat but we tried very  hard !   Friday and Saturday I spent ,doing the usual chores ,today a lazy Sunday Jean and Pete came over to see us for a while ,which was very nice ,Maurice has gone off to start the first of three nights ,and on the TV Italy and France are playing  Football ,I am now going to make myself something to eat before I watch Poirot,which is much more to my taste ,though we have had nothing but repeats as an alternative to Football ,maybe after tonights match ,we can have our tele back ....

Have a blessed Sunday evening everyone ....with love