You can see our apartment building through the trees to the right. We called the large house to the left the Manor House. There was a small office around the right side of that building where we paid the rent.

A couple of weeks ago, I had fun playing with Google Earth. I looked at all the places I’ve lived in the states. Then, we had breakfast with my friend Cindy…my neighbor in England. It got me wondering if I could “walk” around the villages and see if anything still looked familiar to me. So, today I’m taking you on a trip to the UK.

”The Swan” pub about a mile from our apartment. There is a small garden to the left with market lights strung across. We used to meet Cindy and her husband there for Cornish Pasties and Guinness on Friday nights.

Hubby #1 was in the Air Force stationed at RAF Greenham Common and RAF Welford (a bomb storage facility.) Greenham opened in 1942 and had four runways. It was used by the USAF during WWII and the Cold War. While we were there, it was primarily a mail sorting and storage facility. There was a clinic, a movie theater, a grocery store, a base exchange, a post office, and several other buildings. I arrived in July of 1973, the first year of the International Air Tattoo, a large scale international military air show. That’s where I first saw the Concorde. It flew right over our apartment and was extraordinarily LOUD. We left in late 1974. In 1980, RAF Greenham Common was one of two British bases that housed the USAF’s mobile nuclear armed cruise missiles. 

A narrowboat on the River Kennet near The Swan. I have a picture of my mom holding Daughter #1 in my green and white Mini Cooper sitting right there in front of the gate. People rent narrowboats for their holiday (vacation) much like we would go camping.

We rented a third floor flat in Thatcham, a small village near Newbury. It was quaint homes with small postage stamp gardens in front. Shopping was within walking distance and we carried a market basket with us for our daily shopping. I still have mine. Daughter #1 was born almost exactly a year after I arrived in country.

Another narrowboat further along the Kennet and Avon Canal.

The little shops that lined the streets were mesmerizing…especially the bakeries with their elaborate window displays of sweets. One of my favorite treats was “Walnut Whips,” a small crisp cookie with a whipped filling covered in chocolate and a walnut half on top. SO decadent. One of my favorite excursions was to a local shop for afternoon tea. This was traditionally a light mid-afternoon affair serving finger sandwiches, scones with clotted cream and jam, and pastries. This was especially lovely when I was pregnant. My GYN, Mr. Stallabrass, had an office in Reading at the Royal Berkshire Maternity Unit. After my appointments, I often took afternoon tea in a small cottage overlooking Windsor Castle. 

We lived on the economy, not in base housing, so we experienced life as locals might…even though there was no mistaking the fact we were Yanks. Many of the locals didn’t care for us…especially the men. They held a grudge since the ward because Yanks came in and married the women and took them home to the States.

Donnington Castle near Newbury

We kept busy in our off time visiting the tourist sites like Donington Castle, Winchester Cathedral, Stonehenge, Windsor Castle, Buckingham Palace, Big Bend, the Tower of London. When my mom came to visit, we asked her what she wanted to do. My mother was quite naive to the ways of the world but she had an adventurous side. When she told me she wanted to go see a burlesque show, I was a bit taken aback, but we hopped a train to London and saw a show in the Soho District. I think mom was expecting something like Carmen Miranda. Instead, we got naked people swimming in a glass sided pool onstage. She wanted to wander through the shops. There were women posing in storefront windows and shops that sold “things we’d never seen before.” That’s where I drew the line and dragged her home. lol She was a hoot!

One of my favorite stores was Marks & Spencer in Newbury. It was kind of like a Penneys.

Many years later, when mom had passed, I picked up where she left off in building the family tree. The onset of the Internet made things so much easier to research and I was dumbfounded when I learned my PopPop’s ancestors came from a village not ten miles from where we lived in England. If I’d only known, I could have done research on site!

You cannot go to England without visiting Stonehenge. It’s truly magical!

My time living there left me with some of my most fond memories. I always thought I’d go back there and visit…maybe take my daughter there to see where she was born. I don’t know that I’ll ever get back there, but Google Earth lets me time travel from the comfort of my Big Red Chair…whenever I want.

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“Look here, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we are going to a certain town and will stay there a year. We will do business there and make a profit.” How do you know what your life will be like tomorrow? Your life is like the morning fog—it’s here a little while, then it’s gone. What you ought to say is, “If the Lord wants us to, we will live and do this or that.”” ‭‭James‬ ‭4‬:‭13‬-‭15‬ ‭NLT‬‬

***Gratitude Journal***   
Today I am grateful for the memories of my travels abroad in my youth. They will keep me company in my final years.