England July 2025 | FindPenguins

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20. juli 2025
England July 2025
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Goodbye Italy 🇮🇹, hello England 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿
20. juli 2025, England ⋅ 🌧 18 °C
Left the tour in Venice to face their own struggles with flying home. We went to London-Stanstedt airport to enjoy a trip through jolly old South England. Started at Dedham, Essex the home of Sherman’s since the 1500s. Henry Sherman was a somewhat wealthy gentleman, but the large family meant splitting the estate and money too many way’s so the youngest 3 or 4 sons decided to join the religious dissenters under Roger Williams making up the “Massachusetts Bay Colony” group. Some wound up in central Mass with others emigrating to Rhode Island, a destination for religious and political dissenters and social outcasts, earning it the moniker "Rogue's Island".

In Dedham we came across the Sherman Hall, constructed in 1735 by Thomas Sherman and donated to a conservation trust in 1978. It’s across the street from St Mary’s church and burying ground where many Sherman and affiliated families are buried. Most grave markers older than mid-1800s are too worn to read. Would be great to go back and see if they have a directory of the older burials.

For lunch, we found the Wooden Fender. It started as a cow shed in the 1500s, then became a men’s meeting place. At one point about 24 witches were tried there (no notes on the verdicts) In the 1700s it started serving mead, ale and beer then evolved into the wonderful pub it is today. We didn’t have a reservation but told us we had a table if we could finish in 1 hour and 15 minutes. Challenge Accepted!!! And easily completed. The food was great, service wonderful.

Now back at the room and ready for naps! Cheers all!Læs mere
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Rejsende 😋🐟
20.07.2025Svar
Rejsende Oh, did you find any relatives? 😁😍
20.07.2025SvarOversætte
Rejsende Yes Bill’s 11th grandfather lived here. But none living we know of
21.07.2025SvarOversætte
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England July 2025
University of Essex & Colchester
21. juli 2025, England ⋅ 🌩️ 17 °C
We wake up to a stereotypical English morning, overcast, drizzly rain, chilly temps, and a loss of electricity! Some utility work by the hotel required the outage, so we set alarms to ensure we got our “full English breakfast” before it happened. Then off to school!
Or at least to visit our volleyball coaching friend Alex at the University of Essex in Colchester.
It’s a 1970s “modern style” university with about 12,000 students, a large piece of land and great academics. The gym, weight room, and training facilities are great. Alex and the Blades volleyball team are coming off of a British Universities and Colleges Sport (BUCS) championship year!
After touring the grounds, and having a wonderful smoked salmon lunch sandwich at the Wivenhoe restaurant on grounds, we went to downtown Colchester.
Colchester was the first Roman settlement in Brittany and claims to be the “first city in Britain“ as a result. It’s a sprawling town with an incredible and walkable shopping district around High Street. Just off of High Street is the Dutch Quarter. Many Flemish Protestants moved here to avoid German persecution bringing trades and skills, plus the clapboard styles so common in Belgium and Germany.
We wrapped up our tour at the large Castle Park with the original castle, beautiful gardens, and a spattering of ruins to visit. Back to the hotel for naps.
We went back downtown to Bills restaurant (how could we miss that!?!?) for dinner with Alex and Mollie, a former JJVA player who played this last championship season for Alex. Great discussion to catch up her year here, learn about her Masters thesis, and top it off with Bills flower pot dessert and a lemon meringue pie sundae.
Wonderful day, with tomorrow bringing a visit to the land of Geoffrey Chaucer and the Tales of Canterbury.Læs mere
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England July 2025
Sherman genealogy
21. juli 2025, England ⋅ ☁️ 20 °C
I’ve gathered a lot of information on the Sherman family, with tentative lines going back to John la Shearman in 1345. I say tentative because one of the challenging spots is Henry Sherman of Dedham (1524-1590). We lack “proof” of his lineage but have strong circumstantial evidence for his parents and ancestors going back to Yaxley, Suffolk.
What we do know is he was a weaver of woolen cloth, from (presumably) a line of wool weavers or “shearmen”. For a while, maybe 60-80 years, his family lived and worked in Southfields in Dedham at what is now called “the Master Weavers house”. From the 1300s to 1800s this property passed through several families of weavers who bought the raw wool from farmers and were part of the major industry making rough, raw wool bay (or baize) cloth to the finer, softer says (or serge) wool.
The property of Southfields was privately renovated over a period of 30 odd years to become a Type I (highest ranking) historic building by the British government. I’m glad this and the Sherman Hall are both in good working order. Even happier that I noticed they were close enough for us to visit!Læs mere
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England July 2025
Canterbury
22. juli 2025, England ⋅ ☁️ 22 °C
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England July 2025
First hike tonight in Dover
22. juli 2025, England ⋅ ☁️ 19 °C
A lovely moderately up and down hill 2.5 mile hike on the Dover cliffs tonight. Magnificent views, lots of flowers and berries! Bill used his Merlin App (Bird App) and we enjoyed being on the coast.
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England July 2025
Dover Castle
23. juli 2025, England ⋅ ☁️ 19 °C
Got to go to the Dover castle today which is on the Dover cliffs and has been a sanctuary for many over the years.
Dover Castle is a medieval castle in Dover, Kent, England and is Grade I listed. It was founded in the 11th century and has been described as the "Key to England" due to its defensive significance throughout history. Some writers say it is the largest castle in England, a title also claimed by Windsor Castle. It has an amazing tunnel system.

The outbreak of the Second World War in 1939 saw the tunnels converted first into an air-raid shelter and then later into a military command centre and underground hospital. In May 1940, Admiral Sir Bertram Ramsay directed the evacuation of French and British soldiers from Dunkirk, code-named Operation Dynamo, from his headquarters in the cliff tunnels. A military telephone exchange was installed in 1941 and served the underground headquarters. The switchboards were constantly in use and had to have a new tunnel created alongside it to house the batteries and chargers necessary to keep them functioning. A statue of Admiral Ramsay stands outside the tunnels in honour of his work on the Dunkirk evacuation and protecting Dover during the Second World War

We learned that our hotel is directly under the tunnels and that the row homes behind our hotel have secret entries to the tunnels used throughout the years- so cool!

Weather has been in the 60’s and raining off and on but not the Floridian downpours we are used too. Mostly just sprinkling.

We are enjoying the cooler temps compared to Croatia and Italy!Læs mere
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England July 2025
Walmer & Deal Castles
24. juli 2025, England ⋅ ⛅ 19 °C
Since we bought the annual pass for English Heritage (in the US a National Park annual pass) we decided to head up the coast to see a couple of local castles. Henry VIII, after being excommunicated, starting the Protestant Church of England, divorcing 1 wife, beheading another, and annoying all his neighboring royals, thought it would be a good idea to establish a line of defensive forts to protect against invasion from Europe.
Walmer castle was converted from a battlement to become a summer home for various royals, including the Queen Mum. Henry “appropriated” the original land in 1539, the Crown eventually bought all the land to the ocean and several acres which became the Queen Mums garden.
Deal castle remains largely a defensive fort. It’s still in good shape unlike the Sandown castle which fell into the sea.
After the castle tours, we went to the Coastguard aka “the English pub closest to France”. Good fish, atmosphere and out of the rain. Just perfect before naps!
Cheers!Læs mere
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England July 2025
Drive from Dover to Hastings
25. juli 2025, England ⋅ ☁️ 20 °C
Packed and loaded the Mercedes and off to Hastings. Breakfast in a small cafe called The Grumpy Cook! A non profit who has specials for 2£ or free no questions asked. They also do a senior tea for locals and homeless each day!
We had cappuccinos, toast with avocado + scramble eggs + cheese, and Grumpy breakfast with eggs, beans, tomatoes, toast, sausages. And of course a piece of carrot cake for breakfast dessert!!
Every restaurant, pub, cafe, coffee shop etc has asked us about food allergies prior to ordering. We have found this to be a very helpful guide and interesting. 🧐

Hastings is a town on England’s southeast coast. It's known for the 1066 Battle of Hastings, fought on a nearby field where Battle Abbey now stands. The Norman ruins of Hastings Castle, once home to William the Conqueror, overlook the English Channel. East along the shingle seafront of Stade beach, Hastings Fishermen’s Museum and Shipwreck Museum document maritime history. The Jerwood Gallery shows contemporary art.

The start of the Norman Conquest was the Battle of Hastings, fought on 14 October 1066, although the battle itself took place 6 mi (9.7 km) to the northwest at Senlac Hill. William had landed on the coast between Hastings and Eastbourne at Pevensey. It is thought that the Norman encampment was on the town's outskirts, where there was open ground; a new town was already being built in the valley to the east. That "New Burgh" was founded in 1069 and is mentioned in the Domesday Book as such. William defeated and killed Harold Godwinson, the last Saxon King of England, and destroyed his army, opening England to the Norman conquest.Læs mere
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England July 2025
Littlehampton
25. juli 2025, England ⋅ ⛅ 22 °C
Looked for a coastal English village and couldn’t have done better. Quiet place, 100m from the sea, beautiful park right behind us. Great place for Balasz and Orsi to meet us.
Rocky beach with about a 3m tidal change which took the water far out at low tide. Our first night we took a long walk down the beach to the Arun River and along to the oyster bay.
CJ and Orsi got brave enough to go in the water then spend some time laying in the sun. Then the clouds came out, they got chilly and we headed inside for dinner and an early evening.Læs mere
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England July 2025
Brighton
26. juli 2025, England ⋅ ☁️ 19 °C
We can see why the Brits like Brighton so much. Beautiful shoreline and blue water. Bustling city center with shops, pubs and many activities. We found an amazing non-profit coffee shop where their proceeds go toward training baristas! And supporting various farms where they source their beans.
Went down to their pier, declined to pay the entry fee so went to find a pub for lunch instead.Læs mere
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England July 2025
Under Cliff hike & lunch
26. juli 2025, England ⋅ ☁️ 21 °C
After the morning in Brighton, we drove to the Undercliff walk which is a 3-5 mile walking path attached to the English coastal walking trail which spans the East to West of the southern coast. The cliffs soared 20-30m overhead, not quite as high as in Dover.
Beautiful sites. Many people sunbathing or fishing, a ton of walkers, runners or bikers.
Found (no big surprise) fish and chips for lunch and filled our belliesLæs mere
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England July 2025
Winchester
28. juli 2025, England ⋅ ☁️ 20 °C
Many towns in England end in chester because the name derives from the Latin word "castrum," meaning a military camp or fort, indicating that these locations were historically sites of Roman forts. Most of these have ancient Roman ruins or walls around them.
Winchester was another example with buildings going back to 600AD and churches from the Anglo-Saxon period. It’s also interesting because so many towns claim to be the first or an ancient capital of Britainny/Britain/England or some other nuance that’s mostly well founded but may not mean what you think.
Winchester, like many small towns in England, is charming, very walkable, dog friendly, and fun to explore. We came to see King Arthur’s court and round table, sadly getting there just as they were shutting down. We got distracted by the Winchester cathedral which was amazing enough to get its own footprint!Læs mere
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England July 2025
Winchester Cathedral
28. juli 2025, England ⋅ ☁️ 22 °C
Went to see King Arthur’s round table and got distracted by the cathedral. At first we almost skipped it due to the £18 entry fee, but 4 hours later we wished we had more time to spend.
They have 1 hour (or more) guided tours frequently thru the day. Our volunteer shared many amazing stories, told us of Bishop William of Wyckham who must be the patron saint of project managers! He learned while working and building Windsor Castle, then brought his considerable skills to Winchester where he spent about 40 years working. Oh, and in his spare time he started New College in Oxford (1379) and College of Winchester in 1384.
Our guide also showed us the tomb of Jane Austen the author who had the good fortune of dying in Winchester so she was buried in the longest medieval cathedral in the world (the specificity of the words matters!)
After the general tour we went on the tower tour, going up (and back down) 231 steps through the multiple floors, to the bell tower and finally into the roof area at the top to see over the whole town of Winchester. Amazing tour with plentiful stories and anecdotes the whole time.
Back to the AirBnB for a salad dinner and get ready for Stonehenge tomorrow
Cheers all!Læs mere
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England July 2025
Stonehenge & Bath
29. juli 2025, England ⋅ ☁️ 17 °C
Definitely a “bucket list” stop. However, we didn’t think we could see it from the highway on the way in. It was very convenient of the druids to stack the stones about 30-40m from the roads. Great vision into the future!
We got there early enough to park in the lot. It was full and turning away cars when we left. The visitor center provided great insights into the surrounding area, how it was celebrated, but nobody really knows why it was so important.

A short bus ride later we got to the stones! There is a path about 30-50m around the stones which allows great pictures without people in the way. In the area around them we could see various burial mounds, ditches, and man made landscape changes. Amazing to think it was all dragged, dug and stacked by hand over 3000 years ago.

From Stonehenge we went to Bath and spent the evening walking around. The downtown is a beautiful walking area with plenty of site seeing, shopping and food choices. We are looking forward to the hop on/off bus in the morning.Læs mere
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England July 2025
Bath Toot Bus day!
30. juli 2025, England ⋅ ☁️ 20 °C
Hop on and hop off, great way to see new towns. We walked from our BNB to a bus stop. Rode and learned for about 20 minutes, then got off in city center.

We wandered around the city center doing a little shopping, trying some coffee and Nata (egg custard), then going on a 2 hour FREE guided tour of Bath (much better than the bus). Sean was an amazing guide, sharing his knowledge and many anecdotes about the area. He was focused on various architectural components. We learned that Bath was somewhat well known, but really exploded when a “scoundrel” Welshman became the unofficial mayor and chief promoter for the town. He established rules and laws of decorum, got a town architect and builder engaged, and transformed the town over a 30-40 year period.

The result is the Bath we see today. Very tourist driven, the 3 public baths are very busy, more investment and growth continues to roll in.

Bath is a beautiful town with rich heritage. It’s a nice place to visit with vibrant shopping and dining along with great public spaces for walking and relaxing. Go visit if you get a chance.Læs mere
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England July 2025
Windsor Castle
31. juli 2025, England ⋅ 🌧 21 °C
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31. juli 2025