Wednesday, September 24, 2008

A few places I've seen

I haven't really been able to post because the Internet and upload speed on my Internet stick is S-L-O-O-O-W. I'm currently at the Cumberland Hotel in London, so I have high speed Internet here...it takes seconds to upload...I'm so excited!!! We'll discuss London later. Here are a few of my noteworthy excursions:

Billericay, Essex:

For a small town, this place has some serious history. One piece of information I found interesting is that they have a town in the US which mirrors Billericay; it is called Billerica, which is in Massachusetts, near Boston. Of course, they didn't want to call it the same thing yet wished to keep some sort of English connection, so they took the "y" off the end of the town name. Today, they keep a sort of friendship between them and open their homes to visitors traveling between the two places. It's like a Billericay club...lol...not a bad idea actually.

Not much to say really, I just took a lot of pictures. They have around 18 old buildings from the 15th century to the 18th century Georgian architecture. None of the buildings were built on foundations, so they are slowly inching down the hill. They really are great buildings...here are some of them:


This is on Norsey Road...they are 18th century cottages. One interesting thing about them is that they were not built upon a foundation (and still stand)...most of the stores and houses in Billericay are not built on foundations; yet, they have only crept down the hill a matter of inches.



This is a timber framed house built in 1577...I think it is just amazing how they can stand today.



St Mary Magdalene church and it's front door and 15th century clock tower.


There was a pigeon perched on a throne of his own in the pic on the left, so I had to take his pic.
This is Foxcroft Georgian style built in 1750. In 1935 it was a children's home. I absolutely love the ivy growing on it...it's a nice sign of Autumn with the gradual color change of the leaves.















This pic shows...beyond the coined phrase "sunlashes" (I can't remember for the life of me which siesta coined that phrase.)...a 16th century half timber style; however, back in the day, the exposed beams were not black...they were a natural gray (and I actually have a picture later of what it would really look like if left natural).

This is very noteworthy. It's called The White Hart and was built in the 18th century. Two of the windows have been bricked off because back then there was a window tax, and of course, this has many windows, so in order to not be charged tax for all the windows, they bricked two off and have kept it that way as a reminder of window taxes.












Ok, so I took 140 pics of places in Billericay, so I must move on now.



Next stop...Leigh, Essex:

This is the award winning beach in Leigh...and believe me, my camera didn't miss much of it...haa haa haa...that's it.













This is what I ate in Leigh:

The cup consisted of prawn, crayfish tails, mussel's, and cockles. The more I ate, the bigger the cup got...lol. Actually, I ate the shrimp (they eat it with pepper and vinegar...I wasn't so fond of that...kind of made it smell a bit more fishy), I tried a crayfish tail and gave the rest to Jackie, then we got down to the mussel's:








Promise you...I said "Jackie...I swear that one below has eyes and is looking at me." It took me about two minutes to gain enough courage to eat it, and...well...Jackie had the rest. lol











These guys are cockles...I found them to be quite yummy, but after about four, I began to cringe, and...well...Jackie ate the rest...haa haa haa. I love seafood, really! Maybe all they needed was butter and garlic....lol.














This is Jackie's son Jack. Jack ate Mackrel:





















More later. I'm off to see more of London now.

5 comments:

GratefulinGA said...

Kate this is just marvelous! How did I miss these post you've been making? I've got your blog on my side bar and it's suppose to update...I'm so confused.

Well, I'll just be popping over to check your blog personally.

I love your photos and descriptions. looks like you are having loads of fun.

I'll continue to pray traveling mercies for you as it appears you're still over the pond!

much love,
tammy

GratefulinGA said...

Hey Kate!
Wondering if you would have a look over here and see what YOU can DO.
Hugs and Blessings,
tammy

Donna @ Way More Homemade said...

So proud of you being all brave in what you're eating. :)

Hope you're continuing to have a wonderful trip.

~Donna

Kimberly said...

Beautiful pictures!!! What a wonderful adventure!

Holly said...

Been praying for you, friend! I love to see England through your eyes.