Temple Break and Norfolk, 2 March 2015

The temple is closed for its semi-annual two week maintenance period.  Sister Smith joined us and we headed North to Norfolk, to tour the area of Sheringham and Holt, as they are the ancestral homes of Dad's Bird and Fuller lines.

The drive into new territory was amazing.  We drove through the tunnel at the Dartford Crossing, which is a major road crossing of the Thames and is the busiest estuarial crossing in the UK.  It was the longest tunnel we had ever been in and we thought it was not going to end!

We are headed toward the tunnel, here.   You can see the Queen Elizabeth II cable stayed bridge, which we crossed when we came home.  We went under then over the Thames, pretty exciting.

(I got the photo off the Internet because I wasn't alert enough to take my own.)

We drove through, wind, rain, sleet, and snow, and marveled at the change in the land as it was more flat, less trees of a different seed, and room to see great distances.  We drove by Leatherhead RAF home of the 48th FW and noted how clean the area was along the road and the roads were actually wider than what we are used to.  We followed the base for several miles and ended with going around the end of the runway.

There was a pig farm.  They were huge and many of them.  Sister Smith said you would never find a pig farm by the road in New Zealand; they would be stolen!

We ended our drive arriving at the Bolt Hole Cottage at Rookery Farm in West Beckham.  We were warmly welcomed with fresh bread and butter, blackcurrent jam, apple juice, and a homemade cake with raspberry jam between the layers.  We unpacked, enjoyed slices of bread with butter and jam, and drank the juice.  Sister Smith had brought leftovers from home we passed around and then were off to Sheringham.

The road took us right through town with shops and eateries on either side and down to the coast of the North Sea.  Dad parked and Sister Smith and I got out to see the water and take a photo.  We braced a freezing wind, trying to keep ourselves together enough to take the pictures.  The water was brown and very angry with whitecaps swishing back and forth all over the surface.

 Architecture in the town.

We then headed to the All Saints church in Upper Sheringham.  Dad is trying to find headstones for any of his family line.  We walked through the cemetery all around the church in blowing snow.  We also went in to find it under remodeling with workers about and things in disarray.  The church was built in the late 13th to early 14th centuries.  The windows were put in during the 15th century.  It is interesting to think that this is the church his family had attended in the late 1700's.  We were unsuccessful in finding any headstones for them.

All Saints Church in Upper Sheringham, Norfolk.  Halie took this same picture when she was here two years ago.

 The backside of the church with more of the cemetery.

Inside the church.

We then searched for another church and Dad asked one of the workers that told him there was one on the other end of town.  We headed out and went about a mile passed the center of town and came upon the All Saints Church of Beeston Regis.  It was built in the 14th century and sits atop a hill.  We had many surprises as we drove under the railroad tracks through a very narrow bridge the commanding view of the North Sea, and an RV park!  The weather broke for us with sunshine, but the freezing wind pierced through us as we walked the cemetery in search of family.  Once again, we found none.

We put the lizard on the windshield for a better view.

We were unable to go inside as there was a padlock on the door.

It was amazing to see a "caravan" park between the church and the sea.

Our travels had come to an end as we were tired and a bit cold from the weather.  We stopped at Tesco and picked up food for our meals and headed back to the cottage.  We enjoyed dinner and the cake that was left for us with cornish custard on it.