OLD BLIGHTY>Journey to England 2003

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THIRD Day..Thurs. June 5, 2003
Revisiting St. Mary's Church
Story Part 2

Click to enlarge photos.

We would love to have e-mail from anyone from the Broxted area.
Thanks! Sue and Evelyn.
Evelyn Carpenter

Thursday...June 5th, 2003
I should remind myself that this is the THIRD day, as the first two days, June 3 and 4th were spent mostly traveling on the plane and the coach, arriving finally at Moor End Farm about 4:30 p.m. Wednesday, (Brit. time) having departed on Tues, the day before at 5:30 p.m. Pacific time.
Darkness finally came, but lasted only momentarily. I opened one eye slightly to see that it was getting light again. I must have got some sleep after all it seemed. I crawled out of bed, walked to the bathroom and started gargling with the salt & soda I had tucked in my suitcase, hoping to cure my aching throat. I looked at my watch...it was 2:00 a.m.!!!!! We hadn't even gone to bed until midnight! What was this? Why was it getting light so early? So I stumbled back to bed, moving quietly past Sue so as not to awaken her. However, Sue woke up soon after, and like myself, thought it to be much later than it actually was.
Our day of walking would start early...well not too early as we wanted to ask directions from Phillip or Cathy...on which way to walk through the fields to the Church and would wait until we could see them up and around. We knew Cathy would be getting the children ready for school by 7:30 a.m. We both marveled at all of the things Cathy gets accomplished each day. She is in charge of the Bed & Breakfast, has three children to look after. Two go to school, but the little guy is still too young and needs constant attention. There is lots of hard work to be done on a working farm, let alone to be in charge of the holiday accommodations. As well as all of that, Cathy has so many social obligations being that Moor End Farm is a meeting place for organizations..like "Stop the Stansted Airport" movement, horse shows, etc...
We had lots of coffee, made in our new micro-wave. I had cereal, and scrambled eggs with some of the delicious farm bread spread with REAL butter, that can only taste soooo good coming from English cows grazing on the continually green grass! Fantastic! Marmalade...English..marmalade! What is their secret? Why does it taste so much better than our "Smuckers"? Even though I really like Smuckers marmalade too.
We stepped outside to see a beautiful day awaiting us, with only a few scattered puffy clouds. Then we saw Cathy with her youngest son They both had on their green Wellingtons. Sue and I learned about Wellingtons (or WELLIES) and how crucial they are to those who walk in the fields of England, when we stayed at Flatford Mill in Suffolk. We were there for a couple of weeks..painting..and were obliged to buy some or sink in the mud..:) This was in 1971 and I still have my Wellies, only using them in the very rare days of snow here in Lucerne Valley. I think the people of Flatford Mill were amused that we had never heard of Wellingtons! England has so much rain, and you never know what lurks under the beautiful green grass in the way of a mud hole etc. if you are walking the footpaths..
It was easy to find Phillip, as he was directly across from our "cottage" helping with the building of the newest accommodation unit..The DAIRY, which was almost finished. Phillip thought it would be easier to walk with us out to a place where we could look all over Broxted, and he could point out the directions. We followed in his footsteps, trying to keep up with his long stride. The buttercups were blooming and everything was so clean and smelled so good.. Maybe the lovely smell was from the slight shower we had during the night. Phillip's little dog.."Poppie"? came along too.
Even though the weather looked very promising, I know that it can change from good to bad in a very short time, so I wore my coat with hood. Sue was braver...mainly because she did not bring a regular coat. :)
Soon we were off down the slight hill in search of the church as we waved goodbye to Phillip. Our much looked forward adventures are about to begin, as we trudged along in the direction of St. Mary's Church with no path to guide us.

Winding our way past some cottages, barns, hedges, trees,.fences, walls and gardens...we came to a road. As we walked along it, we weren't sure about which side we should be walking on. After a short walk along the narrow road, I recognized the OLD POST OFFICE where Herb & I had stayed a couple of years ago, on our last visit, along with Roger and "Bee" Barltrop. We stopped long enough to take a photo of it, and heard a lady's voice call out from across the road.."Hello! Are you Mrs. Carpenter?" You can imagine our amazement at hearing our name being called out here, so far away from anyone we knew.
Here I must back-track again. Before our trip I had made arrangements with some e-mail acquaintances to meet with them. One couple was Sonia and Paul Leahman. Sonia once lived at the BELL INN which is now called "The Bell Cottages" as the Inn itself was converted into two cottages many years ago. On a visit to Broxted in 1971, I had taken a photo of what used to be the OLD BELL INN to show to Mom upon our return to US. Part of the building is still the same as it was in 1898 when she was born there..well..nearly the same, but has been modernized of course. The room which she pointed out as being her bedroom is now a bathroom, etc. As I took the photo I noticed two little girls standing near the door, looking my way. I was a little embarrassed at being caught taking a photo of their home, so sped away quickly in our rented car. But 32 years later I met this little girl...now 40 online!! Yes, through the miracle of the Internet I was able to trace her down. I found out her name from another e-mail acquaintance who once lived in Broxted by sending her the old 1971 photo of the little girls by THE BELL COTTAGE. This lady who recognized her is Lisa BARKER Cooper of Great Dunmow (about 4 miles away), whom you'll meet later. Lisa said that there were once two little girls who looked like the photo who lived and grew up at The BELL cottage. One was blond, and if this photo was taken in 1971, then it could well be SONIA REYNOLDS! She also said that Sonia's parents, Ann and David Reynolds still resided in THE BELL COTTAGE. Between Lisa and Cathy at Moor End Farm, I was soon in touch with Sonia which proved to be so exciting...A coincidence? Some say there is no such thing as a coincidence...???
After exchanging e-mail and photos, we had made arrangements to meet at Moor End Farm, where we would be invited to actually go into the Old Bell Inn and take photos! WONDERFUL NEWS! A chance to actually go into the room where Mom was born in 1898!
This meeting had been so eagerly looked forward to for so long, and it would take place this very evening at 4:30 p.m. Indeed, a real miracle! Sonia & Paul would arrive at 3:00 p.m. and take us to the Bell Cottage to meet her parents. I had chills just thinking about it.
Ok...back to the story...now this lady calling out to us "Are you Mrs. Carpenter" was actually Sonia's mother...Ann Reynolds. She just happened to be in that vicinity the very minute we were, checking a friend's house who was on holiday. Small world? Coincidence? She said that they (husband Dave) were expecting us at The Bell at 4:30 p.m. If we had not stopped to take a photo, we would have missed her. Ann showed us the back path into the cemetery from Church Hall Farm, and we said "goodbye for now" to Ann, turning toward the pathway to the church.
I knew how to get to Church Hall Farm from there, as Herb & I had made several walking trips there while staying at the OLD POST OFFICE in 2000. You see it had been a huge old barn, where antiques were stored and sold by individuals. A REAL TREASURE CHEST to say the least. I had made many exciting purchases there in the two preceeding trips to Broxted. But, sad to say, it was now closed..much to Sue's dismay!

As Sue and I started along this little path, I glanced down and there I saw the ragged edge of an old coin in the soil beneath our feet. Ann called out "That's good luck, you know!" as she looked back. Sue and I looked at each other. We both were thinking the same thing. Mom had said that she would leave pennies around whenever she was THERE..(meaning after her death). It was a tupence..two pence! Coincidence? Here at the start of the path to Mom's Church which was actually the main part of her "growing up" life. All of the POOLE children had been baptized here and loved this church as much as their home. From way back in the early 1800's, as far as I can find in my genealogy search, this church played the major role in marriages, baptisms, etc. of our ancestors lives. Both of us felt a presence...but nothing was said.
We continued right through the back gate and into the cemetery where we found two men, busy taking care of the cemetery grounds. One was riding on a mower, cutting the grass, the other held an electric cutting device of some sort, and was busy trimming, etc. The air-traffic landing at Stansted was tremendous! The planes were so low on this their last approach to runway, that one could not talk and be heard! They came over about every minute or two, one after the other. VERY upsetting indeed! The peace and tranquility which I had hoped for was not to be had.
Sue went off on her own exploring names and taking photos. Looking for the BARLTROP one which I had told her about, as well as the FREDERICK GUNN marker.
The very first gravesite to the left as we entered the gate was that of Phyllis and Bob Wallis, our old friends whom we had met in 1969 and again in 1971.

Bob and Phillis had been friends with all of the Poole family since birth, here in Broxted. They were neighbors. I've been told that Aunt Lucy (Lucy POOLE DELIGHT) had once had a crush on Bob's brother. (smile*) The Wallis's lived in a bungalow which was called PEACOCKS for some reason. On our trek down here this morning, we had actually walked around PEACOCKS but hadn't recognized it as we came in from their backyard. This is Sue blowing kisses to the chickens living in back of "Peacocks".
Herb and I did visit Phyllis in Clacton-on-the-Sea in 1992 when she was in a Rest Home for the aged. She was very alert and could hear perfectly. I believe she was in her 80's. She died soon after our visit from a fall in which she broke her hip. I had promised to take her to Broxted on our next visit so she could visit Bob's gravesite. So now, after 11 years, I have finally revisited her and her husband, Bob. I heard that Phillis's brother is still alive, but no one knows where he lives now. Now HE could tell some tales of the old days in Broxted. Does anyone seeing this know where Phillis's brother now lives? If so, please e-mail me.
I was busy taking photos of the gravesites of any Barker, Reynolds, Hayden, Bush, Linge, Payne, GUNN, BARLTROP, POOLE..or anyone I thought might be relatives of my e-mail friend Gillian in AU. or myself. Thoughts of another visit enterred my head as I made my way to the other side of the church. That was a visit in the year 2000 when I was walking with my "cousin" Roger Barltrop along this very same place. Roger was looking for his George Arthur Barltrop ancestor's gravestone. He was headed in the general direction of where he thought it might be when all of a sudden...there it was! Lo and Behold! Someone had chopped the grass from around it so it could easily be seen! But who could have done this, as none of the gravesites near it had been cropped? No one knew he was coming. Just another "coincidence"? The chills were running down my back once more. Why should this seemingly be the ONLY gravesite which had been trimmed? Remember, this happened in the year 2000, not on this trip. As I approached the gravesite, I could see it well. However, this time, most of the graves had been trimmed so it was no surprise to see it clearly.

I smiled at the gentleman with the electric cutters in hand. He turned off the noise of the motor, and said..."Are you Mrs. CARPENTER??" Can you imagine my surprise to hear this twice in the last half hour!!! It seemed that everyone in Broxted knew of our visit..via cyber-space..of course. What a small world!! ??? Between the noise of the approaching planes, he told me that he was Cyril MONK. Since MONK is also a name in our family tree we were immediately friends..and cousins...just for fun. He had grown up with my newly found e-mail friend Gillian (BARKER) REILLY who is now living in AU. (another coincidence!?) They used to double-date when they were young. He had not seen her in many, many years, and was happy to hear that I was in contact with her in Australia.
I showed him a photo I happened to have with me of a Susan Monk which I had very recently received from the Stahl family. Although he could not recall a Susan, there were so many MONKS buried here in Broxted. I think Susan MONK was a friend (or relation) of Granny Pooles. It is a very old photo, and he is going to enquire about it. If anyone knows anything about Susan Monk, please e-mail me. Thanks.
I also gave him a copy of a photo of some gravesites where Granny Poole had written the names of Battiscombe and Joyce. These gravesites are near the entrance to the church..just to the right. The Reverend Henry Battiscombe had been in charge of Broxted Church since 1893. I have also recently received from the Stahls a photo of Granny Poole's very good friend, Mrs. Battiscombe, wife of the Reverend Battiscombe. (I plan to put many old photos on another page of this site before too long.) These gravesites are close to the entrance of the church. Granny Poole took the photo of graves when visiting Broxted for the first time since she and the rest of the POOLE family emigrated to Canada in 1910. Grannie went to England alone (then 66 years old) just after Grandfather William (Bill) Poole died..in 1929. Believe me, the ships then had no luxuries such as stabilizers, and this must have been quite a chore to find her way from Hermosa Beach across the USA by train, then the ship, and more trains etc. in England to Broxted, and all by herself. Quite a gal, and a very huge undertaking for those days. It is still VERY TIRING in this modern day of fast travel.
Cyril MONK called the gentleman on the mower over to talk, and Sue walked over to join in conversation, and take photos. His name is DICK KNOWLES, and is actually a relative of my friend Gillian in AU. Both Cyril and Dick are very active in the history of Broxted and the church.

It seems that the Romans had once occupied Broxted as there are Roman tiles in the walls of the church here ( dedicated to St. Mary The Virgin) and still being found under the top-soil in the fields. It is said that a Celtic church was once here, and then a Saxon church. Parts of the Saxon church were actually incorporated into the nave of this church. The chancel was built in about 1220. The belfry contains four bells from the seventeenth century. The beautiful pulpit is carved out of English Oak consisting of six and one half sides of an octagon. To see this is to remember it always. Parts of this magnificent old church have been replaced and rebuilt through the ages of course, but being able to actually go inside it is an experience one will always remember.

Cyril Monk opened the door into the church as we stepped back in time. We took photos and relived the thoughts and feelings of those before us..so many, many years before us. (Inspite of the thunderous noise every minute or two from the planes overhead.)
The wonderful stained glass windows, the war memorials. We read every named and wondered.... Many of the surnames are in our family history. I saw the ClARK name. I recalled that Mom had told me that the CLARKS were their next-door neighbors when they lived at "The Maltings". Millie CLARK had been Mom's best friend when she left Broxted at the age of 12 in 1910. Millie's brother had died in the war. He had also been my mother's first "sweetheart" at the tender age of about 10 yrs old.

The organ was still there. How many souls had sang along with this wonderful old organ? How many young boys had helped to pump the air through it's pipes? Ben BARKER, my e-mail friend in AU father had been one, she told me. On each succeeding visit I had sat in the very stall where my mother sang in the church choir. This was no exception. My mother had taken organ lessons from the Reverend's daughter, probably on this very organ? So many memories.. Marriages, births, deaths.... I tried to visualize the wedding of my Grandmother, then Mary Ann GUNN to the handsome soldier, William POOLE which took place here in June, 1888. My grandfather had also been a member of the choir.

I went back farther in time and could almost see a vision of my greatgrandmother, Amelia BARLTROP marrying my greatgreat grandfather Charles GUNN right here in 1846!! But we must take leave of this most holy place for now.
I purchased a CD which I could buy on the way out by putting the price of five pounds (plus our small donation) into the slot on the wall. The CD is called "Jack's Tracks" and it was actually the Reverend Jack Filby! I was surprised to hear Country Western Music on it when I returned back home. This album was recorded in 1996 at Gt. Easton church.
The Rev. Filby was very popular with all ages it seems. He was a friend of Cliff Richard who lived in Gt. Easton and that is how he came to this area. JACK FILBY, past VICAR OF THE FIVE PARISHES, died a few years ago of MOTOR NEURONE DISEASE. I feel very lucky to have his tape as a momento of this lovely visit.

After a very nice visit at the church we decided we had better make our own tracks back to Moor End Farm as Sonia and Paul would be arriving there at 3:00 p.m. So off we went...stopping by the Wallis's PEACOCKS to take some photos on the way.
In parts of England they still have milk delivered, and left outside as was the custom in our little home-town of Gardena, California in the 1930s. We were walking by Peacocks, where Bob & Phyllis once lived, when we noticed the milk which had been left quite a little distance from their house, on the lawn. We just had to take photos of this. Their house looked so different to us than it did when Sue and I had walked here from the church years ago, in 1971. Also on that visit, Herb and I had enjoyed a little of Phillis and Bob's home-made dandelion wine. To see photos Click HERE! I wonder how many remember their home-made wine?

Please click HERE to continue with story.

| INDEX HOME ||Story Part 1 - June 3, 2003--From Los Angeles to Moor End Farm. |
| Story Part 2-Walk to the CHURCH. | Moor End Farm Photos | Genealogy Marriage records | Broxted Church Photos |
| Story Pt.2 continues to Great Easton.| Great Dunmow and The BELL
|The BARKERS.| TILTY | The Maltings.| THE GALLERY |CHICKNEY CHURCH | Colchester| Old Photos|
|OLD STORIES| Ron BRAND genealogy & stories |
|LONDON-Last Stop!|
|Fat lady's version-Pt. 1|
|Fat Lady's version - Pt. 2| Fat Lady's version - Pt. 3| Fat Lady's version - Pt. 4|
| Fat lady's version Pt. 5| Fat Lady's version - Pt. 6| Version 7| Version 8|
|Fat Lady's - Part 9|Part 10 by Fat Lady|Rain storm-Pt. 11 by the Fat Lady|