Saturday 22nd  and Sunday 23rd August

Saturday was a total chill out day for us in magnificent 28 degree Kentish sun.  We commenced a lengthy search for a prescription for Voltaren for Ann which is  not available off the shelf in Europe or the UK. We managed to find an online medical service to help but the prescription was sent to a pharmacy which was closed by the time we got there and re-routing of the prescription was not completed until 5.00pm in the delightful village of Faversham.  I managed to find a second-hand bookshop with titles in English at last!

The rest of the day was spent doing Richter genealogies in the garden at Forge House. We have now traced Ann’s father Murray Richter’s father Robert back two further generations to his first generation Australian father Adolphus  and his German grandfather Carl from a village near Hamburg.

We had an early start on Sunday with an emotional farewell to Ann’s cousin Joyce and husband Brian, Jack Russells Badger and Harvey and much loved Forge House and the tiny village of Frinsted. It is a long way from Berwick to Frinsted and we have come to love them very much over the last twenty years.  The beautiful Kentish sun which has been with us for the whole of our stay began to fade as we drove westwards into an Atlantic rainstorm.

We drove the 90kms to Guildford Cathedral and shared in the 9.45am Holy Communion Service led by the Dean the Very Revd. Dianna  Gwilliams.  Guildford is one of England’s newest cathedrals having been consecrated in 1961.  Begun much earlier,  its completion was seriously delayed during the Second World War.

The Cathedral holds a commanding position on a high hill overlooking the university city of Guildford and looks the more austere in its position for the lack of surroundng gardens or trees.  The interior of the cathedral is Gothic in style and again very austere with subdued and small stained glass on the narrow windows and a beautiful Rose window in the sanctuary.

The Dean preached on Ephesians 6, the Christian’s defence described by Paul in terms of the armour surrounding a Roman soldier.  It was a spiritually helpful and clear address. and we were warmly wlecomed by members of the congregation and clergy.

We drove on through England’s gorgeous South West and Thomas Hardy and Jane Austen country  in the rain to Wiltshire and our home for the next five days Chippenham in the Cotswolds, one of the prettiest regions of England and very close to the Welsh border.

Chippenham is at the southern end of the Cotswolds and is quite a large town built around the wide and free flowing Avon River of Stratford fame. It has many fine streetscapes and fine old homes. The rain cleared in the afternoon and we were able to wander around the town, fairly quiet on a late Sunday afternoon.