Day 14 Tenterden & Home
I am home now, having arrived yesterday evening. What a couple of weeks! It is hitting me this morning, just how special this trip truly was. As I sit here at my computer, listening to beautiful music on this Sabbath morning, and scroll through photos, it makes me get a little choked up to realize just exactly what we were able to do. We went and found places that were sacred and pertinent to our forebears. We followed in their footsteps and learned about life as it would have been during their lifetime. It sure puts things in perspective for me, and makes me feel such gratitude in my heart for all that have gone before me and contributed to who I am now. I can't wait to meet them someday and have a live conversation with each of them. :)
Our day in London following in the footsteps of Nicholas Lanier and Lucreece Bassano: (*I typed up some info for several photos - just click on the first photo and then in the upper right hand corner it will show a little icon that looks like an "i" for info. Just leave that open as you scroll through the photos and you will be able to read what I wrote)
Sissinghurst Garden & Tenterden (COMPLETE album this time): This time I just wrote a note directly on some photos
And our LAST DAY in England was spent steeped in family history. We traveled for about 7 hours with Kylie, a professional genealogist that I was working with this summer, who put together a magnificent presentation of places pertinent to our ancestors. We found land and property, old homes, old churches, and places where our ancestors used to live, work and play. It was a wonderful way to finish up our 2 week tour.
July 2019 Update:
Our last day in Tenterden was so special. Kylie made us a pamphlet with a condensed version of every location she would be taking us, complete with photos and info about each place. It was so helpful to have her in charge of driving, since she was very confident on those skinny back roads, and it allowed us to just look out the window and even take photos. She showed us where our ancestors lived in several tiny little towns sprinkled around Tenterden, including Rye, East Guldeford, Rolvenden, Appledore, Benenden, Cranbrook and Biddenden. We even drove to an old property that once belonged to our family back in the 1400s. The way she knew it was the exact same property is that she found an old property map where the shape of the piece of land was hedged in by shrubs and was shaped like an "L" or a boot. If you look on Google maps today, the property is in the same exact shape because the hedges have served as a permanent boundary. It was so incredible to have found that and to stand there and take pictures!!
We also stopped at the Cranbrook Museum where we learned more about the wool business back in the 1400-1500s when our Tilden and Bigge families were at the height of the industry. Our final stop was back in Tenterden where we visited the Tenterden Museum. There was mention of the Tildens there, including a bust of Samuel Tilden who ran for U.S. President!!
Kylie also made a larger, thicker book for us with more information and details about our family history. She really went above and beyond what I would have expected for a professional genealogist to do. I will never forget her efforts and her sacrifices in our behalf!!
I still find myself reflecting back on our trip to England and all of the experiences we had. For months, I would think about England every single day. I miss it all very much!
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