English Summer with its charm and cool weather

Shirley Station Master's House

Almost everyday we drive or walk past this charming Station Master's House in Shirley near our flat. In speaking with the owner on our frequent walks, we found that the home was derelict until he remodeled and brought it back to it's former glory about ten years ago.

Trains and buses come every 15 minutes but it doesn't diminish the absolute charm of this quaint little  home which is a reminder of the early 1900s.

Ironbridge

The first iron bridge metal works project built in 1779 is now a World Heritage Site. It is Britain's best known industrial monument and was near the villages of Dawley and Wellington where Joyce's ancestors joined the Church in the 1850s. Over 378 tons of iron with each part individually cast to fit were produced in the Coalbrookdale foundry by Abraham Darby.

Joyce on the bridge over the gorge where iron was initially smelt in 1709. The Industrial Revolution began here using the coal and iron ore from the region.

Charming village...

Charming girl among the beautiful flowers...

Gorgeous Saturday afternoon for a history tour...

Not far from Ironbridge, Buildwas Abbey stands from the 12th Century as a Cistercian Monk ruin with trails and fishponds.

Shropshire is simply magnificent with its rural setting... Can you imagine leaving this lush countryside for the deserts of Utah?

Elder Frazier (CA), Elder Onekawa (NZ), Elder Evans (AZ) and Elder Miller (UT) outside the Wellington Ward Chapel. These Manchester England missionaries serve in the city where Joyce's Baugh great grandparents first heard the gospel message in the 1850s.

With three wards in the Telford area and this new chapel in Wrecken, the story of the growth of the Church in Shropshire unfolds.

Joyce's great, great grandmother was from Dawley which was a village in the center of the Industrial Revolution with its huge ironworks 'Horsehay' operating from 1755 to 1984.

Missionaries

Elder and Sister Michaelis have taken on a new assignment from the mission president to serve as CES missionaries in addition to their Self-Reliance missionary role. They will share the teaching and organizing of the YSA in the Lichfield Stake.

Elders Mthethwa and Rane will have another baptism this coming Saturday, August 22nd. Elder Rane is an excellent new missionary from Rigby, Idaho who plays the piano extremely well. Elder Mthethwa is a recent 26 year-old convert with an Electrical Engineering degree who represents the finest of South African members.

Witley Court and Gardens

With the discovery of coal, England's rural gentry became fabulously wealthy.

This great mansion burned almost to the ground in the late 1800s and was later sold to art dealers who stripped the house of everything beautiful except the lavish grounds.

English Heritage maintains the grounds as they were during the heyday of Witley Court when it hosted the Prince of Wales and the royal family.

Amazing beauty in the gardens...

Elder Jones taking calls while on a P-Day outing...

History somehow preserves the serenity and peace of the English countryside.

Sister Russell's Farewell

With the return home of Sister Banner due to her cancer, Sister Russell has been re-assigned to the London Temple to complete her mission. We helped prepare the necessary physical requirements and everyone in the office, the Solihull Ward and the Public Affairs Department team wished her well.

Jan, Pauline, Sue, Sister Russell, Joyce and Shelley joined to have an afternoon tea send-off.

Typical 'English tea' with sandwiches (minus the crusts) with English mayo, desserts, scones, clotted cream and meringues all join with 'hot chocolate' to compliment the afternoon celebration.


Sister Russell's move

Office party wishing her well with cupcakes...

Most of the Solihull office join in the send-off...

Susan's parting gift...

We reserved the pool car (a Toyota station wagon) and it's a good thing we did... as evidenced by the photos of the load for a typical sister transfer. Just kidding!

We drove a fairly squished car to London without any delay.

Once we arrived at the accommodation centre at the Temple, several lovely people helped us move all the items to Sister Russell's compact, but lovely flat.

Port Isaac (Doc Martin's Portwenn)

For all of you that have ever seen an episode of the quirky English comedy,  "Doc Martin." Do you recognize any familiar sights here? That's Portwenn in the comedy series which is Port Isaac in real life.

Colourful (British spelling) characters are real in Port Isaac.

David, an extra in all of the Doc Martin series, was our guide for the tour of Port Isaac. He's also in the new BBC hit "Poldark" series which bring the Winston Graham Cornish novels to life. This could be coming to the US as it's been all the talk in the UK.

Doc Martin's surgery is the second from the right. The Large's restaurant is the long white building just off the water. The name Burt Large certainly fits the character in the comedy.

"Squeeze Belly Alley" (the tiniest street in the world) got it's name from smugglers squeezing through its slender opening. Supposedly the customs revenue men were fed well and the smugglers were a bit smaller and could get through with ease as they tried to avoid the taxation on imported goods.

Louisa Glasson's home in the series with it's 5 foot door is still occupied in the village where there are only 27 full-time residents in the lower village. The rest of the homes are holiday rentals that go for hundreds of GBP per week. This little home could sell for over $500,000 based on our examination of the local real estate market flyers.

Looking up at Louisa's school from the beach in Port Isaac.

Tintagel

King Arthur of legend made his home in Cornwall. It was our experience that it DOES rain during the day despite the lyrics sung by Richard Harris and on Broadway where "the rain may never fall till after sundown."

The hike down to Tintagel is steep and long, but nothing compared to the hike around and out of the castle area.

Joyce wondering not only about King Arthur, Guinevere, Lancelot but how are we going to hike "outa-here!"

Magnificent Cornish Coast...

 Nothing much left of the Castle that was abandoned as a central point of Cornwall in the 1300s.

Sailing out to sea....

Devon and Cornwall

Many English people holiday in the south of England (Devon and Cornwall) where the warm weather and coastal regions resemble San Diego with palm trees included. Having never seen balmy temperatures or anything the vaguely resembles San Diego for the last 16+ months, we headed south for an abbreviated weekend before heading to Exeter for church on Sunday.

Torquay lights up the beach and the harbor in what must be one of the best natural ports in the world.

Sailing has been and still is all-important in Torquay...

About 70 miles from Torquay on roads that took us 3 hours to traverse is charming Falmouth.

We happened to choose the only weekend where the town was completely booked as it was celebrating Falmouth days. After seeing their parade (consisting of a local RBL band of 15 instruments followed by 25 people in outrageous costumes) we've come to appreciate Bountiful's Handcart Days, Brigham City's Peach Days and even Farmington Days parades!

Joyce enjoying the sun and surf...

Home Teaching Families

A family we Home Teach --- The Wilkins family of Carol, Amy, Jasper and Paul have welcomed us in their home for the past 17 months. We, in turn, have welcomed these good people into our hearts.

Linda Tucker (left) has been twice widowed and was just released as the Relief Society President. We home teach Linda and Mary Jo (below) who is the Ward Primary President. They have so little and yet are so generous with their resources, time and concern for members of the ward. Richard and Tonia were married last year, and it's cute to see how they take care of each other.

Mary Jo Smith is a teacher's aide at a Primary school and simply loves children.

We love the Camisani family, Daniele, Giulia, Fabio, Anna and Suzie, where our visits turn into Family Home Evenings. They welcome us with treats and always serve a punch or some English soda pop. We see the importance of home and visiting teaching as we feel connected to those we serve.