LAST TUESDAY AND WEDNESDAY IN KEW

Spent my time at the Archives and the London FamilySearch Centre which is based there. Sad to say the baby swans are now only 4. Evidently they get a few born each year but only 2 or 3 ever make it to adults.

Even though all the houses here are all red brick with a white trim the front doors are really quite unique. I took photos of some of them this morning. Haven't figured out to get the photos side by side.

After the archives I took a walk along the River Thames. I think I shall take a river cruise when I am back in London.

Can anyone tell me how to get these photos to go where I want them to be?

LAST MONDAY IN KEW

Discovered my limit for walking today. Definitely less than seven hours!

Kew Botanical Gardens are about 10 minutes walk away so I visited them this morning. They are massive! More than double the size of Auckland Botanic gardens. Walked up all the steps to the tree top walkway. 

Treetop Walkway Kew Gardens

Went through Kew Palace where King George III and Queen Charlotte stayed for a period. Saw a cute little grey squirrel playing around. Evidently they are not so cute as they dig up the plants and have wiped out the red squirrel.

After two and a half of hours of admiration I headed back to Kew Village for lunch and then on the tube. I am getting the hang of all these trains. I decided to go visit the Westfield Mall near Shepherds Bush. District Line to Hammersmith. Then cross the road to the other station and get the Hammersmith & City Line to Wood Lane which is a new station built because of the mall.

This too is massive! It took me over four hours to wander around all the shops. Actually near the end the wandering was more of a shuffle. I was determined to see it all as I probably will not get back there again. The basement floor was a Waitrose store and the top floor I think was movie theatres – didn't get to them. Two floors were more than enough. Over 350 stores. Every brand name with its own store.

Westfield London

Catching the train back to Kew was a new experience. I did consider waiting for the next train but figured that would probably be just as bad. Managed to squeeze in. The age of chivalry is dead! No gentleman giving up his seat for a lady and no young person giving up their seat for their elders. Just when I thought the grey hair might make a difference!.  

SECOND SUNDAY IN LONDON

Didn't wake up as early as last week. The trains are functioning this week so I didn't need to catch a bus to another train station. The train went directly from Kew Gardens to South Kensington.  I learned about the flowers that were at the front of the chapel under a black plaque on the wall. Evidently this plot was bombed on 3 July 1944 and the daughter of the people who were killed has brought flowers to the chapel every year since as a memorial. She has recently died so her daughter has taken up the task.

After church I spent the next 4 hours wandering through the Victoria and Albert Museum. The exhibition I would have enjoyed seeing was about Shoes. However that cost money so I missed it. What fascinated me the most was the costumes from some films and stage shows. In particular the ones from Lion King. So much work goes into these costumes.

I was looking at the huge statues and wondering how they managed to get these enormous heavy structures into the museum. Then I read the information at the entrance - they were all plaster casts of the originals. 

Victoria and Albert Museum

THURSDAY AND FRIDAY IN KEW

Walking to the archives daily I am amazed at the number of different cars I pass. About every name I am familiar with; Alfa Romeo, Audi, BMW, Chrysler, Fiat, Ford, Honda, Jaguar, Land rover, Lexus, Mercedes, Mini Cooper, MG, Nissan, Peugeot, Porsche, Rover, Range Rover, Saab, Smart, Toyota, Volkswagon,Volvo. And those are just in a 10 minute walk. But the one I think is the cutest is this one that I do not have a name for.

Maids of Honour, Kew Road

When I sit in the sun to have lunch I get some lovely visitors.  

James STREET and Elizabeth Archer BROWN

Any relations out there who have more information?

I am trying to find the death of Elizabeth and the marriage and birth of them both.

Data from source documents

Register of Births and Baptisms at the Islington Independent Chapel on Upper Street in Islington, London 5 January 1825. Father James STREET, Brickmaker, Highgate. Mother Elizabeth BROWN Elizabeth STREET born 21 August 1820. Parish St Pancras. Abode 20 Meddlesex Street Esther STREET born 23 September 1823. Parish Hornsey. Abode 20 Meddlesex Street MaryAnn STREET born 31 May 1824. Parish St Mary Islington 3 June 1829. Father James STREET Shoe Maker. Mother Elizabeth BROWN. Richard STREET born 4 March 1829. Parish St Mary Islington. Abode Upper Holloway.

Marriage Certificate from the Old Parochial Registers for Dunfermline 1839 James URE weaver of Dunfermlline Elizabeth STREET residing there 5 February 1839

Marriage Record from the Old Parochial Registers for Dunfermline 1841 James STREET brickmaker of Townhill Ann WILSON residing there 2 January 1841

Census 1841 Townhill, Dunfermline, Fife, Scotland James STREET age 45 born England, brickmaker Ann STREET age 35 born Scotland Maryann STREET age 20 born England Hester STREET age 15 born England Richard STREET age 12 born England

Death Record from the Old Parochial Registers for Dunfermline 1848 James STREET brickmaker of Gardiners Lane. Age 55. Died 2 November 1848. Buried 4 November 1848 Old Ground. Inflammation.

Tombstone Erected in loving remembrance of James STREET who died 2 November 1848 aged 55 years Margaret Shepherd STREET who died 10 November 1848 aged 6 years James STREET who died 1 December 1880 aged 27 years.

WEDNESDAY IN KEW

Walking around here makes me appreciate how much space we have at home. To fit all the people in, the houses are really close together and go up – not out. And they are so expensive! Between one and two million pounds around here! 

Leybourne Park Road, Kew

I was looking for some information for someone about his father who served in MI6 during the second world war. Unfortunately that is all classified so I guess he never will know exactly what his father did. At least he can find out about MI6 from this book that was published a couple of years ago.

Specsavers to the rescue! On Monday I went into the store in Richmond because one of the sides to my glasses was really stiff and making them difficult to wear. A lovely young man very kindly fixed them for me and suggested perhaps I was taking them off with one hand instead of two and this stretched that side. After a day of being very diligent in how I removed my glasses, they stiffened up again -even worse than before. Back to Specsavers. Another lovey young man took them and loosened the screw and said if that doesn't work then they will put the lenses into a new frame. I am a friend of Specsavers for life!

MONDAY AND TUESDAY IN KEW

I discovered the Kew Retail Park about 10 minutes walk away. It had a few large stores – Mothercare, TK Maxx, Gap, Marks and Spencers. Can't do any shopping yet. I have too many flights to take and carrying extra luggage is not fun. 

There are so many contrasts here. Compared with the United States I find the people are much slimmer and shorter. Must be all those stairs they have to walk up and down to use the trains. 

Thought I might get my hair trimmed. No way! The local shop is between £59 and £129 for a style cut. With our dollar at 2.3 times, even the lowest price is a fortune!  Maybe away from London it will be cheaper?

Streets of Kew

The streets are so pretty. Because all the houses are really old, they generally do not have garages and just a small front yard. A lot of people have made these so they can park a car in them but mostly the cars are parked on the street. I wonder what they do when they have a few friends over? Where do they park?

I had a meal at an Italian cafe in Kew village. It was a baked potato with chili con carne and a salad with balsamic dressing. It was divine! Thought I would get a meal there last night but they close at 5pm.

Was great to go to the National Archives. I have a few people who wanted me to do some research for them so my focus was on their work.  

When I went outside for a break I saw a mother swan and her babies walking up to the front door of the archives. Looked they wanted to come and find their ancestors! Or they were seeking the shade.

Sleeping Mask

I have come up with a way not to wake at dawn - I wear the eye mask I got when I was upgraded on the plane. How is that  for glamour?