Letter – Page 6 – A Family History in Letters

July 22-25 1967

On reading this Travel Diary over, I feel I should explain a little about my personal reaction to England and Scotland. We had been brought up reading English books- Beatrix Potter, A.A.Milne (family story, baby Linda at the age of 18 months, got the point when her Daddy was reading about Pooh knocking on Rabbit’s door and being told that there was no one at home, and laughed, thus impressing her father with her accuity…), Wind in the Willows, the William books, Robin Hood legends, Narnia, Noel Streatfield, and so on. Yes, I read American books too- 19th century Alcott, Coolidge, and series like Nancy Drew, and Sue Barton: Nurse, but I liked ‘Jean Tours a Hospital’ and the rest just as much and enjoyed the contrast between the hospital cultures (dated though they were). My favourite series came through my mother’s keeping of the first three of Elinor M.Brent Dyer’s Chalet School books from her childhood, and I added to them whenever I could. (I now have them all. Yay internet.)
The 15 year-old bookworm writing the travel diary had read countless teen historical novels- Hilda Lewis, Cynthia Harnett, Geoffrey Trease, and gone on to read her parent’s adult books set in England, Agatha Christie, Dornford Yates, Maurice Walsh, C.S.Forester, Georgette Heyer; and in Scotland, O. Douglas (Anna Buchan, sister of Canada’s wartime Governor General) and Jane Duncan’s ‘My Friend…’ series, and in doing so absorbed all the lore of the countryside- without ever having seen a bluebell (let alone a bluebell wood) or heather, or lavender growing, or a stile to cross a fence, or, in fact , a hedge- yes, we had one separating our lawn from the neighbours’ but it was nothing like an English roadside hedge! So while we visited friends, Linda dug around in their bookcases, and when we went sightseeing she was recognizing and enjoying things she had read about, and connecting with the history she had learned.

On Saturday we left Canterbury for London, left luggage, dropped off car and saw Elizabeth Taylor & Richard Burton in Taming of the Shrew – lovely. We took the sleeper up to Glasgow – and hardly a wink of sleep did I get it, though my family did better – and grabbed our hired car and headed off for Kelvin & Mary Tyler’s for lunch. This visit was rather a farce – we had expected to have fun with their two little girls but they were at their grandparents so Charlie & I just sat.

In the afternoon we went up to Loch Lomond and stayed the night at Luss. It is a village which is very pretty but too “ye olde worlde picturesque cottagee”– perhaps this impression came because large number of trippers but I felt that they had gardens for effect rather than enjoyment.

There was a nice little church there but we felt that we couldn’t just march in like cathedrals so we didn’t see the inside. The hotel was crowded & noisy. Charlie & I wanted to walk on the hills around & Daddy came with us. Just as we had got away from civilization and the path began to be exciting he got tired and we had to take him home. He said it was too dangerous for us to go on without him! He, who was puffing & slipping while we ran, was protection but us alone would have been danger! I went to bed in a temper – the hills (I can’t call the mountains really) are really beautiful.

On Monday we went up through the Trossachs. I didn’t envy Sandy his Pennine Way walking tour, but I would love to tramp up there, I saw heather close, both kinds and I approve. We walked along Loch Katrine and threw pennies in to come back. We went on to Edinburgh. And the Firth of Fourth that I’ve so often read about. On the way we saw the Wallace Memorial on a hill against the sky and here in Edinburgh there is another of the same type to Scott. It embodies for me the statement in O. Douglas’s ‘The Setons’ — “We have all of us, we Scots, a queer daftness in our blood. We pretend to be dour and cautious, but the fact is that at heart we are the most emotional and sentimental people on earth.” I am getting horribly sentimental myself, I hope you like it. Paper lures me on sometimes. I find we have no picture of either memorial- Bother ! – Yes I do, I found one. Will stick it in. LC

In the Shetland Shop I bought a beautiful dull gold kilt & sweater (10 £). All my friends admired it greatly. Kilts are all the fashion. We saw over Edinburgh Castle – sweet tiny chapel, walked down the Royal Mile to Hollyrood but Daddy got angry at the guide and stalked out, leaving us to trail out behind miserable but obedient. What it is to be ruled by an autocrat!
We got on the train and went to Newcastle. We had tea at the Sheedy’s. Bobby & Patrick were very nice. Old Mrs. Sheedy made a great fuss of me, she said she didn’t have a granddaughter. Aren’t you lucky? Then we went to the Coopers and I had a lovely time with the three little boys. Then we went to Pam & Sam Fay’s for dinner. We got on the train and went to London. On the train we saw Durham Castle lit up – lovely.

July 20-21 1967

It is now Thursday 20th of July, this year of our Lord, one thousand nine hundred & sixty seven. Happy Centennial! We went on to Salisbury and saw the cathedral which is lovely and I found the tomb of a knight, the son of Fair Rosamond & Henry II, William, known as Long-Espée, Earl of Salisbury. Do you know Fair Rosamond’s story? But Queen Eleanor wasn’t nasty.

In the afternoon we went to see Nelson’s ship the Victory which Charlie loved but which I think is overrated and give me the Duke of Wellington any day. In a museum there, there were figureheads and I never was so disappointed in my life, I didn’t know figureheads were like that – crudely carved and garish and UGLY! Oh!!!

However, Brighton quite made up for it and Stonehenge because at Brighton we saw the Royal Pavilion built by the Prince Regent, later George IV as a summer place. It is perfect – marvellous – ludicrous – fantastic – overwhelming – stupendous. Impossible to describe. It is Indian outside – with a million Taj Mahal domes, and mad Chinese inside – priceless – I will send you a couple of postcards but you must send them back, they are part of my collection. Mummy & I absolutely loved it.

Then we went to Canterbury and saw the cathedral in the evening.

We saw the spot where Thomas à Beckett had been killed but the shrine had been destroyed by Henry VIII of cursed memory and some fool nobleman had his memorial thing with a bust of himself just above on the wall so there was just the floor & 3 square ft. of wall.

July 18-20 1967

We had tea at the Mitre in Oxford and had gorgeous chocolate eclairs, I had three. We took a walk through Oxford and bought some books but you can’t see much if you don’t know anybody. We spent the night at ‘The Hare and Hounds’ a very nice place, would have liked to stay longer, and went on to Bath. We saw the terraces of Regency houses and went into the Roman Baths. We had lunch in the Pump Room and I got a sweet little replica of a Roman pot 3 inches high & fat. It is silvery with red dots in a pattern, little bumps I mean, and the inside is brown glaze. Sweet. Charlie got a little replica of a silver penny like “Render unto Caesar that which is Caesar’s… and that will be handy in Sunday School class.

We went onto Wells and met Ruth who is nice & Richard and Michael and the dog – all three very nice & friendly and Dr. Stainthorpe whom I am sorry for. Mummy & I think it was a great mistake for him to come and live with them, it is not a happy arrangement. Ruth & the boy are irritated by him and show it (rather like you & me & Mummy in a modified way to our shame, but we love you and I didn’t see any sign of them!) and poor ‘Grandpa’ has a hard time of it, with nothing to do & no friends. You should invite him out to St Vincent for a long holiday!

Ruth & the boy showed us the cathedral (I think we would have seen more, and taken in more on our own) (ungrateful me) and it is lovely – the squarish front with the figures of the saints & kings and queens reflected in the sunlight. However, they showed us Vicars Hall, a 14th century dining hall set with pewter plates etc. which we couldn’t have ordinarily seen. From the window we had a beautiful view of the oldest Street, intact, in Europe – Vicar’s Close. I hope you have seen it, it was lovely with walled gardens in the sunset but I can’t describe it. At tea Peter Haynes came in and I liked him very much but he just shook hands & kissed (they do it an awful lot in England) us (Mummy & me that is) and then dashed upstairs & changed into clerical garb and dashed off after shaking hands through the window. He had a meeting, he seemed awfully busy.

We then left & went off to Amesbury – not very nice – lots of traffic past the hotel. On the way we came upon Stonehenge. It just rose up out of the ground before us. However I was disappointed in it. I sent you a reconstruction version on a p.c. I think but actually it’s very untidy, all lying about, and since the historians have discarded the theory that the Druids built it, they don’t have a theory – it’s just there- something to do with religion and before the Druids but what, they don’t know – unsatisfactory. It is nice to think we are on our own now – meals in people’s houses tried me but I tried to be good.

July 1967: Postcards Sent

Joanna of Naples. Sent to Linda’s friend Joanne because of her name!

Trip Postcards

These are postcards from Cyn and Linda from the holiday in England, sent to Carol a week after Cyn’s letter to her mother. Carol seems to have been on holiday herself, visiting the Otway relatives in Trinidad and Tobago, and the cards were forwarded, with Linda’s second one trimmed so the top and bottom of the message is missing, and the stamps removed, which may account for the water damage that erased a few words.

Long black-and-white postcard showing Warwick Castle from the Bridge. Addressed to Mrs C. Ewing.
19th July 1967
Have finished visiting and have now started our travels. The weather is absolutely wonderful and in Stratford we melted. Saw “All’s well that ends well” at the theatre. Nice lunch with Jean, Peter and Patsy yesterday & short view of Oxford. On to Bath and Wells today.
Love Cyn.

Colour postcard of Holbien’s Henry VIII Portrait. Addressed to Mrs. C. Ewing.

1.
Dearest Grannie,
I feel so ashamed that I haven’t written before, but remember I am writing that journal for you. At the moment it isn’t up-to-date but it will be when I send it. This postcard I got at Warwick Castle when we stopped there on the way to Stratford. It was lovely, full of portraits & lovely tapestries. At Stratford we saw All’s Well that Ends Well.
Cont’d Part one Only

Colour postcard showing drawing of a re-creation of Stonehenge. Address washed out.

Presumably this one started with a #2 since it seems to have continued the discussion of Stratford, but the first and last lines are missing, and other words washed out.
… much. We much prefer our own Stratford, the theatre here is very ugly with no gardens while ours in Ontario is lovely. This reconstruction of Stonehenge is much more impressive than the real thing, I’m afraid. I was sadly disappointed in it. The stones were smaller than I had imagined and the car park …. … . We are having lovely weather, hope you are enjoying…

July 15-18 1967

On Saturday (I had my dates mixed) we drove to Sutton Coldfield (peculiar name!) through the Welsh mountains. The views were magnificent & we took a few pictures. We met some awful traffic jams – cars waiting for miles back while the crossroads in the tiny villages got stopped up. Of course it is the weekend, that probably accounts for it. We met Auntie Dottie and Tim (whom I think is a poisonous little brat, spoilt) and the cat Pooh (wild a bit, but he lay on my lap.) After tea we met Peter and his fiancée Val Hurst. She’s the one who designs rings. She is petite, a shoulder length blonde, vivacious and drinks more beer than I have ever seen Daddy. At supper we met Richard (I have his room & like his taste in books) and Uncle Ken. I like them all. Later we met Jim and his girlfriend Gill. She is dark and pretty and rather quiet and she wears contact lenses. I can’t decide who I like better – Gill or Val. Daddy obviously likes Val better, you should see him jump up to light her cigarettes. By the way, Auntie Dottie smokes cigars! Little thin ones but really!

The next day Charlie & I & Tim went for a walk in the park. One of these woody overgrown ones. We walked for miles! I got absolutely exhausted and we still hadn’t turned around. Finally we got fed up & turned around and he walked us all the way back. It rained off & on. I do not like that child!

In the evening we went to Grace & Bob Speller’s for drinks – quite nice & Daddy talked to John & his wife who are coming to Canada I think.

On Monday we went to Stratford upon Avon, stopping off at Warwick Castle on the way. It marvellous – after the ruins it was nice to see one intact & well cared for. The most marvellous things in it were the portraits. Henry the eighth & Elizabeth & Henry VIII as a boy (sweet) and Charles I and Queen Henrietta Maria. There were lovely tapestries of faery woods with princesses & bears and heroes in. One room had Marie Antoinette’s bed in it and my favourite thing in the castle – Marie Antoinette’s clock. The clock was flat iron – sort of like a sundial with Roman numerals traced on & lines & delicate iron hands. And on the points of the hours coming out from the middle were the Twelve Stations of the Cross in little medallions of red and white china. The whole thing was so delicate and somehow like Marie Antoinette, poor thing.

Stratford definitely disappointed me, I think the Ontario one is much nicer. Of course this one is the real thing, though. However I enjoyed seeing the relics of Shakespeare’s life, we saw all the houses of he & his children except Anne Hathaway’s cottage which was too far to walk. It was so hot that we couldn’t do much. The outside of the theatre was horrible but the inside was lovely & ‘All’s Well that Ends Well’ was lovely too. Back to Dottie’s for bed.

Today (Tues.) bid a mournful goodbye to Auntie Dottie & Uncle Ken (who are very nice & he has lovely books in the attic including two Scarlet Pimpernels which he lent me and three lovely Dornford Yates which I read all but 1/2 the last and it was too precious to take away! Boo-hoo!) and a cheerful one to Tim and set off for Oxford. We stopped on the way at Jean’s and met her in person and her husband Peter & Patsy who are very nice. [Cyn’s Hazell cousins.] They have a lovely garden. I would have liked to have met Patsy’s son. I saw a picture of him.

July 7-14 1967

My Travels Day by Day

For Grannie
Our Trip To England

My Itinerary

Name Linda Costain
Home Address Box 330, RR1, Ottawa, Ont. Canada
Date of Start July 7
Method of Transportation Plane
Personnel of Party Me, Charlie, Mummy & Daddy
En Route for England Scotland Wales and Isle of Man?? No, not Isle of Man

Addresses
My friends: Joanne, Janet, Beth, Maureen, Susan, Jeanie; Grannie & Mr. Graham

Farewell Gifts and Messages
Charlie and I both got cards from Mr. Graham our rector. Inclosed with the cards were two pound notes each. Wasn’t that sweet! The Thomases also sent all of us a going away card and so did you Grannie. (Thank you!) Mrs Blachut gave Mummy a present too, those little things that are wet that you can use to freshen up, do you know what I mean?
Travellers Checks nos. AB72.719.904 to 912.
Nine ten dollar checks! Isn’t that a lot of money! I don’t know how I’m going to get rid of it!

Clarendon Court Hotel.
Here we are! in London. We got on the plane at 11:00- had dinner, tried to sleep- impossible, not a wink- had ‘a continental breakfast’, arrived- and saw in the airport bus & taxi a bit of London. After a snack & a rest we got on the top of a 16 bus and went to Marble Arch & listened to some (I am sure certifiably insane) speakers in Hyde Park. After dinner we met Jessie and Norman Aldridge and their son David. He and Charlie went around together and we all had a nice time. Still, it is eleven o’clock now, and I have somewhere lost a whole night’s sleep. Now I am going to collapse ———- good night..z.z..zz..z.

Today Mummy and Charlie and me (it’s Sunday) went to St Paul’s Cathedral to Matins while Daddy walked in Hyde Park. The choir was nice but the chants were unfamiliar and the sermon was awful. After lunch we went to the Aldridge’s and stayed for tea and a supper and didn’t get home till 11:30. I met Sandra who is 21 and very pretty and vivacious- nice. Peg (or Zinnia) popped in for a while but we didn’t see her family because the children had chickenpox. Charlie and I think that if every family we meet is as nice as the Aldridges we’ll really enjoy our stay.

Monday was very hectic – we checked out, got our train tickets, met Auntie Jessie and got some theatre tickets, and then wandered about Shepherd’s Market until train time. [To Manchester] Uncle Dick met us at the train and then we met Auntie Nan & Sandy & Barbara (both madly red hair & taller than me). They seem very nice.

Today we went to the school that both Sandy & Barbara go to. I went around with some of Sandy’s friends (girls) & Charlie was with Barbara. It was the last day of school so we didn’t get too good an idea of British school life, but we watched Sandy play his last game of cricket for the school. Next year, he’s going to an art school – the samples of his work that we saw were extremely good.

On Wednesday Sandy & Barbara left on school excursions and we picked up our car. Daddy took a driving lesson from Dick.

Thursday we drove to Bangor and the Isle of Anglesey. Daddy managed the car on the wrong side of the road very well. We stopped off at Conway Castle which was lovely. The Sheridans are very nice. Both of their boys were away – they are both around the age of Charlie & me. We’ll see one tomorrow.

Beaumaris, as it might have looked if finished back in the 1300s.

Today (Friday) we went to Beaumaris Castle- what is the most nearly perfect, others had no roofs – and in the village I got a lovely oak leaf treated with copper – lovely colours – on a chain for Joanne. She and Janet gave us the loveliest present – to be opened in the plane, and it had everything in it! Magazines, books, note-paper, cards etc. I have to give them something very nice in return.* In the afternoon we went on a boat trip through the Menai Strait and on to the Irish Channel – 4 hours. Nice but I & Daddy have colds. When we got back we met Clive, the youngest boy a bit younger than Charlie, who is nice too.

*For what I gave them in the end, see 3 pages from the back. L.C.

Travel Diary: July 1967

TRAVEL LOG

It is interesting to compare this Travel Diary I wrote at the age of 15 with the one my grandmother wrote when she was sent to school in England at about the same age, and with the one my mother wrote in her 20s the summer before the 2nd World War began when she and her mother visited New York. [These have already been published in this project.]. Although all three of us recorded the events and sights we saw without including much introspection, I can’t help feeling I was the most at ease, having fun on holiday. I had a purpose, an audience if you like, since I had decided to send my account to my grandmother as an extended letter, so I certainly included opinions, but didn’t have room for detailed critiques. Carol’s journal covers her years at school so starts off as a personal account, but later events or sights seem to have been partially school assignments, since some sections have corrections. My mother’s was a personal record for her eyes only, to remind herself of what she saw at the World’s Fair, and sightseeing in New York and Niagara, but doesn’t contain much about the people she interacted with, her relatives and the friends she made on the ship. I suppose she would not have needed a reminder of them, although her account of the love interest at the end showed emotion- but had a measured, somewhat distant tone- written by someone a decade older than the teenagers perhaps, in a generation fully conscious of what they were facing although she made no mention of the impending war.
Linda was enjoying a holiday with her family in the country she had heard and read about her entire childhood- the child of an immigrant feels a certain connexion to the original home country, even if she doesn’t realize it. I remember flying over the countryside while landing and looking at the fields and roads so irregular and curving, unlike the straight lines of sectioned farmland in Ontario. As we flew low, then drove through London, the roofs of buildings were so eye-catching to us with the chimney pots (although we had read Mary Poppins and sneered at the Dick van Dyck character’s horrible accent as he danced on the rooftops.) And visiting friends, their gardens were different too, lovely, and the local roads with hedges and curves, all memorable, but not what got written down. The Travel Log had prompts at the top of the pages, but Linda started recording ‘My Travels Day by Day’, telling Grannie halfway through to ignore the headings which had changed to ‘Shops Here and There’ and ‘To Be Recommended’ and just carried on until space required summarizing. It was not all written on the road, and seems to have been finished and sent quite a bit later, judging by the accompanying letter, but gives a clear picture of a lovely holiday.

Letter- originally taped to the booklet.

Dear Grannie,
Take a deep breath, put on your best glasses, then firmly open the book and start reading “My Trip to England” by Linda Costain, fifty two pages of my terrible handwriting. I loved writing it and I am so sorry I’ve been such an age about it. I hope you’ll be able to read it and that you like it after you’ve read it. It is sort of an extended letter, written mostly remembering. I’ll write a proper letter soon, answering your last. The only things I want to say now are: 1. Please keep that sweet little cat you described, it will be company for your puppy, please, please keep it. and 2. I was so sorry to hear about Uncle Fred, I hope he gets better, quite often people do. Give him my love. 3. I am running out of space again.
Love Linda

July 10 1967

In the train going to Manchester [Monday] 10th July.

Clarendon Court Hotel
Maida Vale
London W9

Dearest Mama,
Here we are in a very fast train – electric- & if my writing was poor before it will be much worse now! Charlie & I are just back from tea, which was most welcome as we were panting – & Cec & Lindy have now gone.
The weather is heavenly – hot & not a cloud in the sky & has been getting better & better ever since we arrived on Saturday. The trip over was uneventful but uncomfortable. The seats are so cramped now, even though it was a 1st class flight & if I was crowded you can imagine how poor Cec felt! We left at 11:35 p.m. & then were given drinks, then dinner with champagne & afterwards coffee with liquers, but the drinks lost a bit little of their glamour by being served in plastic glasses! (mug type!) After dinner we settled down to snooze, but the sun began to rise at 2 a.m. & before long they served us breakfast! Charlie didn’t do badly – he slept about 2 hours, but Lindy didn’t manage any & Cec & I about 1/2 to 3/4 hr. each! At one point we flew at 739 m.p.h.- the fastest the pilot had ever flown he said. It took us about 6 hrs. or so to fly over, but with time change, plus summer time etc. it was 10:30 a.m. in England when we arrived. It was cloudy over England, but we saw parts of Ireland going over. We got the Airport Bus, then taxi & arrived at the Hotel about noon to find flowers plus a note from Jen & a letter from Nan.
After settling we had a late lunch & then a nap & afterwards rode on top of a bus to Marble Arch! We had dinner in the Hotel & then Jessie & Norman & their boy David (13) came over & we had a drink & long chat together. I also phoned Mary Ewing & Agnes Herzberg who is in London now.
Yesterday morning L. & C. & I went to Matins at St. Paul’s Cathedral & sat right under the dome! Then we met Cec at Marble Arch & had lunch & went to Madame Tussaud’s. It was really quite fun & Charlie & I even went to the Ch. of Horrors which has been cleaned up since my day & has no blood – just murderers!
We went back to the hotel & changed & went to Jessie & Norman’s for tea & met Sandra. Zinnia’s children had chicken pox, so she came over later by herself. Both girls are v. nice looking (David too) but Sandra is the cute, vivacious one – Cec thinks Z. is a dumb blonde! We all had a lovely time & stayed till midnight – had cold ham & chicken salad & strawberries & shrimp & asparagus snacks!! Charlie & David had great fun & L. & C. decided the Aldridges were lovely!
Must stop as this train is too wobbly. Much love from us all to you all – Cyn.

At Nan’s. Wed. 12th July.

Now we are at Nan’s & L. & I are keeping out of the way while Sandy & Barbara get ready & pack, as they are both going off with school groups this noon. Sandy to walk 240 miles down the Pennines (in 2 weeks) & Barbara to a Youth Hostel near Carlisle. They are both big – red hair of course & S. looks like his father & Barbara more like Nan at 13. Sandy is 18 next month & is v. good looking & a nice boy – amusing & bright – Barbara is quieter.
Nan, as you said, is awfully like her mother now – & in fact Jessie is too & they say I am like you, so we are all growing like our mothers! Nan & Dick (who is v. kind) have a nice house & the FLOWERS! It is apparently a wonderful year for roses & they are just gorgeous – every shade & every colour & kind & Nan has the hugest Peace rose in a vase on the mantelpiece. The country around is lovely & everywhere we go are these heavenly roses in all the gardens.
Cec picks up our car this afternoon & tomorrow morning we set off for N. Wales & Bangor. The weather is being wonderful – warm & mostly sunny. It is dull this morning but yesterday was the same & it got sunny by noon.
Must stop now. Love to the Otway families from us all & lots to you –
Cyn.

The Centennial Project

[So sorry about the hiatus- blame climate change: isolated island life, West Coast winter weather, cancelled ferries, though nothing like the disasters in the BC interior. I will try and catch up.]

It is perhaps not surprising that Cyn’s Centennial Project, as an immigrant to Canada, was to return to England for the first time in eighteen years. Cec and Cyn had been planning this for years- but the demands of family, finances, and work had put off the trip. Cec had visited there and seen friends, as he passed through on work- related travels, and Cyn had kept in touch with letters, but the summer of 1967 was carefully organized to see as many friends, and as much of the U.K. as possible in a month. Cyn’s friend, Jessie Aldridge, who lived in London, helped set it up there.
The letter to her mother is missing, but Carol kept the itinerary page, which must have been a help when Linda’s Travel Diary of the trip was finally sent to St.Vincent. So here is Page 6, with Cyn signing off.

6.
… they came up to Expo, that they might do that after their holiday in Maine in August.
I am going to stop now and try and get our Itinerary on this piece of paper – our postage has gone up too, so I must be economical. Much love from us all to you and Auntie Moo and lots of love from the children.
Much love Cyn. [handwritten in pencil]

July 7 Fri. Leave Ottawa – direct 1st Class Charter Flight. 11 PM
8 Sat. Arr. London airport 11 AM. Hotel in Little Venice, London, booked by Norman and Jessie for us.
9 Sun. Go to see Jessie and Norman.
10 Mon. Sightsee- leave by train for Manchester around 6 PM. Met by Nan and Dick and to stay with them.
11 Tues. Linda and Charlie going to school with Barbara & Sandy for the fun of it!
12 Wed. Might fly over to the Isle of Man for the day, but if it is too expensive will skip it. [Didn’t happen.] Pick up car.
13 Thurs. Leave for Bangor, North Wales, and stay with Prof. Sheridan and his family on Isle of Anglesey. He is a friend of Cec’s and has stayed with us here a few times.
14 Fri. Still with Sheridans.
15 Sat. Drive to Sutton Coldfield to stay with Dottie. Peter and his fiancé will be there.
16 Sun. Dottie’s.
17 Mon. Dottie is booking us tickets at the theatre in Stratford, so will drive over and sightsee and come back to sleep.
18 Tues. Drive to Oxford and hope to see Jean and Peter for lunch. Drive on towards Bath and stay wherever we find a place.
19 Wed. See Bath and drive to Wells for tea with Ruth and family. Charlie has given up his home in N/cle and is there with them, so will see them all. Drive on towards Salisbury and spend the night somewhere on the way.
20 Thurs. See Stonehenge, Salisbury, to Portsmouth to see Nelson’s ship ‘Victory’ and then find a place to stay.
21 Fri. Drive along South Coast to Canterbury and spend the night.
22 Sat. Drive to London, turn in the car, and take the train to Glasgow with sleepers overnight.
23 Sun. Pick up are another car in Glasgow. Drive to friends the Tylers who were here for 2 years & have lunch. Drive on to Loch Lomond where we have a hotel booked at Luss.
24 Mon. Drive around the Trossachs and to Edinburgh. Spend the night.
25 Tues. Sightsee. Catch a train in late afternoon to N/cle and visit Sheedys, Cooper’s etc. Catch night train at midnight to London with sleepers.
26 Wed. London – back to hotel at Little Venice. Sightsee and visit Mary Ewing and relatives etc. til
31 Mon.
Aug. 1 Tues. To Cambridge till we go back to London Airport and catch the plane for Ottawa
3 Thurs.

A few comments to finish this off. When I read this plan, I am amazed. All that driving- so Canadian- from one side of the country to the other! I wonder what their friends thought of it? I lived in England for a year, visited over the years several times on my own and with my husband, and never saw as much of the U.K. as we covered in this month. For my brother and I, the visiting of friends was a strain- the adults sat upstairs talking and laughing, having a lovely time catching up, and we sat downstairs with the friend’s children in polite silence, having little to say to these new acquaintances. (I believe I protested loudly when we were on our own about what I described as ‘Quaker meetings’.) Once we were on our own it was fine, even though we liked different things- Charlie got tired of cathedrals. But I remember the sea in Wales, where we gathered lovely stones on the beach and transported them in the car until they were ‘forgotten’ when we changed transportation. I remember stops on the road at pubs for lunch, where Charlie and I had to eat in the gardens, which was no punishment, and the unusual but delicious sandwiches we had. (Nothing exciting, but cheese and tomato and ploughmans were new to us.) And I remember shopping- books of course, but also going to Carnaby Street in London, buying a kilt in Edinburgh, and getting trinkets to remember the places we saw. Finally postcards- I may not have sent many, but I bought them, and made a scrapbook of my own with my collection once I got home. It was a fabulous holiday.

April 1967

My grandmother didn’t keep many letters from 1967. What I am posting here is a typed page 4 of 2 1/2 paragraphs, a signature, and then a rather long hand-written postscript. When I originally organized these letters 15 years ago I filed this remnant as written in February ’67 because of the mention of Christmas activities, but I have decided that it is more likely to be written after Spring Break, since Cyn and Cec stayed home to chat to my Auntie Merle, who would have been teaching in February. It does seem to be in 1967, however, with a Centennial Play at the Little Theatre with one of my classmates acting in it (and of which I have absolutely no recollection) but otherwise, ordinary adult life with 2 teenagers.

                    - 4 -

… took our tickets to the Little Theatre and went to see the “Centennial Play” particularly written for Canada’s birthday, while we stayed home and chatted to Merle. We had not had good reports of the play so we weren’t a bit sorry to miss it but the girls quite enjoyed it and Linda was intrigued because Jean Craven was acting in it.
On Sat. I had a small dinner party with a Dr. Trembetti from Italy who is at the Lab. for 2 years, a young couple, Dr. and Mrs. Englemann, from the U.S. Atomic Lab. at Los Alamos, New Mexico and Mr. Graham, and we had great fun. I had invited Phyl Douglas too as Alex is in India, but she couldn’t come. Her Mother has been failing quite badly lately – she is blind and a bit deaf as you know and had the broken leg, but she also has been having heart attacks and has to be rushed into oxygen at the hospital, and about 10 days ago this happened again and Phyl didn’t think that she could possibly last long. She couldn’t keep anything down and was sort of semi-conscious all the time in the oxygen tent. I haven’t liked to phone Phyl too much as she has been spending nearly all her time at the hospital, but so far Mrs. Wright must be still alive as I have been watching the papers. It is so sad as Phyl says each breath is such a struggle and she feels that it is so hard for her.
I must stop now as I have so many letters to write. Please tell Auntie Muriel thank you for the letter and that I will be writing soon. I will write again soon to you and answer your letters now that I have at last caught up on our Christmas activities. I have bought 2 gorgeous lengths of material with your Christmas money and have had my sewing machine fixed, so I am longing to get sewing. I will send you little bits of the material later.

Much love from us all,
Cyn.

P.S. Meant to tell you – there was a Confirmation at the Church last Sunday week. Charlie thought he was to taper and & was quite tickled at the idea of doing it with the Bishop there. Then when the procession walked in 2 other boys were holding the candles & when I looked for Charlie here he was walking in front of the Bishop holding the crozier! An Archdeacon usually comes with the Bishop but he couldn’t come, so Mr. Graham chose Charlie & he did the job beautifully – putting the crozier on the Altar & helping the Bishop on & off with his robes etc. & the 2 of them sharing a hymn book & singing lustily! Afterwards the Bishop told me he did it like a veteran & Charlie was so proud of himself!!