En-route to Ely

One hour and forty-eight minutes from Southwold to Ely, our next self-catering destination, unless you go via St Albans , a city on the northern outskirts of London!
Why would you do that, I hear you ask. Basically a dinner date with John's second cousin. I know, but there we are.

We left Southwold in the morning, via the attractive town of Bury Saint Edmunds which houses the ruins of Bury St Edmunds Abbey which are merely rubble now but still incredibly impressive and date back to 633. Destruction of the Abbey complex thanks to Henry VIII. The original Abbey gate was destroyed and the existing one was built during the 14th century and still marks the entry to the cathedral and Abbey gardens today. The gardens are extensive and well kept and provide a peaceful haven for the folks of Bury to lunch and play.
Todays cathedral, St James is large by any standard but nothing compared with the complex that grew during the 15th century. I would like to come back here and further investigate.

The Gate House

The Gardens

St James Cathedral

Part of the Ruins

On we drive to Hartest and Brockley, 2 small villages where John's 2x Grandfather Edward and 3x Grandfather Joseph lived in or around. We visited 2 churches which may or may not have been the churches they were married in or may have attended being people of faith. Stepping back in time 170 - 200 years and walking in their footsteps was something not a lot of people get to do, but we did. Hartest in particular was very pretty indeed.

Village of Hartest



Brockley Green Church

How old is this church wall?



 
 
 












The Entrance

And then on to St Albans for dinner with cousin Liz and her band of merry friends. We dined and went on to visit the pub she owns in a nearby town, which had a lovely beer garden. This would have been perfect on a sunny afternoon, but it was a cold night and we all froze, but couldn't sit inside because they all smoked!
Next morning, up and back up the Motorway to Ely......parp, parp, parp.