History in the Making Part II

An ‘earlier than September in the UK’ opportunity has presented itself that I have decided to seize.

One of the hiking leaders with a group I enjoy organizes a two week trip to East Sussex in England in the latter part of May each year.

When she first advised me of her annual trek, during a hike last Labour Day weekend, I studied the brochure she gave me entitled, ‘Spring Time in England’, which mentioned several enticing features and sightseeing destinations.

I put it on the desk, beside the sympathy cards.

Occasionally I would pick it up, examine it, and put it down again.

I did not have the daily itinerary at that time, yet something inexplicable was telling me to seriously consider this opportunity.

I now have done so, and I am extending my trip by arriving earlier than the group will, enabling me to spend some time near and in London as well.

Travelling this far, as well as experiencing old world history, necessitates at least one day exploring ‘that’ royal city!

My friend is thankfully able to accommodate me for these few extra days, and I will be able to visit with him while enjoying some of the British sights.

I hope to visit Dover on my ‘free’ day, as this is the port my father’s ancestors emigrated from.

They were sailors which would explain my affinity to the sea, and my yearning to learn how to sail as a crew member; not just a passenger.

That history is interesting as well.

It seems my father’s paternal heritage can be traced back to the Normans in France, and even further back to the Scandinavians who invaded Normandy ages ago.

With the Norman conquest of England, my French ancestors intermarried with the English and settled in Dover.

My paternal great-grandfather’s relatives then immigrated to Wolfe Island and onward to Kingsville and surrounding areas in southern Ontario.

Many of my distant relatives still live on this largest of the Thousand Islands, that forms a natural boundary at the entrance to the St. Lawrence River between Canadian and United States shores, as well as inhabit the small adjacent Simcoe Island.

The rest is (my) ‘history’ as the saying goes . . .

I have recently learned that one of my treks in England will be with a local hiking club to the ‘area Hastings 1066 and all that’ as the description reads.

I will experience firsthand the soil where The Battle of Hastings, which took place on 14 October 1066, and was the decisive Norman victory in the Norman Conquest of England, was fought, between the Norman army of Duke William II of Normandy and the English army of King Harold II.[1] The battle took place at Senlac Hill, approximately 6 miles northwest of Hastings, close to the present-day town of Battle, East Sussex.

Yes, there is something beckoning me to this place.

Intuitively I am being led there…