Archive for the ‘England’ Category
virtual travel: Everton to Beckingham
The next stretch of my virtual cycling program (to visit the villages and towns of my ‘Spavold’ ancestors) took me from Everton in Nottinghamshire, to Clayworth, to Beckingham.
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| Date | From | To | Distance | Time |
| November 4 | Everton | Clayworth | 5 km | 20 minutes |
| November 5 | Clayworth | Gringly on the Hill | 4 km | 18 minutes |
| November 6 | Gringly on the Hill | Beckingham | 6 km | 20 minutes |
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I began at Everton where the land is very flat. The area from there to Clayworth is dominated by fields and farms. The names alongtheu way are interesting… for example Drakeholes???? Death Lane???? The name Clayworth was once thought to represent the soils in the area but now it is thought to refer to a protective area of hills near the village.
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The cycle along the road to Gringly on the Hill was flat and also agricultural. Huge fields had been planted along the road.
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Also, there were wild pink roses in bloom along the way.
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The Double highway from Gringly on the Hill to Beckingham was rather dull, except for a large industrial site on the horizon.
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This turned out to be the power generating station at West Burton.
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Also, in aerial view, I found a large area near North Wheatley that looked, at first, like a large solar farm. With a little reading, I now think it is more likely to be a view of extensive strawberry polytunnels … the area is known for its strawberry production and the logo for North Wheatley includes the image of a strawberry.
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The next leg of my journey will take me to Gainsborough and Walkingerham, Lincolnshire, where three early families with the last name Spaveld/Spaven/Spavalde lived in the 1400s.
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All my best,
Jane
Winter virtual travel: Starting off
This winter, I want to add some exercise to my days, using my stationary cylcle and Google Earth’s ‘Street View’ to travel to some of the places where my Spavold ancestors lived.
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This week I began my virtual travels in Nottinghamshire, travelling from Bawtry to Scunthorpe and then to Everton.
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| Date | From | To | distance | time |
| Oct. 28 | Bawtry | Scunthorpe | 2.5 km | 15 min |
| Oct. 29 | Scunthorpe | Everton | 2.5 kn | 20 min |
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The highlight of the virtual trip was seeing the Holy Trinity Church in Everton. This is the church where many Spavolds were baptised, married, and buried. They once walked through those doors! They walked the street I followed! The church was built in 1066 and still stands almost 1000 years later!!!! The original settlement was Danish, called Eofortun.
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The next stretch of my travels will be to Beckingham and then to Gainsborough in Lincolnshire where the earliest Spavold families lived in the 1400s.
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All my Best,
Jane Tims (a.k.a. Jane Spavold)
winter cycling – a virtual trip through Nottinghamshire
In summer, my exercise routine includes a walk and some yard work around our long driveway loop. I sit for a while on my stone bench and watch the tree tops, listen to the neighbourhood sounds, and sort the bird calls from the more human sounds. This past summer I cleaned out a small pond and gave at least seven frogs a new home!
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This winter, I will replace the driveway walk with some stationary cycling. As I cycle, I will follow a route in Google Earth and use the Street View feature to see the sights along the way. My chosen route is a virtual tour of the area where some of my ‘Spavold’ ancestors lived in the 15th, 16th and 17th centuries.
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The entire route will take a lot of cycling, but I will start small, with a trip from Bawtry to Scaftworth to Everton. The baptismal, marriage and burial records of the Holy Trinity church in Everton show the many Spavolds who lived in this area, including the family of Thomas Spavold (1695-1751) and Judith Sellers (1699-1764). I realize most of the buildings existing in the early 1700s will be gone, but the landscape will be the same and the trip will give me a glimpse of where my acceptors lived.
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I will keep you up to date on the things I see.
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All my best,
Jane Tims (a.k.a. Jane Spavold Tims)
back to Cornwall
Although I have done some stationary biking since I ended my virtual trip across northern New Brunswick, I want to get back to the regular schedule I followed when I biked virtually in France and Cornwall. So I have decided to hop back on the Street View road and see some more of Cornwall.
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In Phase 7 of my virtual cycling, I finished the southern coast of Cornwall at Landewednack and Lizard. I’ll begin Phase 9 at Predannack Wollas and cycle around the west coast of Cornwall. I’ll look forward to seeing Arthur’s Titagel and Doc Martin’s Port Isaac. Mostly, my knees will benefit from more regular exercise.
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Predannack Wollas to Porthleven
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I have my first four days plotted and I start tomorrow. Just for old time’s sake, here is one of my earlier paintings from southern Cornwall …
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Copyright 2014 Jane Tims
yet another Cornwall gate
As you may have seen on my ‘accomplishments’ page, I have sold the painting ‘rainbow gate in Falmouth’. It was on display as part of an art auction at Isaac’s Way Restaurant in Fredericton.
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The art at auction at Isaac’s Way helps local children’s charities, in this case providing opportunities for summer theatre. Once I have sold a painting, I can replace the painting with another and now ‘gate in Ponsanooth’ is up for auction! You can see the painting at https://nichepoetryandprose.wordpress.com/2014/01/24/another-cornwall-gate/ .
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I am continuing to paint in my Cornwall gates series. This past weekend, I painted another gate from Ponsanooth entitled ‘enter’. Gates are meaningful to me, as metaphors for change and as representative of possibility. And the various building materials, stone, cement, wood and metal, are very enjoyable to paint …
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February 22, 2014 ‘enter’ Jane Tims
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Copyright 2014 Jane Tims
another Cornwall gate
Yesterday, I completed another in the ‘Cornwall gates’ series.
They are fun to find and paint. I have learned this – trying to paint what is just beyond the gate takes away from the mystery!
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Copyright 2014 Jane Tims
nichepoetryandprose 