Day 7 April Trip

April 1, 2009
The next morning, we ate our delicious home cooked meal of toast, sausage, eggs, beans, and tea. We wanted to get to Cheadle Hulme and then up to Manchester and back to Middlesbrough before too late. Boarding our bus, I was sure I could smell the putrid scent from the day before although April assured me that it wasn’t the same bus. At the train station in Stoke, April and I were rushing to our platform, oblivious to what was happening around us, when a man reached out to grab my arm and commanded us to stop. April and I had nearly walked onto the filming of a movie. On the opposite platform, 30 brightly dressed girls danced as the main actors ran by as if missing their train. No, we were not asked to be extras. Once in Cheadle Hulme, we were slightly disappointed to find it wasn’t the quaint and friendly little town that Cheadle Staffordshire had been as it is more of a suberb of Manchester. Unable to unload our wheeley suitcase and traveling on one of the warmest days of the year, we lugged the suitcase up and down the streets trying to find something to do or see. Passing a small corner grocers, we were both lured in by the advertisement of icecream which we bought a ½ gallon of toffee fudge and the owner even supplied us with spoons and paper towels. A woman told us about a plark and tudor hall to visit so we made our way bumping along residential roads until we arrived at Bramhall Hall. Collapsing on a bench, we dove into our icecream devouring it as if we were vagrants traveling from town to town and stopping at benches for a rest. Revived by our delicious ‘meal’, we were in the mood for exploring, after all, we had come all that way. Bramhall Hall is a tudor building meaning although the main entrance dates to medieval times when everyone ate and slept in the same room , the rest of the house was built in tudor time with more recent modifications being Victorian. The house is painted white and dark wood beams and woodwork make intricate designs. As we entered, we were greeted by 3 bookish men in their mid-late 60’s. It was like meeting April and myself in man form 40 years from now! It was clear that not many people our age visit the Hall or are interested in history. We had a personal tour through the Hall and I think April greatly enjoyed the room of generations of the Davenports all sporting the same nose; consanguinity! (this became our favorite word throughout our travels). At the end of the tour, we found our selves surrounded by the 3 tour guides who clearly did not want us to leave and very much wanted to impart their knowledge to us often citing from books over 100 years old! Finally able to pull ourselves away, we made our way back to the train station, back to Manchester, and then caught the train to Middlesbrough.

Day 6 April trip

March 31, 2009
We lingered a bit this morning at breakfast as our table was sat by the window and the sun was warm and bright. We went up to the local market only to discover that it catered to the majority population of Cheadle and offered full covered, belly button hiding under pants! Eventually we decided to try and find some of the pottery factories for which this area is known. We found our way to the Wedgwood and Royal Dalton stores and the Spode factory which is going out of business and no longer offering tours. After some misdirection and lots of walking, we also found our way to the Wedgwood factory which is set outside the city and is a little community all its own. We missed the tour but enjoyed wandering through the store admiring the beautiful items we could never afford. There was one last bus to catch so we walked out in the middle of no where until the bus finally came only to discover that the bus was not going back to Stoke! We hurried to walk the mile back to the main road only to get stuck at the train crossing with all the Wedgewood employees. After waiting 30 min for the trains to pass, we walked quickly to the road where there was no bus stop but where I was determined to flag down any bus that went by. We had no idea if a bus would even pass. Eventually, a bus did come around the cornier and the astonished face of the driver who had dropped us off stared out the window. He stopped for us as I’m sure we looked like two lost and confused vagrants by the side of the road by a field and small cluster of houses. And back to Stoke we went. Exhausted and more than ready to be back in our cozy guest house resting our weary legs, April and I boarded the bus for the 30 min ride back to Cheadle. As we boarded the bus and handed the driver our day pass, a pungent odor assailed our nostrils. The front seats were occupied and we were met by other passengers escaping from the putrid smell. Stepping into the back section of the bus, our eyes beheld the source of the smell; peas and carrots swimming in stomach bile oozed across the seat. A burning sensation rose up in my throat. April and I quickly found seats and passed out mint chewing gum to the other passengers in hopes of easing the journey. Already delirious from our day of endless walking and chasing after buses, April and I dissolved into uncontrollable giggles. This was only heightened by each stop we made where unsuspecting travelers entered the bus and their faces would distort into disgusted looks and exclamations of “gross” as their eyes beheld the gruesome image. Making it back to Cheadle and leaving the ‘puke bus’ we spent the rest of the warm evening snapping photographs of the town already closed up for the night. In Cheadle Staffordshire, April and I found it lacking in American food and have decided to open and American diner offering burgers and hotdogs!

Day 5 April's trip

March 29, 2009
We arrived into Manchester and after some helpful and not so helpful direction, ended up on a train to Stoke on Trent and then a bus to Cheadle Staffordshire. Once we had arrived, we were delighted to find ourselves in the quaint village of Cheadle. The bus had dropped us on the high street and we were unclear as to where to go so we inquired at Cheadle Hardware; a store owned by two sisters in their mid 50’s. They were able to point us in the right direction and we soon found ourselves arriving at a lovely brick hone where we were greeted by the owner and her two dogs; Toby and Kara. April and I then wandered up to St. Giles, a gothic style Roman Catholic church an perused the graveyard before going up to another church and looking for ancestors among the numerous graved. Alas, we did not come across any Cheadles but did find a few Mellors. We wandered in and out of stores on the Cheadle high street and found it strange to see our surname on almost every building. We went into one store and were greeted by a man in his mid 20’s who tried hard to assure us that this feminine store was owned by his sister and that he was merely helping out. For tea, we went to a pub and I introduced April to steak pie and puddle pudding; not sure which she enjoyed more. Our host had provided us with chick flicks she thought we would enjoy so that night we fell asleep watching a DVD in our pink and flowery guest room.

Day 3 and 4 April's trip

March 28, 2009

Day 3 and 4 April's trip
Under pressure to finish writing the rest of April’s time here in the UK, I have decided to not give you a detailed play-by-play but more of a summary of the two days spent in Edinburgh. We arrived early Saturday morning after an eventful time of trying to make our train (ask April if you want more details). We checked into our guesthouse which is a flat located on the fourth floor building just off Princes Street. It is also purported to be the childhood home of Robert Burns. We stayed in the Thistle room and as you may have already imagined, was decorated in a thistle theme. The first day April experienced the agony of walking miles and standing on a hard surface as we toured the Edinburgh Castle and shopped the Royal Mile. That evening I introduced April to the yummyness that is sticky toffee pudding at the Tass which is a pub I had previously visited. At breakfast the next day, April was introduced to a traditional Scottish breakfast of toast, runny eggs, sausage, bacon, roasted tomato, and tea. We spent that day visiting an art museum, riding the tour bus going to the museum of childhood, and Grey Friar’s Bobby church and statue, and shopping for presents. At the end of the Royal Mile near the Palace of the Holyrood, we wandered into a little store. A lot of these tourist stores are run by Asians but this was owned and operated by a local woman. When we explained that we were a bit Scottish, she was very excited and wanted to know what clan we were from. Up till now, we had not been able to uncover a tartan for Cairns. In her well worn book of Scottish clans and surnames, the woman discovered that we are a sept of the MacGregor clan! Basically, the Cairns were too poor to commission their own tartan so the MacGregos’ agreed to let the Cairns wear their tartan if the Cairns would fight for them. I purchased a MacGregor tartan tam and April and I ran around proudly declaring “We are MacGregor!”. That evening, April tried the traditional Scottish meal of Haggis, neeps, and tatties which she actually enjoyed! That was the end to our adventure in Scotland and I think April was a bit sad to say goodbye to her bagpipe playing, kilt wearing Scotsman. Because we were leaving early the next morning for Manchester, our host family left us breakfast and sandwich making for which we were very grateful and thus began our adventure in Cheadle Staffordshire.

Day 2 April's visit

March 27, 2009
I decided to start April out on some easy traveling with a day trip to Whitby. We took the bus through the Moors. It was so nice to share my favorite place with April. I introduced her to fish and chips with mushy peas and she even liked the mushy peas! I think she will even admit that British fish and chips put American fish and chips to shame. We spent the day popping in and out of shops, going down to the beach and watching the wind blow the sand, and climbed the 199 steps to the abbey, St. Mary’s, and to play in the graveyard. We tried to get our nerve up to try kippers but neither was feeling very adventurous. April and I decided that the cute seaside cottages would make great vacation homes so we will be purchasing one; anyone want to lend us half a million pounds? J I also treated April to a lemon top which I think by her expression she also enjoyed! We bought 2 cannon balls to go which gave us a sugar high that night but eventually we went to sleep with plans to wake early and catch our train to Edinburgh.

Day 1 April's visit

March 26, 2009
This morning I woke bright and early to take the one hour bus ride to Tees Valley Airport to collect my sister, April, who had travelled nearly 24 hours to visit me for one week. A dazed and confused looking April walked through the doors of the airport and into the gray, windy, and rainy North East England. I had told her the weather would be pleasant as it had the few weeks prior; we were to learn that UK weather can go from extreme cold to extreme heat in one weeks time. Getting her back to my flat, I commanded her to go to sleep while I attempted to inflate a mattress which seemed opposed to holding any air I put in it for more than 30 minutes. When April finally woke up 6 hours later, I took her to experience a very British meal; a carvery. This consists of beef, gammon, or turkey mixed with Yorkshire pudding, parsnips, carrots, roasties, cheesy cauliflower, and covered with gravy. Following our scrumptious meal, I introduced April to the world of pub quizzing. I think the fast speaking; strong accented North Yorkshire residents present might have been a bit too much for April’s brain tonight. The N. Yorkshire/Smoggy accent isn’t the easiest to understand as it isn’t what most think of when they think of a British accent.