Off to England!

A week after we had arrived in The Netherlands from Australia we were on the road again in our camper van and this time – as it was the half term break – we had our daughter Hannah and son-in-law Pieter with us. We were off to England!

Pieter drove the first leg to Calais where we caught a ferry to Dover and Jonathan drove the shorter section to South East London to my sister Julia’s place.

We had arrived just in time for a big family get-together the following day. The gathering was going to take place in a new venue for us – a “village” hall in the heart of London’s East End within the sound of Bow Bells.

During a recent outing, my two sisters had ventured into the Bermondsey area to discover family homes and connections as this was where my eldest sister, Sarah, was born and where my parents had lived when they were first married.

Quite by chance they found the hall in a green space in the middle of the now very hip centre of Bermondsey (once a very poor working class area) and thought it would be an ideal central point to meet.

The hall is within a short walk from London Bridge station which itself is right next door to the famous landmark the “Shard” which includes offices, apartments, a hotel, bars, top level restaurants – and of course, a spectacular viewing area (including an open air sky deck 72 floors up) over several levels.

Unfortunately the normal direct trains from Beckenham – where my sister Julia lives – were cancelled that day so we had to travel to Blackfriars Station and then change to get to Tower Bridge.

Jonathan and I were actually quite pleased about the disrupted journey because we had not yet visited the “new” (it opened in 2012!) Blackfriars Station which actually has its platforms on a bridge over the River Thames – the only London station to do so.

From the platform we waited on to catch our connecting train there were fabulous views of Tower Bridge, the Tate Modern, St Paul’s Cathedral and various other key London landmarks. I love that London always has the capacity to surprise, no matter how many times you visit this amazing city.

The Bermondsey village hall was also a lovely surprise – it’s not often that you find a “village” hall in the middle of a massive city like London.

Its existence is a tribute to the densely populated but closely connected community of Bermondsey – and an excellent resource for local people.

More than 20 members of our family gathered for a lovely afternoon of catching up, eating wonderful food and then a walk round Bermondsey – stopping at various places that were part of our family story.

More family time the next day when Hannah and Pieter and Jonathan and I, drove to beautiful Scotney Castle, a National Trust property in Kent in South-East England, to meet up with my nephew and his wife and their two little children.

We had a very happy few hours catching up with the little family and really enjoyed the wonderful spring weather and the glorious surroundings.

Even though it was technically still winter, nature clearly had other ideas! There was an abundance of gorgeous flowering plants, bulbs and green buds on trees which all persuaded us that spring was well and truly here.