Huntspill and Berrow: A visit into my past

Some information explaining Huntspill and Berrow: My mother's father's grandfather, Abel Palmer, was from England, from the Berrow area. He married Jane Coles of Huntspill in the early 19th century. My mother specially requested that I visit the churches in the towns of Huntspill and Berrow. My third great-grandfather, Abel Palmer, and his parents were christened in the church in Berrow, and my third great-grandmother's Coles line was christened in the Huntspill chapel. Abel and Jane Palmer were married in the Huntspill chapel. I was fortunate enough to be able to see both of these chapels, and actualy go inside the one in Berrow, and take pictures. It ended up being a really lovely experience. Even though I got soaking wet and sick because of it.


Dear Mom,

On Friday I went to Huntspill and Berrow. My train tickets were a bit of a misadventure, and it was very very cold and hard to find things to eat, but it was still a nice experience. I'm not sure what I was expecting. I really enjoyed Huntspill especially, though. It was just darling, and absolutely everyone I met in town was just as sweet as could be. I saw at least half a dozen elderly people walking their dogs. Absolutely every one of them smiled at me and said hello. whenever I needed directions, people were always there to help. I really had a great experience with the people there. I loved them all so much! The churches were just GORGEOUS. I didn't find gravestones, and you should have been there--the ground was so mushy that I felt like I was just going to sink into the graves with the dead people, which was really a creepy feeling, and probably helps explain why I didn't walk around too much. I didn't do as much "learning" or "research" as I meant to, but I took all the pictures that struck me as worth taking, and I really did enjoy visiting the churches. The Huntspill church was SO pretty. I didn't get to go inside, though, because it's closed during the winter months, and when I went to the parsonage to ring the vicar, he wasn't home. Sad. But I did get to go inside the Berrow church. I sat in there a long time, enjoying the peaceful feeling, and staying out of the rain that had suddenly started pouring. I wrote a prayer in the little book up by the high altar, blessing the kind people I'd met that day from the area. I lit a couple of candles because it was a little dark and creepy, since I was in there all by myself. It was lovely, though. The acoustics were good, too. I sang a lot of hymns, but stayed clear of the latter-day saint ones, because I thought it might be almost a little disrespectful to effectually appropriate their meetinghouse, even if I was the only one in it. Perhaps it was silly of me. I really had a good experience in there.

Anyway, by the end of the day I was actually pretty grouchy and tired. It took me a LONG time to get all the way to Burnham to catch a bus, and there were absolutely NO places to eat where I could sit and revive feeling in my toes. I finally made it back to Highbridge, and I still couldn't find anywhere to eat! It was the weirdest place ever, Mom. There were all these restaurants in town, but they were all closed down! There were just take-out places. I went into the local pub, and there didn't even seem to be any food--just older guys drinking and playing pool. So I left after this creepy guy hit on me and got Chinese take-out and sat at the little bench by the side of the tracks--this tiny town's form of a railroad station--for over an hour, until a train toward Bristol, then London finally arrived. And I had the completely wrong ticket, so I got charged 19 pounds, but it was worth it to get home earlier. You see, I made a huge mistake and accidentally purchased tickets for TODAY instead of YESTERDAY. Also, I purchased tickets leaving Highbridge at 9:30, instead of for 7:30 when I got on the train. So I got charged for my dumb mistake, but it was worth it, in my opinion. At least I got home!

Even though I got freezing cold and was tired and grumpy, I still had a great experience. I loved looking around the towns at any older structures I could find and imagining what it would have been like for my ancestors growing up there when they were my age. It was really a nice experience, and it was good to "return to my roots," so to speak.

Love,

Mary-Celeste




Pictures:

The Berrow chapel. This is the one I got to go inside of. It was a very pleasant experience.

The towns are by the sea. Berrow is to the north. Heading south, there's Burnham-on-sea, Highbridge, and finally Huntspill.
This is the Huntspill chapel. Charming, isn't it?

The parsonage I knocked at to see if the vicar was in. Sadly, he wasn't, but I thought it was a cute house, anyway. There was a sheep trap on the way into the drive. It was slighty narrower than all the cow traps I find in my hometown. :)

It was a charming town by the British seaside--just across the inlet from Cardiff. Naturally, the cottages and the doors on them are going to be lovely.