London: A trip to Wimpole to reflect on the past

Thursday, August 15

Well, in 4-½ days we covered as much of London as we could squeeze in.  We planned a special excursion for our final day before we headed to the cruise ship.  Terry and Ernie’s great-grandfather lived in a small village just a few miles from Cambridge before immigrating to the United States in 1856.  Cambridge is about 60 miles north of London. We thought it would be fun to see the area when great-grandpa James Angell lived and worked.

When we cruised to Australia in 2010 we became friends on the ship with a gal from England and have kept in touch.  When I wrote that we were planning to be in London and wanted to visit the village, Pauline suggested that she meet us at the train station in Cambridge and then she would drive us to the villages of Orwell and Wimpole.  That sounded like a grand plan to us so off we went.  We needed to take the Tube to King’s Cross Station and then transfer to a train to Cambridge. It all went smoothly and Pauline was there waiting for us at the Cambridge station.  It was so good to see her again and catch up on each other’s lives…and grandchildren J.

We first drove to Orwell, a small village where we knew from marriage documents that James married his first wife, Isabella.  We stopped by the church where they were most likely married. Their first born child, Anne, was born here.  Isabella’s family lived in the Orwell area.  She died in 1855 but we couldn’t find that she was buried there according to the cemetery records.

St. Andrew's Church in Orwell, Cambridgeshire

Then it was on to Wimpole just a couple miles away.  We knew that Wimpole is where James and Isabella lived and where their remaining 4 children were born.  It’s likely that the children were baptized in the church on the Wimpole Estate.  

Baptismal in Wimpole Estate church

James was a brickmaker and we know that there were a few brickmaking facilities in the area, including one right on the Wimpole Estate, a 400 year old country estate that employed many of the people living in the area.  If you watch the PBS show “Downton Abbey”, the estate looks very much like the one featured in the show (which we will also visit later while on the cruise). 

Watching restoration of library books after they suffered water damage.

Pauline and Ernie

Pauline and Terry

The Library

Servant bells

The grounds

We enjoyed a nice tour of the estate.  For Terry and Ernie, visiting the Wimpole/Orwell villages was a wonderful experience to walk in the footsteps of their great grandfather and imagine what life was like back in the 1850’s.  We know that James immigrated to the United States the year after Isabella died.  He came with 2 brothers, but left his small children behind with his wife’s sister.  He was never able to return to bring them to the States.  So life started again for him in Minnesota.

After the Angell Ancestry tour, we all headed back to Cambridge to have a look around that city before it was time to take the train back to London.  Cambridge is home to about 16 colleges, including the most well-known one, Trinity College.  We did a walkabout and took photos of some of the colleges and watched the punting on the River Cam that flows through town.

Punting on the River Cam

Then it was time to find a pub to relax in until it was time to head to the train station.  We so enjoyed this day and the opportunity to meet up with Pauline and have a great visit with her.  THANKS again, Pauline, for a wonderful day.

 

Pauline, Terry, Joyce

And with that, the London portion of our trip ends.  We say goodbye to Ernie and Mark on Friday morning and take a coach bus to Southampton to board the Caribbean Princess cruise ship for the next part of our British Isles adventure.