As List Mom Alice knows, I have recently been unsubscribed to the Mendon list while my wife & I traveled in England. It's the time of year when there are good bargains and we found non-stop, round-trip, Denver-London tickets for $300, so we were on our way within two weeks. We did the same thing last year around Thanksgiving and visited SW England. This year we were in the Midlands, north of London. We had three main objectives: visit some places with Mayflower Pilgrim history, research my wife's paternal (Frisby) line, in Leicestershire, and research my mother's paternal (Medbury) line in Bedfordshire & the former Huntingdonshire. My Medbury line is the one that connects to some Mendon & Uxbridge families including Aldrich, Farnum, Darling, White, and Gaskill. The Mayflower sites we visited were Scrooby, Babworth, Austerfield, Gainsborough, Immingham (near Grimsby), Boston, and Fishtoft. At Scrooby we started by having lunch at the Pilgrim Fathers, an inn built in 1771. Neece & Geoff Francess-Allen have become the proprietors in the past four months. While there, they recommended that I go see Malcolm Dolby who lives in the Old Vicarage on the road (I think it was Church St.) between the inn and Scrooby Manor. Mr. Dolby, about 60, recently retired as curator of the museum in Retford. He is an expert on local history, has participated in archeological digs around the Manor, and gives tours. He was kind enough to give us an impromptu tour of Scrooby Manor and the town. There have been changes in the use of the Manor. The previous owner passed away and his two sons, one who lives in Lincoln and the other in New Zealand, now own the property. Rather than farming the land, they now raise horses there. Scrooby Manor, which previously was being used for storage, has been restored somewhat and has a family living there. Besides showing us Scrooby Manor, Mr. Dolby took us to where the Great North Road (the primary old route from London to the north) runs through town. It was an excellent tour. Incidentally, Mr. Dolby said he plans to move in about a year to Wales where taxes are much cheaper. In Babworth we were fortunate in arriving at Rev. Richard Clifton's old church, All Saints' Parish Church, just as Sunday services had concluded. We were invited in to join the congregation for coffee. The regular minister who comes only once a month wasn't there, but the Reader showed us around. They have done an excellent job of maintaining the building thanks to have a generous membership. St. Helena's Church in Austerfield where Bradford was baptized was locked when we went there, so I just viewed it from outside. In Gainsborough we went through Gainsborough Manor, now known as the Old Hall. It is another very well maintained building and has a lot of old furnishings. They had guides dressed in period costumes who were taking a group of children through while we were there. In the kitchen there were stuffed animals (including a wild boar) and other foods of the kind that would have been prepared for King Richard's visit. This was where Rev. John Smyth held services for the nonconformists. On the way to Grimsby we saw the Immingham Creek Pilgrim Memorial which was originally erected on the Humber estuary where some of the Pilgrims waited to be picked up by a Dutch skipper for their trip to Amsterdam. In 1970 the monument was moved to a location near the parish church to make room for industrial development. Immingham is an industrial town and not a pleasant place to visit. We went to Boston where the Pilgrims went in their first attempt to sail to Holland. We were disappointed that the Guildhall, where they were imprisoned, was closed for restoration. The door was open, so I did go in for a look, but it was just full of boxes and construction materials. A little south of town outside of Fishtoft, we saw the Pilgrim Memorial along the Witham River. Some of my pictures of these places are at http://home.comcast.net/~j.b.bullock. We did other traveling during the year, but the only other trip involving genealogy was to Lansing, Michigan, where I joined some Bullock cousins I'd never met before. That was an enjoyable experience, and the Michigan State Library is a wonderful research facility. The highlight of the trip was meeting a 100-year old lady who is living by herself on the site where Jeremiah Bullock had originally built his log cabin. She was sharp as can be and told us stories about the early years. One thing that made me chuckle was that she had cigarettes on her coffee table and bottles of gin & vermouth on a side table. Those with whom I've had personal correspondence during the year are aware that I've been working primarily on my Bristol County, MA, research. I haven't done much with Mendon relatives other than a few additions to the Aldriches and Darlings--perhaps a few others. But I'm sure I'll be coming across more in the future and will put them in my data at http://wc.rootsweb.com/~jbbullock. I hope everyone has a wonderful holiday season! Jim Bullock Littleton, CO

Hi All Again, Jim B., sure enjoyed your message , about your trip to England. Thanks for sharing . especially for those of us like me , that probably will never get there. And now would not be able to see it anyway. :( But most of all welcome back to the list, once again. Jim B. and his wife Flo visited this area a few years back and we spent several days doing genealogy, touring the area sites but best of all, here at my dining room table discovering we had many same ancestors and Jim found I was also a Bullock , way way back.:) But we are Cuz's and best of all friends . Sorry Derek I missed your visit , however next time do contact me. always happy to meet with a fellow genealogist, whether related or not. :) I am sure we'll be hearing more from everyone soon after the holidays. (my favorite time of the winter season) Hibernation and no shopping . :)) Chat is allowed on this list. We all enjoy getting to know you and your lines of course. Sharing is what this list is all about, whether it be genealogy or just a chat or a report on a recent genealogy trip like Jim B. shared with us. Just remember No flames, no religion (unless genealogy related) and no politics.. You all have a nice day, Alice r