Our visit to Bampton
In our former stay in England in 2000/2001, we lived in a village in Oxfordshire where Kathi volunteered her services in the local village school in Buckland. One of the teachers there (later the head teacher) was Pauline Hawkins. We got to know Pauline and her husband David (a retired RAF officer) and they visited us in Monterey after our return home from that time in England. We've also gotten together with David and Pauline for dinner in London a few months ago.
In October we had a chance to spend a weekend with them at their beautiful cottage home (Mill Green) in the village of Bampton, a few miles from our former temporary home in Buckland. On Saturday we walked around the village and visited the typically beautiful village church, as well as the village's library. Pauline is active as a volunteer in various pursuits in the village and David has served for several years as the mayor; we enjoyed having them show us an interesting display about the bells in the church tower. We went from London to Oxford by bus where David picked us up in his car. On the way to Bampton he gave us a nostalgic drive through Buckland, our former home for a year.
On Saturday afternoon David took Chuck to Gloucester to see a rugby match -- Chuck's first -- of the local team against the team from Bristol. The locals won handily. That evening saw us sharing a delicious dinner and absolutely fascinating conversation with the Hawkins and two other couples.
On Sunday we took a walk along the Thames as it makes its way through the countryside between Bampton and Buckland. It was great fun for us to get back to the English countryside and to see some of the sites of our old "stomping grounds" in Oxfordshire. Then Pauline drove us back to Oxford for the bus ride back to London.
Some pictures of our return to the countryside are at: http://chuck.smugmug.com/gallery/2122393/
In October we had a chance to spend a weekend with them at their beautiful cottage home (Mill Green) in the village of Bampton, a few miles from our former temporary home in Buckland. On Saturday we walked around the village and visited the typically beautiful village church, as well as the village's library. Pauline is active as a volunteer in various pursuits in the village and David has served for several years as the mayor; we enjoyed having them show us an interesting display about the bells in the church tower. We went from London to Oxford by bus where David picked us up in his car. On the way to Bampton he gave us a nostalgic drive through Buckland, our former home for a year.
On Saturday afternoon David took Chuck to Gloucester to see a rugby match -- Chuck's first -- of the local team against the team from Bristol. The locals won handily. That evening saw us sharing a delicious dinner and absolutely fascinating conversation with the Hawkins and two other couples.
On Sunday we took a walk along the Thames as it makes its way through the countryside between Bampton and Buckland. It was great fun for us to get back to the English countryside and to see some of the sites of our old "stomping grounds" in Oxfordshire. Then Pauline drove us back to Oxford for the bus ride back to London.
Some pictures of our return to the countryside are at: http://chuck.smugmug.com/gallery/2122393/
posted by Chuck and Kathi Calvano @ 4:10 PM
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