Oh to be in England...well, I'm here and it's April, and spring is so advanced already that it's a bit worrying. Well, more than a bit, actually, for if the place keeps heating up at this rate they'll be growing bananas in Devon soon. (Did I blog Sam's bananas? I think not. He has a bunch on a tree in his conservatory - in the Rhine Valley! I hope they ripen, Sam!)


Here the hawthorn is already in full bloom (it used to be called "May" because that's when it always flowered) and I heard on the BBC that swifts are nesting already, a month early. Something worrying has happened to the climate and will go on happening, it seems; however, the upside is that I'm seeing more flowers than I might have done in what used to be considered a "normal" season. Bluebells galore - and not all of them blue. They come in mauve and pink and white as well, in scores and hundreds and thousands. Tulips are a joy - if you can see them under the showers of dropping cherry blossoms. We're having temperatures in the high teens-low twenties Celsius, which again is unusual in April. And none of the fabled showers. Nice for me with my perpetual cathedral hunting, but not, in the long term, a good thing at all.

I spent Sunday night in Salisbury, where there is an excellent YHA establishment. A lot of YHA hostels have been closed down, which is a shame as I much prefer them to backpackers' places, which are often very noisy and sometimes seem to attract people I'd rather not share with. As the average B&B is too expensive for me, I was glad to find a Youth Hostel in Salisbury. Don't be put off by the Youth bit, fellow mature persons - they attract travellers of all ages and nationalities. I shared with a young Taiwanese-French scientist and at breakfast I met a whole family of people from the Midlands - four generations of them!

Salisbury is a lovely town, very well placed for Stonehenge and Avebury, although for the latter you really need wheels. I think I like Winchester even more, though. I'd really like to go there again, while Salisbury and Stonehenge can be seen in one or two days. I last visited in 1996 and wouldn't have gone again, except the visit allowed me to meet still another e-cousin, Jeremy, who is doing a virtual One-Name Study of the TURTLE family. I was happy to meet his wife, Janet, and to take a peek at the latest results of Jeremy's painstaking research into our mutual ancestors. And you should see their amazing collection of turtle ornaments, doorstops, paperweights etc. There was even a velour one than did a song and dance act!

Yesterday it was Exeter. I did the rounds of a group of really old churches, dating back to the conquest. Some of them have been extensively rebuilt over the centuries, of course, but here and there the visitor can see the original Norman arches and even the odd bit of Saxon stonework. I also visited Exeter Cathedral and saw the burial place of a pair of many-time great-grandparents, Hugh Courteney and his wife. Fine family historian I am - I can't remember the poor woman's name. However, they lived back in the 1300s, by which time our ancestors number in the tens of thousands, so no wonder I can't remember the odd one:-)