“I have waited most of my life to make the trip to England again”
Penny C Gavin
In March of 2018, my wife Penny, and I discussed making a trip to her Mothers’ birthplace which is Basingstoke, England.
Penny had been to England 2 times before, once when she was 2 and the 2nd when she was 10 years old.
When she was there the last time, she met and befriended a young girl named Carolyn (Enefer) Hamlyn. They became life-long friends, albeit growing up on different continents.
Planning
After hearing Penny say she wanted to make a trip back to England, I sat down at my keyboard and meticulously planned a 12-day trip. I was uncertain that we could start on the 12th of September and that would take her to almost all of the places she would want to see in England. We both felt that a trip in the early Fall of the year would probably have the best weather for us to enjoy our trip. So, we both made out lists of things we wanted to see and also bought a couple of useful travel books by Rick Steve’s on England and specifically London.
We went through the books making copious notes on what was of interest to each of us.
We both gave it some thought over the next couple of days, thinking over what we wanted to see, we compared our lists. Amazingly enough, they were with few exceptions, very close in content. The problem for both of us was, “Do we have enough time in the 12-day itinerary to get to all of the places we wanted to see?” So, we started grouping things in general areas that we could see and enjoy.
Note: In the late 1960’s, I was in the U.S.A.F. stationed in Germany when I had an opportunity to visit London in 1969 during the Christmas holiday season. I made it around London using the “Tube” and reading a lot of tourist maps. So, for me, it was going to be a fun trip just seeing what was the same and what was different.
Hotel Selection
Once we got our lists in-sync, Penny emailed Carolyn to see if she and her husband Nick could meet us in London. Carolyn suggested that we stay at the Holiday Inn in Mayfair, a hotel where she and Nick stay when they visit London. Carolyn explained that the Holiday Inn was very centrally located to all of the places we wanted to see and as an added plus, it was right literally around the corner from the Green Park tube station on Piccadilly – (A4). The Green Park station also had another advantage, food. Pen and I were there most days picking up things to drink, fresh sandwiches and munchies!
Flight from Dayton-Chicago-London, Heathrow
We selected United Airlines Vacations as our vacation planner and through their agents in London, they arranged our hotel as well. The flight from Dayton to Chicago was on time, and after we landed in Chicago, we had a little time to gather additional food and drink for the long plane ride to London which was supposed to take about 8 hours. A long time to sit in one place! It was an excellent idea to upgrade our seats to Economy Plus! Those seats gave us about 5″ more leg room. A considerable difference in seating comfort.
United Airlines – Major Screw-up
About 2 hours into the flight, and we are about due north of Montreal, the First Officer comes on the PA and announces that they had discovered that they had cargo on the flight that they didn’t know who loaded it, nor what it contained. All the crew knew was that it wasn’t on the plane manifest and they were going to have to make an emergency landing in Newark, New Jersey. They also had to dump a lot of jet fuel to get the plane down to safe landing weight. The flight went suddenly very quiet; no one was chattering away any longer. Everyone was thinking probably the same thing. “Are we carrying a terrorist bomb that got smuggled aboard?” I wondered if with each breath, was it going to be my last one. I didn’t relish the idea of being a crab feast on the bottom of the ocean. After a couple more hours, we landed in Newark on a rainy evening and taxied to the gate. The freight handlers were scrambling around like hungry sewer rats finding a piece of warm pizza. They were frantically working in the dark and rain which wasn’t helping them in the least bit. Finally, the cargo doors closed and the fueling crew went to work. Most probably, the plane lavatories all got emptied as well, since they were rapidly filled in-flight after the announcement. Three hours after that, we were back in the air going as fast as the Boeing 767-300 would go. With the First Officer saying he was sorry, multiple times and that a load of dry ice had been put on the plane by mistake. Nice. We tried to sleep on the flight but were still anxious from the detour. Not an excellent way to start the vacation of a lifetime.
London Heathrow
If you have never been there, the place is “Huuuuggee”! We got off the plane and retrieved our luggage and were in Customs in no-time. A very polite customs agent got us through with minimal delay. An efficient system and we loved it!
Once we cleared the customs area, we needed to get from London Heathrow Airport Terminal 2 to Terminal 5. Heathrow Airport Terminal 5 is where the Tube and Express buses are. It was a nice thought, but it was a 2-mile walk on concrete floors from where we were to where we needed to be. OK, to be fair, we had to exercise our tired butts and legs, so we walked and walked and walked. Asked directions and voila! The Tube station ticket vendor was readily available for us. We explained what we needed, and he helped us select the “Oyster” card which is for railroad, Tube, buses, and Trams. One card pays for all of those! Great! We bought two and loaded them with some British £. We were ready to take on the Tube! We went over to wall-sized the map and started learning how to read the Tube map. We learned underground navigation skills and 45 minutes later; we were at the Green Park Tube station. We were both struggling to get up the stairs with our luggage (although Penny got several different men to help with her bags) since there were multiple staircases that we needed to go up.
Holiday Inn – Mayfair
After we made it to the top of the Tube station, we were looking around for a street sign to give us an idea where we were. We were right around the corner from the Holiday Inn! We made it there quickly and were in the lobby checking in within a
On a humorous note, after they checked us in and gave us our room keys, were immediately headed up to the room, we were dead tired, we just wanted to crash. Well, we walked into the room, and the room had someone staying in there! OOOOOPS!
We went back down to the check-in desk, they fixed the room assignment issue immediately and upgraded our room to an Executive room and also did that for Nick and Carolyn as well!
Overall, we could not have had better service from the front desk, concierge and especially the restaurant staff. We have to say our waitress, Violeta (who was from (Romania) treated us like family every day. We were special to her and we most of all, we felt special!
Town of Basingstoke
From Wikipedia: Basingstoke is the largest town in the modern county of Hampshire (Southampton and Portsmouth being cities). It is situated in south central England, and lies across a valley at the source of the River Loddon. Basingstoke is 30 miles (48 km) northeast of Southampton, 48 miles (77 km) southwest of London, and 19 miles (31 km) northeast of the county town and former capital Winchester. According to the 2016 population estimate, Basingstoke had a population of 113,776. It is part of the borough of Basingstoke and Deane and part of the parliamentary constituency of Basingstoke. Basingstoke is often nicknamed “Doughnut City” or “Roundabout City” because of the number of large roundabouts.
St Michael’s Church
The following pictures were taken at St. Michael’s church in Basingstoke, England.
St. Michael’s Chuch is where Penny’s Mom and Dad were married, and Penny was baptized.
St Michael’s Church is a notable Anglican parish church in Basingstoke, Hampshire, England. It is located in the lower part of the town, near its center, towards the northern end of Church Street and early 1500s. Many additions have been made since the initial structure was built, but looking at the all of the structures, they look like they were built at the roughly the same time.
St. Michael’s 
St. Michael’s 
St. Michael’s 
St. Michael’s 
Baptismal Font 
Penny was baptized here when she was 2 years old 
Carolyn is photographing the exact spot she was married 
In the pews again 
A playful Carolyn 
Penny’s Mom & Dad wedding photo 
Our recreation of the wedding photo 
Baptismal Font and Cover
As an avid woodworker, I spent a lot of time analyzing the craftsmanship of the interior woodwork. Everywhere I turned in the church, I was amazed at the level of detail and always asking myself, “how did they accomplish all of this without modern precision tools?” I especially
Baptismal Font cover 
Around the Town of Basingstoke
The following pictures were taken in Basingstoke. I do not know how long it took to repave all of the town-center with bricks, but it was magnificently done!
Train station 
Basingstoke this way! 
Festival Place 
Pen’s Mom was born on this street 
Most places on George Street look like these 
Downtown 
Downtown 
This used to be the town hall where dances were held. 
Royal Mail 
Properties to rent/buy 
British Rail to/from Basingstoke
Our travel to/from Basingstoke was a delightful journey both ways. We surprised that the rail system was on-time, clean cars, comfortable seats and had friendly staff to help travelers. We took the Tube from Green Park to Waterloo which also has connections to the Railway Station. Very nicely laid out and easy access with escalators and not steep stairways.
At the Waterloo rail station! And like Grand Central station in NYC, there are a lot of platforms. We found our platform pretty quickly and were walking along passing multiple cars that were dark and locked up. There was a guy with a flag 50 meters from us waving and blowing his whistle. When we finally made it to an open car, about 15 seconds after that, the wheels were rolling. We didn’t realize that the guy was whistling AT us to hurry up. We figured out later that the empty passenger cars we passed on the platform were being pre-staged for other trains, not ours. It was lightly loaded. One of the things we noted is they do not post any “Exit” signs, only a “Way Out.”
The trip from London to Basingstoke took about 1:30 and 45 minutes to return because of very few stops at that time of day. I didn’t see any Platform 9 3/4 anywhere LOL! Below are some pictures of the Waterloo station and railway.
Waterloo Station 
Automated ticket station 
More than 1 choice here! 
Lots of rail lines! 
Return platform coming back 
This is the railway we used 
Three traveler’s 
British Rail humor
London, England
Buckingham Palace
It was a lovely day for a walk to Buckingham Palace, and Nick took us from the Green Park Tube station (on Piccadilly (A4) along the pathway of Green Park, which is a lovely park. The Green Park is one of London’s eight Royal Parks and covers an area of just over 40 acres. Then we cut across on another pathway to Buckingham Palace. (See the map above).
Buckingham Palace is the London residence and administrative headquarters of the monarch of the United Kingdom. Located in the City of Westminster, the palace is often at the center of state occasions and royal hospitality. It has been a focal point for the British people at times of national rejoicing and mourning.
Carolyn & Penny at Buckingham Palace 
Buckingham Palace Gates
Penny and Carolyn had a great time walking around the front of the Palace.
Big Ben
Sadly, one of the things we wanted to see was Big Ben. But when we arrived in Westminster, we found that Big Ben won’t be seen until 2020 due to reconstruction. Sad, but true. Maybe next trip!
Carnaby Street
In 1969 I visited Carnaby Street when I was stationed in Germany. It was a vibrant street, bustling with activity. After all, the Beatles shopped there, why couldn’t I? After Carolyn and Nick had left for their home, Pen and I started venturing out to places we wanted to see. What I remember from 1969 and what I saw, were 2 different worlds apart. The only thing that the 2 visits had in common was the street name. But it was a fun trip, and we walked up and down both sides of the street and saw some of the ugliest shoes in the known world!
Convent Garden Market
Convent Market Garden was a fascinating place, indeed! If those of a certain age remember the movie “My Fair Lady” and is where the flower market scenes were filmed. The inside area of the Market area is filled with many small shops, bars, entertainment and a larger seating area in the center. Since the Garden was in the theater district, they have local musical artists perform, and the two that we saw were very good. We enjoyed the music, wine and each other. Two of the funnier things I noted were “2theloo” and the East India Company. “2theloo” are pay toilets! 1£ ($1.33) to use them. Bring change! And the East India Company sign came to mind because I saw it in the “Pirates of the Carribean” movies, but it was East India Trading Company. No idea if they are the same company.
Diana’s Memorial Garden Walk
Need to fill out
10 Downing Street
This is the world famous 10 Downing Street. Multiple layers of security.
Green Park
Hard Rock Cafe
One of the many memorable lunches we had was at the very first-ever Hard Rock Cafe! And actually, our server had been there since the restaurant had opened some 39 years ago. Burgers, fries, a beer, and a diet coke: 40£. But to us, we were making priceless memories! Her smile says it all!
Harrods
Dale Chihuly – Art
Dale Chihuly
Dale Chihuly
Dale Chihuly
Nice Chandelier! 
Until we saw the price! 
Nice Chess Board 
$32,500+Tx
We took a couple hours off at decided to go looking for a store called a Harrods. With a little Navigation and using the Tube to our advantage, we found the store quickly, but we were totally unprepared for what we were about to see. When we walked through the doors, it looked like we had stepped into ancient Egypt. Even by Las Vegas standards, this place was really a step ahead of everybody else. While we were wandering around in the store with all the Super Brands, we thought sure we can go see what was in that part of the store. We saw a small probably a 30 by a 40-foot little nook that had Dale Chihuly glass and artist original artwork. 25,000£ for each piece of his glass work was average. Walking on down the Hall I spotted a beautiful chess table, and it was really well done, workmanship wise, for 24,500£. I walked into the men’s fragrances Department which was large and staffed by a lot of fragrance specialists. The first sample that I was handed smelled like a cleaning fluid! I quickly left the Department thinking to myself I wonder if they got anything with a ship on it. I think the only thing we purchased there were some Christmas ornaments and some London mementos that were way overpriced.
House of Parliament
Hyde Park
Kingsman Shops
If the Kingsman clothing shop sounds familiar, it is because you might have seen either of the Kingsman movies! Although the shop was closed when we visited, Mr. Pickle (the dog) was there on the back wall, along with all of the clothes that were used/featured in the movie. The Kingsman shop will custom make for you, any of the clothes in the movie, starting around 2500£.
London Coliseum
London Night Tour
Picadilly Circus
Savile Row
Yeah, the Savile Row! Quite literally, everything is hand cut and sewn at these shops! And you can be assured that it will fit perfectly!
St. James Square
Supreme Court
Household Calvary
The Shard
Our 1st Black Cab ride in London 
Tower Bridge
Tower of London
Trafalgar Square
Street Art 
