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Sunday, May 10. We docked at Hawrich, Essex, England, at
7:00 a.m. It was mostly sunny and pleasant (high of 65). I was the first
passenger off the ship, ashore at 7:40. I was rushing to confirm the train
schedules for my trip to Halesworth, first known home of my Peck ancestors
(before 1500 A.D.). I
planned to go there alone to look around and take some pictures. I'd gotten the
train schedules from the Internet, but it always pays to double check. And it's a good thing I did. All the trains were canceled for the day (Sunday) to allow work on the rails. Buses were substituted, but all connections were chancy. The station master told me the trip to Halesworth might take several hours each way instead of the two hours the trains normally took. Well, so much for those plans! I rushed back to the excursions desk to try to book the "Roman Colchester" tour that Jane was taking. They told me it was sold out but that I could try going to the check-in point to see if anyone failed to show up. We did that and there were three last minute cancellations, so I got on the tour. The bus left at 9:30 for the 45 minute drive to Colchester. Colchester is the oldest recorded Roman town in the British Isles. It was the capital of Roman Britain until 61 A.D. when it was destroyed, along with London and other Roman settlements, during the rebellion led by Queen Boudica.
Our bus drove through the center of town and continued on to
Colchester Castle. We saw remnants of the old Roman walls along the way, but the
Castle itself is not Roman. It was built by the Normans about 1069, partially on
the foundation of the Temple of Claudius (44 A.D.). No one is sure what either
the Temple or the Castle originally looked like. Because there is very little
natural stone in the area, both the Roman walls and the castle have been
used as a quarry for other construction.
We had an interesting tour through the Castle, which is now a museum focusing primarily on the Roman era. Along with some original artifacts, there were many replicas and representations, including a model of the Temple of Claudius as it might have looked.
Exiting the Castle, we had a few minutes before the group reassembled, so we walked to a nearby coffee shop and each had a latte. Then we joined the group for a walk to the garden (now a park) behind the Castle. From there our guide led us through the Dutch Quarter, so named for the cloth weavers imported from the Netherlands (16th century) when the English coveted their skills. Although old, most of the homes were so well maintained that they looked quite modern. Among the houses was the one-time home of Jane Parker, who wrote "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star."
We continued our walking tour to High Street, the main drag, then were turned loose for half an hour of exploring. Of course, I had to get a shot of Jane in front of The Slug and Lettuce. Our bus was still parked near Colchester Castle so, on our way there, we spent some of our free time exploring Castle Park
The bus left at 12:45 and we were back to ship at 1:30. There was such a long line to board (half an hour and growing by the minute) that it discouraged us from going walking in Harwich later as we had planned. At 8:00 we went to a performance by Preston Cole, a singer with a big voice. He sang everything from country to opera. The ship sailed at 10:00, two hours late because some of the tours were delayed because they had to take a bus instead of the train.
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