"... Being thus arrived in a good harbour, and brought safe to land, they fell upon their knees and blessed the God of heaven who had brought them over the vast and furious ocean, again to set their feet on the firm and stable earth..."…Read More

"... Being thus arrived in a good harbour, and brought safe to land, they fell upon their knees and blessed the God of heaven who had brought them over the vast and furious ocean, again to set their feet on the firm and stable earth..." It is with these words that William Bradford described the arrival in New England of the daring group of English colonists known as the Pilgrims.

I have spoken with the Pilgrims and heard their stories – well as good as! In the recreated Pilgrim Village of Plimoth Plantation in Plymouth, Massachusetts, each day represents that day in the year 1627. Skilled actors play the part of the Pilgrims. They speak with 17th-century dialects and having knowledge only of their own time they can discuss nothing of events since.

Taking a seat by the crackling log fire lighting up the dim recesses in the single roomed clapboard house of a Pilgrim from the Isle of Man, I stepped back into the 17th Century. I could understand why the Pilgrims seeking religious freedom and preservation of their culture sought new shores but the scheme still seemed insane. I wanted to know why they should have been so foolhardy to begin an Atlantic crossing in early winter in 1620 in the Mayflower, a ship that had only made the short crossings to Holland. It turned out that they had two ships but the other, the Speedwell, was partly rotten so they had to turn back several times. Abandoning Speedwell at Plymouth, England its passengers joined those on the already crowded Mayflower. When they left it was September 6 and winter was fast approaching.

I then asked why they missed their intended destination, the mouth of the Hudson River, by hundreds of miles. 'Would thou have done better?' I meekly replied, 'I suppose not.' The true answer was 'Yes' but if I had tried to explain GPS navigation I would have seemed insane to this 17th century gent.

Wandering down the roughly laid out street and into some of the crudely furnished houses, I watched the Pilgrims at work. I learned what a pottage is and saw a bluefish cooking on the hearth, cows milked and houses under construction. Depending on the season, they may plant a garden, hoe cornfields, or bring the harvest in and store it. Each day in the Village is different and each colonist is an individual whose conversation applies to his circumstances. One appeared to be a reformed alcoholic who had come from a settlement further south and had little interest in the Bible.

The Pilgrims settled in an area cleared of trees by the Pokanoket Indians. Unknown to the settlers, the Indians on the site had all died of plague. However if it hadn’t been for other Pokanokets living nearby and the Mayflower delaying its departure until April all the settlers would have perished during that first winter of a sickness – half did. Judging by the freezing gale blowing in off the sea when I was there, the temperature in their temporary turf built huts couldn’t have helped.

The site also contained a recreated Pokanoket camp of the period. Fascinated I watched the burning out of a log into a canoe. Entering one of their houses I found it to be on a par with the Pilgrims’ homes - apart from only having a hole in the roof to allow smoke from the log fire to escape.

Mayflower II (a reproduction of the 17th-century vessel) was available for inspection at the harbour in Plymouth. Unfortunately time was of the essence so I didn’t have time to explore it but visitors learn about the Pilgrims' ocean crossing. I have been on a recreated Golden Hind, Sir Francis Drake’s ship, so I could imagine the head cracking cramped conditions aboard.

While we dug around Plymouth for my father’s relatives, we had to slip down the coast to Sandwich, to find my mother’s. Sandwich was one of the early settlements and it has the picture postcard beauty of small town New England. There is…Read More

While we dug around Plymouth for my father’s relatives, we had to slip down the coast to Sandwich, to find my mother’s. Sandwich was one of the early settlements and it has the picture postcard beauty of small town New England. There is the requisite white-spired church, the green common, the white colonial homes surrounded by incredibly green lawns and ancient shade trees.

We were looking for the grave of Ezra Perry who had been buried here in 1689, so our goal was the Old Town Cemetery, behind the Town Hall. It sits on a grassy knoll along the edge of the Shawme Pond, which feeds water to the old mill that had been grinding flour when Ezra was here. It is still a working mill and for a small fee you can visit inside.

With a little help from the locals, we found the right area to search in, but had little luck. We did find reconstructed grave stones of his in-laws, the Burgesses, and a beautiful old lichen covered stone that simply said 'Elizabeth Perry' which may have been his mother or his daughter, both Elizabeths, or someone much later.

Although we didn't find what we were looking for, we did have a marvelous afternoon wandering around town. You can pick up a Walking Guide to the town just about anywhere. There is also a little trolley to help you get around. We didn't spend the night here, but there are a slew of bed and breakfast establishments that looked charming along with several restaurants.    Close

The Puritans or Pilgrims were a religious group persecuted for their beliefs by England's King James I in the early 17th century. The Puritans dressed plainly and simply; women weren't to show their cleavage or ankles. By the 1610s, persecution of the Puritans…Read More

The Puritans or Pilgrims were a religious group persecuted for their beliefs by England's King James I in the early 17th century.

The Puritans dressed plainly and simply; women weren't to show their cleavage or ankles.

By the 1610s, persecution of the Puritans in England had worsened, and they decided to emigrate from England. They fled first to The Netherlands, where they had some religious freedom, but it was not a place that they could call their own.

So in 1620, a group of Puritans led by Miles Standish et al boarded the famous Mayflower ship and headed for the colonies. They landed at Plymouth, Massachusetts and decided to make it their home. The Puritans endured a horrible winter in 1620-1621, frought with starvation, disease, and death.

As the famous story goes, Native Americans Squanto and Massassoit went to the Puritans' village and offered to them help with their agriculture and home building. Then, in the fall of 1621, a big feast was held to honor their first successful harvest and to thank the Natives for saving them. Thus, the first Thanksgiving was born, a holiday that we have celebrated for centuries.

The female form distracts nearly half the population, and it's no wonder. I've seen art all over the world but have never known a city celebrate its curves as much. Beryl Cook is renowned for her fat, frisky ladies. Tipsy nights are celebrated with joyful…Read More

The female form distracts nearly half the population, and it's no wonder. I've seen art all over the world but have never known a city celebrate its curves as much. Beryl Cook is renowned for her fat, frisky ladies. Tipsy nights are celebrated with joyful abandonment. The strippers, the taxis, the cheeky pinch of a bum... all are affectionately captured on canvas. Robert Lenkiewicz paints a women with more finesse. Renowned for his intimate portraits, Lenkiewicz's women reach out with deep passion. His subjects are portrayed with character and history, their eyes hiding a story that the voyeur longs to hear. Both artists are prevalent in the Barbican, with galleries and street art celebrating their work. Spend a day browsing and your mind will journey through and relive the experiences of our subjects.   Close

It's a cold, drizzly day, wind whipping round your ankles and stinging your face, so the last thing you want to do is go for a walk. The thing about a Plymouth winter is that it's rarely that cold. It's rarely that sunny in the…Read More

It's a cold, drizzly day, wind whipping round your ankles and stinging your face, so the last thing you want to do is go for a walk. The thing about a Plymouth winter is that it's rarely that cold. It's rarely that sunny in the summer, anyway. Why not take a brisk (trust me, it will be brisk) walk on the Hoe, look at the waves crashing to shore, laugh at the seagulls as they try to fly straight, and feel naughty eating ice cream when you shouldn't. The kids will think you're crazy but are guaranteed not to turn down ice cream. You could justify it as keeping that bored teenager who's serving company as a reason to be there. Celebrate the fact that there's no queue! If that's not enough, look forward to getting home, putting on your biggest jumper, and having a hot mug of tea.   Close

We took our kids to Plymouth, MA, last year to experience the real history of the Thanksgiving Pilgrims. It was a great experience for all of us, and I recommend it as a true Thanksgiving destination. The Mayflower is replicated in the sea-worthy…Read More

We took our kids to Plymouth, MA, last year to experience the real history of the Thanksgiving Pilgrims. It was a great experience for all of us, and I recommend it as a true Thanksgiving destination. The Mayflower is replicated in the sea-worthy Mayflower II - which startled us at how really small the pilgrim's ship was. The Plimoth Plantation, a living history museum with costumed role-playing guides, was a thrill - really put you back in the 1620s. All this, to say nothing of the kids now being able to tell their classmates that they had seen the Real Plymouth Rock! In order to make this Thanksgiving still part of our family traditions, we rented a timeshare (from http://www.redweek.com) that was on Cape Cod - only 30 minutes from Plymouth. Using its fully-equipped kitchen we were still able to cook our family's traditional turkey dinner. And walked it off with a wonderful stroll along the beach!    Close