Family

Saturday
We arrived at Manchester airport this morning at the beginning of our three week visit. We flew with American Airlines via Chicago, where we met up with Jen, who had flown from Houston. Jason was unable to join us as he still has another week of class and then grading to do. We are staying with Roger's youngest sister Janet and her husband John - Roger's Mum finds the extra numbers too stressful nowadays - and they both live on the same street so it's no big deal. After lunch we went for a walk from their house. At the back of their house is an extensive area of open land, part of the Pewterspear Green Trust of southern Warrington, which was established for the purpose of acquiring and then maintaining in perpetuity an area of open parkland. A network of paths weave through grassy areas and woodland and through avenues of trees and past occasional sculptures based on a Roman theme, since the route of King Street (possibly given this name in the Middle Ages) bisects the western part of the site. This former Roman Road ran from the settlement at Wilderspool, in Warrington south to Newcastle under Lyme. The paths also link up with the Dingle and Ford's Rough of Lumb Brook Valley, which was where we went today. Janet and John had been to this area about a week or so ago and the woods were carpeted with bluebells. There were still some left, but they were certainly past their best.

One year ago: Downtown Atlanta from I-75