Another Pilgrimage to Letheringsett & More Good Luck!

It seems that every Sunday since I first arrived, I have made the pilgrimage to Letheringsett and come across real treasure.  On my first pilgrimage, it was meeting long-time Letheringsett resident, David Mayes and his wife.  On my second trip, it was connecting with Michael and Susan Whelan and discovering the 1890s photo of my great uncle, Robert Moore.  Last week it was making the pilgrimage up the lane to Stephen Moore’s pithole and, just by chance, walking over to the Strawberry pit hole to get a good idea of what a pit hole might look like.  Not wanting to break my good luck, I caught the 9:45 train up to Holt station. 

In England, old passenger coaches never die.  They end up as garden sheds, garages, or cottages.  As passenger coaches were being replaced, you could buy a passenger coach (without the wheels) for £10-£20, including delivery.  All over England there are hundreds of these old passenger coaches which are of major interest to the steam preservation movement.  The heritage part of the North Norfolk Railway had one of these old coaches delivered to Holt Station.  It is to be incorporated into their new “education centre” at Holt Station.   I was amazed at the excellent condition of this old 1900’s Great Eastern Railway wooden passenger coach. 

I then walked the 2.5 miles through Holt and down to Letheringsett just in time to join the parishoners of St Andrew’s Church of England for tea after their morning service.  I was warmly greeted and ultimately introduced to Jane Jones and Ann Thomson, the church wardens.  The wardens are the keepers of the church records and they are quite knowledgeable as to what was in their care.  Just the week before, Jane had been looking at burial records.  My specific interest was in a list or a map of the graves in the churchyard so that I could locate the graves of Stephen and Sarah Moore (nee Page), Matthew Moore, and their children who had died as youngsters..  I had a long conversation with Jane on the parish records and she promised to look into the records and to contact me later on.  

Talk about stumbling onto things, eh!?

Afterwards, it was a trip around the corner to the King’s Head to write up the first part of this blog, a pint of cider and some fish and chips. 

After lunch, I trekked back down Blakeney Road trying to find the small graveyard located across from the houses where my great-great-great grandmother used to live in 1822.  Most of the headstones were relatively “recent”.  So it was back up to the village and over to Letheringsett Hall. 

Two weeks before, David Mayes had given me a circa-1890 photo of my great-great uncle, Robert Moore, the coachman, with Lady Sarah Cozens-Hardy and her grand-daughter, Ethel Colman, in the coach.  I wanted to take a photo to see how much things had changed in 120 years. 

 Except for the mode of transportation, not much, eh.?

Letheringsett Hall, manor of the Cozens-Hardy family, is now a seniors residence.  I had asked one of the staff for permission to take my photos.  “How would you like to meet the grand-daughter of the Lady Cozens Hardy who is in your photo?”, the staff person asked.  So in we walked to meet Berryl Cozens-Hardy who is 98 years old.  Notwithstanding that she is very deaf and quite blind, her mind is very, very sharp.  We had quite the conversation, particularly when I saw that she had the same photo of Robert Moore that I had hanging up on her wall!

After 20 minutes of conversation it was time to head back to Holt Station and catch the train back to Sheringham.  Once again my favourite, GWR 0-6-2T #5619 was on the head end of the train. 

 I got off at Weybourne, the mid point, to rest my feet.  No sooner had #5619 left than Ivor the Engine came up from Sheringham.  That’s John Gorton in the photo.  John runs the M&GN Society book shop on the weekends.

Arriving back in Sheringham, it was a slow walk down Station Road to The Lobster for some sea bass, new potatoes, stir-fry vegetables, and a glass of cold cider. 

Tomorrow we’re off to York via Peterborough to visit the National Railway Museum and a trip to Knaresborough where my Grandmother Moore (a Taylor) came from.