PEAR TREE LOG

pear tree log: I started this blog to keep my younger son, Jonny, in touch with life in Lincolnshire, while he spent a year working in China. That year turned into five! Now he is home and training to become a physics teacher. This is simply a patchwork quilt of some of the things I enjoy - life in rural Lincolnshire, our animals, friends, architecture, books, the gardens, and things of passing interest.



Sunday, 3 June 2012

Alford, Links to America

Our nearest market town is very small and often very sleepy, but it is packed with history;  it used to be a centre for smuggling sheep wool!    I have teased out a couple links to America, which I hope you will enjoy.
The road which I take to town leads us in past the very fine five-sailed windmill which was built in 1837.    It is a working mill with a tea-room alongside, which sells cakes and scones made with their freshly ground flours.


St Wilfrid's Church, which I'll post about separately, is over 650 years old.  The room over the south porch (where the flags are) is the Parvis room, which was used as the first grammar school, in the town, during Elizabethan times.

In 2007 there were celebrations to remember John Smith, the explorer,  a  former pupil of the school.  He was saved from death by Pocahontas!
John Smith became Virginia's first Governor.

The road sweeps around the church and we come to a fork - the right hand road leads to the Manor House and on out of town, we'll take the left hand road into the small market square.


This is, without doubt, George's favourite shop.  It is a good old fashioned establishment which sells all those essentials like screws, nails, bolts, door handles, fork handles, candles, cookware and kettles.

You can see that they have trimmed the place, to celebrate the Queen's Diamond Jubilee, with bunting and balloons.


There are cute little alleyways with useful businesses, like the fish and chip shop and the laundrette.

The market square is very small, when there isn't a market being held it is used for car parking.

Writing this post has taught me another lesson... I am, yet again, found guilty of judging a book by its cover, or in this case a building by its facade.

To the left of this photograph you can see part of The Windmill Hotel.  My eye has always skimmed over it, simply because of the enormous lettering proclaiming "The Windmill Family & Commercial Hotel".  It has always looked seedy and down at heel to me.

However, upon doing my research I discover that it has a fascinating history.  The present building dates from the late 18th century, although there has been an inn on the site for much longer.  In the 18th century it not only offered accommodation to travellers and families, but it was the civic centre for the town and held the Magistrates Court.

Thomas Paine worked as an excise officer in what is now room 105,  the Bridal Suite... the bay window on the first floor of the lemon coloured building to the left of the photograph.  Paine emigrated to America in 1774 and became an influential writer (Common Sense)  and became good friends with Benjamin Franklin and George Washington.   He later wrote "The Rights of Man" and "The Age of Reason", both of which are still published today.

Another link is Anne Hutchinson, born in Alford in 1591.  Her husband Will, was a tailor in the market place;  they had 14 children.  The Hutchinson family sailed to America in 1634 with their 11 surviving children.   Deeply religious,  Anne became one of America's first women preachers.  In 1643 the settlement where Anne lived was attacked by Indians and Anne and six of her children were killed.  Her daughter Susanna aged 9 was captured and held for 4 years, but was eventually returned.
This is a little snap showing just the tiniest bit of Alford Manor House which is believed to be the largest thatched manor house in England.  It was built in 1611 in a traditional H shape.  It has the bunting out to celebrate the Jubilee, the tents are there because the well regarded Craft Market is also being held this weekend.
The shops have put on special little window displays - but other than a few stretches of bunting, Alford Town hasn't really done much to dress the town for the celebrations.


This is a window of one of the antique shops - the rooms and spaces are rented to individual dealers. and I think this dealer has been squirrelling suitable items away for this occasion.  It looks lovely.






This road leads out, past the thatched houses which I showed you a few days ago.  The town may look quiet - but that is because these photos were taken at about 6am on Saturday morning,  I wanted to beat the traffic so you could see the buildings.


32 comments:

  1. What a beautiful little town WHen I was 14, my aunt and uncle took me to the Hellfire Caves and I learned about Ben Franklin's activities in ENgland! :)

    Love the windmill.

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    1. Hi Knatolee, My goodness, that must have been an interesting visit - remarkable to think how they were constructed. The windmill is beautiful, their flour is pretty good too.

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  2. You just gave the best history lesson I've ever had (I minored in American history)! Such an interesting village Alford is and I've put it on my list of places to visits...before I die:-)

    Wish we had a thatched roof! Love you, Susan

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    1. Hello Susan, I'm so delighted that you enjoyed the mini tour of Alford. I enjoy shopping there because I can so easily imagine the people of old bustling around, in and out of shops, stopping for a gossip with friends. On my next visit I am going to pay close attention to The Windmill Hotel, give it the respect it deserves.X

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  3. Hi Elaine,

    Just love that photo of the windmill and love hearing about all the old history of Alford-so very, very interesting indeed!!

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    1. Hello Green Dragonette,

      It really is a lovely windmill, I love to see it working. Alford is a small town and shopping there is like going back in time by perhaps 40 or 50 years!

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  4. Oh, Elaine....you have, once again, outdone yourself. It is a wonderful post giving me a glimpe in your life. I like the way you tied American stories with the past history of Alford. I would love to hear more about the Jubilee Celebration.

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    1. Hello Meggie, I really hoped you would enjoy the connections. I must admit I was surprised to find such interesting ones. The Jubilee Celebrations are going splendidly, there was a wonderful flotilla of vessels, including the Royal Barge, which sailed down the River Thames today. Despite the dreadful weather it was spectacular and very moving.

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  5. Thanks for sharing. That window reflection is a great shot.

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    1. Hello Amy, I'm so glad you enjoyed that shot - at first I didn't know whether to include it, but then I decided it was quite fun.

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  6. That was a fun and fascinating tour. Lovely village.

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    1. Hello SAS, I am so pleased you enjoyed the tour. It is a very old fashioned place but we have grown rather fond of it over the years.

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  7. Enjoyed the little tour around Alford and the link with John Smith - how interesting.

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    1. Hello Molly, It was difficult to choose which bits of history to post about, I'm glad you enjoyed it.

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  8. Sounds like an interesting place steeped in history. The John Smith link was very interesting. My husband would also love the handyman shop :) x

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    1. Hello Cheryl, The handyman shop is one of those old-fashioned places which sells practically everything, much nicer than the big DIY shops!

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  9. Most of us are guilty of walking around with hour eyes firmly shut. How differently we might think of where we live if we knew the history.
    Jane x

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    1. Hello Jane, ..you are so right, and I have only scratched the surface of Alford!

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  10. Wow, you have done it again! What a charming tour of your local haunts and historical connections too. I love all the photos of the streets and alleys. My daughter, Brenda and I toured England in 2003 so I forward your "tours" to her to enjoy along with me. I'm wondering why it would have been necessary to smuggle wool at one time?

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    1. Hello Ms Sparrow, I must admit that smuggling wool does seem odd but I think it was a response to market demand and the restrictions of the law and taxes which were imposed. Alford is only a few miles from the coast so it wouldn't have been too difficult to arrange. I'm so pleased you enjoyed looking around our little town!

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  11. How kind of you to get up so early to take these photos! Very interesting.

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    1. Hello LBM, It was difficult, I suffer for my blog...and have a great time doing it!

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  12. Cute little village, I'd sure love to transport some of them to washington. They'd look very in place on our Woodby island close to us.

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    1. Hello Linda, It is a very nice little town, I'm sure you would love it!

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  13. How very interesting. My own old-school is not that far from you, in Ely. One of our old boys, Cap't Thomas Willet, became the very first Mayor of New York. It seems that the US attracted quite a number of locals.

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    1. Hello Cro, My goodness, we were practically neighbours! It is amazing, a little bit of research produces so many interesting snippets - all fascinating stuff.

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  14. Every time I read your posts I think how much I would like to see your patch of England with my own two eyes. That is not likely. Thank you for letting me be in England through your eyes.

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    1. Hello Pauline, I'm so pleased you are enjoying my mini-tours! I love my corner of England and I am more than happy to look around for things which I hope you will enjoy.

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  15. Lovely post and photo tour. I have been to your picturesque little town and actually had scones for our tea purchased at the windmill. Alas this was many years ago and I now live in America, but so enjoy being reminded of my passed life, wonderful Blog.
    Thank you

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    1. Hello Doc, How wonderful! I am really pleased to have been able to show you somewhere you have visited - as you can see, it hasn't changed very much! Thank you for your kind words about my blog, I really enjoy doing the posts.

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  16. I LOVE Alford! What a beautiful little town! It would be so wonderful to visit. I love all the links to America. So fascinating! And what a gorgeous windmill!

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  17. Hello Marie, I am so happy that you enjoyed the tour around Alford, it is a very quaint little place. I'm sure there must be lots more links, I'll investigate one day!

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