Cocoa: the cure for all that ails us

I had mentioned to Lynne that I wouldn't mind going to Bournville, the location of the original Cadbury's factory. They have created a factory tour that is a hybrid of the Tillamook Cheese Factory and Disneyland, part informational and part entertainment. So my new fairy godmother booked us tickets that allowed entry at 10:10 on Saturday morning. Efficiency to the nth degree.

We were ten minutes late, but they still let us in.

Our senses were accosted by chocolate on all sides. We smelled chocolate, we saw chocolate, and, at the end, we tasted chocolate. 

And purple was the colour of the day.

The Cadbury business model is unique and interesting. The story begins in 1824 when a young Quaker named John Cadbury opened a store in Birmingham. He sold coffee, tea, drinking chocolate and cocoa. He hoped that his products might provide an alternative to alcohol. His products were of the highest quality and by 1842, he was selling 11 kinds of cocoa and 16 kinds of drinking chocolate.

He was joined in the business by his brother and soon they had a Royal Warrant to provide chocolate and cocoa to Queen Victoria. 

John's sons developed a product known as Cocoa Essence, the beginning of what we know as chocolate today. They soon outgrew their facilities and moved the factory to a larger one four miles south of Birmingham. The factory and area became known as Bournvillle and had easy access to canals and the railway. 

Cadbury treated its workers exceptionally well. Wages were high, working conditions good, and there were many perks like a swimming pool, pension schemes, and medical care. They built houses for the workers and Bournville became a model community. The company was a pioneer in many areas, not just chocolate. I could go on, but go here if you want to read more about Bournville and the many innovations that  Cadbury developed for its workers.

Speaking of cocoa.

We were, weren't we?

This old label says it all.

Cocoa is complete nutrition, will make you smart, healthy, and give you stamina.

Hilarious!

We rode in a little car through this. It was like It's a Small World, only with a slightly less annoying song. I never did catch the plot, but my grandkids think the pictures are cool.

We watched workers making molded chocolate by hand, which kind of explains the exorbitant price of the full-sized soccer balls. Fourteen pounds and 99p.

And there the little beauties are.

More Dairy Milk in one place than I have ever seen in my life.

Throughout the tour, several very nice workers gave us free chocolate bars.

Into my backpack they went.

One girl gave us extras.

Did I look hungry?

Then, when all was done, we got cups of liquid chocolate with a mix-in of our choice.

Cookie bits for me.

Mmmm.

We had a few minutes before we had to leave to meet the rest of the family for lunch, so we walked around Bournville a little and look what we found.

The Bournville carillon.

I didn't really understand what a carillon was before this. It is a musical instrument comprising a minimum of 23 bells that are played from a baton keyboard. The keyboard looks like the pedals of an organ and is played with the hands, not the fingers. The carillon was installed by George Cadbury in 1906 and now has 48 bells. Carillons are common in Europe but are a rarity in the British Isles. A Carillon School has been established nearby to train the next generation of musicians.

We caught the end of a recital. It made me wish we had been able to hear the whole thing. 

And Lynne bought me a wooden mushroom because Jeff was too cheap.

Thanks Lynne! I think of you every time I see it.

I had been waiting eagerly for lunch. Not because I was hungry (all that chocolate!) but because I was seeing my beloved aunties and uncle for the second time in 44 years.

The food was delicious, the company incomparable.

I have been starved of extended family for decades. I felt like I had been living in a desert and suddenly found an oasis. I sat and watched and listened and soaked in all of that aunty-and-uncle-ness.

We all went back to Lynne and Richard's house afterwards and told stories. 

Well, Uncle Fred and Richard watched the World Cup and Jeff looked up genealogies on my laptop as we talked. But I loved it and every time Aunty Marg started to pack up her bag and leave I said Oh please don't go - I'll eat you up - I love you so! Or something like that. So she stayed longer. 

Here I am, with Connie on the left and Marg on the right.

Uncle Fred on the left. Lovely Uncle Fred, who remembers me for my giggle.

Aunty Pat, who was married to my Mum's brother, joined the group and we had a good giggle.

This is just to prove that Jeff was there and that the aunties approved of him!

I wish we had allowed longer for the family visit.

And this, I am sad to say, is the end.

Then and Now

On Friday, we left Jan and Steve's house to visit my old neighbour on our way to Birmingham. 

Our first house was in Alvechurch, about thirty minutes from the city of Birmingham. It was a semi-detached house, meaning that two houses share a common wall but everything else is separate. 

This is me, over fifty years ago.

Here is the house today, barely changed. 

Two doors away lived my favourite non-related Aunty Enid and Uncle Ray. As Enid tells it, I loved to spend time at their house and I particularly loved my Uncle Ray.

Ray passed away ten years ago, but Enid still lives in her house, fighting the good fight. She told me that the shed Dad built is still in the back garden of the old house, so I leaned out of her upstairs bathroom window and stole a photo.

We took Enid to lunch at the Red Lion in the village. 

While she was getting ready to go, Jeff and I took a stroll up to the top of the road to look at the old canal.

For some reason, canals loom large in my memories of England. 

Perhaps it is because of this painting that my Uncle Eddy gave me. It is loosely based on the canal that runs at the top of the road. You can't see it, but he put our names on the barges.

I love this painting.

This is the same canal, looking in the opposite direction.

The canal system in the UK dates back to Roman times, when the waterways were used for irrigation. During the Industrial Revolution they were used for transportation, but were abandoned until recently when they became popular for recreation. Old canals are being reopened and new routes are under construction. Today, there are thousands of miles in the canal network of the UK and you can travel the whole country without ever leaving the water.

This map illustrates the network.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canals_of_the_United_Kingdom

Pardon my digression.

Back to lunch.

Enid told us stories about my Mum and Dad. She is as lovely as ever, if a little slower on her feet.

After lunch, we went for a little ride around the town and stopped at the old church.

Of course we did! Although I have a personal connection to this one, as I used to attend Sunday School here and also cut through the churchyard on the way to and from school.

As the story goes, Anne and I went to church for a while, but as our parents didn't attend, Anne used to cry for Mum. They eventually told Dad that I could attend but Anne would have to stay home.

This made my Dad really mad and he said neither of us would go.

I can just imagine his ire.

Papa Grizzly.

Locked up tight for the week, like most of the smaller churches.

We said our goodbye to Enid and drove to Birmingham to meet with my cousin, Lynne.

It was, at most, a 35-minute drive.

It took us about two hours.

Can we say Sue hates roundabouts?

When Anne and I were children, we adored our cousin Lynne and couldn't get enough of her. This was cut short by our emigration, of course, and I have only seen her once, just briefly, in the intervening years. So I was very excited to be able to spend some quality time with her.

This is a famous photo in our extended family. We call it "Hear all, see all, and say nowt".

Lynne is the one that isn't blonde!

We finally found her house and I was happy to relinquish all the driving to Lynne.

We went into the city and met up with Richard, her long-time partner.

They both work for a very well-known bank that is close to this old part of the city. 

The city of Birmingham has undergone a revival of late and is very hip and up-to-date.

This is the ground level of a big parking structure. How much fun is that?

One of the new buildings.

Lynne knows of my fascination with canals, so everyone indulged me and we walked along the canal before dinner.

It was Friday night and the pace was hopping. 

People everywhere, imbibing of relaxing beverages.

The unseasonably warm weather had brought them out in droves.

I can't figure out why more people don't end up in the canal before the end of the night.

This is The Mailbox, which used to be the Royal Mail sorting office for Birmingham City Centre. It was redeveloped and opened as a luxury mixed-use building in 1998. It houses hotels, businesses, retail, and residential facilities. And lots of restaurants that serve relaxing beverages!

Look closely and you will see that the geese are leading the barge.

Richard treated us to a very delicious dinner. 

We talked a lot.

And then we went home.

We talked some more.

And then we went to bed.

The Forest of Dean

Steve managed to get the day off work on Thursday so we went to the Forest of Dean in Gloucestershire.

I am unreasonably in love with that name. It sounds like something out of Monty Python, don't you think?

Forest of Dean.

Forest of Dean.

Anyway, we drove around the Cotswolds first, because the area is just a few minutes away from Jan and Steve's house and they thought it was worth a visit. 

It wasn't too long before I discovered that my camera hadn't charged up overnight. Something to do with husband unplugging the laptop in which it was charging.

Harrumph!

Steve kindly let me use his camera.

Thatched roofs have been enjoying a resurgence in the UK and there are around 1,000 full-time thatchers at work in the country. A good quality thatched roof will last for 45 to 50 years.

Jan had been telling us about the signature figures left on the rooftop by some thatchers and, sure enough, here is a shining example.

Ducks in a row, made of thatch.

And an owl.

It's interesting to drive around the countryside in England and see how the building stone differs from one area to another. The stone in the Littletons has a lot of grey tones in it.

Here is the famous Cotswold stone. This was a very grand house.

Here's something I'll bet you've never seen before.

Staddle stones.

The stone mushroom-y things that the barn is sitting on.

They were used as early as the 1700's as a supporting base for granaries, hayricks, game larders, etc. The shape of the stones protected the structures from vermin and water seepage. I think I need some of these stone beauties for my shed, which suffers sorely from both in our wet winters.

The Forest of Dean is the second largest Crown forest, meaning that it was designated a hunting area for monarchs. The practice was instigated in the 11th Century by the Normans. Remember William the Conqueror?

I don't think that royalty dare hunt here any more. 

Wild boar reside here, but we didn't see any. 

Lucky for the boar.

The first order of business was a picnic lunch.

You know it was!

I got a kick out of this couple  making themselves comfortable in the sunny clearing.

I love trees, so indulge me for a moment.

Ah, wasn't that nice?

Did I mention that it was a perfectly sunny day?

Here are Jan and Steve, consulting the map for the Sculpture Trail, on which we were about to embark.

Aren't they cute? I love their matching boots.

Jeff and I have never had matching boots. 

Never ever.

But we do have a couple of matching fleece jackets.

The sculpture Trail is four miles long. We took our time, scrutinizing the sculptures and offering our constructive criticism when necessary.

As in, That's stupid, it doesn't even mean anything.

Here are some of the sculptures that warranted a photo.

This giant chair is at the beginning of the trail. It is carved out of local logs.

This puts it in perspective.

The forest has a history of coal mining and many remnants of the industry remain. This sculpture is called The Iron Road and is carved from eucalyptus railway sleepers. Each log is carved with a unique theme, something essentially typical of the Forest of Dean, such as mining motifs. 

Many of the sculptures are hidden away and we would have missed them without a map and some sharp-eyed husbands. This was one of my favourites. A giant acorn cup and a pine cone. As they have aged, they have become covered in moss and lichens and blend into the woods.

This is The Observatory. 

It looks like it goes nowhere...

...but it overlooks this placid pond.

This. 

Is cool.

It is named Raw.

It was made from an oak tree that was almost 200 years old. The sculptor transformed the cut tree into a cube that used all of the pieces, from the largest to the smallest. The construction of the cube was a mathematical feat of gigantic proportion, much like the cube itself.

This was made from a mold of the dirt bank behind it. The reverse side is the negative image. We puzzled for some time over how such a feat was possible, because of all the angles and intricacies of the surface. It remains a mystery, because I have been unable to find any information on the sculpture.

Even though it was only four miles, we spent three hours at the Forest of Dean. We were tired as we wended our way back to the house. We made a couple of stops. First, I stocked up on chocolates to take home for presents. Then we picked up fish and chips for dinner.

And I felt sad because it was our last night with our friends.