England and Beyond

Ilkley was a Roman Fort built about 600 AD. Years later the Parish was built from those old stones. We saw many Roman ruins around the town, like this headstone in the cemetery, and three treasured beautiful stones that were moved into the Parish to preserve them. Don't let the sunshine fool you, thanks to thermals we stayed warm and comfortable, it was just a damp cold that we hadn't experienced.

These Roman stones dated 628 AD and are located next to the Ilkley Parish.



Grant is standing by the headstone of Robert Atkinson. It was covered with leaves and vines, and we were just about to give up the search when the next stone we uncovered was his. We also found the head stone of Abraham Atkinson and the pew of Watkinson inside the Ilkley Parish. Maybe to distinguish between two brothers that were named Robert and William, one was called Watkinson...and the other Atkinson just a thought.

Two days later we took the train to Ilkley where the Atkinson family was from and happened to visit on the night of the installation of the new Vicar of the Ilkley Parish. We were invited to attend and found it very interesting to once again sit in a church where our ancestors worshiped.

Clive and Pam Meredith took us to the grave of John Child Meredith and his wife Ellen Rose Meredith. The top of their headstone is missing, it was the statue of Liberty. The cemetery has been close for some time and is in need of care and attention. John's aunts, Hannah, Ellen and Eleanor Meredith are also buried here, they never married.

The is called the Bull Ring and is located next to the St. Martin Parish...it is where the cattle were brought into town for slaughter and has been renovated into a modern open air shopping street.

Sunday we rode the train to Birmingham where we met with our distant cousins Clive and Pam Meredith who graciously showed us family sites around the area. Clive reminded me of my father and his brother uncle Art, in fact Clive looked liked a lot like them. Riding trains in England is easy and we didn't have to keep saying to ourselves, drive on the left, stay on the left, turn on the left. We just enjoyed the beautiful scenery.

Notice the scaffolding on the left of the London Temple, it is being prepared for Angle Moroni. The morning of our meeting the new Visitor Center was dedicated, watch for the information in the Church News.

We met at the London Temple with 17 therapists who are excited to join the mental health group council program, for members, that we help to administer from Frankfurt. We were so impressed with the number of dedicated people who work with priesthood leaders helping to resolve serious personal issues.

This is a picture of Parliament and the Big Ben Tower, we just happened to ask a girl from Utah to take our picture who was a member of the church.

Grant is standing next to a guard at a complex called the Tower of London. It has quite a violent history and the tower they are standing by is called the bloody Tower. Located in the next building were the crown jewels, what a fabulous display of gold and precious jewels in crowns, swords and staffs.



We had the opportunity of a life time visiting England and the surrounding areas. On Friday we flew from Germany to London and stayed there for two nights. Then in the evening we met with the couple who runs the addiction recovery program which is very successful in England. They gave us great advice as we anticipate the German translation to be released this month. We gleaned everything we could about their program. We are now visiting Stake Pres. in Germany at their request to inform them about the program.

This is Tower Bridge, we rode the elevator to the top of the tower then walked through the connection between the two towers and rode the elevator down. What a grand view of the city.


This big wheel is called the London Eye and takes 30 min. for one revolution. We just happened to be on top when all of a sudden fireworks started over the river Thames, for the Lord Mayor celebration. We have had several opportunities to share the gospel, this young man in the red jacket was one of them. He stayed close to us wanting to talk, we felt his desire to know more so we took his card and sent him this picture with more information about the church. When we got off the wheel we followed the crowed and found Piccadilly Circus which was decorated for Christmas and Traffalga Square.




The city of London was beautiful from the eye, as we got our bearings we were able to identify many famous areas and then walk to them. I was impressed with what we could see between our meetings as Welfare Missionaries. I am grateful for the beauties of the earth and the opportunity to see history and walk around in it.