1 August - Olympics Football at Cardiff Millenium Stadium

1 August - Olympics Football at Cardiff

Today we went sightseeing in the morning and to the shops.

Then we drove to Cardiff in Wales for the Olympics football at Cardiff Millenium Stadium. It took about 3 hours to get there.

Cardiff is the capital city of Wales. Millenium Stadium is one of the greatest stadiums in the world and is famous for hosting major rugby test matches including Wallaby vs Wales matches.

We parked close to the stadium and walked down through the main old town past the famous castle through packed streets, all festive with the olympics stuff. People were chanting and singing and there were heaps of banners and colours.

We had tickets for a double header mens football qualifier. We were extremely lucky as we had drawn Mexico vs Switzerland and Great Britain vs Uruguay, four of the best teams in the tournament. And to get Great Britain and experience the crowd of 70,000 people in a packed Millenium Stadium was unbelievable. The stadium was about two thirds full for the first game then jam packed for the second game with the local team Great Britain in it.

Mexico won the first game 1-0 and then GB won the second game 1-0. It was incredible especially the second game with all the GB fans going off throughout the match. We had great seats high up so we could see all the action. The stadium roof remained open during the match.

We drove home and got there about midnight after a great first olympic experience.

The Creber Girls xxx

31 July Creber Ancestors in County Devon

31 July – Creber Clan in Devon County and Tracing Some Ancestors (Dad helped a lot drafting this one with us)

Today we were up early and off in the car from Old Alcombe Minehead at about 9.30am. We explored county Devon including the Dartmoor wilderness area and towns and villages such as Tavistock and Exeter. We saw incredible landscape including rolling and endless hills and moors, rocky hilltops (tors), forests, narrow one and two lane roads with tall vertical hedges along the edges, some with forest canopies over forming green road tunnels. There were babbling brooks and misty valleys and often eerie rays of sunshine piercing through grey cloud. Mostly the rolling hills were a patchwork of lush greens and light browns with pockets of forest and little villages and farmhouses dotted through.

Many cottages and farmhouses had thatched rooves. Most had pale wall colours white or cream with black trims. Some, particularly farm outbuildings, were brick in various state of disrepair.

The rolling hills and valleys were mostly divided into smallish rectangular farm paddocks divided by dark green hedges or overgrown rock walls for as far as the eye could see. Typical English Somerset and Devon country. We saw heaps of cows, goats, sheep, horses and ponies including in Dartmoor where through the open wilderness moor areas there were no farm fences. Animals, mostly goats and sheep were sometimes on the road. It wasn’t blue sky and sunny – in some ways that was disappointing but in other ways we appreciated the typical English south west weather.

We had a great time exploring. We had morning tea of scones and tea and juices, a nice lunch and a big dinner at Fishermans Ale (near Postbridge) of local fish (cod) and chips and dad had bangers and mash. When we arrived at Fishermans Ale there we saw a man trout fishing and within five minutes of watching him he pulled in a big trout. He caught 2 more throw backs after that.  

But our main aim for the day was to find some Creber heritage. Our Aunty Coral and Uncle Ron had researched the Creber family tree back in the 1990s and had traced and confirmed the Creber ancestry generation by generation back to the early 1600s. They had given dad a copy of the part of the family tree they had traced. There were many generations between the 1600s and the 1900s - nearly all from the Devon region, mostly Walkhampton and Sheepstor and Tavistock, a group of villages within 10km of each other on the south west side of the Dartmoor area in Devon county. Creber names included Johns, Richards, James, Jacob, Roberts, Henrys and on the female side Margaret, Ann, Agnus, Betty, Elizabeths, and Marys.   

Also dad had done some research which confirmed Crebers in these places and suggested that there were Crebers buried in cemeteries in the area. He also had information from one keen Creber historian that said that our name had been traced back to Norman times with a common ancestor called William de Creubere. The information indicated that the Crebers originated from the Devon area and that William de Creubere was granted lands in the Tavistock region by King Henry III in the 12th century. The meaning of the name is thought to be either crow hill or crow woodland. (He also read that Crebers were on the very first free settler ship from England to Australia in the 1800s).

Armed with that info, we were determined to find some Crebers today.

First we went to Tavistock where we found a large thriving village, interestingly from which Sir Francis Drake had come from in the late 1500s. There was a thriving main street and really lovely markets selling heaps of produce and clothing and jewellery. We cruised the streets and shopped in the markets for a while and had Devonshire tea inc yummy scones with jam in a nice cafe.

Then we walked down the main street.

We found N H Creber Delicatessan. We couldn’t believe it. We went inside and found a whole lot of stuff branded with the Creber brand such as wines, cheeses, jams, hams…. We bought some Creber products. The deli was established about 130 years ago. Robert Creber the current owner was on holidays so we missed out speaking to him. Dad is going to Email him.

We thought about trolling the cemetery but there were two cemeteries in Tavistock and they were big ones so we decided to look elsewhere as we only had one day.

Then we went to Walkhampton a little village nearby. We drove through narrow lanes and up a hill to the really old church and there was a cemetery there. We parked next to the cemetery. Elodie and Holly were first out of the car. Immediately, the first headstone they saw right next to the car was that of Henry Creber from the 1700s. We couldn’t believe it. We walked into the cemetery and found about 20 to 30 other Crebers ranging from the early 1700s through the early 1800s.

We spoke to the gardener who said that there were Crebers still in the area and he spoke of 80 year old Ernie Creber who lived in Church View in Walkhampton. We went inside the church and two lovely old ladies gave us tea and soft drinks and shared our story with us. Unfortunately the man who was normally at the church was ill. The lady said he would have known every detail of the Creber history. But we were excited with our discoveries so far.

We moved on the Sheepstor where we found a really small village next to a National Park area next to a large water supply dam. Driving in, we saw lots of forest areas and walking tracks and lots of tourists trekking through the forests.

The village was called Sheepstor centuries ago we assumed because of the sheep farms surrounding a prominent rocky hilltop (Tor). Dad has read that documents record that the village dates back about a thousand years. We drove through the little village narrow streets with little cottages most with thatched rooves extending to the edge of the road.

We drove past a 2nd world war memorial (a stone column and base) which formed the centre of a roundabout in the village. As we slowly drove past dad saw the name of Private John Creber on the list of about 20 names on the memorial.

We drove again up a narrow lane to a really old 1500s church and an adjacent cemetery. Dad had been told by his Aunty that this was where her oldest documented tracings of the Crebers had come from. We were told there had been a church in some form or another on the site since the 1100s.

We walked through the iron gate toward the old stone church with cemetery both sides. The first headstone we saw was that of John Creber dating back to the 1700s. We searched some more and found about 20 more Creber headstones from the 1700s and 1800s. We walked inside the church and found a marble plaque up on the wall which commemorated the opening of the newly renovated church in 1861. It had John Creber’s name at the bottom, he was the Church Warden at the time.

There were headstones at both the Walkhampton and Sheepstor cemeteries that were unreadable and some were missing. We are sure there would have been Crebers there dating further back than the 1700s. Dad is going to check the burial records with Devon Council when he gets a chance. (We later read the Walkhampton Church brochure which said that there were 150 graves in the cemetery next to the church, 53 of which were Crebers. The graves dated back to 1600).

After that we went to a little village nearby called Meavy to have something to eat and mum and dad had a beer. We walked into a church and little cemetery next door and what do we find but more Crebers, again in a little cluster right near the entry gate – first ones we saw. These ones were spread over early 1700s through to late 1800s and a couple in the 1900s.

We decided to head home but with a determination to really explore the Creber family history some more in the future.

Here is some of the Creber ancestry we have discovered - John Creber (1666 - 1719), John Creber (1687 - ), Richard Creber (Apr 1693 - 1750), Elizabeth Creber (1718 - ), William Creber (1720 - 1808), Richard Creber (1722 - ), Henry Creber (1724 - 1806), Robert Creber (1727 - 1815), John Creber (1730 - ), Ann Creber (1733 - 1821), Jacob Creber (1735 - 1787), William Creber (1695 - 1750), Theophilus Creber (1725 - 1776), Richard Creber (1728 - ), William Creber (1730 - ), Susannah Creber (1698/99 - ), Samuel Creber (1702 - ), Agnes Creber (1704 - )

We had dinner on our way home (at the Fishermans Ale) and then when we got home to Aunty Veronicas she took us up the road to a friend Jenny’s house where Jenny feeds wild badgers that come out of the woods at night.

We walked to Jenny’s back door and there were 3 badgers feeding on peanut butter sandwiches and raisins that Jenny had thrown out. We stood and watched the badgers for about 15 minutes. We were fascinated by them. They were about as big as a large cat but with a rat shaped body. They were a greyish colour, had short legs and a flat stout nose and their face was white striped. They waddled when they walked. They were a bit skittish but were intent on eating all the food that Jenny had thrown out for them. She said she sometimes gets up to 8 badgers there at any one time. She said that they dig holes in her garden but she loves being so close to the wildlife with the forest and babbling brook (little stream) backing on to her property.

Then we went home to bed, well pleased with a big day of exploring and uncovering some history.

We are off to the Olympics to see 2 football matches at Cardiff Millenium Stadium tomorrow 1 August.

Seeya.

The Creber Girls xxx

28 to 30 July - Arriving in England and Aunty Veronicas in Somerset

Hello guys,

28 July - Travel Alpe d'Huez to England

This morning we woke up and we got ready and we jumped in the car to go to the airport. We drove from Alpe' d Huez to Lyon Airport. About a 2 1/2 hour drive. It was great driving down the mountain and through the lovely valleys in the Alps.

We got to Lyon airport and we dropped our bags off, then went through customs. We then sat down and had something to eat before we went on the plane. We met a nice British family who we sat next to. They helped us with the gate numbers as the numbers kept on changing. We hopped on the plane heading for London England! As we were flying we flew over Paris, then we could see the French coastline, then the English Channel then the English coastline. Exciting.

After about an hour and a half we landed in Stansted airport on the north outskirts of London! We went straight to collect our luggage and then we got our hire car. We packed the car and set off! We passed signs to all different places that we had heard of including London City, but we were skirting around the edge of London heading for south west England to stay with Aunty Veronica.

It was a long drive but we stopped a few times for dinner and coffee and drink (and cake) breaks. We eventually got there without getting lost. The last 20 miles of the drive from Bridgewater to Minehead was along narrow roads with tall vertical hedges along both sides. We drove through some lovely little villages. Then we arrived at Tobias Cottage, Old Alcombe, Minehead, in Somerset, the place where Auntie Veronica and Rod live.

Minehead is on the north coast of Somerset on the Bristol Channel. We can see Wales across the bay on a good day (about 10 miles away). The town is a typical English town with narrow streets and buildings right to the street in some places. It is surrounded by large hills, many forest covered, with farms dotted all over the hills. It borders on the Exmoor National Park. It is right next to Dunster which is an old medieval village with an old famous castle.

Veronica's house is actually several hundred years old and she has recently purchased and renovated it. It is lovely and cosy and really old but new in many ways if you know what we mean. Not much is square in the house and the ceilings are low and the walls are mainly white and the furniture traditional English which makes for lots of old English character. There is a little cottage garden out back.

We had a bit of a talk, shared some stories and then we met the animals. Veronica has 5 cats and 1 dog. Their names are Hamish, Scooter, Millie, Lottie, Catkin ( the 5 cats) and Flossy (the dog).

 

We said goodnight to everyone and then we went to bed. Holly and Erin shared a room and Elodie had a room to herself. Mum and dad were in their room. The bedrooms were upstairs. We had a good night sleep. Veronica and Rod actually have moved out for a few days to leave the house to us. That was great of them. They are staying each night in Minehead at Rod's apartment but will otherwise be home with us.

29 July - Old Alscombe, Minehead

This morning we woke up and gave all the cats and Flossy their food. Then we took Flossy for a walk in the mountains and a play at the park. Mum took Flossy for a run while the three of us swung on the birds nest (a big swing that looks like a birds nest but actually isn't). We then walked down to a friend of Veronicas. Her name is Jenny. Jenny feeds wild badgers and she is a very lovely lady. We asked if we could come around one night to watch her feed the badgers.

 
We went to the Lions Inn pub in Timberscombe for lunch. We had roast beef, pork, veg, english pudding, soups and lovely deserts.

We then went for a drive around some narrow hedge lined lanes (most one lane wide only) and through little medieval villages including Dunster, Timberscombe and Wootton Courtney. We drove to Dunkery Beacon a rocky mountain top where we had fabulous views of the countryside and all the farms and villages around. We climbed the rock mountain top and took some pics.

We drove around some more and then we went home. We had dinner and then we went to bed.

We had a fabulous day.

30 July - Old Alscombe, Minehead

This morning we woke up early because Veronica had a hair appointment. We went down into Minehead town with her and we had a quick guided tour and then we left Veronica at the hairdressers and we went to have a look around. We bought some books and some clothes and then we met Veronica at a cafe. We had morning tea there. Elodie had a caramel crumble and a white hot chocolate, Holly had a sticky bikkie and a hot chocolate and Mum and Erin had a lemon drizzle and a chocolate milkshake.

We walked home and had a nice sit down and read our books and played with the pets.

Dad went for a run around the countryside trails including through parts of Exmoor national park.

We had dinner and went to bed. We had an awesome day. We are loving just relaxing and being with family and we love the animals. Each of us has our favourite pet.

The weather for the first couple of days has been typical english weather. Some sun, some showers, some wind - but it really has been a treat to have some cooler weather. Not for long though!

Bye for now,

From the Creber Girls :)