Cathie Mulllins made a return visit in April, this time accompanied by her parents Ken and Bev Varcoe. After calling on us in Oxford they made a trip to Long Buckby whence in 1871 their ancestor William Blincow emigrated to Nebraska. In Long Buckby they were entertained by Elizabeth Blincow Brennecke and also met her cousin Nellie Leach. So far as I know, Elizabeth and Nellie are the only descendants of John Blencowe, the 17thC Parish Clerk of nearby Whilton to be still living in the village.

A few weeks later Walt and Joy Blenko from Pittsburgh came to call. Remembering Walt's enthusiasm for railroads, Kee and I took them to the Steam Train Museum at the nearby town of Swindon. When pioneer railroad engineer Isambard Kingdom Brunel built the Great Western Railway from London to Bristol he chose to build a factory at the halfway point and Swindon was born. The collection of old locomotives and rolling stock is superb and the scale models are the finest I have ever seen. I include two photos to encourage folk to make a visit. The museum is housed in the old factory which closed in the '60s. For those who don't like trains the rest of the space is occupied by a huge collection of factory outlet stores.

[P.S. for those with young grandchildren, there's another museum the other side of Oxford where they can take a short ride on a full-size steam-driven Thomas the Tank Engine!]