Blincoe and Blincow at Blencow

As part of a longer reunion trip that took four of us cousins (Blincoe and Blincow is close enough for me) from the US to England, travelling prudence said that we just had to stop at the northern town of Blencow and of course then at the ancestral Blencowe Hall.

After following a number of road signs down 1 and 2 lane roads we managed to make it to the town of Blencow. This was one place we missed on the 1993 tour. The complete town sits on a single cross-road with the Little Blencowe Farm at one end and Blencow Hall just past the other end. As we weren't able to locate the hall on our first try, we hit two of the four roads; we stopped and asked a gentleman who was outside. He indicated that we just needed to go a little way down the third road, & thus we did.

Blencow Hall is a very short distance from the last houses on the road, and is currently surrounded by construction fencing with a number of small (by US standards) construction machines parked around. We pulled up to a rather full parking area and went into to the construction office only to find the new owners, Charles and Christine Rowley, there for an interview with a local newspaper. Everyone in the office seemed quite amazed that the two strangers that just walked in happened to be Blincoe's. They issued Don and I nice yellow hard hats, and let us roam the grounds at will.

The re-construction project is being done in somewhat of an “English fashion” They brace all of the outer walls, and a very large portion of the interior spaces are totally replaced. The key historically traceable elements have been left, but surrounded by new construction. It will be fun to see what ultimately happens to very unique areas such as a stairway with “alternating steps”, which makes defending the upper floor much easier. I am sure that current building codes would list it “as unsafe to use”. Currently, there are some areas where the ceiling timbers appear to be very good and will hopefully stay as a feature of the old place.

The Rowley's are hoping to have enough of the renovation done so they can have some visitors by Christmas of 2007.

Allen Blincoe
Ohio

Allen & Gail Blincoe with “cousins” Don & Thelma Blincow really arrived at Blencow at the right time. Our next edition will have some of their photos and an extract from the newspaper.

Ready for visitors at Christmas! Who will be the first of Adam's descendants to stay there — be sure to let us know when you do!

Anne