Delfshaven and the Mayflower Pilgrims departure for the New World: In 1608 a group of religious Separatists who ultimately became known as the Mayflower Pilgrims escaped from England and made their way briefly to Amsterdam before the Mayflower Pilgrims settled for 11 years in Leiden. Here they enjoyed enough freedom to pursue their religious life as […]
The Pilgrims in Leiden – Mayflower400 Story
The Mayflower and Leiden – The History of the Pilgrims in Holland: Walking into the historic centre of Leiden is like stepping back into the 17th century. This classically beautiful Dutch city was a refuge for those now known as the Mayflower Pilgrims, separatists who fled from England in pursuit of religious freedom. For those […]
Eurostar London to Rotterdam Direct
Travelling from London St Pancras to Rotterdam by Eurostar: On a Friday afternoon in September, I watched the southern English countryside flash by in a swirl of green fields and blue sky. Just a few miles into the journey I felt the stress of the working week recede. Only 90 minutes earlier I had closed […]
Mayflower Pilgrims in Lincolnshire – Gainsborough and Boston
Separatists and Secrets – the Mayflower and the roots of American Heritage: 2020 marks the 400th Anniversary of the sailing of the Mayflower with its 102 passengers to a new life in America. We are travelling England exploring the Mayflower heritage in a series of features and this trip takes us to Lincolnshire. The City of […]
Mayflower Heritage in Dartmouth
The Mayflower and Speedwell in Dartmouth Although the annual Thanksgiving Dinner marks the survival of the early European settlers in New England, the less remarked upon, but nonetheless remarkable story, is of the initial obstacles they encountered even before setting sail across the perilous Atlantic Ocean. This is set to change with a series of […]
Five More Places to Make Sure You See in London
Five ‘Shouldn’t Miss’ London Sights you might never have heard of! If you want to know where to go in London, some of the most knowledgeable people are the hotel concierges. Inspired by this Concierge’s Guide to London, I’ve been thinking about my own recommendations – where I take visiting friends and family when they […]
The Mayflower in London
Mayflower Connections in London – Rotherhithe and More: Part Three of our travels to learn more about the story of the Mayflower and the separatists who travel to America in 1620 is based in my own part of London. Rotherhithe in Southwark has a number of well-known links to the Mayflower. As a Southwark resident, you’d […]
Harwich – Home of the Mayflower
The Mayflower Harwich – A story at the roots of the foundation of America: For some people, The Mayflower story in England starts in Harwich, a small town on the Essex coast. Harwich was the home of Christopher Jones, the Master of the Mayflower, the ship that sailed with the Mayflower Pilgrims or Pilgrim Fathers […]
Plotting the Mayflower Heritage – a 400 Year Anniversary
The Mayflower Discovery Trail: The year 2020 marks the 400 year anniversary of the Mayflower’s journey from England to America. It was in 1620 that an intrepid group of dissenters set sail across the Atlantic on what was then an incredibly dangerous journey. Underlying their journey was a belief that the reformation of English churches […]