Today we go to travel back in time. No TARDIS involved, but there were a bunch of British people in weird clothes, so it was kind of like Doctor Who.

When we first moved to Basingstoke, one of the first people to start a conversation with us was a couple that sat right behind us at church. Derrick and Elspeth (which is Scottish for Elizabeth) welcomed us, asked where we were from, etc. Derrick was especially interested when he heard we were from Indiana as he had worked many years for Eli Lily, which just so happens to have it’s European headquarters in Basingstoke. So, he’s been to Indianapolis, even knew about Greenfield, although he’d never been out to the old Lily headquarters there. “In fact, he said, my son-in-law is from Indiana, someplace down along the river, but I don’t remember the town’s name.” Told us that his daughter and her husband lived in Georgia, but she would be in Basingstoke around Christmas. We met her and my first question, of course, is “Where is your husband from?” The answer about knocked me over.

Straight line distance, there are 4,083 miles between here and Warrick County, Indiana. Her husband was from 30 miles from there: Tell City. What are the odds of that? Square mileage of the United States…..sheer number of people in between there and here…..and yet we run into someone who’s husband is from a town close enough that our high schools played each other in basketball. Unreal.

Anyway, he, his wife, and young daughter are in town visiting so we took our kids to a little village called New Alresford. It’s called “New” because it didn’t exist until just after 1200 A.D., as opposed to Old Alresford next door, which dates back to before 1000 A.D…..so kind of a young town. We went for the park and walk along the river, which was beautiful, and got to feed the ducks, which the kids loved.

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

After the river, though, we walked up to the rail station for a snack….and accidentally stumbled back 75 years. It turns out that back at the end of World War II, New Alresford served as a station for a number of American and British troops preparing for the D-Day invasion, which left England at Portsmouth just a few more miles south. Every year this town has a remembrance for those soldiers and the how they affected the town. People dress in period costumes, there was swing bands and live singers, people walking around in old military uniforms, the works. The soldiers 75 years ago shipped out by rail, and the old rail station is largely unchanged since that day (since it’s no longer in use by any actual rail lines). I took just a few pictures, but in some of them, there are very little clues to tell you it was took in 2019 as opposed to 1945.

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

It was incredibly cool. Our only regret was it started raining soon after we arrived, forcing us to retreat back home. Overall, though, an amazing day seeing a glimpse of both British and American history.