There was no logical reason for my friend Chris and I spending just over five hours sitting on buses today, it just seemed like a fun idea. It was a coincidence that I was able to visit and photograph one of the places on my genealogy hit list along the way (more about that in a future post).

In fact the whole journey was a bit like a family history tour, passing through so many places in my family tree. Unfortunately we didn’t actually spend time off the bus anywhere other than Tunbridge Wells, but it was good to be travelling through the landscape of my relatives none the less.

The journey itself was a round trip (otherwise I wouldn’t be sitting at home writing this) of about 90 miles, mainly through East and West Sussex, but also crossing into Kent and Surrey.

For the fellow bus geeks reading this the bus routes were:

1. Horsham to Brighton (17, Stagecoach)
2. Brighton to Tunbridge Wells (29, Brighton and Hove)
3. Tunbridge Wells to Crawley (291, Metrobus)
4. Crawley to Horsham (23, Metrobus)

I have travelled on these routes before, but never the complete routes. I don’t think I have ever been to Tunbridge Wells before, by any mode of transport, but I will definitely be heading back there again. Not least because of the famous Hall’s Bookshop.

I was delighted to find a memorial below to Air Chief Marshall Dowding in Calverley Grounds (the park where we sat and enjoyed a sandwich in the sunshine). This was a perfect piece of genealogical synchronicity because he was born in Moffat, Scotland, the same town as my 3x great-grandfather Thomas Kinghorn.

Copyright © 2012 John Gasson.

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Edinburgh, Scotland from Arthur's Seat

My 3x great-grandfather Thomas KINGHORN was born in Scotland or at least he seems to have been. His father (and presumably his mother) was living in Moffat at the time of his birth, although his baptism took place in Carlisle, south of the border.

I find it hard to see this situation as a rightful claim to Scottish ancestry, rather that he was probably born to English parents who happened to be living in Scotland at the time, although this wasn’t just a one-off, because Thomas had five brothers and sisters all born and baptised in the same circumstances.

At the moment I don’t have any good evidence about where Thomas’ parents came from, but my best guess would have to be south of the border, due to a lack of evidence on the Scotlands People website.

It seems likely to me that a few generations back I will find definite Scottish roots. The surname KINGHORN sounds particularly Scottish to me, probably connected to the town of Kinghorn in Fife. Of course it is dangerous to leap to such conclusions, the only way to be certain is to work backwards in the traditional manner, another project to look forward to when time and money permit.

Copyright © 2011 John Gasson.

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Chalk Stone Trail, Cocking Hill, West Sussex (1st October 2011)

Copyright © 2011 John Gasson.

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Holy Trinity Church, Cuckfield, West Sussex

Copyright © 2011 John Gasson.

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The Parish Church of The Blessed Virgin Mary, Singleton, West Sussex

Copyright © 2011 John Gasson.

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The South Downs and the Weald, looking West from Devil's Dyke

Over the past few weeks my wife and I have continued our walk along the South Downs Way, we are now about two-thirds of the way along, with only three more sections to go. We have seen the South Downs in all sorts of weather, from the stinging wind-driven rain to the baking hot sun. We have watched as entire Wealden villages have been blocked out by sheets of rain and watched fields shimmering in the heat. We have enjoyed moments of silence and solitude on the tops of hills and shared the path with groups of walkers or cyclists rushing past.

I am now finding myself straining for my fast glance of the South Downs every morning on the way work. There is a part of my journey where I can get a brief view of the Downs, despite the fact that the bus is in general heading away from them. Every morning I am looking to see what they are looking like, whether they are clearly visible or just a grey bulk on the southern skyline. Sometimes the trees and bushes seem so crisp and clear other times they are just a dark grey outline and on one morning recently it was so misty that I could barely see over the hedge let alone to the hills seven or eight miles aways.

I have also been reading about the South Downs and in particular the South Downs Way and its history. I have been looking at old guides to the route, looking at the variations in the route over the relatively short life of the path. One day I would like to write my own guide and perhaps history of the route, but that is not really a top priority for me now.

I keep looking for a personal connection through my ancestors to the South Downs, and I guess the MITCHELL family who ended up at West Dean, Sussex would probably be the best fit, but really the strongest personal connection with the South Downs come through me.

Copyright © 2011 John Gasson.
	This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.

It is not really as awkward as it looks to get across the road and into the building, but it is more than a little disconcerting as you emerge from the London Underground pedestrian subway to be confronted with barriers and fences.

Today when I visited there was a crossing point and break in the fence just to the right of the subway entrance in front of the Science Museum, but I suspect this changes on a fairly regular basis, so that piece of information may not be a lot of use unless you plan to visit in the next few weeks.

The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea seem to be the people responsible for the disruption. It is part of the Exhibiton Road Project which according to the project’s website will convert the street to a place “where culture and learning are accessible to people of all ages and backgrounds with a streetscape that makes that ambition a reality.”

The road and pavement are being merged together and re-surfaced and the volume of traffic is being reduced and slowed down, although not completely removed. It sounds like a good idea and probably worth the disruption although it isn’t scheduled for completion until next year.

It seems particularly apt that the London Family History Centre should be part of an area for “culture and learning”, it certainly deserves greater recognition for the work it does and the resources it provides.