August 13-16 2019: Cornwall and Wales

During this week of the London Temple closure, we visited the southwest part of England, Plymouth, St. Michael's Mount, Wales and Bristol.

Plymouth

The Mayflower Museum in Plymouth (England) commemorates the Pilgrims who established the Plymouth (Massachusetts) Colony.  The core of the Pilgrims were Puritan separatists, i.e. believed that the teachings and worship of the Church of England needed to be purified and they had to be separate and distinct from them.  To escape religious persecution, the Puritans lived for about 10 years in Leiden, Netherlands (between Amsterdam and the Hague where we visited last week).  While they enjoyed religious freedom in the Netherlands, they were concerned their children were integrating into Dutch society so they determined to find a location in the new world.

In 1620, the Pilgrims departed from the Netherlands for the New World.  Plymouth England was an unexpected stop for the Pilgrims.  The ships Speedwell and Mayflower were to take them on their journey across the Atlantic Ocean.  However, the Speedwell began taking on water so they stopped in Plymouth and determined the Speedwell was beyond repair.  They moved additional passengers and cargo to the Mayflower before departing Plymouth.

The Pilgrims original grant was for the land at the mouth of the Hudson River (New York City area), to be called "New England," but on their precarious 65 day journey across the Atlantic, they landed inside Cape Cod Bay at Plymouth (now Massachusetts) in November 1620 and decided to stay there.  Having landed outside their original land grant, they established their own rule of law called the Mayflower Compact which established voting as the primary means of decision-making.  The Mayflower Compact was the seed of American democracy and has been called the world's first written constitution.

Here are a few pictures from Plymouth England.

Sister Burkinshaw with a model of the Mayflower at the Mayflower Museum.  The Mayflower carried 102 Pilgrims to the Plymouth Colony in 1620.

Sister Burkinshaw in front of the Mayflower steps (note both the American flag and the British flag are flying) at the Barbican (gateway to Sutton Harbor) in Plymouth.

The Plymouth Naval Memorial commemorates British and Commonwealth sailors who were lost in both World Wars.  The memorial features a central obelisk, with names of the dead arranged according to the year of death. Those from the First World War are on panels affixed to the obelisk's base; those from the Second World War are on panels set into the surrounding wall. 

A panoramic shot of Sutton Harbor in Plymouth. We had a nice meal in one of the restaurants in the harbor and stayed in Plymouth at the Crowne Plaza close by.

St Michael's Mount

St Michael's Mount is a small tidal island in Mount's Bay, Cornwall, England. The island is linked to the town of Marazion by a man-made causeway of granite setts, passable between mid-tide and low water.  The castle and chapel on the Island have been the home of the St Aubyn family since approximately 1650.  It was raining and foggy when we visited but it is still an amazing island and castle.

The causeway leading to the castle on top of St Michael's Mount island.

The man-made granite causeway leading from the mainland to the island of St Michael's Mount.  Sister Burkinshaw was wearing her coat as it was cold and rainy despite the mid-August timing.

View from St. Michael's looking back at the Marazion.

The dairy building at St Michael's Mount where cream and cheese were made into the 20th Century.  The County Cornwall is noted for its Cornish ice cream--which we experienced first hand, it was delicious!

Sister Burkinshaw in the castle library at St Michael's Mount.

The St Michael's Mount castle dining room with Sister Burkinshaw at the head of the table.

Painting of a golf outing by Sir John St Aubyn who was the First Lord St Levan which is a peerage (title of rank in the English pecking order) given for his service in Parliament.

Looking down on the coastal garden at St Michael's Mount.

Another view of the gardens from the top of St. Michael's, definitely a rainy day!

Sister Burkinshaw in front of the Chapel at St Michael's Mount

Nice view of the chapel on St. Michael's island with Sister Burkinshaw, it is not hard to figure out who has the camera and prefers not to be in the pictures.

The Chapel at St Michael's Mount with Sister Burkinshaw in foreground.

Sister Burkinshaw in the drawing room of the St Michael's Mount castle.

A model of the castle at St Michael's Mount made from cork.

Sister Burkinshaw with some of the beautiful hydrangea bushes.

Elder and Sister Burkinshaw with the St Michael's Mount causeway in the background.

Another view of St. Michael's castle from the gardens, it was from here we shot the selfie.

Tintern Abbey

Tintern Abbey was founded on 9 May 1131 by Walter de Clare, Lord of Chepstow. It is situated adjacent to the village of Tintern in Monmouthshire, on the Welsh bank of the River Wye.  The abbey fell into ruin after Henry VIII, declared himself Supreme Head of the Church of England in 1531 and disbanded all the Catholic monasteries in England, Wales and Ireland, appropriated their incomes (from the endowment of their founders and the tithes and offerings of church members) and sold off many of the properties to fund his military campaigns.  On 3 September 1536, Abbot Wych surrendered Tintern Abbey and all its estates to the King.  Valuables from the Abbey were sent to the royal Treasury and the building was granted to the then lord of Chepstow, Henry Somerset, 2nd Earl of Worcester. Lead from the roof was sold and the decay of the buildings began.

This great Decorated Gothic abbey church is what can be seen today, representing the architectural developments of its period.  It is built of Old Red Sandstone, with colors varying from purple to buff and grey. Its total length from east to west is 228 feet, while the transept is 150 feet in length.  Over 70,000 people visit the abbey each year.  

Tintern Abbey Church with ancillary buildings in the foreground.

Sister Burkinshaw in front of the Tintern Abbey Church north transept.

Close-up of the Tintern Abbey with the front of the church on the left, the north transept in the foreground and the back of the church on the right. 

A view of Tintern Abbey looking out the north transept.

Looking from the back of the Tintern Abbey Church to the front with Sister Burkinshaw providing perspective on the size.  This was a huge building and it is like looking at the skeleton of Canterbury Cathedral!

The front of the Tintern Abbey Church from the center of the transepts, with Elder Burkinshaw providing perspective on the size of the church.

Looking at the back of the Tintern Abbey Church from the front.

Sister Burkinshaw in the cloister of the Tintern Abbey Church.

This was the small warming room for the Tintern Abbey but the ceiling shows the Gothic design which would have been seen in the Church as well if it were still there.

Panoramic view of Tintern Abbey Church and all the remaining structures.

Brecon Beacons National Park
To the north of Merthyr Tydfil Wales is the Brecon Beacons National Park, which is primarily grassy moorland grazed by Welsh mountain ponies and Welsh mountain sheep, with scattered forestry plantations, and pasture in the valleys.  The "beacons" refer to the hilltops (composed of red sandstone) where a fire or light was set up as a warning, signal, or celebration.  It is a reminder of the beautiful country that was the homeland of the Abraham and Morgan lines of our family.

The welcome sign at the Brecon Beacons National Park visitors center.  Note that since the center is in Wales, it is written in both English and Welsh even though less than 20% of the population speaks Welsh.
Welcome to the Brecon Beacons National Park.
This centre was built to celebrate the National Park's very special landscape.
Windswept mountains and rolling moorlands.
Secret gorges with sparkling waterfalls.
Wooded valleys, lakes and reservoirs.
Buzzards, otters and rare mountain flowers.
Patchwork farmlands of fields and hedges.
Mysterious standing stones, churches and castles.
Unique cultural heritage.

A panoramic shot of the Brecon Beacons National Park in Wales.  The "Beacons" are the hilltops in the distance.

Sister Burkinshaw with the Brecon Beacons in the background and fields of ferns which were particularly unique and interesting because ferns generally do not grow so thick.  Botanists suggest that ferns with their complex structure of leaves (megaphylls) were ancient plants, some of the first on earth.   

At the base of the ferns are patches of small yellow wildflowers  

Sister Burkinshaw shows the diversity of the Brecon Beacons National Park.  Fields of ferns, patchwork farm fields divided by hedges, the rolling moorlands and the red sandstone beacon hills.  All were beautiful! ;-)

Merthyr Tydfil

Merthyr Tydfil was the birthplace of several of the Abraham and Morgan ancestors.  It was named for Tydfil, a daughter of King Brychan of Brycheiniog.  According to her legend, she was slain by pagans around 480 AD and the site was thereafter call Merthyr Tydfil where "merthyr" means "martyr".  The town is often referred to as just Merthyr by the locals and the current population is about 44,000.

Historically, Merthyr was close to reserves of iron ore, coal, limestone, lumber and water, making it an ideal site for ironworks. Small-scale iron working and coal mining had been carried out in the area since the 1500's, but in the wake of the Industrial revolution, the demand for iron led to the rapid expansion of Merthyr's iron operations. By the peak of the revolution, Merthyr housed some of the greatest Ironworks in the world, most notably Cyfarthfa Ironworks run by the Richard Crayshaw family who built Cyfathfa castle as their mansion-home.  Lord Admiral Nelson visited Merthyr Tydfil in 1802 to observe the making of cannons for his navy.

This drew many young men away from agriculture to the better wages offered by the iron industry.   However, the working conditions were deplorable by today's standards as highlighted by famed Scottish philosopher Thomas Carlisle who wrote that Merthyr Tydfil was filled with such "unguided, hard-worked, fierce, and miserable-looking sons of Adam I never saw before. Ah me! It is like a vision of Hell, and will never leave me, that of these poor creatures broiling, all in sweat and dirt, amid their furnaces, pits, and rolling mills."  Workers' rights did not exist; and sudden dismissal, wage reductions and short-term working had always been imposed by the ironmasters to maximize their profits. The sudden downturn in the market saw the ironmasters quickly dismiss surplus workers and cut the wages of those in work. The working classes were then immediately plunged into hardship, widening the gap in class hierarchy.

Griffith J Abraham, with wife Maria Morgan and sons John and David Abraham (born in Merthyr Tydfil) arrived in New York on  30 April 1869 escaping the very difficult environment of a collier (coal miner) and found his way to Rock Springs via Plymouth, Pennsylvania.

Here are a few pictures of Merthyr Tydfil today:

Sister Burkinshaw in front of Cyfarthfa Castle which was the palatial mansion-home of the Crayshaw family who ran the Cyfarthfa Ironworks.

Elder Burkinshaw had to take a picture of this toilet in the Cyfarthfa Castle with its copper water closet.  This was an obvious carryover from a time of conspicuous consumption as copper is an extremely expensive material to use for such a purpose.

Vantage point from Cyfarthfa Castle overlooking the estate grounds with Cyfarthfa Park Lake in the distance.  The estate is now a public park and the Castle is a museum.

The Merthyr Tydfil Stake Center which is one of the larger meetinghouses we have seen in the United Kingdom and two name plaques, one in English (right) and one in Welsh (left).

Bristol

Our final destination was the city of Bristol, the eighth largest city in the United Kingdom with nearly three-quarters of a million people.

Elder Burkinshaw at Mrs. Potts Chocolate House which is run by a member of the Church who served as a Bishop in Australia which was the home of the Clancy family who are now part of the Addlestone Ward which we attend in London.

A white-chocolate raspberry brownie covered in dark chocolate.  Mrs. Potts Chocolate House is a must if you go to Bristol!

  

The canal which ties into the Avon River in Bristol.  The city-center docks have been redeveloped as centers of heritage and culture.

Another shot of the canal in Bristol with its nice footbridge.

Bristol Castle which was across the street from the Bristol Marriott.  Bristol Castle was erected by William the Conquerer in 1069 who originally owned the city of Bristol.  Today Bristol is a thriving metropolis built on the creative media, electronics and aerospace industries.The city-centre docks have been redeveloped as centres of heritage and culture.

The New Room was the first chapel used by John Wesley, the founder of the Methodist Church and is the oldest Methodist chapel in the world.  The statue is of John Wesley's brother Charles who was both supportive and critical of his brother's theology.  

The chapel includes a double decker pulpit, which was common at the time (reminiscent of the Kirtland Temple), and an octagonal lantern window to reduce the amount paid in Window tax.

In addition to meetings and worship, the New Room was used as a dispensary and schoolroom for the poor people of the area.  The pews and benches were made from old ship timber.  Wesley insisted that meetings at the New Room should only be held outside of Anglican church hours as he wanted Methodism to complement rather than compete with Anglican worship.

We close with an excerpt from Elder Jeffrey R. Holland.

Nearly 70 years ago President David O. McKay, then serving as a counselor in the First Presidency of the Church, asked this question to a congregation gathered for general conference: “If at this moment each one [of you] were asked to state in one sentence … the most distinguishing feature of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, what would be your answer?”

“My answer,” he replied, “would be … divine authority by direct revelation.”

That divine authority is, of course, the holy priesthood.

... Little wonder that the Prophet Joseph would include in those succinct and eloquent articles of our faith, “We believe that a man must be called of God, by prophecy, and by the laying on of hands by those who are in authority, to preach the Gospel and administer in the ordinances thereof.” Clearly, acting with divine authority requires more than mere social contract. It cannot be generated by theological training or a commission from the congregation. No, in the authorized work of God there has to be power greater than that already possessed by the people in the pews or in the streets or in the seminaries—a fact that many honest religious seekers had known and openly acknowledged for generations leading up to the Restoration.

It is true that some few in that day did not want their ministers to claim special sacramental authority, but most people longed for priesthood sanctioned by God and were frustrated as to where they might go to find such. In that spirit the revelatory return of priesthood authority through Joseph Smith should have eased centuries of anguish in those who felt what the famed Charles Wesley had the courage to say. Breaking ecclesiastically with his more famous brother John over the latter’s decision to ordain without authority to do so, Charles wrote with a smile:

How easily are bishops made
By man or woman’s whim:
Wesley his hands on Coke hath laid,
But who laid hands on him?

(Jeffrey R. Holland, "Our Most Distinguishing Feature," General Conference, April 2005)

We are grateful for the priesthood that has been restored in our time and through which we receive the crowning ordinances of life in the Temple!

Elder and Sister Burkinshaw