25 August – Research

For breakfast we have our usual cereal and Claudio brings us a plate full of toast. Johanne gets some marmalade and a little heart-shaped container of Marmite. “Try it,” she tells me. “It looks like Nutella.” I peel the flap back, dip the tip of my knife in the sticky, dark brown paste, and try it. “What does it taste like?” Without answering, I offer her the knife. I take a photo as she puts the Marmite on the tip of her tongue. She won’t let me post the picture. Marmite is a yeast extract, has a distinctive, powerful flavour, and is extremely salty –it tastes much like Bovril. Claudio explains that you’re supposed to put it on your toast – it’s really good he says. Hmmm – I think we’ll pass on this one.
But enough about that. The Opole Central War Museum in Poland asked us if we could find a list for their museums of the Canadian Prisoners of War held at Stalags IID & VIIB. Johanne had contacted the Canadian Government, the Canadian War Museum, and Library and Archives Canada to no avail. In her research she found The National Archives in Kew, Surrey have an alphabetical list of Commonwealth Prisoners of War that is available for viewing, on a first come / first serve basis. Off we go to find The National Archives relying on our Google directions to get us there. Everything is fine until we come off the M25 and make our way through the various towns that stand in our way. Somehow, despite missing half of the Google instructions, we manage to get on the A307 that is supposed to lead us to Kew. Another missed turn and I end up going in circles in downtown Kingston. To right things I take a turn that will put us back on track and follow a police car into a Buses and Authorised Vehicles Only lane. I guess he had more important wrongdoers to pursue. Now there are no signs for the A307 and we haven’t a clue where we are. I’m about to stop and ask, when Johanne startles me with bird calls. It’s the plaintive call of the mourning doves we hear outside our window at the Chequers, though this call has a greater sense of urgency. “Kew, kew, kew.” She’s pointing at the sign ahead. Now I understand. I manage to get the car into the proper lane and we make our way down some narrow, winding roads towards Kew. The Google directions make no sense since we can’t find any street names posted anywhere so I stop on the busy Kew Road. A patron in a Barber Shop uses his iPhone GPS to get us oriented. According to him, The National Archives are a 15-minute walk away. Remembering my friend John Welbourn’s advice to look for a parking spot away from the Archives because their lot is usually full, we find an area that has metered parking in addition to permit holder parking. We park right across from the Kew Gardens and begin our trek. 30 minutes later, we see the sign for The National Archives. I can see the Archives parking lot hidden behind some shrubs nearby and it appears to be empty. I make a mental note to move the car once we get the POW records. Can’t wait to tell John that parking at the Archives wasn’t a problem. A young girl walking towards us stops us as we approach the entrance and shakes her head. “They’re closed for the Bank Holiday weekend.” WHAT! She tells us she’s discouraged for having spent an hour getting here by the Tube. Guess how we feel! It’s taken us 90 minutes not counting our 30-minute walk. Johanne’s annoyed that it’s closed for 3 whole days – she assumed it was only closed for the holiday Monday. “How could I have made such a silly mistake,” she laments. “What gives with the 3-day closure?” Oh well. We’ll get another chance later in the week when we return. We decide to make the best of a bad situation and have lunch at a little place called The Original Maids of Honour, a very quaint tea room. Good thing we stopped because the skies have just opened and the thunder rumbles overhead. The umbrella is in the car – Johanne didn’t want to bring it because there was nothing but blue sky when we began our walk to the Archives. We enjoy a delicious salmon quiche and roast chicken as we watch the rain come down. Both our meals come with spinach au gratin, something we’ve never eaten before – delicious! When the rain stops, Johanne tries to convince me to go to the Kew Gardens (the Royal Botanical Gardens) but I’m just not in the mood after the National Archives let down. And it’s probably going to rain again. We head back to the car, ducking under bus shelters when it starts to pour again. The ride home is not as much trouble as getting there because Johanne recognises some of the roads we should have been travelling on but missed on the way up. Tomorrow I’m looking forward to a relaxing day. After 3 days and several hundred miles of right-hand drive and left-hand gearshift on England’s highways, winding narrow roads, roundabouts, and getting honked when you screw up (only 3 times today that I know of), I’m ready for a break. Johanne, the organiser par excellence, is uneasy. “But what are you going to do?” which really means, “What are we going to do?” Tune in tomorrow to find how her question is answered.

1 Comment

  1. mel says:

    Marmite! The breakfast delight! I can just see your face as your passing the knife and waiting for her to taste it.
    Well, at least your lunches looked solid…

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