The Washburn times. [volume] (Washburn, Wis.) 1896-1976, 1900-10-10
Il Grip
Ubron0b Europe
1p
REV. JObn Gibson.


spend few very pleasant days with
! Mrs. Gibson's sister, Mrs. Evans
Enroute we determined to CRAFTY
Q desire we had nursed for years, tC
visit the English homes from whence
started our Pilgrim Fathers and
Mothers to found our great Christ ian
republic. To do this we took our
tickets via the Lancashire and York
shire and Great Nothern railways to
Doncaster, thence to Bawtry.
Scrooly and Austerfeld are equally
distances from Bawtry, one mile and
a half to either place. If you desire
to see these places without loss of
time, the best way is to hire a con
yeyance.
The three counties of Yorkshire,
Nottinghamshire, and Lincolnshire
meet here. The going out of the
Pilgrim Fathers makes this one of
the most sacred and interesting
spots in Merry England /" We
were privileged to visit this home of
the Pilgrims on the first bright
warm and beautiful day we had in
our native land, the beginning Of
three weeks of hot weather which
the parisians and Cockney's we're
| pleased to call : American weather. !"
The few hours we spent in the his
toric region we enjoyed very much.
Many memories and reflections filed
our minds as we made the pilgrimage
to the shrines of the noble. brave
and self-scarifcing men and women
who left their much-loved homes and
native land for conscience sake, and
to ultimately -after a few years in
Holland, cross the wintry seas to
found a republic in which there
should be q free church in free
state. These pilgrims made our
great and loved America, the home
OF the brave and the free. The
'Nonconformist Conscience" of to-
day, is an inheritance of these pill
grims of the 18th century.
Bawtry is a quiet place with its
one wide street and narrow street
or two. 1t is an old time place, with
one or two good inns or hotels, it's
ancient market cross, and it's town
pump, one of the few places that
has suffered rather than benefited
by the incoming of quicker and I'M
proved methods of travel. It is
about $50 miles due north of London
and about 8 miles south of Doncas-
ter. 1t is on the old great North
ern road from London to York.
We drove north to Austerfeld a
mile and half to see the old church
where William Bradford used to
worship. It is only small church
and has been recently restored re-
tanning its original character
Many Americans wend their way to
this historic church and,like Florence
use the camera, SO that its picture is
familiar to many. Here we gathered
some wild flowers and especially the
peoples which were SO plentiful,
adorning the fields in July
Scrooby is one mile and a half
south of Bawtry. Here Brewster and
his family lived in the old "Manor
House" now a farm house, and,not
particularly striking, Once the
Manor House was fine and stately
edifce and under its hospitable roof
royalty and NOBILITY were sheltered.
1t was owned by the Archbishop
of York. This historic region is
much the same as it was in the
early years Of the 18th century.
The Great Northern railway skirts
it. The ever present bicyclist has
invaded it, and the camera fend is
there. Otherwise it is the same as
in the days of yore. The roads and
lanes Bradford, Brewster and other
pilgrims walked are the same. The
medows are still there in which they
heard the beautiful song of the Eng
glish lark.
The Ryton and the Idle are still
leisurely flowing Indeed we are
assured that the entire scenery and
surroundings are much the same as in
the days of John Robinson, and when
Clifton preached at Austerfeld, or
at St. Wilfred's church and Scroobv.
or when they met quietly in the
manor House" with Brewster.
Bradford and others to avoid abser-
walton or persecution. These men
i I L