For once we had a good journey down to Dartford and before going to see Nan we went and did a little bit of shopping because this time, Sophie was with us! She wanted a new handbag but didn't see anything she liked, so after picking up some lunch in M&S we drove over to Nan's flat.
Our first stop was Stone Cemetery and after a couple of wrong turns we managed to find it tucked away on the outskirts of the village. It wasn't as large as I imagined but before we began to look for Frederick and Fanny's grave, we were stunned by a whole plot of the most ornate and extravagant graves I've ever seen in my life, and that includes headstones in Greece where they tend to include photos and mementoes of their loved ones. These graves were gypsy families and were complete with photo engravings, drawings of gypsy caravans and horses and lots and lots of gold and flowers.
They had also dedicated several benches to the memory of their loved ones and these were surrounded by flowers and mementoes as well. I've never seen anything like it in my life.
Sophie went off and unbelievably, found Frederick's and Fanny's grave straight away. This isn't the first time this happened as she found the grave of Keith's uncle Valentine, who died in the First World War, when we went to France a couple of years ago. It was fantastic to find it so easily but we had a shock as their grandson was also included in the plot, something I was obviously unaware of. He died in 1918 in the First World War and would have been my Grandfather's cousin. I later found out his name was Reginald Robert French and he was just 21.
From the cemetery we drove to Southfleet (after a few more wrong turns!) passing through the village of Betsham on the way and having a look at The Colyer Arms which was run by Frederick and Fanny. Sadly, it's now closed and was all boarded up. In Southfleet, a very pretty little village, we found the church of St Nicholas and had a good look around the churchyard but we couldn't see the grave of William and Elizabeth who I think were Frederick's parents. They died in the late 19th century so the inscriptions had probably faded away. The church was beautiful and afterwards we walked down to the old Post office which I think Elizabeth ran when she was a widow.
So it's been a wonderful day and Mum and Nan really enjoyed driving around the county and visiting lots of places!
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