23 – Leaving Wales, Arriving in England: 21 September 2024

Just as Richard Reece Roberts had to leave the beauty of Wales and go to England, so too did I have to leave Wales and go to England.  I left yesterday, although right now, I could almost walk back across the border into Wales.  As U left, Wales continued to astonish me with its history and its beautiful scenery.  

In Corwen I found this statue of Owain Glyndwr, Prince of Wales.  Owain lived from 1349 to 1416 and nearly achieved the complete independence of Wales from rule by the Norman kings of England = monarchs who did not speak English, but spoke only French.

 

As if to give me one final reminder of what a beautiful country it is, Wales gave me this view of itself as I passed the Tollgate Café shortly after I had left Corwen.  The google map reference is https://maps.app.goo.gl/U1UUtHjdWvSvDpqu9

 

 

But like Richards Reece Roberts, I had to leave Wales.  To find any remaining traces of Richard, Newlands School, Eliza Hankin and Alfred Pearson, I must follow Richard, and leave Wales.  It is in Cheshire and Lancashire that I will find the surviving traces of Eliza Hankin’s ancestors.

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Although Welsh influence is strong here in Cheshire, Cheshire definitely feels different. 

For a start, English is not a second language here and English is the mother tongue Cheshire just as Welsh is the mother tongue in Betwys y Coed.

Another big difference is that the traffic roundabouts are bigger, the volume of traffic is much greater and some of the roundabouts have multiple sets of traffic lights to help you go around in big, wide circles.

Although I and many of Eliza Hankin’s ancestors came from Lancashire, some of them came from Cheshire.  Most importantly, Alfred Pearson trained as a teacher at Chester College.  Chester College is now the Exton Park Campus of the University of Cheshire.

Today I gained entry to the Chapel at the Exton Park Campus of Cheshire University.  The Chapel is medium to small in size and when not in use, locked to prevent damage by the unthinking passersby. 

The Roll of Honour Memorial to the students of Chester College who died in World War 1 is on the left at the back of the Chapel - just as you are about to make your way down the aisle of the Chapel.  The words at the top of the Memorial Chapel say this.

1914 – 1919

“AS DYING, BEHOLD, WE LIVE”

The Memorial is divided into columns like this:

Graduation Year

Name of Student

Graduation Year

Name of Student

Graduation Year

Name of Student

Graduation Year

Name of Student

 

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Twenty names are listed under each of the four columns showing the names of the students who died in World War 1.  In column 3 from the left, on the third line from the bottom the following information is set out in raised letters.

Graduation Year	Name of Student	Graduation Year	Name of Student	Graduation Year	Name of Student	Graduation Year	Name of Student
				1914	A PEARSON

 

Alfred Pearson was my Moon Man; the man who wrote the Postcard to my distant relative Eliza Hankin on that day on August 1914 when World War 1 was barely two weeks old.  More than three years after I first started trying to identify the Moon Man, here was a visible symbol that he had indeed once lived and breathed just like you and me.

The following is embossed in raised letters at the bottom of the list of the Chester College students who died in World War 1.

AT THE GOING DOWN OF THE SUN AND IN THE MORNING, 

WE WILL REMEMBER THEM

This is a photo of the complete Memorial Board in the Chester College Chapel.  It is of course too dark to read, but I wanted to show you what it looks like.

This photo shows a close up of Alfred Pearson’s name on the Memorial Board in the Chapel at Chester College. 

God bless you Alfred Pearson.  Eliza Hankin certainly never forgot you.  The makers of the Chester College Memorial did their best to preserve your memory – and failed.

I have, for the moment, resurrected your memory and readers of the Postcard from the Moon will  also remember your name.

Ultimately though, pledges that we will “Never Forget” mean only that we will never forget until we do in fact forget.

Although the Memorial still exists at Chester College, it is, like most such memorials, unnoticed and forgotten during the rush of everyday life.  We want to remember but we are usually so very busy with our extremely busy lives, that despite our best intentions, we simply forget.

I cannot know how much time Eliza Hankin and her Moon Man had together before the need to survive forced Eliza to find someone else to spend her life with.

I do know I managed to spend 25 years, 1 calendar month, 1 week, 2 days, 3 hours and 16 minutes with Margaret.  I would have preferred a thousand times that amount of time with her, but just as Alfred was snatched away from Eliza, so too was Margaret snatched away from me. 

God bless you Eliza Hankin.

God bless you Alfred Pearson

God bless you Margaret Redden

Not all the time available in eternity can truly mend a broken heart.