REUNION NEWS

2019 Goble Reunion in England

2019 GOBLE REUNION IN ENGLAND

We are back from a fabulous reunion in England. I will post some photos here, but all the rest will be on our Facebook page at Goble Genealogy.

September 20-23, 2019; plus the extended tour September 24-29, 2019

Friday, Sep 20, 2019 we arrived in London and made our way to the Hilton Aviston Park Hotel in Arundel. We met in the ballroom of the hotel for a Meet and Greet cocktail and canapes gathering. We were very excited to have our first get together, some of us meeting face to face for the first time. All were provided with a Goble souvenir bag, pen and rain poncho (which came in handy later).

Goble Reunion 2019

Saturday, Sep 21, 2019 we started the day with an English breakfast and boarded the bus to Saint Mary the Virgin Church in Burpham to have a look around. We started in the cemetery and were met by Celia Woodruff, the priest in charge, and her husband Ronald. She gave us a brief introduction to the church and the Goble headstones in the chancel. After our meeting there we walked to the George (a tavern of some age) where we meet Jackie Penticost, the owner of the Burpham House B&B once owned by Squire Goble of the English Goble line. She walked us to the cricket field built in 870 by King Alfred where we could see the castle in the distance. She told us that the land as far as we could see was all once owned by Gobles. We then walked to the Squire's house and had a short tour including the gardens We took a group photo and then walked back to the bus which was unable to drive down the narrow roads.

Visit to Burpham House
Goble in Burpham House Garden

We then drove to Chitchester where we saw the Market Cross (Butter Market) and explored the town. We had a tour of the Cathedral and then boarded the bus again for Aldingbourne.

We arrived at the Aldingbourne Saint Mary's the Virgin church and met Anthony (Tony) Brant and his assistants. They were lovely to us and we had a very sweet service to commemorate the 400th Wedding Anniversary of Thomas and Alice Goble which included an organist and hymns lead by Barbara Volker and Robert Foor. Then there was a renewal of vows by Albert and Becky Goble on the same spot as Albert's 9th great grandparents were wed in 1619! which was followed by a duet of "Panis Angelica" (O Lord Most Holy). Video on Facebook.

After our very BIG BUSY day we returned to the hotel for an opportunity to freshen before we boarded the bus again and headed for Arundel for dinner. We had a lovely dinner at the Norfolk Arms Hotel in the Castle Restaurant with special guests Anthony & Cath Brant and Celia & Ronald Woodruff. Barbara and Evelyn spoke about our Goble family association and it's future, reminding people that we've been at this for 25 years now and aren't getting any younger.

Sunday, Sep 22, 2019 - We started this day with a traditional English breakfast at our hotel and then boarded the bus to Arundel. Our first stop was the Blackfriars Priory. It was rainy, as it is in England, but we all had our ponchos to keep us dry. We walked to the Castle and got to view the gardens before it poured. We had a guided tour of the castle and then stopped at the Museum before walking into town to explore the shops and pubs.

The Castle at Arundel

We ended our Arundel touring at Belinda's Tea Room, a beautiful 16th century tea room in the historic town of Arundel. We had a traditional English Afternoon tea with sandwiches, scones, cakes, tea and processco. Arundel didn't know what hit them! On our last reunion night at the hotel we gathered for an impromptu cocktail hour visit in the gathering room. We had a lovely visit but it was hard to say goodbye to those not continuing the tour.

Evelyn Goble Steen, Historian/Genealogist/Webmaster


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This page last updated on October 1, 2019
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