sight seeing tour of east anglia, england , home of the Pilgrims Fathers

TENTATIVE ITINERARY	NIGHTSTOP
Day One
Arrival in London where you’ll be met by your Back-Roads Touring Co. Ltd representative. We assume that most tour participants arrive by midday and that allows us to begin our tour with a quick visit to a small village just a few miles from the city. Here we’ll discover the burial place of William Penn and a Quaker Meeting House constructed from timbers earlier used in the building of the actual ‘Mayflower’. We’ll enjoy a welcome dinner tonight in a local pub that boasts a thousand years of history!	London
Day Two
Our first day sees us heading north from London with a first stop in the wonderful stone built town of Stamford. This unspoilt Georgian town, interspersed with mediaeval buildings, was used as the set for the BBC adaptation of 'Middlemarch'. From Stamford we drive through Grantham, (where we'll see the family home of the young Margaret Thatcher), and Newark, before arriving in the magnificent cathedral city of Lincoln, our base for the following three nights.	nr Lincoln
Day Three
Today we focus on those religious 'dissenters' which we have come to better know as 'Pilgrims', men who in both religious and secular positions helped shape the New World. We visit the tiny villages of Babworth, Scrooby and Austerfield, discovering their connections with William Brewster, William Bradford, the Reverend John Robinson and the Reverend Richard Clyfton. Then to Epworth, birthplace of John Wesley, then to Gainsborough where we'll visit the mediaeval 'old Hall' and a Mayflower Pilgrim's exhibition.	nr Lincoln
Day Four
This morning we'll explore the magnificent Lincoln, its castle dating from 1068, the 12th century cathedral, see the original Magna Carta, and climb the narrow cobblestone alleyways as countless generations have done before. This afternoon some of our tour participants may like to visit the Lincoln Archives where you can be helped in tracing the history of your own family with the city's genealogical research service. Alternatively, there'll be a fascinating afternoon tour of the scenic Lincolnshire Wolds with a stop at the church where John Smith was baptised and where a magnificent stained glass window tells the story of the man who was elected president of Virginia and who mapped the New World's eastern shores.	nr Lincoln
Day Five
Today we concentrate on the early settlers and adventurers and their original birthplaces. In Boston we'll see the memorials in the Boston 'stump' to the five Boston men who became Governors of Massachusetts and the cell where the Pilgrims were imprisoned in 1607. Next on to King's Lynn, an ancient port and home to George Vancouver, and John Mason, founder of New Hampshire. Thence to Heacham, home of John Rolfe and later his wife, Pocahontas, and to Swanton Morely to find the first known ancestor of Abraham Lincoln. Finally to Norwich, a city replete with New World, and especially Connecticut, connections.	nr Norwich
Day Six
On today's wonderful itinerary, we'll visit Otley Hall, a moated house where Bartholomew Gosnold, the man who named Martha's Vineyard, lived. Then to Ipswich (for which Ipswich, Mass. is named) and then the impossibly beautiful villages of Lavenham, and Sudbury (birthplace of Thomas Davies, whose signal to Paul Revere set off that famous ride), and Bury St. Edmunds, the historic capital of Anglo-Saxon East Anglia.	nr Norwich
Day Seven
We drive to the ancient University City of Cambridge. En route we stop at the market town of Thetford, home of the great Thomas Paine, author of "The Rights of Man" and at Ely to visit the home of Oliver Cromwell. The remainder of our day is leisurely spent in Cambridge, a centre for the Separatist movement. Here we'll tour the colleges, maybe take a punt on the river and visit the magnificent Fitzwilliam museum before driving to London. Dinner is not included tonight.	London
Day Eight
End of tour, with transfers provided to the airport, or extend your time in the city.