Whitehaven - Our New Town

We are beginning to learn our way around and enjoy our new town. This blog entry is dedicated to the small town of Whitehaven, our new home.

The coastal town of Whitehaven has 5-7,000 people. What used to be a mining town from the early 13th century is now largely dependent on the Sellafield Nuclear Plant located about 20 minutes south of town. A future blog entry will cover details about Dennis' job and the surrounding nuclear industry.

Whitehaven is a harbor town on the Irish Sea with ties to the US as George Washington’s grandmother lived and is buried here. The other US connection is that Whitehaven is the only place in England where the Americans attacked. It’s pushing it to call the event a real attack because John Paul Jones and his men ended up in the pubs, but it is still recorded as a successful attack which got everyone's attention.


Below you will find a link to a short video that walks you through the streets of Whitehaven. It is not as quaint as some other nearby towns, but it is very conveniently located to shopping, the girls school and Dennis' work.

Whitehaven is also well known for it’s International Maritime Festival held every other year where 40,000 visitors flock to see well preserved four masted sea vessels on tour in a weekend long celebration. This year it was sponsored by Dennis' company, Washington Group International. WGI has been very successful in making their presence known in the community, by investing in it. They are the main sponsor of the Whitehaven rugby team and then the Maritime Festival. When people ask Dennis who he works for, they usually light up when he says WGI. Dennis' is convinced that more people know who WGI is in Whitehaven than in Augusta!


Unlike some of the more quaint villages peppered throughout this area, Whithaven is a small habour. We have included another small clip of the marina here in Whitehaven. The pictures you see in this clip are common everyday views for us.

In its glory days it was the second largest port in England but it has since been by-passed. It’s fairly secluded by the mountains to the west and the sea to the east. The town is pretty with its houses built into the cliffs facing the harbor. Just yesterday we explored the countryside via one of the many national cycle pathways. Much like the greenway in North Augusta, these paths criss cross through the lakes and moutains. You can literally ride for hundreds of miles without ever crossing a road or street. We have had the opportunity to take advantage of the nearby beauty thanks to a lighter schedule and fewer outside commitments.

Like Augusta, Whitehaven has several mainstream grocery stores, a gym or Y-type of place, a civic center (think much smaller), a library and one of our favorite spots, a Costas (similar to a Starbucks) which serves great pastries and a fantastic cappucino.

Although not home, Whitehaven will be our "haven" for the next several years, and we are looking forward to making the best of it.

Ready for combat!

Many of you have requested a picture of Anna Catherine in her Cadet Training uniform. This is similar to ROTC in the US. Students age 13 and up are required to take part at St. Bees. Although AC likes the training (hiking, marching, drills), she dreads Thursdays when she is required to wear the non fashionable uniform that she says is three sizes too big. What do you think?

Here's what she thinks! -->

Life in England for an 8 year old boy

This was going to be a big year for Nathan whether we were in Augusta or Whitehaven as he was going from homeschool to traditional school. As many of you know, Nathan took the announcement of our move the hardest however, he has adjusted beautifully. Kids are kids wherever you go I suppose, so he plays hard with the best of them at break time, is totally motivated by the merits they hand out for good behavior, loves the Golden Time (special learning games) and computers on Friday. He had a challenge before we got here with his penmanship but it has increased with their different type of cursive which they write in daily so he goes once a week with a few other boys to the learning lady for more instruction and practice. That seems to be helping along with the fact that he really does want to do a good job. Miss Agnew, his teacher, wrote in his log this week, “Nathan has had a super week. He seems well settled and is working extremely hard at all times. I really enjoy teaching him!” The girls have commented how well he is doing and are quick to point out that many people have been praying in particular for his transition to school.

Homework is a little light compared to Westminster so he has “Mom homework” most days. Although he has loved reading Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, he’s not as enthused about the book report for Mom he has to write. I say, “How hard can writing about every kid’s dream be, come on!” Dennis says this is the blessing and curse of having a teacher for a mother. They don’t test kids at the end of units of study like we do although they do have weekly “spellings” test as well as multiplication and division fact tests. After taking the test, the teacher calls out each child’s name so they can announce their score to the teacher (but in front of everyone else) I don’t like that, must be the right to privacy in me or something. I felt bad for Na the week we were unprepared and he got 3/10 and had to announce that to his class. Thankfully, they give you a second try.

He still has chores here- unloading the dishwasher, wiping down the kitchen table, emptying the trash and taking it out to the curb, vacuuming the first floor. One chore he is rejoicing not to have is the dreaded pinecones of Regent Place. He has gladly bequeathed those to Creed Barrett and the other guys living there.

Of course the big sport for kids here is football or soccer. He is on a local team called the Whitehaven Amateurs. They practice weekly with an almost weekly game. Nathan is on the B team which he is thoroughly enjoying. The level of ball handling by the kids on the A team is quite impressive. He’s just thrilled to be playing and running around. The coaches are pretty positive. I get a big kick out of hearing them say, “well done” which sounds more like “well dune.”

We received our things from home last week. One item Nathan was most excited about being reunited with was his Bible. The night things came, he settled into a comfy chair to review and look though his Bible. He happily announced that he still knew the books of the Bible. He asked if he could read through the Bible in the next two years. “Of course, sure!” I said.(a little inspiration from Zachary Pareiz back home) When he went to bed he put his Bible beside him and commented again how glad he was to have it. I told him, “You wouldn’t go for a hike without a map so why would you go though life without consulting the map written by the Creator of life?” To which he replied, “Mom, heaven is the ‘X’ on God’s treasure map. You’re right , Nathan, good night.”

Week of Firsts

<-- We picked up the children from school yesterday evening and enjoyed an afterschool ice cream on the beach. Julie has always wanted to live near the beach...she just forgot to mention that she wanted it to be in a tropical climate!

We, as a family, experienced many new moments this past week. Let us share of few of them with you...

1) Nathan was chosen to represent his school in a Rounders Match against another school. Rounders is similar to baseball. His uniform finally came in so it’ll be the first week in his full ‘official’ school uniform. (Jonathan, we looked for a school with your school colors – purple and yellow!) He also had his first invitation to go play at someone’s house after school, a boy named Ben Sparks. Ben has two younger brothers so it’s a total boy house.

The scoring scheme in "rounders" is pretty complicated. Note the picture where Nathan is the first to figure out that his team won. -->

2) Anna Catherine scored a goal in her field hockey game! She’s actually really enjoying the chance to play sports which is not an option at her Fine Arts School in Augusta. Last weekend, she went on an overnight practice run for the Duke of Edinburgh Bronze Expedition, an award for service, skills, recreation and expedition. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Duke_of_Edinburgh%27s_Award) She had her expedition which is really orienteering in the mountains near Keswick. This is included in her Cadet Training that is compulsory for kids in her grade.

3) Julieanne got to be in a charity fashion show with some of her new friends put on by some of the upper students at the school. They were helping raise money for a new lifeboat for the water rescue team. That meant we attended our first St. Bees school event. Of course, Dennis and I didn’t know anyone but that was okay. A funny difference at school events here – they serve ‘canapes and wine’. I was trying to picture that one back in the South.

4) Dennis had his first meeting with the county council who are notoriously skeptical and against what goes on at the nuclear facilities even though they are the primary employers in what was once a booming port and mining town. He has had good rapport so far with the local nuclear guys and officials that he’s interfaced with. It appears that the local communities skepticism is a function of years of being lied to by the previous employer. Dennis and his team see this as a great opportunity to show the community what an honest and straight-forward employer looks like. So far so good.

5) When my neighbor heard I didn’t have a job here, she said, “Oh, so you’re a lady of leisure?”. That was the first time I have ever been associated with leisure! Inwardly, I wasn’t sure if I should laugh or be offended but I just responded with a smile and a simple, “I guess so”. So, I’ve spent the rest of the week watching TV and eating bon bons (now that would be a first!). Actually, I started going to some exercise classes at the fitness center a few blocks away. It’s been way too many years since I was able to exercise with any sort of regularity so I’m excited about that or at least I was until I had an hour and half class with Jammin’ Jill on Thursday and Maniac Margaret on Friday. I have muscles hurting right now that I haven’t felt in a while.

6) Another funny first was the company rented us a “people mover”. They assured me it was like a mini van. I soon found out when it was delivered to our door step, that it was a nine passenger diesel bus! I quickly called Dennis and said, “No way, am I driving that monster on these narrow roads.” Thankfully, he made some calls and came home so we could go trade it in. Then I got to drive a stick shift –of course with the gear on the left – another first. I’m not the most coordinated but no accidents or mishaps.