Summer in Fall: My Jane Austen Trip 2016

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     I confess I got side-tracked this summer and neglected to post my summer blog.  So I thought I’d post my 2016 trip to Hampshire, England to see the Jane Austen sites with my Fall blog.

I went to the Jane Austen House Museum (picture I’ve posted) and saw her writing desk––a holy relic for all Janeites, among other wonderful artifacts.

Then I had some tea and a nice scone at the Cassandra (named after her sister) tea shop.

After that, it was a lovely walk to Chawton House, the former estate of Jane’s brother, Edward Austen Knight.  The grounds were beautiful and we were lucky that day the house was open to the public.  I saw the dining room where Jane would have dined with her brother and his family.  A goose bump moment!

On the grounds was the UK Jane Austen Society AGM.  There were some great talks.  In particular, by TV presenter and historian, Amanda Vickery, who I met in person!  I also met a distant relative of Jane’s and many other friendly Janeites.

I don’t think a lot had changed since Jane’s time––there were still open fields with lots of sheep and large oak trees.

There is Jane in some of my works––she sometimes visits me in them.  My Mr. Austen series is about a firefighter turned romance writer who is inspired by Jane Austen.  And the upcoming Kate Hawkins is about a young woman disguised as a male officer during the Napoleonic wars, who befriends Jane Austen.  My poetry collection Idle Pursuits has a poem in it, titled, “A Nod to Jane Austen.”

It was a lovely trip.  If you ever have a chance to walk in Jane’s footsteps I highly recommend it.  Happy travelling!––September, 2019, L.P. Kirkbride