The Birmingham Meeting House and Beyond
Posted: July 27, 2007 Filed under: Earth, Photography, politics, sabbatical, Summer, travel | Tags: Birmingham Meeting House, Brandywine Battlefield, cemetery, Peace Garden, Pennsylvania, Quakers 10 CommentsWe wandered around the Birmingham-Lafayette Cemetery for a little while, trying to locate the mass grave of those on both sides who died near the meeting house during the Battle of Brandywine. The directions we had weren’t clear as to exactly where to find the grave.
(Birmingham-Lafayette Cemetery. Photo by Robin. July 2007)
Eventually we stepped over the wall and made our way towards the meetinghouse.
(Birmingham-Lafayette Cemetery. Photo by Robin. July 2007)
Arriving at the Birmingham Meeting House
Posted: July 26, 2007 Filed under: Photographers and Other Photography-related People & Websites, politics, sabbatical, Summer, travel | Tags: Brandywine Battlefield, cemetery, Pennsylvania 3 CommentsA good portion of the last third of our driving tour was on Birmingham Road, a road well traveled by M on his way to and from work. It’s also the road we take when we go out for a country drive in the convertible, or at least take frequently on our way from one place to another if the road is on our way.
There’s a hill on Birmingham Road where we’ve stopped before to admire the view. Osborne Hill. It’s at the intersection of Birmingham Road and Country Club Road.
(Osborne Hill. Photo by Robin. June 2007)
It was on this hill that General Howe and the British troops stopped for a tea break before continuing on to battle with Washington’s troops.
The tour eventually led us to the Birmingham-Lafayette Cemetery. I like cemeteries. They’re very peaceful places. This one was no exception.
Way behind
Posted: July 25, 2007 Filed under: Local Tourists, Photography, politics, sabbatical, Summer, travel | Tags: Brandywine Battlefield, Pennsylvania 1 CommentI really need to get caught up here at the Bogs blog. M and I have been so busy that I might have to give up on providing detailed entries, post a few photos, and be done with it.
The problem with that is this has become my journal of our adventures. It’s nice to have the details to look back on, especially after a few years go by. Memories tend to get a little fuzzy around the edges, and around the details.
I guess I’d better get to it, then.
Back to the Brandywine Battlefield.
(Ring House from the back. Photo by Robin. July 2007)
The Ring House is known as Washington’s Headquarters. I don’t think I need to explain why. As with Lafayette’s Quarters, the person for whom the house is named only spent one night there. If you know anything about the Battle of Brandywine, you know that this was where George Washington more or less blundered, thinking the British would be crossing the Brandywine River at Chadd’s Ford. The British fooled him, went north, and outflanked Washington and his troops. By the time Washington figured it out, it was too late. The British won that battle, but as we all know, lost the war.
Brandywine Battlefield
Posted: July 23, 2007 Filed under: sabbatical, Summer, travel, Walking, weather | Tags: Brandywine Battlefield, Gilpin House, Pennsylvania 2 Comments
(On the road alongside the battlefield. Photo by Robin. July 2007)
On Friday, 20 July, the weather was so nice (for a change!) that we decided to explore the Brandywine Battlefield areas. Because the battle was so spread out, this encompasses quite a large bit of land around here. M has been driving past a lot of it as he’s discovered some of the back roads between West Chester and work. He’s found quite a few of the historical markers, and has studied information about the battle after finding the Brandywine Battlefield Historic Site website. (Pardon the seeming redundancy there, but it really isn’t.)
We started our tour at the most logical place: The Brandywine Battlefield Historic Site Museum, part of the park’s Visitor Center.
(Brandywine Battlefield Visitor’s Center. Photo by Robin. July 2007)
Admission was $5.00 each and that included a tour of Lafayette’s Quarters (which I’ll get to soon). The museum is a good place to start if you don’t know anything about the Battle of Brandywine. Since M and I have taken a keen interest in the local history, we already knew much of what is offered in the museum as far as the battle is concerned. The artifacts were interesting albeit a small collection.
Life in the Bogs 