400th Anniversary of the Departure of the Mayflower.
Four hundred years ago, on the 16th September 1620, at last the voyage would begin. Two ships, the Speedwell and the Mayflower had been commissioned and left Leyden in Holland for Dartmouth and Plymouth where additional passengers and supplies were loaded on board. Twice both ships set out to sea, but twice they returned after only a few hundred miles. Finally, the Speedwell was pronounce un-seaworthy and was abandoned, all embarked on the Mayflower.
Departure was late; the seasons ahead would be severe. Over the next six
months half would perish through sickness. But those who survived
established the first colony that would lay the foundations to a new nation.
As a child of the '50s, growing up on a council estate in Southend-on-Sea, the Green Belt was at my front door. It was the boundary that kept developers out, but not the inhabitants. Rebel's lane was the gateway, winding its way from the end of Archer Close through farmland into rural pastures, rivers, woods, brickworks, WWII bunkers and into the adventures of young minds. This website is simply a record of my adventures both of the past, as I remember them, as well as of the present. It is not a blog for discussion, but positive feedback through e-mail is welcome.
Steve Petchey
This weeks Adventures of the MIND