WANGANUI COUPLE GIVE IMPRESSIONS OF U.K. AND CONTINENT

Wanganui Chronicle, 28 October 1950, Page 4

WANGANUI COUPLE GIVE IMPRESSIONS OF U.K. AND CONTINENT

Just returned from three years’ leisurely touring of the United Kingdom and the Continent, Mr and Mrs W. J. Robinson, of Wanganui, have a wealth of impressions of the countries they visited England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland, Eire, France, Spain, Italy, Switzerland and Bavaria.

The impressions they recall most vividly are of the beauty of the English countryside in spring, the festive atmosphere of English cities and towns at Christmas, the picturesque Irish coast, the Passion Play at Oberammagau, scenes in the Bavarian Alps and the Tyrol, a drive from Nice to Paris through brightly autumn-colour-ed vineyards and a visit to Hitler’s “Eagle’s Nest” hide-out, high in the Bavarian Alps. These were representative of the wide range of experiences Mr and Mrs Robinson could call to mind when interviewed yesterday. Highlighting their stay in London at the beginning of their holiday was a series of visits to concerts by Colin Horsley. They heard him play at the Albert Hall and in “Prom” concerts, [.ater. also, the-’-’ \Wted Mr Horsley at his flat, and Mrs Robinson, “He's a grand cook.”

There was a I’’?:icndous interest in music in England, they found. To be sure of securing scats for any concert it was necessary to make bookings at least two months ahead and. sometimes, even as much as five months.

Mr and Mrs Robinson also attended a Buckingham Palace garden party, the Royal Silver Wedding at St. Paul’s and two recent ions for members of the Royal Family. Representing Wanganui, Mrs Robinson was also one of the six New Zealand members of the Victoria League presented to the Queen when the League’s gift of blankets was handed over. Describing life in London. Mrs Robinson said: “Workers in New Zealand don’t realise how well off they are. With long travelling to and from work, English workers have little home life, social life and sport, and have to have many of their meals in snack bars.”

Despite their hardships, and what they suffered during the war. the peonle still possessed great spirit. Thev were confident of their country’s ability to weather any s*.orm. They were also well behaved and would wait patiently in long queues to purchase foodstuffs, without anyone trying to

Mr and Mrs Robinson met with warm hospitality in England, especially from the Victoria League which showed great kindness to visitors and colonial students. Similar hospitality was also experienced in Eire, although the travellers were impressed by the bitter feeling between Northern Ireland and Eire and the thoroughness of the Customs authorities at the border. New Zealanders were well received throughout the United Kingdom, Mr and Mrs Robinson found. Some people were remarkably ignorant of the Dominion, however. Warm praise of New Zealand was forthcoming from a former Governor-General, Lord Bledisloe, whom the Robinsons met. “He still calls the country the ‘little gem of the Pacific,’ ” stated Mrs Robinson. In the course of their tour of England, Mr and Mrs Robinson visited the Midlands industrial area, which they said, gives an awe-inspiring impression of England’s coal wealth. The cities were clouded by smoke and soot from the huge factory chimneys. In these industrial centres it was interesting to reflect on the fact that even electric power was generated through the us..? of coal in the United Kingdom, they said. VISIT TO CONTINENT. Crossing to the Continent, Mr and Mrs Robinson toured through France to Spain. Their main impressions of the latter country were the intense cultivation and the extreme poverty of large sections of the community. The ornate architecture of the Spanish churches and cathedrals also attracted their interest. Mr and Mrs Robinson also visited Oberammergau in Bavaria for the wold-fa nous Passion Play, which was being revived after a lapse of 16 years. There, amidst an audience of about 6000 persons from various countries, they found themselves seated just in front of a fellow New Zealander, whom they knew. While in Bavaria, the Robinsons visited Berchtesgaden, a small village near Salzburg, and the site of Hitler’s “Eagle’s Nest.” Perched on the edge of a sheer precipice, this hide-out, which is now’ an American-owned afternoon tea shop, is reached only by droving up a narrow’ tortuous road, then passing through a 400-foot steellined tunnel to a 400-foot high steel lined lift shaft. The intense cultivate / of all available land impressed Mr * id Mie Robinson most in Italy. Vir. s wen* trained over trees in the fields and vegetables grown underncatth them to make full use of the ground. Rome’s traffic was nerve-wracking, Mrs Robinson stated. “Absolutely uncontrolled,’’ it was even worse than that in Paris, she claimed. Mr and Mrs Robinson did not have the same personal contact v/ith people in Europe as in England, but they found a greater proportion of Europeans could speak English tnan they ■ found Englishmen who could speak foreign languages. Foreigneis wore ■ swarming into England at present, ' they said, and often on a bus it was 1 common tc hoar more than half of the passengers conversing in foreign languages. For all the hospitality they received ’ and the places they visited, Mr and ’ Mrs Robinson expressed pleasure at being i omc. They reiterated how fortunate people were in New' Zoa- ' land, having ample opportunity for recreation, and home and social liie. ■ People in the largo cities overseas I wer.? excluded from these.’ things, , they said.