Living in Los Angeles, the city of Compton is a place to avoid at all costs. In England, Compton is a very different sort of place. It's beautiful, quaint and most important, safe! We took a drive to Compton after visiting the Bucklebury Farm Park, to see the church where Dan was christened. As always, the drive in the countryside was very picturesque.

We pulled up to the Parish of St. Mary and St. Nicholas and we were lucky to find the church doors open. With the exception of a woman cleaning, we were alone in the old church. 

The church has been around since the middle ages and although it has undergone some reconstruction for safety concerns, most of the original architecture has been left intact, including the reusing of much of the original material when rebuilding.

We went inside to try to find Dan's name on a list of children that have been christened in the parish. Until recently, his name has been on the wall. Sadly, we discovered that he has been bumped off the list due to too many births. Great, another thing to make us feel old!

I took a few pictures in the graveyard adjacent to the church. The grass was lush green and there were some very old plots. 

Horses were grazing on the property next to the church. One friendly horse came over to say hello. 

We were in race horse country and the way back, Dan drove us down a bumpy, muddy road, so that we could check out the downs. Unfortunately, it was the wrong time of the year to see the horses running, but the landscape was still gorgeous.