Illegal Alien

[Martin Hash]

I always told my wife, Gwynne, that I wanted to live overseas. She knew me well enough to warn that unless I had something to do, it wasn't going to work, so when I mentioned the possibility of going to Medical School in Great Britain at Northumbria University in venerable old Newcastle (where the “new” castle is from the 12th Century), she was all for it, and we started preparing for our shared quest.

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Visas are always important: I got a Student Visa, and though I inquired with the school about a Dependent visa for Gwynne, I was told she didn't need one, being my wife & all, but we travel a lot, and I wanted to make sure no caveat existed, so I pursued the Dependent visa questions until being told, unequivocally, no, she did NOT need a visa, so off we went to Great Britain, happily ever after.

BUT, turns out the law had been changed and went into effect two days before we got there. Now, it seemed, a Dependent visa would be required. Luckily, a 6 month Guest visa for Gwynne would have to do until we could get things straightened out, but we had to do it from home, so we went home at Christmas to see the kids and do visa stuff. Little did we know...

After sending her passport and $350 to the New York British embassy, it hadn't come back by the time my new semester started, so I went back to Newcastle, and Gwynne would come over when the smoke cleared. (We lost $1000 on her non-refundable airfare: Strike One.) Turns out, getting Gwynne a visa was a no-go. In fact, she had to demand her passport back after three months & numerous phone-calls. However, for our money, she did get a nice stamp denying her entrance into Britain. (Strike Two.) Gwynne, it seemed, would not be finishing Medical School with me.

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It's lonely in Newcastle, despite the short, short skirts, sheer leggings & black leather worn by all the girls lined up for the crowded nightclubs on weekends. (Geordie girls rule!) I plotted with Gwynne to smuggle her in. The Internet is awash with strategies, such as hiding in the train bathroom then getting out at an unmonitored side station, or sneaking through the Chunnel. Unfortunately, the articles were somewhat dated and success seemed unlikely, and though Gwynne was game to give it shot, I could hear the reluctance in her voice: jail seemed a tough option.

But we wouldn't give up, and like all good things that come to those who wait, magic occurred. A fellow student of mine was telling me his disappointment that during him & his new bride's honeymoon in England before he started Med School, the first time they'd either ever been out of Canada, they didn't get any stamps in their passports. My ears immediately went up: “tell me, how did that happen?” I asked.

Turns out, they took a plane-flight from North America through Dublin then transferred to a domestic flight into Newcastle, and that particular combination missed Passport Control. “Ho! Ho! Ho!” I said to him, enthusiastically, after his story. He seemed a little surprised at my excitement. I left him & immediately called Gwynne and told her the plan. She agreed to give it a try, and bought Round-trip plane tickets to Dublin, and reserved a hostel for a week there as cover.

We travel a lot, and Gwynne was wary not to be caught. When she arrived in Dublin, she said she was a tourist and went through Passport Control into the city. The Immigration officer immediately saw the stamp barring her entry into Great Britain, and queried her about it.
“Do you plan to visit England?” he asked, non-nonchalantly.
“No,” she said, she was going to visit Dublin.
But Immigration officers are a suspicious lot, and he called his counterpart in Great Britain before telling her she would have to wait in Quarantine. She was there until the end of the day, when the Immigration officer finally saw her again.
“I'm sorry you had to wait,” he apologized, then immediately jumped in: “You know, you can't enter Great Britain.”
“I know,” Gwynne answered innocently.
The Immigration officer called his counterpart a second time. They talked.
“Do you have a Round-trip ticket from Dublin?” he asked Gwynne while still on the phone.
She gave it to him.
He said something else on the phone.
“Do you have a reservation in Dublin?”
Gwynne gave him that.
The officer affirmed she had proof of her tourist intentions into the phone, listened a while more, got irritated, and finally said, “This is Ireland, we do as we please here, thank you,” and hung up. He gave Gwynne's passport back to her, smiled, said “You know you can't go to Great Britain.”
“I know.”
“Who are you going to see?” he asked.
“My husband.”
“You can get to the Domestic Terminal on the shuttle bus,” he said, “Thank you for visiting Dublin.”
Gwynne smiled: “I really enjoyed my time here,” she said. (Home run.)

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[Montegriffo]

(where the “new” castle is 1200 years old)

12th century not 1200 years old. Construction on the current castle started in the mid 1170's.
The wooden motte and bailey castle which gave the city it's name was built in 1080 on the site of a Roman fort hence ''new'' castle.

Proper castle building didn't start in England until after the Norman invasion, the Ancient Britons built hill forts which were defensive mounds of concentric circles made from ditches with wooden walls. The Anglo Saxon Immigrants did not build or reuse them in Southern Britain where they had their stronghold although in the North and West where Iron age cultural links remained they continued to use them.

A few stone forts reusing ancient hill fort sites in post Roman early medieval Britain were built with Tintagel in Cornwall being the most famous (the mythical home of King Arthur) but the real full size castles are post 1066. My local Norwich castle was started in 1067 and is one of the earliest.

[Martin Hash]

(where the “new” castle is 1200 years old)

12th century not 1200 years old. Construction started in the mid 1170's.

Proper castle building didn't start in England until after the Norman invasion, the Ancient Britons built hill forts which were defensive mounds of concentric circles made from ditches with wooden walls. The Anglo Saxon Immigrants did not build or reuse them in Southern Britain where they had their stronghold although in the North and West where Iron age cultural links remained they continued to use them.
A few stone forts reusing ancient hill fort sites in post Roman early medieval Britain were built with Tintagel in Cornwall being the most famous (the mythical home of King Arthur) but the real full size castles are post 1066. My local Norwich castle was started in 1067 and is one of the earliest.

Got it. Thanx.

[Montegriffo]

The stone castle you would have visited is the new, new castle.


Note the square towers of the keep which were early Norman design and replaced by the much stronger and harder to undermine round towers of the later castles of Edward I, copied from the crusader castles of the Holy land.