Oddity of the Week: Forever England
Created | Updated Nov 30, 2014
No, we don't know if they play rugger there.
Forever England: A Bit of Rugby in Tennessee
Where can you go to see a bit of Victorian England? Well, England, of course. But what if you're in the US? You can take a short trip from Nashville, Tennessee, home of the Parthenon and country music, and visit historic Rugby, Tennessee. Back in the 1880s, Thomas Hughes and his friends set up a utopian community there. Its object was to preserve English values and provide opportunities for younger sons of good families.
Farming red clay turned out to be harder than it looked, as my ancestors could have told them. But the place is still there, and open to visitors. From the photos, it looks like a charming addition to what is already a beautiful state. Drop in for tea, and they'll tell you all about it. The accents might be strange, but you could find many things familiar there.
