The new Mayflower ship will be floated in Essex during 2015 and will sail to America on her maiden voyage at the end of 2016.

BBC: Cornish trees for replica of the Mayflower

Even more thrilling to those with a sense of history was a visit to Southhampton, where a U.S. Army detachment stood at attention before the pier where the old freighter, Mayflower, was fitted out for her trans-Atlantic voyage.

WSJ: Thomas Fleming: An English Thanksgiving, 1942

Andrew's Church, where some of the Mayflower's passengers prayed before they began their 3, 000-mile voyage.

WSJ: Thomas Fleming: An English Thanksgiving, 1942