Living in Burke County, USA




Mike Bickley, at left, enjoys a beverage in Peru in 1987.

Mike Bickley, at left, enjoys a beverage in Peru in 1987.

This is part 1 of a series of stories involving interviews with naturalized citizens who reside in Burke County.

Mike Bickley and Tanis Mobley are two British natives (now Burke County residents) with very different stories.

“Don’t ask me about the Royal family,” Mike said. “Americans can tell you about the last 15 monarchs, while I can name a few, but not in order. We were never really taught that in school.”

In contrast, Tanis Mobley considers herself a royalist.

“If you think about it, if you took the royals out of England, how many tourists would you get to spend a lot of money?” she asked.

Mike grew up in Stafford, England, a market town in Staffordshire, situated in the West Midlands region of the country. When he was 14, his family moved to Market Drayton, a town about the size of Waynesboro located close to the Cheshire and Staffordshire border. When comparing England to the U.S., there was a minimal difference in the quality of life growing up.

Tanis Mobley, owner of Superior Cleaners, just leased the business out in April.

Tanis Mobley, owner of Superior Cleaners, just leased the business out in April.

A few blocks away in Waynesboro lives Tanis. She was born in Essex, a county in southeast England, situated between London and the North Sea. Born in 1937, her family resided there until WWII.

“We had to move because of the proximity to France,” Tanis said and recalled gazing at a red sky as the docks of London were bombed. She also remembers walking to school and seeing two houses where there used to be three.

Her family moved to the north side of London before she later moved 65 miles away from London, to Wellingborough where she finished high school.

Tanis relocated to the United States after marrying a U.S. soldier. Initially though, the couple lived in Paris, France.

“I was 21 years old and living in Paris, can you imagine?” she asked. “I loved it.”

Now, she has resided in Waynesboro since 1956. After she started a family, she decided to give up her English citizenship in 1965, for the sake of her American-born children.

Mike left his homeland when he was 20 years old; pointing out that he has actually lived in the United States longer than he lived in England. He has lived in Waynesboro for 22 years.

Mike’s first adventure as an adult landed him in Norway. He then journeyed to an archeological dig in Peru for six months. After that, he spent approximately seven months in the Asian country of Nepal, where in 1987 he assisted in organizing the Everest Marathon, an annual event which begins at the Mt. Everest Base Camp. It is widely held as one of the highest and toughest races in the world.

He ended up in Cairo, Egypt after a surveying company asked him to fill in while a manager went home for Christmas.

“He left for Christmas and never came back,” Mike said laughing. “So, I stayed out there for almost six years. It’s very hot, very dusty and incredibly noisy, but I had the biggest time, it was a blast.”

Egyptian people are the funniest and most laid-back people he has ever worked with.

“They see the funny side of everything,” he recalled.

After Egypt, Mike worked in Persian Gulf countries until he eventually ended up in Cape Town, one of South Africa’s three capital cities. He conducted mapping and survey work, assisting others who searched for diamonds. Cape Town left Mike with a lasting impression of paradise-type weather, great seafood and its diverse multi-national population. As the country currently experiences protests and strikes over rising fuel costs, it was safer then than it is right now, Mike said. Still, he witnessed a time period forever etched in history books.

“We were there when they let Nelson Mandela out and he got voted in as president,” Mike said. “So, the whole country was suddenly changed.”

Finally, Mike relocated to the United States, stopping first in Denver, but about five years later, moving to Waynesboro. Business-wise, The Bird Dog Capital has afforded him every opportunity that living in a large city could offer. Mike became a U.S. Citizen during the height of the pandemic, although he has worked, paid taxes and lived in America for 27 years.

“I wanted to vote,” he said of obtaining the citizen status. “Your citizenship governs how you can claim your social security. If you are not a citizen and not a resident here, you lose all that money.”

The act of gaining citizenship required that he study American history, government structure and geography, subjects many natural-born citizens might not easily recall. There were several interviews that took place, besides a DNA swab. A change in legislature made it possible to maintain dual citizenship.

Tanis has done her share of traveling as well. She has visited every state in the United States except Kansas and Nebraska. Additionally, she has visited Ireland, Scotland, Mexico, Canada, Switzerland and South Korea.

Mike and Tanis both enjoy traveling back to their birth country, though Tanis hasn’t been back since before the pandemic.

“I enjoy going back, it’s very expensive though.” Mike said and pointed out that Brits are paying as high as $10 per gallon for gasoline. However, for the man who seems to possess a bit of wanderlust, the U.S. offers him an array of varying environments.

“This country is so big, you have everything,” he said. “If you get sick of living in the south, you can go out west to the mountains or wander around the dessert and get burnt to a crisp. You can go to Denver, 18,000 feet and ski in July. You can do anything you want to do here.”

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