efog-blog
Oxfordshire and The Ridgeway
On April Fool’s Day 2022 - a Friday - three of us (Brian, Dave and Lynne) set out to visit the White Horse Hill in Oxfordshire. It was nice enough but the best view seemed to be from the road. On to Wantage where Eileen, Marian and Val joined us to stay for the weekend at the Court Hill Centre.
The Centre was a lovely looking place and the host was welcoming. We had the place to ourselves after the tearoom closed, apart from some DOE’ers (Duke of Edinburgh Award entrants) who were camping (and freezing at night). The kitchen, showers and toilets were only for us and we ate in the tearoom. Strangely, we all stayed at one table and left the vast expanse of the tearoom untouched. Driving out to Wantage for an evening meal Brian managed to forget that Lynne was a passenger but Eileen rescued her. The 'House of Spice' was selected and immediately Val had an argument with the waiter. The rest of us carefully examined our meals after that.
On Saturday we set off on the Ridgeway Trail – see the photo of us at the start. It was warm and clothes were soon removed. The clothes were replaced when snow started to fall! The trail is on chalk which is very slippery when damp and also clings to your shoes. Passing several DOE’ers and cyclists we reached the White Horse (again, for three of us). This time we found better angles to see the horse but it was spoilt by a family whose four children were playing on the horse and throwing the chalk everywhere. A word from Marian soon stopped that. We had left Brian’s car at the National trust car park and climbed in for the journey back.
On Sunday we did a circular walk around Longcot and Uffington. We had an interesting stop at the church of St Mary the Virgin, Longcot which had only opened today after a £186,000 upgrade. The walk was across several open flat fields and underneath the busy Great Western Railway line. Lunch was at the Fox and Hounds in Uffington, near to a cottage with a blue plaque in memory of John Betjeman. The weather now became distinctly cold and the stiles became progressively tougher as we walked back across more open flat fields. There was no stile at the end, merely some fence rails which we clambered over with difficulty. This evening we ate in Wildwood’s in Wantage. It was virtually empty, which apparently is the norm for Sunday night in Wantage.
On Monday we toured Wantage, finding a delightful museum and the John Betjeman Millennium Park. After a pleasant couple of hours we left to go to Basildon Park, a National Trust property near Reading. Once again the café service was slow, which now seems to be the norm for NT cafes. It is the coffees that slow things down. The place itself was nice, although covid had restricted the amount we could see. The gardens were just coming out for Spring and will look lovely in a month.
Then it was off to the M4 and home.
Brian U. 6th April 2022
Greensted Church and Ongar
A walk from Bayford
On a dull Sunday 13th March, seven of us set off from Bayford, near Hertford, for an 8.3 mile walk recommended by the O.S.
The route was well marked and the local landowners strident notices were carefully observed. Spring is definitely in the air and all round the route we could hear the chiffchaffs making their distinctive call. It seemed to me that the route was constantly ascending but the group ignored the panted complaints from the back. Eileen was setting the pace and that was the way it was going to be!
I noticed the usual English habit of having unusual place names as we passed near Great Stockings. Three or four miles into the walk we passed a church at midday and a couple of us confessed that we did count the number of chimes, just to check.
The Georgian folly, Stratton’s Tower, was passed by and I took the opportunity to stop, get my breath back and take a photo. Essendon was reached and we turned for home. We stopped at The Five Horseshoes in Little Berkhamsted for a drink – Greene King IPA for me if you want to know – and the pub were very good as we apologised for our boots. Eileen had promised mud and there certainly had been some boggy stretches but we had jumped in puddles and scraped carefully so we didn’t make much mess.
It was after our stop that the directions seemed to be a bit confusing, around the Bucks Alley area, and we had to operate on the basis that if in doubt, keep going straight ahead. It worked. At last I found some downhill stretches and bounded on, energy restored – or was it the IPA? We eventually arrived back in Bayford, tired and hungry, the walk having taken about five hours.
Brian U. 14th March 2022
A visit to Valentines Mansion
A chilly but sunny Sunday 27th February 2022 saw a number of us turn up at Valentines Mansion in Valentines Park to be given a tour round the property by Eleanor.
This building, originally built around 1696 for the widow of the Archbishop of Canterbury, was modified by various owners over the years and eventually acquired by the council in 1912. Eleanor gave us her usual informative talk (she volunteers there and has done since the Friends took over its management), spiced with her usual nuggets, this time being the origin of the expression “daylight robbery”.
We had a short walk around the immediate grounds, admired the ornamental lake and settled down to have a drink and snack at the Gardener’s Cottage Café. Eleanor promised us the café garden would be a suntrap and so it proved. What a little treasure virtually on our doorsteps!
The photo is outside the front of the house with its big porch area.
Brian U. 27th Februry 2022
Quiz for St Clare Hospice
Sue arranged for 10 of us to take part in a quiz on behalf of the St Clare Hospice, to be held at Theydon Bois village hall on Saturday 26th February 2022. Looking at the assembled team it was difficult to think it could be any stronger. I must confess I worried who Pam might have met on the way to the hall (we all remember the last occasion) but she turned up alone.
After 3 rounds we were 4th (out of 15), a couple of points behind the leaders. We were all struggling to understand some of the questions due to the unique pronunciation of the caller and it seemed that other tables were in the same boat. Macgillycuddy’s Reeks caused endless entertainment as various tables made the caller repeat it and spell it time and again before he was understood. Gradually our immediate competitors fell away until only one table was ahead. And that was how it remained, we came second by one point.
All the way home the talk in my left ear from she who must be obeyed was how we could have eliminated this or that mistake and thus secured the win. Still, second is not bad, 4 of the table won raffle prizes and St Clare Hospice made several hundred pounds to assist in their good work. A good evening’s entertainment.
Brian U. 27th February 2022