Here I sit in what I can only describe as the most English
of English country gardens.
We are at the home of some friends of ours, Elizabeth and David
(who is in Gambia, working) as I write.
I first met this couple who are my parents age, nearly
thirty years ago whilst cycle touring with Julia on our first tour. She wanted
me to meet the couple she had lived with when, at nineteen, she had left New
Zealand on her O.E. and arrived in
England,found some work but needed a place to stay so Julia’s auntie had
suggested that she may want to contact a lady she used to work with and she
ended up living with the Peel family for the next year.
Elizabeth and David live in the heart of the Ashdown Forest.
If you think you may have heard the name, it is where A.A.Milne, wrote of
Winnie the Pooh. Just down the lane from
here is Pooh bridge where he played Pooh sticks. Anyone not familiar should
read these novels, especially to the kids.
Today, Elizabeth hosted a “garden party”. A gathering of friends from her “April Club “
on her back lawn. As I write this piece I am sitting under the shade of one of
the trees on that lawn. It is a
beautiful early summers day, 7.30pm. The sun is still high in the sky and it
has been an enjoyable day. This eight
acre property includes over my right shoulder, a top meadow.
Here the deer from the forest surrounding the
house come to graze. They stand quietly in the grass glancing up once in a
while to make sure they’re not in danger, whilst chewing away contentedly.
It is completely natural to them. Earlier today as Julia and
I walked Millie the dog up the lane, six deer walked down the same lane toward
us. As we moved closer, they casually jumped through the hedge and began
wandering the field.
The side and front meadows contain deer, pheasants, quails,
rabbits, squirrels and a host of bird life and you can picture the stories as
you sit.
The people we met today ranged from a solo mum, with three
kids aged between five and ten. Her husband had died of cancer shortly before
the youngest was born but she has done a great job with the kids.
Spoke to one of London’s top barristers and his wife Kate,
lovely folk.
Mary from Bradford in the North West and Lorna from Jamaica,
all now resident in the area.
It’s the kind of place you want to explore. Unlimited woods,
great for kids and adults alike.
If you loved your horses, this is paradise. Clip clopping
down endless lanes, occasionally meeting the odd car, who automatically slows
down in consideration of horses, dogs and humans.
With only a couple of days cycling left in England it has been a great way to remember the country at its very best and the weather today was perfect.
With only a couple of days cycling left in England it has been a great way to remember the country at its very best and the weather today was perfect.
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| Returning with Millie after a walk |
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