To tell you the truth, it was nice to have five days away from blogging.
The rental house was perfect - clean and well-maintained and peacefully located on the site of what was once Park Farm - connected with the Hungerford Park Estate. Once a grand house was at the heart of the parkland but that was demolished in the fifties I believe. An interesting remaining feature is the old walled kitchen garden that is surprisingly still cultivated and contains a wide range of healthy plants.
One day I came across the Polish gardener who has put his heart and soul into the garden over the last five years. It now operates as a wedding venue. There are tables and chairs and a sail-like awning where the hot houses once stood.
Hungerford was just a mile away. Perhaps I am a little ghoulish but I hoped to pay homage to the dead. Sixteen people killed on a bright August day in 1987. Surely there would be a fitting memorial and evidence of continuing condolences.
In the parish church the names of the dead were on a modern glass partition beside the vestry door but you could have easily peeled those names off. It was nothing special. Then in another neighbourhood, we parked Butch near Hungerford Town football ground in order to visit the memorial garden.
To my surprise, the remembrance of the slaughtered sixteen was incidental - tagged on to a brick gatepost with the flower-less garden beyond principally being a tribute to townsfolk who died in World War II.
We looked after Zach for three nights as the wedding celebrations proceeded. He seemed magnetised by his grandma but suspicious of the monster known as "Grandpa". Still, he was as good as gold.
Zach and his parents returned to London on Sunday afternoon, leaving Shirley and I with two nights and one and a half days to ourselves. We had Sunday dinner in "The Dundas Arms" in Kintbury and Monday lunch in "The Cobrizo Lounge" in Newbury. Monday evening's dinner was in "The John O'Gaunt Inn" back in Hungerford.
We also got to visit the church where the wedding had taken place and climbed to Combe Gibbet on Gallows Down where a tall wooden gibbet reminds all passers-by of capital punishment. Near there, I also climbed over a field gate to reach the highest point in southeastern England - Walbury Hill.
More of this kind of stuff tomorrow.
Combe Gibbet
sounds like a good mix of break and activity.... and yes, a break from blogging can also refresh the taste for it.... glad you had a good time and glad you're back with tales of travels.
ReplyDeleteIt's not Scarborough or even Blackpool but I can recommend West Berkshire for a nice break - another kind of England - like a foreign land in some ways.
DeleteI would love to see some photos of that walled kitchen garden YP. Please!!
ReplyDeleteSadly, I have not got a good general picture of the walled garden Dave but I will try.
DeleteWelcome back, you were missed.
ReplyDeleteYes. I ducked when Michael Ryan aimed at me.
DeleteSounds like a much-needed getaway!
ReplyDeleteYes - with no health appointments getting in the way.
DeleteGlad all went well and you were happy with your accomodation. Odd that the sixteen people have no more permament or prominent commemorative plaque or anything else in their memory.
ReplyDeleteYou captured Combe Gibbet against the backdrop of a rather dramatic sky, as befits its gruesome history.
Why was it a relief being away from blogger? It‘s not mandatory to blog or comment on other people‘s blogs every day… just go at your own pace, as you do when you‘re out walking.
I know it's not mandatory but gradually my blogpost output increased and part of me wishes to keep it that way - churning out my stuff like a sausage machine.
DeleteI hope you found your break relaxing ... apart from being the "monster grandpa".
ReplyDeleteWhen I have seen him before he has always been cuddly with me. Maybe it was my after shave.
DeleteI just read up about the Hungerford massacre, horrific. The hardest part for people, especially me, is the why. Why did he do it? Believing that if we knew why, we could prevent it, although I doubt that.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you and Shirley got a change to relax, and visit with your grandson. I feel the same way about blogging sometimes. I want to stop, but sometimes I just need to write, and I like the connections I have to people around the world. And sometimes it feels like too much. A dilemma indeed.
You are right. There are ups and downs but we can't blame blogging for what Michael Ryan did that sunny morning in Berkshire as blogging did not exist in 1987.
DeleteSometimes yes, you absolutely have to step away from blogging. The writing never feels like a burden to me but sometimes answering comments and leaving comments on other blogs is just tiring. I do like the sense of community it creates but I sometimes wonder- why do we need this part of it? But of course we do.
ReplyDeleteSounds like you had a very good time and I'm glad that Zach got more familiar with you and Shirley. It's important.
And I too would love to see a few pictures of the walled garden.
Blogging can be very time-consuming. If it was just about creating blogposts, the process would be much more manageable.
DeleteGibbers were grisly. I would not recommend reading up about what happened to the bodies.
ReplyDeleteYes - I know. Their bodies were left hanging for weeks - partly as a reminder to others of the possible consequence of law-breaking. Crows did not complain.
DeleteWelcome home! I know nothing about that tragedy, so I'll have to count on Wikipedia to inform me.
ReplyDeleteThere had been a mass killing in Melbourne, Australia just a few days earlier and that had been on the TV news.
DeleteA nice mix of grandchildren, dining, quiet times and things of interest to see.
ReplyDeleteWho needs to fly to The Mediterranean at great expense?
DeleteIt's fun to go away and see many different things. And much better if grandchildren are involved.
ReplyDeleteBeing somewhere different - I lap it up and it was lovely to see how Zachary is getting along.
DeleteGlad you had a nice break with your grandson and also from blogging. I couldnt blog every day like you do. Once a week is enough for me.
ReplyDeleteWhen I first started blogging I rarely posted twice a week but gradually the momentum took me like a wave.
DeleteThe Gibbet is a stark reminder of days of yore. The Forge looks nice.
ReplyDeleteWorse than the gibbet, miscreants could be transported to Australia!
DeleteYou both had a good break in a different part of the country. I remember that terrible event in Newbury, the police telling everyone to stay at home through the afternoon. But I also remember the road that was built and all the protesting. Especially two horses that galloped into the situation and confronted the police horses. 'The Wild Horses of Newbury'.
ReplyDeleteLooks and sounds like a nice break, and we all need a break from blogging every now and again.
ReplyDeleteCombe Gibbet is an interesting location. I remember standing near there a few years ago and looking down on birds flying below me - a strange sensation.
ReplyDelete