Blogs from Hertfordshire, England, United Kingdom, Europe

You don't turn seventy every year, thank goodness, and really we could have done without it this year, but time is of the essence and our essence this year is ageing. A slightly musty, musky scent with a hint of nostalgia. Our daughters thought to remind us of what it was like to be young and lively in the 70s and planned an extravaganza with friends and family gathering at the party house in St Albans. The request was for 70s attire and the result was hilarious, Graeme and I providing most of the hilarity if truth be told. It was so lovely that my oldest and dearest school friend made the journey from Peterborough. The daughter of another old friend made it down from Edinburgh! One daughter and husband flew from Lisbon especially, and although ... read more

We can’t remember the last time we visited Ashridge Estate, northwest outskirts of London. We decided to do trekking course on 23 October 2020. We took the train from Euston for Tring. We saw rain falling, wet platforms from the window on the way to the destination. As we left Tring station, we crossed over the road to start the trekking course. There were signposts for Aldbury, Bridgewater Tower, and Ivinghoe. In contrast to the weather forecast I’d heard from the previous day, the thick clouds came round Ashridge in the lunchtime and it started raining while walking towards Aldbury village. Mark put up umbrella and I put up my scarf on my head. Nevertheless, the sight was quite clear, and while approaching Aldbury, we could see the lush hills with autumnal coloured leaves and Bridgewater ... read more

Well Gabby got the all clear . She is serviced for another year and her habitation check has been completed . We recieved no phone calls to say there were any problems but then we recieved nothing to say she was ready so we headed back with some anticipation. There was no sign of our girl when we arrived and the service guy was busy with a couple who were taking over all his time. Asking what seemed like inane questions, filling in their little exercise book when all we wanted to do was go home. It will take some time to get Gabby back to shipshape and bristol fashion ready for the off . We pass some time looking at new Globecars. Not that we intend to buy a new one. We would never recoup ... read more

Woolly says – It’s amazing what a good night’s sleep can do and feeling that my body clock had adjusted somewhat I was eager to take up Nanty Carys’s suggestion of exploring some of the villages in the area. As we drove through the leafy countryside it still felt strange to see fields of rape seed and animals, Jo and I both miss the wandering cows of India and the wonderful elephants. Britain though has some of the most beautiful vistas you can find and as the car pulled up next to the village green, I remembered how quaint the country is. There has been a settlement in Finchingfield since historical records of the area began and the village had been recorded in the Domesday Book as Phincingfelda, a name that probably means 'the land cleared ... read more

The A1 rushes by not a couple of miles from the sea of tranquillity that is Letchworth. Letchworth is the world’s first Garden City, created as a reaction to and a solution for the squalor and poverty of urban life in Victorian Britain in the late 1800s. Letchworth was the brainchild of Ebenezer Howard, the visionary Victorian social reformer who was inspired by the new towns being built for their workers by such as Unilever, Cadburys and Rowntrees. The developments at Port Sunlight, Bournville and in York prompted his writings to turn into reality in a bid to halt the rush of workers from the country to the miserable fate that awaited many in London. Howards’s book, “Tomorrow: A Peaceful Path to Reform”, was published in 1898 and the first Garden City Association conference was held ... read more