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Published: September 14th 2008
Kelly and Allan Holbrook
Informal picture of bridesmaids and wedding party men(P)
Upon touchdown at Heathrow (thankfully not Terminal 5!), we took a deep breath of good old British air once again and hopped on the bus to
West Drayton, a mere 10 minutes away round the houses of Sipson, where many a resident had displayed in their front window ‘No Third Runway’ in defiance of Heathrow’s ever-expanding development plans. Once again it made me think of my grandparents who in the 1950s were one of the first families to move from the Big Smoke (White City) to Langley ‘village’, now just five minutes away from the world’s busiest airport. My Nan would often reminisce about the days “when Heathrow was no more than fields of daffodils…”!!
Sorry to say, my
great-uncle Michael left us back in April at the grand old age of 89 but we have many great memories of time with him at his home and on trips to visit ‘the family’ in Ireland (along with my granddad, he was one of 11 children!). Michael was pretty hardcore during one trip back home (a.k.a.
Family dinner
Paula, Dad, sister Katie and husband Goshi, Langley Ireland) - one evening, after initially refusing but soon after deciding to head with us to the pub after all, ultimately he couldn’t understand why the rest of us were talking of heading home “so early”…at 3a.m.!!!
We were charged with sorting and clearing his house, hence the direct bus trip from the airport to get started and prompting an ‘every second counts’ attitude for the first few days of our trip before heading up north. Our time was spent in a whirlwind of productivity, from meetings with tradesmen and estate agents, hiring a van and trips to charity shops and the tip (now officially name ‘Recycling Centre’). These chores were interspersed with a pleasant catch-up with
Katie & Goshi (my sister and brother-in-law) and
Dad over a good old roast dinner, and a grand
Brick Lane Curry Get-Together (No.2), and from where I was sitting a jolly good time was had by all. A BIG thanks to all who made it, especially Huw who travelled all the way from the Wirral. As for the rest of you, you know who you are!
Friday afternoon saw us enjoy an unexpectedly smooth drive round the M25 to Peterborough-ish to
Hosts with the most
Simon & Jackie's, nr. Peterborough stay
chez Simon & Jackie, where the hospitality was second-to-none. The drive was later in the day than we intended but meant that we got to watch a lovely swirly sunset through the Cambridgeshire countryside on the way to their village. (Nick notes that we must set a date for a return trip, not least because he spotted the sit-upon lawn mower in the garage which looked like the most fun you could have while cutting the grass).
Saturday saw another smooth journey still north to our old haunt,
Durham. A place close to our hearts as former students there, we had upgraded in the accommodation stakes from Grey College rooms to the Travelodge (which, located in a converted railway station building, I am pleased to say exceeded expectations). Later we even relocated to the Castle’s sleeping quarters - la! Why traipse all the way up to Durham? I hear you cry. Why, for
The Marriage of Allan & Kelly, no less.
We had a great couple of days over the bank holiday weekend before the wedding. On Saturday, there were a few grey clouds (
“skies are grey, skies are grey”) but not to worry as that night
we were altogether for a meal, then on Sunday we had lunch with Cam and Elly, the weather being so good that we walked around central Durham and found a street that we’d never walked around, lined with centuries-old townhouses and a hilly set of allotments, rounded off with an outside drink near the River Wear with Louise, Pete and Prime, and finished the evening together again in the legendary pub
The Court Inn, famous for tasty food and generous servings.
The following morning was the big day. Four blokes had the honour of official duties (in addition to Allan!): Andrew Prime, Nick, Kevin and Simon, meeting for a stiff drink in Allan’s room before the church service. It was a lovely ceremony in which both bride and groom impressively managed to learn their vows, Kevin contrived to look after the rings and Andrew was a professional usher, searching the ladies’ handbags with great discretion. Allan and Kelly exited the church to great crowds in the Market Place and we had great competition between musicians: the organist, the bell ringers and the brass band playing in the square!
From
St. Nick’s Church in the Market Place we headed
on up to Palace Green, where an exquisite reception awaited us in
Durham Castle’s Great Hall. Nick had the honour of giving the best man’s speech, which I must say he executed with aplomb. He even made us laugh in bits. The whole day was a roaring success, the bride stunning and bridegroom as handsome as can be. I must admit I was guilty of shedding a tear or two.
As to be expected from a man who is familiar with a 90s dance floor, Allan arranged an impressive DJ set, which had us fighting for elbow room during our favourite tracks. Kelly showed true style by proudly donning a Pink Ladies from Grease-style jacket declaring her ‘Mrs. Holbrook’ status at breakfast the morning after.
Having waved off the newlyweds from the castle gate, the stragglers enjoyed a
Castle Tour. Many Bishops have resided there over the years since it was first built in 14th Century and each added a new part, marked with their particular shield (one rather immodest Bishop even attached his crest to the drainpipes!). Inside, the kitchen still has one large stone wall with a huge fireplace that dates back centuries, and engravings above
the food hatches say “Thanks be to God” - the steam passes up through these carved words so that all meals that pass underneath are blessed on their way to the table, originally to save the bishop the effort of saying the blessing himself.
Points of interest in the castle chapel included the
misericords, to allow participants some support while standing up for hours during services (we were told that, if you fell asleep, the misericord would fall down into place with a bang, and the punishment was to lie by the door at the end of the service for other people to decide whether to walk on you on the way out!). There were some interesting carvings on the misericords, not least the one with the man pushing his wife in a wheelbarrow, and on the other side of the chapel is an alarmed iconic religious painting, dating back a few centuries, which is the most valuable object in the Castle’s collection. Given they have a treasure chest used by a bishop from around 600 years ago, plenty of venerable oil paintings and a collection of rifles/muskets from an important battle in English history, each of one which
is valued at £300,000…you get the idea.
Upstairs, we saw where the castle exec committee live during term time. They have 2 outer doors to their room; if the outer one is closed, it means the occupant is either out or does not want to be disturbed, but if the outer door is open and the inner is shut, then visitors are welcome. This practice is known as ‘showing your oak’. Oo-er.
Before we left the castle bastion, we were shown the hidden chapel which for many years was used as a bike storage, as its true function was not known.
Next stop was
Richie & Natalie’s abode in Cowpen Bewley, not far from Durham, where we were made to feel right at home, even by the Scottish terriers, and Scooby the Rottweiler (although she was so docile I’d never have guessed), not to mention the parrots! We were the proud recipients of a household speciality, Croque Monsieur, which served us well for an afternoon to the nearby
Cowpen Bewley Woodland Park, a natural reserve amid power stations. We were expecting to see some wildlife but after a while we had only seen:
1.
A tiny tiny frog
2. A dragonfly
3. A small black butterfly
4. A bumblebee
Not very impressive. But shortly after we saw a quack of ducks and some swans, then walked up a hill and got good views.
Back at the ranch, Richie & Nick battled through several Olympic sports on the Nintendo Wii. When our energy had waned once again, we decided that Fish & Chips (or
Fush & Chups as we have come to know them as in NZ) by the seaside would be just the ticket.
We drove to the coast at Seaton Carew, a typical small English seaside town, to Richie and Natalie’s favourite chippie
Don Bee’s where between us we decided to have cod, haddock, plaice and lemon sole, with mushy peas and chips. Sadly they had no haddock…or plaice…or lemon sole...or peas, so we had cod (which fortunately was very tasty) and chips overlooking the promenade, the beach and the sea. Inside the shop, one customer had asked for “scraps”, which must be a north-east thing, and refers to the many small pieces of batter that come away from the fish in the hot counter, served on chips - delicious!
On Wednesday we continued our descent southwestwards, to the North West and
home to Wallasey. Nick’s pre-ordered welcome home meal of
Shepherd’s Pie & a Beer was splendidly served by Huw & Georgina. We enjoyed a good catch up with them and also Winnie (‘our Gran’), Uncle Chris & Aunt Suzy, Peggy & Bruce, and Cindy (who dropped in on her way from Oman to Warwick).
It felt no sooner had we arrived than it was goodbyes again, aware that we may not be back again for a year or so. Pressing on down south, we still had 24 hours before the epic plane journey back to Auckland. We headed to Runnymede, right beside the Thames, to celebrate the
Wedding of Gabby & Ollie (again with a boogie on the dance floor) and a whirlwind reunion with my school friends. We stayed with family friends, Gill & John, making the most of the short time spent together and enjoyed a tea-stop with both Ruby and Breda & Sean before the Nissan Micra turned into a pumpkin and we were back at good old Heathrow.
*****
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