celebrated his birthday.

For several years now we have been invited to join our friends in Grove, Oxfordshire who get together to have a Burns Supper.

As we travelled up on Friday evening our Burns night was held on Saturday.

On arrival at our friend’s house we were treated to a glass of this wonderful beer.

It was a champagne beer and it was stunning.

Initially, the beer is brewed as any other beer would be brewed. After the yeast is pitched, the beer is treated as Champagne is treated. The result is an effervescent, highly carbonated, luxurious brew unlike anything brewed by traditional methods.

Later in the evening we were treated to what has been described as one of the best beers in the world ‘Westvleteren 12’ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Westvleteren_Brewery

 You cannot buy this beer in the shops as you have to collect it from the Belgian brewery and you have to return the bottles!

Saturday morning we had a lie in – it was a bit of a treat to have a day off and not have to be ready to serve customers at 9am.

After brunch (we were too late for breakfast) we had a run out to Hungerford which seemed to be a place with one antique shop after another.

I found some signs more interesting than the antiques though.

 This one was outside a pub.

And this one was on the door of a house next to the canal tow path.

Do you think the culprits got the message?

As I went past the Post Office (in Martins the newsagent) I did spy that they charge £1.35 a week for the advertising in the window.

We only charge 50p a week!

It was then back to Wantage to stop for refreshments.

There are 2 superb pubs in Wantage, The Royal Oak http://www.royaloakwantage.co.uk/ was closed by the time we got there so we went to the Shoulder of Mutton http://www.themutton.co.uk/index.html

There were quite a few beers on the menu to try.

I didn’t have the top one or the bottom one on the list!

It was then time for the Burns supper.

The table was laid, the napkins were put out and the Malt Whisky put within arm’s reach.

The napkins had the Selkirk Grace printed on one side and the Address to the Haggis http://www.robertburns.org.uk/Assets/Poems_Songs/toahaggis.htm on the other side.

The pipes and drums struck up (on the CD player) and in came the haggis, including a veggie one, along the neeps and tatties.

We loaded our glasses with a dram or three and got stuck in.

A very pleasant evening was had by all.

 We had another lie in on Sunday so we were really spoilt this weekend.

 We finished our trip with Sunday Lunch at the Five Bells at Wickham http://www.fivebellswickham.co.uk/ which was handy for the M4 and our journey home.

The lunch was wonderful and the home made pie beat me as I couldn’t finish it due to the size of it.

I had to resist the 9 real ales and 30 Belgian beers as I couldn’t persuade my other half to drive me home. 

Slange Var

As I have mentioned, I retire from full-time employment at the end of this month. I would like to mark the occasion in some way, but have not been sufficiently organised to plan anything for the exact date.

So, taking a chance on the weather, I would like to invite you to join me on a walk from Tring to Wendover and back on Sunday, 14 October 2012.

There are several options. I will be leaving Euston on the 10:01 for Tring, then walking along the Ridgeway Path to Wendover, having lunch in the Shoulder of Mutton, walking back to Tring on the Wendover Arm of the Grand Union Canal, and taking a train back to London (trains leave at 15 and 35 past the hour). The total distance is around 24km. You are welcome to join me.

If you feel up to walking half that distance, you can either get a train back from Wendover, or take a train to Wendover and walk back to Tring. If you only want a gentle walk, get a train to and from Wendover; if you arrive a bit early, you can take the Ridgeway Path northwards and meet the party walking from Tring. Or you can start out along the canal after lunch and turn back after a decent interval.

Note that, to get to Wendover, you should take the Metropolitan Line to Aylesbury (trains at xx:30 from Baker Street) and change there; and similarly for the return journey (trains at xx:35 and xx:55). There appears to be engineering work on the Marylebone line. The 11:30 should get you to Wendover in time for lunch; an earlier train would permit a little walk.

If you are coming by car, be at Tring station at 10:36; or drive to Wendover and follow either of the suggestions above.

There are several pubs in Wendover; but I would like to try to make a booking at the Shoulder of Mutton, so it would help if you could let me know if you are likely to be there for lunch.

Hope to see you there!

EAR and attend and listen; for this befell and behappened and became and was, O my Best Beloved, when the Tame animals were wild. The Dog was wild, and the Horse was wild, and the Cow was wild, and the Sheep was wild, and the Pig was wild–as wild as wild could be–and they walked in the Wet Wild Woods by their wild lones. But the wildest of all the wild animals was the Cat. He walked by himself, and all places were alike to him.

Of course the Man was wild too. He was dreadfully wild. He didn’t even begin to be tame till he met the Woman, and she told him that she did not like living in his wild ways. She picked out a nice dry Cave, instead of a heap of wet leaves, to lie down in; and she strewed clean sand on the floor; and she lit a nice fire of wood at the back of the Cave; and she hung a dried wild-horse skin, tail-down, across the opening of the Cave; and she said, ‘Wipe you feet, dear, when you come in, and now we’ll keep house.’

That night, Best Beloved, they ate wild sheep roasted on the hot stones, and flavoured with wild garlic and wild pepper; and wild duck stuffed with wild rice and wild fenugreek and wild coriander; and marrow-bones of wild oxen; and wild cherries, and wild grenadillas. Then the Man went to sleep in front of the fire ever so happy; but the Woman sat up, combing her hair. She took the bone of the shoulder of mutton–the big fat blade-bone–and she looked at the wonderful marks on it, and she threw more wood on the fire, and she made a Magic. She made the First Singing Magic in the world.

Out in the Wet Wild Woods all the wild animals gathered together where they could see the light of the fire a long way off, and they wondered what it meant.

Then Wild Horse stamped with his wild foot and said, ‘O my Friends and O my Enemies, why have the Man and the Woman made that great light in that great Cave, and what harm will it do us?’

Wild Dog lifted up his wild nose and smelled the smell of roast mutton, and said, ‘I will go up and see and look, and say; for I think it is good. Cat, come with me.’

‘Nenni!’ said the Cat. ‘I am the Cat who walks by himself, and all places are alike to me. I will not come.’

‘Then we can never be friends again,’ said Wild Dog, and he trotted off to the Cave. But when he had gone a little way the Cat said to himself, ‘All places are alike to me. Why should I not go too and see and look and come away at my own liking.’ So he slipped after Wild Dog softly, very softly, and hid himself where he could hear everything. (click here to read the rest of this lovely story or just enjoy the reading at the top)

Let me begin by laying out my case. I don’t consider camping a holiday. This may be exacerbated by having very young children, so where ever you go you are essentially doing the same crap, but with more limited resources and less childproofing. My criteria for a ‘holiday’ are as follows:

• It should require the use of a phrase book

Ok, that doesn’t really work as I’d probably need a phrase book to get by in the darkest depths of Wales, or Scotland, but I wouldn’t consider a visit a holiday. Plus the States or Oz wouldn’t require a phrase but I’d not pass up a holiday there. Ok:

• It should require the use of a phrase book
• It should require a passport
• There should be some form of extreme weather condition, snow, sun etc.
• Should the extreme temperature be heat there should be a pool or sea or lagoon of some kind. For snow I would require a snow board and fondue (I’ve never actually skied or snowboarded before!)
• There should be childcare available
• Ditto alcohol

Now I’ve laid out those criteria I will tell you about my break camping this bank holiday weekeend. We were in the beautiful rural county of Oxfordshire at Britchcombe Farm. It’s a lovely, friendly, basic (in a good way) site, and the second time we’ve camped there. The weather was hit and miss, the company was good, the kids not always so. It’s not very relaxing having to mediate between 6 kids under six, but there were 5 grown ups so between us and some bubbles  we managed to not kill them and stop them from killing each other.

On the last day, well, on the way home, we decided to grab some lunch in a nearby town and ended up in Wantage. Now, I’m sorry Wantagites but this is not a happening town. It has a random selection of what I would consider to be more niche high street shops like Fat Face and Cargo, nestled among the charity shops and cheap card shops. On the search for food we eschewed a couple of unimaginative pubs and bistros, and ventured right to the end of the small town, where we happened upon a random looking pub. Here I should probably mention that one of our party is a coeliac (is it ‘a coeliac’? ‘Has coeliac’? I’m not sure). It’s unbelievable how restrictive a gluten free diet is. And when camping it makes things really difficult, what with all that bread, sausages and burgers containing wheat. Did you know that burgers and sausages contain wheat? Except Co-op, all their own brand stuff doesn’t contain gluten, big up the Co-op, I do love it. I made some gluten free brownies for the weekend too, and even had to buy expensive gluten free chocolate, and a spend a small fortune on ground almonds. It’s not easy to live with.

Anyway, back to Wantage and we happen upon the seemingly unironically named Shoulder of Mutton, a pub serving home made vegetarian and vegan food. It also specialises in all kinds of fancy real ales if you are into that sort of thing. I’m not but I was almost tempted but the banana ale.

Peter the landlord was lovely, as was the bijoux restaurant. It was like being invited into someone’s living room, complete with stacks of games like Guess Who and giant Jenga. We rocked up, 4 adults and 4 young children, looking and smelling like we hadn’t washed for 2 days. The kids stopped whinging long enough to pounce on the piano in the corner. But for Peter nothing was too much trouble. The menu was delicious, and all cooked without microwaves and fryers. More to the point, all the dishes stated whether or not they were vegan, or wheat and gluten free. There was a lot of choice rather than the token salad that my friend has to settle for in most places, after checking and double checking there are no unlisted additives like croutons and suchlike. I was disappointed to find that there was no more butternut squash ravioli, but the charmer (cheddar and parmesan) ravioli filled the gap pleasantly. It was so nice to have a meal without meat too! The silence that descended when the food arrived was bliss, think it was the quietest the kids had been all weekend. We will definitely be returning here on our next visit to Britchcombe, when hopefully I can try the butternut pasta. I will also be trying some of the gluten free chocolate and raspberry brownies, which I couldn’t justify today after polishing off the last of my own brownies for breakfast! Do go if you are in the area. I’d book in advance though as it’s pretty cosy.

They don't make skies like this back home

Saturday 13th saw us travelling into the South Downs to the village of Hawkley for a walk along the Hangers Way and into the aptly named village of Steep. By chance, it turns out that my Grandma actually lived in Hawkley as a youngster for a few years, although I have no recollection of ever being told.  We chose the walk primarily for its length and rolling terrain, though coincidently the walk took us right past her old house; small world! The walk was 12 miles long and took us initially out from Hawkley along the Hangers Way. The term ‘Hangers’ in this incidence reflects the sloping woods clinging to the steep chalk escarpments, and not the use of low level tree branches for Anglo Saxon crime punishments (as I initially thought).

Shortly, once outside of Hawkley we climbed the long and steep Down Hanger with a bedrock of chalk underfoot. In fact there was so much wet chalk  that it was like walking through a cement mix of sorts! Once on top of Wheatham Hill, we were given the opportunity for a downhill stretch, through the Ashford Hangers and towards Steep Marsh farm. Passing the unspoilt Harrow Inn at Steep we wished we hadn’t brought our packed lunches and could stop, guilt free, to inspect the characterful property. As it turned out we were stretched for time and continued our ascent into Steep.

Once in Steep we made our way to Ashford Chance and past the three houses of Edward Thomas, a famous British poet. Our biggest challenge though was yet to come, with a steep ascent of Shoulder of Mutton Hill lurking in the distance. Shoulder of Mutton Hill is what gives this walk its gradient rating. Comparable to sections of mountains we have climbed in the highlands, this small but punishing hill is placed optimally within the walk to finish off any muscular fatigue that has already set in from the previous hours of walking. Once on top however, some great views are presented to you – especially if the sun is out. Not in our case though, and not content with one lap through Steep and up Shoulder of Mutton,  we did it all again before  returning to the car after 6.5 hours of walking!

We have just arrived back from a walking weekend in Snowdonia – something that I hope to write about over the next few days. For now however – back to wedding planning!

It is fifty years ago this month since I left Brownhills – where did that go?  I used to live in the house behind Ken Williams and Henry Taylor.  This month is also special because on the 26th, my father would have been 100 years old.

In my previous Brownhills post I had got down Church Hill as far as the rear entrance to some of the High Street shops, including my Grandma’s.  Just down the road on the opposite side stands the Shoulder of Mutton public house, still with Mr. Roberts’ window.

The Shoulder of Mutton

Roberts’ window with the trade mark steam locomotive in the centre

Moving to the bottom of the road, Gordon Roberts had his barber’s shop.Not the hairdressers as it is now but Gordon’s barber’s was where Cresswells is now.  He was a very good barber but he took his time!  If there were more than two in front of you , it would be at least an hour before you got out!

Turning left along High Street towards Brickiln Street (it was hard spelling it that way!) the next picture that I have is of the shops which had their rear entrance in Church Hill.  From the left, the MEB showroom, Tisdale’s fish shop, Smiths fireplaces, Flossie Rogers’ greengrocers and Bradbury’s.Pic from ‘Memories of Brownhills Past’ by Clarice Mayo and Geoff Harrington.

Down High Street and across the road was Cyril Kingston’s shoe shop.It is now a Solicitor’s office, but the white door on the right of the green framed window hides what used to be the only sports goods display in Brownhills.  The best shop window in the town! In those days football shorts were only available in white, blue or black – but then, one day I saw them, a red pair of football shorts.  It wasn’t long before I had them and was getting them covered in mud over the batters!

Opposite was Daft’s fish and chip shop, Jones’ the Jewellers, later Lotes and Joes.Phonetalk was Daft’s, then the Jewellers then Joe’s

To end this post, a walk over the bridge to the entrance to the park.The Library car park is to the right, the site of public conveniences in those pre-vandal days!  I’m sure that the bank on the left was much steeper when I were a lad.  I remember once a glider, a full size one, landed on the parade, coming to rest just short of the top of the bank.  (It couldn’t happen now with my ‘favourite’ trees in the way!)