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Category: Buckinghamshire

Ancients in an ancient town

Ancients in an ancient town

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There is a small group of towns on the River Thames just to the west of London that sound interesting, Maidenhead, Marlow, Henly-on-Thames etc., which we were discussing some time ago and thought that they might make an interesting visit sometime.

Yesterday, Friday, we visited Marlow – sort of. It isn't really the time of year, last day of January, for such a visit or the right weather, it came down in buckets in the afternoon, but we went anyway.

What did we see? Very little. So why did we go? Well we had arranged to attend a lunch which was to be a get together of friends with whom I used to work and it happened to be in Marlow.

It would have been a long drive which would have included the M25 (rather notorious for hold-ups) so we chose to go by train. We could have  travelled all the way to Marlow by train but that included a shuttle service from Maidenhead which ran only once an hour and so would get us to Marlow too late. One of my work friends who lives over that way volunteered to collect us from Twyford station and take us to Marlow with them. Trains to Marlow leave from Paddington about every 15 minutes so that was much better.

Getting bored yet? Well I suspect that you are only going to become even more bored.

We left home at 8:45 to get a train at 9:23 from our local station. It was cloudy but bright so we thought we'd chance it across the fields to the station. The path was a bit muddy but not too bad although we had already decided not to return to the car that way when we returned in the dark and, we suspected, heavy rain.

This is our first train of the journey arriving at our local station. We arrived at Liverpool Street Station on time without incident and changed on to the Hammersmith & City Line on the Underground. That took us to Paddington where we caught the train to Twyford. We caught a slightly earlier train than planned which meant that we stood around in the cold longer at Twyford Station until our friend turned up at the appointed time.

We travelled in the car for about 20 minutes to Marlow passing some flooded fields on the way and entered Marlow town centre via an attractive suspension bridge across the Thames. It turns out that the bridge was built in 1831 and is the only one of its type surviving. I remember noticing some timber-framed terraced cottages with brick infill as we drove past but we were soon in the car park in the town centre. On the very short walk to the restaurant we thought that Marlow could be interesting but we really saw very little.

We had an enjoyable meal and this is us – a bunch of Ancients in an ancient town. You cannot get more ancient than that!


The empty chair in the second picture is where I was sitting with Amanda next to me.

Our lunch finished at 3:30 and by then it was pouring with rain. Our friend went off to collect his car and then drove back to pick us up outside the restaurant which was very nice of him. We got back to Twyford station, walked on to the platform as a train arrived. Not bad timing.

We got back to our local station without incident and stepped out into pouring rain and gusty winds. On the walk back to our car my umbrella was blown inside out 3 times but still works. The bottoms of my trousers were soaking wet and so were my shoes. Ditto for Amanda.

We would have liked to have seen more of Marlow. Some other time perhaps and hopefully in better weather.

 

The Chilterns: A woodland interlude – Day 3

The Chilterns: A woodland interlude – Day 3

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Another beautiful sunny day saw us back near Aldbury but, this time, on top of the nearby ridge. This is the Ashridge Estate – a large area of woodland and downland forming part of the Chiltern Hills. We parked near the Duke of Bridgewater monument which we hoped to go up but were out of luck as it didn’t open until April.

We didn’t do a lot here – just a pleasant wander around the woods until we decided it was time to go home. Our return journey was straightforward so I’ll leave you with these woodland scenes.

Until next time.

The Chilterns: Follies Galore – Day 2

The Chilterns: Follies Galore – Day 2

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Thomas Gray said "Tis folly to be wise" – so how wise is this then?

That is just one of over 40 ornamental 'follies', or monuments, in Stowe Garden just outside Buckingham.

On our first and only full day on this short trip we cheated and, although still in Buckinghamshire, travelled 30 miles away from the Chilterns to Buckingham and Stowe Garden. First, though, we stopped in Buckingham which is a pleasant old town with some interesting old buildings of which this, the Old Gaol, is probably the most prominent.

Having walked up to the churchyard we saw this view from just inside the gates looking down Castle Street towards the town centre.

We stopped for a brief lunch before continuing to the main purpose of this day's trip – Stowe Garden. Stowe is one of the National Trust's properties consisting of over 400 acres of garden with over 40 ornamental follies such as the one shown above.

In the time we had we could only see a part of this huge garden and March, it has to be said, is probably not the best time to see it. The garden landscape with its lakes and monuments were beautifully lit on this warm sunny day as the Temple of British Worthies illustrates.

There were numerous surprising vistas and secluded corners and this little corner with its cascade, between the Octagon Lake and the Eleven Acre Lake, obviously made a good picnic spot for somebody.

On the circuit that we had chosen this view of the Palladian Bridge with the Gothic Temple beyond was one of the final scenes that we saw before making our way back to the entrance.

An uneventful drive saw us back at our hotel until our final half-day tomorrow after which we return home. :unhappy:

The Chilterns: A beacon in an ancient landscape – Day 1

The Chilterns: A beacon in an ancient landscape – Day 1

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The view from the top of Ivinghoe Beacon wasn’t as good as it could have been. We had just walked a short stretch of The Ridgeway, an ancient path that goes back to Avebury times, having arrived at our hotel just an hour previously after an uneventful drive of about an hour and a half.

But back to the view. It was a balmy spring day but there was quite a thick haze which prevented us seeing very far.

We had started from a car park down by the road from Aldbury and walked the one and a half miles to the top of the beacon.

This is where our walk started showing The Ridgeway stretching out in front and Amanda making her way along the path.

The Ridgeway starts from Avebury, Wiltshire and finishes on the top of Ivinghoe Beacon here in Buckinghamshire. The high ground on the left is the top of Ivinghoe Beacon.

Finally, with much puffing and blowing after a winter of sitting around and generally getting unfit, we arrive at the top. You can see how murky the view looked which was a pity as on a clear day it must be fantastic.

Amanda’s foot behaved much better than we thought it would and gave her no trouble at all. Looks promising.

After coming down from Ivinghoe Beacon we drove the very short distance to the village of Ivinghoe from which the beacon gets its name. First stop was Pitstone Windmill on the outskirts of the village and is the oldest windmill in the county

You should be able to see, to the left of the mill, the tower and spire of Ivinghoe Church and here is that same church close up.

We stopped, on the way back to our hotel, in Aldbury. An attractive little village sitting at the foot of the high ridge of which Ivinghoe Beacon is just a part in the area known as the Chilterns.

After that it was back to our hotel after our first half-day until tomorrow.