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Huntingdon.
Travelling from Oxford to Huntingdon was pleasant and uneventful, stopping at a town whose name I cannot remember, but it was another curtsey English town with the narrow streets, Christmas markets, stone wall encircling the town with its battlements. Fantastic.
Huntingdon is an important bridge-head where the A1, the Great North Road, crosses the River Great Ouse near to Hinchingbrooke House (where I taught 6 years ago now - so long), once home to both the Cromwell's and then the Montagu's, The Earls of Sandwich, where in 1660 Samuel Pepys was secretary to Edward Montagu, so Huntingdon was no stranger to politics when John Major became the youngest Prime Minister of the 20th Century.
A lot of history, a beautiful building, built like brick dunny only with thicker walls and slightly larger, with gargoyles.Saturday we all drove to Stamford. I can't believe we didn't this before as it is so close to Huntingdon.
Back in 2004 we lived with Mike, Catherine, Thomas, Holly and Christopher Addis. We surprised Catherine by arriving earlier, checked our luggage in and left Catherine to complete her conference call whilst we took the opportunity to walk around Huntingdon. Nothing had changed too much (Starbucks and Costa Coffee had arrived in the village) a few shops changing tenants but basically still pretty much the same as it was 6 years ago complete with the bakery which makes the best beef and stilton pies in the world.
It was rather special staying with the Addis's, Janette and I really appreciate their hospitality both this visit and the previous. A really wonderful family. Unfortunately Thomas was away at Uni so we did not get to see him, but Holly and Christopher have naturally grown and are wonderful young people. Every Christmas the family construct a major object out of Lego. This year it was a 2.1 metre stocking full of gifts and around 100,000 pieces of Lego. They made the newspapers again. The house was lit-up like a candle and inside the place had that Victorian Christmas-clutter warmth. Even the Christmas tree had a strange stuffed dead bird on the top rather than a star. Check out the photos. But the mince pies were awesome along with their hospitality.
We strolled around Burley House grounds. It is famous staging of championship riding events. www.burghley-horse.co.uk. The House is regarded by many as the finest Elizabethan House in England, Burghley House was built in the 16th Century by William Cecil, the first Lord Burghley. Now in the hands of Lady Victoria Leatham, this stunning house, extensive grounds and sculpture park are open to the public over the summer period. www.burghley.co.uk we missed out again, put it on the list to see next visit.
The House and grounds are still owned by the family, I must say they are wealthy and the house and grounds are rather impressive. We mingled with the deer and picked mistletoe. Relaxed place to roam around.
The town of Stamford is situated 100 miles north of London, just off the A1, which was the old Great North Road leading to York and Edinburgh.Captured in time by its conservation status this once major wool town has retained much of its old world charm and prosperity. Many of the buildings are constructed from old Lincolnshire limestone, hence the town's distinguished appearance and popularity with tourists and movie directors alike. Despite a modest population of 18,000 the town boasts 11 churches, 30 pubs.
All Saints Church Dating back to the 13th Century and rebuilt by the Brownes after suffering damage during the Wars of the Roses, this striking church in Red Lion Square has Browne family memorial brasses, a carved angel roof, stained glass windows and a reredos of the Last Supper. Open daily.
www.allsaintschurch.org.uk
We roamed through what was once Browns Hospital ( now apartments) The wealthy wool merchant, William Browne, and his wife, Margaret, founded this almshouse in the late 15th Century to house 10 poor men and 2 poor women with a Warden and a Confrater, both of whom were to be priests in holy orders. Despite extensive 19th Century restorations much of the medieval stained glass, original furniture and archives remain.
Saturday night we went to a Christmas party in Cambridge and fuelled up on food, wine and Christmas party games organised by Mike. It was all rather a lot of fun. Net some nice folk like Ruth and Kevin, they have travelled and worked in numerous countries. The link between many of the people at the party is that they are all interested in plants and have garden plots. The concept has not taken off in Sydney, as we have loads of land, I guess.
Our time at Huntingdon passed quickly and it was time to head to London to Ben and Misato's. The weather is still cold and still struggling to get above zero. We sound like retired weather-men.
The plan was to arrive in London about 4:00pm. However the trip was not so uneventful and of course passing half way we remembered we forgot the camera again. So we turn around, drove back to Huntingdon, collected the camera and retraced our steps. As tips go London always has issues, there was plenty of traffic and delays as one of the major tunnels had 1 of 2 lanes closed for repairs. Trying to avoid the traffic delays, eager to get the rental back to Marble Arch (we thought that closure was 6pm) we finally made Ben and Misato's. Dumped the luggage and the rental. All done and only one argument. Mind you it was a long one. (So what was it about? Not so important now?)
Aha to be warm and have space and we are not travelling until we leave. So over it.
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