Quaint

So, the local exploring has gone quite well. Anna and I have been quite taken with Goring. Goring is a small Berkshire (pronounced Bark-sher) village just 10 miles west on the Thames. The old town is a stunning little collection of mostly 17th and 18th century brick buildings. The high steet winds down a small hill to the Thames, where a series of locks and weir dams change the elevation of the river. Anna and I stumbled on it getting lost on the way to another Thames-side town called Purley and decided to stop for a coffee and some cheerios.

We did a walk along the high street and over the bridge into the town on the far side, called Streatly. There is a pleasant pub on the river which we considered and then returned to Goring. Coming across the bridge, you could see the top of an old Norman church. We cut down an alley of old brick buildings that had little plaques with names like "Old Cottage" and "The Mill" on them. I remember it being cobled, though I am certain it wasn't. It just had a cobbled feel to it. We came out into a small green cemetry shaded by a massive tree. Behind was the Norman church with the door open. As we approached, an elderly gentleman came out and we quickly picked up conversation. Ray explained the significance of many of the houses we could see, what their history had been, etc. He told us which was the best and oldest pub and why the church had this "stucko" over about half of it, while th other half was lovley stone (apparently it was done at that end of the 1800s when the parish had little money but the church was in dreadful need of repairs). I asked after one little cottage that stood near the church. There was visible wood that was clearly very old amongst the brick as support, the roof sagged slightly and it was a charming little house. Ray mentioned that it even had earthen floors up until the 1990s when a "pop star" had bought it and modernized much of it. We talked for a good while about the cottage while Anna watched the birds from her stroller. He kept refering to this "pop star" who, it turned out, was a very good neighbour of the church and who had done this and that to the grounds... I eventually asked who it was, expecting some local British celebrity. Ray explained, "I don't know if you would have heard of him in America, but his name is 'George Michael'." I explained that I had heard of him and took the included photo with my camera phone. For what it's worth, he seldom visits this home much anymore... I can't imagine why. It is lovely.



This past Sunday, I took Ange to Goring and showed her the river, the pubs, the church and George's house. But before we went to Goring, we went to the village of Hambleden. It is the strangest little village. Very cute. Every building is flint and brick, all surrounding a large Norman church.
Apparently it was built largely at the same time and, at one point, nearly the whole town was owned by the W.H. Smith family (they're a large retail bookstore in the UK). Being largely unaltered, it has a magical feel to it. As if confirming its quaintness, it is often used as a period movie-set in all sorts of movies and dramas. The day we were there, they had an art sale in the local village hall. We were very lucky to catch the art sale, as it only happens every 2 years. Well, "lucky" mainly in timing. The art was very local and I'm not certain that the area is known for a thriving arts community. Lots of basic water colours of the village... many of which I was oddly suspicious that I might be able to do myself. The prices were nevertheless the prices of original art so we didn't pick up any originals on this day. We did, however, enjoy a beer in the beer garden of the local pub. It was unreal. There was a large lawned garden behind the low brick and flint pub building. There were probably two dozen picnic tables and dogs, kids and toddlers roamed freely about the area. They even had a special baby changing bathroom at the pub. Families were definitely welcome.

Finally, a gratuitous shot of an early morning book read. It followed, probably, another disappointing viewing of Flames highlights. If you can call them highlights this year. What's going on?

Only a day left to post your bet on Anna's favourite food, as chosen by her!