UK Wedding Celebration: A Ramble in the English Countryside

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After an unseasonably cold and damp week, Saturday morning broke without a cloud in the sky and the forecast was calling for highs in the mid - 60's (~17° C?). This was most fortunate as we had planned a picnic and ramble(hike) in the countryside with family and friends as a precursor to the evening's festivities.

The picnic and walk were set to take place in the Ashridge Estate near Jean's parent's home in Berkhamsted. The Ashridge Estate is about 5000 acres of woodlands. At one time it was the property of the Duke and Earls of Bridgewater but now belongs to the National Trust and is a park and greenbelt. There's a visitor centre, cafe loads of walking paths and an observation tower monument built to commemorate the 3rd Duke of Bridgewater, Francis Egerton, who pioneered canal building mania in the 19th century.

We rolled into the car park near midday. A few cloud masses had gathered throughout the morning but the sun still shone brightly and the day had warmed up nicely. We set to work constructing a gazebo, specially purchased for the day. Luckily we had engineers in our ranks. We completed the building with the unfurling the Union Jack and Lone Star flags.

Friends and family began to trickle in and soon we sat down for a picnic. After lunch we commenced with the walk.

An interesting aside is that Jean, her parents (May and Colin) and I had been on this walk not two weeks before as part of an exploration party. We took a lay of the land, checking trails conditions, looking for fallen trees to climb on and determining blue bell potential. Together with a stop watch and extremely complicated formula to account for dawdling, ambling and general sashaying we came up with a hike that would be fun and not make us all late to the dinner that evening.

It all went swimmingly. We found a large wooden tree that made for good climbing and a great photo op. Also, the benefit of cool weather was that the blue bells were still in full bloom. We reached the point of no return right on that time.

While the some of the party doubled back, Jean and I led everyone else on an alternate route through some woods and pastures. We came across a herd of deer the sight of which really impressed the "townies" in our group. The "townies" will remain nameless here to protect their identities.

We wended our way through the countryside into the village of Aldbury where two pubs, The Greyhound and the Valiant Trooper, are located. Being something of a regular now at the Trooper we decided on the latter.

Note: My notion of a visit to a village pub being a commonality during a ramble in the English countryside may be skewed and most likely the influence of my father-in-law.

The Trooper was in fine form as always and the bitter nice and warm. We downed our pints (during the exploration expedition we determined there was a time allowance for one pint and no more) and head up and out of town arriving back in less than half an hour.   


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