The last 3 days I have spent in the English countryside in a small village called Sherrington which is about an hour north of London by car and a 40minute train ride. I have been staying in Anne (Adrian's sister), Stewart and Emily Thomases' beautiful cottage. This village and cottage is nothing like I've ever seen before. All the cottages are made out of stones and some have thatched roofs. There are beautiful flowers everywhere, the Thomases have a particularly nice garden.
The Thomases have just received an 8 week old puppy named Mabel. Mabel is being trained to be a medical alert dog to help people who have an illness like diabetes or epilepsy. During my stay in Sherrington I helped look after Mabel along with Trevor, a 4 year old Labrador. As she is a medical assistance puppy, we were able to take her everywhere with us.
Anne was lovely and took me out to Woburn Abbey on Tuesday. Woburn Abbey is the Duke of Bedfords home, he lives there with his wife and children. The house is enormous, the public are able to walk through a lot of it and learn the history of the Dukes of Bedford and see inside the room which are a picture of wealth and status. I have never seen so many paintings hanging from walls or gold covered furniture in my life. There was even a room called the Queens bedroom, where one of the late Queens stayed a few times as she was friends with one of the Duchess' at the time.
Yesterday, Anne took me to Olney, another village near Sherrington which is rich with history. Olney was home to the great poets John Newton and William Cowper who together wrote the poem Amazing Grace, which we recognise as a famous song played at important events.
We visited the Cowper and Newton museum whilst in Olney which also had an amazing garden and restored rooms where William Cowper lived. We read about how Cowper had 3 pet hares and they were an inspiration for much of his poetic works.
We had lunch at a nice little cafe in Olney where I tried my first Scotch egg, a traditional English dish with a boiled egg covered by pork sausage and breadcrumbs. It was pretty good!
Last night, Anne and Stewart went to see Adele in London and I was left in charge of the puppy and cottage. There were a friendly bunch of people around my age who were heading to the pub with Trevor's puppies who are 12weeks old now. They came past and invited me and Mabel along so we all went to the pub, with one puppy each, drawing the attention of locals who came and asked for a cuddle. My new friends Jess, her boyfriend and Maxim were good fun and we shared stories of growing up in different countries. After a couple of drinks we took the tired pups home and called it a night.
Today I am heading back to London to meet up with Shayna, Hannah and Abby (finally). We are spending the night in an airbnb in Camden before heading off on our Contiki tour which departs at 6am tomorrow morning.
The Thomases have just received an 8 week old puppy named Mabel. Mabel is being trained to be a medical alert dog to help people who have an illness like diabetes or epilepsy. During my stay in Sherrington I helped look after Mabel along with Trevor, a 4 year old Labrador. As she is a medical assistance puppy, we were able to take her everywhere with us.
At Anne's place with Maybel
Anne was lovely and took me out to Woburn Abbey on Tuesday. Woburn Abbey is the Duke of Bedfords home, he lives there with his wife and children. The house is enormous, the public are able to walk through a lot of it and learn the history of the Dukes of Bedford and see inside the room which are a picture of wealth and status. I have never seen so many paintings hanging from walls or gold covered furniture in my life. There was even a room called the Queens bedroom, where one of the late Queens stayed a few times as she was friends with one of the Duchess' at the time.
Woburn Abbey
Anne and Maybel at Woburn
The Folley in the gardens at Woburn
After exploring the house and gardens, we had lunch in the Duchess' tearoom where I tried my first Cornish pastor with HP sauce. The pastie was filled with veggies and gravy and beef and the HP sauce, stands for Houses of Parliament and is similar to BBQ sauce but a bit more tangy/sweet and overall better tasting!Yesterday, Anne took me to Olney, another village near Sherrington which is rich with history. Olney was home to the great poets John Newton and William Cowper who together wrote the poem Amazing Grace, which we recognise as a famous song played at important events.
We visited the Cowper and Newton museum whilst in Olney which also had an amazing garden and restored rooms where William Cowper lived. We read about how Cowper had 3 pet hares and they were an inspiration for much of his poetic works.
We had lunch at a nice little cafe in Olney where I tried my first Scotch egg, a traditional English dish with a boiled egg covered by pork sausage and breadcrumbs. It was pretty good!
Scotch egg
Last night, Anne and Stewart went to see Adele in London and I was left in charge of the puppy and cottage. There were a friendly bunch of people around my age who were heading to the pub with Trevor's puppies who are 12weeks old now. They came past and invited me and Mabel along so we all went to the pub, with one puppy each, drawing the attention of locals who came and asked for a cuddle. My new friends Jess, her boyfriend and Maxim were good fun and we shared stories of growing up in different countries. After a couple of drinks we took the tired pups home and called it a night.
Today I am heading back to London to meet up with Shayna, Hannah and Abby (finally). We are spending the night in an airbnb in Camden before heading off on our Contiki tour which departs at 6am tomorrow morning.
Thanks Alison for your very informative post, both Grandpa and I enjoyed reading it.
ReplyDeleteWow, what a fantastic time you're having. Have fun on the tour. I look forward to reading more travel adventures as you pass through different countries. :) Leone
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