Friday 14 September 2012

While waiting

for The Daughter to come out of surgery on her collarbone, we went to Stratford-on-Avon, lunched in Lower Quinton , had afternoon tea beside Hidcote Gardens and tended my knee with Rest (back seat of Berlingo) Ice (frozen petit pois from Morrisons) Compresion (elastic bandage bought for MWNN's sprained ankle) and Elevation (on Ron's travelling bed)

The day in pictures:






The Avon beside the RSC Theatre.We had morning tea on the Terrace outside The Swan Theatre.









Serving Real Ale since 1504






The Garrick Inn, built c1400.















The Falcon Inn, a private house in Shakespeare's lifetime. It was originally a two-storey building dating from 1500, but an extra storey was added in the 17th century.











The Falcon's Sign is topped by an owl. The mass-produced statue was placed there to scare away the birds and reduce the amount of guano.











King Edward VI school (timbered building). Refered to as Shakespeare's School.








Leaving Stratford, we headed towards Hidcote Gardens, looking for a lunch stop on the way.






We entered the village of Lower Quinton, passing a row of thatched cottages that would house a herd of Hobbits.











 Across the road, at a minute village green, stands The College Arms. Lunch there was a lovely experience. We waited quite a while for our meal to be served. When it did, it was evident that everything had been cooked from scratch for our order (apart from MWNN's slow-cooked beef which had been simmering to perfection for hours).
















The College Arms Restaurant entrance porch showing signs of its age.














The pub's name originates from Magdalen College, Oxford which used to own a lot of land in the vicinity. It is the only pub in England that is allowed to use the College coat of arms.







After a lovely lunch, during which there were many episodes involving the resident Bichon Frises (one of which was a nursing mum with six two-week old pups) we motored to Hidcote Gardens. I've always wanted to visit these gardens as my favourite variety of lavender (Hidcote Blue) was 'born' here. The deep purple/blue colour is beautiful.

MWNN discovered that the National Trust does not allow dogs into the gardens, so we did not pay the £10 (each) entrance fee to tour them without him. Instead, we parked the car at the very edge of the carpark, set out the folding chairs and had the flask of tea and the biscuits that we had packed.

View from Hidcote Gardens carpark


The message telling us that The Daughter was out of surgery and that all had gone well, was welcome news at the end of the afternoon. We piled into the car and headed back into Broadway to buy a light picnic meal for the evening. The weather had been perfect on this our final day at Farncombe (as it had been all week, despite the threat of showers and cold winds from the Met.) and we were a little sad to be calling an end to the day out. My knee doesn't allow for much walking at the moment and I think I may have overdone it a little in Stratford.