The breakfast room was still very quiet and lacking atmosphere. The self-service offering was luke warm rather than hot.

After breakfast we chilled out in our room looking out over the Cathedral green before it was time to attend the 11.15 Easter Day service in the Cathedral. The service was excellent and we received communion from the Bishop and Archdeacon. When it came for the greeting part of the service, the Bishop walked up the aisle shaking people’s hands. As he shook mine, he said to me, ‘I had better not go to much further I might not get back in time’. He then walked his way back shaking hands on the opposite aisle.

Before leaving the Cathedral, we went to see the Easter Garden that the flower ladies had been creating during our visit the previous day. We once again met the Bishop and also the newly installed Dean as we headed out of the Cathedral into the sunshine.

We hopped in our car which was parked in the hotel car park, right next to the Cathedral. Our destination was Bucklers Hard which is a short walk down the river from Beaulieu. When we arrived, we had lunch in the Captain’s Table tea shop before visiting the museum.

The Museum documents the history of the 18^th century shipbuilding in the village of Bucklers Hard. Bucklers Hard is famous as a naval ship building centre. Warships for Nelson’s Navy were built there. The Museum also displays village life in the 1800s and how village life changed in the 19^th and 20^th century from lively shipbuilding activities to sleepy rural hamlet.

We then walked down to the harbour visiting the open house and church along the way. We arrived at the harbour shortly before a boat tour of the river was due to start. There were only six of us on the trip so we were able to see the views on both sides of the river, the captain highlighting points of interest along the way.

We had just enough time to briefly visit the exhibition of archaeology which displays items that were found during an excavation of the boatyard. We watched a video but the exhibition closed before we could fully explore the exhibits.

We freshened up and relaxed in our room, which had been serviced (no biscuits!) before dining in Chesil Rectory. The food was excellent and every bit as good as I remembered it when we last visited over 10 years ago. We both had duck as our main course and shared a rhubarb frangipane dessert.

It being Sunday the Crown and Anchor was closed so we returned to the hotel for a nightcap. It was quiet in the bar although there was a noisy group in the restaurant area.

After a while I heard the barman say ‘I think I can close the bar in 15 or 16 minutes. After about 10 minutes he told us he was closing the bar and that we were welcome to take our drinks to our room. So we asked him for another glass of wine to take to the room and were advised that the bar was already shut. Mr C said ‘I didn’t hear you call last orders’ and I asked if we could order a glass via room service. The response was ‘no we don’t do that any more the bar is a separate company from the hotel. Sorry Guys.’ He clearly wasn’t sorry at all and couldn’t have cared less!

We promptly left, both of us feeling underwhelmed by the experience.

We attended the 9.30 Easter service in St Albans Cathedral which, as we had been advised the previous day, was spiritual and communal. There were processions and presenting of ‘The Book’ and speaking the word, which is moving to experience.

Between the two-morning services, bubbles, juice and tea were served in the Cathedral’s Welcome Centre to celebrate Easter. Whilst this was taking place, children were encouraged to find laminated eater egg tokens that were hidden inside the Cathedral. These could then be exchanged for a real Easter Egg. Before leaving the Cathedral we lit candles next to St Albans shrine then shook hands with the Bishop as we entered the Welcome Centre.

Afterwards we walked to Wetherspoons for a late breakfast/brunch. I was looking forward to a small vegetarian breakfast to which I had added a couple of extra items. Unfortunately, when Mr C placed the order he forgot to say ‘small’. For the second day running I was overfaced with a large breakfast. Mr C’s breakfast arrived minus some items he was expecting so I was able to offload some of my excess to him.

The weather was gloriously sunny allowing us to enjoy our walk to Verulamium Park where we viewed the Roman mosaic and hypocaust. We continued our walk along the river stopping for a Mr Whippy ice cream that we enjoyed whilst sitting on a bench watching the swans that were settled nearby. A boisterous dog ran towards them, unsettling them and causing them to scatter into the water for safety.

We returned to the Cathedral shop where I was in a better frame of mind to enjoy what was on offer rather than thinking of a gift for mum. I found a lovely glass heart to add to my collection of hearts which hangs on the wall next to my computer.

We walked back into town for a cuppa, in my case Elderflower presse from the museum teashop which we enjoyed in the old courtroom seating area. After which we had a mooch around The Works book shop before returning to the hotel to chill out.

We arrived back at the hotel to find that it had only just been serviced and wasn’t quite in order. The pedal bin hadn’t been put back together and there were no biscuits! A few minutes later there was a knock on our door, it was the housekeeping supervisor asking if our room had been serviced to our satisfaction. We pointed out the couple of issues which he rectified immediately leaving us with extra biscuits which we much appreciated. I told him he was spoiling us.

Later we dined in Bar Meze where the owner came to say hello and remembered us from our previous visit in November 2024. The food was just as good as our previous visit, although on this occasion we slightly over ordered.

We returned to The Cock and our usual seats in the bar area for a nightcap. On the way back to the hotel I photographed a scarf that was in a shop window near to the hotel. I had been eyeing it up every time we walked to and from town, but due to Easter the shop was closed for the duration of our stay in St Albans. I took the photograph in the hopes that I could buy it for the shop to post to me…

The church was consecrated in 1735 and is the only one of its kind in the country; its late baroque style is more usually found in southern Germany and Italy. It is believed to be to a design by James Gibbs. The exterior was originally plain brick but was later clad with limestone ashlar and Italianate balaustrades and finials were added. It has a clock tower surmounted by a cupola with a gilded dome, topped off with an orb and a golden cross. There are two bells, to chime out the time and to ring for weddings and funerals. It has a crypt with vaults, still occupied by lead coffins, and has a coffin chute accessed from the inner porch.

I then went home to freshen up and visit Mum for an evening meal of slow roasted lamb.  It was delicious.  I had to do a slight detour on the way because I had forgotten to take a picture of the decorated cross outside the parish church.  The lighting wasn’t quite right and in hindsight I should have used fill in flash.