Charmaine J. Forde

For our final morning in St Albans, sampled the hotel breakfast. I was tempted by the idea of a continental breakfast. Apart from meat and cheese, everything was there but the bread, pastries and fruits were more English in style. Turning back to the main menu I chose a pancake stack which was beautifully presented. And delicious.

There were limited options for places to visit on our journey home. Some we decided not to do because we had been there recently and others were fully booked. We settled on a National Trust property, Canons Ashby House. We arrived at the property to light drizzle which was supposed to clear up by noon.

As we arrived in Canons Ashby the place looked very familiar even though I knew we had never visited the property…

As soon as we arrived at the National Trust property, we had a lovely cup of tea in the café where, upon presentation of my Volunteer Discount card, we were asked where we came from. The lady serving us had not heard of Shropshire.

Next, we visited the house which Mr C found especially interesting due to the heraldry that was displayed, he was able to share some of his knowledge with a couple of the room guides. Somehow, we managed to miss some rooms on our circuit of the house and had to detour back to see them before crossing the short distance to Canons Ashby church of St Mary which is all that remains of the Augustinian Priory founded in 1150.

The weather had not been listening to the weather forecast and was raining heavier rather than lighter. We visited the garden but didn’t explore it to its full as we would have done without the downpour.

We were hoping to have lunch in the café but it was full. We returned to the shop which we had browsed before entering the house where I purchased the guidebook and the National Trust Book of Pies. The man who served me knew of Attingham Park and had visited many times when he lived on the Cheshire border. It was refreshing to talk to someone who knew where Shropshire is.

As we drove through the village after leaving the property we realised why the place looked familiar. We had been to a family wedding in the church, Morton Pinkney just around corner and the groom’s family home was almost opposite that church.

As we drove out of the village I consulted ‘The Extra Mile’ book for lunch options. We arrived at our chosen place, Revills Farm Shop, for a late lunch. I had a small tuna maya sandwich followed by a picnic slice. The picnic slice consisted of cherries and coconut with a chocolate base. It reminded me of one of my childhood treats although the ingredient ratio was different.

Whilst there we purchased a chicken for fine dining at home, along with some other essential items. As we made our grocery purchase the proprietor asked Mr C how Battlefield Farm Shop was fairing. Mr C had randomly picked up a bag, a Battlefield Farm Shop bag, from the boot of his car. The proprietor had visited the Battlefield shop for ideas before he extended his own Revills Farm Shop.

Then we headed homeward for a delicious chicken dinner and later indulged ourselves by watching the latest Dr Who episode.

We had a lazy start to the morning and walked to the other side of town to have breakfast in The Street Café.

I was hoping to have the ‘tomatoes on bruschetta with herbs and balsamic vinegar’ that I had in November last year when we had breakfast there. It wasn’t on the menu this time so it took me a while to choose from the menu. Eventually I settled for a chicken schnitzel and fried egg waffle with a drizzle of maple syrup. I thought that it would be smaller than a full English breakfast. I was wrong, the portion was enormous!

After breakfast we slowly wound our way to the Cathedral, browsing around shops along the way. We picked up a bargain £1 cook book from W H Smiths; Sirocco Fabulous Flavours from the East by Sabrina Ghayour. Its pages promise some tasty food adventures.

Mr C returned to the hotel to drop off his rucksack along with the cookbook and other purchases he had made whilst I waited in the Cathedral Garden. Before visiting the Cathedral, we shared a tuna and cucumber baguette in the Cathedral café.

Due to it being Easter, the cathedral wasn’t as tranquil as it had been on our previous visit. People everywhere caused Mr C to nearly knock me over near to the altar in the Lady Chapel. Thankfully the altar rail saved me from falling over backwards.

Before leaving the cathedral, I browsed the gift shop thinking to buy a gift for mum but I wasn’t sure I could choose a gift that she wouldn’t reject due to her current state of mind so I left empty handed.

We were unsure of the difference between the two Easter morning services so we asked one of the guides who referred to the Easter service leaflet as I had done. She was as puzzled as I was and went to seek the advice of a Verger who clarified that the earlier service was the one to attend if you were seeking a more spiritual experience.

We wandered back through town to have afternoon tea and cake in Café Roma where I chose blueberry bakewell and elderflower presse. The sunshine was so lovely we decided to visit Wetherspoons for a drink which we enjoyed in a sunny window, chilling out before returning to the hotel to chill out some more.

We dined in L’Italiana where I chose chicken in tomato sauce with olives. The food was just as good as our previous visit; we were even served by the same waiter.

We decided to have a post dinner drink in Wetherspoons. When we arrived, we were informed by one of several bouncers that there was a queue to get in. The queue was not obvious as is it snaked around the venue and away from outside gate which is the main entrance to the venue. The queue was ‘very’ long and we were not prepared to wait to get into a pub.

We walked the short distance to The Cock which we had visited on our previous stay in St Albans. The same few seats as last time were vacant so it felt like home from home.

When Mr C got out of bed, he noticed a missed phone call (on our land line) from mum’s mobile timed at 5am. I decided not to worry about it, if there was a problem the care home would have called us.

Although the traffic was running smoothly, the motorway journey was tedious. We stopped for lunch in The Tuning Fork near Rugby. I found it in the Extra Mile book as we were travelling. The service was excellent and the food was delicious.

Suitably refreshed, we continued our journey stopping at Knebworth House which both of us found interesting. The estate has a rich history including Indian connections and it is often used as a film location but it is most famous of all for the Knebworth Music Festival. Inside the house Mr C educated a couple of room guides regarding some of the heraldry that was displayed.

We had just enough time to have a quick tour of the gardens but sadly the Dino Trail will have to wait for another day as will the church.

We drove the short distance to St Alban’s and booked into our hotel, Samuel Ryder, a Tapestry at the Hilton Hotel. We unpacked and chilled out in the hotel before stepping next door for a pre-dinner drink in The White Hart Hotel. The service in the bar wasn’t quite up to scratch, it took three attempts before the correct wine was selected, and when Mr C’s beer arrived, it was cloudy and sour to taste, needing to be replaced.

We dined in Dylan’s at the Kings Head Hotel. I had hoped to dine here on my birthday last year but the restaurant was fully booked. It was well worth the wait; the food quality was superb.

I enjoyed the atmosphere but it was a bit too loud for Mr C’s mood so we returned to the hotel for a nightcap which we took to our room to chill out before retiring for a good nights sleep.

Luke 11:9

Pericles

Elisabeth Kübler-Ross

This font holds water for baptisms. Baptism marks the start of the Christian life, when someone becomes a follower of Jesus Christ. A prist blesses the water and pours it over the person’s head as a symbol of this new faith.

The font was made in 1934 and its huge cover shows the four gospel writers who tell the story of Jesus in the Bible. the large Paschal (Easter) Candle often stands nearby – a new one is lit every Easter Eve. This was the traditional time for baptisms but now adults and children are baptised throughout the year.*

*From an information board next to the font.

This enormous pair of doors once stood at the main entrance to the church at the far west end of the Nave. They date from the 1400s when the church was at the centre of England’s leading abbey.

The doors were opened wide for religious processions. For everyday use, monks and visiting pilgrims used the small door-within-a-door. Huge iron nails in a pattern hold together the layers of oak panelling. Wood was skilfully carved on the outer surface to creat elegant decoration.*

*from a signboard next to the doors