Saturday 29 March
In the evening we met up with Norma and Sam at what used to be The Victory pub and is now a Sri Lankan restaurant called Sako, which sits on the corner of Bridge Street and the High Street.
It is quite a time since we last saw them and it was good to catch up. I always like their company. We spent most of the evening on two subjects, people we know together like Daniel Green and his family and past experiences together.
I pulled up pictures of Sam and Norma from my phone and we remembered the times we spent going away, in Lyme Regis, Spain, Church Stretton and France. It’s a long time time since we went away. I guess time’s move on and they have higher priorities with their grand-children around and based locally. anyway I enjoyed the evening and their company.
Sunday 30th March
We met up with Richard, Aida and to my surprise Joseph. He has lost his hair and grown quite a bushy beard since I last saw him. He said this was the first time he had seen his father this year.
We arranged to meet at the Duke of Bridgewater memorial at Ashridge House. Unfortunately I only entered Ashridge House in the satnav and we arrived at the wrong side of the estate. As a result instead of meeting them on time we ended up being 15 minutes late. I took responsibility for the mistake.
The day was bright and sunny but with a cold wind so when we were exposed to the wind I felt quite cold but out of the breeze it was lovely. for the last few days I have had a twinge on the muscle of my left leg just above the knee which meant walking uphill is slightly uncomfortable. I therefore asked that we remain on a fairly flat trajectory. after stopping at the cafe to drink the coffee Maggi had brought we set off and headed towards Iving Hoe Beacon.
We walked along and chatted. At first I spoke to Aida and then we split up and I mostly talked to Richard. He walked along at roughly the same pace as me which I found easier.
About 12:30 we stopped for lunch just off the path sheltered from the wind and we all ate the sandwiches we had brought.
We walked to the end of the plateau turned left and came to another drop at which point we turned back and retraced our steps.
We finally returned to the Bridgewater Monument with the intention of having a cup of tea or an ice cream, but both the ice cream van and the cafe had excessively long queues we abandoned those ideas.
We decided to Part company and walked back to our cars and drove home. A pleasant late morning and afternoon stroll with family.