Having stayed in Kent until Geoff’s funeral, we left on May 5, and pointed the car toward Scotland to visit Ann’s brother John. Knowing that we would not get off to a particularly early start, we decided to go only as far as Ely in Cambridgeshire on the first day. Skirting the university city of Cambridge, we came across the tiny village of Great Wilbraham, which we had never heard of, but which had many thatched cottages along the street. As it was just about lunch-time, we called into the first (and as it happened, the only) pub we came across in the village, the Carpenters Arms.
Dating back to the 1640s, it has been a pub continuously since 1729. It is said to be haunted by an unknown man, but the ghost has not been seen in recent times, and we certainly felt no spectral presence. The Carpenters Arms brews its own beer, although demand for the beer has increased to the point where they now have to make it off-site. I was lucky to get a pint of the last batch to be brewed in the pub itself, and it was certainly a good drop, so I can fully understand the increased demand. I just hope that the move to larger premises, and the larger-scale production, does not result in a lower standard of taste! Leaving Great Wilbraham, we passed through the even smaller Little Wilbraham, and made our way to Ely.
We had taken the precaution of booking our first night’s accommodation at one of a chain of hotels, which I shall not name! The hotel was easy to find, and that is all that was good about it! But it was close to the centre of Ely, so that is where we bent our steps during the afternoon. The first stop was, of course, the Cathedral. It is a magnificent building, both inside and out. There has been a religious building on this site since 673 AD, when St Etheldreda, the daughter of the Saxon King of East Anglia became a nun and founded a community for men and women. Her Saxon church was destroyed by the Danes in 870, but was restored in 970 as a Benedictine monastery for men only. This was subsequently demolished to make way for a Norman church built between 1081 and 1189, and there have been subsequent modifications and enlargements ever since, giving us the magnificent building we see today.
After visiting the Cathedral, we walked down to the River Great Ouse, where we found a very nice pub, The Cutter. It had been recommended by the young man who served us tea in the Cathedral café, and it overlooked the river, which was very pretty with the collection of gaily painted ‘narrow boats’ and other types of river craft.
The beef casserole we had for dinner was delicious; the sticky toffee pudding was superb; the young ladies who waited on us were delightfully cheerful; and it all made for a lovely evening. The crowning glory came as we were walking back to the car and spotted a notice at the gate to the King‘s School Music Department, advertising a piano and oboe recital by two local musicians. They played a varied programme, with items from the baroque to very modern, with classic and romantic numbers in between. It was a lovely end to our first day, which was then spoilt by a less than ideal night in a rather disappointing hotel!
Next morning, we set off with the intention of stopping a night at Skipton, on the edge of the Yorkshire Dales, or is it the Moors? I can never remember which is which, but suffice to say, we drove through some magnificent scenery! Even now, it never ceases to amaze me how much wild and unspoilt country there is in this sceptred isle…set in the silver sea… with nearly 55 million inhabitants! The journey itself was uneventful, driving as much as we could on the green roads, and as little as we needed to on the blue ones. But because we were using the more minor roads, we didn’t make it all the way to Skipton. In the small market town of Otley, we called into the Tourist Information Office, who recommended a bed and breakfast place right around the corner! So we bent our steps in that direction and decided immediately to stay there.
It was a lovely old building, dating from the 1700’s, and was owned and run by a delightful couple. We were lucky to get the last room available, and there were six other guests for the night.
We had a stroll to the River Wharfe, and found an excellent Italian restaurant for dinner. The bed was beautifully comfortable; the room was very quiet; and the other guests were delightful. Such a contrast to the chain hotel, which shall remain nameless, the night before!
After an excellent night’s sleep, we were treated to a splendid full Monty English breakfast before heading off on the last leg to St Andrews. We drove through miles of spectacular dales (or moors), stopping at a very nice farm shop/café for a coffee, until we reached the M6 motorway. Then it was full steam ahead passing by the Lake District, and heading toward the Kincardine Bridge over the Firth of Forth. All went well, and we successfully negotiated all the road works. But!!! We then missed a turn-off from the motorway we were on, to one we needed to be on! It was at least 10k before we could get off the wrong road, and then, having done so, we spotted a sign for St Andrews. As that was exactly where we were heading for, we followed that direction, which turned out to be a very scenic, but very long and winding road to our eventual destination, arriving about two hours later than planned. But at last we met up with brother John, and our niece, Gill.
More about our stay at St Andrews in the next blog.
Slingsby's Miscellany 
Dear Brian, Countryside looks beautiful and look forward to hearing about St Andrews.We are only 8 days away from our departure but unfortunately I am still feeling dizzy most days of the week-my cardiologist and a multitude of tests has established that my heart and vasculature are in great shape for my age so tomorrow I am at last seeing a neurologist and hopefully he can come up with a diagnosis or at least some drugs that I can take while we are away to mitigate the problem. Most diagnoses for dizziness and vertigo are fairly benign.One good part of our holiday will be an absence to the 8 weeks of electioneering-neither side has come within a bull’s roar of an economic plan for the future,it looks as though its going to be pretty tight fight,Malcolm has self-destructed somewhat! The one certainty is that neither major party will control the new Senate so the Greens and Nick Xenophan’s party will be pretty powerful-it is all a replay of where we have been for about 6 years! Regards to Ann. PS Daughter Zoe,who is in England is also enjoying “slingsby”