Last Tuesday, without a lot to do, Drew and I decided to visit the local village of Aldbury. The Morris men who we had sung Christmas Carols with came from Aldbury, and we thought a little nose-around the village was in order.
Wow.
The English have a term for villages like Aldbury - the call them "chocolate box" - because in the past, chocolate boxes were adorned with very idealised paintings and pictures of English life. Aldbury certainly is a chocolate box village - beautiful ancient buildings, a lovely village green and pond, and the church is absolutely amazing.
Inside the church is a tomb of some local "well off" folk with a Green Man lying at their foot. The church also features medieval glass and a plaque to the memory of a seaman who died in Bedford Basin, Halifax, in 1877.
We were inspecting the church when we were invited to a "coffee morning" - which is, as the name suggests, a little group of people drinking coffee (or tea) and eating cakes. Everyone makes a small donation for the coffee and the proceeds go to the church.
We met, at this coffee morning, amoung other people a veteran of World War Two who had been dropped in the ocean in Norway after his plane had been shot down and a woman who had taught in international schools all over the world. "Polite conversation" does not begin to describe how interesting a morning we had.
As we are still iced in nearby, we went again to the coffee morning, and again had a lovely time. Aldbury has become one of our favourite places to visit - and who knows, we might end up as Morris Men by year's end!
As one journey ends, another begins. Birmingham - Antigonish - and all points in between
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